#my light bias is showing but also no its not

[grimalkinmessor]

Once more frustrated by people seeing Light's various moves as stupid because they're looking at it from a point of omniscience and not from the perspective of Light himself and the information he had access to :')

[the-acid-pear]

I am watching a guy get all trophies on fnaf which means its the first time in Years i've seen fnaf 3 gameplay and man why the fuck was springtrap's jumpscare that goofy? Like i know fnaf isnt any stranger to bad jumpscares from time to time but bro literally just goes 👁👁 its the most non threatening thing like he's not even reaching over or anything just fucking kick him in the chest and that's it he's done for. Not even the sound is scary bro sounds like he's gasping for air he's pathetic. Though i'll admit the ear jiggle physics are amaizing i forgot about those.

[genericpuff]

the LO cookbook is out now and it has one review already, which is actually a pretty honest one that's truthful about the state of the book and whether or not it's worthwhile as a cookbook and not just another piece of normie LO merch material

not that it's shocking, but judging by the video they provided in their review, this book is mostly just LO panels with accompanying recipes, many of which don't even match with the context of the recipe itself (or if they do, they're really stretching to make it match because LO offers up very little when it comes to discussing / showcasing food, which begs the question of why they even made a cookbook to begin with lmao)

It's very funny how much the book is filled with panels from LO because, presumably, most people who will be interested enough in the cookbook to buy it will have already seen these panels, probably hundreds of times before, and so there's nothing that seeing them again within a cookbook is offering them - especially when it's at the expense of actual photos of food, which should be expected in a cookbook. It's almost like it's trying to appeal to non-LO readers in an attempt to broaden their reach, but... anyone who's genuinely into cookbooks still isn't going to get much use out of this, because it's not even a very functional cookbook to begin with (I mean for god's sakes, there's a recipe for pancakes in here-)

I think it just goes to show both how much LO is trying to astroturf itself as a household franchise by filling the book with nothing but pointless panel art (when they should be showing, y'know, the FOOD, which let's be real, they might have deadass just run out of budget to photograph more of LOL) but also how little LO actually has to offer as a story with substance beyond the characters just talking at each other. The LO cookbook is lacking in actual Greek cuisine because LO itself lacks actual Greek cuisine. But it still thinks flashing panels from LO will be enough to sustain its merchandising, and frankly, they're right, because a lot of LO normies keep spending $30 for the same blown up low-resolution artwork every single time it's re-packaged and shilled back to them.

That said, I haven't purchased the book myself (I do not plan to) and I'm making these judgments purely from my own pre-existing bias towards dunking on LO and the review material that was provided, so take my opinion with grains of salt. Shoutout to the reviewer though for providing both the video and text blurb that was both insightful and honest, praising its good parts and bringing light to its bad parts.

And really, I gotta give credit for one thing, if Rachel / Webtoons / Inklore really were trying to artificially inflate LO's fame to the heights of Marvel, Star Wars, and Stranger Things, then they succeeded - it's joined all of those tired and creatively bankrupt franchises in the metaphorical and literal landfill of fast fashion and mass-produced merchandise.

[akindaflora]

How SKZ would react to you calling them your boyfriend on travels!

Full word count: 2,002

details: Basically I'm going on solo trip abroad for my birthday soon and as a safety precaution I've decided to use low key photos of SKZ members and telling weirdos that they're my boyfriend and I kept thinking about what if I accidentally ran into one of the boys not knowing its them and then to show a photo of themselves saying that they were my boyfriend. I doubt the boys would ever make someone uncomfortable intentionally but I'm extremely jumpy with strangers especially men haha so I could definitely see this happening! Anyway hope you enjoy:)

Warning: One curse word was said! Mentions of stalking and harassment but no actual harassment unless you count Lee Know being slightly mischievous. Also if you do workout please be sure to have a spotter when lifting heavy weights ^_−☆

Thanks again for the support on Lip Mask while that was the first story I posted. This scenario was in the works well way before Lip Mask was even written but due to the support of SKZ Tumblr community, I felt wayyy more confident and comfortable with sharing this idea with you all! Hope you enjoy ❤️

Hyung / Maknae / Masterlist

Bangchan (616 words)

It was the first day of your trip after a long flight and only arriving at 3 in the afternoon you realized your fight against jet lag might be stronger than you thought. The subtle feeling of sleep as you took a shower in the hotel not doing much aid. But with a few light slaps to your face you made your trek outdoors to explore the city hoping the walking and maybe some sugar would keep you up till nightfall. With that thought you grabbed your bag and threw on a scarf to keep the chill away.

So far after walking around for a bit, your shoulders started to tense. There were a lot of people and while crowded spaces aren't that scary there was the possibility that anything could happen. What if someone tried to steal your phone? You did your best to grip your phone in your pocket. What if someone tries to kidnap you? With that thought you began looking around your shoulder hoping to only feel at ease as the city rushed past you but instead, you could see a steady black-clothed figure hurriedly following you.

Panic began to strike. You knew in your research of the city that there had been some issues with men harassing women for dates going so far as to follow them for blocks on end. You knew you couldn't go back to the hotel not wanting the newfound stalker to stalk you even more and worse you didn't even know where you were, the buildings all looked the same.

Taking a deep breath you tried your best to high-tail it out of there only to feel your heart in your chest sink to your stomach when you realized the corner you turned on was mostly a quiet street nothing compared to the bustling city a few streets over.

With a deep breath, you pulled out your phone and swiped to the image of your bias Bang Chan hoping the stranger wasn't into K Pop and would accept the fact that you having a boyfriend was enough to back off.

"I have a boyfriend and this is him, I'm on my way to meeting him right now so can you stop following me," You said eyes slightly closed and phone outreach stopped the man at his pace. After a few moments of awkward silence, you began to talk, "Look he boxes for fun, I’d turn around if I were you," when you got no response but the quiet sounds of a chuckle you opened your eyes to see a very similar bright red scarf. So similar it even has your initials sewn in on the bottom just like the one you're wearing. Without thinking you reached for your scarf in your other hand.

Blood rushed to your cheeks as it began to click. This man wasn't stalking you but out of some weird concern trying to hand you your scarf back. You quickly looked up at the guy ready to apologize only to feel the blood on your face rise even more. God if you were to compare a cherry red tomato to your face it probably be hard to tell the difference at this moment.

"When I said I would protect you all this didn't really come to mind" He giggled a bit more. You slowly put your phone away wondering if by chance there was a pothole you could bury yourself in.

He moved to put the scarf around your neck, “Jagi you should really stay warm come on, you hungry? I wanna get to know my girlfriend a bit better yeah,” he said nodding his head in a direction up the street.

Lee Know (499 words)

Your stomach growled at you as you rounded the 10th corner of the day. None of the restaurants nearby were speaking to you. Deciding that you were far too hungry to look for a decent spot you wandered into the nearest convenience store.

Quickly deciding a particular appealing hot meal you wandered to the snack aisle, hoping to find a dessert that might even out your salty meal. After contemplating a few candy bars your stomach growled again. As hungry as you were you knew the dessert would either make or break your meal and luckily the store wasn't too filled so you knew checkout wouldn't take long nor finding a decent seat. Weighing your options you decided to go back to the cold section.

Not feeling ice cream as it was already extremely cold you didn't need your teeth shaking too, you decided to look over the choices of pudding. But as you looked you couldn’t decided between Carmel or the Coffee jelly. Both were appetizing but what would bring you the most joy?

In your thought of pondering you heard a deep sigh from your left. Not thinking much of it you decided to move over slightly in hopes whoever needed the pudding would still be able to grab whatever they wanted. But as you continued to decided the sigh moved to your right. So you moved to the right slightly at one point you and the heavy sigher moved left to right back and forth that it seemed to be a game this stranger was playing with you.

With your own heavy sigh you put the caramel pudding back deciding the sweet treat would taste bitter from this unnecessary transaction. Quickly holding your head high without looking at the stranger you moved to decide on a drink.

