#more stories that don’t care about being cute so much as making an impact

[oriley42]

Serious question but no need to answer if you don’t want to

I see a lot of talk about Amber’s portrayal being sexist in the show, but I’m not quite sure why? To me her motives always seemed really well-defined (high pressure = “I’m only worthy when I’m successful”) so she puts on this sharky mask with a feminine facade so she is feminine enough to get a certain amount of approval but never shows how much she cares (which could be used against her but also could be used to undermine her “oh you’re too soft”). I thought the show did an excellent job of showing a mask for her

But a lot of people talk about 00s sexism and how it impacts her characterization. The sexism… Is it that she gets called a cutthroat bitch? Or how her story revolves around a man after she leaves House’s team? Is it the fridging?

Any of those could be it I guess but it just sounds like you and others are talking about something a little more fundamental to her personhood so I thought I’d ask if I’m missing anything.

Very interesting question! I think you're getting at exactly the trickiness of the issue, which is that sexism always operates systemically. It's not that any key aspect of Amber's character "is" misogynist, it's that every aspect of her character is automatically filtered through a lens of sexism.

In today's world where "bitch" has been very de-clawed, turned into a more casual and way less gendered insult that's used without cruel intention in queer slang, I think it's hard to understand just how violent the term was--and was meant to be--in the aughts. House in canon is not calling Amber a bitch in a cute, almost self-deprecating, friendly way (though I think it's valid to re-write it that way in fic to defuse the term!). He is calling her a bitch to contain and belittle and dehumanize her. We see the term mobilized this way against Cuddy in 5 to 9 as well: calling a woman a bitch was an extremely powerful rhetorical tool to turn any dangerously competent, brilliant, threateningly accomplished woman back into a harmless, debased, controllable object. So, "CB" reflects how easily the fact that Amber is the "female House" gets turned against her--it doesn't mean she's an eccentric genius like him, it means she's an evil copycat who needs to be put down. And this kind of structural logic applies to her whole characterization--it doesn't matter that House does it all more frequently and worse, if she does it, it's unacceptable because she's a woman. (There are parallels here with how racism means that when Foreman acts like House, he also gets the axe instead of the narrative bending over backwards to make what he did alright.) That's why she was fired, after all!

And her death. Woof. Classic case of killing a woman for man-pain. Everything supposedly about her death is actually about how her violent destruction can be used to fuel Wilson and House's character arcs. The narrative is occasionally conscious of this, for example, Wilson saying "none of you even liked Amber" is an almost metatextual reminder of how cruelly she was disenfranchised in every way (including the sexism of her trying to "defect" to the men's team early on, having no female friends, because unlike House who has so many people orbiting him, she is truly alone). Comparing her death to Kutner's is instructive: Kutner gets a whole episode that's about characters desperately trying to know him better. They trace their relationships towards him. Amber, on the other hand, is nearly absent from her own death. The characters trace away from her and towards the way male characters feel (Wilson's loss, House's guilt). Amber becomes just an imagined figure of House's guilt. Even her ghost is not her own. (Though I think many fans do a more feminist read and reclaim the way she haunts the narrative--but imho that would be a negotiated if not fully oppositional reading, to use Stuart Hall's decoding/encoding terms.)

One easy way to see that gendered difference is in how the show refers to these characters after death. Kutner is always "Kutner," never just "House's dead fellow" or rarely "our dead colleague." Amber is often referred to as "Wilson's dead girlfriend." Kutner is his own person, Amber rhetorically gets reduced to an object belonging to a man.

In conclusion: sexism operates structurally, which can make it hard to identify! And one of the funny effects of contemporary fandom doing so much good work to un-fridge women and give marginalized female characters richer personalities and more chances to grow is that canon's intended message of sexism gets obscured. Which, is awesome? Keep up the good work! Let's make misogyny unintelligible 🎉

[novelconcepts]

There’s just something about stories that allow teenage girls to feel their anger without prettying it up. Rachel from Animorphs. KJ from Paper Girls (honestly, ALL the Paper Girls in different ways). Ellie from The Last of Us. So often, narratives find ways to sand the edges off a teen girl’s fury, make her sweet or overly verbal instead of violent. Stories that allow young girls to be angry, to be bloody, to bite back at the world with sharpened teeth—those are always my jam.

[matan4il]

Buddie 618 meta

Since this could have been the show finale, not just this season’s, I hope you allow me to do a small overview of the ep as a whole with this in mind.

I’m gonna be honest, I want to send ABC a bouquet of flowers, because if this would have been the show’s last ep, it would have been an incredibly disappointing one. Not that it didn’t have merit. 911 has always been about the importance of the good that we do - for ourselves, for our loved ones and for strangers. That’s why the significance of this ep’s emergency was actually great. We got to see the 118 saving themselves, each other and be saved by a complete stranger, who wouldn’t have been there if it weren’t for the 118 saving him four seasons earlier. My issue with it is that it would have been better IMO to spread out this emergency over two eps, really give it room to resonate emotionally, in much the same way that Buck’s lightning strike did. That would have also left more airtime for the team’s personal lives to get closure.

When looking at the personal resolution to the 118’s stories, I did like the return to Henren’s adoption via foster care storyline, it needed closure and I’m so happy this is the one it got. I have talked in more than one fandom about the importance of showing how same sex couples ACTUALLY go about becoming parents, so I think this is extra significant. I can’t wait to see this not just being a wink at the end of a show finale, but an actually developed storyline in s7. I also think “Here’s to more chaos and more love” is my fave line in this ep and a perfect summary of the best of 911. I also loved Bathena getting to go on their honeymoon, getting to live carefree for a moment. They absolutely deserve this, and it felt even better thanks to being a callback moment. I also enjoyed seeing Madney seal the details of their wedding. I have loved and enjoyed them since Maddie called Chim cute in 206, they deserve all the happiness and joy, and to me, having to see her twice this season bracing herself for the possibility of losing Buck and / or Chim (in 611 and now) made it even more meaningful to see Madney happy by the end of the ep. Again, I can’t wait to see the actual wedding in s7. It’s gonna melt all of our hearts. Still, all of these resolutions felt a bit rushed and I believe they could have had more of an impact if they were more than blink and you miss it moments during the final montage.

But if those felt underdeveloped, that’s nothing in comparison with Buck and Eddie’s personal lives’ resolutions. Was 911 really going to leave them with the “endgame” of women who literally only showed up as Love Interests in the last couple of eps of the show? If I weren’t a part of fandom, as a casual viewer, I would sincerely not have even remembered Marisol from her emergency, so I would have been confused by her and Eddie’s conversation. In fact, I found it funny that when Eddie wants to text her, it’s presented as a disruption to Bobby’s talk, just like Buck’s call with Kameron. I also thought it was wild that we discover Marisol and Eddie exchanged numbers, because that most certainly wasn’t even hinted at during 617. We clearly saw him walking away, they exchanged a last look, and that was it. Eddie and Marisol are so underdeveloped, we don’t even know how they happened! Did Marisol rush after Eddie? Did he come back to ask her for her number? Did they both decide to take the leap? How did the conversation go? Why was their phone call in 618 so awkward if they had already made their intentions clear when they exchanged numbers? We have zero answers to these questions. This was so forced, so unearned, so underdeveloped, it makes it painfully obvious that it was done just to not leave Eddie heterosexually single. Because I’m sorry, homosubtextually, he’s been married for years.

Which brings me to Buck and Natalia. I gotta roll my eyes at my own 615 meta, where I talked about the meaning of her name connecting her to birth, now we literally had her at the birth of Buck’s bio kid. What a piece of ironic foreshadowing. And yet, despite Natalia being a bit more developed than Marisol, despite the fact that Buck had what was maybe the most invested in personal resolution in the finale, it was still a let down for me. We have mostly seen why Natalia doesn’t suit him in eps 615 and 617. She did come back in the finale, but then so did Taylor in 414. That doesn’t mean either woman fits Buck as a partner. I’m left with the uneasy feeling that we have here a rerun of that s4 finale in terms of the ep shoving both men into relationships with underdeveloped LIs. TBH, the juxtaposition makes 618 worse IMO. Because the comparison with Marisol and Natalia actually makes Ana and Taylor look slightly more invested in! That says a lot about how little 911 cares about the 618 LIs. But it also gives me this bad sense of stepping in place with Buck and Eddie in terms of their romantic development. For example, the fact that Buck ends up tying yet another one of his couches to yet another gf at a way too early stage of their r/s (too much time couldn’t have passed between Kameron giving birth, ruining Buck’s couch, and his conversation about getting a couch together with Natalia since he was just getting around to having the old one looked at to see if it could be saved. He’s once again rushing into commitment with a girl he doesn’t yet know well enough, and who we saw in 615 he was idolizing as truly seeing him, when the truth was very different or she wouldn’t have run out on him in 617. I also can’t tell you why Natalia came back based on the few interactions we’ve seen between them, we haven’t had a single meaningful moment between them so far to explain it, making it clear he’s going in circles. I do suspect Buck doesn’t realize this is him repeating past mistakes, he thinks this is progress given his ability to let go of the baby, which could be an interesting angle to explore in s7. But probably what makes giving Buddie rushed heterosexual “endgame” LIs worse is that every bit of development either man made that isn’t about their love life got sidelined in this ep...

