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wannab-urs · 1 year ago

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The Spreadsheet Digest - Vol 19

Hi friends!

Thanks for being patient with me -- I had one hell of a day yesterday and didn't get the Digest out when I usually do. It's short this week: only 10 fics (still not bad, considering, lmao). I read a 40 chapter fic this week that was about 400k words (rec'd below) and I was hooked (am hooked, I have like 5 chapters left). Apologies to all my moots whose fics I have ignored in favor of having my face buried in AO3 for a week, I'm catching up now!

As always you can find the Spreadsheet here and all of my previous fic recs here. Tag me in your fics if you want to be included in a future Digest :)

Recs below the Pedro in a v nice suit:

you can't trust anyone these days - a Joel/Tess one shot by @walkintotheriveranddisappear

TW Noncon - read the warnings - I really thought this was such an interesting take on Raider!Joel. I don't usually see Tess there with him and I also liked the power dynamics/trust thing going on. The plot twist? That was everything!

All over you - a Javi G drabble by @theywhowriteandknowthings

This is super fucking hot ah!! I love needy men who can't wait to get their hands on you. You're at a fancy party with Javi G and you look so hot he has to drag you into a closet. So good

Take My Hand - a Pero Tovar one shot by @pedrito-friskito

Okay so the prompt ended up being Pero Tovar, “is this real? are…are you real?” for fluff and “take off your clothes before I rip them off your body” for smut. And it's perfect. It's got this touch of angst, but it's so fluffy and sweet and then the smut is so hot. I am in love

John Wayne - a Joel one shot by @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin

SOOOO fuckin sweet, man. Like it's heartbreaking obvi. You show up in Jackson and Maria is all "this is my husband Tommy" and you're like that's the brother of the love of my life (pre-outbreak). And I won't spoil what happens but I love it so fucking much

Cherub - a Joel series by @cherubispunk

TW Dubcon - read the warnings - Mean old trailer park drug dealer Joel? The mouth on that man... Yeah this is filthy in the best way.

Stay - a Javi P one shot by @millerscoffee

Motherfuckin daddy kink with Javi P???? Hell yes. Yes on every level. This is so fucking hot ugh. The mouth on that man is criminal.

Religious Corruption - a Dave York two shot by @absurdthirst

Just reading the fuckin warnings/content summary on this fic got me screaming. Reader is an innocent virgin beginning her freshman year at a very religious school and she gets a crush on her professor, Dave York. This is not your average loss of innocence fic, not your average Dave York fic, not your average professor fic.... This is unlike pretty much anything else I've ever read and I loved it. It's sweeter than you might expect, but it's got penty of angst and the smut is insane.

I Will Always Find You a Din series by @lahooozaherr

Bodyguard!Din is one of my favorite things ever, seriously. I have only read the first chapter of this, but I'm so excited to read more. The way the whole first part of this fic is a flashback and you know eventually you get kidnapped???? It gives you this feeling of doom the whole time you're reading lmao (good thing, I promise) but like... our Mandalorian is gonna save us, yeah?

Be-All and Endor - a Din series by @djarins-cyare

Listen... this is the most well researched Din fic I have ever read. The amount of thought that went into this fic is insane. The linguistics are fascinating -- I think she absolutely nails the voice of everyone in this fic, especially Din. The knowledge of Mando'a and Ewokese on display here is incredible and if you ever wanted to hear Din Djarin growl strings of (actually coherent) Mando'a (with thorough translations) right into your ear... This fic is for you. The characterization and the way that every single decision made by Reader and Din make sense and build to such a gorgeous character arc? UGH. And while you have to wait... a long time... for smut -- it is so worth it. GODS this fic is gorgeous. I love it so fuckin much. (This is the one I was talking about in the intro)

Breaking in the new house - a Din one shot by @beskarandblasters

AHHHH this is so fucking hot. It's literally husband (so helmetless)!Din fucking you on like every surface of your house on Nevarro. There is not a refractory period in sight in this fic and I love it with all my heart. He is so hot, I want to die. <3

--------------- my fics --------------

I finally made a masterlist for A Ghost of You and updated all the headers which I'm very excited about. I also added a new fic to that series called Faulty System. The series is a mostly angsty, sometimes smutty Dieter Bravo x f!reader fic.

---------- Oldies but Goodies ----------

Here's some fics from before I did the digest or made commentary!

Jack Daniels x tattoo parlour AU - a Jack one shot by @fuckyeahdindjarin

Early Morning Moments - a Dieter one shot by Jazzelsaur on AO3

Over and Done With - a Javi P one shot @loquaciousferret

Every fic by @frannyzooey (I have too many of her fics on my spreadsheet to rec separately lmao)

In an Instant - a Joel one shot by @mishasminion360

A fool for you - a Joel one shot by @supernaturalgirl20

It would be - a Din Series by @fuckyeahdindjarin

------------------------------------

Happy Reading!

#fic recs #the spreadsheet digest #fanfiction recommendations #pedro pascal #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro fics #pedro pascal character fanfiction

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ablizmal · 1 year ago

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I JUST FIGURED IT OUT. the parallels and juxtaposition between the pairs of light+misa vs L+juliette.

something i see heavily in both light and misa —one of the only things they have in common, you could say— is that they both adhere to societal expectations. like… to an excessive extent. you know? they both cling onto it for a semblance of normalcy, to capture that feeling of “i belong, i belong, i belong.”

it’s their crutch. in a life full of alienation (for light, not finding meaning in anything, for misa, the immense loneliness and lack of a social life), at the very least they can have this. although they experience alienation, at least they’re not experiencing total isolation— or worse, ostracization, being disapproved of by others.

(that last sentence would be such an eye opening sentence for someone to analyze if english isn’t their first language… /positive)

getting back on topic, light is a VERY repressed person. in the fucking cherry cola universe (aka death note including my s/i), he’s gay but is so deep in the closet he’s not even AWARE he’s in a closet, it’s all he’s ever known.

besides this (or maybe alongside it???), he’s flamboyant. he really, really is, but in canon, we don’t get to see this as much, which i interpret being due to light adhering to everyone’s expectations of him. idk if this specific facet of toxic gender roles is also prevalent in japan, but i can see light, at a certain age (somewhere from 10-12 years old), noticing adults discomfort at his theatrics and stopping immediately. (he’s kind of a daddy’s boy tbh…)

misa, too, is repressed. you KNOW she would love stuff like horror movies, gothic bands, screamo, metal, and the likes, but she doesn’t. the only interests she has that we’re aware of in canon is the occult and fashion. this is for sure due to the writer of death note’s inherent misogyny in every female character he writes, but if you employ some ingenuity (like me (⟡⸝⸝U_U) *ੈ ‧₊˚ .), you can view misa’s lack of characterization as a foreboding sign that misa isn’t okay.

misa doesn’t have any friends. we know this.

her modeling coworkers aside, the only friend we hear misa talk about is her occult friend, and she never mentions her again past the video tape arc. (yeah, that’s what i’ll call misa’s introduction chapters. why not? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

this coupled with her parents being murdered… misa is desperate for any sort of approval from others. i mean think about it— outside of her modeling career, she doesn’t interact with anyone! she has a room full of personal items (plushes, posters, furniture, etc), which can be completely normal, but for the sake of my headcanons, has accumulated so much from her spending loads of time by herself, in her house, alone. this is the main setting she’s in. of COURSE she’s gonna get bored with the minimalism of it and add her own personal touches!

one of the few forms of self expression she allows herself to have is her fashion, but there’s a well known subculture for that fashion in japan (harajuku, but i’m pretty sure misa’s is gothic harajuku specifically). so, to sum it up— misa has a group of people who understand her fashion sense, therefore she belongs somewhere.

(note: i am NOT insinuating that misa only wears gothic fashion to fit in somewhere. that’s a stupid af take and it just doesn’t fit misa’s vibes to be perfectly honest. what i am saying, however, is that misa freely expresses her unconventional fashion sense because she knows there are others like her. that’s all. (this is likely one of the only unconventional groups of people she’s knowledgeable about.))

i’d even say that misa is highly intelligent, given how she gathered credible evidence that higuchi is the new kira in the yotsuba arc, but she intentionally hides it. why, you ask?

because she knows she’ll be undermined by men, and she seeks approval over anything, she’s substituting it for human connection, so she just… tucks it away. (fuck, maybe she believes that her intellect will be undermined by everyone as a result of the murderer of her parents never being convicted despite her testimonies…)

there’s also a Whole Other Instance (slash personal interpretation) i could bring up here, but i’ll just make that its own post, because this one is already WAY longer than i ever thought it was gonna be.

and we’re only halfway there, boys…

touching upon the thesis of this now pseudo-essay, L and juliette are unconventional. and they don’t care lol.

it’s well known that L doesn’t give a particular shit about how he comes across to others. like the dude’s rich, he could buy whatever clothes he wants, but he chooses to wear his usual clothes because of sensory issues he wants to. his hair is messy and he doesn’t need to comb it because of how short it is, he sits in that gargoyle pose, and he doesn’t hold back on using his deferential vocabulary when the situation permits it.

before the kira case, he would solve cases from a dark room. sounds fine enough… until you hear that there is no furniture in this room and his PC setup is on the floor. 😭

L also is either unaware of social cues or doesn’t care about them, or doesn’t care enough to learn about them, leading to scenes such as:

or him dropping loaded comments like they aren’t as massive as they are.

