#didnt enjoy this one folks really did not enjoy that story

[bilbobagginsomebabez]

oh no i hated iw*jú. the story is just. i gotta write this out. so the antag kidnaps rich kids because he's mad about wealth inequality. a rich engineer makes a fancy pet robot chameleon bodyguard, which is implied to be related to the rash of child kidnappings. he gives it to his daughter just before she's kidnapped because he forgot about her birthday and his boss wants a "live test" right away. two birds one stone, birthday gift & live test combo. well the bodyguard chameleon temporarily can't save protag due to low charge. because there's a charging issue with the robot chameleon. until she and her friend manage to charge it. and the chameleon saves the day.

i just don't love it

[canisbrutus]

AAAHHHH your headcanons are amazing !! Do you have more to tell us on the bullies? Maybe Trent, or Tom? I would love to hear about them too!!!

you're flatterin me lmao. alright lets see. this was supposed to be short. its not. youre gettin Trent Tom & Ethan. And i'm barely holding back from dumping abt Russell too bc goddamn everyone did him dirty. anyway enjoy.

Trent Northwick 🎬

The Basics:

he got laid exactly once and made it 3/4ths of his personality.

yeah he's got a bit of an ego, or so it seems. but he's arguably still one of the better folks on campus.

he's also an actor, part of the drama club, something he takes very very seriously.

wants to make it to hollywood someday. make it big. be adored.

and he is a Very good actor, believe it or not.

"i'm so hot" this, "I'm a star" that.

a begging to be believed.

tough crowd at bullworth, you know? not his fault nobody can recognize pure talent.

but at the end of the day, its not even a convincing enough performance to fool himself.

Expanded Lores:

his home life aint the greatest. not the Worst, but not good.

father aint in the picture, he had his grandmother for a moment, but she died, as old people tend to do, and he was on his own with his mother.

and his mother. hrms. after a certain point she just got too tired to really give a fuck about him or anything he did.

he helped out with finances by working part time. as they did struggle with like. food insecurity. keeping the lights on and the water running. all that jazz.

at least they had a house. in a slum, but still.

much like wade and co., his grades were ass, and he didnt feel like concussing himself on the field over Balls.

with not many options on his plate, he turned his gaze to his one passion and form of escapism: the big screen.

the man can memorize entire films in ~3 watches at most.

has the shittiest notes known to man but he's still good.

yes he was part of the drama club as mentioned before. and yes, he was romeo in that one play.

and yes, he got Really into the role. and Really into 'juliet.'

was he accosted by his buddies for taking a fonder interest in a nerd? also yes, but when pressed he'd laugh it off.

'it's not his fault there's prettyboys everywhere to those with eyes to see.'

their fling was cut short when earnest caught them in the library tangled together and he chastised cornelius for. well. 'getting sloppy' with one of their sworn enemies.

many such cases. but luckily for trent he caught the eye of another boy: kirby olsen, star of the field.

i can talk about those two for ages but i'll try to keep it brief here.

in short they were the only ones who took eachother seriously and recognized the effort they put into their respective passions.

they had their hangups still, most notably being kirby's own internalized homophobia, but clung to eachother like moss to a stump all the same.

trent actually told his bully boys about his relationship, top secret shit. but believe it or not that was chill.

long story short they made a blood oath they'd always have eachothers backs, cause as ive said before, they aint got much else.

that, and, well. it's not like they werent unfamiliar with such bonds anyway. between troy's questioning and certain other things, what happens in the trenches stays in the trenches.

the trenches being the various Ditches around, usually the school parking lot.

yeah none of these boys really care abt getting dirty they usually took cover in them.

this earned them the nickname 'gutterslime' from the preps.

funny story: trent once pulled a muskrat out of a particularly wet ditch. named it Bucky II and held it up for his friends to see.

the rat then bit him and ran away, of course.

final thing take these two songs that fit him. 1. 2. moving on.

Tom Gurney 🧿

(CW: abuse/stalking mentions)

The Basics:

alright this one might be a stretch but hear me out.

he doesnt live with his parents, just his crazy ass brother.

his paranoia? comes from them and alll their stunts.

that trauma and fear's wormed under his skin and ofc it reflects in like. most of his worldview.

hard to trust anything or anybody when your own parents turned out to be monsters ya know?

but he still tries to trust his friends.

that blood oath meant sumn to him.

if only they'd just listen to him a bit more sometimes.

Expanded Lores:

tom is what youd call legally emancipated. in other words he went thru the courts and got divorced from his own parents and doesnt need any guardian's permission to get a job enroll in school n shit etc etc etc.

this was hell.

for one they didnt want him out of their vise. for another they Damn sure didnt want him under the same roof as his disgrace of a brother, not after they sent him off to that boarding school.

yeah tom didnt grow up in bullworth and his brother kind of kidnapped him. but it was justified.

as such, he was kind of an oddball amongst the bullies, being one of the youngest, if not The youngest addition to their group.

this all went down his freshman year, two years prior to ingame events.

regardless they did accept him wholeheartedly. he's got his own attitude and Bite.

they even included him in the blood oath. which was Very significant to him.

practically solidified them as his Brothers. his new family. etc.

sidenote: his actual brother is the townie Gurney. his deal was he dropped out and just never went home because it sucked. he's got a few screws loose but he's a good guy. he's also like 20something.

anyway tom's a horror nut yeah. always was. likes junji ito, texas chainsaw massacre, that sort of thing.

he was actually in a creative writing club working out his own creepypasta-esque stories lmfao.

earned him the title of creep. sometimes got him smacked.

he Also likes radiohead but shhhh.

sigh. his parents Really didnt let him go easy.

in fact they refused to accept the court's orders.

came up, watched him, for a time.

he thought he'd just be experiencing sleep paralysis, seeing shadows from the window.

if only. no. they Wanted him back.

they got arrested thankfully. finally. gurney spoke of moving again but tom didn't want to leave his friends behind.

anyway. absolutely horrid upbringing aside, tom was a pretty decent guy, largely.

yeah he's been through a lot, but it toughened him up, or so he thinks. if nothing else it's hardened him somewhat.

bullworth was a shithole for many, but it was probably the only place he felt really free.

on a lighter note. damn this boy loved bmx tricks.

liked bikes just as much as the greasers really.

wasnt uncommon to see him at the park on the ramps practicing his stunts.

didnt wear protection nope who needed that.

thats for girls and he aint a girl. he's rawdogging life already.

you can tell how that went by his face alone.

usually gurney cooked bacon n eggs to help him feel better n shit.

fav food yaknow. poached especially. extra crispy bacon.

i got a song for him too dw. boink

Ethan Robinson 🥋

The Basics:

he's arguably one of the most put together of the bunch.

or at least, he knows what he believes in and he's sticking with it.

it's all self-empowerment to him. discipline and whatnot.

he's still a hooligan, but that's just the way of the world. to turn the other cheek, to not assert yourself? that's weakness.

they'll thank him for showing them the way, someday.

they'll know respect. they'll know strength.

they'll see.

Expanded Lores:

the home he comes from has suffered some hardships. but he didnt have a bad upbringing, per se.

loving parents, strong father, they only want to see him succeed.

some things just cant be helped. like the shithole neighborhood they're in.

but at least he met his lifelong friends there.

the boys pile up on his couch to watch cowboy bebop on a semifrequent basis. lol.

his place was a safe haven when trent's home wasnt available for movie night. and movie night was Important.

this boy has a massive collection of flicks, on that note.

most of which are either kung fu, samurai, or anime related.

yeah his obsession runs deep.

one might even call it a special interest.

he's got katanas on his bedroom walls and shit.

absolutely heartbroken he cant bring them on campus.

but he makes do with his fists, of course.

he was lucky enough to join an afterschool martial arts club in his elementary years. unfortunately it shut down sometime in middle school and he hadnt been able to find another since.

he doesnt remember all the moves, but he still has his Belts.

he also has a very fat orange cat named Buddha.

morning tradition is to rub his belly for luck every day.

not a hard task as that cat is frequently splayed out on his back.

or in somebody's lap. the boys frequently pass him around like a potato during movie night.

admittedly he really likes animals. feeds strays and whatnot.

volunteers at shelters. usually on weekends.

breaks his heart when he cant save em all.

anyway he does meditate and Often.

usually under an ice cold shower pretending its a waterfall.

sometimes perched precariously on the roof of some building.

how does he get up there? parkour.

yeah in his quest to be a ninja he picked up some tricks like Scaling Buildings and Long Jumps.

he's Very hard to knock off balance.

sometimes he can be seen just chilling on top of the boy's dorm when he wants some peace and quiet.

the others accompany him up there sometimes but usually they back out from fear lol.

tom's generally fine with it though. he's used to heights.

funny pair of alleycats they are.

anyway aside from his.... particular views on pushing folks around, and his attitude most of the time. he's a nice kid.

honestly he's got some of the best grades of the bullies lmfao.

music blast

that took me all night i hope u like it lmao. these boys. shakes my fist. their dynamics amuse me.

requests are still open but i may close them soon

[hc masterpost link]

[shybasementkid]

To convince the hated

warning: again, this is an au. implications and hints of sexual trauma n repressed trauma. also bill

a/n: ill leave WHY ford waited up to interpretation but ill say that he didnt want the outcome. this is kind of random but bill and stan never canonically makes a DEAL. bill just convinced him that he deserved it. i just thought bill having stans soul was a cool idea. ykw feel free to ship billstan in this au too. ok ill stop yapping, enjoy folks!