I think in a sense, the underdevelopment of all of Buck and Eddie’s LIs, even the “endgame” ones in what could have been the show’s finale, might actually be a testament to the power of Buddie. If a showrunner knows they could never hope to develop any LI to have with either Buck or Eddie even a tenth of what they have with each other, that can explain not even trying. In fact, we got a reminder of the strong bond between these two men during the call. Buck saved Eddie, just as Eddie saved Buck during the lightning strike. The way they looked at each other, the zoom in on their hands grasping one another, was very emotionally poignant exactly because we have seen these two losing their whole damn minds trying to save the other man on more than one occasion. And Buck used the words “I got you,” a reminder that they will ALWAYS have each other’s back, on and off the field. 

The good news is that ABC has a chance to correct the course of where this finale left off. I do believe the move is being done knowing they would have to rejuvenate 911 if they want it to fare better than on Fox, and I think that giving Buddie the room to become canon would be exactly that. But I have said in more than one of my ask replies that to me, no matter what, this show has been telling the epic love story of Buck and Eddie, with the little family they built. Whether TPTB go through with that canonically or not, this is what they gave us. And nothing will take that away from me. If 911 ends with Buddie being single, I’ll just assume their feelings realization and confessions happen after the end of the show. If 911 ends with “endgame” heterosexual LIs, I’ll just know that those couples eventually break up at some point during the 118’s post-show future, and then Buddie finally get together. Because that’s the story we got over the course of the last 5 seasons, one that only has a single possible resolution, whether the show itself gives it to us or whether it forces us to have to imagine and write it down in fix-it fics ourselves. We ALL know what we saw. We ALL get what Buddie have. We ALL see how that inevitably would lead to them getting together sooner or later, and if it doesn’t happen during the show, then later it is, but it WILL happen. That’s how I look at the show, and that’s why even if this were the last ep of it, it still wouldn’t have destroyed Buddie for me. I hope this POV can help others, too.

~~ I’m gonna be here during the hiatus, if anyone wants to be here with me. Thank you so much to all of you who made s6 a lovelier ride by taking it with me! I’m endlessly grateful for every single one of you. xoxox

~~ (my weekly meta posts) (my Buddie gifs) (all of my content)

~~ My tag list will follow in the reblog, please let me know if you wanna be added/removed here.

~~ Thank you to the amazing @whosoldherout​​ for making this season so much better with your gifs, for these meta posts and in general!

[herwritingartcowboy]

Being The Girlfriend/Wife Of The Archons

A/n: I am taking out Nahida cause she is a child and two ew and no.

Fandom: Genshin Impact

Character(s): Venti, Zhongli, Ei, Focalors,

Warning(s): Slight spoilers , fluff, death, angst,

Readers Gender: Female

Venti-

Everyone knew venti was dating you due to all his songs would have your name in them

Does play music for you when waking up, going to sleep, to relax, even just random times and you do enjoy them

Always there when he is drunk and yes does try to make you drink with him

Can’t sleep without you so please be beside when sleeping

Loves holding your hand walking, sitting, even when eating this man will try to hold your hand

Give him head pats cause when you do it he will melt

Loves resting his head on your chest

Hugs are things he loves to give you

His biggest fear is losing you he may not show it but that is his biggest nightmare

He was terrified when you saw his archon form thinking you will be scared of him but grew more in love with you when you said “I don’t Venti cause I think I’m the most luckiest girl in all of Teyvat

Loves going on adventures with you

A cuddle guy

Does love receiving kisses and giving kisses

You do help him with his braids and style his hair for fun, putting him in fun hair styles

Very understanding

Small spoon

Give teasing but simp energy

Zhongli-

Will pay for all your dates

Tells you stories if you ask if it’s because you are curious or need help falling asleep

Will remind you embarrassing things you did

Did make a contract for you two to stay together forever and it was so cute you had time sign it

Gives you ride in his dragon form

If you ask he will give you advice

Give you all sorts of gifts and if you ever give this man a gift he will die cause he feels so in love and embarrassed

Treats you very fragile cause he doesn’t want to hurt you

Biggest fear is if one of you two forget the other, he doesn’t want you to leave cause he does want to forget you

Loves peppering your face with kisses and if you do it to him his face will turn pink

Big spoon but if you ask he will be a small spoon

Gives you flowers as gifts, knows what each flower means and will tell you

Does make tea for the both of you

Takes walks with you

One time very shyly asked you if he could rest his head on your lap and ever since than he will ask

Gives me loser boyfriend/husband energy

Ei/Raiden Shogun-

Loves you very much but would never say it outloud

Buys you allot of gifts

If you tell her you love her she will be extremely embarrassed

Like Zhongli she is big spoon but wouldn’t mind being small spoon

Loves spending time with you

Always tells Yea Miki about you

Give kisses to your forehead and gets happy when you give her kisses

You two do each others hair while she tells you stories

You have to cook all meals but you do help her or let her be your assistant when cooking

Smiles when think of you

Holds your hand

Always laughs at your jokes no matter how stupid

On dates might order more than enough food but that’s because she wants to make sure you are fed well

Does teach you how to fight

Is also scared of you losing you and not wanting you to get hurt

Has thought about making a puppet like you so if anything were to happen you can truly never leave her

The only person that can make her smile and laugh

Is the girlfriend that will say “She asked for no pickles”

Focalors-

Always impressed by anything you do

Likes tasting new treats with you

Does your hair in cute styles and compliments you allot

Very easy to talk to

She loves telling all sorts of things

You two feel very calm in each others presence and can just sit quietly but just love being next to each other

You always tell her you love how smart she is and she gets very embarrassed

Gives you cheek kisses

Does song you lullaby’s

Playing in the water is something you guys did once

Scared that the celestials will do something to you and wants to make sure you are protected

She is a very caring girlfriend

[silkythewriter]

Silky,dear... if you don't mind, could you please do a headcannon for Dee with strawberry s/o. She's so cheerful,kind and understanding ❤️ please. I love your blog,And I've admired you for a long time😭✨

❤︎︎“I love everybody because I love you”❤︎︎

Warnings: might be a bit OOC! Haven’t written about him in awhile I apologize!

Fandom: metal family!

Author note: HIHI!!! OMG TYSM?! UR SO SWEET (⊃｡•́‿•̀｡)⊃AHH I LOVE THIS REQUEST TYSM!! please request again this was absolutely AWSOME to make

Summary: Your boyfriend Dee, was one hell of sight, but with you happily walking with a cheerful bounce with him you can imagine the stares you get for the contrast. One doll of a person and then the blond who almost looked straight out of the dead with his dark eyeshadow.

❤️Written by silkythewriter Do not steal or repost on any other platform please! <3.❤️

ミ★❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎ミ★

“I love it when you look my way”

ミ★❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎ミ★

The contrast between you and him is like day and light, and when you both come strolling by weather that be passing by the local convent shop. Or making a quick stop to a store that’s peeked your interest, eyes were bound to wonder. The stares were noticeable, but you guys have gotten use to it, cause your love for him couldn’t be dented by a pair of curious eyes.

Your personality peeked his interest, I mean who could be this kind and caring??, no less to just some normal people who haven’t impacted you in any significant way. It just made him…confused? (-∀-💦)

The way your kind eyes stared at him Tugged at his heart in an alarming (at least to him) way! The blush that spreed across his face the first time you gave him a sliver of kindness was to much for him.

Your cheerfulness always brightened him up especially after tough interactions with glam. Railing up and you being the only one to comfort him back to his collected self. And even if he doesn’t vocalize it he is very much grateful <3.

You make it point to make him feel understand-ed and would never make him feel alienated by his interest un like some un kind people. You let him rant about his newly found obsession or just show off a new skill he learnt.

Even small things like you congratulating him on a good score he got, or maybe for remembering the smallest thing, even commenting on his intelligence. It’s not like his teachers, just thanking him for being the only knowledgeable student, but instead asking more questions to learn more about the topic, and really see how much he knows. And though he doesn’t like being bombarded questions he deems stupid, when it comes to you it makes him like seeing the shock and awed look you give him. Can you blame him? Not only is it adorable but he likes showing off in front of you.

He would rather be dead then admit this but he loves the way you smell like strawberry, he would take this to his grave before admitting this he finds it embarrassing ( =ω= )

Let’s you do his eye shadow only because of how delicate and caring you are with it, you always make sure to take your time so you don’t hurt him little moments like that is what he absolutely adores about you!