he admits with no hesitance that he can be childish when it comes to competition. childish… he’s using an insulting word for what it is at its core— a word to describe certain attributes. (he is quite literally ignoring what the conventional intent of the word is.)

likewise, even around the taskforce, he persists in his typical demeanor, what with his stare that bores into your soul, or slunking around in public, hunched over, his appearance coming off as ghoulish with his pale skin and shadowed eyes. (i’m not saying this as a negative, btw, i love his haunting aura,,, 💗∀💗)

and juliette?? juliette embraces the unconventional with every fiber of her being. as long as she’s alive, she will always endorse the unconventional so long as it’s harmless (because what’s wrong with it if it’s not hurting anyone?). they hate the word “normal” being used for non-universal experiences. having a certain blood pressure is normal. there is no such thing as a “normal” hairstyle, that comes down to personal preference.

she LOATHES the enforcement of conformity. it pisses them off to the point that they go out of their way to be even MORE unconventional, as a way of telling closeminded’s, “fuck OFF, there is nothing wrong with us, with people like me, and if you do have a problem with me, then you can kiss my heels, cause they’re landing in your face anyways!”

when it won’t come with bullshit consequences (like being treated unfairly at their job for being open about her genderqueerness :/), she doesn’t bite their tongue. they speak their mind if they hear someone spewing the most terrible of things, whether covertly or not, which is what makes juliette the only person to come to heads with light time and time again. (let’s face it, light is the type of person to get away with saying microagressions, and since he believes he’s right, he drops them way too often. and no one SAYS anything about it because “no no, light does mean it like ~that!~ he’s so RESPECTFUL and KIND :(((((((((((”)

she isn’t afraid to express her joy and wonder, even at the smallest of things. they know they can be ridiculed and judged for it, but they also recognize the importance of small joys, and that significance outweighs ANY judgement that may be hurled her way.

that’s kind of juliette’s whole thing, actually. if anyone judges her for her unconventionality, she says “so? what are you gonna do about it? gonna go into my brain and rewrite everything about me? huh?” jdksjdksjdkajxjs, she can get VERY snarky about this, but they are proving a point, which is “BITCH, who asked?”

light: …you sure do have a unique laugh, juliette.¹

juliette: well, Boy Genius,² what’s a normal laugh then? huh? what is the typical pattern emerging from instinct which creates the phenomenon known as a laugh? present me with evidence. write me about all your findings, since you’re apparently so knowledgeable about this topic. (mockingly tilts head) it shouldn’t be so hard!~ (❀ ˶ ⁍̴̛ ◡ ⁍̴̛˶)

1) just one of light’s MANY casual insults that he can justify away due to plausible deniability.

2) yes, like jimmy neutron. (FUN FACT, i just found out by creating this exchange (and subsequently checking to see if juliette making this reference is possible in ~2003, given the manga’s timeline) that the jimmy neutron series first aired in 2002. i would’ve sworn from vibes alone that it started in 2007, but eh, “the more you know,” amiright??)

(how the fuck do i even get back on topic after that tonal shift)

to summarize,

light and misa are both people who care heavily about what other people think of them. they conform to what’s expected of them, even if that means closing themselves off from potential happiness.

whereas L and juliette are so authentic. okay, well, maybe L isn’t authentic around prime suspect, light yagami, but!! in all the time he’s known light, he still continued to eat sweets and only sweets, y’know?? if it won’t hinder him solving the kira case, L shows up as himself, odd quirks and all (🥰).

L and juliette have discovered the secrets of the universe, that secret being “i am cringe, but i am free.” (✿ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)

but it’s not so cut and dry as that, as they have varying degrees… no, different ways that this presents itself.

misa is more likely to be swayed if in the right environment (like how she had a friend who engaged in the occult).

L doesn’t care what others think about him. he is SO uncaring, in fact, that he doesn’t feel the need to explain his behavior.

but light and juliette… they’re in leagues of their own.

light has NO identity beyond what others expect of him. this is one of the reason why he’s depressed at the beginning of the series. he’s become everything everyone’s ever wanted— for his family, he’s the perfect son and brother. for his classmates, he’s the perfect student, the perfect friend, is TOTAL boyfriend material (apparently???¿? i can’t see it lmao).

yet it’s meaningless. everything that’s supposed to be fun, like spending time with friends, going out, karaoke, hobbies, playing games, sports, academics, dating… it’s meaningless to light. it’s too predictable, he’s too smart for it, really… so it’s not his fault. it’s not his fault it’s not entertaining to him! it just so happens that he’s better, and more intelligent, than everyone else.

to cope with his alienation, he shoves himself onto a pedestal, eventually diminishing and forgetting the whole point of such human activities. he spits in the face of humanity.

he’s above it all.

but juliette embraces human life. she loves the humans, and sees the inherent worth in the human experience! she condones recreational activities such as singing, dancing, playing, relaxing. they believe that our connections with others is what makes life worth it, even if it’s connections so complex and distant that you can’t even witness them (think of produce at your local supermarket. they wouldn’t be there if the farmers who grew them didn’t exist).

juliette supports self expression above all else, whether that’s through emotions, music, writing, art… any creative means, really! it’s also why she’s so vehement about presenting the way you want through fashion, or socially, through words (heyo, genderqueer nation (⌐ᗜᴗᗜ)).

i mean, this song is one of juliette’s anthems:

youtube

these beliefs run deep in their bones. she wouldn’t be the same person without them.

in this way, light is the antithesis to juliette. light is the one who lies about himself to others the most. juliette sticks true to themself as much as she can and HATES conformity SO much that she actively spites people who wish to enforce it.

which is why they are at each other’s throats (mostly) through words.

if misa is more easily swayed, then light stands firm in his need to be acceptable to others.

if L is quiet, but content, with his eccentricities, then juliette is loud and open about hers.

#notice that the only time juliette quiets down is if it’s for her safety #it’s a survival mechanism. if the system is unfair then she’ll play the system #lizzie screams #the inner workings of liz #juliette rae ambers #cherry cola chaos

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authortango · 2 years ago

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Book Review - How to Win a Wager & Bite Your Neighbor by D. N. Bryn

I recently finished reading How to win a Wager & Bite Your Neighbor by D. N. Bryn ( @brynwrites ), and I wanted to write a review to show my support and share my thoughts about this fantastic book.

Though my review touches on key themes and plot points from the book, there are no big spoilers in it. I’ve still put it under the cut though in case you’d like to read the book before reading this. Review TL;DR - 5/5, I can’t wait for the next one. You can purchase a copy off Amazon or through one of the other options on @brynwrites website here.

How to Bite Your Neighbor & Win a Wager is a slow-burn romance novel by D.N. Bryn, that also happens to include side-plots regarding vampire rights and committing espionage against an evil pharmaceutical company.

“Wesley didn’t tell his legs to move, but neither did he tell his lungs to breathe or his heart to beat. They did so because they were born to, and he was born to run into Vincent’s arms.”

This quote occurs very late in the book, but I feel it perfectly describes the dynamic chemistry and slow burn relationship Wesley has with Vincent. Also, I didn’t think it was possible for two characters to be so horny and yet so wildly oblivious.

This book was fantastic. I got the horny, vampire fantasy that I bought the book for, but I also received the gradual build to a true, romantic relationship between Wesley and Vincent, as well as an enthralling mystery about the shady pharmaceutical company, Vitalis-Barron, that pretty much owns the town.

Without spoiling anything, I want to touch on some key things I really liked about the book. For example, I really liked how morally grey Wesley’s character is, as Kendall, his best friend, describes it. His whole character arc as well is very satisfying as he comes to terms with a lot of his trauma and learns to redeem himself.

I liked all of the meta/self-referential moments in the book in the form of comics and video games, and how it was made a part of the world-building instead of being too jokey or fourth wall breaking. The same thing about the true villains, Vitalis-Barron - it wasn’t too jokey, no “dur-hur evil pharmaceuticals” - no man these people are evil and have a deep rooted history in being evil, as most corporations do.

The world-building and the politics about being a vampire in general and how vampires live on thin, marginalized lines on the edge of society was also incredibly well done. I love books that take classic vampire myths and decide what to keep and kill from them, as well as recontextualizing them with what it may look like today in a more modern society. Vincent’s experience being a vampire and a semi-closeted gay man explores a lot of what that would look like, but also draws an excellent parallel that gives poignant insight on what it is like to be disabled and LGBTQIA+ in today’s society. I’m sure this was an on-purpose parallel done by the author, and it was incredibly well done.

One more excellent thing D. N. Bryn does with the storytelling is how the miscommunication as a romance trope is executed in a way that is believable and moves the story along. Each character has an incredibly valid, albeit dubiously ethical reason to not tell each other what they really want to. I never once felt taken out of the romance, the intrigue, or the suspense of the plot by the miscommunication issues. It was so well done, I had to put the book down and calm down at the blowup/reveal point, because of how stressed out I was about it.

Overall this was a fantastic book! I give it 5/5, and I can’t wait to read D.N. Bryn’s sequel to this, How to Sell Your Blood and Fall In Love, when it comes out. You can purchase a copy of How to Bite Your Neighbor and Win a Wager from Amazon, or you can check out their website at www.dnbryn.com to find more places to purchase their book.

