#for what little screentime he gets i am so in love with his mannerisms

[subsequentibis]

khamsin redraws from the one cutscene to get the Feel for him better and also bc he pulls some great faces

[yaseraphinee]

astro observations 1 - focus on appearance and vibes

Hi ! Today I am posting my first ever astro observations ! Hope you like it! (if you do, there is more to come *mischevious smirk)

(REMINDER : I am NOT a professional astrologer. Everything I say are my personal opinions and not facts.)

Aries rising men

-> Aries rising men tend to look either really "primal" or like a greek god that fell from the Mount of Olympus.

From the ones I have seen (which is rare like where are they hiding??l) they have thick straight eyebrows, are taller than average, tend to be on the skinnier/leaner side and tend to have a prominent cranium.

-> They also often look mad/like they are about to start a fight or they are just pissed off 24/7 (it's similar to Scorpio risings RBF but it's not as intense or shady it's more like "the fuck you're looking at ugly ass" lmaooo)

-> I knew a guy who was an Aries rising and he described himself as a professional hater. He loved cursing at people and just getting pissed off. He admitted that himself by saying stuff like "i love hating on people" and would, without any shame, try to find any opportunity to shit on people (just for fun though lmaoo)

This attitude/anger issues/cursing at people 24/7 can also be seeing in Vinnie Hacker for instance. *He is an Aries rising and the way his only screentimes in the Hype House show was him treatening to beat people's asses is so funny to me help-

Also , Vinnie Hacker to me (obviously) falls into the "greek god looking" type of Aries rising men.

(*but then he has cancer placements so maybe all that moodiness doesn't help him at all lmaoo)

Men and women with aries stelliums often radiate libra energy for some reason. 

They look really elegant and feminine. They usually have really good manners, they are really soft spoken and sweet. They are super polite and charming. They seem generally approachable and have a nice smile on top of that.

ex :  Prayag Mishra aka the "pookie guy", PinkPantheress

Prayag Mishra aka the "pookie guy"

-> He looks really well groomed which is a typical libra men thing as it is ruled by venus, the planet of beauty and harmony.

-> He is known for being sassy which i would typically associate with leo placements (and fire energy in general) HOWEVER libras and taurus, because they want to RECEIVE that princess treatment too, can also be quite dramatic and sassy but in a less upfront, all up in your face way.

-> His sassiness is paired with a certain flirtiness which is SOO libra.

-> Just read this article about him "combatting toxic masculinity". I don't know if I am reading to deeply into it, but this "toxic masculinity" and "sassy men apocalypse" thing feels really Aries VS Libra to me -> Masculinity VS Feminity which, again, proves how he radiates feminine energy despite having more masculine energies in his chart.

(that take is a bit of a stretch ngl)

PinkPantheress

-> Her appearance and singing is really angel-like. She sings with a really sweet and soft voice, usually about love.

-> She comes off a little shy at first, but mostly well-mannered and polite. She also smiles a lot.

-> The gentleness in the way she talks and the "Let's not make it political" screams Libra to me. All about keeping the peace and the harmony.

-> She is known for her fashion sense, which is quite "girly".

I also see a lot of men saying she looks "feminine", she has a lot of fanboys and they seem to adore her softness and her nice personnality (in addition to her beauty). A lot of them act a bit possessive towards her. it's like she brings out this "i'll provide and take care of you" type of energy out of men lmaoo

-> I knew two guys with aries stelliums who came across really calm and composed, which sounds completely opposite to what Aries are stereotypically described as.

(one of the guys had a taurus rising and his stellium was located in the 12th house so maybe that is why he seemed much calmer and almost melancholic?)

Scorpio rising women

Scorpio rising women tend to have square/ rectangular and straight body types. Their shoulders tend to be really prominent and squarish.

They are also usually of a smaller height, or just smaller than average. They also have a pretty prominent forehead and prominent cheekbones.

Here’s a visual example of Scorpio rising women : 

Maya from XG - Scorpio rising (Tropical) (it is not confirmed since we don't know her time of birth but I think scorpio could be her rising sign)

Grimes - Scorpio rising (Tropical)

Bee’s Honey Tarot - Scorpio rising (Sidereal)

Lily Rose Depp - Scorpio rising (Tropical)

(/!\ all of them are skinny and most of them are white so it definitely doesn’t represent every Scorpio rising women out there but more so a sub-group that I have identified /!\)

stay blessed 💋​💕​💗​💖​💅​

[accirax]

initial thoughts on DCAS episode 7

very notable that this was within the context of being about "love" specifically. (at least) one-sided trevek canon? (i'm not even a huge trevek shipper i just think this whole plotline is funny)

okay, so Yul's foot injury IS real. or at least, he's using it as an excuse to complain. still, the fact that it was brought up again an episode later makes me think that it's going to have SOME relevance to the plot.

any time that Yul has to parrot something in Emily's "you go girlfriend ;D" manner of speaking i cackle. he didn't choose the home decor saying any time is wine time lifestyle, the home decor saying any time is wine time lifestyle chose him.

Grett i am... genuinely confused. how can you possibly think that Yul is actually in love with you? did you really receive THAT little love in your home life? you have no ability to distinguish catty and fake praise for your accomplishments from real ones because your family gave you THAT little recognition? man. now i made myself sad :( ily Grett

okay, confirming that 1) it was Tom's trap, 2) they are willing to eat squirrels, 3) Tom is serving as the provider for the Cyan tribe. all things to take into account for any upcoming Cyan eliminations.

why

and how does said boyfriend feel about you kissing another man on television, Tom? this is a stupid lie.

again, why? it's probably already apparent from my earlier comments, but i changed my mind; i'm fully with Jake in this argument now. sure, Jake is really insecure and overly emotional, but what the HELL is Tom doing? making up a boyfriend is a really shitty thing to do, whether Tom had a legit reason for not calling Jake these past two years or if he didn't contact Jake due to his own mixed feelings/indifference. in either case, he should have told Jake the truth. at least when Jake was acting immature in S1, he was 24. Tom is a nearly 30 year old man. ACT LIKE IT.

Fiore slay

this is a really interesting response due to how vague it is, including in the vocal performance. was he taken off guard by his boss being nice to him? does he believe that she's telling the truth? does he feel bad for Trevor, or will he come to believe that he IS way better than Trevor? i'm glad that they're continuing on with the concept of the hosts having a plotline, because imo that was one of the highlights of S2, but they aren't doing it in a way that eats up as much of the screentime as it did in S2.

if Will was out of the picture i would be shipping these two so hard. who am I kidding, i kind of still am anyways.

Ally's other gf is here :,) glad that they got to reconnect (and neither of them were eliminated for it)

Fiore slay

the confirmation that Aiden thinks that the idea of him having any attraction to Tom is laughable and disgusting is HILARIOUS to me. bro really said, "why the hell would i be into YOU when i have JAMES lmao" straight to Tom's face. tbf, James and Tom are like... opposites in terms of personality and appearance (beyond being generally handsome and athletic young men).

"silly me, i keep forgetting that not everyone met their super cool and attractive boyfriend on reality TV. my bad!" (/pos)

(i tried to type "hubby" instead of boyfriend but i spared you all. it was too cringe even as the one subjecting others to the cringe.)

okay this was very fitting for her. iconic.

honestly, Alec and Riya's villainous alliance/friendship is really fun. leave it to Alec to always find himself in the least likely but most entertaining duos. Riya really benefits from being paired with a legitimate strategist, and someone who won't just let her totally get away with stuff.

we had to get in one last Fiore taking unnecessary damage for the road :,(

feeling like Jaiden is going to be winning the starting couples' survival roulette. and Wishley, to the extent they count.

now i'm no physicist, but how did this work? shouldn't the ball be a fast and heavy enough object at this point that it would jump over the log, not ricochet off of it? i suppose if the ball is made of something more like wicker than yarn, it could be a bit more likely to do that. but then why is it going to the side? it hit the log straight on!

... are you not allowed to help him anymore? what?

ellie is going full villain mode fr. if her and gabby's relationship gets messed up, that would definitely be karma. but, i suppose she survives this episode...

this is funny because nobody strikes me as the pizza and soda loving type. Alec, Grett, Yul, and Riya all seem like people who would want to eat something that's both fancier and healthier.

communication W (for both of them)

Fiore is such a best girl that she's not even a salty juror. she's not mad at them for so long that she can't use her final moments to throw a wrench in the works for everyone else. the grind never sleeps, clowns <3

and she even conquered her greatest nemesis, the bus, this time. fly high, queen. i'll miss you.

well, as a Fiore stan, this episode was a bit sad for me. but, i do totally understand why Magenta would both vote for Fiore and lose the challenge. (damn you, Ellie...) Fiore already did super well in both S1 and the original Adventure Camp, so i understand why they wouldn't have her go super far again in this season, especially when everyone knows she's such a threat.

i just hope that we can still get a little more closure for her and Alec than we got already in this season. all it has to be is, like, him being sad at her elimination for reasons other than pure strategy and maybe a nice conversation at the finale. it doesn't have to be Alec finally adopting her... even if i did want that to happen... i'd just prefer to know that they leave things on good terms.

anyways, another really solid episode! i look forward to the next one. thanks for reading!

[ouroboros-hideout]

Project Garmr

This is just a wild list of ideas I had after finishing Phantom Liberty and beeing slightly dissapointed how they treated Kurt Hansen as a character.

- Spoilers ahead -

First of all: I love PL but I think it has its weaknesses. But that's for another post.

I am manly dissapointed, that he was introduced as the main antagonist (Myers is the actual villian if you ask me) but got very little screentime or impact on your choices or story imo. He was there, the quests involving him where epic but in the end he just got low to medium depth lore and an unspectacular death. I could rant about the problems I have with the fight (gameplay was sick but the story was meh) or the not-fight if Alex is taking care of him. But that's for another post aswell.

I just want to write down some ideas and headcanons about how things could have turned out differently, if he didn't die.

- I'll give it to V or Alex, that they're actually able to defeat him

- But he'll survive the attack, badly wounded but alive

- He'll then recover in the hospital, maybe getting new chrome to compensate the injuries

If you leave Hansen alive after the fight, you'll later get informed by Mr. Hands that he was assassinated in the hospital.

But what if that's not true. What if Kurt faked his death and spread this missinformation. By placing a body double at his funeral and asigning Bennett and Jago to give the public some drama to make his disguise waterproof but secretly still pulling the strings in the back.

Why? Because it's an opportunity. An opportunity for revenge. Playing hide and seek spygames against the spies and government, who got him into this situation in the first place.

He failed to kill or capture Myers and that's grinding his gears. The grudge he's holding against her is becoming unberable. After Song and the agents of the FIA screwed him over he's more than done fucking around with the marionetts and wants to start a last attempt to kill the puppet master.

He basically wants Myers head on a silver plate.