But before you could grab the tea of your choice the sigh came back. Quickly you threw the drink in your basket and then grabbed your phone. Hoping that the photo of Lee Know would cause the sigher to get lost.

“Look i don’t know what game your playing at but this is my boyfriend he’s just around the corner,” you warned showing the lockscreen in the stranger direction.

A loud laugh was pulled that peak your interest, he sounded familiar quickly looking up you nearly dropped the basket in your hands to which he grabbed to help support you.

“Oh but jagi I’m already here! You should be careful you could have broken the jelly” He began to chastise you still laughing with no concern. A quick heat of a blush went to your cheeks as you tried to process this all. Forgetting your hungry stomach as it decided now was the perfect time to growl. The blushing deepens with each giggle. He raised his brow with another quick laugh.

“Come on i’ll pay and then we can go on that date we supposedly planned,” he said motioning you to follow after taking your basket from your hand.

Changbin (374 words)

With the start of the New Year you had grown dedicated to going to the gym. Even going as far to go while on vacation. Ever since you began your workout journey you've had the displeasure of many unwelcome interactions from the male population. Going so far as having to use your bias Changbin as your lock screen. It had worked so far most giving up when they realized how built the man in the photo is and leaving you alone.

Normally you try the buddy system but this being a solo trip you had no one else but yourself and Changbin's photo to protect you. Deciding to start with the treadmill to warm up, you felt the familiar eyes of men as they watched you move. With steady breath, you turned up your music and focused on the TV in front of you.

After 30 minutes you decided to move to the bench press. Deciding that while you didn't have a spotter, it should be fine if you used extremely light weights. You noticed a peculiar muscular guy watching you intently.

You tried to shake his eyes off you got into position but before you could even start the same guy came running over lifting the weight off completely. Unable to hear him you turned your music down after he finished talking and only opened your phone to show him the picture of your saver.

"Look dude this is my boyfriend and he's almost here so I'd step back if I were you," You said not even looking at him reaching for your bottled water. Hearing a big huff of air leaving his lips you finally slowly turn to look ready to set a glare on him. Only to see a somewhat concerned Changbin looking at you as he smirked. A blush creeps up to your cheeks eyes going wide.

"Well seems like your boyfriend already here and wouldn't recommend you dead lifting without a spotter. Why don't you let me help Jagi" He said smoothly. You on the other hand clutching your heart at not only making a fool in front of your bias and the fact he called you jagi.

Definitely proud of yourself for keeping up this gym routine now.

Hyunjin (513 words)

Today had been a tad bit rough on your vacation. Your phone dying so you had no idea how to get back to your hotel that and your favorite shoes had a hole in them the only good thing being that you bought a new pair. And well that you did fine a decent book burning away in your bag asking you to read its text. Quickly trying to figure out your safe haven and hopefully an outlet.

With it being extremely late you stumble upon a bar filled with books and laughter as different types of people filled it. It was a book bar, one of the many to do things on your list, maybe your luck was changing. The bar wasn't too crowded but it definitely wasn't easy finding a spot next to an outlet. Tucked away in a corner you pull out your charger and the book in your bag sipping away on the bubbling beer.

After walking for hours and shivering in the cold the warm bar and the soft chitter chatter of others around you warmed you as the author's words pulled you in. The only problem is that the person next to you kept bumping into your left shoulder. You tried shaking them off which didn't work and after a glance at your still-dead phone, you sighed taking another sip. If only it were on you'd show the stranger your lock screen of your bias Hyunjin maybe his piercing eyes and oozing confidence would scare them away. With your luck, the guy left and you let out a breath you didn't realize you had been holding in, finally able to get back to your book.

But just as if the universe was testing your patience the same guy, you assumed, came back and began to softly poke you. Luckily as he did your phone turned on.

Without even looking you unplugged your phone showing the strange man your screen, "See this guy he's my boyfriend, and he's supposed to meet me here so if I were you I'd stop touching me, he can be the jealous type and you wouldn't like to see him that way," You said setting your phone down and turning the page of your book.

But the poker was relentless and poked you again with a little laugh. You quickly closed your book marking your finger in the pages as a steady glare brought you to the source of your annoyance.

Though everything went silent or rather your heart stopped as you realized it was the same man on your home screen that went out of his way to poke you. Fuck you thought.

"Well I was gonna ask if you let me plug my phone up too. Didn't know I came off as the jealous type," he said looking down as if lost in thought. Talk about strange luck.

“Hmmm Jagi put the book away seems we need to talk about the boundaries of our relationship,” he said plugging his phone into your charger. Yeah, maybe you should get lost more often.

After writing author notes: I wanted these to end on a goodish note and leave with the boys being somewhat interested but i hope i didn’t feed your delusions too much as this did with mine. Also sorry for the various word counts but some scenarios were easier to write more for than others but I enjoy all the boys equally so I didn't want to write more for the sake of more but just the context needed for each scene! Might be a bit till i can figure out the maknaes i really want the scenarios to be somewhat unrealistic but realistic to the boys interest and things they'd probably be doing on vacations days. If you want to speed up the process I'm open to ideas for the rest until then I believe some more fluff for the other boys are in the works.

Take care eat well and don't forget to touch grass every once and a while ( ˘ ³˘)♥︎

[racketballz]

This is not blossom slander, i love our queen blossom, but i notice in most fanfics, especially MTH, blossom is most favourited. she is always portrayed as the “pretty one” and has a “perfect body”, whereas her sisters dont that. maybe its because buttercup is my favourite but when reading ppg fanfics, i always question why buttercup and bubbles dont get the same treatment as blossom, like cmon. especially buttercup, like her dark hair and light eyes combo is FIREEE but i rarely see her be described as pretty or beautiful. im a big fan of sbj and their work so no hate to them at all, but i noticed this the most in MTH and i just feel like a lot of other writers can be bias when it comes to blossom. i just enjoy all three sisters being in the spotlight, instead of JUST blossom. i also understand that some writers just have preferences but this is just my take.

What do you think about thisss??

I think that it’s because of many things! I can’t speak on a lot ppl but I also think within the context of her already in the show she is perfect! (All the girls are ofc) She even calls herself the full package. Shes a quite the confident little girl lol and In the mention of this and her being the leader and the way she carries herself ppl either read it in a couple of ways. Most them being a critique on it in the first place. A lot of ppg writers are also women who have their own unique relationships with beauty and perception ! Alot of times hair is something people gravitate towards! Maybe even height or like beauty of the mind ya know she’s she’s smart etc!

The pressures around her kinda keep her perfect like a diamond! She must stay tidy she must stay in line and she can’t look weak. Ive even seen this interpretation go the extent where she is constantly fumbling because there only so long you can save face. think blossom is interesting to write in that way but to do any sort of critique on like how much she cares and how much she HAS to care it kinda will to be mentioned a lot especially in writing where there’s no visual element to it so you get the sense from it being mentioned all the time. So I think maybe in the same way how everyone one thinks of her as beautiful gorgeous perfect think about it like a AILMENT LOL

With buttercup who is a bit of antithesis to blossom, she doesn’t like being perceived to a certain extent she doesn’t have to be “perfect” to be beautiful or strong. She just has to be strong! In a sense this is also why you have alot of interpretations of buttercup being self destructive or jealous(I personally dislike) or insecure of the quality that is to be beautiful like blossom! Buttercup in the same way wouldn’t last too long in the confines of blossom having to be perfect look clean tidy beautiful gorgeous girlie strong and all the while keeping a level head she couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t want her to do that either LMFAO

If we’re talking about me i know l personally have a very special relationship with the way i make and portray blossom. There is a reason why i make her dark skinned. My interpretation of pretty is different to others but i find her incredibly head strong and resilient without having to lift a finger. Shes objectively a pretty girl but ppl still have an issue with the way she looks almost like it tells the story itself a story of resilience and control a bit too. I know why people hate it at same time it gives me a lot of wiggle room for her sisters because she’s the one who stands out the most. This is gettin a little intense LOL but she really is like a shield!