#book review #how to bite your neighbor and win a wager #guides for dating vampires #brynwrites #d.n. bryn #other people's writing #writeblr #writeblr authors #independant authors #indie authors

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inklingofadream · 2 years ago

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less of a specifically jon thought but re: little archive youve said that cecile's gf is a teacher and that could be how they learn jons alive

but after the events of two(?) chapters ago ive been obsessed with the concept of jon going to the school she works at but its large enough that she just sees him very occasionally in the hallways and thinks hes haunting the school/her

A bunch of people have suggested Nika's school as the way they get back in touch with Jon!

...I'll be honest that hadn't occurred to me 🤣 My original plan for them reconnecting was different, but the details of that were scrapped when I decided to introduce Gerry instead of having Elias bring Jon to the Institute every day. Maybe they will meet at Nika's school! I just didn't think of that bc Nika's from the same original cast of OCs as Cecile (...wait i JUST realized I think i have some truly ancient art of that oc cast in my blog archive...) but doesn't get copied across as many settings and projects and hasn't been around as long.

That original project has them all as Terrible Teens, and her main goal is to survive to adulthood, so making her a teacher was a spur of the moment thing i didn't expect people to pick up on the way they have. I wanna keep the focus on the TMA characters, obviously, but since I have an endpoint for the Cecile and Nika arc and the in between stuff is up in the air maybe some of the other OCs from there will pop up to fill out their background casts of friends and family and coworkers as needed. Meaning random research into the state of queer rights in the UK in the 90s, because most of said supporting cast is queer, including in ways that are harder to stay closeted about than our two Certified Gal Pals

#asks #little archive #writing #i'd also have to nail down genders for some of said OCs #bc some of them change depending on how the project changed #and some are straight up randomly assigned #plus they have very shifting associates esp cecile #cecile has either one or two siblings bc one may or may not exist depending on my mood #and schrodingers sibling is sometimes a guy and sometimes nb #her dad also is dead or alive based on coin flips #i also don't know if id b able to resist bringing in their Embarrassing Teen Lore #bc since theyre teens and young adults in their original form theres lots of Terrible relationship drama #including cecile and her brother crushing on the same girl and nika and her two girl besties #being in a constant weirdo love triangle where all or none or two are dating at any given moment with High Drama all the time #ink post

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m1ckeyb3rry · 1 month ago

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Tsumikis plot going down the drain actually one of the beginnings to my villain arc I remember being so hyped for it watching season 1 only for it to ??????? Whatever but anyways you fr have prophet abilities or something im actually convinced (manifest us episode Karasu/ Karasu light novel please)

CHIGIRIS FACE JN THE LATEST ONE HAD ME CRYING LIKE BRO WAS WEIRDED OUT it’s giving “mom come pick me up im scared” but YEAHH chigiri getting to let loose and be like a raging teen boy with nagi and Barou and zantetsu and do the “let’s go” pose and accompanied man roar (ykwim) sigh but HEAVY ON THAT yeah the whole girlboss counterpart idea is er interesting to say that least but on brand for fanon activities…..

AMERICASONA I SCREAMEEED THATS too funny but EXACTLY MY VISION like Bachira would be like “make her paper heart” or something and otoya would be like damn ok and when it actually works otoyas like bro you’re the rizz master mentor me Bachira LMAO banned from mcs building real for that

wait I lowk forgot about that game I had it downloaded for awhile but didn’t do anything with it oops but YEAH from what I’ve seen I bet there’s some nice interaction content there that the series desperately needed ugh

LMAOAOA THATS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS THINKING like imagine y/n being nagi and having to interact with reo and the soccer team and reo is fr like wtf happened to you (the possessed line is genius though omg)

LMAOO TRUE also wait YUKITULLI TIME?? also yeahhhh it was insane because the wording was so distinct too…I’m pretty certain a couple writers were like “yeah I saw this copy paste floating around so I’m

Not gonna write it!!” And good for them honestly also with your wc I don’t think you could ever be accused of plagiarism LMAOOOOOOO when the characters get unpacked instead of reverse haremed >>>>

SJHSSJ no because it’s technically still functioning and doing the basic things I bought it for so I can’t justify upgrading it yet….theres also a lot of backup prep work id need to get done before I get rid of that and I’m afraid now is most definitely not the time for that (speaking of now it’s my tablet that’s crashing out (literally) and I’m losing my mind everytime I try to open an app it CRASHES like LOAD PLEASE I BEG I literally came SO. CLOSE like the loading progress bar made it so far and then nope. SIGH)

LAMOAOA REAL NGL I watched it because my friend wanted me to and it was a good like no brain light hearted watch but the art style is not my type between the flat hair and face shape and eyes SORRY yeah no I’ll stick to my crow man…but yeah it’s interesting because hq is like the opposite extreme of the sports spectrum where it’s friendship is magic not I’ll climb your corpse and become number one

TIME FOR YOU TO START DRAFTIMG EPIKARASU that’s crazy fr though the chick still has me laughing it’s also like prime pfp material

Every time we circle back to this I have to take a deep breath because seriously get a life was it ever that serious…like people beefing it out fighting between two ships involving one character and I’m like……please….touch some grass….or even look at some pictures of grass….remind yourself of the existence of the outside…..

Nah fr shipped logic is honestly so hypocritical most of the time that I can’t even get myself to read their arguments because it makes me like rage quit equivalent of reading like you just contradicted yourself get out…..

Also isagi pedestalling nagi will never be not funny to me he’s fr like “he’s a monster/genius/god” and I’m like chill bro we get it

BAROUUUUU can’t wait to see him on the field also wait I think it’s really funny that the recent promo has basically spoiled the three subs because they include them in official art specifically for the u20 match team and I’m like imagine getting spoiled by the official accounts themselves LOL

LMAAOA literally me I will not be stepping out of the closet with this one guess this is my sign pay more attention to notes now you’ve got me intrigued LMFAOO STAY IN SCHOOL

IM CRYING TRUE for me I don’t think any experience will beat being sick it’s actually the worst like why am I being put out of commission for like a week and a half but anyways yes manifesting bacteria be gone…

LMAOAOA in classic Mira fashion indeed this is actually really funny but I’m sure it’s actually cooking so hard based off of the previews you showed honestly the MLP fan in me almost wants to expand this into a separate bllk universe and give every character their own Pegasus just imagine but anyways the angel take in the Kaiser fic too was a really refreshing fantasy au take too your brain is so big

Ok time to pull out the big brain mode and ponder the themes again lowk….but SHSHSH I would say NOOO but also so real for that I’ve definitely felt that with other platforms too like but OK we’re safe then although I’m ngl I don’t even use all that many things anymore and actually don’t use discord oops (I have trauma from that one friend telling me i have off discord user vibes like WHAT GOODBYE tbf it was also a friend who’s also into like anime and whatever so wasn’t closeted but still I did NOT ENJOY THAT EXPERIENCE) but should the time ever come we’ll figure something out I’m sure LOL

Ok first off from a purely pokemon standpoint Charizard and hiori is a crazy matchup even though I know that’s not what the event is doing LMAO this is truly a unique experience there’s another thing I didn’t think id hear bringing yuki into this is crazy work wait I’m crying yuki is fr just getting the short end of the stick in every miraverse au getting one sided beef from Karasu being the villain in hollyhock this is too funny justice will never come to him LMFAOOOO also I’m crying the “KENYU MF YUKIMIYA IS INTO ME” is SOOOO FUNNY LMFOAOAOAAOAAOAOA ok but now that they mention bm dorm i kinda get it although bm Yukimiya is NOT my favorite but anyways

HE WHAT??????? DAMN I lowk thought you just meant yeah i like him now so im adding

Him to the bottom of my list of characters I like but REPLACING REO I was not expecting that but considering what you wrote for sae i can see if seabird has me on the edge of swerving too wait ok i know that’s a sae tiktok but Isagis ghost white face in the beginning made me laugh oh wait that edit kinda goes hard especially with the music….oh…LMFAOO SAE THEME imagine sae theme before Karasu theme that’d be wild anyways maybe the carnivorous pegasi will make me swerve who knows

Your memes are actually way too funny i lost my mind at the Oliver one fr i need that framed on my wall the otoya yuki one is also hilarious sorry yuki but i find the blind jokes really funny THE YOU JUST TALK TO THEM IS TOO OFOYA CODED actually hilarious peak comedy right here STOP THE KAISER ONE IS SO FUNNY TOO ITS LOTERALLY THEM???