I feel like he gets easily flustered by physical touch so whenever your get happy just by seeing him and hug him you can look up and see him red as a strawberry (≧◡≦) ♡

Whenever he goes shopping in the off chance he has some money to spend after he’s done grabbing some clothing he always makes sure to drop by your favorite store. Weather that be a cute accessory story, or a small bakery you might have said you enjoyed, either way he always makes sure he has left over money. So whenever he has a bag filled of random darkly colored clothing only to walk into a store and buy you some pink clips for your hair you can imagine the cashiers surprise. Dee though a bit embarrassed doesn’t care much it’s worth seeing your bright smile at the small item.

Heavy absolutely ADORES you! Literally bouncing off the walls when you come walking in with his brother. He was at first taken a back from how much polar opposite’s you and Dee are but quickly got over it after realizing how sweet you are!.

Heavy definitely teases Dee jokingly before running off after Dee’s had enough you get to sit as you see them bicker you find it amusing but always make sure to help Dee calm down! ( ´͈ ◡ `͈ )

Secretly has the same perfume brand you use and sprays it on his bed or around his room at night because it reminds him of you and comforts him but I didn’t tell you that! (▰˘◡˘▰)💦

He gets jealous easily especially when everyone gets so quickly comfortable with you cause of your inviting personality, he dose poorly to hide this but also hates being called out for it especially by his brother.

But just by you hugging him and saying comforting words makes it all go away, you just know how to make him melt in the best possible way.

But with that all said you basically have him wrapped around your little finger. And though he hates to admit it, he wouldn’t have it any other way <3.

ミ★❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎ミ★

ミ★❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎❤︎︎ミ★

AH WOW IM RLLY RUSTY (๑•́ω•̀๑)💦 I haven’t made head-canons in a hot minute, so I am so sorry if he’s OOC or their not the best, BUT THANK SM THIS WAS SO FUN TO WRITE ESPECIALLY FOR MY FIRST HEADCANONS IN AWHILE!! ٩(ᐛ)و

[hydrangeapartridge]

My completely biased review and opinion about companions in Veilguard (major spoilers of course)

(Side note : english is not my first langage, I hope I can express myself clearly enough for you all to understand my points)

- Neve

I like Neve, she’s cool. I loved the detail of the noise her metal leg makes when she walks.

Her questline was however a bit bland. We had better portrayals of power hungry blood mages in previous games and Aelia wasn’t that good an antagonist. She lacks charisma and isn’t seen much before the last quest so you don’t really care about her. It could have been more dramatic, like if we had to fight people of Minrathos being controlled, idk. Also not much about slavery.

I get that Bioware tried to make Neve’s quest like detective work, searching for clues and stuff, but for me it wasn’t that exciting, and Venatori are the mobs I like the least, I don’t like the crystals you have to break in order mechanics and stuff.

I chose to make her the hero of Minrathos and it was satisfying.

- Harding

I can’t find it in myself to call her Lace damn it XD

Of course I was happy to see Harding again after Inquisition ! She is a ray of Ferelden sunshine. I really enjoyed her questline with the Titans ; it was mysterious and you really felt the danger in the deep roads, and the potential threat of her newly acquiered magic. I liked the giant oracle and the design of the lyrium caves. It was a nice throwback to the first games.

The end scene of her quest was nicely done, with Rook trying to reach her while the whole cave was collapsing and then a group hug.

I chose the path of compassion.

- Lucanis

His accent was more funny to me than endearing (as is his signature « Mierda ») and I was surprised to find that he was soft instead of suave. I didn’t save Treviso so I feel like I missed a lot of his quest (and the decision at the end) and in the end he was OK but not that interesting to me.

There was also the problem of Illario ; the second he was introduced I smelled the family treason nd so there was no suspense to this quest. It felt like a bad telenovella.

I like that Zara had a literal blood bath in the quest of the same name. It was a cool fight.

I didn’t bring him out much but I enjoyed that he ended up with Neve.

- Bellara

Bellara is adorable. I liked her quirkiness but her dialogues were sometimes terrible. When she talked I felt like she kept repeating the same things phrased differently and sometimes I felt the itch to skip (I usually never skip dialog!).

I had high hopes for her questline because of Anaris and finding that her brother wasn’t dead, but it all flopped in the end when Cyrian got killed by being sent flying away and Anaris didn’t turn out that scary. It felt stupide that Cyrian was not dead and then really dead…

I chose to keep the Archive but that choice felt like the less impactful of all the companion choices.

- Davrin

I didn’t expect Davrin to be so brash ! I enjoyed his banter a lot and the growth of his relationship with Assan. That griffin is an absolute cutie !

His quests were cute for the Arlathan ones and impactful for the one with the Gloom Howler. I enjoyed Isseya’s story and saving the griffins.

I still felt Davrin to be a little too « jock » coded, but his banter with Emmrich and Manfred was perfect ! I enjoyed seeing the wardens again (Antoine and Evka <3) and am glad he was a true Warden this one.

I chose to release the griffin in Arlathan because my Rook was an elven veil jumper.

- Taash

In real life, Taash is the kind of person I would have trouble connecting with. They’re obtuse and a bit rude. I felt like I was intruding during the parts with her mother (it is probably the goal of those moments but it made me uneasy). I wanted to be supportive so I was but I didn’t feel like my Rook and them ended up great friends. The identity crisis wasn’t handled that well I think, but it wasn’t as bad as people make it out to be and maybe I’ll get hate for that but they come out at first more Trans than non binary given their problem is being misgendered as a girl mostly or expected to do girly things? They even say it feels right to be called a man I think I remember? (but I respect whatever pronouns she chose in the end)

I really enjoyed the dragon hunt quests however and their last quest was cool too. Their mother’s death was a sacrifice that made sense and it pained me.

Their romance with Harding was cute (mostly because of Harding’s reactions and that height difference XD)

I chose to push them towards embracing the Rivein life, even if I think they could have made peace with both ?

- Emmrich

Of course my favourite. And not only because he is the handsome older man who swept my Rook off her feet.

To give us a scholar necromancer that was the antithesis of the cliché : a man poised but a tad insecure, nerdy, gentle, kind, a bit posh, extremly elegant and whose favourite colour is lilac ! Genius !

The Necropolis had such a distinct ambiance that every quest there felt special, with amazing details and wonders of finding a wisp, a spirit or hearing a dead’s last words.

To me his personnal quests are the ones with the best handled rythm. The first one in the peace and quiet of the beautiful garden sets the tone : serious but poetic, sad but hopeful, and dares to tackle very real and grave subjects. Death and regret but also life and love are perfectly handled in his story and brought me lots and lots of feels.

There is a great antagonist whose motives are simple but dangerous ; a friend turned rival, similar but so different from dear Emmrich. Johanna is simply iconic (her hand gosh and the fact that you keep her skull in the end, brillant). The fights are well balanced, the cutscenes and dialogues perfect for immersion. And don’t get me started on Manfred… I love this little guy to bits.

I chose to revive Manfred and for Emmrich and Rook to live the rest of his mortality together. In Undying Love

[mitsybubbles]

Melina for the character ask!

Meliiiii!!! My girlie <3

favorite thing about them

I love everything about her so much. She’s so kind and hopeful about the world and her voice is so soft spoken and gentle I could listen to it all day

least favorite thing about them

She sooo underutilized in the game and it’s so hard to happen to sit at the few sites of grace where she Does actually talk. I wish they made her talk more often or at least just sit by you idling at the site of grace. It would help her feel more Present in your journey and make her death feel more impactful

At least she gets more screentime in the gag manga dbndjd

favorite line

Anytime she mentions Torrent- she loves that horse so so much

This is a cut line from the cut mimic quest but also “hmmmmm….hmm?“ from the cut mimic quest, I love how curious she is about Aismi and how she politely introduces herself to them

Here is the line linked

brOTP

For canon stuff, Boc!!!!! He’s her little guy! I think he teaches her how to sew and while she is not very good at it, she is very proud of the little kick knacks she makes and likes to give them to him

For not canon stuff, Morgott and Melina lives in my head rent free. The way their stories parallel, the way their mannerisms would bounce off well, the tragedy of how they are basically doomed to be at odds.