Stan could barely see anything. His head hurt. He could feel himself bleed from the left side of his face. Everything was dark.

Quick, last things he remembered. That usually worked in states like this. Letter from his brother after ten years. Showing up. Being asked if he was gonna... steal his eyes? By Ford? And then, two fatal shots to his eye and head. Being pulled up on the outside couch. Ford ran up to the house. But he didn't.. come back out.

Was this it? Was he dead? Was he gonna spend forever in a dark void, cold, bloody, and alone? Well, the alone part wasn't exactly new, he supposes. Then, he heard a maniacal laughter that was almost comforting in that situation in the distance. And the one eyed-triangle appeared in front of him.

"WELL, WELL, WELL, WELL, WELL, WELL, WELL! ISN'T IT THE MAN OF THE HOUR, STAR OF THE SHOW, STANLEY PINES? LET ME TELL YA, SIXER'S TOLD ME ABOUT YOU!"

".. What the fuck even are you."

Stan said, backing away. His one functioning eye looked at him with a look of anger, shock, and a dash of shock.

"I'M YOUR NEW BEST FRIEND! NAME'S BILL, BILL CIPHER! AND CAN I ASK YOU IF YOU'VE LOOKED IN A MIRROR RECENTLY?"

He popped a mirror into existence and held it towards Stan. The look in his.. well, eye, twisted into horror. Half of his face was bloodied, with an arrow through his eye and head. He touched his own face.

".. No.. he didn't."

"OH, YES HE DID! AND LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING! SIXER HAD EIGHTEEN MINUTES BEFORE YOU FINALLY KICKED THE BUCKET TO SAVE YOU, BUT HE DIDN'T USE A SINGLE ONE!"

Stan looked down. His look could only be described as unreadable. Everything that ever happened to the twins flowed through his mind like a waterfall.

The nerd he shared a room with for seventeen years had ten real years to hate him and put an arrow through his head. And left him to die, it seemed.

Bill's eye iris turned into a dark blue, as the rest of it turned pitch black. He was hatching a plan.

"TELL ME, KID. DO YOU EVER WANT REVENGE?"

The word revenge seemed similar to the arrow in his eye at that very moment. No. He had only wanted his brother and family back. He never felt.. deserving of more than that, or even just that. Never even felt deserving of an 'I'm sorry' from anyone.

".. No.. and I'm not gonna want it now. He doesn't deserve vengeance upon him.. especially not from me."

"IF HE WAS IN YOUR BOOTS RIGHT NOW, YOU'D ALREADY BE DEAD! HE HATES YOU, GUILTLESSLY, AND YOU'RE SCARED TO WANT REVENGE?"

The look in his eyes twisted into an repeessed anger he's had, deep in his gut for ten years.

Ford did get to hate him. Guiltlessly. He's hated him for a stupid school project for ten years. It sunk in. He might not have gotten into his dream college, but he got thrown out of the house because of it. And yet, he was hated. For ten years.

"WHAT ABOUT SOME OTHER FELLAS? FILBRICK, THE ONES FROM TIJUANA, HELL, YOUR CHILDHOOD BULLY? DON'T YOU EVER GET ANGRY? WELL, MY FRIEND,"

Bill's hand reached forward towards Stan, seemingly catching on fire, in a blue ember.

"YOU GOT THE RIGHT GUY! JUST SHAKE MY HAND, AND I'LL GIVE YOU EVERYTHING YOU NEED!"

".. What's the catch?"

"ALWAYS A CATCH, ISN'T IT? BUT YOU'LL SEE WHAT THE CATCH IS. ONE DAY. DEAL OR NO DEAL?"

Stanley looked down at his hand. Was he really about to do this? Make a deal with the devil?

A devil like the one they warn you about in stories when you were a kid.

.. Fuck it.

Stanley put up his hand and shook Bill's. He heard as he cackled, and when he opened his eyes, he was in a dark, shitty trailer. It was HIM.

The one with the coke back in Tijuana. He was smoking a cigarette, without a trace of remorse or anything. Like he didn't hurt Stanley in such a matter.

And he laughed.

Just low enough for him to view it as far away, but just loud enough for him to look around.

Now he'll know what it's like to be the smallest thing in the room.

Now they'll all know.

[jellyfishjuliet]

didnt wanna hijack someone's post with the Disk Horse, but I just wanna note that bernard being tim's love interest in 2023 is VERY different from him being a side-side-side character in the early 2000s. i think there's definitely a generational divide on how the relationship's perceived bc there's absolutely a difference between how bernard and tim's relationship is portrayed during their time in school versus in adulthood.

part of reading tim's coming out story in the 2020s with relation to bernard is finally acknowledging that we finally broke tim out of his amber glass. this is also, i will note, a SPECIFIC kind of coming-out-story that won't resonate with folks who weren't living through that specific era of homophobia where the fallout of the AIDS crisis overlapped with the rise of mass surveillance and that post-9/11 grimdark take on superheroes across ALL media. it was a weird fucking time. it also won't resonate with anyone who wasn't "growing up" with tim during his time as robin. now, do you HAVE to know every little thing about tim to accept this piece of character development? no, you don't, but you DO have to take into consideration that tim was locked in the time vault for a veryyy long time and a lot of things, including his on-and-off with stephanie, were part of the status quo for his character long before dc decided to pull the trigger with tim's bisexuality.

but what happens when the forever-sixteen isn't sixteen anymore? he grows up! he gets to reflect! he gets to try new things without being held back by the amber glass. time is the key factor here! if you look at tim and bernard's relationship through the eyes of the robin run of that era, of course it's gonna feel weird! that tim could only really take bernard in doses, bc that tim was as much of an asshole teen as bernard was. with the breaking-of-the-amber, we now learn that tim had to do some serious reflection to get to the point where he could say that this guy he used to know COULD be someone special. if you follow tim's story through the lens of a closeted queer raised in the era of when that robin run was being published, tim's just another queer guy who's finally come to terms with the fact that, that dude he went to high school with who he just ran into at the target might not be so bad after all. he's kinda cute, actually. did he think he was cute back in the tenth grade? probably not, but he's not in tenth grade anymore, now is he?

could DC comics have created an entirely new character to serve the narrative purpose of tim's coming out special? sure. then we woulda had ten years worth of criticism from fandom about how tim magically found a guy superhot and thus dumped stephanie over it, and we would circle back to the same argument about whether tim was a douchebag for dumping stephanie for some rando, and that his bisexuality is an asspull versus 'relevant character development'. either way, it would have upset the status quo. now, is that to say timsteph was never real? no! tim and stephanie talking about his erratic behavior and him coming out to her was to SPECIFICALLY address how him being bisexual isn't meant to downgrade their relationship, or that their love wasn't real. for anyone who's still whining about timsteph not being real anymore bc bernbear entered the chat, i've long stopped seeing it as legitimate criticism bc there are YEARS worth of content with them to indulge in. shitting on a coming-out story and a romance that hasn't even had five real-time years to be explored is just straight up crass and highlights much more insidious problems in the fandom aka the rampant homophobia, quick-to-anger behavior of fans who never learned media or litcrit, and motherfuckers who ride or die for status quo like it'll kill them to enjoy something tangential.

long story short, timbern real and so is timsteph, and one of these days, inshallah bartkon will be real too.

[neomedievalist]

its jan 20th but that doesnt mean i cant still do a games i beat overview for 2024 still. here we go, games I beat sorted by date I beat them last year

1/17: Umineko Answers Arcs

yeah so i was stalling on episode 8 for a long time and i had finally finished it in january last year. i dont think this even needs me to say anything. fucking incredible visual novel

2/29: ULTRAKILL

not technically a "beat" but i finished all of the content thats out then (aside from. the second secret boss i havent beat yet). looooooove ultrakill love this i think everyone should play it even if they dont like shooters you just have to have a requisite level of adhd that not everyone has. it has brought me so much joy. cannot wait for more content to come out

4/27: Celeste

this shit has been on my backlog for so long. it was so satisfying to finally finish it. really solid 2d platformer really enjoyed it and liked the story. im not usually a 2d platformer person i prefer 3d but it is rly tight and satisfying. admittedly i dont understand why people think it was like, life changingly good, but i can see how itwould emotionally resonate w someone and its overall a very good game

4/29: Shin megami tensei V

My eternal agony. I fuuucking hate this gaaaaame oh my goddddd the ending was so bad. i already made a seperate post complaining about it so i wont bother you but seriously the fact that the end is unchanged in vengeance is so crazy. I have 0 desire to play vengeance. The foundations have some potential but its just like. holy fuck the story is so nothing. Gameplay was fun though! although i enjoyed the tsukuyomi fight more than lucifer.