Ok the panel of nagis ego disappearing after he shoots the five shot revolver volley thing is actually so majestic one of my fav panels of him fr

CHEISTMAS NAGI wait the way they edited the Santa hat onto him is some crazy work talk about editing skills

I’ll never get over Nanamis goofy ass color palette and his goggles like wtf and the tie pattern is atrocious but I’m dying I read your comment about needing it to make its way into a Karasu edit and my fingers automatically saved the tiktok to my bllk folder LMAOOO BUT REAL PMG THE AUDIO wait it’s so Karasu someone edit this RIGHT NOW ugh I miss Karasu wtf

NAGI MOMENT so real honestly he gets the best quality scenes too like they’re pulling all the stops for him

LAMAOA IM CRYING THE WAY YOU ACTUALLY TJOIGHT OF NESS BUT YES I SEE THE VISION!!! I never willingly think of ness though ngl you just work overtime on the opps too but the audio does makes sense with him I’ll admit LMAO

RAGHHHHH KARASU SHIDOU BESTIES unironically love the spiky hair duo

CHIGIRI COMING IN CLUTCH FR!! I actually love that scene omg but also Isagi has NO survival instinct bro wasn’t going to duck or dodge or anything like hello

KM CRYINF IVE SEEN THIS OTOYA KARASU ONE LMFOAOOOO AIKU IN THE BACK LMFOAOOOOO REAL

IVE SEEN THIS ONE TOO AND SO REAL

When I tell you I almost passed out when they showed us that scene of Karasu doing pre match analysis like HE LOOKS SO FINE IOSKNDKDJSJS and the second to last scene in that tiktok GOODBYE I NEED MY MAN BACK NOWWAS

- Karasu anon

no literally like she was set up to be so cool and honestly even the yorozu thing wasn’t. HORRIBLE. per se. but it was just executed in a weird way and it just felt like another case of gege lowkey being unable/unwilling to write female characters and so just shelving them and giving them shitty conclusions instead of proper story arcs and development the way their male counterparts got…LMAOOO PLEASE i fr can just predict the future #praying for a karasu and otoya light novel release soon SDFHK the third person can be kiyora (provided he’s staying in the manga) ngl they might wait until nel is over so as to not spoil who’s staying since a lot of characters (kiyora, nanase, etc) are hanging in the balance and might not pass this arc so they might just not want to release until we know for sure they’ll be continuing onwards?? because a karasu - kiyora - otoya release would make a lot of sense given epinagi and their backstories all coming out at relatively the same time

CHIGIRI WAS SUFFERING BROOOO he was just trying to be nice and show concern for reo but he was NOT prepared for THAT…i know for a fact bro went straight to bachira and isagi to let them know what was going on because that was a DIABOLICAL interaction 😭 and agreed we really get to see a diff side of chigiri in epinagi which is really fun…he’s so silly with nagi barou and zantetsu (that one panel of him jumping on nagi’s shoulders while nagi’s like :x is SO FUNNY and it’s so cuteee too plus the one of him and zantetsu flexing at one another) it feels like epinagi also treats him like a guy more?? idk if that makes sense it makes sense to me 😓 but yeah pretty much just fandom doing its thing there with regards to that relationship SDKHF they’re honestly not even shown interacting THAT much if you think about it i think people just have their headcanons and run with them or smth because we see chigiri and like bachira interacting way more but i hardly ever see people talking about THEIR friendship

I LOVEE COMING UP WITH AMERICASONAS LMAOAOAO like yukimiya’s is bradley, chigiri is jesse, uhhh who else, i think isagi would be kyle?? KARASU’S IS TYLER SDKFH anyways imagine otoya is just indulging bachira because he and bachira are the only ones doing anything on their team so he’s like “ok sure i’ll make her a card and tell her she has a beautiful smile” and then it works and otoya’s like hold on bro…you cooked…and bachira’s just like 😄 LMAOAOA imagine lavinho gets involved too but his advice is HORRIBLE so it’s like otoya alternating between doing sweet stuff like drawing us holding hands in crayon and then like a day later he pulls up and is like “hey girl 😉 you remind me of my little toe 🙂‍↕️ because i’m probably going to bang you on the coffee table later when i’m drunk 😘” HAHAHA omg wait a new wingman has entered the villa…aiku shidou and now bachira…miraverse blue lock wingmen agenda is too strong

PLEASE omg wait i have a nagi request that’s just “can you write for nagi” dare i say freaky friday nagi version may be incoming…the only thing is like how would they end up switching bodies 🧐 because with y/n and karasu it was that they were beefing and then karasu yelled at the witch so she switched their bodies but i a) don’t see nagi beefing with anyone and b) don’t see nagi yelling at a witch LMAOO something to ponder when i’m at that point ig 😭 omg wait speaking of freaky friday somebody reblogged it a while back saying it was a “peak fic but should’ve been yaoiful” i was like what 😭 very confusing comment i’m still not sure how to take it

yukitullia would be insane…but tullirin…ngl i think it’s just going to come down to what plot idea i have first and whether nagi or karasu fits it better LMAOO and then tullia can be with yukimiya or rin based on that actually wait ykw would be another hilarious pairing is tullisae i feel like they would be very seabird sae and reader coded ☝🏻 but if she’s with sae who would reader be with…hmm…sae is even more friendless than rin and he also doesn’t have the benefit of having any really interesting pairings that i would want to look at (like rin with nagi) sooo actually wait i wouldn’t write it but imagine tullisae and then reader with AIKU SKDJHFSDLK

yeah i def respect them for saying no!! i don’t think i’ve ever said no to a request i just let them rot in my inbox for ages 😭 actually wait someone requested a sequel to seabird for my 1k event and i was like okay i don’t want to waste an event spot for something that everyone and their mother has been asking for so i’m going to veto that idea because if i do write a sequel to it it’ll just be because everyone wants one?? although ngl idt i will just because i think part of the fun and magic of seabird is the fact that we don’t really know what happens next (except we kinda do because rin mentions in the cherry tree sequel that sae and seabird reader are getting married) tbh i don’t think i’d be able to do their relationship justice if i did a sequel 🧐 so that will probably remain sequel-less ANYWAYS back to the original discussion HAHA yess i think tropes like reverse harem/love triangles only work if they are being used to reveal something about the character like if it’s just “i want a hot guy to like the mc” it feels shallow but if the love triangle is being used as an exploration of the characters or furthering the themes i think they can be really cool to include

HELPPP you need to like do an exorcism for your electronics or smth omg why are they all tweaking at the same time 😭

two of my best friends and i watched the first couple of episodes of hq together in my basement and halfway through i went upstairs for like fifteen minutes and threw up and then i came back downstairs and we continued watching and the next day i tested positive for covid LMAOOO so that’s my hq experience in a nutshell 😭 it’s like a meme for us now…we’ll bring it up like “remember when we were watching hq and you got covid???” yeah the artstyle really does not do it for me i could not imagine myself finding any of them attractive

EPIKARASU TIME FR omg i love the chick though it would be such a funny pfp actually

i miss when people used to ship literally anyone and everyone i think there’s so much discourse about it now that it’s like. CRAZY. not that there weren’t ship wars back in the day but i feel like the vibes were different…anyways i accidentally ended up reading a fem karasu x fem kaiser fic last night so that’s where MY opinions are re:shipping (it was kinda hilarious actually i was like how am i here…but then i was like wtvr for karasu ig i’ll do it…)

ISAGI GLAZES NAGI SM IT CRACKS ME UP like damn bro we get it you think he’s cool (ngl me too) in second selection especially it’s SO funny because he cannot stop like nagi will literally breathe on the field and isagi will be like holy shit…he’s unreal…the god of breathing…LMAOAOA honestly most unrealistic thing about blue lock is that isagi didn’t choose nagi’s team in third selection like i know for plot reasons he had to choose rin or else he wouldn’t even have made the bllk11 but like who in their right mind wouldn’t choose “guaranteed chemical reactions” when you have ONE game to prove yourself 😭 also let’s be real i think nagi would’ve been way more willing to pass to isagi and let him shine and whatnot than rin was…obviously that’s against the mentality of bllk and shit but still

wait i didn’t even think about that tbh i forget that there are anime onlies for bllk because the manga is sm better that if anything people are mostly manga onlies if anything ☝🏻 but YESSS AHHH I AM SO HYPE FOR BAROU just gotta get through an itoshi fest before we can see him shine

HELPP i really do think it’s a product of how small the fandom is so like the groups are very overt/in your face which makes it easier to identify them 😭 it’s like a game for me honestly like it’s very unserious

ANGEL KAISER WAS SO FUN okay your inner mlp fan will be pleased to hear that there will be quite a few characters featuring with pegasi of their own!! well not their OWN because they’re just jockeys but ykwim…off the top of my head sae, kaiser, leonardo luna, bachira, maybe isagi, noel noa, ego, hiori so far all have a named pegasus they are or will be mentioned riding 😛 they’re not all as relevant (some are literally just there to fill out the races so it’s not just two pegasi that we know of racing LMAO) but they all have names and colors…i won’t spoil them yet EXCEPT leonardo luna’s just because it is cracking me UP i think i’m going to name his pegasus “lunar eclipse” because is that not the funniest shit ever 😭😭😭 anyways yeah this is another one that’s going to end up being LONG i think however a surprising amt of people seem excited for it?? one of the sae reqs actually got changed to kaiser with dark/ghost (supernatural au/reincarnation) because the person said they thought my fantasy au ideas were so cool and they thought i could really cook with a more unique prompt (as opposed to normal/rock with sae which iirc is just fluff/modern au)

LMAOOO HELP I FORGOT YOU ENDURED THAT 😭 i’m the opposite people are always shocked that i watch anime and use discord and whatnot (IF they even find out) so i literally use it in public FJDJS my mindset is that my face card lets me get away w being weird…is that realistic NO but whatever i am #cringebutfree anyways if anything we can always just be tik tok mutuals or something…or we can exchange emails and email each other when new bllk episodes drop LMAOAAO IMAGINE 😭😭😭 jokes aside yes trust it will all work out and besides i don’t plan on deactivating atm so it’s a concern for later