They live rent free in my head to the point I went and made a whole au with a friend about Melina being sealed in the sewers as Marika’s last ditch attempt to hide away her child cursed with the golden order’s ultimate sin without having to execute her and then Melina being raised by the omen twins so I mean- 😭

OTP

Uhhhhh I personally don’t ship her with anyone (I headcannon her to be Ace/Aro) but I think Melina/Tarnished and Melina/Ranni can be cute

nOTP

Do people ship Melina with anyone other than the tarnished or Ranni? I guess my NOTP would be Melina/viewer in those big tiddy waifu arts???? I don’t know?

random headcanon

She loves bugs. She has tried to bring bug pets along many times. Torrent doesn’t really care for it, less because he doesn’t like bugs and more because bringing along a Giant bug like the ones you encounter in the game, or a whole spider egg sac can get rather dicey. She would love the finger creepers

unpopular opinion

I don’t think Melina is the common sense/braincell for the Tarnished. She’s the enabler. She is extremely curious about everything and lacks much knowledge of social cues of impulse control so she goes along with whatever we do because she also wants to see what will happen

Sometimes she instigates things herself but in a more quiet way

favorite picture of them

It’s from Miitopia but it makes me smile

She loves her horsey

[lady-margaret]

bridgerton season 3 part 1 opinion (as someone who has read all the books + is kathony biased so be warned)

after sitting and stewing on what i just watched for a few hours

i’d like to start this off by saying that due to my disappointment of the writing from the last season, i was way more gracious with this one. kate and anthony were great because of simone and jonathan; i’m not sure the writers had much to do with that.

anyway, what i’m saying is that i already knew not to expect the writers to be faithful to the source material (romancing mr. bridgerton), so i was able to enjoy myself more. additionally, polin’s book isn’t exactly a favorite of mine anyway, so there wasn’t a lot to be too disappointed with in my case.

what i liked:

penelope’s wardrobe; they hyped up the “transformation” so much and i’m glad it did not disappoint.

colin’s hot 😌

eloise’ wardrobe; someone pointed out that it had a lot of philip references, so yay 😀 (it has me worried that it’ll be her story next though, we need ben first)

eloise interacting with the other ladies of the ton was really cute and refreshing; she’s learning that despite them having different interests than her, they are still people of great value. the difference is eloise was raised in a loving and supportive family, unlike most of the others.

sibling’s g&h’s personalities coming through more (they are anthony’s children, truly).

featherington sisters as comic relief.

MARRIED KATHONY CRUMBS 💕💕💕 they carried episode 1 for me.

FRANCESCA 💕💕💕 gorgeous introvert representation.

FRANNY AND JOHN 💕💕💕 (i am both ready and NOT ready to get hurt 🥹)

book references (yay! the bare minimum!)

lord debling’s dope.

i actually do like that they gave cressida a legitimate reason to want to win the competition money to unmask LW in the second part.

the music choices haven’t disappointed yet!!!!!

colin’s line for the season is def the “well are you gonna marry me or not?” line HEHEHEHEHE i ALMOST screamed as loud as i did when john entered when he said that line to pen.

as an army, plus points for dynamite 🤭 i didn’t expect to like the orchestral version and didn’t see the vision of where they would even insert it, but i actually liveddd for it.

what i don’t really have strong feelings about:

mondrich plot; alice is beautiful but the addition of their family storyline didn’t make much of a lasting impact.

the queen; she was very meh so far.

the featherington storyline: the sisters are funny, but their whole situation mixed with the humor leads me not to take it very seriously.

violet x lady danbury’s brother: 🤷‍♀️ i don’t see it.

the “lady danbury’s brother” storyline in general is very forgettable.

what i disliked:

i think nicola and luke could use more chemistry; they fall short compared to daphne&simon and kathony (HEAVY ON KATHONY THIS IS WHY THEY REMOVED THEM FROM THE REST OF THE EPISODES SIGH)

they kinda mischaracterized colin (he spent the last two seasons being selfish and putting himself above everyone else violet, what the hell are you talking about “you never place yourself over others” 🤨)

the lack of ben time?? did he go back to the academy after taking over for anthony briefly??? what did he do besides dodging debutantes all season????

they glossed over benedict running the estate so quickly; this could have been an opportunity to draw out his storyline, especially since he mentioned that he liked having a purpose: WRITERS???? DO SOMETHING WITH THAT!

i also didn’t really care for the ben x tilly arnold plot; unless sophie’s actually a maid of her’s or something, i don’t see her point in the show besides just be another one of ben’s ever changing girl of the season.

im sorry but eloise would never SHOULD NEVER have befriended her (ex?) best friend’s bully, no matter what the circumstances. that is NOT eloise.

honestly, them revealing whistledown in the first season is really screwing with the writing; in this regard, i wish they stayed more faithful to the book and how colin finds out about LW. it all just seems so messy at this point.

so s3 starts when kathony end their honeymoon… how long was this honeymoon? math isn’t mathing cuz it couldn’t have been more than a week given that kate isn’t obviously pregnant yet in the first ep.

i know that colin and pen are longtime friends, but from how they’ve interacted with each other in the past seasons, it’s a bit harder to believe that they were close CLOSE friends; close friends to the extent of helping the other find a spouse through “lessons”? i don’t see it. that’s why i was a bit ??? when i first found out about the plot they were going with for the season (in the book, colin really just starts following her around cuz she was being sus)

i hate that they had to come up with an excuse to get rid of kathony for the rest of the episodes; i get that they’ve been running their separate households alone for most of their lives and want a break but… i don’t think they would abandon their responsibilities for an “extended honeymoon”. knowing them, running the estate isn’t gonna stop them from being wh0res!! they help each other out with the estate and are still sickeningly in love and have time for each other (in the books). i was also really hoping to see kate taking over the viscountess role. i swore they would have done something like that after that cute/awkward moment when they both respond to “lady bridgerton” in episode 1.

i get that it’s established that penelope’s one goal for the season is to get a husband, but as i know her character, she would NEVER get into races (?) or run just so she can talk to a suitor before anyone else does 😭 okay but it was funny.

i am kinda sad that they couldn’t have just let a mean character or a villain character be the villain character; yea sure, i did say that i liked that cressida had a legitimate and well thought out motive for wanting the LW reward money but, idk i could’ve lived without her storyline.

one of the BIGGEST THINGS for me is that i do not think they should have released so many clips/snippets of the show days or weeks before it came out. i understand like 1 clip, but i skipped SO MANY SCENES because i have watched them at least 5 times already on tiktok or twitter.

the two part season idea is dumb.

i’m scared for how messy part 2 will be (in terms of both writing and just how stressed i will be with the revealing of LW plot HUHU poor pen) but i’m still looking forward to it 😇😇😇 and despite all the things i didn’t like, i did still enjoy it. if i do rewatch it or not is still to be decided; s1 & s2 have such high rewatch value.

franny and john were TRULY a standout though. i cannot even begin to describe how loud i screamed when he finally said his name out loud 😭💕

verdict: the writing is getting messier, get jonathan bailey in that writer’s room ASAP

[velmashaircut]

A few years ago I rated some OPM ships, I'm going to do it again and compare results to see if I changed my mind about any of the ships

Saitama/Genos: i ranked Genosai low last time due to Genos being 19, I was 16 at the time of making the list and I thought it was wild a 19 year old was being shipped with a 25 year old. Im 19 now and I’ve realised I shouldn’t take the ship too seriously since opm isn’t real, and both are adults so the age difference isn’t as big of a problem I made it to be. Both are mature enough so I no longer have any issues with the ship. The fanfictions and art for the ship are nice, and I like how much they both care for one another, which I think was made clear at the end of the MA arc if it wasn't obvious already. I’ll give the ship a 6/10, I like it but I’m not crazy about it.

Tatsumaki/King: At first I didn’t like this ship but I'm on board now! I think it’s cute. The fanfics for these two have won me since they have a good dynamic, and we get to see some nice Tatsumaki characterisation. In the manga, it’s nice to see that King is one of the few people Tatsumaki seems to respect and have faith in. My only issue with this ship is that Tatsumaki is under the impression King is strong af, which he clearly isn’t. Even though he isn’t omitting this information willingly, she doesn’t know who King truly is. I still love it though, 8/10.

Flashy Flash/Sonic: I love this ship too, and the manga and webcomic are to blame. I’ve always liked childhood friends to lovers troupe and that is what Flash x Sonic basically is. The fanfiction and fan art are great too, if you haven’t been able to tell already, the fanfiction and art do impact my view on these ships. 9/10, even though it’s my favourite opm ship, I don’t have much to say about it other than I think it’s great.

Atomic Samurai/Iaian. Ik I said a 6 year age gap is wild so you would think I wouldn’t like this paring because it’s a 14 year age. But Iaian is in his 20’s so I can at least turn a blind eye to a 14 year age gap. Again, I’m also a fan of this pairing. The MA arc in the manga has given Iaian a bigger role in the story and thus more dialogue with Atomic, it was really endearing to see how much Atomic cares for Iaian. 8/10.

Gorou/Badd. I know this ship is probably the second most popular in OPM but it’s ranked low for me because I don't really care for either character so I don't care for the ship much either. There's nothing wrong with it though, just isn’t my thing. 6/10

Fubuki/Psykos: same as the ship above pretty much. I see the appeal, but I’m not appealed. The fanart is cute af tho. 6/10

Drive Knight/ Genos: I became a fan of this pairing recently which really surprised me. I think this is mainly because it could go in multiple directions depending on Drive Knight's allegiance. The recent webcomic chapters are not helping. There's not a lot of fics out there for these two but the few I read are pretty nice. Also, there is this one artist, can't remember who they are, but the fanart they make for this pairing got me on board. 8/10.