If you think about it if people are always talking about blossoms looks in any interpretation and considering her personality there’s really no way to talk about looks and beauty of buttercup and bubbles in the same way! Buttercup doesn’t care and bubbles cares but she essentially does what she feels

[melled42]

Ai makes me sad for humans. thing about content creation is its really the one thing humans can do with no wrong answer. But we're so concerned with algorithms and money that now people think there's a mathematical answer to it. "If I just put in the right prompts and steal the right things, I win art, which js something you can and should want to do!" Instead of something you create being an unholy amalgamation of your life, influences, and what makes you you, it's just a combination of what's already been pushed on you by corporations and all the bias we have in post colonial times.

I also worry about a generations of creators who don't go through the process of creation. It's not like the whole "people are scared of the advancement of technology, we used to warn that paper would make kids not know how to clean slates!" Type fear. Art us a series of choices, both conscious and subconscious. I've even argued this in video games, how older games with more limited engines had to bake in their lighting and design instead of having it done for them, and those choices made for a different vibe, especially in horror. The more you have done for you, the less you put yourself in the piece

I had my husband spell check a comic for me a bit ago where I realized, mid reading, that I had put a LOT of my own issues in that story and character without even realizing it. So much so I had to cover my face and ears in embarrassment while he looked it over. To make something is to make choices and those choices tell you things about yourself you might not even realize, sometimes not even until someone else takes a look.

Idk if it's an autism thing, but I've always seen art as a form of communication. You're taking a little bit of you and showing it to someone, and they're taking a little bit of them and showing it to you. As someone who always felt like she was talking to people in a different language, it's freeing to be able to share things in a way I have more control over. If you're not putting that you in your work, I worry some people are never going to find that euphoria of communication in the way I did. That's so isolating.

I feel like art is a good chunk of what makes us human, and it's the one piece that lasts after we're gone and forgotten. If we stopped making new things, what's the point?

[deviousdrtruffles]

BUDDY TRUST ISSUES (yeehawww)

So I believe in the theory that Buddy was betrayed and used by someone whom he really loved and trusted (I don’t think it’s romantic but I do believe it was definitely a strong connection) that led him turning into a key.

Also I wanna credit @jthealien because their post on how Buddy used to a be a selfless person who was convinced of his role of the villain was the main inspiration for this post!

*ITS KINDA LONG*

Okay SO Buddy could have been a genuinely caring person and for the people who he loved, he would have been very loyal. I say this because his magical boy trait was “the protector of loyalty”.

Buddy could have dedicated himself, doing various selfless acts just for this person who thought he could trust. This the protector of loyalty. But then after that person flipped their switch which led Buddy to turning into a key, Buddy was left absolutely shattered. Imagine the person whom you loved, whom you thought you could trust with everything just stabbing you back.

But instead of Buddy blaming the person for his current situations, he blames himself for falling for that person’s façade.

 In episode 31 during The Beach Boys Arc, Buddy literally tells Chase that he taught him a good lesson by breaking his trust.

Buddy genuinely thought, teaching Chase that he can’t trust anyone so easily was a good lesson. (To be fair, it is a good lesson but that’s like the worst way to do it✋😭) It’s possible that Buddy could have been projecting here by teaching the same the “lesson” learnt by making Chase feel bad about himself when really he didn’t do anything wrong. This scene also shows that Buddy sees helping people as well as trusting them doesn’t provide any benefit and just makes you vulnerable instead. 

So, this is why Buddy represses his compassionate side so he can never be used again. He’s probably so used to blocking out the good parts of himself that he thinks he could never reclaim them again and that he’s a genuinely bad person. But y’all know he still got it in him because he has done a lot of kind acts.

In the Cinderfella Arc, he gave Chase some hints to help him with the story. In Beach Boys, helped Chase open the coconut and even gave him some of the fish he caught. In Sick Day Arc, he took care of Chase when he collapsed from overexertion while he’s I’ll. In homo Honour Among Thieves Arc, he saved Chase from the prisoner who was uhhh weird to him. In the Still Waters Arc, he stayed in the decaying book with Chase just to comfort him.

In Beach Boys in particular, he hesitates a bit when giving Chase the fish. I believe that not only was it because he is not used to the bit of kindness, it was also because he just wasn’t used to doing something kind himself. But, deep down, he was genuinely grateful for Chase leading his hand and advice with lighting the fire and wanted to return the favour even if he didn’t need to. Chase didn’t ask for the fish or need it because he had brought his own snacks.

Because of Chase, Buddy is allowing himself to do good things and to trust again. But that’s most likely due to his bias.

That last line is part about another ramble I have coming up. I just feel it’s a bit unrelated plus I love that one way too much so I will be making another post for it. Can’t say when though :P

Also… *Tips out my top hat before dropping to the floor on my knees* PLEASE tell me your thoughts/feedback or add some things. Literal ANYTHING. I love hearing theories and I swear I’m not scary.

[moviememokeeper]

this is mostly self indulgent but--

im a person who has really bad memory and ive been thinking about how ironic it was that i liked reca (major understatement) since hes a memokeeper who probably remembers everything hes ever known. so ive been thinking: what if he had a s/o with really bad memory? this has probably been thought of before but i THINK i have only seen few things about it.

hed be perfect honestly and damn if i dont need someone who can and will remind me of everything i forget like taking my very important meds. or preventing me from accidentally skipping meals. or even sleeping at the right hour because i completely lack a sense of time.

but it also feels super bad to forget everything and even things you actively want to remember like bonding moments. so he would definitely take SO many photos and videos of you and keep them in a super secret stash to show you later. or put 200% of his effort into making the most love filled movies about you and him painted in the most beautiful light- and his bias toward you really shows because theyre always the movies people discuss the most. (i dont know if he would be That biased but its a silly thought. if you want to make it sillier imagine him putting so much effort that he comes home physically disheveled lol)

feel free to add thoughts... its 4 am and im so sleepy it took me 30 mins to make this coherent enough to undsrstand but reca is roaming in my brain rrrrg mr. recaaaaa...

So, I wrote a response to this back when I first received it, but then my dumbass forgot to save it in my drafts 😭

ANYWAY

This is honestly so real, I’m forgetful asf as well 😭

- He’d leave sticky notes all over the house in places he KNOWS you’ll find it to remind of you of important stuff

- the sticky notes also contain a lot of little heartfelt messages <3

- And SO. MANY. NICKNAMES. He’s the type to constantly call you “darling” “love” “sweetheart” etc. he also comes up with very ridiculous nicknames sometimes to make you laugh, they get worse as times goes on

- little texts/phone calls throughout the day to see how you’re doing and remind you of stuff

As for bigger events

Like you said this man definitely has a huge stash of photos and videos

- he keeps little things he finds during your dates (for example a pebble, a keychain, etc.) as little reminders of what you guys did together

- he also compiles all his pictures into a scrapbook

- It details when the picture was taken, what you guys were doing, his thoughts on said day, and a whole lot of compliments

- he doesn’t get upset if you forget something, he just thinks of new ways to help you remember y’know

- ALSO with him being a memokeeper, what’s stopping him from playing his own memories of the event like a movie for you to watch?