PLSSS JUSTICE FOR YUKIMIYA 😭 at least he bagged yayoi in bfb??? but otherwise yeah bro is struggling omg and agreed everything about it is kind of blowing my mind but i think it will be fun!! ngl both love triangle requests i’ve gotten have been kinda random like kunigami and karasu is no less random tbh the difference is that i actually would pick karasu over kuni 😩 agreed though bm yuki is fr a diff character or smth tbh…bring back third selection u20 rough and tumble yuki 🙏🏻 wait ngl going back to earlier parts of the convo imagine ROUGH AND TUMBLE yukimiya with tullia (or even reader) that would actually be soooo fun orrr speaking of character backstory adjusting aus i was talking to jeirin abt what blue lock would be like if (somehow) nagi was discovered by aiku and became the u20 team’s ace instead of being discovered by reo and that would also be really fun to write at some point i think…people would hate me because i would make it so blue lock is dissolved but let’s be real blue lock 11 without nagi ever being in bllk is cooked — isagi and probably barou would never awaken, reo would also never really awaken or even be involved, and nagi also scored their first goal?? but him + sae is a lethal combo i fear they would in fact win (also i’m a nagi glazer plus it would be cool to write that i think) tbh that’s actually one where i would write it as just a character study on nagi instead of a reader insert story but idk i’m scared of opps and i’ve never written something from the pov of a canon character (except aiku ig) so it would be a little out of my comfort zone…hm…many thoughts atm

LMAAOAO RIP REO i feel like i haven’t cared much abt reo in a while he’s kind of in the chigiri bucket where his fanon version is so annoying i stopped liking him except with reo his additional times are also kinda giving his fanon self so i’m like oh…now FIRST SELECTION reo?? UNBEATABLE but him ever since then has been slightly meh i fear 😭 ngl sae is one who i do like but specifically and only my version of him FJDJSJ like seabird sae/carnivorous pegasi racer sae my BELOVEDS but i could never read him written by anyone else because i only like a very exact characterization of him and most people don’t really do that LMAOAO so he’s like a conditional top five for me 🧐 ngl of my top favs i can only occasionally read about karasu because everyone else is constantly mischaracterized to the point that i’m just like eugh this isn’t even my glorious bf this is just some white haired mf who hates women 😢

THE SAE EDIT IS SOOO HEAT ISN’T IT like the combo with the music and the scenes they used are soooo good 😭 shocked isagi is so funny though agreed he is FLABBERGASTED

LMAOOO I’M GLAD YOU LIKED THE MEMES I HAD SM FUN MAKING THEM 😭😭😭 they are sooo silly bro i need more yuki and otoya interactions ik for a fact that yuki thinks he’s dumb asf wait lowkey it would be hilarious if otoya thinks he and yuki are chill and yukimiya is just rude to him in the way karasu is but then he sees yuki w nagi and he’s like wait am i the problem…yukimiya can’t escape one sided beef HAHA at least this time he’s the one hating not being hated

THE PANEL OF NAGI’S EGO DISAPPEARING AND THE ONE OF HIM CELEBRATING HIS GOAL ARE SOOOO COLD call me isagi the way i’m abt to glaze him so horrendously 🤤

christmas nagi is so precious princess pookie like imagine him drinking hot chocolate wearing a santa hat 🥹 actually ngl shidou would jump him because he hates santa but it would be so cute

NANAMI IS SOOO GOOFY i fear i will always hate…the fanon shidou friend was obsessed with nanami also so extra reason to find him an opp 😭 but RIGHT it’s SOSOSO karasu coded like him in the third selection especially ughhh #needthat

been saying from the start nagi is the fav and it’s not a close contest 🤩 even in third selection w the worst animation yet he still looked cute

LMAOOO THE INNER EDITOR IN ME COMES OUT REGARDLESS i too usually forget abt ness but i heard the audio and i was like holy SHIT it’s perfect i just need someone who actually likes him to get on it (although he doesn’t have the panels/moments for it yet…most of his scenes are him crying and being emo over kaiser he needs to have his glow up to be edited like that)

KARASU AND SHIDOU BESTIES FOR THE RESTIES (karasu does NOT approve of this message) I LOVE THEM SM TBH PEAK DUO

THE WAY ISAGI JUST STANDS THERE LIKE 🧍 IS SO FUNNY bro was fr just going to let shidou rock his shit 😭 god bless chigiri fr (or not…that would’ve been one less opp to think abt 😒 maybe we should be manifesting shidou absolutely taking out isagi next chapter)

AIKU IN THE BACK AND THE WAY HE ZOOMS INTO THE FRAME CRACK ME UP it’s sooooo oaeu coded like this is actually what happens in the otoya chapter when otoya reforms himself and aiku gives reader “rizz advice”

HFSKSJ i love every single video that uses one of those genre of audios…like the “naw 😨 that’s CRAZY” or the “jit TRIPPING” audios idek where they’re from but they’re all hilarious and so out of pocket it makes me laugh every time

KARASU IN THAT EP WAS SOOOOO GLORIOUS OMFG that episode doing the MOST for us karasu fans and then the episode right after being nagi’s goal genuinely healed smth in me LMAOOO now we wait because next ep will probably be rin’s goal + aryu’s block but then. BUT THEN. BAROUUUUUUUUUU (i mean technically shidou first but shidou is in this weird spot where he’s not an opp but also not a fav…admittedly his goals are really really hype though so it’ll be fun to see them playing out)

#answered asks

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alcappacino · 1 year ago

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now that i'm 1) sober & 2) had time to meditate on the movie i'm here w/ some thoughts on maurice (1987) that no one asked for. also technically there are spoilers for the maybe like two ppl that peep this

i will not lie, i did not enjoy the movie quite as much as i thought i would, especially given the hype i've seen for it on tumblr. i might enjoy it more upon rewatch now that i've had the time to think about it, but it's still a touch disappointing.

& i will admit that i have a tad of a bias bc going in, i was mostly watching it for objectifying young hugh grant reasons. but i do think his character was done a little dirty and clive could've had quite an interesting character arc. (that's not to say that i didn't like alec. i will always support a working class king.)

i fully understand why the story went the way it did & how clive and alec represent two sides of handling being gay in edwardian england & how both are crucial to maurice and his development as a character. and as an extention of that, yes of course maurice is the main character, not clive. however i also will not lie that i did not find maurice to be the most engaging protagonist on earth lol, though maybe i would think differently if i read the novel.

i'm not all that bothered anymore that alec and maurice got together in the end bc good for them, but i was gunning a bit for maurice and clive simply based upon how i think they could've gone in an interesting direction together. i was hoping for an arc that included both of them reconciling their sexualities, something that could've been done in a very interesting way considering how deep back into the closet clive went. there are instances in which one person coming to terms with their identity helps someone else, intentionally or not, and i was honestly kind of expecting that to be the situation. alas, it wasn't, but oh well. i am pleased that at least alec and maurice get their happy ending, especially since that happens so infrequently in queer media.

#anyway. not putting this in the tag bc people here seem to rabidly hate clive. which i do not understand #but i also have more complicated feelings abt him. mayhaps i'll dicuss them at a later time. but oliver has heard them already

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cathygeha · 2 years ago

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REVIEW

The Gay Best Friend by Nicolas DiDomizio

Well written, interesting look at expectations, love, and friendship that at times was painful and others heartwarming.

What I liked:

* Domenic: lawyer, musician, recently dis-engaged from Ted, best friends with Patrick and Patrick’s fiancé Kate, people pleaser, prefers peaceful friendships, somewhat self-absorbed, tries to live up to an image he has for himself, a magnet for trouble-controversy, grows some through the story

* Patrick: wealthy, Dom’s friend since childhood, stayed in touch with fraternity friends, in love with Kate, a bit clueless, communication skills need some work, a good person

* Kate: works for Vogue, engaged to Patrick, good friends with Domenic, makes request of Dom that is rather inappropriate and bound to cause problems, communication skills need some work, a good person

* Bucky: pro-golfer, in the closet, has a lot to process through the story and grows a great deal as her realizes truths about himself

* Ted: Domenic’s ex-fiancé, seemed more self-aware and better able to communicate than Dom, seemed a good guy though not the man for Domenic

* Mario: lobsterman, mature, kind, wise – wouldn’t mind seeing him in a future book

* Not sure I liked the drama, angst, conflicts, etc. but they were well done. I wanted to sit people down and make them talk to one another – so – well written as it did engage me

* The way more than one character dealt with personal issues and grew through the process

What I didn’t like:

* Who and what I was meant not to like

* That there was so much drama to deal with throughout the story…drama, angst, secrets, lies, hiding, and immaturity for people in their 30’s.

Did I enjoy this book? In the end

Would I read more by this author? Maybe

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the ARC – This is my honest review.

3-4 Stars

BLURB

He's always been the token gay best friend. Now, stuck between a warring bride and groom hurtling toward their one perfect day, he's finally ready to focus on something new: himself. Domenic Marino has become an expert at code-switching between the hypermasculine and ultrafeminine worlds of his two soon-to-be-wed best friends. But this summer—reeling from his own failed engagement and tasked with attending their bachelor and bachelorette parties—he's anxious over having to play both sides. The pressure is on. The bride wants Dom to keep things clean. The groom wants Dom to "let loose" with the guys. And Dom just wants to get out of this whole mess with his friendships intact. But once the rowdy groomsmen show up at the beach house—including a surprise visit from the groom's old frat brother, handsome and charming PGA star Bucky Graham—chaos (and unexpected romance) quickly ensues. By the time Dom returns for the bachelorette party, he's accumulated a laundry list of secrets that threaten to destroy everything—from the wedding, to Bucky's career, to the one thing Dom hasn't been paying nearly enough attention to lately: his own life.