[zhaohuis-lost-walnut]

Reading Update

[spoilers up to chapter 183]

BRO, I have been immersed in reading these last few days. I legit only do my homework and read QJJ 😭 I just finished chapter 183 and SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED???

Yes, that’s over 40 chapters since my last post but we don’t need to talk about that part. I’m gonna just ramble for a bit about general things that I adore.

First of all, Shen Zechuan’s squad of people just keeps increasing. I love how so many Qudu characters casually (not casual at all actually, it’s quite traumatic—) make their way to Cizhou and Shen Zechuan collects them like Pokémon. I was so excited when Yu Xiaozai showed up! Yao Wenyu really hurts me though. I honestly really liked Xue Xiuzhuo as an antagonist because he managed to outwit our protagonists on several occasions, but what he did to Yao Wenyu was just too cruel :( The chasing him down AT HAI LIANGYI’S RESTING GROUND? The assassins beating Yao Wenyu and later having him poisoned??? Like, chill out? Even Shen Zechuan ain’t doing all that 😭 And Yao Wenyu’s self talk is just so heart breaking :(((

Okay, now I’m sad. So instead, XIAO FANGXU?!? He’s such a fun character. One aspect I find really interesting about Xiao Chiye is that after he leaves Qudu he mentions several times how he separates his family and the Libei Armored Cavalry. And it seems Xiao Fangxu is the same (though perhaps to a lesser degree since he let Chiye run off for a bit to be with Shen Zechuan in Dunzhou 🤣). There are so many moments where I go “Yep, Chiye is Fangxu’s son”. They’re so silly.

The Xiao family immediately loving Shen Zechuan is so funny too. Lu Yizhi visiting Shen Zechuan’s place in Cizhou was crazy 😭 And her feeling Shen Zechuan out to write to the family was hilarious. I miss Xiao Jiming 😔

Chapter 161 with Xiao Fangxu and Chiye’s horse race was so sweet. I almost cried. They’re both so petty but MAN are the Xiaos romantic 🥹

There are too many things I could write about! This story is just so incredible!

Learning about Bai Cha??? She’s such an incredible character and the way the story slowly showed more and more about her until we’re learned the absolute girl boss she is! The whole Dunzhou trip arc was just perfect from start to finish. I’m truly in awe at how a human being can create a story so incredible.

I’m honestly itching to read ever more as I write this but there’s no way I can leave without mentioning how dang cute Cezhou are 😭😭😭 Everytime they’re together I get butterflies. The way Shen Zechuan can relax around Chiye is sooooo great 😩 Even when Xiao Chiye is (rightfully) upset with Shen Zechuan for not taking care of himself, Shen Zechuan tries to act all cute so he’ll stop being mad. And Shen Zechuan verbally telling Chiye he loves him for the first time had me tearing up 🥺 Chapter 164 in general is so sweet and vulnerable.

Xiao Chiye snitching to Ji Gang in chapter 144 was both silly and cathartic because Shen Zechuan not taking his safety serious is a very real issue! Fei Sheng having to essentially babysit Shen Zechuan is absolute gold 👌

Oh Fei Sheng, my beloved! I care him so hard.

Uh, what else? The fights are really cool. Every time Shen Zechuan pulls up on the battlefield I get so hyped 😤 The fights are choreographed so well! I shouldn’t be suprised but I’m always left in awe by how incredible they are! And the fact that the author isn’t scared to let people get hurt or even lose?!? It makes every blow carry so much weight!

Xiao Chiye vs Hasen had me stressing so bad 😫 And the lasting impact it has on Chiye is phenomenal. Shen Zechuan vs Lei Jingzhe (for the second time lol) was so sick. Shen Zechuan’s monologue gave me chills. And Xiao Chiye “returning” Tantai Hu and the other old Dunzhou garrison troops seriously wrecked me. I love Tantai Hu! I know he’ll make Master proud!!!

I love that we get more insight on Xiao Chiye and Shen Zechuan’s mental states! Shen Zechuan keeps secrets from Xiao Chiye because he doesn’t want to worry him, but Chiye does the same thing >:( I understand why they do it, but it still hurts to read.

Also also Yan Heru is so silly. Though I felt kinda bad when its made clear Shen Zechuan doesn’t like him because a lot of people did die because this kid is kinda crazy 😗 I was more caught up in how eccentric he is that I completely forgot about the whole financially supporting bandits and starving the people for profit stuff (amongst other things). I still can’t help but have a soft spot for him though because he’s so silly? Like, he’s so unserious 🗿

Okay, actual last thing before I log off: I think it’s INSANE that Shen Zechuan is out here calling Xiao Chiye his husband in front of their enemies while Ji Gang still doesn’t know 👁️👄👁️ I don’t think we’ve seen Shen Zechuan even think about telling him 😭 He’s BEEN planning about taking Ji Gang to Dajing but still hasn’t told him (Ji Gang being sus about their relationship in chapter 183 is so funny)

The military stuff is really cool too but I ain’t getting into all that. Just know I deeply appreciate the Qi Zhuyin content 🙂‍↕️💖 Keep it coming 🗣🗣🗣

[myfairkatiecat]

Kate Wetherall, Katherine Pulitzer, and your Keefe boy :)

Aaaaaahh yes yes yes these are really good ones ahdkdhsnbdjshssj

Kate Wetherall:

Ok so. The reason I say she works best as a part of a dynamic is because while she’s awesome on her own, she is MOST compelling with the rest of the mysterious Benedict society!!!the four of them together are so special to me

Also I’m a Kate apologist, she’s never done anything wrong and I stand by it :)

(And yeah if you see the way I write Kate you may see me projecting. It might have something to do with me being in sixth grade when I first read the books and going “omg we have the same name!!!”)

Katherine Pulitzer:

Look I relate to this girl SO MUCH you don’t even understand 😭

And the fandom has a tendency to villainize her or make her seem problematic simply for being complex, which… is a problem I’ve been seeing a lot of lately, actually.

I love her SO MUCH. She’s kinda scary but also she’s me

AND FINALLY

Keefe Sencen:

Once again flattered by your interest in hearing me talk abut my interests that you don’t share 🥹

Okay look. I LOVE KEEFE. And I initially colored in “they’ve never done anything wrong” cause I have tendency to be a Keefe apologist, but if I’m being real here he’s definitely done stuff wrong 😭 @phtalogreenpoison has heard me talk about his character in detail and knows EXACTLY what I’m talking about.

Why the tiny scribble on “too much screen time”? Well…….it’s technically true. He does get too much screen time, and for not being the MC, he’s started getting a lot of his POV in Sophie’s story. However, I EAT IT UP cause I’m a pretty standard basic Keefe girlie. So while I understand the side of the fandom that’s beginning to want more of some other characters, and I think that’s soooo valid, I also am totally eating up all the Keefe screen time. SO EXCITED for the Keefe book that’s coming out this fall. I love this boy. So much.

Also would I marry him irl?? uhhhhhhh if Sophie didn’t exist then YES he’s mine. But I’m a girl’s girl and he belongs to Sophie <3 they’re so cute together, too!!

Somebody is gonna come at me for saying he’s deeper than he seems cause we actually get quite a bit of insight into his character depth, but I think even what we do see doesn’t fully cover it. Keefe is more open with his friends than he’s ever been with anyone else… but he definitely has a LOT of defense mechanisms in place, which is why he has that cool-kid-doesn’t-care-doesn’t-work-only-flirts vibe going on in the first book, and the first time we REALLY get slapped in the face with “haha you knew he had a facade but here have a GUT PUNCH” is the quote in the beginning of book three when Sophie suggests they stop by Keefe’s house and he just sorta looks down and says “I…don’t bring friends home.”

Like. We knew his parents sucked. But something about seeing him vulnerable like that. Ahdkfhdjshdjdshs

I think the mischief making and flirting is also a real aspect of his personality, but a lot of the sorta bad-boy-ish reputation he’s got going on at school in the beginning books is a front to cover his ✨issues✨ and I don’t think we even see the full depth of how much the reveal of his mother as a villain and her constant attempts to make him “embrace the change” and have a “legacy” tied to her evil thoughts impact him. We know it’s hard for him and we totally see that, but even in Keefe’s POV he avoids thinking about it, and… honestly it’s up to us fanfic writers to really delve into that angst. Shannon sorta tells us it sucks for him, but doesn’t really show us (not fully, at least) cause Sophie is the main character, not him.

And do I project my issues on him? …maybe a little…his particular brand of the “using humor to cover up my problems” trope hits very close to home for me. I deflect with humor in the exact same flippant way, and just like with Keefe, sometimes it works and sometimes it gets me in trouble with my friends when I need to be serious.

(Yes I want to carry Keefe in a hand a like a tiny dog. Not elaborating.)

Wasn’t sure whether or not to say he gets done dirty by the fans. Historically, this fandom is head over heels in love with him, but right now there’s been a bit of a turn towards combating Fitz hate (another character that often gets pitted against Keefe unjustly bc of shipping discourse) with Keefe hate and saying he’s problematic when he’s really just complex.