This man is a hopeless romantic I swear

[respectthepetty]

hi Petty! I'm not sure if you've answered this before but i was wondering what your favorite color-coded shows are. Like, as a color enthusiast, are there color-coded shows that were rly satisfying for you in how they incorporated colors into the storytelling

I love colors however I get them, so I'm going to answer your question with more recent picks later below, but I've answered some variations of this question:

Reading the (Visual) Rainbow Awards 2024

Overall Winner: Idol Factory for The Loyal Pin, The Sign, and My Marvellous Dream is You

Reading the (Visual) Rainbow Awards 2023

Overall Winner - Kiseki: Dear to Me

Top Five - Color-Coded Storytelling in BLs

Honorable Mention: Oh No! Here Comes Trouble

5) Moonlight Chicken

4) My Beautiful Man

3) My Love Mix Up

2) Semantic Error

1) Big Dragon

BLs Based Solely on Colors

Honorable Mention: Intern in My Heart

One Room Angel

Why R U? (Korea)

Secret Crush on You

Stay by My Side

Pit Babe

Bonus: Old Fashion Cupcake

Shows That Got the Colors Right

I Cannot Reach You

Destiny Seeker

Kiseki: Dear to Me

Never Let Me Go

The Eighth Sense

Dark Blue Kiss

Semantic Error

Big Dragon

Favorite Obvious Character Color Coding

Honorable Mention - Most Cheewin, Domundi, and Idol Factory shows: Y-Destiny, Secret Crush on You, Middleman's Love, You'll Never Eat Alone, Bed Friend, Cutie Pie, Naughty Babe

Destiny Seeker

I Became a Lead in a BL Drama

My Love Mix-Up

Love Tractor

The Eighth Sense

Between Us

Kiseki: Dear to Me

Pit Babe

Our Dating Sim

Top Five Color Moments of 2023

Honorable Mention: 7 Days Before Valentine

5) GAP

4) Bed Friend

3) Last Twilight

2) Moonlight Chicken

1) The Eighth Sense

Bonus: Jeff Satur x SHAUN's "Steal the Show"

Now that I've hit you with several other lists to look through, I'm going to basically give you a sneak peek into this year's running list for my Reading the (Visual) Rainbow Awards because these are some of the shows that have given me the most satisfying color coding so far.

Reading the (Visual) Rainbow Awards 2025 - Five Nominations

Honorable Mention: The Next Prince

It's not over yet, so everything could go downhill but right now, it's living up to the Domundi standard of color coding for a reason, so if it continues, the visual journey will be worth it!

Secrets Happened on the litchi Island

China came out of nowhere this past year and decided to hurt all my feelings with the color coding in this one. I was banking all my hopes on the colors telling me this one would get a happy ending, and it paid off but not without putting me through the wringer and making me cry. Therefore, I loved it.

The Boy Next World

I finally watched a MAME show live, and that chick got me! Hook, line, and sinker. This is only the third MAME show I've ever watched, and it's easily my favorite because that lighting department was working overtime showing us how much light and warmth one person can bring to someone else's dark and cold world.

When It Rains, It Pours

This will probably be my favorite show this year, and I've rewatched it almost every single week since it was released, so I have a bias, but it's also one of the best portrayals of balance in this year's grouping of shows. The colors reinforced the relationship between the characters so well, which made it even more pleasing to watch.

Secret Relationships

WTF happened with Korean BL?! Did it finally look at its het shows with all their toxic characters and decided to up the ante? This series gave me something different and showed the negatives of each color with ease, so I was rooting for all of them, yet also for none of them, and I'm still sitting here asking for a poly rainbow.

Perfect 10 Liners x Fourever You

Both shows are clumped together because Director New was behind them and his crew nailed the color coding for each show. Every character was perfectly aligned with the color they were coded as and it was delightful to witness such flawless color coding. These two are going to be the stiffest competition this year.

Bonus: Fight For You

Did you think I'd forget my favorite Black Brooder x Heavenly Human?

Never!

[heytemporary]

I have a theory when it comes to the emasculation & sexualisation of Izuku and rampant sexualisation of the underaged characters in MHA, and why fans and outsiders see it as such.

Before you continue reading I just want to let you know this is not a safe space for proshitters & self identified fujoshis (you know who you are. If the shoe doesn’t fit then you can interact). If you are a proshipper or a self identified fujoshis then its best for both our sakes you block me. If I find you in my likes or mentions I will hide your comment and block you.

I’m also not a fan of toga x oochako, and Im saying this because I mentioned it briefly but its not the worst ship for me to block you (bkdk will always take that spot).

Anyways here’s a rundown list based on what I’ve observed [Mentions of Homophobia, Misogyny & Sexualisation of underaged characters down below. Read at your own risk]:

1.1 Horikoshi’s bias: Any watcher with critical thinking skills are able to see Horikoshi has a clear bias towards characters like bakugo, aizawa, shinso and mineta and he confirmed it himself. From the beginning to the very end of the manga Horikoshi has failed to respect Midoriya’s autonomy as a character, and any time we ever got close to introspection its immediately shut out in favour of the same popular characters over and over again.

1.2:Horikoshi has repeatedly sexualised his underaged characters and seems to show no guilt or remorse over such actions, even in his confessions. This was no accident, and any attempt to address this in a critical light in the manga was a failure, just like all the controversial topics he tried to address in the series (mutant arc -I personally don’t like how others see it as a racism allegory as a Black person, but thats another topic for another day-, eugenic marriage, trafficking etc.)

It also doesn’t help Japan has a rampant pedophilia & SA problem, and the reason you don’t see it on the news is because of shame culture + language barrier + their good PR Team. Anybody who tries to tell you it doesn’t exist are all liars, and anybody who tries to justify it with it being part of their culture is a racist.

2.From a dudebros perspective: We all know dudebros are obsessed with masculinity and powerscaling, but in some cases they are fine with fictional male characters crying, even male characters who don’t fit the traditional masculine role. But Midoriya isn’t the traditional masculine role character and he cries alot. Along the way they mustve subconsciously picked up the writers mistreatment of Midoriya, and so to them it’s like why should they respect a character who acts like a crybabying bitch?

And then they see how “close” bakugo & midoriya are. Dudebros as a collective are homophobic, so at first they would deny it, but then slowly but surely theyd pick up on how weird it is for midoriya and bakugo to be this obsessed with each other. Pair that up with the delusional fujoshis who seem to be fucking *everywhere* they’re going to call Midoriya a gay bitch for being steamrolled by “the goat” Bakugo.

Then there’s the sexualisation part. No words are needed to be said. Dudebros as a collective have little to no morals, especially the misogynistic. They don’t care if the character is 14yr old they’re going to wank their dick off to it regardless and thats the unfortunate truth.

But I feel the other reason why they feel so comfortable wanking off freely is because Horikoshi basically gave them the greenlight to do so. He shamelessly sexualised his characters without attempting to address it in a critical light.

3.From a fandom gay (especially fujoshis) perspective: It’s inevitable that the fandom gays will always find a way to ship 2 male characters, even if the creator clearly states their relationship is platonic, that’s just how it is for the better or worse.

To some credit, I can see why the fujoshis are obsessed with bkdk to the point of it being the #1 ship in MHA (never to the point of peak delusional though). Horikoshi doesn’t know when to put Bakugo to the side for once, or make Bakugo have his own arc without Midoriya being tied into it. It also doesn’t help Horikoshi mishandled Midoriya’s bullied past so the fujoshis are going to either dismiss that entirely or stupidly justify it in the worst way possible. Everyday its parallel this rival that.

I also personally believe Horikoshi baited BKDK content for some extra cash because he realised thats what the fans are into and also realised how stupid it is to trick them, like dangling a carrot infront of a donkey but that’s just my conspiracy theory.

If its one thing fujoshis love is pushing heteronormative roles onto their “gay” favourites and having internalised misogyny, morals be damned. Midoriya is seen as emotional, Bakugo is seen as aggressive. What does that equal to them? Top & Bottom, Alpha & Omega, Dominant & Submissive.

Fujoshis & Proshitters arent going away anytime soon, but because Horikoshi did nothing to shoo away the allegations until the very end of the chapter the fujoshis felt very entitled to act out. If you call them out you’re homophobic, but they would have zero problem dragging Oochako by the mud for daring to get in the way of the ship, and when that arc of her & Toga came out these same ppl who also tried to say Oochako is a love interest repackeged her into being Toga’s love interest under the guise of “girl power & lets go lesbians”.

(Personally as a Lesbian Feminist I am offended by this take but once again I digress)

Once again Horikoshi sexualised his underaged female cast, and while the fandom gays try to play the moral highground holding Horikoshi accountable I personally believe are just as hypocritical. The proshippers mustve subconsciously seen the sexualisation as a greenlight to go full haywire.