- This top secret plan is communicted as 'Project Garmr' within the structures of Barghest and Dogtown

- only Kurts most trusted associates know about his plans and that he is still alive

- the risk of someone spilling the tea in the lower ranks of Barghest are to high

- means he needs to get along without the manpower of his militia. At least in the beginning

- in addition to that he doesn't want that his smuggling business or Dogtown in general gets involved too far

- he worked to hard and is proud of his achivements to throw everything into the trash for his personal revenge

- he reaches out to his contacts all over the world, asking around who'd profit from the death of Mrs. President and shifting powers

- all or most of it undercover, so his disguise stays in tact

- building kind of an army

- the course and outcome of this plan would highly depend on the people or organisations Kurt's siding with

-  because after all he wants Myers dead  and in the best case replace her with someone in his favor

- could mean he's 'accidentally' starting the next war or does it in a more discrete manner

- it would suit his character if he used all his wits, instead of just sending some missels to her face. He would not make this mistake again

If this would evolve into a legit fanfic or what ever there are a lot of possibilities to give the Colonel additional lore and depth. For example:

- Meeting people of his past, friends, lovers or enemies alike

- Showing different sides of him (vulnerability because of a trauma or cyberpsychosis or smth like that)

- more of his top tier interrogation skills

- knife fights! Oh yeah

Yeah that's it. For now. A big 'What If'. Don't know, really like the idea somehow. All of it is a WIP that I came up with in the middle of the night but I would like to make it a little project in some way. Even though Kurt didn't had the impact I'd hoped for in the game, he managed to get into the top 3 of my fav chars within the blink of an eye lol.

Side note: Garmr is a dog/wolf mentioned in norse mythologie (who has a lot in common with Fenrir, who is probably more popular). He's described as a fucking huge, blood-stained dog caught in chains, guarding Hel's gate, the door to the underworld. He is ascociated with the beginning of Ragnarök, the final battle between beasts and gods. Once he breaks free from his chains, he's ultimately responsible for plunging the world into chaos.

Think that's an appropriate name Kurt would choose. He's a mythology nerd lol.

Bark. Bark.

[chronicvagabonds]

it's funny how you want me to refresh your memory but after reading your reply, i might as well just copy and paste it because we're very similar when it comes to our faves lmaoskjds 💀

bleach is the only big, long anime/manga that i really got into besides inuyasha (my beloved) and it's been on my mind so much recently. the following yapping is most likely not spoilerfree

little teenage me watched the only episodes available (like what 10 years ago atp?) and couldn't get enough, so i switched to manga as well and read the entire thing lol

since they've picked up the anime again recently (thousand blood war arc) i've been getting back into watching it for nostalgia reasons but also because the recent animations REALLY do give the manga the appreciation it needed (imo)

you 🤝 urahara 🤝 me. bc why is he just so sksjkdfm. such a tease, but so helpful but also mysterious and honestly not someone you should naively trust with your life but that's what unfortunately makes him so great 💀 even more when they drop crumbs of his lore and backstory. honestly, might as well add yoruichi (miss thunderbeast black cat) into this mix bc both of them go hand in hand. 😤 my ultimate bleach crushes

adding to the list of shinigamis that i love would be Kenpachi with Yachiru. god, i love that guy 😩😩😩 everything about him. from his looks, to his manners (or lack of), background, how he became a captain, just big guy swing big sword but soft spot for little girl (whose bankai reminds me a lot of them hehe). AND KENPACHI'S BANKAI KSNDKJBD AS IF THIS MAN COULDN'T TURN INTO AN EVEN WORSE BERSERKER 👹👹👹 love that he didn't cast aside his usual demeanor when he "had to figure out his zanpakuto's name" to be able to use its powers properly (instead of just reishi zapping everywhere) and this guy just went something like "i don't care about your name. as long as you want to break and slice through shit as much as i do, we'll work great" and did 💀💀💀💀

ulquiorra was my MAN 😩😩 i used to draw him and grimmjow (he was just the perfect amount of assholey and friendly, plus his panthersuit meooow~) all. the. time. he's just my little emo boy trying to figure out the concept of humanity and what makes someone human. and omg. if the moment you mention between orihime and him is the same one i'm thinking of then.. 👀

i sent you an ask in the first place because i had watched the scene where he goes something like "tell me, what is a heart? if i tore a hole in your chest, would i see it? if i split open your skull, would it be there?.. i see now, in the palm of my hand.. is a heart." and i just thought 'damn, this is something yumi would write and ruin me with' and now we're here 🤪 tite kubo knew what he was doing when he put orihime and ulquiorra together. a living being, incarnation of love, healing and care with a being that only has a 'hollow heart', so so perceptive to everything but so clueless when it comes to orihime's warmth. just heartbreaking 😭

other arrancars that i took a 'liking' to are nelliel, nnoitra and szayelaporro. for nelliel, i would have loved more screentime in her adult form. she just seemed like such a sweetheart (in contrast to a lot of arrancar nature). when it comes to nnoitra it's entirely based on his concept and transformation bc he's probably one of the more dickheaded and nasty arrancars lmao. and i am a big sucker for scythes which he has plenty of when in his praying mantis form. just the unhinged nature. speaking of, i wouldn't even look in szayelaporro's direction if i could but the only reason he's on the list is bc of his fight with mayuri *shudders* 🫥🫥 something about tite kubo putting the two "scientists" against each other and one's concept is fertility/rebirth and the other.. re-creation of life but through science and immoral means lmao. i remember feeling so icky watching that fight.

my favorite arc has always been with the arrancars and hueco mundo. all of them representing a sin or emotion and the concept of 'hollow hearts' just intrigues me so much. really there's a lack of.. social etiquette in those vast lands which portrays every arrancar in such unique ways. and i'm just soo in for the hollowfication of characters (that one hollow ichigo form where he's just fully transformed and looks like a deviled bull?? *groans*)

speaking of icky, quincys are meant to be this holy and/or royal bloodline but a lot of their powers are far from anything i'd call holy 💀 maybe only in the sense that any normal human being would collapse in their presence (queue angel's true form "do not be afraid") äs nödt, giselle, gremmy and liltotto make it on my list of.. interesting quincys. you can just throw äs nödt and giselle into one and the same box of fuckign creppy, help me. äs nödt's only flaw being that it fears dying and going to hell when it itself is THE incarnation of FEAR ITSELF and uses it in its fight against rukia (which btw one of the most gorgeous bankais hands-down) and giselle who can form her own little zombie army just 🤺🤺🤺 BACK I SAID!!! i love that gremmy's strength and flaw is his mind. he embodies the concept of mental strength but also manifestation with it and it's oddly.. a very human concept? but it ends up bringing him to ruins when he loses grasp on his.. confidence but feels at peace all the same? especially in the fight against zenpaki (who is just as confident in himself) it felt like such a nice ending? idk and the only reason i love liltotto is because of their concept. small girl, surrounded by eccentric quincy girlies, goes chomp chomp, always hungry and just deadpans at everything. my bestie <33

one of my favorite episodes are probably whenever Kon (ichigo's stuffed animal) would take over his body lmao. everything was usually so intense and brutal but (usually) not when ichigo was back home, bedresting. but also that one episode where all the captain's showed up in his room during his recovery i- 💀💀💀 they relied on him TOO much

honourable mention of aizen's and ichigo's fight. i remember holding my breath. how do you defeat THE ORIGINAL MANIPULATOR?!? but laaawd. their "final" forms looked so GEEEEWWDDD 🫨🫨🫨 rip 😪

omfg you can tell i never got to just absolutely yapp someone's ear off about this franchise. there is so much i ended up deleting. i might as well just write the manga myself when i have so much to say. bleach enthusiasts (who love the story and characters more than they spend time arguing about if fillers were necessary or not) are so so rare. 😭 so DEFINITELY hit me up, hit me up when you 🫵 pick it up or wanna yap about it again. and now that you mention it and after talking about it so much i wanna go back and re-read it 😣 i might wait for them to finish the anime (end 2024 i believe unless they prolong the arc) first though.

i was snooping around your blog and saw that you also like bleach (the anime/manga) 👀 are you still following the new seasons or did you stop at some point?

do you have any favorite: character, shinigami (shikai/bankai), arrancar (abilities/resurrecion), quincy/sternritter (abilities/shift), visored, hollows, arcs? special moments that have stuck with you (positively/negatively)?

it's so rare for me to find someone else into it lol so you got me curious now~

•🃏

omgg when i tell you that bleach is the love of my life, possibly my fav manga ever (or at least one of my fav)!! i started reading and occasionally watching (bc i was more of a reader) back in 2012 until the manga ended (somewhere around... 2016?) and then i reread the whole thing again and watched whatever episodes were available :'))

i don't read mangas anymore, i sometimes watch anime (not very often) but i still cherish bleach so much. and omg seeing those terms made me go *blink blink* bc it's been so long i had to google to confirm what some of those were!

and that's why my answers might not make sense BUT I HAVE FAVS. definitely. firstly, ichigo, ofc. esp when he attained bankai. kisuke urahara is also my biggest anime crushes (also my anime crushes are such a strong indicator of my type). from the arrancars, i remember how obsessed i was with ulquiorra and grimmjow (ulquiorra's arc and the way he died? and the scene with orihime still lives in my head rent free).

i honestly don't remember much but i remember being a fan of the ishidas too. i also have the softest spot for rukia and byakuya, kenpachi and the little girl that tags with him. toshiro's powers always fascinated me the most and aizen was so hot for being the villain lmao. and omg ywach!! always gave me the chills.

i think my fav arc was when (the explanation's gonna suck) the soul society is in... shambles? with ywach and the other espadas. thousand year blood war or sth? basically before the manga ends. i think the ending and opening of this anime are perfection.

i think this is my cue to reread bleach bc i've been wanting to reread (and hopefully getting back into reading manga) for a while now. since the last time i touched this manga was in 2016, my knowledge is very dusty if you can't tell already-- but if i pick it up again, i'm bothering you 🫵 bc it really is rare to find a bleach enthusiast! i need to hear your fav moments and fav characters too, come on. refresh my memory (and give me the push to pick bleach again)

[nongnaos]

Reveal your watch & rewatch drama list

Thank you for tagging me @dimpledpran this was so fun! 😊

I am consulting my spreadsheet of film and tv I've seen this year to do this because my memory is awful! (Am I Pran? A spreadsheet? For something fun??? mmmmm yessss)

Just finished:

Kinnporsche: I appreciated so many parts of this show though there were a few bits, especially in the final ep, that could have been different. But overall very enjoyable and I'm so glad I got to know these actors because of it, I am still in awe of Apo's acting!

Old Fashion Cupcake: Sooooooo cute!! I know I'm definitely gonna rewatch this as a comfort show in the future, the acting was amazing, the storyline was just what I needed and everything was so warm. Maybe gonna be in my top 5 bls? 🥰

To My Star 2: I know a lot of people hated the angst but I thrive on angst in my love stories. I do think though, because the first season was quite similar in that it was a lot of build up and very little actual relationship screentime, it could have done with more! I want more of them being domestic, please!

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo: A small shout out because I finished it a while ago but it was SO SWEET. 10/10 in "this is adorable and I love them as individuals and as a couple".