So yeah I’m not normal about Keefe at all, if you couldn’t tell.

I managed to talk for a very long time about him

You can tell where the brain bees are buzzing rn can’t you

[kindatired]

Genshin Impact: First Impression

I know, "You just NOW getting into Genshin after four years?'

Well, I didn't want to play on my phone so I waited to buy a laptop. I did bought a MacBook for school but then I found out that even though this game runs on IOS it doesn't run on MacOS...

(I should've known since the game isn't on the Switch...

Why most of the games I want to play isn't playable on the devices I have- Anyways back to the point.

I just finish Mondstadt in Genshin and so far I really like the story which makes me excited for what they have in store in Liyue. So this is all my thoughts about the first Archon quest, all in one go.

This chapter was a nice introduction to the world of Tevyat and I like how we already have to worry about two antagonistic groups (The fatui and Abyss Order)

Matter of fact let me list down how I think of each character:

The traveler:

I wish they have more character to them especially during the cutscenes. Despite being the protagonist I feel like they’re just in the backseat most of the time with the exception of them needing to action scenes. (Due to this my version of the traveler is that they're snarky but their heart is in the right place.) But I like how they showed us what the other sibling is doing because most stories they will have it a mystery right before the final arc

Paimon:

She’s cute but also WHERE IS HER PARENTS? At the start, she said that she was saved from drowning and I was like “Who was watching you?? Do you have any friends or anything?” I truly believe she will be a plot point in the story considering she can float around and have a space aesthetic to her

Venti:

I really like how mysterious he was at the start of the story and then later we see how much of a doofus he is. (Not saying he's dumb but carefree) Despite not wanting to be a ruling god, he still cares for his city in his own way. I don’t know why but if you mix Pit and Palutena together and then boom there’s Venti.

Amber:

I love her design so much. It's simple yet effective especially with the red bow. I feel like the team knew this too which is why she comes with her own plushie which is so freaking cute! Her character quests is fun too when she taught us to get our own glider's license. I don't know why but she gives the first classmate you befriend in class energy (Probably because she is the first person beside Paimon that we met in the game)

Kaeya:

I’m down bad I like how he has a laidback personality yet he’s always behind the scenes. Despite the front he puts up, you know he’s doing something else. Kind of wish we get to see more of him but I’m satisfied with what we got

Lisa:

At first I thought she was going to be a flirt she kinda is But I found it funny how she’s has a “I don’t have time with this bs” attitude on her side quest but still have a lot of patience for people's BS at times. I can't exactly remember but I think when she was trying to find all the overdue books, she went "I might as well make it fun" and brought the traveler and Paimon along too.

Jean:

Once I take a step back and think of all the things she had to deal with during this arc, it was definitely something. Abyss Order, The Dragon, The Fatui and trying to keep the citizens calm. She doesn’t get enough credit where it’s due. There's this one line delivery in the English version, I can't exactly point out when but it was about how the Fat couldn't get the upper hand in the situation. I don't know why but her tone of voice was passive aggressive, like she was praying on their downfall.

Diluc:

Mix opinions on him due to him sending us to find four of those ice flowers and I had to spend a hour and thirty minutes trying to find the fourth one. So yeah I have bitter feelings about that Serious note, he's probably my favorite character in Mondstadt if we're not including Amber and Kaeya. Bro is the Batman of the game, they even call him the Dark knight

Abyss Ice Mage:

Yeah I dedicated a whole section to this NPC because Imagine being electrocuted by Lisa and flamed by Diluc within a week. Like bro was put in the wringer (rightfully so). Kinda hoped they appear in the future story so this trend of Ice Mage being comedically abused continues.

My thoughts of the story:

I thought the first archon quest of the story is neat. It has nothing too spectacle as it works as a exposition to the world of Teyvat and it done that job very well.

The twist of knowing where the traveler's sibling is doing was definitely something I never thought would happen. Usually in most stories, they would have the sibling in prison but nope.

Your sibling is doing fine just helping out the big bad organization that is trying to destroy Teyvat.

Now this may be a reach but I like how each character has the freedom of accomplishing their goals by their own way.

First you have the traveler, by default they have the freedom of not being born in Teyvat as they are not from this world. Because of this, they have the ability to use more than one element. Another note is that because the traveler isn't bound by the nation's rules as they wasn't raised in Teyvat, they're always the person with a third option, sort of like a spectator...

is this why they're so quiet? So he can hear the opinions of others before making their own conclusions???

Paimon also has freedom as she doesn't have a parental figure which allows her to tag along, traveler on their quests.

Moving on to the people of Mondstadt, even within the Knights of Favonius who are under strict codes, handle tasks using their own method.

Example of this is the uniforms.

While Amber, Lisa, Kaeya, and Jean share the same motifs as being in the same group, their uniforms are completely different. You know how in magical girl shows, where you have sailor moon, where every soldier wears the same design but different color palette? Then there are other shows like Magica Madoka, where the girls where completely different outfits? The knights of favonius fits the latter, with the exception of the NPCs.

Even the way they handle tasks are different. Amber make sure she does her best to follow the rules but with a bit a flare. Lisa is a tad strict but her approach is passive. Kaeya always tries to find a loophole in the situation to see the whole picture. (Example: Him "staying behind" in the city, to get more information about the Abyss Order). Jean who follows the rules, but know there are times when the rules have to be bend.

Then you have the outliners like Diluc and Venti who are not apart of the knights. Diluc doesn't trust the knights to completely solve the problem so he acts as a vigilante, to pick up the pieces they fail to notice.

Venti who is the god of freedom, decided to not rule his region like the other archons. Instead, he watches it from afar, like the guardian he is, and steps in when the time is right.

All these characters are different in one way or another but they all come together to work together because they all share a common goal. Still even if you do things your own way, you still have to bear the responsibility of your actions.

Venti was too nonchalant in his approach of protecting his region which resulted in a Harbinger, La Signora, taking his Gnosis.

I say he was nonchalant because he was focus on the current problems of his country, which was storm bringer, and not future problems such as the Fatui. Because he wasn't focus on them, he let his guard down when the problem with storm bringer was solved.

I know this may be a stretch and I'm just writing what pops up in my head but that's what I got from the message of the archon quest.

Speaking of La Signora, how the hell did no one saw her attacking Venti and traveler or at the very least heard it? I know Barbara did but you're telling me that only ONE person heard that shit?!

So after talking to Venti it appears that we have to go to every seven regions to find the traveler's siblings. Or in this case, try to convince them to not destroy this world.

The fuck do we look like Pokemon Trainers?... Because I can sing the theme songs if you want

Either way, I had fun with the story. Gamplay-wise... I'm not really much of a gamer myself. I don't go into the mechanics of the game.I play fighting game, barely knowing the combos and just smash buttons to win

However, I can say the gameplay of Genshin is easy to get into. Unfortunately, it's a rpg so I have to farm for materials... yay, I guess. But it's not as bad as Fate Grand Order, Fate grand order farming system is a shit storm especially considering how it's a turn based but doesn't have a auto-farm system.

(for those who want to get into the story of FGO, just look it up on Youtube, do not play the game. )

When exploring, I often hesitate of where I go, because the game doesn't want you to explore said region yet, They will send Paimon telling you "Let's explore that later" only to yeet you off the cliff.

Speaking of Gameplay Paimon, she always setting us up. There was this purple spot, and she told us to blow it away to see what it is, only for it to be the eye of the storm... Its not like it was hard but it was annoying to fight it.

At least she let us control the time though.

Overall, I had fun with the game, I'm looking forward for Liyue and thank you for reading all of this as I was writing as I go so I know there is MANY grammar errors in this review.

Can't wait for Liyue because then I will get to see the character that convinced me to play the game.

[m1ckeyb3rry]

I’m ngl I just scrolled through your blog to look at your “controversial takes” posts to find those haters wait was it the Rin additional time one because bro the age gap might not be big but the maturity one is…like especially with Rin and how he acts too omg

Bro the itoshi sibling angst was never that deep im ngl i never thought it was super sad or anything either i mean it doesn’t help that i didn’t care much for them but when you think about it its just two brothers beefing like yeah it sucks because they once had a nice relationship but i mean id arguably say i think kaisers backstory is sadder than that and i don’t even care about kaiser either…idk there’s also something off about when they did get along im not really sure how to explain it but I don’t find anything special about it either so uh

NO FR im crying at the craziness in their profiles KIYORA AND THE TWINS AND THE ASS WASHING??? WHAT aikus had me SENDING like bro being like “i like drinking! Oh haha i mean I WILL love drinking…when im 20….and of age….nope never drank before hahahahaahahah” it’s so Aiku I’ve seen people going insane over the “finding playmates” response too and HES THE MIDDLE CHILD BETWEEN TWO SISTERS just like otoya i fr read that and lost my mind like what are their sisters doing and why aren’t they teaching them respect LMFAO kuronas is so cute wdym he’d bring his hedgehog with him as his only thing to a deserted island im crying also the saga of hioris celebrity crush had me losing it from “congrats to her marriage” to “she inspired my broken bone fetish” WHAT I fr can’t wait for more tabieitaken Barou crumbs though im surprised this is all out so early!!