6/8: Peggle Dinners

this counts. Everyone get dinnerspilled. Its peak.

8/15: Kirby Triple Deluxe

Lowkey one of those games i just picked up on my 3ds every once in a while and then it was like wait i beat it? huh? okay then. Its a good kirby game i dont really care abt the kirby formula or anything again not rly a 2d platfrmer person but its probably good. I liked gambling for keychains

8/22: Devil May Cry 4

another one of those games that has been on the backlog for fucking ever. I do not like the missions in this game very much there was a lot of screaming in agony. but i like dante and i like nero. it had some great moments. honestly the most important thing this game did was allow me to finally start 5. I also like the catholic beast mode theme that was really fun.

9/1: Super Mario 64

Finished a 120 star run on coop so i'm counting it. had never actually beat the game before so honestly really momentous occasion. Still holds up especially if you play the pc port LMFAO. We've moved on to star road now which now that I think about I should have put on my 2025 bingo

10/13: Heaven Will Be Mine

Good ass game. I finished we know the devil late in 2023 but it took me a long time to get thru hwbm bc i wanted to give it the full attention it deserved. Really confusing as shit but really rewarding once you start learning what all the terms mean, i really love theorizing and thinking abt the implications of the worldbuilding. pluto was a real sleeper hit character for me i think at this point she might be my favourite which is crazy considering how i didnt care abt her at first. realllyyy good game.

12/27: Balatro

Yeah i got it for my birthday. cleared my first run a few days after. its a good video game just like i knew it would be. never stop gambling.

12/31: Hypnospace Outlaw

the new year's special! i'm so glad i finally finished it. it definitely is a game that people probably spend a few hours in to gawk at and then never play again. it was so rewarding to really give it my time and full focus even if it took me a long time to finish it. still thinking abt it. its real good folks. its real good.

heres to more videogames this year<3

[kenjiyabuki]

stuff that made me go 👀 from ep1

Well, gore-y horror from between 70s-90s w queer subtext is one of my most favorite genres ever, so obviously this show is right up my alley. Just the idea of Thai folk horror and 90s slasher fusion w a bunch of tense gay situationships sprinkled on top sounds like a dream to me <3

so OFC I enjoyed the first episode, the gore, haunting past, creepy mask and dick biting and all & now i'm ready to theorize

here are some little details that got my attention and some thoughts that were thunk by me:::::

After Por's (Us) classic setting-the-up-story horror tale gets called out as teasing from White (Fuaiz), Por and Top (Jet) turn the accusation back to his boyfriend Tee (JJay), calling him the best at tricking the younger ones/newcomers to the group.

Based on the trailers, it's safe to assume that in the past, it was Non (Barcode) who was the gullible young one and he was bullied (among other things that will happen to him) even after group decided to utilize him for the short film. Compared to loudmouths Por and Top, Tee seems more on the quiet and stoic side (albeit w anger issues) so this is definitely a clue. Trailers made me think Por was the main terrorizer of Non but maybe Tee played a bigger role.

If Non is the whatever the hell that is dwelling the forest, then why did he cop a feel from Tee while him and White were busy being the couple who chooses the worst time and place to get nasty in a horror? Is it a payback for the tricking the young ones Tee was so good at?

If this isn't a translation mistake, Jin (Copper) calls the movie "his" even though the credits says otherwise.

Firstly, I want to thank my trusty Yandex Image Translator for making this revelation possible:

While Jin says that he made the film for a contest he was in, it's Por who is credited as the Writer/Director/DoP. In fact, Jin's name is only under the cast list, along w Tee, Top and Fluke (Bump).

And maybe even MORE IMPORTANTLY, although we clearly saw him in the movie, taking off the mask just before Por shuts of the laptop & later Top admits he wrote the story, Non's name is nowhere to be seen in the credits. Not only he "disappeared", they also made it seem like he wasn't there in the first place. Uhmm, that's a cunty move to do to an old "friend"...

That really suspicious and ambiguous conversation between Tee and Por.

They might be talking about Non BUT Tee specifically says he doesn't want HIM, which i'm assuming to be White, to get involved and find out more. Por's face drops at first but then he brushes it off w saying it wouldn't matter even if he did because its not relevant anymore.

There are also other new guys who are oblivious to their past but it's White who is worrying Tee. Along w Por's reaction and him constantly teasing their relationship, I think this might be a sign that Tee and Por might have some kind of history??? I am hoping that as messy gay entangled relationships on top of the supernatural horrors would be even more fun!!!!!!!!!

Phi and White's lil sexual tension moment.

Here's the thing: this wasn't even a set up for Jin or Tee to get jealous or anyone to get thoughts because they weren't there to see it. It just happened so quickly and then Phi turned back his attention to Jin to get scolded (as he should) BUT i was stuck on it because what was the reason????????????? Why did White seemed lost in thought over it?

Jin might be jealous of Tan (Mio) for some fucking reason?

Jin gives Phi half a blowjob, BITES HIS DICK (best moment of the ep), chews him out (verbally) and then suggests Tan in his place. Well, Tan and Phi do seem close and Tan knows about their failed FWB. Still, it's interesting that Jin singled out Tan and thinks they had a similar thing, even though Phi assures him that isn't the case.

Honestly, the possibility of tangled relationships is getting to me AHHHH I didnt get that vibe from the trailer at all but I will be glad to see it. Insert the *I'm excited because I love mess* gif I cant be bothered to search rn.

Top being the token salacious fool archetype of this slasher.

Following up on the theme of horror gays being in entangled situationships: A high Top making passes at his friends might not lead anywhere as it just might be him fulfilling his role as the facetious, big mouth guy. But i will just put it aside just in case..... 👀👀

Bonus strays thoughts::

According to character profiles, all the boys are the same age, except Tan and White who are 2 years younger

Por says to Tan "you two got in [their friend group] in 12th grade". I am assuming other person is Phi as White got into the group as the boyfriend. I want to see how they got to be friends tho.

Smoker Tan has asthma and he needs an inhaler which definitely won't be a big problem in the future, right?

It's interesting how Phi wants to be a director and we fittingly saw him being a leader, being levelheaded and "directing" the critical situations, assigning roles to the group etc

Top claims Non is haunting them because they completed his film without him. Babygirl, I dont know if intellectual property theft is enough to turn into an evil ghost, I know you guys did more than that.

Random but I kinda want Fluke to be the Final Girl, surviving until the end w just a puke bag and 2 years of medicine knowledge.......

[digitaldoeslmk]

Hello there! I hope your month has been kind to you. This is the blog that deal with LMK, right? There's a theory floating around that MK is gonna shatter Wukong's staff in the middle of their predicted fight or at the start of it in the canon show. How do you feel about that?

On an unrelated note, what are your thoughts on the staff that Wukong uses? I'd say it's name but fear incorrectly saying it Have you watched the Netflix Monkey King movie? In that movie the staff is shown to be very obviously sentient with its own thoughts and options, and isn't shy about vibrating, humming about them. Do you consider this with your thoughts on Wukong and his staff too?

Have a good month, do not skip your meals and enjoy them, drink plenty of water and sleep early regularly.

this is the blog indeed! :3

hmmmm I'm not sure how I feel about that, exactly. I'm not much a fan of destroying such an iconic (and basically indestructible) weapon for the sake of shock value, since I don't really see any other reason for such a narrative decision. same about FFM being destroyed; its literally glazed over and, I kind of hate that /gen

you gotta keep in mind that yes this is just an inspired story but, FFM is a sacred mountain. in jttw its described in a way that it could easily be Mt Sumeru, the axis that sits on the center of the world and holds up the Heavenly realms. its, A Big Fucking Deal. same for the Ruyi Jingu Bang, it's the rod of celestial iron that held down the oceans by the Great Yu, it prevented floods during a time where those almost ruined the middle kingdom (China).

destroying them brings nothing to the story imo besides maybe Lego gaining the window to showcase another locations so they can sell more toy models. which, yes is the entire reason the show exists, to sell toys, but also..... eugh. in my ideal scenario, we gets to see FFM being restored and fixed up, thanks to everybody's efforts.

as for the second question, yes I've watched it though i gotta say, i am very much not the target audience x.x besides the first few minutes in Huaguoshan and the 2D sequence, i didnt like much about it. That said, im a sucker for sentient weapons hwbdhshbsbe

in the 1996 liveaction series of Journey to the West, Jingu Bang is also sentient and despite the dated graphics, it's some fun sequences when the staff gets to to its antics! plus 96 Xiyouji is just, such an emotional and genuinely good time of a series, I def recommend it to folks even if it changes A Lot about the canon and narrative. that's one adaptation that i think did the whole changes to the book source INCREDIBLY right.

while the staff is not much given sentience in the book, it does seem to Know that Wukong is its fated wielder and responds to him exclusively, which does give some credence to sentient weapons interpretations. that said, i do view the staff as an extension of Wukong rather than i suppose you could call a partner in arms. it's his signature weapon, what defines him as Him in iconography and depictions. same goes for Nezha with his artillery sash, fire-wind wheels, and fire-tipped spear!

thank you for the ask, and a good month to you too!!