Currently Watching:

Run On: I started watching a long time ago, saw half of it and then stopped and I don't remember why? So I just picked up where I left off and I'm loving it again! Everyone has such dry humour and it's exactly my style. All the women in this show are top tier, like Mijoo knowing what she wants and asking for it, I love a woman in charge. (Also Seongyeom's mother just shutting his dad down when he tries to force her to do things and telling him she's living her own life, yessssss. AND having a cannon asexual character?)

Extraordinary Attorney Woo: I've only seen 3 eps so far but it's so cute!! I love the trope of the male love interest just being so immediately like a puppy in love.

Bad And Crazy: I haven't watched in a couple of weeks and I'm terrible at watching multiple shows at once, but I've seen maybe half of it and I'm really enjoying it!

Starting Soon:

Vice Versa, Don't Say No, The Devil Judge, Manner Of Death, Lovely Writer, Link: Eat Love Kill. Those are the top of the list but also likely to change and I don't know how long it will take me to get round to them!

Rewatching:

I don't really rewatch things often, or at least not fully. I usually rewatch certain episodes or parts that I really enjoyed but rarely do I rewatch a whole show in order. I just don't really have the attention span. Sometimes I'll put things on in the background when I'm doing something else but whatever it is I'm working on rarely lasts a whole show anyway!

Tagging: @icouldhyperfixatehim @surajmukhis @wkxs @snimeat @lovingpran no pressure if you've already done it or don't want to bother :)

[lovecolibri]

"#i did enjoy the episode but they still keep telling us 'this is a family' without ever showing it" about 911ls and I agree so mich, something was bugging me when i was watching and there it is! 911og shows them being a family so genuinely and beautifully, they hang out, they call, they know e/o kids and spouses and a strong bond is very very visible! when ravi shows up it's even more clear, he's new and he's not totally in yet but he will! and i can't wait for him to feel at home w them

This is a fairly recent ask but I know the post that I tagged with that was earlier this season so I'm not even going to try and find it and remember which episode it's about. I will say season 3 has had some improvement on showing us things like the 126 hangs, and everyone showing up at Paul's house and stuff, but like, it's season 3. We should not still be having to establish these dynamics or still know so little about the majority of the characters! I actually saw someone mentioning characters like Paul, Marjan, and Mateo as "supporting" characters, when they are mains! This is supposed to be an ensemble show, and Owen is NOT the main character like people keep trying to say he is, as a reason for others to not complain about his screen time.

Look, I'm not nearly as invested in LS as I am in the OG. I enjoy watching it very much but I'm more than happy to just see where the show takes things rather than speculate or theorize or read tons of fic and fix-its. But I think part of that has to do with how disconnected I feel from the characters! I really enjoyed season 1 and I actually liked Owen most of the time, and I was so excited to learn more about these characters. But Owen now is...I can't say totally different, but he's way less likable most of the time, and outside of 3x08 we hardly see him interacting with TK when that was one of the highlights in season 1! He just feels kind of all over the place so it's harder to enjoy the moments when he gets to be funny (because he does have them!), and now it rarely happens, but when he's being a guiding light as captain it's always his best look. That speech he gave everyone after the guy shot their victim was SO GOOD! But there is just...SO MUCH of his personal life that it not only keeps other characters from getting time to be explored (because they always shine when get the chance!), but it also means that his stuff becomes repetitive and boring instead of being able to enjoy them. Because honestly it's not all bad! I actually enjoyed everything about the stuff with the cat UNTIL he lashed out and was awful to his girlfriend. I am reserving some judgement because I see what they are trying to do here with his anger management arc and family issues, but IDK if it will end up working out or not.

But no matter what, we need more time to see the team(s) on calls doing their jobs, and the other characters interacting with each other and digging into who they are and their relationship dynamics. Every little bit I see just makes me want more across the board! I wasn't sure about Nancy because we barely saw her in season 1, but she was good in season two and has been an absolute delight this season! We have gotten more for Carlos and it has all been wonderful, Mateo is always great when he gets some focus and I just want to know EVERYTHING about Paul and Majran's dynamic. They really are making improvements this season though so I'm hopeful they will continue to deliver, and move towards some more balanced screentime across the season.

and a tiny note about Ravi since you mentioned him, he is a DOLL and I LOVE HIM. Anirudh is a delight, and he has such an expressive face and mannerisms. I wish he was getting all the scenes this season that are going to others because he really does fit with the OG team, but is still fresh and outside the loop enough to provide some great moments. Hopefully he doesn't get too busy with other projects (though I won't begrudge him that, he deserves the work!) and can get some more focus next season. People have been begging, so maybe TPTB will listen!

[rataltouille]

GEOMETRY OF THE HOLY MOON (1 AM): A SHORT STORY

GENRE: surrealism, literary fiction.

POV & TENSE: this little space is not enough for how wild the form is so i talk about this later!!

SETTING: a small desi village, 1924-25.

TONE: dreamy, unsettling, melancholic.

THEMES: faith vs reality, how people perceive others and how they perceive themselves, grief dealt the wrong way.

AESTHETICS: the splash of water on a quiet night, thick clouds obscuring the sky, rippling the moon’s reflection on the water. the intensity of a garden in spring, the emptiness of a dying town, the suffocation from being singled out. hands grazing lightly but never fully held. a lingering sadness behind your laugh. believing in things you shouldn't believe in. putting faith on a starless sky.

STAGE: completed first draft, 4085 words.

LOGLINE: a young boy, surrounded by loss, claims to talk to god. the story follows him and his conversations with this god, all while his village spies on him as he weaves his way around the two most crucial and lonely years of his life.

LITERAL LOGLINE: on today’s news let’s talk about a small backward town that hates sad little boys who worship god, even though the place is lowkey a cult!!

CHARACTERS:

THE SUMMER BOY: he’s around thirteen, and he’s very emotionally attached to his past. he lost his family at a young age to an unstable force, so he spends his time talking to himself. he’s a quiet, demure and sweet person, always willing to help others. he’s outwardly oblivious and sees only the good in people to a point where he doesn't understand when they’re trying to do him wrong. but! considering how the story [like a lot of my others] has themes of perception vs reality, it needs to be said that he isn't all that innocent. he’s rather impulsive and rash, never afraid of hurting himself [and thus accidentally harming others].

A GOD: is he real? do we even know if he’s an actual god? a very elusive figure despite having a lot of screentime. he’s a surprisingly humanised character and arguably the one with the most empathy. he has a soft spot for the boy and the two have a deep bond which is not common for a human and a god to have. you don’t get insight to what the other gods are like, but they’re implied to exist. this story has a very messy and hazy view towards religion and godhood and their nature towards humanity, and this vague figure, a dreamlike character, is proof enough of that.

THE VILLAGE: okay so in general these people suck. the village consists of, well, the village, but they’re very fluid in the way they appear in the story? as in for the most part they appear as a collective, a unit. one character, the summer boy’s “friend”, is somewhat separate considering he’s a pretty important character. it’s very hard describing this unit of a character but essentially they’re the main antagonistic force and they hate the protagonist for seemingly no reason.

WHAT GOES DOWN:

sometime around this time, the boy chances upon meeting his “god”, this being who lives up in the clouds and whom he talks with often, except you don't know if this god is real or not. that’s one of the recurring themes of this story: what’s real and what isn’t. it’s :) a fun time :) for sure :)

essentially Things Happen And It Only Gets Weirder. i cannot even try describing what happens because it’s all very spoilery but let’s just say that this is a very sad story but not even in a “this makes me cry” manner, but rather in a “this is so fucked up wtf why”. the prose of this is very, very hazy and thick, in a manner that’s both smooth and suffocating. there’s also a lot of moon and water imagery which we love. i love the atmosphere + the setting—colonial india— as it’s a subtle but key element to the plot.

FORM:

OKAY YES be prepared for the true colours of how unhinged i am. i apologize for the form brainrot.

POV: so in this story i really said “what if it had all three of the main povs... jk jk... unless 😳😳” and then proceeded to use all three povs. you’re probably wondering, how did i do that? WHY did i do that? and my answer to that is: 🙂

the first-person pov: the summer boy narrates in first person. his pov takes up about 40% of the story, and this is where we unlock family backstory + how he feels about the various forces playing into his life. he’s an extremely unreliable narrator and he knows it; his narration oscillates between very naive and very self-aware, and this effect is pretty disconcerting. the summer boy is kind of a walking contradiction and we love that conflict.

the second-person pov: a god narrates in second person. his pov takes around 20% of the story, and his scenes all involve his conversations with the boy. his pov is extremely detached, and suspends belief because he seems awfully made up. there’s an edge to the prose in his narration, where you know that something's off, but you can’t exactly pinpoint what.

the third-person pov: the villagers narrate, either as a collective, or as an individual figure, in third person. they take up the other 40% of the story, and there are so many different people and differing opinions with this, and every time we read a third person excerpt it’s a different person, and this is mostly used to add onto the different ways in which the boy is perceived. this is also where the structural part of the form gets really wacky.

STRUCTURE: if my story isn't told in vignettes is it my story though /j. gothm is told in vignettes, each one between 50 to 500 words. the first and second person bits are normal-ish vignettes, with straightforward narration. the third person vignettes, on the other hand, are super assorted. we have a lot of epistolaric sections— there’s a letter, a folk song [which was found around the summer boy], and most of the conversation is told as just plain dialogue without tags. there’s also a phone call transcript, and finally some normal chunks of prose. what am i doing wtf.

also to add onto this the story is told non-linearly. 😀 the only thing that keeps me from going insane is the fact that there are chronological tags before most vignettes [also the manner in which they're tagged differs from pov to pov. for example a few of the third person conversations are marked just as “sunday” or “thursday”, while the summer boy’s narration is marked with the full date and year]

in all this clownery i completely forgot to mention what the tense was [the way everything else was so complicated that i forgot tense was a thing lmao] and good news!! it’s the only sane thing about this story!! it’s told fully in present tense. thank everything.

AN EXCERPT:

okay i’m once again not sharing much because this will be submitted to litmags 🧞

[The boy is scrawny as always. He carries an air of diswant— even death had rejected him when the plague killed only his grandmother— but walks like he doesn’t notice. He smiles at them, jitters, and wipes his hand across his knees. Blood comes away in thin, translucent lines. He saves it on the kerchief he keeps tucked in his shirt, careful to dirty the cloth even more. The villagers scrunch their noses in disgust; who knew how old and rotten the kerchief was, or how long it had carried blood like the unwashed sword of a warrior?]

also by the way this excerpt is in square brackets because it is a third-person interjection in a vignette that is otherwise first-person [at this point...]