Oh yeah me neither LMAOO like we don’t even see bro later idgaf I also can’t imagine him playing that important of a role the main story either I also feel like chigiris injury would only happen again in the World Cup or something not mid nel so…..

CRYING FR PNGLOCK agreed at least the pngs were drawn nicely for the most part but the animation and like the effects they added to try and make it look better had me laughing maybe they’ll sneak in more Karasu scenes in the u20 match at least we’ll have a couple moments of him facing against sae plus the Rin and Shidou carding thing LOL

LMAOO epinagi fr cooking with Karasu but we seriously need more panels of him in circulation because you’re so right

AHAHSG TAKE YOUR TIME LMAOOOO omg brief touching grass moment I know the feeling LOL

Also wait Karasu x WHO NOW?? SUKUNA???????? This reminds me of that era of Sukuna and hello kitty or Cinderella or something what the

- Karasu anon

LMAOAO PLS I POST SO MUCH that’s some dedication fr…although what else should i expect from resident goat karasu anon SDKLJF 😭 anyways i try not to vague post or get into drama or anything so i won’t say which post i was referencing in specific but considering how synced up we are let it suffice to say that if you found something silly during your scrolling that’s probably what i meant HAHAHAHA

OH MY GOD OKAY THANK YOU tbh angst in blue lock is so hit or miss for me like sometimes i’m just like okay was it really ever that deep…it’s not to devalue people irl who have experiences like that and have it impact them but like in fiction i’m just like ok??? i think the only backstories that have genuinely made me feel sad have been kaiser’s, lorenzo’s, and snuffy’s literally NO one else made me mega emo (reo and hiori get honorable mentions because i feel bad for them but it’s not ANGSTY to me yk?? idk maybe to me it’s not angst without death literally looming in the background SLDKJF perhaps that’s a mira problem) and yeah ofc part of it is that i’m not rlly an itoshi stan like that but kaiser is also a part of the core four opps and i found his backstory really sad so i truly do think it’s just a personal preference thing idk

KIYORA HAD ME GASPINGGGG lowkey he’s so funny i bet he was just saying all of that with such a straight face too…truly king of goofiness i have no choice but to support LMAOAOOA omg aiku’s had me cracking up he’s actually lowkey real this is just further proof that he would be a really fun bestie SDKLFJSD like he’s just chill with truly anything…nah because the bllk phenomenon of one older and one younger sister + absolute villainy MUST be studied!! actually wait i think kunigami disproves that because he’s nice but still 2/3 is not a great look 😭 KURONA AND HIS HEDGEHOG HAD ME CRYING PLS the way it was just called hedgehog number two the entire time…okay hold on when i read that hiori had a fetish for “fractured” girls i thought it was more of like an “i like girls who are traumatized and broken” in an #icanfixthem way not him actually being into broken bones HAHAH it’s insane either way though

yeah exactly that’s the one thing w epinagi being so far behind is that so many things lose their hype because we know how it ends…imagine how much more fun team tabieita vs team nagi would be if we didn’t know that nagi wins and they steal kiyora?? honestly i find myself enjoying the epinagi chapters more so i do sometimes wish that there was that element of surprise that bllk main manga can pull off…but anyways yeah agreed i would be surprised if they injure chigiri already ig anything’s possible but who knows

AHAHAHA PRAYINGGGG WE GET GOOD KARASU SCENES IN U20 however at least my nagi and barou sides will be fed well hehe anyways yeah the effects lowkey had me giggling ik everyone’s taking it seriously and crashing out but like i’m chilling it’s just not that deep it’s like reading the manga but i get to hear karasu’s fine ass voice instead of having to imagine it yk

BRO HOLD ON HERE’S THE LINK I NEED SOMEONE ELSE TO SEE THIS 😓 i was literally so taken aback like where did this even come from??? the sukuna x cinderella (and in fact all of the disney x jjk) stuff was really random but at least disney princesses are like relevant to pop culture?? i’m so confused at how KARASU got involved SDKLFJSD idk who the og artist is either but it’s like VERY OBVIOUSLY karasu omg i wish i was there irl to see your reaction it’s just the most bizarre thing (but like i said…if that’s what the artist is into good for them ig)

HELP OKAY i finally finished i just need to proofread and then post!! i lowkey might fall asleep beforehand though so who knows if it’ll actually be posted soon or not we’ll see LMAOAOAO but anyways i will be freed at last ngl it’s kinda ass but oh well it is what it is

[ohmaosama]

Mahoyome ch104 reaction thread? Lol

First why I can't zoom in while using full screen mode but can zoom in usual mode... Anyway-

This is first reading, pretty much no thought head empty. Might edit it later but yep letsgoo

- awww it's so cute chise sleeping with lucy and zoey

- WHOA WHOA WHAT HAPPEN WHY EVERYONE ON ELIAS HOUSE ADHSJSKLS

- What in the world is this mean... Man idk english

- wait I don't get it... So chise turn into the red dragon right? The red dragon give chise their power so chise can change into red dragon (???) so she's the red dragon now? Or she's just have this manifesting red dragon inside her now- hold up lemme fix my word first... Imma back with this one

- ELIAS CARE ABOUT PEOPLE OTHER THAN CHISE??!? GASP MY LIVE REACTION 😧- ALSO WHO IS THAT TALL MAN BEHIND IS THAT THE CURSED WITCH FAMILY GUY*I forgot his name? NEW CHARACTER????

- Elias thinking, Elias chibi, Elias sigh hehe so funny to see him having that many expressions in one chapter

- hmmm what are they gonna talk about...

- ain't no way they give zoey booze

- also what in the world is that creature

- man....

Okay, a bit of chit-chat—rant—whatever you want to call it... So, here’s the thing after the college arc, it looks like Mahoyome is shifting to longer story arcs unlike the shorter arcs in the first season where problems were solved rather quickly and the impact on the characters was immediate. But how long is this arc going to last? Are they going to focus on the arc while also exploring character backgrounds? (But then again, this is how story usually do, so what am I even questioning lol) Like, with one of Elias past just being revealed, is his backstory going to tie into this arc now? There’s no way they’d drop that without it connecting to a future arc, right? I just feel like we’re forgetting things too quickly, Chise hasn’t even had the chance to ask Elias directly about anything it’s all being told through other characters (but again maybe chise don't have to ask elias cuz that guy *I forgot his name already explaining anything so...). I mean, I know we’re starting a new arc, but don’t we have something to talk about first???? Or maybe, like always, we’ll get the answers in 10 more chapters lol

But hold up, I can’t really say the previous arc was short… because all of that combined makes up the whole Cartaphilus arc, right? It just has sections that felt like short arcs

Idk anymore loool I just love this series

[magnumdays]

Magnum PI 5.10 ‘Charlie Foxtrot’ review

So lots of stuff happened and at the same time not that much stuff happened. Some rapid fire thoughts.

(spoilers...obviously)

We did get some Miggy heart eyes... never gets old!

For me I think the first 5 minutes and the last 5 minutes were the best.

I liked it but also preferred the season 4 ‘Higgy spy adventures - MI6 don’t care about you...I do’ mid season finale to this (I mean there was the x-mas one too but plot-wise it was the spy episode that was the season finale right?). Like IDK, more emotional impact in that one was better?

Maybe Magnum should have been the one that got snatched or shot here. Just saying.

Poor Cade! Like even though TC is the one that got shot and paralysed (:O) I feel worse for our poor baby Cade!

RIP Childs, you were just starting to grow on me. No funeral? Is that going to be the start of 5.11? Or do we just not care enough about Childs for there to be one?

Very little Miggy in this one, even if soft + banter was cute, I feel like it was a pretty quick flip from kind of feel-y end of 5.09 to start of 5.10 which was all banter though really was meant to be like what? half an hour apart?

(Magnum being domestic and making Higgy food (or hot milk) and stuff has been like the running theme of this season and I want to nominate him for some boyfriend of the year award. Not just for the cooking but, you know, a little bit for that.)

(Higgy just keeps on going - seriously she was drugged and had crazy wacky nightmares like a few hours ago? This girl can not catch a break.)

Why is it so hard to make a villain still scary after learning their motives/backstories? 

Anyways...

Higgy sharing recipes from childhood, Magnum being all ‘you’ve had a rough day, how about we take a break (from watching news stories about the lady who tried to kill you and totally drugged you up a few hours ago’ and stuff’ is adorable. We almost got the “why does Higgy not drink tea” story which now is a story I must know. Like come on! It’s almost as enticing as maybe one day learning what her tattoo is...

Juliet looking out the guest house window and noticing commandos - you cannot tell me that was legit not her worst fear coming true - and then our faves being all badass (that flip!), very much a good start.