~~

TLDR; Horikoshi’s ass writing gave the watchers the greenlight to disrespect Midoriya as this bitch. A crybaby ass bitch from the dudebros and a crybaby bottom bitch from the fujoshis point of view. An ultimate bitch.

These fans will always exist but this reputation is the most prominent I’ve ever seen. In my humble opinion no fandom can ever be compared to MHA and its sheer audacity. Horikoshi & his overall fans don’t actually like Midorya and it’s disheartening to watch.

[utilitycaster]

Do you think part of the D20 journalistic bias comes from D20 being edited? It gives the appearance of much more effortless play and lets them control the pacing in a way unedited play like CR simply can't do. They get to (potentially) hide a lot of stuff people would jump on as flaws while CR has no choice but to let it all play out. I greatly prefer CR's approach, despite it biting them in the ass a bit through no fault of their own.

Answering these both together to group cause and my opinions, and I do want to note this is specifically about journalism/press coverage, not their respective fandoms even though there's obviously some overlap.

I think there's a couple things, but I do want to note this was actually prompted by Daggerheart, not Critical Role. The response from several prominent voices in the Actual Play journalism community, whom I will not name here but whom I do not respect intellectually, really was, within hours of the open beta (which as far as I know they didn't have early access to - more on that later) "um it could be better, I don't like xyz and also it's sooooooo important to have criticism" and again, it is important to have criticism, but also you act like D20 has never had a mediocre moment and that Kollok is brilliant, so.

This...got away from me a bit. I'd say I'm sorry but actually I adore writing thousands of words about actual play and it will happen again but I'm putting the detailed answer below a cut. The short answer is I think a lot of Actual Play journalists actually sort of fell into their jobs through being vaguely involved in nerd spaces and aren't actually equipped to talk intelligently about TTRPGs and actual play as a medium that should, at its best, be a perfect fusion of narrative and mechanics. So instead they're distracted by flashy edits and bright lights and cool noises and some abstract concept of "novelty" and write only about that. Also Critical Role is the 700 lb gorilla in the AP space (though not, actually, the TTRPG space) and doesn't give them early access and that's meaaaaaan. Indeed, for all I think a lot of their coverage of D20 and Worlds Beyond Number is obsessively fawning, I also think it's extremely surface level, frequently factually wrong, and fails to get at what's truly excellent about those shows either.

I think, honestly, the biggest one is that I don't actually think a lot of Actual Play journalists watch series in full. I was looking for Polygon coverage of Fantasy High Junior Year and they have one glowing article but it's more about Fantasy High as setting and institution and D20 "changing the game" (also more on this later) to the point of outright contradicting the pull quotes they used from interviewing Brennan Lee Mulligan (also more on this later). So I started looking through their coverage and actually, quite a number of their write-ups are based on only one episode, or half a season. Clearly, they haven't read the full open beta (nor have I, but I think their complaints about the character build process belie a profound misunderstanding of what TTRPGs are, also more on this later). So editing is certainly part of it because it's really easy to see cool special effects and sound design within one episode and shit out a hacky article about it, whereas actually getting to the substance - character relationships, cohesive narrative, storytelling - requires work that I do not think they're doing. And on the one hand I do kind of get it, because yeah, if journalism is your livelihood then you perhaps do not have the time to watch 4 hours of D&D a week for 2-3 years if you're only going to get one article every six months out of it. But I don't think the answer is "focus intently on Microsoft Powerpoint-esque scene transition tricks while ignoring that nothing occurring at the table is actually fun to watch." For more on this, see this post.

The second, which is very relevant to Daggerheart but also is actually a big gap in D20 and WBN coverage in my opinion, and which I put in the tags, is that I actually don't think a lot of journalists have a solid understanding of TTRPGs nor of most genres. And I think Critical Role has a particularly good understanding of both these things, actually, if one skewed towards collaborative storytelling that is not rules-light. I think one really big example is that one person within the space is mad at the Daggerheart questions for the character archetypes because what if your character doesn't fit these. I think this is dumb as shit. I actually think that a common criticism of D&D - that you can't play ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING - is not valid, or rather, it's a valid opinion to hold but if you want to play a character who doesn't fit into the available archetypes perhaps you need to find another game. We all inherently understand that Blades in the Dark characters will be members of a criminal organization in a relatively low-magic setting, correct? That you can't show up to BitD and play a lawful good wizard prince because that's not the story being told? Or like, how in Honey Heist, you are a bear and you are trying to get honey, and you cannot play a human child investigating the old abandoned house at the edge of town, but there's a cool game called Kids on Bikes that will let you do that? Great! Why is this suddenly so hard to understand in the realm of heroic fantasy, that you will fit into specific archetypes? Why do people's brains, if they have them to begin with, vanish suddenly? I know I just did a big old rant that included this within it but genuinely I think a lot of people are deeply ignorant of heroic fantasy, or don't like it, and either is fine, but then they get mad at the heroic fantasy game for having heroic fantasy archetypes when the answer is "maybe this will never make you happy because it's not for you." (Frankly, I think this is also why they love D20, because it doesn't really do straight-up heroic fantasy, and that's fine, but they do keep acting like doing a Game of Thrones pastiche is equivalent to the invention of the wheel.) Like...I remember in the Midst Q&A that Xen said they tend to not like playing typical D&D classes, but their solution was to, you know, create Midst instead of sitting around going "actually, because D&D doesn't support cyberpunk narrative and the character archetypes within very well it is an utter failure." (I could go on forever about how actually TTRPGs are not a showcase for your already extant OCs to prance around but that's a totally separate post).

Mechanics and story are inherently intertwined, is what I'm trying to get at (sorry I'm really tired and have a lot to do but I'm passionate about this answer, it will be rambly, she says like 3 pages in) and I really don't think most actual play journalists get this. At all. And I do think that CR, and Daggerheart, and the people working for it, and especially Spenser Starke, Rowan Hall, Matt Mercer, and Travis Willingham, get this more than almost anyone else in the field. I also think Brennan Lee Mulligan and Aabria Iyengar get this, and the thing is, for all the praise showered upon them, much of which I think is deserved and most of what I think is undeserved is not because they are lacking but because the person writing about them is an idiot crediting them for things they (Brennan and Aabria) would never claim to have invented, their mechanical prowess is rarely if ever written about well. Fantasy High Junior Year's downtime mechanics actually fill in a famous gap in D&D, namely, downtime, and provide an excellent marriage of story and mechanics in my opinion, and I haven't really seen any discussion, because that would require watching the part of the TTRPG show where they play the TTRPG, and knowing the vague word on the street about D&D criticism that isn't just "*nods sagely* capitalism is the BBEG."

And finally: related a bit to the edit but Critical Role used to not be able to provide any early access to press, because it was literally a live show, and I suspect they never broke the habit, and I think that is for the best. As discussed a lot of D20 coverage actually feels like they watched the press screener and then never returned to the show. And I do not know the politics about them, but given that several of these publications (notably Polygon, but some others) have been shitting on Critical Role for several years, and just generally given the way CR's leadership vs. how D20's leadership respond to fandom pressure, I suspect Critical Role does not give these journalists a ton of early or increased, if any. Honestly, why should you, if you're getting interviewed in Variety? And I think the journalists are mad, because they think they're special and should get treated as such.

I do want to wrap something up, and I want to thank @captainofthetidesbreath for talking a little about this in game design/ttrpgs and giving me the idea, but in story, you should be challenging your audience, expanding their horizons, and being new and interesting. In the actual playing of TTRPGs, especially a new one, it is vital to be inclusive and easy to understand and patient and provide points of reference. I really feel like many Actual Play journalists and some TTRPG ones as well have this equation flipped and are looking for challenging concepts that most people will never be able to get a group to be willing to play, and bells and whistles in production, but leave story as an afterthought. Critical Role designs games to actually be played and to be used specifically to tell good stories, and puts story before production, and I think that undercuts those journalists' whole deal.