SPARE THOUGHTS:

this was inspired by a conversation i had with my grandfather, where he was telling me about how people used to sing songs to the skies, as a way of devotion to a specific god. he used the [loose translation of] the english word “yearning” to refer to the emotion the singers would invoke, and that sparked the concept of a disillusioned young boy who talks to the moon as a way to please the god he’s in love with. it’s a very softly disconcerting story and once again deals with the theme of “perception vs reality” which if you know me and my work, is the theme i’m forever obsessed with.

i really like how this turned out? the atmosphere is exactly how i wanted it to be, and there’s so much i have to add on as i edit and i’m really looking forward to that. this is also the only short story i’ve written where i knew which litmag i’d love for it to be published in? like i never write things with publishing in mind, but for some reason while writing this story it occurred to me that it would be a perfect fit for this specific magazine and i love that. anyway if you’ve made it through the post till here,,,, bless you and your braincells. and that’s all for today!!

[bpd-shuichi-togo]

"oh they have brown skin and white hair what a visually pleasing contrast :) and they aren't weirdly sexualized and/or GROTESQUELY muscled :) i really like their designs actually the tall one's build is rather unique in this game and the little one is wearing headphones that's neat :)" <- entirely oblivious to the imminent misfortune (getting invested in housamo)

"oh the tall one's kind of odd actually. i can't quite put my finger on it but something about his chipper demeanour is uncanny (THIS IS THE BEST POSSIBLE TRAIT FOR A CHARACTER)... and he seems to know just a little too much..." [duo covers his ears] "hey what's happening" [shuichi yells his silly little introduction at max volume] "(bewildered laughter, which continues through most of the rest of the togos' screentime) WHAT?" [it is revealed he is striking a "lame pose" as he is doing so] "oh and he's GOOFY? i love him" [shuichi, in response to being told that his behaviour is strange and socially unacceptable, says, still yelling, "What are you talking about?! Declarations of one's identity must always be done at max volume! It's cooler that way!"] "holy shit. I can't believe someone in this game actually has an engaging, entertaining presence" <- IN IMMEDIATE DANGER

[shuichi declares duo, nonverbal autistic child, his "precious little brother," and, in the most mom way, takes the time to prompt his UNCOMFORTABLE AND CONFUSED captive audience to acknowledge that he looks clever and is cute. like he just loves and is openly affectionate towards the "weird" autistic child in his care. i feel so normal about this all the time] ":O!! REALLY ? FOR ME ?" <- THE EVENT HORIZON HAS BEEN CROSSED

[duo points, deadpan, wordlessly revealing that shuichi's yelling has gotten them surrounded by hostile parties, and shuichi cheerfully replies, "Huh? We're Surrounded? Fear not! Big Bro is invincible!"] "(hopelessly endeared) WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIM ? also i love their 'Weirdguy & Straight Man act" [shiro begins freaking out because they're all surrounded by hostile parties and he just regained consciousness from having his shit rocked and dragging his unconscious friend to safety, asking why this has happened. shuichi calmly explains that he's put them all in danger. shiro puts together that he's knowingly put them all in danger, and angrily accuses him of this. shuichi blithely confirms this, explaining that he did so for the opportunity to show off to his elementary-aged brother] "oh you are simply next level." [shuichi declares that he (and duo?) will fend the attackers off, and says the protag and shiro can just relax, then immediately rescinds that in the most blasé manner possible. shiro continues freaking out because they're thoroughly out-numbered. shuichi tells him now would be a good time to stop freaking out. in the next section after the battle, they are STILL surrounded. shiro is still freaking out. shuichi is laughing.] "(bewildered laughter grows louder) HE'S SO HASHTAG QUIRKY" <- it is already too late

[duo texts shuichi, who declares, "Hey, it's a message from my adorable baby brother."] "duo communicating via text bc he's nonverbal and his brother accommodates that 🥺👩‍👦" [shiro accuses shuichi of having ulterior motives, he replies, "There's only one thing I want... to show my adorable baby brother how cool I am!" Duo gets (another) ellipsis panel, seemingly to indicate he is literally not paying attention.] "I would kill for you." [shuichi reveals he's basically evil/completely amoral and prone to a blithe disregard of others, aside from his brother...] "NICE. I KNEW YOUR CHIPPER DEMEANOR WAS EERIE. YOU'RE THE MOST ENGAGING CHARACTER IN THIS GAME SO FAR" [...then immediately follows that up with "My actions were born from my familial love for my baby brother."] "🥺 there is literally nothing you could possibly do i would not enthusiastically endorse." [shuichi refuses to speak with the protag, threatening to just LEAVE when shiro tries to push] "ohh and he's a bit of a cunt too? you SPOIL me" ["Let's go, my beloved baby brother. It's been a whole two hours since we've been alone together."] "LMAO ?"

[the entire coffee date. just all of it. there's so much going ON there. shuichi took shiro out on a little coffee date and duo was just THERE the whole time. you know shuichi says he wants shiro to be his right hand, and duo gets one of his ellipsis panels? what was that about? shuichi took shiro out on a DATE and then started saying shit like 'ohhh we're the chess masters or whatever the fuck' and 'Knowledge Must Rule. Those Who Look Down Upon Us And Toy With Our Lives, I Will Eradicate Them All. I Literally Straight Up Want To Actually Kill People.'] "oh my god he's legitimately insane. like he's actually off the walls unhinged. somebody get shiro OUT of there i think he might actually be in danger. this is awesome of course, and only makes shuichi exponentially more endearing to me." [ohhh 🥺🥺 shuichi has this one line where he says something along the lines of 'everyone has their own sanctuary, something they cherish beyond reason' and he smiles at duo, and it's enough for him to have a moment of understanding with shiro and apologize for being callous immediately earlier i;m going to THROW UP] "WAH ." [oh and shuichi just... calmly takes a sip of lukewarm coffee. what the fuck.] "oh there's something actually, deeply wrong with you. that genuinely disturbed me. you may be a twisted fucking cycle path forrealsies. but you're allowed to do that :)"

[after AN ENTIRE CHAPTER of near-total silence broken only by muttering the protag's name once, duo is revealed to be selectively nonverbal, speaking only to shuichi...] "🥺 aww, that's-" [...who he proceeds to kill in cold fucking blood, with deadpan yet astonishing insults, provoked solely by his affection, which grows more cloying and desperate the harsher he is, culminating in duo telling shuichi to call him a taxi, and shuichi collapsing to his knees in sheer despair.] I fucking CRIED laughing. nothing prepared me for "There's no way I could go a day without bragging about my baby brother!" "To put it mildly, I wish you'd be buried under 300 feet of soil and never come out." it hit me like a fucking sledgehammer. no scene before of since has been this funny. INSTANTLY cemented The Two Of Them as my favorite characters in the game, who captivated me so much I would suffer through the rest of this fucking game for the next four years and counting, just for their screentime. and here we are. god I wish they were in a better game

the brothers togo and shuichi in particular were such a fucking.. PERFECT lure for me specifically it really pisses me off like this feels so much like a targeted attack

[mikerickson]

They had, none of them, Harry suspected, asked to be there, grateful though they were. They were his human toys, taken from the dirty box on a whim, and could be thrust back into darkness and neglect just as casually if they somehow failed to interest or satisfy. It almost feels futile to attempt to write a review for this one, mostly because I already know I won't be able to completely convey just how deeply this book has affected me over the past few days. Yet I still feel compelled to at least try, to allow me to say 'goodbye' to these characters and move on if nothing else.

I came across this title on some recommendation list or another a while back, read the synopsis, took away "gay western romance" and said, "Sounds awesome, I'm in." But that's a gross oversimplification to the point of being misleading. I'd hesitate to call it a "western" because the first third of the book takes place in Edwardian London before jumping the pond and landing in the Saskatchewan frontier, and from that point on it's more focused on sustenance farming than anything with a 'cowboys and Indians' vibe. And "romance" doesn't feel like an apt descriptor either because the main love interest doesn't even appear until more than halfway through the book, and even then he's not given much 'screentime' for lack of a better word because the story isn't about him. Rather, it follows a central character and the key turning points of his life. The story begins with Harry, the protagonist, being transferred from a - frankly horrific - mental institution to a sort of experimental compound where other patients like him are free to roam without guards, circa 1919-ish. The altruistic psychologist who is running the place explains that he's trying a new approach to studying and helping those affected by mental illnesses, but everyone there is aware of the unspoken power dynamic. This doctor tries to help Harry overcome a mild bout of amnesia through hypnosis, and we as the reader learn his life's story that led up to that point, occasionally jumping back to the 'present' at the compound every few chapters or so. I loved Harry as a character, which is not something I would expect to say about someone who's introduced as effectively a spoiled trust fund baby who never had to work or make a hard decision in his life. But after an inciting incident forces him save face by going into the self-imposed exile of becoming a colonist in rural Canada, he bucks up and actually makes a go of it. He's horrible at it at first, of course, but I appreciated that the effort was made at all from someone you'd expect to give up at the first sign of struggle. It's been a long time since I've like a main character as much as this, and in fact, I liked every single named character in this book, even the obvious antagonist who periodically shows up like a hungry wolf, pacing and watching from just beyond the safety of the firelight. At no point was there a scene where a certain character appeared that had me enduring them and wanting to move on to the next; they all just worked for me. They're easily the reason why I got so invested and why their (sometimes tragic) fates keep resonating with me after putting the book down. This was a surprisingly atmospheric book. The isolation Harry experiences when he first arrives at his assigned plot of land in the middle of a cold prairie is palpable, and you feel just alone as he does when he realizes he's the only person around for miles. The constant descriptions of physical labor eventually become therapeutic (no doubt because I'm not the one doing it) and it's easy to forget that you've gone multiple pages without a single line of dialogue. But as Harry begins to venture beyond the limits of his property and meet his new neighbors, the locals are just as enamored with the newcomer with an English accent as he is with them and I quickly grew to enjoy them in kind. Ultimately when the romance proper begins, it was handled in such an unbelievably tender manner that it had me clutching my gay little heart multiple times. It wasn't graphic or salacious - what few sex scenes there were were sort of 'fast-forwarded' through, for which I'm strangely thankful - but rather it was a series of subtle actions that could be misconstrued as merely friendly if one didn't know how to read between the lines. A sort of relationship hiding in plain sight, in the face of a society that would neither accept nor understand it, carried out by characters who lacked the modern verbiage to accurately describe what they felt or why. This facet of the book was very humbling, and reminded me not to take for granted that not only am I able to live publicly with my own relationship, but that I possess the level of self-understanding to not feel conflicted about that aspect of myself. It could be argued that there was a happy ending, though it was ultimately a pyrrhic, costly victory to get to that point. I don't know that I'd consider the book as a whole to be particularly uplifting because there was a lot of hardship in the middle and end, but I absolutely don't regret giving this story my time. The very last scene of this book is one that I will remember for probably the rest of my life, and - acknowledging that it's still emotionally fresh for me - I don't know that I'll ever be able to recall it without choking up.        

[overwatch-does-stuff]

Genji for the character thing?

The ask thing!