#Nicolas DiDomazio #Sourcebooks Casablanca #NetGalley #LGBTQIA Fiction #Romance #Fiction #summer beach read

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number1villainstan · 7 months ago

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I speedran unlocking utena 2(TM) apparently, because my experience of watching RGU for the first time was:

StuCo arc: lmao look at this fool saionji. get fucked Black Rose arc: ...he looks so happy with Wakaba... Akiopocalypse arc: Saionji Kyouichi is my favorite character of all time. He's lashing out in the same way I would lash out if I was in his situation, if I had never learned the coping mechanisms I did, if I had had shittier parents, if I hadn't been raised a girl, etc etc etc. My sincerest wish is for him to be genuinely happy and connected post-Ohtori. I would kill for him. I would die for him. I would live for him.

But then again, I've always had a Thing for angry and/or cheated antagonistic characters, and also as a trans man with anger issues like--I Get It (at least Saionji's deal). And then of course there's the fact that I have a Bachelor's in Public Health, which is a field that is All About thinking about the larger societal problems you mentioned and how to fix them! We call it 'systems thinking' and it's one of the most important concepts/skills in the entire field, and quite frankly I think systems thinking should probably be taught to everyone in like high school at the latest, because it is so critical to understanding the systems we live in and how to separate those systems from individuals in your head.

On the less-personal analysis side, though, this idea:

how easy it is to hate them as individuals! and how that’s just another way we ignore the larger societal problems!! if the issue is touga and saionji and miki, then it isn’t the circumstances that put them there.

is really really good to me, because it touches on the 'systems thinking' you mentioned earlier, and because it also ties into the motif of the Swords of Hate. Hatred is usually caused by fear or long-lasting pain, and is usually directed at the someone or something that the person in question thinks is causing their pain--and in this case, the person who's actually causing pain (Akio) shrouds the methods of pain in secrecy and normalcy and presents Anthy as the scapegoat, so those Swords of Hate attack her instead. The Swords of Hate most obviously represent the hatred of women who fail to live up to misogynistic standards ("she deserved to be raped, look at what she was wearing" "why doesn't she stay home and take care of her kids like a good mom?" "ugh she's so ugly, why doesn't she lose weight/put on makeup/shave her legs") and arguably also represent the hatred aimed at people who don't fit into the gender binary for whatever reason (i.e. accusing a black woman of being a man and other instances of misogynoir, because the gender binary at least in our Western culture is also rooted in racism; transphobes of all stripes casting trans women/MtX people as evil brutish predators and trans men/FtX people as "confused little girls"; talking about butches like they're automatically brutish and predatory and rude because they're masculine when they're not "supposed" to be), but given that this is Revolutionary Girl Utena and every single metaphor in it is pulling quadruple duty it could also absolutely refer to the hatred of privileged men for not living up to reasonable ethical standards--not because said hatred isn't justified, but because it's unproductive and harmful.

Jennifer Coates, in her 2016 piece I Am A Transwoman. I Am In The Closet. I Am Not Coming Out., discusses the effects of cissexist antimasculinity on herself and in society in general, including this gem:

Have you noticed, when a product is marketed in an unnecessarily gendered way, that the blame shifts depending on the gender? That a pink pen made “for women” is (and this is, of course, true) the work of idiotic cynical marketing people trying insultingly to pander to what they imagine women want? But when they make yogurt “for men” it is suddenly about how hilarious and fragile masculinity is — how men can’t eat yogurt unless their poor widdle bwains can be sure it doesn’t make them gay? #MasculinitySoFragile is aimed, with smug malice, at men—not marketers.

The attitude she describes here is common in feminist and queer spaces, but it's just another iteration of the patriarchal gender binary, especially gender essentialism and oppositional sexism: women (who are innocent by virtue of being women) are influenced by patriarchal marketing strategies (or hiring policies or housing availability or the fashion industry etc etc etc), but men cannot be influenced by patriarchal marketing strategies because men are the opposite of women, and if they are not influenced by marketing then they must be doing all the influencing. And it creeps further: women's issues are Important, which means that men's issues must be Not Important because men and women are opposites. Stick 'trans' in that last sentence and you get the mindset that came up with the TMA/TME binary, or combine it with the transphobic assumption that gender is defined by genitals and you get a major part of TERF/SWERF ideology. A lot of otherwise progressive people do this because they haven't fully deconstructed their beliefs about gender, or because they have failed to conceptually separate individuals and populations from societal systems, and it prevents them from seeing the common humanity and common struggles between people of all genders.

Revolutionary Girl Utena, on the other hand, doesn't do this. At all. It recognizes that Touga's and Kozue's hypersexuality are both trauma responses, that Wakaba's and Saionji's jealousy each come from similar circumstances, that Anthy and Touga are practically the same person wearing two different masks. It paints the role of 'princess' and the role of 'prince' as equally reductive and equally bad for the person enacting them. It's why the twin triumphs of the show have nothing to do with punishing or hurting Akio--have nothing to do with hate--and instead have everything to do with solidarity and self-love. It's why Saionji--who arguably hates the system the most out of the entire cast, bar Anthy--only starts to find the right direction when he lets go of his jealousy and takes Touga's olive branch. It's why Akio whacking a sword at those doors does nothing, but a swordless Utena's tear allows her to open the door to Anthy's coffin and give her the strength to love herself enough to walk away.

Because ultimately hatred can do very little to make the world brighter, better, or less oppressive. Because systems of oppression are systems of hatred and division. Because liberation can only be achieved through compassion and solidarity.

(Even if you fucking hate the dude you're trying to work with.)

see the thing about rewatching utena is that the first few watches are for hating the male characters bc it’s SO REAL and they do suck.. but then you eventually get to a rewatch where you unlock utena 2(tm) where you realize how easy it is to hate them as individuals! and how that’s just another way we ignore the larger societal problems!! if the issue is touga and saionji and miki, then it isn’t the circumstances that put them there. the beauty of the fictional nature of rgu is that it allows us to more deeply analyze the very common negative traits and behaviors of the characters and deconstruct them in a more productive way than just “oh these guys suck we have to punish them” idk maybe it’s just the prison/punitive justice abolitionist in me but i don’t think it’s practical to solve every issue where someone sucks by just like writing them off and getting rid of them??? idk i’ve lost the train of this post but the real ones get it!!!!!!!!

#tw rape mention #rgu #revolutionary girl utena #rgu meta #long post #that one post that's like “everyone in the rgu fandom talks like they're formulating a university level thesis” lmfao #i have heard that Jennifer Coates has since come out but i can't verify that. it's categorized as 'celebrity gossip' in my brain #and i don't keep track of celebrity gossip (loosely-used term)#i really should be working on a paper rn lmao. told myself i was gonna do that today and then didn't even with meds #i've got a couple days but i still wanted to get it done #instead i brain vomited uninvited about how RGU approaches gender relations on a random post #possibly that flippant jokey last line weakens the argument but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯#anyways utena's utter dismissal of Akio when she's going to open the rose gates >>>>>>>>#like yes king! don't waste a single drop more of energy than necessary on Akio's farce!#she had her priorities straight fr #there's a lot to be said about the difference between perception and reality and how that influences emotion and emotional responses #both irl and in rgu specifically #but that's for a different brain dump lol

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terresdebrume · 3 years ago

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Where the heck do I start watching Critical Role ?

(Because if you're going to watch 400+ hours of something you might as well start with the one that suits you best)

This is an extended version of a response I wrote for @grilledkatniss .This post is meant to help you decide what actual play show to watch, and is focused on campaigns and related one-shots. Other CritRole shows such as Narrative Telephone and Talks Machina are not covered in this guide.

(Though if someone writes something for those shows, please let me know and I'll link them in this post).

Obligatory readmore to save your dashes.

Campaign 1 (LINK)

The first campaign of the game, features the group Vox Machina, whom you may know of through the upcoming animated show on amazon.

In my opinion, campaign one is the hardest one to get into for two reasons :

The show started by taking a pre-existing campaign to stream, which means no matter where you start you're picking up mid-story.

One player of the OG cast became more and more obnoxious on-stream until he left. He's one of the main reason many people recommend starting with episode 24. (The second being that ep 24 starts a new arc which makes it a little easier to catch up.)

It's the group's first campaign so the characters are a little more true-to-tropes than in the following ones, though they already have depth and really touching arcs so it's really a matter or what kind of story you want to watch.

Also, it being early show means you will see a lot of changes in the setup, including technical difficulties before they got big budgets, lots of semi-unrelated material in the videos (DDR parties, to name one) and overall it's very obvious the show and the cast were figuring things out.

As the OG campaign, C1 also comes with a number of related 3-4 hours one-shots, which means the runtime of the story is longer than the runtime of the campaign. All related one shots take place after the end of Vox Machina's main story though, so you can skip them and still know the essentials of what happened to them.

Canon VM one shots :

The Search for Grog (LINK) Starts a couple of days after the last episode of the campaign.

The Search for Bob (LINK) Starts about five minutes after the end of the Search for Grog.

Dalen's Closet (LINK) In which two PCs finally deal with a villain that's bugged them for a long time and get married. In that order.

The Adventures of the Darrington Brigade (LINK) In which a former/temporary member of Vox Machina recruits people to go adventuring for charity.

Note: There are also a bunch of not canon/only semi-canon one-shots set in the periphery of Vox Machina such as Marisha Ray's games of Honey Heist and a few Battle Royale one-shots. For the sake of brevity and simplicity, I'm leaving them out of this list.