[ludinusdaleth]

hey, i'm new to cr fandom and wasn't there when c2 was airing, may i ask out of curiosity what was the fandom's problem with its ending?

i want to start by saying this post is meant as a personal memory and not an incitement of any discourse. i do not want a lot of asks or replies or anything about this if i can help it. i would also politely ask that no one reblog this as i really just. dont want attention about this when ive discussed it to death on twitter. i also apologize for not having screenshots but i truly cannot bring myself to wade through that again. it was bad enough i still have nightmares about it.

basically, about 3 eps before c2's end, matt clarified on twitter the campaign was coming to a close, and that. did not go well. you see, folk (myself included, though i wasnt part of the following clown show) were very sure c2 would continue a while. it felt unfinished as the empire/trent had to be taken down, and for some of us ludinus was clearly the big bad, etc. so this was incredibly jarring to a lot of folk. and with that came anger. a lot of critique came down to fear of things being rushed, a lack of closure, claims of extreme neoliberialism due to not taking down the empire (i could write an essay on and cite multiple leftist activists who have stated c2 is truthful to the activist tale, not neoliberalism, and also how c3 deconstructs beau & caleb's actions, but everyone is allowed to have their own opinion on it), and that if shadowgast did not fuck in this short timespan the fans were going to kill liam & matt. and threats of killing were the least of what ensued. im just gonna put a tw here for discussion of extreme harrassment and even threat of necrophilia/rape:

people were. atrocious. beyond atrocious. know why 4sd/a lot of q&a events of theirs for a while had no fan questions? partially bc fans were frankly terrible at asking non-ship questions on talks machina, but mainly because folk FILLED their inboxes with insults (and a twitter account was made of screenshots bragging about it) that only the crew would get to filter out, not the cast. know why dani was terrified to show her face on 4sd for a bit? c2 fans would not let up on how it was her cishet fault fjorjester happened. people thought the solution to alleged neoliberalism was to therefore @ travis saying they would defile his veteran fathers corpse. if there was any solid discussion critiquing c2 happening, it was so drowned that actors who had nothing to do with the show told cr fans to stay away if that was how they treated their favorite creators wanting a break. it really didnt help that a certain disgraced talks machina host was firing potshots on twitter when the cast seemed to be just trying to take it all in, so more discourse was kicked up from him. in general besides all of that, you had the average death & even a few rape threats you would expect from the pits of fan entitlement. the way they were hardly the most notable of the insults hurled their way still rattles the mind. and thats just what i saw. my friends have claimed to have seen worse, but if we can help it we dont discuss it in detail, it's that bad. like i said, any idea of an actual conversation about c2 and how someone felt about it from an analysis perspective was not even a drop in the bucket; there was no actual discourse but rather spitting hatred pouring over that mistook personal grievances for excuses to mistreat quite literally anyone around them who didnt agree that threatening to defile someone was funny bittersweet revenge.

the thing is, after the c2 finale happened? i mean, a lot of folk didnt originally like it (i think it's generally pretty well liked now, and i enjoy it), but it wrapped up a lot of issues pretty well. all that terror & terrorizing over a fictional story was really for nothing. and even if it had ended undebateably badly did anything warrant that fallout?

there are of course a few other factors that seperate cast from fandom now. laura also got innumerable threats from tlou fans for playing some antagonist character, twitter is a dysfunctional shithole, and it's just rational the more popular you get to not be buddy-buddy with fans. but that was. a Time, for sure. c3 is a decent campaign but im far from the first person to note that many of its traits are set in trying to find vox machina's fixed story beats so no story beat is left "unturned" and being as un-m9-like as possible, even when they love the m9. a lot of the worst m9 fans now who harrass other campaign enjoyers and lament c2 being "an unloved middle child" are folk who never left the bitterness they held in that time. for as much discourse as c3 has kicked up i really dont think any of it compares to the sheer scale of what happened late may 2021, and im hoping with all my heart it never does reach that level ever again (i think c3 has a slightly smaller (at least online) fanbase compared to c2, and isnt marked by a pandemic hiatus, so hopefully that means something).

i hope i answered your question. i really hate remembering this time but sometimes i think it should be remembered so folk know what the cost of extreme parasociality is. the distance the cast has from fans now is not only earned but maybe should have always been there, so things never evolved to that extremity. but now it's done and gone. i envy people who watch cr on their own merits and didn't get sucked into twitter at the time; it has been fascinating watching folk say they love the travelercon/aeor arcs and the ending. rewatching later c2 really emphasizes how many complaints hinged on extremely online & parasocial headspaces - you definitely wont hear anyone nowadays say liam is a biphobic cishet abusing matt by not making caleb kiss essek yet. i hope new fans have a better time than we did. oh - and get off twitter.

[jadzio]

Hey, I know it's been a lil while, and that you're busy, but I've been wondering about something. In the past, you have mentioned that Velvette is your favorite character from Hazbin, and I'm curious - what's the reason for that?

It mostly surprised me because of how little screentime she gets (I believe she has roughly 4 scenes, where she got to speak). I have also had instances where I came to really love side characters that the story didn't put much focus on, but I also don't recall any of them ever making it to my number 1 spot, so yeah.

But I will admit that I enjoyed her quite a bit. Her VA did a great job, and I do like the fun archetype of the 'snooty self absorbed rich girl that is also pretty short I guess' (with Pacifica from GF, Qiyana from League, and Disgust from Inside Out being some other examples I liked).

And Resepctless is a bop, of course. Plus it also strongly implied that Velvette is somewhat delusional (as Vox was shown to be the backbone of her group, being the one with biggest influence, that also sorts situations out - while Zestial didn't loose any relevance, judging by the way folks on the street reacted to him), which could be a fun thing to explore in Season 2.

I wonder if there's anything more to your enjoyment of the character, or if it's just the stuff I already said. After all, we all have our favorite tropes and archetypes, and a character would often become my favorite for simply fitting into the ones I like!

But I suppose there's no harm in asking :3

dw dw

I may answer a bit late, but hey at some point I will claw out some time...

Velvette is my fave from hazbin, but Beelzebub is my fave from the whole hellaverse.

I dont think she is delusional tho. I think that line was just either puffing up your coat to appear bigger and more threatening to the other overlords or all the v's i think thinks of themselves as the most important. We see a lot of vox, but id say that its vel who keeps things running the most. She isn't running and wasting time on simping for someone who won't even look at em (I mean angel for Val and alastor for vox). She feels like she needs to pick up crap after their toxic yaoi and feel the consequences the most.

And I think zestial might have lost some influence. I mean if u only take what folks from the street think of him, I mean they acted like that when they've seen alastor too, but its harder to argue that he remained in the same power as before. I think most sinners would reacted that way, cause 1 overlords, 2 who knows what they are up to, 3 they are known to take souls so u know u can still think lowly of someone and still be scared of them if they have a granade in their hand. Sides Val might have said that cause maybe v's have millions of souls due to the powers shift and more of the new sinners coming to them for technology., while zestiel might have had only a few thousands, strong ones, but less in numbers. Maybe she thinks those old souls can't do much anymore as opposed to their millions. also situation just had changed, they've discovered that angels are not immortal. so she wants a new approach to the situation and not be dragged by old unchanged ways of ye old. Also also all that was to prode and poke at carmila to cause her to outburst. I think she is smarter then u give her credit to. she knows its Carmilla and is trying to get out more info in the way she knows how. also it might have been again puffing up your coat to bring more overlords to her side.

But to answer ur question, I think i need to go back to queen bee. My love for her started for a beautiful design and its still a big part of it ofc. But... Idk how to describe it. She kinda awakened/opened some part of me if even just a lil (not like sexually i already know im pan/furry don't at me). Some part that been hidden away. one thats more spunk and free in her expression. More femme but in this specific way. This all didnt change my life in a dramatic way, but it pry open the door for other stuff to influence it.