[kybelles]

Oh, thanks for that anon answer post, it was nice to see it from someone who abasolutely loves the book and can criticize in good faith. I have many thoughts on this, especially also coming from a colonized country, but I’ll not write long.

I die on this hill: Vere vs Akielos is NOT a one sided colonizer vs colonized situation, in this area there’s no much higher moral ground either way imo, YET: it’s unconfortable to see Akielos’ colonizing acts (like “initiating” an invasion of “foreign land”, confirmation they took veretian children as slaves, etc) get recognition in text, but not the colonizing acts of Vere under the same hard light. The lack of akielon culture signs or mentions of mixed people in Delpha is SUS AS HELL, if not a total giveaway, and there’s no recognition of the very possible genocide and other war crime Vere commited there on its conquest.

Although we know by book lines that Laurent went through his deconstruction view on dehumanizing akielons, a lot by proxy on his change of view on Damen himself (I LOVE his vows to Egeria statue also for that closure, he’ll give his life for akielon people, your honor!), BY FAR we don’t get the extended process, many and long paragraphs, we see in Damen’s POV. It’s unconfortable to watch it in details only from the very char who went through the most dehumanizing acts by that nation's court. ALSO YES, I wish we had seen Damen argue more against giving Delpha away, using strong arguments Theomedes surely had plenty; A superficial read can make it sound like “retaking a land that stopped being ours generations ago and veretians deserve to lose it because they suck”, simplifying Theomedes being a warmonger, and Vere a victim of unprovoked invasion.

(I will not even go into how maybe the whole thing influences some racist readers taking veretian racist views AS FACTS instead of the condemnable racism its meant to be taken as. Akielos as less developed barbarian land? I wish Damen had enquired after veretians sewage system too, if the aqueducts were not enough to open eyes.)

OK, i already yapped enough; No need to publish or answer in any way, I'm only nodding my hat at you, have a good day <3

hello lovely quel ❤️ thank you for this insightful and clever message because you make so many good points!

that's exactly the essence of what i was trying to say: "BY FAR we don’t get the extended process, many and long paragraphs, we see in Damen’s POV." SPOT ON! i get that these books are from damen's pov and naturally we're only intimate with his private thoughts but to me this doesn't change the fact there's a certain bias in the narrative. it's bizarre how little damen thinks about the whole "let's give delpha back" thing considering he fought in the war to win it back and is the heir prince and military commander. it's bizarre how even though prior to kr he was fiercely proud of his country and his culture, he has this endless internal shame about the "warmongering" views of akielos in kr as if vere wasn't literally hiring vaskian raiders to attack delpha. 🤨

i'm all for the message that war is something to be avoided as much as possible because it's alway the civillians who actually ends up getting hurt. but why is it always at the expense of akielos? why is the non-white nation always the core of the problem? because pg clearly shows there are some veretian lords who would be pleased by a meaningless war. we are explicitly told damen never thought about the veretian civilian perspective until marlas. fine. but at no point is the reverse applied. veretians never reckon with how their expansionism or aristocratic militarism destroyed akielon lives. the narrative doesn't bother sympathizing with akielons either.

nikandros for example: delpha was his home for the last six years. for him, delpha is more than a military post, it is legacy. a return. something symbolic, not strategic. its recovery is framed by damen himself as akielos’s greatest victory. it is not a conquest, but a reclamation. yet his grief over losing delpha is barely covered. damen doesn't feel a significant guilt over handing it to vere without an argument and even slowly comes to the "realization" that it was the right thing to do all along. if that's not a biased narrative, i don't know what is. 🫠

[librarisxng]

thank you @janerains for tagging me!! ✨

who in ateez:

caught your attention first?

Hongjoong as I recognised him from mixnine (lol remember that survival show?) followed by Mingi, Wooyoung, and Jongho as they were also contestants.

first bias?

Mingi because I thought he was cute during the pre-debut era.

bias now?

Wooyoung. he’s a talented singer and performer and I was just drawn to his stage presence. we’re also alike in other ways: our favorite color is black, we’re perfume lovers, we yap a lot, we think we’re black cats, we like to dance, we’re shopaholics, damn there’s a lot more. I guess it’s true when people say your bias = your personality.

bias wreckers?

Yunho and San. I’ve always found Yunho to be very charming especially on stage but it wasn’t until the coachella performance that I finally understand the Yunho girlies. San personality wise is my ideal type so anything he does gets my heart skipping (except for the chatgpt thing idk about that).

first mvs?

Pirate King and Treasure. I remember a friend telling me to check them out as they just made their debut but I was sitting my uni entrance exams at the time so I wasn’t able to until I finished them a month later.

favorite songs?

how does one choose a favorite song when there’s so many to choose from? title track wise my favorite is Answer. that album was the first ateez album I’ve ever bought so it has a special place in my heart. I also like Guerrilla and the only appropriate way to listen to that song is on full volume.

okay for the b-sides:

Take Me Home is a masterpiece and anyone who hates that song has no taste.

This World for its dystopian vibes.

Selfish Waltz is my official sad but make it slap song.

Deep Dive especially the beginning that gave me goosebumps.

MATZ because hello?? it’s matz??

Cyberpunk will always be that girl.

Silver Light is slowly creeping up on the top 10 tracks for me and I’m here for it.

tagging: @promisetobedazzlinggg @poweredbycoffee and anyone who wants to participate!!

[maskofenigma]

Fallen London's recurring topic of Love is really interesting to me as a sort of throughline between various stories and i want to ramble about discuss that briefly. i dont call it a theme because thematic statements are usually more complex than a single word, at least in my mind, but a lot of Fallen London's storylines incorporate love into their themes.

there's the obvious things ofc; the Manager and the King, the Duchess and the Canigaster, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, the Bazaar's whole situation. Love is a common motivator that many people can relate to, so it's no surprise that it appears in this capacity. Even so, these instances also underpin a lot of the setting's character, particularly the latter two examples, explaining why the neath is the way it is. but if we broaden our horizons just a bit, you can start to see it appearing all over the place (though maybe thats just confirmation bias lol).

the youthful naturalist loves discovery and life, and evolution in that context is a story about what one is willing to endure and sacrifice for that love. Love is a constant theme in the Light Fingers storyline, between moon milk and poor Edward, but also shows in Mr Fires's love for London (strange and deleterious though it may be) and the protagonist's love for either the Hybrid they protected or the diamond they'd been after. I don't know as much about the other ambitions (yet), but Nemesis is all about avenging a loved one by any means necessary, and you could see Bag a Legend as a love for the hunt or a love of fame, though even i’ll admit thats a bit of a stretch. Idk about Heart's Desire i’m still working on it but there's probably something. Its literally about what your heart desires but there’s absolutely a deeper connection with the Marvellous and stuff. No spoilers i'm still working on it :3

i dont know a ton about SMEN's story either, but i know from a ludonarrative perspective that it tests the players love for their character, forcing you to ruin this silly victorian who you are presumably quite attached to in the search for knowledge (perhaps another kind of love?) With what little i know of it, i’d honestly be shocked if there wasn’t anything there. if ao3 has taught me anything, there was definitely some kind of love going on between those two space bats, but im not sure if ao3 is a reputable source in this specific instance

The Flukes are literally sick with love for lost Axile, and a lot of the Masters are shown yearning to return to the High Wilderness. Many of the Irem Destinies regard love in this way, love for the sun, for the liberation, for ones partner, for london, for the people of the neath, and on and on. im not very far along with the railway but im 100% certain itll crop up again there, whether with Furnace Ancona or the Efficient Commissioner or the masters or whatever else. same goes for the Exceptional Stories and the myriad tales ive yet to unlock. Weve started to see a glimmer of it in firmament, with the imminent lucifer fire guy, but i wasnt really sure what his deal was. the idea extends to the other Sunless games from what i know, though ive yet to play those. Mask of the Rose is a romance, so thats pretty clear cut; sunless skies seems to have a lot of content relating to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert; and sunless seas seems to have it present in a few storylines, though i couldnt point to anything specific at this time. even small things, such as the way that the railway steel seems drawn to Hell and the sorrowful properties of sphinxstone, makes for a setting that is inundated with longing and heartbreak in a fascinating way.