Campaign 2 (LINK)

Campaign two starts about 20-25 years after the story of Vox Machina, and follows a group of adventurers called The Mighty Nein.

The first ten or so episodes contain no reference whatsoever to Campaign 1, which makes C2 the easiest one to get into so far, in my opinion. Story-wise, the plot is somewhat less structured than in C1, which gives the campaign a bit of a different feeling (both are really good, it's just a bit of a different vibe).

Also, by the time C2 starts, most of the technical issues are sorted out and they've figured out how to make their show work, so you'll definitely get a much slicker experience from the get go. There's still a bit of footing-finding in some areas (who describes actions, how and how much, for example) but overall by that point it's a well-working machine.

Campaign 2 comes with a related, non-canon one-shot in the form of a Vox Machina vs. Mighty Nein battle royale.

Exandria Unlimited (LINK)

A shorter (8 Episodes) campaign featuring part of the regular cast (Including Matt Mercer as a player) as well as three additional players and a new DM, Aabria Lyengar.

The story starts about six years after the end of Campaign 2 and takes the viewer back to Tal'Dorei, the continent where Vox Machina evolved. I haven't personally watched it yet, but from what I know I would say it's right behind C2 in terms of ease of getting into in that the characters come with few connections to campaign 1 or 2 and therefore few references to either of these things (I assume having three players plus a DM who were uninvolved with C1/C2 helped).

Bonus : it's only 8 episode so it's easier to see if following an actual play show is something you enjoy, although since the DM is different, there's a possibility you enjoy Aabria's DMing more than Matt's and miss her after, idk x)

Campaign 3 (LINK)

Campaign 3 started in November of 2021 and as such is still pretty short. The story starts about 30 years after C1 and so far has my favorite characters (totally personal tho, obviously).

Three of the characters in this campaign are from Exandria Unlimited, one is from The Search for Grog & The Search for Bob One Shots, and another one has a strong connection to a place that played an important role in C1. What that means is that while you'll get the information you need to understand what's going on, having watched C1 will enhance your understanding and enjoyment of the show.

I didn't get the feeling that there were as many references to EXU so far, most likely because only three players out of eight participated in EXU--that being said, from what I've seen the plot is going to get into things that are more strongly connected to EXU soon, so there's also that to consider, I guess.

Tech wise, the show has Invested and is now in possession of possibly the raddest gaming setup ever x)

Also, later campaigns have a lot more Ashley Johnson, in case that plays a role for you xD

#Critical Role #Vox Machina #Mighty Nein #CR1 #CR2 #CR3 #20n #30n #80n #90n #100n #150n

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legionofpotatoes · 2 years ago

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*nonchalantly guides the Star Wars discourse fandom into an unsuspecting walk-in closest full of dusty, bootleg props from the original trilogy, sneaks out while it's distracted and locks the door behind it, muffled bangs and angry screams echoing through the halls*

That hyperspace scene from The Last Jedi is honestly such a beautiful and serene thing to look at and I can't help but appreciate all the hard work that the VFX artists put into those shots

It's the context, too. It gets so much out of the filmmaking surrounding it. I sometimes talk about how we lose touch with real tension in genre films, and that scene is a great example as this cathartic beat that directly caps a tightly wound trifecta of concurrent plotlines, each catastrophically going wrong and getting worse by the minute. And the buildup deftly emphasizes and turns up the noise alongside everything else: shuttles filled with our last shreds of hope screeching as they consecutively explode from enemy fire, the kids upstairs yelling silly in their tug-of-war-force-edition, the ones downstairs literally counting down the seconds to their very public execution, john williams just going ham in the background, and it all twists and twists and twists that knob until the sound is deafening and scene cuts match the speed of your heartbeat and everyone is moments away from losing and then the decision.

The decision. To cut through all that tension and every thread of impending doom all at once with silence. Such a simple trick to pull, but so effective. Questions and answers, that good storytelling. Ups and downs, setups and payoffs, tension and release, something high, something low. Deafen us with the noise of an imminent failure hydra and then follow with just one moment of self-sacrifice so vast and indomitable that it drowns everything out by being singular and quiet.

It is such a classic example of tension-building and resolution with compounding stakes that become almost too much just before rewarding viewers with a catharsis that feels at once earned yet surprising. Not talking about the writing here, or the story, or the plot details, or the even bigger context, or even how correct this all is vis-a-vis character arcs or The Mythos or whatever. We can let that closet door be, I'm not talking to those folks. Just marveling at the pure filmmaking instincts at play; their intentionality, their deftness, and how hard they work to really earn that stunning handful of shots.

And yes; I can't imagine a VFX artist serving a context this elegant and then not giving it their all. It was a triumph of every technical discipline involved, and I loved their cohesion in matching the audio design in terms of restraint. All of it, visuals included: tightly framed, minimal cuts, monochrome coloring, a single - maybe even a story-driven - source of light, adequate room to breathe and linger by the end (so we can breathe out too!); it was all about focusing it into something deliberate, inarguable, final. The opposite of the chaos preceding it.

Great set piece, great closer. Again; nothing to do with it being a star wars anything, simply remarking on cinematic grammar correctly engaging with and responding to its audience in the moment.

(and going through that aforementioned whiplash of tension and release was especially moving in the theater. Double especially considering the more rounded edges in any tension-building throughout the bookend installments. I don't get preachy often, but some cinematic staples stand the test of time for a reason! Just be intentional with it. And have lots of setups. And pay all of them off)

#thank you for indulging my semiotic ramble based on a short simple ask #i get like this sometimes and i appreciate everyone who has patience for it #i've learned not to talk anout my opinions on the story in TLJ but i know the kind of filmmaking grammar I best respond to and I can say #like definitely say that this one nails it. in almost everything #it is the perfect way to approach spectacle/popcorn moviemaking. tension is like so so so important to have good ENGAGING fun #and not get bored out of your mind. so hard to build sequences that use it well. really really overlooked i think #not generally but nowadays for sure #lots of outdated bigoted instincts in old cinema for sure but their structural shit? bulletproof with some modern bells and whistles #gotta use what's not broke man #anon #asks

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absolutebl · 4 years ago

Text

This Week in BL

April 2021 Part 3

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Second Chance Ep 3 - this is proper YA, they are dealing with actual high school issues, picking uni, first crushes, online dating, etc... We even got a senior prom trope which almost never happens in Thai stuff (just the freshman uni competition variant). Standard plot pacing means PaperFah’s kiss was too early, might indicate we’re moving to uni in the second half of the series? Tropes included: let me feed you, hand hold, black & white striped shirt, floppy drunk & first kiss.

Y-Destiny Ep 3 - the first MaxNat ep. Such fun to see them playing different characters. This one is enemies to lovers, tutor/student, but it’s using the “poor little rich kid loose cannon” archetype. Nat is doing his best, but it’s leaving me cold. Lots of tropes tho: boyfriend’s closet, floppy drunk, pillow clutch, the loom & water bottle.

Lovely Writer Ep 8 - solid installment, good use of many tropes. I really like the leads and I’m glad there isn’t much side dish action, SibGene gave us: punish, touch your face, boyfriend claiming, kissing, sleep cuddling, symmetry, rooftop, cheek kiss, hand hold, and pillow clutch.

Call It What You Want Ep 3-4 - couldn’t find the subs, don’t really care, will watch if it crosses my radar, otherwise I’m just not into it.

Brothers Ep 11 - the “everyone wants Chol” show continues (but WHY?), he and Tri are cute together, and now I kinda just want Prab to end up with the twins. I’m confused by the teachers, but Boston showed up (from UWMA), and my boys KhunKaow got together (YES!), so I’m ultimately delighted with the episode.

Fish Upon The Sky Ep 2 - the makeover happened, and we go from cute with glasses and braces to cute without them. (I’m reminded of those 90′s Pygmalion teen movies where the girl has glasses + ponytail and then *GASP* does not and *GASP* she’s HOT. This was the BL version.) Meanwhile, writers better be careful with Pi, he’s getting too tsundere to like. Did you see they gave AJ a 2gether music intro & pick up line? Well, it’s actually his brother JJ who plays Ohm in 2g. I cackled. GMMTV - you so cheeky.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

HIStory 4: Close To You (Taiwan) Ep 5 - half way point. My poor confused babies. It was a really sweet episode... if what happened before hadn’t happened in the way that it had. Also, these boys have a GREAT friendship but are probably the worst advice givers ever.

Most Peaceful Place (Vietnam) Ep 3 fin - so cute! Our boys confessed and got together. There was an adorable mutual kiss (I love me a mutual, like Ingredients). Afterwards, they actually seemed to communicate with each other about both sex and their relationship. OMG. How original for BL! This was the last episode, so the series is short, but I still enjoyed it very much. RECOMMENDED.

My Lascivious Boss (Vietnam) Ep 1-2 - oh boy this one is rough, we started out with homophobia child abuse and moved on to family drama + drunken dub-con one night stand. But production values and subs are better than normal for Vietnam (You Are My Boy levels) + our queer babies are out & proud + it’s higher heat + I’m weak. So I’m watching.

Word of Honor (China) Ep 25-27 - honestly not much happened, lots of back story. Things are looking dire for the ghosts unless they can turn the Scorpion (I LOVE HIM, he’s my precious deadly baby). Don’t know how they managed to make loosing a battle with an immortal sword god ex-friend cute... but they did. Did some calculations and at 36 eps, mathematically speaking, ep 30 will be the equivalent of a standard BL ep 11. Should I be scared for next week?

Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding (Korea) Ep 1-2 - it’s so effing adorbs, soft bois do old fashioned tropes like arranged marriage + evil stepsisters meets the more modern fake relationship + secret identity in a surprisingly comfortable mix. It launched with baby is a floppy drunk, forced proximity, performative I saw you feed him, and some fun gay panic. It’s a lot lighter and faster paced than I was expecting, but this is Korea so I don’t know why I’m surprised.

Stand Alones

K-pop band OnlyOneOf dropped a new MV that is basically BL bait, using many of the tropes we know and love. I promise I’m not trying to lure anyone into K-pop I just thought it was interesting how consciously they’re yaoi dipping.

Spin-off We Best Love Fighting Mr. 2nd, Shou Zhen | the Only Love Letter Once Written (SERIOUSLY WITH THE TITLES TAIWAN?) anyway there’s a something or other 25 minutes featuring Pei Shou Yi and his boy that aired Friday. It’s about 10 minutes of reboot footage with 15 min of new content, mostly set in the past. It entirely rests on Chih Tian Shih’s acting, fortunately for us he’s great. However, it doesn’t substantially change or add to these characters’ arcs from the finale of WBL season 2. I don’t know if there will be more or if this was just an extra footage fan service.

COLOR RUSH GOT ITS MOVIE!!! Okay this is almost the tipping point for me to get Viki Standard. It’s listed at 1:56 minutes long but the original series had only c.120 running time - that is a lot of new content. Although i was disappointed by To My Star’s movie I loved Wish You’s, so I am hoping Color Rush got Wish You level treatment. That said, I feel Color Rush the series is damn near perfect already, hard to improve on perfection.

Breaking News

Close Friend the series got an updated trailer featuring MaxNat (no subs) so if you like them in Y-Destiny or in Why R U get ready for them to play different characters again, this time for a sports romance segment. Like Y-Destiny, Close Friend looks to be another series of vignettes (Original trailer) coming April 22.

2gether the movie (Thai trailer) was intended release April 22 but is now postponed due to a surge in C19 cases in Thailand.

Tell the World I Love You, a Thai BL movie that was supposed to release last week, is similarly delayed.

My Ride has been postponed indefinitely with no airing date.

The Miracle of Teddy Bear got a teaser vid, no eng subs.

Gossip

Thai BL actors Nanon (Bad Buddy), Yoon (YYY), and Mark Siwat (LBC, Bite Me) have tested positive for C19. Press releases stated they’re fine, tho filming has paused fore their various projects, obvs. (No word on whether Nanon’s current project was Bad Buddy or not, although it seems likely given his recent Arm Share episode.)

Next Week Looks Like This:

Some shows may be listed later than actual air date for International accessibility reasons.

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something.

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francostrider · 2 years ago

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Surfacing the Subtext: Ion Fury

I am happy to see the so-called “Boomer Shooters” making a comeback. Modern and “realistic” (citation needed) shooters never interested me. I loved the original Medal of Honor but using a real life third world nation as target practice always rubbed me the wrong way. Give me demons, robots and Lovecraftian horrors to slay, not a poor guy driven to acts of violence because of the propaganda he has not way of shutting off.

In 2020, before the world ended, I decided to play three of them as a trilogy. Ion Fury, Dusk, and then Amid Evil. Partially for the Heavy Metal inspired groupings of sci-fi fantasy, but it also shows some evolution of the FPS as a genre. From the 2 1/2 D of Doom and the Build Engine, to the bright colored lighting of Unreal and other related games.

But there is a an obnoxious “truism” among these kinds of games: That there is No Story. If you read my thoughts in “Video Games Do Not Need Oscars” than you can probably guess my stance on how video game storylines should be measured. Many people believe that it’s solely the cutscenes or the dialogue segments. But I would argue that the story of any kind needs to encompass the whole work: the action scenes, the quiet moments and even the mundane things like armor repair and heading to the shop. Anything you see on screen or on the page is the story. Stories include battles and the mundane, is what I’m saying.

This can be a hard stance, as a single character murdering that many people is a stretch of the imagination. But games tend to get away with it because it is based on your skill. You see the ins and outs of how the character takes on an adversary. And it’s during gameplay that the subtler moments, like background story telling and character establishment, can occur.

With that in mind, let’s look at Ion Fury, developed by Void Point and published by 3D Realms. There is controversy with this game and that should not be entirely ignored. But I am going to put it aside for this discussion as it’s not what this article is about.

Ion Fury is the descendant of Duke Nukem 3D. In fact, Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison, the protagonist, was originally a sidekick for Duke Nukem before being dummied out. Duke Nukem 3D was a ground breaker in some respects, as it was the first noteworthy FPS that made levels look like real, lived in places, as opposed to the monster closet mazes of Doom and Quake. Now, Duke Nukem 3D didn’t set out to make a compelling storyline. Most of it were voiced references (passing off as jokes) by Duke himself, and locations were designed to replicate the team’s favorite action and sci-fi movies at the time. Arguably, during that era, Blood did more to establish a consistent tone and character arc.

Bringing us back to the Build engine two decades later, Ion Fury does, in some ways, matches the musclehead bravado of Duke Nukem 3D. But its world is a bit more consistent, less like a collage of random action movies and more set in its own world. It’s a cyberpunk dystopian future. Big money basically runs the world, crime is rampant, police is militarized and its raining a lot. A lot of the ads you see on the walls are over the top and goofy, but there is a sinister undercurrent, made up of the usual corporate corruption (that is having more and more trouble hiding within the last few years).

That whole paragraph? That is just about what you see when you explore. I haven’t even touched the storyline yet. Despite the primitive graphics, every inch of the game screams horrid urban life to your face.

And these details are not ignored during the actual plot either. You are Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison (part of GDF, the law enforcement), and you’re trying to stop the plans of the evil Dr. Heskel, a billionaire scientist out to take over Neo-DC. And, yes, it’s as cheesy as it sounds. They are constantly taunting each other with bad puns and dated jokes the whole game.

But the mooks you fight aren’t pig cops or lizard aliens. They are brainwashed cyborgs. Dr. Heskel’s firm specializes in cybernetic impants and artificial limbs, presented to the public as helping people back on their feet. With that same technology, Dr. Heskel has created his army, likely lobotimized and turned into killing machines. Kept further from the public eye is his weapons development branch.

On the surface, it’s easy to see this as pro-cop, anti science/medicine. And admittedly, I felt a little uncomfortable with the game in my library. But it’s not as black and white as all that. You can find ads for GDF basically advertising itself for people with aggression issues. And there is a brutal parody of Trump’s campaign ad in the hidden level.

Shelly herself is a bit of a blood psychopath. It’s easy to dismiss most FPS protagonists are blood thirsty killers. But I would argue that Shelly is a psychopath where the original Doomguy isn’t. Doomguy’s back story is that he is put on the Mars base as punishment for disobeying orders. Said orders were killing innocent civilians. He does have a big grin when picking up high tech weapons and ammo, but let’s put it this way. Doomguy is in an absolute nightmare scenario. He is surrounded by literal Hell. And when pitted against what seems to be insurmountable, any weapon looks like a glimmer of hope. That this can be won. That he can survive.

Shelly is enjoying herself basically the whole way through. Arguably, she is also in a nightmare scenario, but often her one-liners are a bit more off putting than anything Duke says. And unless she’s grievously wounded, she always has a grin on her face, where Doomguy always looks cautious and focused. While the game and the text does side with her in the immediate storyline, there’s a sense that she would have been a villain in any other story.

Probably the most generous interpretation is that the game is ultimately anti-megacorporation. That it’s not science or medicine that is the problem (since you use plenty of both), but what corporate greed does to them. Dr. Heskel mentions that GDF relies on the weapons he creates (the usual we’re-not-so-different speech), but it makes sense. The villain has the ability to work and invent high tech solutions, but he would much rather sell weapons for profit. Weaponzing medicine, weaponizing science, weaponizing law enforcement and growing rich off of both. The cyborgs can be seen as a corporation grinding people into cogs, as mindless machines for one’s own agenda.

And let’s not neglect the combat itself. While not as absurdly bloody as, well, Blood, it is visceral in its own way. Headshots are possible now (and impressive feat given the engine), and corpses are not untouchable. There were plenty of moments where I dodge a grenade, and watch pulverize a body into gibs. Blood and cybernetic parts fly through the air, an illustration of the wasted potential of the technology and the violence that it brings. Environmental damage, which I tend to ignore in most modern games, is heightened by the sprite work. The violence isn’t just the blood, but the world around you, from broken glass, to wrecked toilets to busted vending machines. The facade of an orderly, futuristic society is torn asunder by the very people with power.

I imagine there are two camps of fans of this game: the kind of people who read into it and make articles like these, and those who take it at face value and just enjoy all the guns. And I know the controversy muddles my point. They’re often easy to miss, but that does not dismiss the decision to include that.

You could argue that the game is noncommital, bringing up subjects but not really doing anything with them. And a serious talk isn’t really what the developers intended. But there is not nothing. It is, like most speculative fiction, a reflection of our own world. And with its Bulid Engine graphics, Ion Fury says a lot from the neon lights, violence and locations.

So, well done, Void Point. But maybe keep the unfunny trans and gay jokes out of the expansion? Thanks.

#ion fury #void point #Duke nukem #Blood #Build Engine #dusk #Amid Evil

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