And thats where Vel comes in. Trough that opened door, a lil bit. She also has an amazing design. But she is also spunky and not afraid to speak her mind and have a lil fun with it. She is respectless and a lil but of a bad bitch and Idk that kinda resonates with me a lil. I sometimes wish I had that confidence to flip off other plp (when deserved obvi) and dress in unusual ways.

overall idk you can all attribute my interest in them both to excellent design. but that's my theory on why

[youve-doomed-us-all-jerk]

and finished it ,got dat true ending yes def had a great time on the game 8/10 (but yeah performance def docked some points as well as some writing threads that felt kinda dropped, but am trying to in good faith piece it together in me mind so just gonna ramble spoilers under the cut:

when people said this is what they wanted the original DD to be i can see that but like i feel like the lead up to the game kept hearing people who know more about the originals history talk about how "40-60% of the original vision was cut down" from dd1 and i feel like my brain unfortunately interpreted that as "oh cool so were gonna have 100 new vocations like the monk and 100 monsters and the parallel worlds(technically true☝🏽🤓) and the moon stuff, neat" thats on me lmao but yeah removing those expectations and seeing it for what it is, its def the spirit of the the first game but its systems deeper and more fleshed out not good at all the techny terms but im not very into or good at action games but this one made me want to be cuz the combat was fun haha hmm writing wise there was a point where i felt like everything just suddenly got dropped once the godbane stuff started happening and youre suddenly barreling to the ending while everything else just wasnt important anymore lmao, but trying to interpret the story as a story the pathfinder is weaving, i think its meant to feel like that cuz we see the pathfinder essentially write us out of problems, give us a griffin to escape slavery, gives us a clue to where were supposed to go and the big one he like straight up changes ambrosius mind about giving us the godsbane when it wouldnt make sense for him too, the old man by harve even alludes to this by saying the real world is much messier when hes telling you about how fake everything is, like the watcher said everyone there is there to play a part in a tale hes laid out and i think he wanted to get to the ending faster. It's definitely another layer they added from the first games cycle, but do wish if that is what theyre going for(and if im not delusional lmao) that they did more like the ambrosius thing just watching as he ass pulls us out of dead ends making us feel what rothais felt when he realized all his feats and hardships didnt matter, also just would have liked more sidequests with fun characters lmao.

Also did enjoy the endings of the 3 major peoples in the unmoored world and felt like their side quests really fleshed them out and led them there to their endings well,mostly, very cool idea to bring it all together like that. elves wanted to stay isolated but they needed outside influence to break tradition, to save their tree and how it all built to them agreeing to seek refuge with the other races rather than die with their way of life. Ironic that disa was half right about sven needing to inherit the throne but ofc she was also half wrong cuz she a tyrant and wants him to have it mainly cuz of blood, but he deserves it cuz his sidequests were about him getting to know the common folk and becoming self assured lmao battahl tbh full disclosure i messed up the queen nadias sidequest to the rose chateau, tried to scare the dick head shopkeeper into giving me the medicine for the beastren and got arrested so idk how that one ends(will find out in NG+ lmao) but based on the ones i did do, it seems like the nations whole thing was about always being in conflict with each other and how the unmoored quests there are about making people put there differences aside and band together, including the arisen teaming with phaesus. Also like the irony of their view on pawns being right at first but by the end of the game they end up being wrong. but yeah do feel like they didnt get into that more, along with what the lambent flame is? (googled that there was lore texts you can find that explain how an earlier emperor is deceiving the people about it and what it really does) they also dont go into the fact vermund was a nation of beastren, started by a beastren and then history was wiped?? and how theres vermundians fear of beastren and human children always look like beastren and yet wilhelmina is a direct contradiction of this?? that seemed like a really juicy plot point but they didnt really do anything with it. and lastly idek where to start with the pawn and arisen ending, found out theres slight differences in the affinity ending (got the high affinity one cuz reds my my gurl i always revive run straight to her to revive her🤗) but watching them talk about how happy they are to have their own will while saying theyd still do anything for you filled me with something, dont even know what but was crazy.

oh also before i forget another way its in the spirit of the first game for me is just like in the original i also forgot to talk to the person i was romancing and giving them flowers before the endings and got diff people appearing there just like my first playthru of the dd1 lmfao( got manela with grigori and sara in the true ending, was going for ulrika this playthru lmfao) def gonna NG+, maybe do a magic archer and get the stuff i missed and try and get the other endings. Also hoping for another expansion/dlc like they did with dd1 down the line with more vocations and monsters.

[gaydogmarriage]

cyno sq2 messy thoughts

cyno quest 2 was pretty alright. its got the usual genshin jank writing disease but for what it was i enjoyed it. felt pretty crammed into a shorter story than it should have been tho. theres still a lot of gaps that remain unexplored and the exposition was dumped so fast... sadly most of the parts id like to see explored more revolve around cyrus so tough shit there, i doubt he's appearing again. unless something happens off screen and cyno tells us about it we're pretty much left to speculate on things like cyrus's motives and any talks they may have about this new revelation of cyno's past. which isnt a bad thing, its just a little frustrating just how much that was put aside in the quest

im really curious about what cyrus's thoughts and feelings that led to the decisions he made were, how much cyno feels he needs to know, how much cyrus is willing to tell.. hes one mysterious bastard

its worth noting that cyno refers to his spirit indwelling as the result of a deal he made willingly, despite him being a small child when it happened, definitely not fit to be making thise kinds of decisions. i already thought that was something to pick apart before, but now with this quest it gets so much more curious. his memory of that time is so hazy he didnt even remember the temple of silence and the other kid who went through the same thing he did. he was sold by his parents for the sole purpose of being a vessel which i doubt was something a small kid would just volunteer for, and then he had the fragment implanted into him. yet even as he's standing tgere in the temple, he refers to it as a deal he made willingly. he says it like its the only thing he knows and remembers about it. is it something he tells himself? is that how he copes, by retroactively trying to grant himself agency in a situation out of his childhood self's control? when he calls it a deal, is he referring to the people who put the spirit in him, or does he consider it a deal with the spirit itself? theres just so much to dissect here

and furthermore, cyno seems to completely forgive cyrus for the role he played in this. it really recontextualizes their whole familial relationship. we know how lowly cyno thinks of scholars who pull stunts like this, toying with life and death and god knows what else. he personally participated in putting a stop to the artificial god experiment, which reflects his own past more than he even realized at the time. yet he seems to barely even feel conflicted when it comes to cyrus. maybe he's just matured and become content with his life beyond the point of that truly shaking him up, but he should still have some issue with it on principle. but he's also known cyrus for seemingly all of his life that he remembers, and ultimately he did put a stop to it and get him out of there, and then proceed to keep him safe from the akademiya treating him the same. as a test subject, not his own person. he knows cyrus is no longer willing to be complicit in something like that, so he has no concerns. i don't know. there's just so much

on a completely unrelated note... tighnarians, huh? im still not completely clear on whether valuka shuna and tighnarian are synonyms, or whether one is an umbrella term including the other or what. the implication seems to be that the headdress cyno wears seems to actually be based on fox folk, rather than a jackal or a wolf? which... doesn't really make sense. technically it's never been mentioned in actual dialogue or lore as being either, but it still doesnt quite sit right. hermanubis already seemingly wore the headdress, but he was a tighnarian himself? meaning he had fox traits? but the helmet does not look foxlike? are all tighnarians foxlike? are there some that were of other canine nature? im so confused. what does this mean for my dog coding enjoyment. i need to refresh my lore knowledge

and. hm. that 4ggravate friendship and cynari huh. i rly dont like how hard hoyo seems to be trying to retcon their backstories to instead pretend theyve always been besties. we could have gotten a bit of elaboration on how it was for them when they actually met, with tighnari as student and cyno already as mahamatra investigating him, but the quest dialogue acts like they were just classmates. if the implication was meant to be that cyno was both mahamatra and student at the same time, thats fucking stupid and im ignoring it. the cnnri in this quest was both incredible and a disaster for the fanon

oh and i like sethos. hes got a lot going on

and i like how cyno's maturity is portrayed in this quest, while still showing his shortcomings. we've had a lot of silly cyno since the archon and first story quests, and im really glad to see the serious mature side of him in a story thats more about him personally. and when he stands there right next to sethos you can really see how much he has his shit together in comparison, through his own efforts and the support of his loved ones. go go cyno we love that for you cyno

anyway quest gave me fun ingredience for my hc's and interpretations, but also Problems to solve. welp, the genshin giveth and it taketh away, thats just how it is

[ampersand-antics]

So I just beat TotK... and I have THOUGHTS

MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW!!!!

TOTK ENDING SPOILERS (OBVIOUSLY)

(I also think I got a secret ending? So spoilers for that)

I think the biggest accomplishment for me so far has been beating that malice-infused Silver Lynel under Hyrule Castle

So funny story, right after the spirit temple, I was like "Well I bet gdorf is under the castle, imma hop down there and see if I can find him." I went to the under-depths under the castle but I didn't see gdorf anywhere! I went past the likelikes and the horriblins and I didn't see any sign of gdorf so I left. Did the kogha depths quests (very much enjoyed the kogha depths quests they were epic!!!! (except I couldn't find the rito chasm)) and then kogha was like 'he's under the castle lol' and so I WENT BACK UNDER THE CASTLE and nothing was different!! And then I found the pass!! That had been there this whole time!!!