First impression

”Huh, neat short. Are the dragons magic? Are they machines? I’m sure Blizzard will explain that soon.” Impression now

Okay, but in all honesty, Genji was never really a character that stuck out to me until very recently. His most interesting character phase (in my opinion) was his Blackwatch days, and I hope they’ll be referenced more in upcoming plot/lore. I also am very interested to see in which direction they’ll be taking Hanzo’s redemption arc, and how involved Genji will be in it. It’d be really cool to see Genji take almost a mentor status. Favorite moment

Okay but if the in-game voice lines are anything to go by, he’s canonically homies with Bastion (joking “Bastion, catch!” when he deflects) and I live for that. I mostly just love his little moments of levity and humor.  Idea for a story

I had a story idea that had Genji as a significant side character that’s still sitting unfinished in my old DeviantArt account that I’m hesitant to share here. You know what, screw it, I’ll share.

The fic stars Zarya, and what inspired me is this: since Zarya hates Genji’s cybernetics so much, what would happen if she had to get equivalent prosthetics to save her life? The fic opens with this epic battle scene against the Omnics in Russia, which ends in Zarya almost dying. She’s saved by Mercy, who gave her the Genji treatment and replaced the lower half of her body with cybernetics. Zarya. . . is not okay with this. She has serious body dysphoria about it and refuses to even get out of bed. She and Mercy have some intense fights before Zarya decides that what’s done is done and that she’s going to have to learn to live with the new cybernetics. She agrees to undergo physical therapy to recover. Genji, meanwhile, sees her plight and wants to help, but of course, Zarya wants nothing to do with him. Slowly, through lots of patience, trial, and error, he gets her to warm up to him and they become friends. Together they have long discussions about body modification, dysphoria, and what it means to be human. The fic would end with Zarya accepting herself, becoming a member of Overwatch, and everyone living happily ever after. Unpopular opinion

I have a lot of trouble seeing Genji and Zenyatta as close. I think Blizzard just needs to get some more lore/screentime in for these boys for me to see it. Maybe I just need to read a few ship fics. I don’t know. Favorite relationship

This is going to be the most unpopular thing you’ve ever seen (in fact I should have put it up above), but I need to see how Genji and Torbjorn interact. Let’s be real here, Torbjorn, not Mercy, is the one who built Genji’s Blackwatch body. Genji’s Blackwatch body was clunky and dehumanizing, more of a weapon than anything. I want to see Genji feel a glimmer of resentment towards Torbjorn for that. I want it to be an elephant in the room, a thing unspoken, because all this time Genji has been learning how to forgive Hanzo, and it’s clear he’s forgiven Mercy because of her bedside manner, but has he learned to forgive Torbjorn yet? (I’m sorry that a post about Genji turned into Torbjorn angst. I physically can’t stop myself.)

Also, Genji and Bastion friendship would be so wholesome. Favorite headcanon

I love the idea that Genji is “in” on a lot of Omnic culture, and that he can understand the Omnic language (including Bastion!). (Crack addition: just imagine following his social media feed and he shares a post like “lmao imagine not having to plug yourself in every night to recharge smh” or something like that.)

[chikkou]

Will you talk more about Lisa?? Lisa the character specifically but also your feelings on his feelings about Buddy? I just thought your analysis was so good and I want to hear other thoughts you have on her.

yall are honestly spoiling me rn sdhkfdjfks this is like a dream come true 

i already got into the stuff with buddy in this ask here but i have a LOT to say about lisa and the connection between her and buddy so u better settle in!

ok so firstly ill start with lisa. i played the original lisa game (lisa the first) not long after it first dropped in 2012, and im not even kidding when i said it changed me LMAO.... seeing a story about a girl suffering is nothing new, but austin jorgensens approach to it was so fucking unique. you dont just witness it, you get to EXPERIENCE it right along with her. many stories that involve sexual abuse/rape show or otherwise depict it explicitly for the shock value, which is both disgusting and, in my opinion, extremely fucking exploitative. i feel that it is horrific to dignify an act so deeply evil with screentime. but lisa stood out to me immediately because, even though you know exactly whats going on, the game NEVER shows anything explicit. everything is layered in subtext and symbolism, and austin is fantastic with indirect storytelling, so you learn so much from just a little drop of information. this applies not just to the game proper, but to the character as well.

in case its not clear: i absolutely ADORE lisa. she is my favorite character in all of the games, bar none. its going to sound kind of fucked up, but as a kid around her age going through some fucked up shit, her committing suicide at the end felt like a sort of victory to me. she knew she could never escape from marty or what he was doing to her. he leaks into every single part of her psyche, everything she ever cared about or loved is ruined because of him, and even the vague memory of her mother is completely corrupted, and turned into a muddled version of him. lisa the first also had the added benefit of some religious commentary, as there are crosses all over their home and marty is characterized as an extremely religious man, which i fucking LOVE and wish had come back in the painful, but its an acceptable loss. anyway, lisa committing suicide at the end was an act of defiance against not just marty, but martys god, as suicide is considered a mortal sin in catholicism. lisa knew she’d never be free of marty in life, so she escaped the only way she could; she was defiant to the end.

ive seen people complain that the painful has a bit of a “lost lenore” thing going on, since lisas death seems to fuel the Manpain of both brad and buzzo, but i actually disagree. on the contrary, its just like austin himself said - lisa will never be gone. lisa is ALWAYS there, with brad, and buzzo, and buddy, and marty, and yado, and the ENTIRE FUCKING WORLD. i dont necessarily think that there is something paranormal going on in the game, but i AM going to say that, unlike other cases of a girl/woman dying for a mans backstory, lisa isnt just a bittersweet memory they can reflect on and then put away when its convenient for them. she is a presence that is felt throughout the entire game. brad sees her more than once, sometimes watching, sometimes reprimanding him. buzzo is clearly haunted by her, as he cries out to her a few times in the joyful. every character who was directly touched by lisa - brad, marty, and buzzo - calls out to lisa as they die. call it their guilt or call it her actions, but in either case, it is clear that lisa just as significant of a character in the painful as she was in the first, even if she cant always be seen. even in a meta-sense, every game in the series - even the joyful, whose protagonist doesnt even know who she is - is named after her. she is at the center of everything that happens in them. 

that actually brings me to buddy, because i find the dynamic between her and lisa fucking fascinating. as i previously mentioned, brad never talked about his past with buddy, and snaps at her for bringing up his adoptive son dusty (rando), so it goes without saying that she definitely doesnt know who lisa is. in spite of that, though, lisa is a fucking massive part of buddys life, and while she may not know the person herself, i think she is aware that when people (and brad especially) look at her, they arent seeing HER. 

i mentioned it in another post, but even though brad takes it upon himself to raise and “protect” buddy, he seems to almost unwittingly recreate lisas appearance, primarily by allowing her hair to grow long even though he knows what a risk that is to her safety. he also treats buddy in a manner thats incredibly similar to how marty treated lisa (sans sexual abuse, of course) - he insults her, does not let her leave the house at all, and forces her to do unsavory things that no one should ever have to do (in buddys case, this means killing at least two innocent people because brad doesnt want a “weak” daughter). the most literal comparison between buddy and lisa is the fact that they are both very young girls being essentially held captive by their father figures, albeit for different reasons, and both long for freedom from their captors. 

theres also the fact that both buddy and lisa have to deal with misogyny and the effects of rape culture firsthand; they both battle against men who feel entitled to do with them whatever they please, and the threat of ongoing sexual abuse looms heavy over both of their heads. neither one can seek help from anyone; the neighbors in brad and lisas town seem complacent at best, if they even know what is happening to lisa at all, and buddys only allies (sans rando) are long dead by the start of the joyful. this is not just a hypothetical or a distant possibility. this is the real, tangible fate that will befall them if they cant somehow secure their safety.

sadly, because lisa wasnt playable in either of the rpgs, we dont know if she was able to fight as brad was, but it is highly probable that she had the innate skill but was never able to learn it (as marty highly discouraged them from learning “their grandfathers karate,” and seemed disgusted whenever brad did so). however, she did have ONE weapon she could make use of, and this is a weapon buddy ends up using, as well - her femininity. she became close to bernard (aka buzzo), made him fall in love with her, and then used him as a last ditch effort to stop martys abuse by having him mutilate her face. im not saying lisa never cared about bernard - in fact, i think she DID really love and care for him - but her own fucked up experiences with “love” meant she really couldnt understand what it was supposed to be like, or that it was wrong to manipulate the people you care about. lisa did very few things wrong - it pretty much just stops at the maiming of the cat and her manipulation of bernard - but she knew that she would never get away from marty without some kind of drastic action being taken, and scarring herself was her last ditch effort before ultimately committing suicide.

buddy ends up taking a somewhat similar tack in the joyful, and like in lisas case, its simultaneously resourceful and horrific. one of buddys key moves in the joyful is to flash the enemy (which the player obviously doesnt see) in order to distract them long enough to get the kill. its fucking horrible and disgusting and makes you feel so dirty, but then, how must buddy feel having to do something like that just to survive? shes just a child, but in a world where almost every man is out to get you, she knows this has to be done to save herself, very much like lisa. unlike in lisas case, though, buddy is successful in securing her safety in this way - lisas effort is for naught, and leads to her committing suicide not very long after. 

in a way, i sort of attribute buddys brutality to lisas omnipresence; all of the men pursuing buddy are just like marty, monsters who would harm a fucking child for their own disgusting ends, and i think that when buzzo said that lisa wouldve loved olathe, what he means is that she would have loved seeing so many horrible men being punished for what theyd done. so in my opinion, buddy carving out a place for herself in olathe by killing all those who would subjugate her seems very much in the mentality lisa would have had. sure, there are some innocents who sadly get roped into it, but that would definitely not be her intention; for example, if buzzo could have practiced amputation without harming a living thing, i dont think lisa would have asked him to practice on the cat. note the LACK of brutality at the beehive and the swamp bar, two of the few peaceful places in the painful and both devoid of predatory men hunting for buddy - lisa has no qualm with any of them. but marty? brad could hardly even get a full sentence out before killing him on the spot. i dont doubt that that has a great deal to do with lisas presence. 

ok i talked for a while LMAO but basically i think that, in a more metatextual sense, lisa and buddys relationship really strikes me as an accurate depiction of generational trauma. of course it was intentional with the more obvious trauma chain (marty to brad to buddy), but the trauma chain of marty to lisa to buddy is rarely ever addressed due to lisa not physically appearing in the painful. however, i believe it may inform buddys actions a great deal more than people realize - after all, buddys experience is unique, but who could understand it better than lisa? who knows that sort of pain, of being alone on an island, the lone woman trapped with a man (or men) who want nothing more than to cause you harm? even without her realizing it, lisa is guiding buddy, encouraging her to take back what is hers no matter the cost, to punish those who would try to take what they want from her. lisa might be dead, but she is a vengeful presence throughout every game, and buddys actions feel like theyre meant not only to save herself, but to avenge lisa, even if she doesnt realize it. at the end of the day, buddy and lisa both get to exact revenge against all the men who have wronged them, and they succeed. they are aggressive, and violent, and selfish, and ANGRY - and they have every fucking right to be. 