Then, because I’d somehow gotten it into my head we were going to have ‘Robin’s Nest under siege’ for like a good chunk of the episode, I felt a little bummed out. Because I wanted like hostage, drama, no police, gang vs, baddies. But I didn’t get that.

Now, other than the fact that Rick is the person we’re looking for and TC is in the hospital, this case feels weirdly like just a normal case.

Don’t get me wrong, I liked it, but somehow it lacked a little of the ‘wow shocking! thrilling! excitement’ I’d hoped for in the mid-season finale. Maybe-just maybe because we kind of know Magnum, Higgins, Rick and TC and even Gordy and Kumu probably with 99% certainty aren’t going to die.

Which is nice.

But it also makes them being in danger less scary than for example say Cade had been taken or Suzy or even Childs (if he’d not gotten blown up.) Why Beth or Dennis being in danger is scarier than Rick. Because they could die. There is actual bad things that could happen.

I think that’s why Higgy in the mental hospital still felt scary and had lots of potential, because we knew she was going to be alive - we just wasn’t sure what kind of messed up visions, drugs, weird electro shock stuff that could have happened to her, right?

So I am kind of excited to see what they do with TC not being able to feel his feet/being paralyzed. Because you know, that is scary stuff, and super duper emotional and scaring to go through (good thing he rigged the chopper for Shammy to fly!)

Bad guy (well gal) of the season instantly became less badass when she became an actual person, which is sad. If that was her backstory of falling for a terrorist, dead child or just how not scary she felt IDK. I just felt a little sad for her.

Did it all also go kind of fast?

Fast can be good, it means it’s entertaining enough the 42 minutes flew by fast. But it also maybe means it was a little unmemorable. Which I think is what this episode ended up being for me.

Also random small question - would anyone ever get found or saved or stuff figured out without Higgy’s hacking skills? Just you know, asking for a friend...

(I’ve also been watching some K-dramas lately and IDK, I guess I wanted more melodrama and more cute-y feels and angsty accidental car accidents and evil CEO father figures than I got...)

Depressing for my Miggy heart, that this episode failed to really deal with Higgins ‘I’m scared Mangum will die’ worries and I doubt we’ll get it next “season”. Rather brought up Magnum’s worry about the gang maybe being broken up if TC or Rick didn’t pull through. Just because he said that and Rick made the video, I almost wondered if they would kill of Rick.

So when they didn’t it felt a little bland.

Mean of me to say, but that would have been pretty interesting and brave of them to do. Kill Rick I mean.

Like that would have been something! Suzy getting that video and it would also maybe be a “ahah” moment for Magnum, making him feel a little of what Juliet have been feeling with Richard and why she’s so worried. It could have gotten us a Miggy ‘I love you’ moment too, because though we know our two idiots love each other they haven’t said it yet.

Yeah, Rick’s death would have made for character development everyone too, going forward. Like maybe suddenly super over protective Magnum in the B part of the season? TC being suddenly a sad boi and not himself and struggling with a depression sort of thing, freaking Cade out, making him consider moving with his family on the mainland, making it worse. Higgy feeling like she failed the guys and Suzy because she was too focused on Magnum’s safety. Suzy could just be a big mess and we could have Miggy babysitting moments? But it’d be sad because Rick is dead... So much potential for angst and stuff.

Whatever. I’m not considering writing a fic where Rick died. I’m really not.

Anyways, I did like the ending with Cade and Higgy talking a lot. Higgy somehow being her normal ‘feelings?what are those’ while at the same time really saying awesome and uplifting things and just all around being the new spokes person for Happy Endings... 

They guys all joining up and it feeling pretty hopeful was nice too. It was a nice place to end it, because while I got some angst and worries about the TC recovery plot, he’s alive and kicking and got his friends. And he’s TC! Come on, he’s going to big bear his way back to running after bad guys in no time. And if he don’t, he still awesome!

(Though what happened to TC’s girl? Is she not his girl anymore? Did I miss something? Maybe she’ll show up in part B of the season!)

Yeah, over all I enjoyed the episode, but it did not feel super-duper much like a midseason finale. I’d also like to inform everyone that it’s 132 days until September 3rd. So basically forever! How will we ever survive!? I guess we do have some pretty epic Miggy fluff and content to re-watch...

Anyone know when we’ll know anything about season 6? 

[once-upon-an-animation]

Finally watched the Super Mario Brothers movie. It was cute with a lot of fun references, but it was also incredibly shallow.

And before you come bitching at me about “kids movies don’t need to be deep!!!1!1!1!!”, the answer is NO, I did not expect a Mario & Luigi movie to be super complex. But I need you guys to understand that the depth of a narrative comes on a spectrum: A deeper story doesn’t have to mean adult-level maturity. It can just mean giving the characters more substance, or exploring their character arc with more emotions, or even just giving them a character arc in the first place. Not to mention, movies like How To Train Your Dragon, Rise of the Guardians, Despicable Me, Encanto, and Turning Red are also movies marketed towards children, but even they managed to be thoughtful and emotionally compelling as well. The idea that children’s content has to be shallow and can’t be anything else is ridiculous, and I will always shut down this argument every time I see it.

Anyway, back to the movie: yes, it was incredibly shallow. The only character that had anything that was even close to a character arc was Mario, and even then, it wasn’t very solid. It felt like the narrative couldn’t decide whether the arc was going to be about Mario feeling small, or about the brothers doing their thing together. If it was going to be about the latter, then the narrative should have had the brothers fight over something meaningful, and then have them reunite in the end. If it’s about Mario feeling small, that’s fine too, but they should have gone harder with it.

In addition, having Mario resolve this arc with powerups is maybe not a great way to send the message. Having him beat Bowser with nothing but his strength and wit would have helped that message more effectively. Like maybe have Mario be the one who thinks of using the shrinking shroom on Bowser.

With Luigi, there’s nothing to say. Didn’t have an arc, didn’t grow or change in any meaningful way, was just kind of there to be Mario’s brother and be rescued. I think a very easy arc for a Luigi, an arc that they seemed to be alluding to, is the idea of him learning to be strong on his own and to not always need his brother’s help. You can have had this narrative where Luigi is kind of co-dependent on Mario and can’t really accomplish things without his help and support. Then; when they get separated, Luigi finds himself alone and can either crumble, or learn to fight for himself and be his own hero.

Nothing to really say about Toad since he was just a side character, but heck, I’ve seen side characters with more depth than this. Tell me how Donkey Kong managed to have more substance to him than Toad with possibly less screen time? I mean, DK’s arc was by no means perfect and suffers from the same shallowness as everything else, but it was probably the closest I came to finding meaning in one of the character’s arcs.

But I have to say, out of all the characters that the movie’s shallowness negatively impacts the most, it has to be Peach. You have this character who has no clue where she’s from, who her family is, who her parents are. She’s taken in by this toad family and is made their princess (for a reason that the movie never bothers to explain). She’s the only known human in the kingdom until Mario comes along. She cares very deeply for the toads, so much that she’s willing to marry Bowser (not really, but the scene makes it seem like she’s going to marry him) so long as it means protecting her toads. And of course, she and Mario do a tad bit of flirting towards the end of the movie, alluding to a romantic connection.

There is so much to draw out of a character like this in terms of storytelling: the pressures of leadership, trying to find a place where you belong, being burdened by a forgotten past, the value of human-to-human connection, getting to enjoy life (and maybe even romance) outside of your royal duties, etc etc. There was so much that could have been done here, and yet, the movie just barely gave any of these things attention if at all. I will give them kudos for not making Peach a condescending girl boss and actually letting her be kind to her male peers, but that’s all I can say.

Bowser was alright. If you don’t give your villain a tragic back story, then I don’t usually care how deep you make them, so long as their villainy is fun and makes some sense. I don’t really understand Bowser’s interest in marrying Peach or ruling the world, which is why he’s “just alright” and not “great”. I didn’t need a super deep, complex story for him, but I at least wanted to understand why he was doing this, given that it was the biggest aspect of his villainy. He could have married anybody, or even just ruled without a wife. Why was it so important to him to make Peach his bride?

Honestly, the biggest thing that plagues this movie is “meh setup, piss poor execution”. In other words, the movie has a lot of potentially interesting ideas that they set up or alluded to…….and then nothing really comes of those ideas by the end of the film. They just toss in the ideas for good measure, but don’t actually do anything with them, which makes them feel really unsatisfying. There are a couple of examples, but Peach’s backstory has to be the most egregious. I don’t understand how you can have a character share something so significant, and then it just never comes up again. Like, ever. How on earth did that happen?

I’m going to wrap up before this post gets too long, but in summary: the movie was cute and fun on a surface level, but the hollow storytelling and underdeveloped plot threads kind of ruin the movie’s rewatchability for me. There’s nothing emotionally compelling to latch onto or discuss, so I don’t have anything else to say. The movie also feels like they want to set up a sequel, so maybe a sequel will do better and address some of the things that were set up here.