Uhhh thoughts on the castle... I loved it. I loved the enemies and how genuinely difficult it was, I loved the aesthetics, the music?? THE MUSIC!!!! oh my god I loved the music sosososo much. The way it progressed throughout the castle?? The way we went so far down was fuckin epic. I enjoyed it immensely. And I loved being able to be back in the first area - the echoes of going back to the beginning, cyclicalness, idk there's a much much deeper theme there but I don't have the words to express it.

I really enjoyed the fights with gdorf and I'm sososo glad he got rehydrated eventually. The hearts getting quite literally destroyed was an amazing twist. And the fact that he could flurry rush you??? I hated (loved) that sooooo much!!! At least he couldn't give like five attacks in return. I got out of that fight with two hearts left, and it was such a weird feeling to have full hearts and there only being two. The draconification was incredibly incharacter for gdorf but I still wasn't really expecting it. Just goes to show how fuckin strong link is, bc he felt THAT desperate. The dragon fight was kinda underwhelming tbh but I absolutely loved the aesthetics. I wish there was a way that the Demon dragon would still be there in the overworld. I'm glad Zelda came back, I'm sosososo glad she got her happy ending, I've heard a lot about how it felt cheap but honestly folks use 'the power of love' as a reason for so many things all the time so it's not bad. And the fact that there's an actual Explanation (sonia's and raaru's spirit powers, coming to finish the job?? Epicccc) one thing i didnt like (or think makes sense) is that links arm went back to normal all in all tho I really enjoyed it!!!!

I liked the secret ending too. I don't really know what to say about it (my brains going brrr rn and it's hard to actually articulate it)

The one thing about all this that really pissed me off was that things just went back to the way they'd been before. I mean, it really didn't have to. You could've kept the gloom by just being like "yeah for some reason all the gloom didn't go away". Then don't transform Zelda back into a human, just extract her, so there's the dragon form and the human form and you can still get horns, let link keep his arm and have mineru's construct be inhabited by an AI. Maybe even add a side quest series about getting rid of the gloom from hyrule/the depths via Zeldas light powers? As for Zelda herself, either go SMO style and have her pop up in random locations talking about stuff, have her stay in Hateno at her house and the school, or (and this would be really cool) make her into a companion! We already have the baseline for that with the other sages, she could have a moveset similar to Zeldas basic light moves in aoc, and maybe her sage ability could bathe a little area in sacred light and make it so gloom wasn't existent in it? Idk it could be super fun. And not having it matter at all in the end makes everything feel much much less meaningful.

All in all, I think i like totk less than botw. But not by much, they're both great games and I LOVE how totk built on botw. Maybe it's just the nostalgia talking, but there's just something I can't put my finger on that makes botw better than totk.

I'll keep updating this blog with more of playthrough!!

[sushiboi004]

just a bunch of album recs:

lift your skinny fists like antennas to heaven - godspeed you! black emperor: my favorite album of all time, its an absolute experience with highs (like 3:10 on storm) and lows (like the outro of static), and i dont think anything could make me dislike this album whatsoever (standouts: all of them)

deathconsciousness - have a nice life: my second favorite album of all time (i only know my top 2 right now lol), and on first listen i didnt really love it that much. i thought the first half was a bit too boring (mainly because this was one of the first albums id listened to that wasnt emo) and i thought the effects made it too muddy, but boy was i shocked when i heard earthmover. instantly favorite song of all time, and it still is, 2 and a half years later. after that, i relistened to the whole album and it quickly grew on me, to the point its at today (standouts: a quick one, holy fucking shit: 40000, i dont love, earthmover)

touched - nadja: one day, on youtube music, under the section for covers of songs on my home page, i saw nadja's cover of needle in the hay by elliott smith. at the time, that was a song i was listening to on repeat, so i listened to the cover. i thought it was pretty good, so i checked the artist out, looked at the debut album (as i usually do when checking out an artist), and i really liked the cover art. when i checked the description, it said it was drone doom, which i thought was intriguing, so i listened, and i really liked it. this might not be for everyone, given that its drone, which gets boring/repetitive for a lot of people, but i really enjoyed it because it was just so heavy and almost foggy (standouts: stays demons, flowers of flesh)

the glow, pt. 2 - the microphones: my friend showed me i want wind to blow, and i really liked it. when i went to relisten to it, i listened from the album, and when the song was finished, it went onto the title track, which jumpscared me lmao. but because it was so shocking, i listened to it, and i thought it was even better, so i added the album to my list of albums to listen to and carried on. then i finally listened to it on 9/11 of 2024 (because it came out on 9/11/01 and i thought it was funny) and i thought it was great. it is folk, but even if you dont like folk, id still suggest this, because to me, it doesnt feel like folk. its more singer-songwriter, with a lot of shoegaze elements sometimes. (standouts: all of the first 4 tracks, the gleam pt. 2, map, i felt your shape)

for the first time - black country, new road: that same friend told me to listen to this album, and eventually i did. this was before isaac left, which i feel happy for being there before that, despite only being about a month before. i really liked this one (i know i keep saying "really liked" shut up), and soon after listened to ants from up there (which i also absolutely recommend), and soon after that became obsessed with this band lmao. when live at bush hall came out, i was so excited, despite being nervous that it wouldnt be as good because isaac left, but that quickly went away as soon as up song started. anyways, besties just came out and im really excited for the album on april 4th!!! (standouts: athens france, science fair, sunglasses)

wildlife - la dispute: this is gonna be my last one for now, but this album is soooo damn good. i was first introduced to this band by looking up "scariest songs reaction" on youtube when i was like 8 lmao. one of the songs was king park, which is about a true story of a drive-by shooting where the shooter accidentally shot a kid. insanely sad story, and terrifying as well. but i really loved the music as well. then, 6 or 7 years later (its funny cuz thats a lyric in one of the songs on this album, but it actually was 7 years later), i remembered that song, relistened to it, and wow is it still as hard-hitting as i remember. so i listened to their debut, somewhere at the bottom of the river between vega and altair (which, again, i also suggest), and i really liked it (YES I KNOW I SAID IT AGAIN) and was listening to it on repeat, and then moved on to this one. it took a few tries to get in the mood for listening to it, but on the third try, the 3rd track clicked with me, and from there i was hooked. for the past few months ive been listening to this album so much lmao. its so emotional and heavy, and i just love it for that (standouts: st paul missionary baptist church blues, safer in the forest/love song for poor michigan, king park, edward benz 27 times, i see everything, you and i in unison)

anyways definitely listen to these albums at some point in your life, and i will absolutely be taking suggestions! :3

[nyctarian]

Best (and otherwise) Reads of 2024

I don't anticipate finishing any more things this year (let alone any I would add to this) so I'm posting it now.

I'm gonna be honest folks: this year wasnt my best reading year. if i were to sum it up in an image it would be this one:

I was so stop and start with reading this year, I didn't really curate this list at all as much as I have in the past, and kept 3 separate lists for best, had potential (ie things that were good but i didnt finish them), and biggest let downs (ie things i wanted to be good but were bad).

Best:

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett: I previously read the Moist von Lipwig trilogy of discworld books but never got around to other discworld books. While I didn't finish the city watch series (due to being so stop and start with reading this year) the ones I did get to did broadly live up to the hype. While I do disagree with people who go "it manages to definitely always avoid being copaganda!!!" it does still manage to avoid a lot of the worst pitfalls of mystery stories told thru police departments, especially aided by the discworld fantasy setting. I enjoyed the mystery and while i did not love all of the characters on the watch, i did really enjoy vimes (a very interesting character and, in this first book, a very different one than i had understood him to be thru pop cultural osmosis), i thought carrot was great, and i always love getting to spent time with vetinari (tho i . dont really understand people who ship him and vimes lol). I still want to finish the rest of the series at some point. (when reading it i did miss moist von lipwig terribly tho)

The Night is Short Walk on Girl by Tomihiko Morimi: It took me 8 million years to read this book and it was very much not the book i sort of expected it to be, vibes-wise, based on plot summary. For one, i had gone in assuming it took place across a single night (which was why i was interested in reading it, i love that type of story see also: untold night and day by bae suah which is a guaranteed best of list book whenever i finally finish it [and much better than this one tbh]), but in fact the first of four sections is the only one that takes place during the first night. The story was less surrealism-comma-vibey and more surrealism-comma-weird jokes. It is about two college students, a boy in love from a girl from afar (and hes only. sometimes. weird about it) as they keep bumping into each other in bizarre magical surrealist situations. The jokes were at times crass and weird, the setting and people were very almost blunt in their presentation, but it still worked for me. The section at night was always very At Night, the section at a crowded summer book market was humid and packed, the frantic energy was always there, and even tho the mmc was at times lowkey a weirdo, the fmc was also a bizarre guy who loved drinking kept choosing to engage with the bizarre scenarios she was presented, and it felt earned that they were choosing to be involved with each other. But like, some of the recurrent choices were at times very bizarre and inappropriate (a recurring side character has a key part of his initial introduction being gr/oping the fmc, something that isnt really addressed when he returns in the narrative), so very ymmv what you are narratively willing to ignore for the sake of the larger story.

Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz AND Calling a Wolf a Wolf by Kaveh Akbar: Lumping these two together because I never really know how to describe poetry books, but especially as my reading experience with these two (as different as the actual poems are) was very similar: two books I have read poems (& poem excerpts) from for ages that my library had available to read so i finally read them, and they were as good as the parts of them i had already read led me to believe they were. Highly recommended books of poetry

Tiny Moons: A Year of Eating in Shanghai by Nina Powles: Beautifully written collection of food/travel/culture/personal essays, the exact type of thoughtful and evocative experience I want when reading books of that genre. I stumbled across the book when i was planning on finally reading the collection of poetry by the author that one of my fav poem excerpts is from:

and also after reading a positive review of it from one of the few goodreads reviewers whose opinion im willing to occasionally consider. The book is about the author connecting with her identity (chinese-malaysian, and living in new zealand) exploring her thoughts on culture and her place in the world, her life and experiences, through food as the anchor of memory. The anchoring narrative is, as the title indicates, based around a year she lived in Shanghai, but she uses that framework to branch out and discuss memories of her childhood brought about by the city around her, and then how her experiences in Shanghai still shape how she lives life after leaving. Beautifully written my epub was heavily highlighted when i was done. (I was going to insert a photo of a few of the highlight but it got too long even just skimming my annotations so you can find those here and here)

The Sigh by Marjane Satrapi: A picture book by the author most famous for Persepolis that I stumbled across on archive.org when just looking through a bunch of other random books uploaded on their (my once fav past time before they all started being marked as unable to be borrowed), this was a unique fairy tale type of picture book, with a distinct standout icon:

This wasn't an earthshaking read or anything, but i love getting to engage with different types of fairy tales, esp those that play on typical tropes of the genre, and the weird guys character design absolutely made him stand out in my memory of what i read this year

Eastbound by Maylis de Karangal: [ETA: note that i wrote this immediately after finishing the book but unlike one hundred shadows which i thought about constantly after reading it, i bascially only have thought about this in the context of either seeing it at the lib i work at or when people do 'what books did you read this year' q's. thought it would linger more but it hasnt.] In continuing the theme of my best books this year not quite being as great as previous best books, this one didn't quite live up to the 2022 best of the year de Karangal book i read, The Cook, but i still really enjoyed it. A contemporary (presumably to 2012 whne it was first published in the original french) novel about a Russian would-be soldier trying to desert his conscription and the french woman who ends up helping him, all set on a train, this was different from The Cook, in that the characters were a lot more defined, but it still maintained a contemplative and dreamy atmosphere, only broken up towards the end when it does get unexpectedly (to me) tense. Interpersonally, while much of the novel the way the two main characters interact is Not the same as what is still my book of all time that I read last year, Hwang Jungeun's One Hundred Shadows, it did towards the end make me think of One Hundred Shadows in the way the characters interacted, which for me is a huge compliment.

Actually, One Hundred Shadows Interlude:

while a number of factors contributed to my reading experience this year being more scattered and less tremendous than last year, i will blame OHS for being so good that it completely reframed what i want out of any book and setting an unattainable standard that all books since have been unable to me. i emphasize both that everyone should read this but also that if you feel even a little differently about it than me i do Not want to hear it!

What Could Have Been:

Mox by Jon Moxley: I started reading this in february of 2022 and conceded that I would not be finishing it in march of 2024. The book has anecdotes I referenced for discourse reasons multiple times, and was very funny. Just couldnt finish it for some reason or another (this phrase will be key in the what could have been section!) (my slowly diminishing interest in wrestling during the time period i was trying to read it also definitely contributed to my dwindling interest in it lol)

Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler: Annoying at times in the start but an interesting period piece for the moment of time it captured, and a good amount of interpersonal characterization stuff, semiautobiographical iirc, and i am always compelled by books about food and restaraunts. I started reading something else during a lull in the plot and just never found my way back for some reason or another.

Perfect Sound Whatever by James Acaster: SUch a good book, a really unique type of music writing thats also personal essay, but unique in that it didn't annoy me the way that type of format can frequently be. I stalled out on this one because I kept highlighting too many of the albums he was recommending to check out, and it just kind of halted my progress for some reason or another. I do want to revisit this one someday and highly recommend it!

10 Minutes 38 seconds in this strange world by Elif Shafak: This book had been on my to read list for approximately 8 million years. It was slightly different than my expectations when I finally tackled it but not in a bad way. I just never sunk my teeth into and had to concede eventually that, for some reason or another, I wasn't going to finish it.

The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa: I loved this one, it was so good and I read more than enough of it that I could have snuck it onto my normal best of list by the standards I have at times used for other books in past years, but i made a mistake of skipping to the end and (spoiler big spoiler) it made me sad (in a way i should have expected it was narratively coherent and consistent!) so i just. kept putting off reading the rest of it to connect where i left off to how it gets to the end (plus I had been reading it on archive dot org and oh boy did that resource getting nerfed also heavily impact my reading this year!) and so i just never finished it. Still a big recommendation tho!

Let downs:

Penance by Eliza Clark: This book fucking suuuuuckeeddddd. This website will tell you it was good and clever but thats because people are easily flattered by niche tumblr references. I don't disagree with its ideology that true crime can be bad but it fails to tell a compelling narrative or do anything interesting with its framing devices. the book also is inspired by a real life tragedy but never actually cites the real life tragedy, and even has a character off hand refer to the real life tragedy in a highly derisive way for how the real mother of the real victim coped with her loss. I wanted to like it but jesus christ did it suck.

Funny Story by emily henry: Emily henry has lost the juice i fear. i didn't like the happy ending second chance romance book she did but i hoped it was a one off but i. hated this book. There were way too many characters (theres a side character for whom i could name like, 6 different extended family members for no real reason that didnt add to the book at all). the main characters almost had chemistry but never quites, their exes never were sensical in how they were used, and as a librarian i hated how the library job was presented. ms henry you were my last reliable turn my brain off romcom author i pray you find someone who will take a red pen to your books, please, for their own good.

The Mysteries by bill watterson: i was excited when i heard about this book, and further excited when i saw my library acquired it, but in the end it was a boring political allegory (not that i disagreed w the politics bc iirc it was a tr*mp bad and/or environmentalism good thing i dont remember it was just boring and like, not well done) and the art was bad.

IN CONCLUSION:

I like reading and want to read more and want to read good books and my new years resolution for the second year in a row is to try and clear off the books from my currently reading list. i am still going to set my annual goal for 2025 to a lower one than i did for 2024. The shifting availability of reading books online, legal or otherwise, has had a definite impact on how much i read, but thats not the only thing i can really point to as to why ive read less. idk. happy reading in 2025

[soul-dwelling]

More Zelda asks!

(Continuing from here.)

Spoilers below. 

So, in bold, are the asks I got after my remarks.

The thing with storys in video games is that yeah they don't really matter, but if the devlopers try to make us care, they better not be bad. Like all the flaws and all would be ok, if the game didnt act like it was all important, meaningful and deep, if interviews didnt tease how it talks about big events but then make it into a mere name drop. Basically you cant have your cake and eat it too, either comit or just do an excuse plot of "save the princess from badguy, thats all folks!"

Imagine BREW (the real one not the fake) existing at the end shattering while absorbed inside the kishin, only for Makas moms ring to glow and transform into another BREW thats even more powerful with an excuse that oh yeah it got passed from generation to generation as a failsafe. That would feel kinda weird right? Yeah thats how the 2 masterswords thing feels - having such a mystical item be copied by time travel just feels of

But yeah sorry for spaming the Zelda asks, guess I needed a place to vent and was to lazy to write a whole video essay or something😂

No problem about asks--whatever helps with writing, drafting a video essay, etc. 

Maybe it’s just that, in my time analyzing stories, I didn’t care enough about storytelling in video games. 

This came up years ago when I was at an academic conference. 

There was a presentation about one of the Arkham games. 

And after the presentation one of my classmates was criticizing this presentation for having an argument that boiled down to, “In a video game, you inhabit the character’s point of view.” 

And my classmate (later roommate--this will be relevant later) thought this was such an obvious statement and did not meet the standard that an academic presentation should have, that being to say something new or more complex than “you are the character in the game.” 