[drunklander]

Drunj!Der Yells About Outlander

Thoughts on Ep. 511

Ok so this episode is like the perfect embodiment of my love/hate relationship with the books. And the show, but since the author wrote it, the books too, and her writing/plotting in general. I hated the other episode she wrote so my expectations going into this were *rull* low.

This episode was like a series of character-driven vignettes, which is what I like most about her writing (and why I bother even sticking around): random scenes here and there that I really enjoy as standalone bits. But, in true Outlander fashion, it also like ticked a lot of the boxes for stuff plot-wise that I can’t stand. Namely, yet more violence against multiple women, Marsali and Fergus getting shortchanged, Lord John crossing just over the creepy line for a sec with Jamie and the situation with Ulysses’ legal status. It didn’t check the rape box, but we may have to revisit that next week. I sure as fuck hope we don’t have to, but seeing as this show never met a rape it didn’t think was ToTaLlY nEcEsSaRy to include... *preemptive sigh*

Show-wise this very much felt like a penultimate episode and in that respect it accomplished what it was supposed to. In the overall arc of the season though, much like when considering the whole book series, a few solid standalone scenes here and there do not equal a good whole. To be in this fandom is to be an expert in eating around the moldy parts of the bread to get a few nibbles of good stuff.

Anywho, SCIENCE!JIZZ 5EVA!

Fuck yeah PB&J, and Claire is forgiven for not mastering fluff yet. But fluffernutters are also a staple in any growing kid’s diet.

Poor burned girl. It’s not her fault she vaguely resembles a walker so I spent the whole time thinking about TWD.

Omfg I got like PTSD flashbacks when I saw that dress in the title card. KILL THAT DRESS WITH FIRE!

There may not be fluffernutters, but Bree and Claire fluff and Young Ian and Jemmy fluff are good substitutes.

This kid is adorbs tho.

They’ve been really blasé about mentioning time travel in front of folks this season. First Marsali and now Young Ian. The latter will be remedied, but I’m still lowkey annoyed that Fergus and Marsali aren’t brought into the circle of trust... Esp. when there was a perfect opportunity for it later on.

I cannot with men, tbh. Seeking justice for a daughter who’s been “dishonored” by killing the dude is like the most overused trope of toxic masculinity ever. And now we’re supposed to be all like oh look how relatable the Brown guy is! Because our tropey men wanted to kill a dude like that last week! Hard pass. Also, fucking his kid wasn’t raped, she loves a guy who happens to be married, but everything was super consensual. Sooo like double gross points for you, dude.

And yes, I know it’s ThE pAsT, but I am not in the past, I am in the present, and the show is airing in the present, so thinking this sort of behavior is gross is totes ok. So the fucked up squad of randos who always jump into my notes about how they like “their men to be men” can just shove it, ok? Ok.

They’re like really not subtle with the foreshadowing this episode are they. But then again, when has subtlety ever been a thing on this show. That’s a nice still you got there, shame if anything were to happen to it...

I’m really digging the decor in this living room.

Oh hey! They finally decided to stop pretending like Young Ian was dumb and didn’t notice literally *gestures* everything about Claire.

I’m still salty they never told Jenny and Ian in S3 tbh.

Shockingly, considering who wrote it, so much of this episode is directly from the books. So I’m sure the Cult of Herself folks will be obsessed. And like yeah, some of the stuff in this episode is some of the bits I really like from the books as individual little scenes. However! I know some in the cult will use this as a reason why the show should StAy TrUe To ThE bOoKs more. And please, for the love of fuck, fight that instinct. Parts of this episode aren’t good “because they’re from the book,” they’re good because they’re emotional moments between characters, which is where both the books and the show are strongest. “Sticking with the book” on everything would make an already not great show even worse. I mean, the show ain’t great, but thank fuck they’ve streamlined the book stuff as much as they have.

Yes, I did notice the Pamela easter egg from the book. No, I’m not one who gets excited about shit like that.

Aaand here we get the problematic af bit about Ulysses and his legal status. In the book, he was offered freedom and turned it down to stay with Jocasta. Which is twelve kinds of fucked up. Here, he *is* a free man and he chooses to stay and cosplay an enslaved person so he can chill with Jocasta? FUCK THAT NOISE. That is some “benevolent slave owner” bullshit. They don’t get overt with the Ulysses and Jocasta are banging stuff from the book, which is also epically fucked up considering the power dynamic and how a fuckton of men enslaved their own fucking kids because they’d raped the mothers and children take the status of the mother. I’m glad they didn’t come right out and say that. But it’s like lowkey implied and even if it’s not supposed to be taken as canon, having a Black man be given the option to get the fuck out of there and choose to stay with someone who enslaves other Black people is like some dangerous white fanfic nonsense.

Also, thinking about the slave/master relationship dynamic today really makes me wish I saw Jeremy O. Harris’ play while it was running...

Oh yay, Bree and Roger are actually leaving. Much like the Bonnet shit, credit where credit’s due, I’m glad they’re not dragging the will they/won’t they go out for another season.

Don’t sound so butthurt that you didn’t get to murder a guy, Jamie.

Poor Young Ian. Buddy needs a hug. And more screentime for his story. Like, do we really need something else traumatic to happen to Claire when we could explore family dynamics instead? This time with Young Ian and his wife and their Mohawk family?

THERE ARE SO MANY OTHER WAYS TO HAVE DRAMA AND CONFLICT THAT CAN TAKE UP THE RUNNING TIME OF A SEASON THAT DON’T INVOLVE CONSTANTLY PUTTING THE WOMEN IN PHYSICAL DANGER.

Lol at the thought of LJG “working the land.” Like, buddy, have you seen yourself?

“No doubt there a great many things I shall miss about being here.” Don’t make it weird bro.

Yes, I know he’s like gonna miss their friendship and stuff. But he’s always been just a smidge too intense about it. And by a smidge I mean the gay guy openly in love with his straight best friend a gross trope and I don’t like it.

Ok so if we’re following the “rules” of the show that the production used to recite ad nauseam to justify why Jamie and Claire barely seemed to even like each other for a few seasons (”they’re married, we don’t need to see them fuck!” “we already know they love each other, it’s a given!”), this sex scene shouldn’t exist. Because it’s really not essential to the plot. Which just proves the “rules” are and always were bullshit excuses. And the author/writer of this episode def spouted that bullshit too, so she can also shove it.

Because this scene *should* exist and those “rules” *were* complete crap. Because Jamie and Claire are very sexual/physical people and, especially when they’re going through things, use sex to center themselves where they are and in their relationship. Bree and Roger are leaving. Jem’s leaving. They’re sad about that. But they’re also happy that they made a family and got to be together as a family and are glad to have had that chance. (And, they just like to fuck.) So of course this is a good character moment. This is the kind of shit we should be seeing instead of just a constant barrage of plot and violence. And the crew can fuck all they off with their not at all convincing talking points about “rules.”

Also this is a much better use of sex than them constantly having them fuck after a fight instead of actually working through the issue between them.

Also, fuck yeah, get it gurrrl.

SCIENCE!JIZZ! (I’m gonna need a gif of Claire’s face when Jamie’s figuring it out because that’s gonna be in heavy reaction rotation.

I just love Claire fuck yeah science Beauchamp.

It’s also another scene that does nothing to advance the plot, but is a nice respite from the constant trauma. The show has yet to find a balance between the two, which is annoying af because they’ve had five seasons to figure it out. So like whenever there is fluff, folks pounce on it like starving animals. Which some in the crew (and some fans) like to point out like “see, you all like everything now!” Or “look, why are you whining so much, we gave you this!” Or “wow you hate the show but now you like this part? Hypocrite.”

But like, no, that’s not what it means. Not giving someone water for days and then throwing them a small canteen doesn’t mean everything is hunky dory. It’s still super fucked up. So no, enjoying the fact that there are a few fluffy scenes in an episode doesn’t mean the show is good. If they made more of an effort to center the characters and spread the fluff around a bit more instead of waiting until there was like trauma fatigue and throwing in a fluffy life raft, the show as a whole would be stronger.

</rant>

Ok it’s super fucked up they hadn’t told Bree about Willie yet, but I’m glad Jamie is the one who tells her.

“And it wasn’t a matter of love between us, but it was her choice, and that’s all I’ll say about it.” BECAUSE SHE RAPED HIM. COERCION IS NOT CONSENT AND ALL THE PEOPLE WHO ARE STILL TALKING ABOUT HOW “HOT” THAT SCENE WAS ARE FUCKING DISGUSTING AND THE PRODUCTION IS DISGUSTING FOR SHOOTING A FUCKING RAPE IN THE MANNER THEY DID. AND ALSO FUCK THEM FOR HAVING IT BE A RAPE IN THE FIRST PLACE WHEN IT COULD HAVE SO FUCKING EASILY BEEN CONSENSUAL.

This show is so fucking not good.

This scene with Jamie and Brianna is super nice, but like, we saw nothing of them building their relationship. He didn’t even fucking hug her after Murtagh died. The scene loses so much of what it could have had because they never did the legwork to show us what they mean to each other.

It’s the same old shit they pulled with Claire and Jamie. “Oh they’re together and endgame so we don’t actually need to show you them building and working on their relationship that much. Because you know they’re together so just go with it.” Like no? Fuck you? That’s not how this works?

FERGUS AND MARSALI DESERVE BETTER!

Of course Marsali’s preggo again. Why the fuck should she do anything but spit out babies. Also, THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A PERFECT TIME TO HAVE THE FRASER KIDS TALK ABOUT TIME TRAVEL.

And Bree’s become a sister to Marsali? We saw one fucking scene of them together. See above rant. Fucking show us them becoming sisters. Sorry to interrupt your constant stream of violence and trauma, but fucking actually SHOWING characters building relationships instead of TELLING us they did the thing is how this is fucking supposed to work.

I’m rull pissed we never got quality Fraser kid bonding, y’all.

And ditto with this scene with Lizzie. We saw more of Bree and Lizzie than Bree and Marsali, but like we never really saw them becoming friendly post Bree’s rape and Rogergate.

All the goodbyes are like making me feel inch deep feelings because they’re rooted in nothing we’ve actually seen. And I’m not a Bad Fan or dumb for not filling in the feelings myself. I’m the viewer. It’s not my job to fill in the show’s gaps. It’s the show’s job not to have emotional gaps.

Oh hey! Another shitty man who hurts his wife and another woman trapped in a physically abusive relationship who thinks the abuse is her fault! On Outlander? Who’da thunk they’d have something like this?!

I’m so tired, y’all. So. Fucking. Tired.

I HOPE YOUNG IAN FINDS HAPPINESS TOO, ROGER.

Ok but for real, every time Lord John talks about how Willie and Bree are like Jamie it has that gross tinge to it. Like I know he’s not meaning it like a creeper, but they leaned so fucking hard into him being so into and not over Jamie that the layer of grossness is always there.

Also like, grannie and grandda, we got like one scene of Claire and Jamie playing with Jem. WE COULD HAVE FELT SO MANY MORE FEELINGS ABOUT THEM BEING SEPARATED IF ONLY THEY HAD TAKEN THE TIME TO BUILD THE RELATIONSHIPS ON SCREEN.