viewed through this lens, fallen london's perspective on love is tragically earnest: love is painful and unfair and yet so very necessary. as someone who's aromantic and a hater, i call that an L. but from a thematic perspective its very interesting how often this occurs and how it connects a lot of fallen london. In so many other narratives, love is a conclusion, a reward or climax. In fact, mass media seems allergic to depicting an active and healthy relationship, and instead relegates such matters to a single ceremonious kiss. But for fallen london, a game where kisses are currency and romance is taxed, the concept of love is afforded such an interesting amount of care and reverence. Fitting for a setting wherein the insisting incidents all relate to love in some way or another

it may be comedic and at times quite absurd, but fallen london to me is a game deeply concerned with love and its influence on people. and idk i think thats interesting. if you're looking for the theme or message of a given fallen london story, look to love, always.

does that count as a thesis? i certainly dont know

[cloverthebarbearian]

I am here to feed the Rugan community to the very best of my ability 😌❤️ she's a long list fella's so get comfy

Masterlist of Rugan HCs (NSFW under cut)

Rugan on the Road

With the Zhentarim

He's incredibly bossy while never doing much hands on work himself

He's always trying to find shortcuts to getting a job done quick and easy

Constantly pulling 'we're a team here we're family c'mon now' if his crew starts bickering

Empty promises of promotions or good words put in for low ranking recruits if they do extra work for him

But if you ACTUALLY manage to impress him though? He will show favoritism and not even try to hide it

Doesn't care much for following orders if he can get more from a better deal, but has been getting sloppier about hiding his schemes with age (girl why did you offer to split profits on a smuggling job with a complete stranger for real)

Big drinker, heavy sleeper, still somehow the first to wake up every morning

Also the first one to duck during a battle if he finds an opening

First one to act like 'we sure showed them! By working together. As a team.' When the fights been won

As much as he loves to slack off and take shortcuts, you'll never catch him complaining about the 'little' things. Low rations? Not hungry. Long journey? We need the exercise. Small crew? Good for stealth, travel light.

Even though he's a selfish asshole, he has a really charming demeanor and good enough attitude during the shittiest of situations that most people find themselves enjoying the journey with him by the end of the day

With Tav's Party

(Let's say after you've saved him from being near beat to death for finally getting caught scamming the Zhents, you convince him to let you escort him to Baldur's Gate just to make sure he doesn't get jumped again and fucking Die)

The man is SO flirty. He can't stop flirting. Depends on if Tav is into it or not will drastically change how he comes onto them, but note its not JUST Tav hes flirting with. He's got eyes on practically everyone. (Except Laezel. He tried, once. She threatened to kill him) No one knows if hes serious or if its just his personality but the man can't stop flirting.

At first, he puts in some work. Wanting to put in a little effort to carry his own weight and not be a burden, though Tav insists on him resting after the ordeal

But it doesn't take long for him to milk the mothering. His injuries suddenly become too distractingly painful. Even though Shadowheart absolutely mended that broken rib two nights prior. He insists the bruising is still pretty serious. He needs to save his strength for travel.

The entire party gets pretty sick of his BS after a while, but its not enough to kick him out or anything

Phrases like 'shut up rugan' or 'fuck off rugan' become campsite mottos

Once you all get to Baldur's Gate, its a funny, bittersweet dynamic of everyone saying they're releaved he's finally leaving, but reluctant to say goodbye

The first night without him is unusually quiet without his drunken campfire stories and earth shakingly loud snores

Rugan as a Mentor

No ulterior motives in the sense that, he only ever recruits people he also finds attract. A bias he refuses to outright acknowledge ('I have an eye for talent! Not my fault the talents also a looker 😏') so he would recruit Tav with every intention of possibly bedding them. The motives are not ulterior. They are perfectly apparent.

Similar to in game canon, he'd recruit them by trying to come to some sort of sale arrangement. Though lets say instead of selling the chest to split profits for themselves, he convinces Tav that rescuing him would surely warrant a reward back at their base, which would in turn lead to more jobs, which would lead to more money for them

Always insists on training his personal recruitments himself (for the non-ulterior ulterior motives)

Is FULLY the type of coach who has to insist their stance is all wrong so he can stand intimately behind them and guide their limbs to the proper position

He's got his cheek pressed to their's, gruff voice low, talk'm'bout 'You're far too tense, Sweetheart. You really need to relax those shoulders and widen your stance, like this...'

He's entirely aware of what he's doing and makes Zero effort to be subtle about it

General Rugan HCs

SFW

Drinks a lot but holds it well

Getting him truly drunk is VERY funny and usually ends up with him gushing about how much he cares about his friends, his guild mates, stuff he'd never be caught dead saying sober, and will insist he never said drunk either

Has 101 stories of his decades running jobs on the road, most of which you're certain are entirely made up... Until you meet an old business partner of his one day, who can corroborate the tale

For such an experienced merc/trader, surprisingly light on battle scars

Very, VERY ready for retirement. May have even been getting sloppy with his scams on purpose in the hopes of being kicked from the zhents all along...

NSFW

The man fucks. The man FUCKS. Rough and sloppy and hard and like its the last romp he'll ever have every single time.

Will always make sure his partner finishes, typically more than once

Likes to choke his partners

Likes to cum on their face

*Gasp*! Oh noooo, we can't find/afford a room to rent for the night. I guess I'm just gonna have to take you right here in this ally by the bar 🤷🏼‍♂️ but you better be quiet, unless you want to get caught...

Big into dirty talk and will practically narrate his plans for the evening as he acts on them

Has the stamina to last hours and prefers to take his time but still always down for a quickie where he can get it

Sorry everyone, but the idea of aftercare is lost on him. When you're both finally spent he's literally tossing you a damp rag while he steps out to smoke a Fantasy Cigarette

Cuddles in his sleep, and doesn't even know this about himself. But you will wake up in a near-suffocating bearhug if you fall asleep together

[scottfreed]

Orion & Scott should be friends if not awkward step brothers. The forced antagonism is lame.

I had an argument with two people about the way I characterized Orion and Scott in a fic a while back, and I wanted to make a big post to compile my canon basis for writing them as somewhat distant brothers who respect and defend each other. I particularly had one fan continuously say Tom King's characterization is gospel and completely consistent, and I was an "abuse apologist" for writing them in a positive way. I wanted to pay particular attention to the question of succession since that's the main source of conflict for them in MM '17.

Orion and Scott have had numerous character interactions that have predominantly ranged from generally amicable to warm and familiar with key exceptions. (Rough recount incoming)

MM '74

Their first interaction Orion literally saves Scott's life so he and Barda can get married.

Dude is actually the one who called for the wedding in the first place. And he was playing the Bouncer. And look at him on Barda's side of the alter. He's totally the Maid of Honor:

Super Powers '86

(This was the first comic I ever read with both characters just to disclose my bias.)

Short but fun lesser known title! But there's some interesting world building happening. And Orion and Scott paling around in their co-rulers era:

They're buddies and its great. Also look and Orion's drip.

Look at this! The bois are co-ruling Apokolips for a brief stint. The exact opposite of Orion trying to "steal the throne form scott", He literally called him up to help him manage his own!

This is such a great expression of both their characters. Scott's survivors guilt for being able to escape the Hell of his upbringing and Orion's driving fear of ending up a tyrant like his father.

And look at this "interview":

We need to bring back authors doing make-believe interviews with fictional characters. Simply outstanding. The idea that in the face of nature and nurture they both gravitated to the light is honestly fascinating.

"(still hushed) Thank you, thank you, my friend..."