I didn’t get why my classmate was this upset--except for three things. First, I’ve been in academia this long, and I still don’t know what people want to hear: do you want me to say something super-obvious but in a clear and compelling way, or say something complex but that is not going to make much sense to anyone but probably me?. Second, academic conferences can get boring when just about every presentation is a work in progress and rarely a complete and tidy argument. And third, my classmate/roommate was big in video game scholarship, really got into games when they would play them in our apartment, and made big waves in video game scholarship because they were this engaged with the topic, far beyond “you play as the character.” 

Maybe this presentation shouldn’t have been about Arkham and instead a visual novel or another type of game where your decisions are having you inhabit the characters? Granted, this presentation was long before Doki Doki Literature and Undertale came out, so maybe this presenter was just ahead of their time. 

And this is my long-winded way to get to my point: maybe I’m not worried about Zelda as much as I would be Doki or Undertale because, as far as I can tell, the Zelda game is linear and not with divergent paths, hence the choices I make in the story don’t matter? That doesn’t negate what you correctly point out: if you’re going to have a story, make it good. 

But for me personally, I probably have not cared as much about a story in a game because, in most games that I play, my choices in gameplay don’t change that story. 

For me to notice a bad story in a game, that story would have to be so bad that I would only notice the story once it does something I find to be bad storytelling. It’s like that adage, that you don’t notice something is good when it works, but you do notice it when it stops working: I don’t notice a good story in a game because it just works, I do notice a bad story in a game because it is getting in the way of enjoying the game. 

If I had any example of a bad story in a game? I don’t play enough games to think of one beyond maybe the World of Light part of Smash Ultimate being a lackluster ending? But even then, I kind of shrug and say, “It’s vague, it’s ambiguous, it’s that way to let you interpret the symbolism on your own, it’s deep because it means those characters have been freed back into our real world to populate their own stories once again.” 

But I’ve been rambling. Let me actually reply to points you’re making. 

Yes, if the developers put this story into the game to make us care--both about the story, and about seeing the game to its conclusion--it had better be good. Like I said, a bad story would be one that makes me set down the game and say I’m not finishing this (or, it’s just a difficult topic in the story that I’m not interested in sitting through: Doki Literature, Inside, Five Nights at Freddy’s). It’s not like there aren’t games I’ve played where I’m neutral about or enjoy the story: Sonic Mania, Crash 4: About Time. But those aren’t exactly meaningful and deep, so pretty much what you said about “save the princess” plotting: good at setting up plot, stakes, and action, without having too many characters have any progression (not that a static character is bad, mind you). 

Now, onto the two Master Swords, and, again, I don’t know Zelda lore or the entire plot of Tears, so I may get this wrong: 

The copying by time travel can work--if it is set up well. That is a conceit of enough time travel stories, that you have the same entity, usually a person, existing in the same location at the same time. It’s the problem when you don’t set up how it happens, or the stakes. In Back to the Future, Jennifer seeing herself risked screwing up the timeline and caused psychic damage to both. In Bill and Ted, it’s mostly comedy, things happen before Bill and Ted already knew to set them up. 

But what about objects themselves? In Ninja Turtles 2003 and Gargoyles, there is pretty much only one timeline--only one Time Scepter, only one Phoenix Gate, they just keep existing and repeating in an infinite loop, never duplicated. But in Avengers: Endgame and Loki, seeing another version of yourself is due to a divergent timeline. So, is that what is happening here, that Link going back in time with his own Master Sword meant that of course he is going to come across another Link with another Master Sword?  But that is me addressing how the two Master Swords got here, not why the story is doing it. Based on your metaphor, it doesn’t sound like the “why” is set up well in the game. Yes, if Maka’s mom’s ring was suddenly revealed to be a BREW all along, that would be so abrupt and out of nowhere. I take it, then, that looking at Tears again, or playing it again, it isn’t enriched by any foreshadowing that makes you realize, “Ah ha, that was the Master Sword all along”? At least if, in this scenario, there were so many hints that the ring was BREW, then re-reading the story, I would feel rewarded and see the setup was there all along and wasn’t just a cheap twist or a lazy way to give our heroes the power up they needed to win despite the odds. I take it Tears doesn’t do anything to make the second Master Sword feel natural and that it instead feels like an ass-pull so that the good guys can win?

[godzexperiment]

yet again we got that modern verse(s) brain rot folks-

-he is very much in stories, told about him that he doesn't know about... he is vaguely aware it comes with life but opts rather not think of it

-living off an fake id only because when he first wandered into his like go to bar/club *where he plays onstage at times/is around the most people the most frequently* (some guy was like ???? 'it's so weird you got in without one? or dont have an id and that is kind of huge if you want to do lots of things especially drink' and thusly nix sought to correct said issue) but anything else? it just goes over his head... like he had nobody offering advice/no need so yeah -favorite 'defacing' of public property is elaborate chalk pastel art on buildings/pavement (he especially enjoys doing it at like 3am after an rainy day so that maybe some passerby might be like 'okay life sucks an little less' seeing it and sometimes he does it knowing it's going to rain) but he also very much does other stuff/is somebody who'll draw little smiley faces places for fun -often obtains flowers from grocery stores as an little treat for himself (how he comes by them... is not usually by purchase) and goes about like pressing them,etc to preserve them often *thusly very often has flowers he's drying/in containers around his place-live ones near the few windows etc* -does an lot of 'morally good/for the better of society' things just without considering that aspect to it all, he dumpster dives often and like yeah he does things like donate what he can,etc but it's just like the palms of his hands *something that's just that big an deal to him*

-depending, might just have something like an traffic light sat in a corner and if somebody gets to be in his space/opts to comment he'll be like you don't get to know it nearly crushed me but... 'i'm planning to modify it with mood lighting or something' -has kept track of all his antics on the radio (he can tell you which siblings he's made jokes about/that 'two thursdays ago I went off topic talking about how beautiful people are and got an text in the morning from like the owner asking me if i could have phrased motherfucking masterpieces better') in general dude still very much absorbs what he is told,etc -always has snacks+energy drinks or soda,etc in his thigh holster bag and various other things (bobby pins, safety pins, hair ties,etc in case anybody he bumps into is like 'ah shit i need x due to an issue' etc) as such often has little moments where people are like 'wow this is going to mean i dont feel silly on my date' etc and nix is just like :) that is so cool, i did an good anyways.... -usually keeps flight to his warehouse space/wherever but sometimes has scheduled moments+situations where it's just like speeding through the air+doing tricks,etc (dude loves utilizing rooftops for this- run jumping an stupidly large gap no human could make and opening his wings to glide across etc) -which wing maintenance? given how durable they are isn't like an major deal etc but some nights he just gets overwhelmed with the 'if i get paint on them? it sticks and dries but wont flake off etc???? what do I do? i don't have anybody to ask for how to handle it or to help and that makes me feel awful' -does have his fake id choices memorized but also 'i dont remember what fake birthday i gave myself' types of situation which mixes with his anxious/existent nature to lie etc whoops nor does he really have an fake history sorted (sometimes, he'll metaphor and adapt things 'yeah im the youngest out of lots of siblings- i didnt really know them though growing up' etc) -sometimes dances along to the music in his headphones; typically when he's doing late night/wee am hours grocery shopping and is 100% an kicks against the ground to glide the cart faster from point a to b (never any crashing hazard as were he to encounter another/or some display he can you know quickly stop, redirect his pathing) *he's totally done it and had some little kid wide eyed like 'i just learned cool forbidden knowledge'* -as established he does not contain much money *often spending it faster than he obtains any/usually on others+donations places etc and like you know "theft"* but he certainly keeps change,etc to put in say parking meters or an quarter to offer somebody who could use it,etc (physical currency is his vibe; also he very much enjoys claw machines at the store)

-which he also tends to despite hating being in public,etc will take time to put things where they belong/fix messes at stores if he comes across it (somebody dumped clothes here on top the soda cases and- it wont take me more than an minute to return it where it belongs) -remarkably despite clumsy accidents often especially due to traffic; has yet to end up having to brush off ems/emts and such fuss. that would be like 'hmm you already seem to be healed, not that hurt?' yeah no nix knows that would be Terrible and doesn't even go anywhere close to such places

-might foster kittens for quite some time, depending on various circumstances and overall is often prone to 'yeah this stray kitten wouldn't stop following me so now is napping in the hood of my jacket till we get to the vet'

-enjoys being on roofs when it's rainy/outside in general during stormy weather especially if it's summer rain and getting caught in sudden rainy weather doesn't bother him (if anything were he hanging around somebody and they darted to get out of it he'd just stand there like xD while getting soaked to the bone teasing them over it)

-likes walking along things like parking spot buffers, fountain edges etc and will sometimes go out of his way to do so without actually thinking much about it