Claire making everyone PB&Js is fucking adorable and I love her.

Old timey forks will never not be fucking weird looking.

“And now it’s just you and me again.” Uh, Fergus, Marsali and Young Ian might be a tad offended by that sentiment, Clairebear.

Ok but like do they really think a rope is gonna hold up to fucking magic time travel rocks? It’s gotta just be like a mental security blanket thing, right? Because if not, loooooooooool.

Ok but the really just let their kiddo run off like that in the middle of the magic time travel rock circle? Dumbasses.

Ok but like what’s the betting they ended up in like a RenFest type thing and think they haven’t traveled but they have and it’s like lol look at them fitting in with their old timey clothes vs. skipping them going back to the future and doing the going adventuring around the even past-er past part but with them all together instead of Roger and Buck?

I’m just hoping it’s something completely different than the books because I have zero interest in Bree and Roger in the 20th century and hate the Roger and Buck nonsense with a fiery passion.

Erm, that’s a little close to the house to build a privy, my dudes.

Is the setting a guy’s dislocated shoulder thing supposed to be a cute callback? Because like hey wink wink, first she was kidnapped and then set a shoulder and now she’s setting a shoulder and then getting kidnapped is kind of a fucked up “joke.”

But how about we get more of Nurse!Marsali and less of Marsali just being constantly preggo.

“Sort of like the opposite of what you do when ya joint a hog.” I JUST LOVE NURSE!MARSALI A LOT OK.

Aaand now that we’re all good and docile little fans who have been placated with some fluff and Fraser fucking as a treat, we can go back to the regularly scheduled violence against women. Because we literally just had a violent abduction last week. So clearly it’s time for another.

Everything in this story has been done before...

I swear to fuck, if they do the thing I think they’re gonna do next week, I hope they get rightfully dragged by fucking everyone.

And if by some fucking miracle of Caitriona putting her foot down they don’t do the thing next week, they get zero brownie points. You don’t get rewarded for doing what you should have done the whole time.

And of course the closing is Jamie lighting Flaming Dildo 2.0. His men swore oaths to him, not any government or crown, and protecting his family has always been the top thing for Jamie. So good choice there with saving Claire being the reason he calls up the men.

[dlamp-dictator]

Allen Rambles about Episode 6

Man... I’m just never going to actually talk about anything in a timely manner, am I? Every time I say that a Rambling is coming I get distracted and talk about bad anime, other video games, or I draw my OCs for a months on end and forget all my drafts exist. 

And since Children of Ursus... dense, to say the least, I’ll just finish up this draft of Episode 6 and hopefully get on some kind of proper schedule for October... hopefully.

So, Chapter 6 came out... month ago, and I’ve been meaning to talk about for some time. Honestly, I have more criticisms than praises for this episode, but there are a few good points worth talking about. 

But first, as usual, a synopsis.

To keep things simple, Episode 6 focuses on the joint operation between the Hong Kong Lungmen Guard Department and the Rhodes Island Pharmaceutical Company. After Episode 5, Rhodes Island finally rendezvoused with Ch’en’s detachment in Lungmen and the two groups come up with a game plan to take out the Reunion troops in the city. Ch’en focusing on the slums and a few key locations while Rhode Island takes out the commanders, namely Frostnova, Faust, and Mephisto. 

That’s the basic summary of things, but things go a little deeper.

The Story

A looong while ago I said Code of Brawl contained the best and worst aspect of Arknights. Episode 6 really shows what can be bad about it. 

Okay, I’m being a little unfair since this latest Episode just pails in comparison to 5, but it’s still a little disappointing. My main issues are the disjointed story arcs and the attempted at humanizing Reunion, but before I get to that let me just go over all the little things first, just so I can clear the air of all the nitpicks and not accidentally make a 500-word segment about minor things. With that said...

Small Things that Only Bug Allen

Blaze gives Greythroat shit for reasons that seemed to have happened off screen. This makes her seem really catty (pardon the pun) toward Greythroat for no reason aside from assumed slights and weakens Greythroat’s later character growth as we don’t see her show hatred or prejudice toward the infect, not in the same way as Ch’en in Episode 2-ish.

The Doctor’s role as a self-insert really harms more scenes than helps. A lot of moments where they’re the focus feel flat since they don’t have a real personality to play off of. Just for example, imagine if Amiya was trapped in with Frostnova instead of the Doctor, I could see a much stronger chance to characterize both characters in that situation.

Gavial was mentioned several times in this Episode and didn’t get any dialogue. How dare you not give Gavial screentime.

This Episode has proven that Amiya is canonically a 14-year-old loli and in charge of a total not private military company, no I swear, those soldiers are just for CC and special ops don’t think about it too much Silverash is just a CEO of a company stop asking questions. 

This isn’t a story complaint, but 6-16 was a bitch to get through. The randomness of Frostnova’s AI combined with that high damaging AoE attack just kills it for me (and half my units).

And while on gameplay, Stage 6-17 was really dumb and its only redeeming value is a free Originite Prime. I get the narrative point of it, but it’s still dumb.

Okay, so with the small stuff out of the way let’s hit the big issues, starting with...

The Disjointed Arcs

So... this Episode wanted to explain Frostnova’s backstory, explain Mephisto and Faust’s backstory, introduce GreyThroat and Blaze while giving them a character arc, further Ch’en’s character arc, humanize Reunion, do world-building on Lungmen society, reveal a political conspiracy of Lungmen that dates back years before the main story, kick-start what I pray isn’t a redemption arc for Mephisto (that’s a Rambling in itself), hint at Crownslayer’s backstory, hint at Talaluh’s  backstory, and possibly reveal some stuff about Ursus.

And folks... that’s too much for one Episode to handle.  

Compared to Episode 5, which just focused on Ch’en and the LGD, this was just a mess, there’s no two ways about. They were trying to do too much and front-loaded a lot of the important bits toward the end. I really wish they only tried to do two or three things on that list instead of 10 things. Arknights has a bad habit of trying to tell too much in the limited time it has our attention. Episode 4 was guilty of this, elements of Operation Intelligence was guilty of this, and even Code of Brawl has hints of this issue too by trying to hint at Mostima’s backstory while giving Bison and some other characters an arc. I get that they’re trying to lay the ground work for future events and story points, but this is really just too much, at least for one episode.

But speaking of things that are too much...

Humanizing Reunion

This is what really grabs my goat. I’m conflicted on how to feel about the attempt to humanize Reunion and add grey morality to their role as antagonist. My original draft had said this was a bad thing, since Mephisto is so cartoonishly evil any attempts at redemption feel flimsy, but... I think it could work. 

The main issue of trying to humanize Reunion is that our introduction to them was Mephisto, who is so far down the moral spectrum that it’s impossible to think he or the faction he represents are redeemable. However, characters like Faust, Skullshatterer, and Frostnova are much more reasonable/understandable in their motives. Skullshatterer is ruthless to his enemies, but kind to his soldiers, and his ruthlessness is really only on the battlefield. Faust is essentially Mephisto’s leash, and just tries to reign in his evil while protecting him. Frostnova just wants to have a home for her Yetis and doesn’t care what side she has to join in order to get it, though she has her doubts about Talaluh. 

This is fine by itself, but due to all the evils of Mephisto and the cruelty he’s done to Rhodes Island, Lungmen, and Ursus, it makes it really hard to see Mephisto as the exception instead of the norm for Reunion’s methods. It makes Faust’s death and Mephisto’s devastation of it feel flat since, frankly, the brat’s cocky attitude got his friend killed, and he’s just getting what he deserved. He’s killed and tortured too many for anyone to really feel sympathy toward him. When even Amiya calls Mephisto a bastard, there’s really no redemption, and while Episode 6 doesn’t try to redeem I’ve seen enough anime to know they might try and make it broken state seem more sympathetic than it should be.

Which leads nicely into Frostnova, who’s arc was done very well by my standards. While I personally think giving her solo time with the Doctor was more detrimental than helpful, it worked well enough to show she wasn’t a monster like Mephisto. It gave us some time to understand the motivations of the Yeti Squad and sympathizes with their goals of finding a home, gave us a nice hook for when Patriot comes around in full after being teased in both Episode 4 and Operation Intelligence, and if this Episode only focused on that I’d say it was a good story over all.

But... Episode 6 wanted to also hint at so much more that it was suffocating. I’ll at least say that Ch’en’s segments were fine and move on.

Gameplay

I’m going to keep this as short as I can since the story section was the big thing I wanted to talk about. However, there are a few things I want to mention in terms of the game.

6-7 was probably the best chapter in the game so far. I loved how they gave you an team already with most of them at E2. It was a great way for people without GreyThroat and Blaze and test them out. It let you see how some Operators you might have ignored perform at a higher level. It gave you a hint at where you should be at the point of this level, and the for the lore nerd it gives us a good idea on how an official team is structured for high-level missions. I’d love to see more missions like this in the future where they give you a ‘canon’ team already and have you work out the puzzle of who goes where and when.

6-16 is probably the worst. Frostnova having high stats and a second stage I understand, but so much of that map relies on getting around the randomness of what tiles she knocks out and praying you can survive her massive AoE attack in her second phase. My entire team was E2 Level 30 and it took me over ten tries to 2-star that stage. I was using a guide too. A lot of that map revolved around just praying Frostnova didn’t bonk out certain tiles or praying that her AoE attack didn’t randomly proc at a bad time. There is way too much left to chance on her stage.

General Gushing

I think that’s enough critique, let’s get to some happy stuff and talk about the things I enjoyed.

Blaze’s cattiness aside, I liked her a lot. She’s confident, she spontaneous, she’s... basically a rowdy housecat. Seeing more elite operators would be nice so Rhode Island feels like an actual force with some power and order and less ragtag.

Ch’en character arc is shaping up nicely, her barging into Wei’s office to chew him out gave me the largest grin.

Amiya’s whole speech to Wei was just great as well, really reminds you she is the top executive of Rhode Island for a reason... despite being a 14-year-old bunny loli.

Everyone mildly talking about Gavial makes me really curious about seeing her speak and act in the story. She seems like a feared woman to be sure. I’m we’ll be getting her event somewhere down the line.

Faust and Frostnova’s death, as forced as they felt, were genuinely sad and made me feel something. It gave the series a bit more weight to it.

Speaking of, Faust and GreyThroat had some pretty nice parallels, both Crossbowmen fighting for causes they’re initially apathetic toward save for a very small handful of people. Mephisto for Faust, and Amiya for GreyThroat.

“She jumped down?!” “She jumped down...” Best exchanged in the game so far.

Like Code of Brawl, save for some of the bullshit maps that just spammed the strongest, hardest-hitting units (yes, I do mean 6-5) I found a lot of the maps required some creative thinking. Despite this Episode needing E2 units, my E1 Vigna was the MVP of most stages. Ethan as well, as I didn’t have Manticore at the time and his damage of time skill and AoE damage really made those chokepoints work.