^^^ like... there are hurt/comfort fics that aren't as tender as this action adventure comic from 1986 😭😭😭

The New Gods Vol 3

But whoa what's this?

Bickering? I guess they do just inherently have an antagonistic relationship... except look what's actually being said.

Orion and Lightray aren't pissed because they think Orion is so great that he should be in charge of everything and Scott's in the way Ala Tom King. (It's because this writer didn't want to write for Scott in this title and the crappy answer for this is to make Scott an annoying "80s era pacifist" which is pretty shameful in the context of world-ending stakes tbh.)

But again, Orion's not miffed because he wants Scott gone. If anything, He want's Scott to be more involved in the fight against evil. He wants him to remember his roots. He wants him to be a part of New genesis. He want's him to take on more power and responsibility.

Plus, idk I'm projecting but it's almost giving: "hey the family misses you, please call/visit more" to me at least.

JLA/I ('90)

My heart is aching look at this! Called him his brother, gave a beautiful eulogy, joined the JLA in his memory. It's wild how the writing in this arc went wildly back and forth between quality and pure nonsense 😭

JLA ('98) - #24

This is how you do clunky exposition about who tf these characters even are showing up in this title all of a sudden.

Is it perfect? No.

But it's still a heart to heart desire to understand. Underline everyone's characters and central motivation. Boom. We're in and we're out. Back to the Justice League.

MM Vol 3 (1996)

Okay, so weirdly aggressive, right???

But, not quite, it was indicated that his reaction here was due to Darksied having just been resurrected and was influencing him.

But also take a closer look at what's being said! It wasn't a result of Orion being covetous of Scott's power or even wishing harm on him or anything.

Quite the opposite, in fact. He's telling him he needs to better protect his own life as future king, even if it means sacrificing others.

It's almost giving concern tbh.

Far be it from trying to kill Scott to steal NG from him, even in this ooc moment, he's chastising him to stay safe so he can come into his throne.

Jack Kirby's Fourth World (1997)

We get a fight and Scott gets over whelmed casue he's fucking around. Barda is lowkey laughing at him. But what does Orion do?

Dude Pops off. Pops off so hard everyone is concerned.

And then this happens:

Look! He struck Scott! Tom King is a genius! haters btfo.....

But wait. this was actually how it was revealed that Orion was possessed by DeSaad, because this was so wildly out of character for him!

Literally this action, that Orion-haters seem to think is like their mundane default character interaction, was so off-putting and out of character to all the other New Gods that they immediately knew something was very wrong. And it was. He was possessed!

lol gross...

But what about when he's back in his mind again? Well...

(idk who's serving more cunt in this tbh)

And here not for the last time we se Orion supporting the idea of Scott as the ruler of Apokolips.

Orion ('01)

(d...did scott do blackface in this cosplay??? lol)

This is the classic. We all know it. We all love it.

Look at Scott meddling in his life. You're fucking up pretty bad when the "god of freedom" has to step in to stop you.

Also the contrast between their actions when dealing with Sirius is better than any hackney fist fight or argument.

And how interesting is it that Scott's unwillingness to kill isn't treated as admirable and pure in contrast to Orion's evil-bad violence.

Nope. He was a kid. He wasn't strong enough yet to do what had to be done. And IIRC it was to do with what he'd just gone through with the emergence of the anti-life equation. But Orion was! And Orion was the one to finally put the poor soul out of him misery.

I like in particular the way they are portrayed as the "god of war" and the "god of freedom" and how the way this is explored isn't a black and white dichotomy. Scott recognizes Orion is absolutely needed to oppose Darkseid. And the way the two of them are working behind the scenes to protect and help each other repeatedly is so perfect.

And the way Orion decides not to kill Metron to protect scott not because it's wrong or whatever but because time travel could prevent anyone else from following the same bread crumbs and coming to the same conclusions is so funny.

But he was fully ready to kill Metron to save the weird little circus man.

But yeah I think its very telling that at the end of this character arc, Orion, in coming to terms with himself, must come to terms with Scott and their respective places in the world.

I just think it's cool that they each saved each other's life twice in this series. Scott prevented Orion form falling too far with his black racer gambit. And reminding him of his purpose. And Orion Saves Scott from the parademons and Metron.

I can only dream of the paradise we'd be living in if this characterization continued on into the future.

Cherish it. It's all down hill from here...

Death of the New Gods ('05)

Okay so this series isn't great, but at least it's consistent with how these two interreact with each other and kind of keeps to Simonson's continuity... kind of.

Orion aggressively defends Scott’s claim yet again. He looked like he was gonna deck Clark when he suggested Scott was not fit. I’m talking bolded, italicized and pt.18 font text when he first suggested it. "WHAT?" He "begrudgingly" admits Scott's not "currently" fit. But still declines that position for himself.

And the two of them discussing the fate of their people like this almost harkens back to '86 with the co-ruling.

This story is weird, with the worst interpretation of the Anti-Life Equation I've seen. And I'd argue both are ooc in general, but even in this slopy story there is no succession crisis. and they are working together:

(lol at his face here. The bois are trying to discuss their family business and clark is just standing there gobsmaked. rude tbh...)

And here is Orion saving his ass again for good measure:

I hit my picture limit, but Scott goes on to try to kill Orion and Clark later in this series.

Up to this point. Orion might have shoved Scott once or twice in weird circumstances but Scott was the only one who seemed to actually make an actual attempt on his life. Which is why the post reboot characterization is so freaking weird to me.

Tom Kings MM (2017)

(This is where it officially falls apart)

Cliché toxic masculinity abusive stepbrother who exists only to make Scott an even bigger victim. Steals the throne, is weirdly aggressive and abusive for no fucking reason. Tries to kill him in jealousy, etc, etc.

And unfortunately this has seemingly become Orion's standard characterization in the minds of most fans.

(Now, in those post-n52 reboot GL books (sorry tbh I don't feel like tracking them down rn) he's not AS bad as he was in the WW and Tom King MM, but he's still portrayed as being far less intelligent and articulate for some reason??? The idea that he's the dumb jock of the NG and not basically a warrior poet. It's better to go more himbo than violent monster I guess but it's still a far cry from his proper characterization.) I wonder if it had to do with his awful portrayal in that Wonder Woman run??? Idk.

... Jack Kirby didn't deserve this.

DCeased(?)

Ripping off Tom king directly. I'm not just saying that since I don't like the characterization. I'm saying this because they ripped this stupid fucking scene off beat-for-beat, Seriously, Tom King should sue this dude for plagiarism.

And like a game of telephone their characters keep getting mangled more and more. This is the writing equivalent of a bad photo copy of a bad photocopy.

I just gotta pray it stops here and we can get back to a normal dynamic for these two again. But this story's existence doesn't bode well.

MM (2021)

Orion and Shilo seem to be on good terms! He still doesn’t speak right but it’s still an improvement!

Buuuut, no relationship or character interaction with Scott and Barda's daughter at all??? Like that's the main antagonist (for some fucking reason) and they just say nothing to each other? ok sure why not at this point.

Like that's High Father's granddaughter!

Highfather is probably the cornerstone of Orion's identity. Even if you don't consider Scott and Orion to be brothers, she's still his family through HF.

Anyway, I just wanted to add at the end here that I find some of the fans (and writer's) continuous characterization of Scott as the loser wife guy and a massive victim all the time, and Orion the violent psycho, who is power-hungry and ambitious is lame and sucks.

And just to be a little biased. I think the dynamic from 50 years ago is better and more relevant to people today than the MM '17 version.

Think about it. There are more blended and mixed families than ever. Awkward and somewhat distant step-brother is so much more compelling and interesting than the chirst vs. anti-christ thing they keep doing.

“What Is It They’ve Sent Us?” “Hope.”

Barda '24

This book seems to be getting us back on track from what I've been able to see so far! I've been unable to get my hands on it yet but everything I've seen and heard about it is really exciting for me as a fan. I'm both excited and fearful to see what comes next!!!