In the Future

As always, I don’t like the idea of fixing something that’s already out, but asking for future changes seems reasonable. To that end, I hope Episode 7 is focused on only 2 or three characters with little distraction. Episode 5 was great not because it focused on a fan-favorite character, but because it was a solid character arc for that one character. So far we have Ch’en and Amiya getting ready to maybe stop a war between Lungmen and Ursus, so let’s focus on these two characters. Amiya maybe finding out that Ch’en is slowly becoming Infected and helping her come to terms with that. Ch’en revealing her past to Amiya and the two connecting over losing so many close to them due to Oripathy. The two standing up to the political corruption of Lungmen, shoulder to shoulder, as women that refuse to see another life lost due to the indifference of a city’s politics.

And no bullshit maps like 6-5 too.

Anyway, that’ll do it for me. I’m... off to write some more essays and get a queue going. 

[ivory-insanity]

THE POSITIVE & NEGATIVE; Mun & Muse - Meme.

fill out & repost ♥ This meme definitely favors canons more, but I hope OC’s still can make it somehow work with their own lore, and lil’ fandom of friends & mutuals. Multi-Muses pick the muse you are the most invested in atm.

My muse is:   canon / oc / au / slightly canon-divergent / fandomless 

Is your character popular in the fandom?  YES / NO. Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK. Is your character considered strong in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK. Are they underrated?  Y E S / NO.  Were they relevant for the main story?  YES / NO. Were they relevant for the main character?  Y E S / NO / THEY’RE (literally) CONNECTED TO THE PROTAG. Are they widely known in their world?  YES / NO. ( everyone knows ichigo has an inner hollow, but no one really knows him ) How’s their reputation?  GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL.

How strictly do you follow canon?  — I try to follow canon almost to the point, particularly for characterization purposes. unfortunately, trying to take canon development away from shirosaki / hollow ichigo is detrimental to him. without his connection to being the inner hollow of ichigo, most of his personality is taken along with it, leaving him with almost nothing in terms of character ( i won’t go into detail here ). 

i fully stand by my statement that without all the canon events, he is not shirosaki & would become a different person/muse entirely.

SELL YOUR MUSE! Aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutuals.  — honestly ??? he’s literally the only instance of a highly intelligent & humanoid hollow that is NOT an arrancar. most of them are "forced” evolutions & they took in shinigami powers with its power, which put them down an evolution line different from the hollow one. they have most likely gained traits that shiro DOES NOT HAVE. he is not an evolution. his soul is entirely hollow, a derivative of white & nothing else. he is a base hollow that was made and became a zanpakuto spirit through unforeseen methods. he’s new. he’s unknown. he is entirely different from an arrancar & almost can’t be compared to one. 

 every single part of his being is a contradiction. he’s a hollow & and a zanpakuto. he’s destructive & protective of ichigo’s soul, even if they are for selfish reasons. there is a not a shadow of a doubt that he’s the only person of his kind, so any character in the entire series ( aside from ichigo ) will be faced with something new. will be faced with an unknown. his entiRE EXISTENCE IS INTERESTING and terrifying at the same time. 

not to mention, have you seen how he fights ??? 

Now the OPPOSITE, list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?).  — for one, he’s untrustworthy, he’s suspicious, he’s a maniac that will attack at first attack. i would say it is pretty common to avoid him. & he would avoid everyone too cause that’s how he is. not to mention the fact he is trapped inside ichigo & has little to no screentime. 

tbh i don’t blame people who skip from entirely & just make him off as some sort of plot armor. without digging into it, it’s pretty hard to catch a substantive personality. in the long run, he didn’t do much for canon. 

What inspired you to rp your muse? ��—  LOOOL see. he was my favorite character and that’s really it. he was just a cool character at the time, but he’s been really fun since he feels so different from writing other characters. 

What keeps your inspiration going?  —   kari. i don’t even need to say more.  writing with other people has been a blast & i truly love everyone here, but without her i probably wouldn’t still be on tumblr right now. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Some more personal questions for the mun.

Give your mutuals some insight about the way you are in some matters, which could lead them to get more comfortable with you or perhaps not.

Do you think you give your character justice?  YES / NO. ( all of shirosaki’s portrayals across the fandom varies immensely & i don’t think one is more inherently wrong or right, but i think my version is done very well in terms of keeping within what appears in canon. ) Do you frequently write headcanons?  YES / NO.  Do you sometimes write drabbles?  YES very sometimes / NO.  Do you think a lot about your Muse during the day?  YES / NO. ( see: my discord pms with kari ) Are you confident in your portrayal?   YES / NO. Are you confident in your writing?  YES / NO. Are you a sensitive person?  YES / NO.

Do you accept criticism well about your portrayal?  — i gladly take criticisms !! i have never read the manga of bleach & i actually don’t remember much of the series in general, so i am confident there are things i miss that are either directly or indirectly related to shiro. & i am also sure there are better ways to approach & ‘justify’ some of his more odd actions in the series, so please go ahead and critique me all you like !! however, i will note that if i can find evidence to argue against a criticism, i will most likely not take it. 

Do you like questions, which help you explore your character?  — absolutely <3 questions are very important because they make you think about things that you may not have thought about before. exploring things about shiro is one of my favorite things to do because of just how he is. 

If someone disagrees to a headcanon of yours, do you want to know why?  — yes, i would want to know why. when it comes to arguments or disagreements, i am very adamant about how they should go. arguments must include insights on both sides in a mature manner, so you can learn from both perspectives. who knows, you might see something you like & decide to combine it into something entirely new. 

If someone disagrees with your portrayal, how would you take it?  — just fine. with shirosaki especially, i don’t think one person has the same idea about him as another LOL in fact, i’m pretty confident many views between me & friends go against each other. there are so many ways to interpret him due to a lack of canon material, it’s just bound to happen.

If someone really hates your character, how do you take it?  — i’d think you’re a little crazy tbh. that or you missed everything that made him interesting. i may get not seeing much in him & ignoring him but omg i don’t really get how you could hate him ??? tybw solidified that idea even more, but eh. if you hate him, you hate him. don’t bring that hate over to me :P

Are you okay with people pointing out your grammatical errors?  —  yes. i am a grammar disaster. literally the worst. fuck grammar, man. 

Do you think you are easy going as a mun?   —  uh. depends on who you speak to ??? i’m pretty intimidating at the first few glances, i’ve been told L O L. but i am actually very very very easy going & am okay with a lot of things. also i crave social interaction like all the time so. 

That’s about it, congrats for filling out! tagged by: @deivorous​ ( i enjoyed ur response btw ) Tagging: the problems of me being inactive & a small blog in general LOOOL idk who has done this so whoever has not, please feel free to take it :> these are fun to read

[dicecast]

Blast from the Past: Tutorials Part 1: Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines

Welcome back to Blast from the past, a series where we talk about design choices from old Western RPGs.  So I just started Pathfinder: Kingmaker yesterday and the tutorial was utterly awful, I completely hated it and the whole experience just to me embodies everything bad about tutorials. 

(This entire sequence almost made me quit the game)

 It was so bad that it got me thinking about older tutorials and which ones I liked and didn’t like. But I think the biggest reason why I disliked it is that it reminds me of what I think embodies bad tutorial design, the opening level of Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines

(Pictured, somebody who could have used more screentime) 

     Bloodlines is a fascinating game, an odd mix of shockingly innovative design and terrible broken choices (mostly due to the game not being finished fuck you Valve), but the game really shines in terms of its quest design, which are often designed to be open ended and have more of a social basis.  The best part of each chapter (except Chinatown) is the beginning where you walk around the new hub zone and find all types of missions you can do, as well as having some really enjoyable scenarios 

(we need more painting quests)

....absolutely none of which is reflected in the fucking intro

Basically the tutorial is one giant warehouse where each room has a different design problem that can only be solved by using one of the mechanics.  So there is a room you solve by picking something up and moving it, there is a room where you have to find an object, there is a room where you have to pick what is in-game the most comically shitty lock in the world, and hack the most comically shitty code before doing a little stealth segment.  Its extremely obvious, tedious, and a little world breaking, the Sabbot apparently just openly attack you in what feels like it should be a masquerade violation and Smiling Jack, a character who we know for a fact has much better things to do with his time, rather than going in and solving this whole mess, apparently he was like “no wait, I am going to let this newbie walk through this vampire obstacle course because i’m in a tutorial level”.  The whole thing is forced, boring, and a little bit racist.  So why is this such a terrible tutorial, to the point where some of the mods actually remove it and let you keep the 2 XP you gain in the level? 

Well I’ll tell you 

1) It is obviously a tutorial, making the whole thing feel extremely boring, even if you know the mechanics.  When I was a first time player, I was just like “really game?  really?” and so was utterly disengaged.  Nothing about this place has personality other than the mechanics, every room has a single lesson in it and then you move on in the most inelegant manner possible (almost like they built this while in a rush) 

(this section isn’t from the tutorial but can you even tell?)

2) It doesn’t actually sum up the experience of playing bloodlines, which is usually about quirky quests and dialogue options, this type of play is at disconnect with the game itself.  Specifically, the best part of Bloodlines is how each quest is radically different depending on your build and your clan, from character’s responses to the results you can get, and the tutorial offers none of that save the “testing your powers” room, which is not what the game is truly about.  

(ahem)

3) It doesn’t tell me anything about the game.  We never come back to this ware house, it doesn’t play a major role in the plot, and none of the events of the tutorial matter in any way, apart from “you meet Smiling Jack” the entire section of game can be written off as worthless.  From a story perspective, you could have gone from Prince LaCroix being like “Ok get out of my sight” to Smiling Jack taking you to your home all in one sitting and skipped all of this

(this sequence means absolutely nothing) 

Its also a huge wasted opportunity, Smiling Jack is actually one of the most important characters in the story and his whole “i’m vampire bender the anarchist” thing is mostly a ruse, the man is actually the most politically saavy and cunning character in the game, so this tutorial is likely the only point of the game where the player can really get to know him but they don’t, he mostly just gives exposition dialogue

4) It ruins the mood.  Bloodlines starts with you being super confused surrounded by vampire politics and asking questions to Smiling Jack about what is the true nature of your condition.  Rather than dwell on that and adjust to your cursed existence (you know...roleplaying) you wind up going through a warehouse murdering “Gangbanger” in a linear corridor.  It utterly kills the pacing and mentally just reminds you “oh right, this is the tutorial level for the game...how fun....I love it....”  There is no option for the player to roleplay or express creativity leaving this as just “The part where you learn how to play the game. 

(you can design a level with character....also ewww) 

5) It fucking sucks for repeat play through.  Everything I wrote is what I thought when I first played the game, but starting a second file so I could see the game as a Malkavian fucking hurt because I had to go through this period all over again and it makes it even worse.  I know how to play the game, I don’t need to go through this nonsense again.

(picture an actual story)

Pathfinder Kingsmaker is far too similar to this in terms of awfulness in Tutorial but I will address its problems later, next I want to talk about three different good Western RPG tutorials  and what they mean.  

First off, Baldur’s Gate I and the opening to Candlekeep.