#nice nuanced take there boss

[hampterguts]

i might not be very smart. rung was such a bad therapist that i was convinced that everything he did was some long undercurrent theme of what bad therapy will do to a group of people who need it. but then the author threw froid and sunder in.

[soulmatesinc-if]

A light-hearted interactive fiction game about soulmates, chances and choices, written in ChoiceScript.

|| PLAY HERE || [119k]

|| extra content ||

Here at Soulmates Inc we specialize in chance meetings!

Love happens.

It takes by the storm. It is lucky, it is cruel, it makes no sense, it elevates. It is beautiful, it rears its ugly head, then it is beautiful once again. Now that, humans can manage on their own.

Soulmate-grade connection is an entirely different brand. Enter you. That's your brand. It requires dedicated labor. Whimsical meetings. Nuance.

As a soul-link, you arrange for those destined matches to happen using the powers of glamor at your disposal. An ancient practice, really, though, as with everything, it has evolved and happily marched with the times. You work out of an office, have a phone plan, a lease, and a favorite restaurant. Your boss is not a half-naked man with a bow and arrows but a fashionably dressed man who goes to a gym and drives an electrical Mustang.

It is nice. Modern.

Just one rule. The only rule, in fact. A scripture, if you will: never interact with a soul directly.

Which is precisely why your most recent half-match staring at your confused face is so damn bad. Worse yet, they can see right through your glamor for some reason.

Now what?..

love is all around you but it does not have to be for you: play as aro, ace, bi, gay or straight. Your romantic prospects are three, but each has a story to tell

explore who you are: a firm and enthusiastic believer, a burned-out office worker, or a skeptical soul-link questioning their purpose

use and evolve your soul-link powers: Empathy and Shroud

keep up with your job duties and bring people together while trying to protect your employer from a greater looming threat

someone is throwing around heavy words like 'destiny', but dealing with existential questions is entirely optional!

Amber | Andrew Wyatt Once a high-performer soul-link, they flew too close to the sun and snooped around where one does not snoop around. Having fallen from grace at a company that believes in chances, Wyatt is back on probation, though under your supervision. The light is snuffed out of their eyes, and instead of being a firm believer, Wyatt now drips disillusioned pearls of what they think is wisdom.

A languid redhead who wears sunglasses more often than not.

Samuel | Samantha C. Powell Sam has a steady job, does weekly family visits and always parks the bike properly. How do you learn that? Sam is also your sparkling new charge, a common everyperson, a salt of the earth—nope, not that simple at all! You cannot seem to find their soulmate (never happens) and they can see through your glamor (never happens either). To be fair, Sam is freaked out by it, too.

Your sporty charge in a wrinkle-free T-shirt with a mess of locs held back by a band.

Martin | Mia Romero A hectic ball of energy that is a human person, they are passionate about their distaste for your employer's business and are happy to go in length about it. Romero is messy, yet strangely put together in their belief: a hurricane that may sweep you off your feet if you are not careful enough. They know things, things no human should. You should probably report that to your boss...

A city dweller with hair tied sloppily in a short low ponytail, perfectly matched with dramatic eyebags.

[th3s33r]

Fine, I'll say it. Media and magazine people should not be expected to know 15 years of Dan and Phil lore. Yes, we're all phannies in here, we have been there since the dawn of time and have a good understanding of the Nuances of the relationship dip and pip have with their audience (and the Horrors of years past). But not everyone does, especially not some random people who have been told by their boss to conduct an interview (and probably have like 10 more articles to write that day). It's nice to have an interview with someone who knows the creator's work closely - but I promise you interviewing Dan and Phil is not the only thing on the agenda for the week for a media person. There are only so many hours in a day.

I just saw so many people insult and write quite mean things about the interviewer - and I think it's taking it a bit too far! Sure, it come off as an insensitive question, especially given their history - but exactly, given their history. I don't think the person interviewing them meant it as some sort of Phandom Microagression (or homophobic prying - it's a queer magazine so it's pretty likely the journalist might also be queer), I think it was just a question.

I think that fandoms can sometimes get very involved in the defense of their faves when they feel they have been wronged and forget about the power imbalance between a thousand people very dedicated to a cause and a random person who accidentaly stepped on some toes and suddenly gets in the spotlight.

(Also - interview questions usually Are preaproved and accepted before printing. It is very likely D&P agreed to this being printed, or even wanted this to be there specifically, to publicly set a boundary - in this case it would extra unfair for the journalist to catch all the fire after.)

tl;dr: it's an iconic clapback and we love to see sassy Dan - please don't harass regular people who are just trying to do their job!

[lurkingshan]

Another good week for this show! This episode had a lot going on:

Pah finally got the spotlight and worked through his ongoing issues with invoice lady, Ba Mhee, and his general sense of uncertainty about what he's good at. I like that all of these situations were nuanced; he was partly in the wrong and partly in the right in all of his beefs.

We finally found out what Jo does--and he is everybody's boss! A+ reveal and holding it back for the Pah episode was a stroke of genius. They have a really similar energy and for Pah to see that someone like him figured himself out and created his own company was excellent.

Ba Mhee stopped acting out and reflected on her own unprofessionalism wrt Pah, and I liked that she approached him first to put an end to their fighting. She didn't like the things Pah was saying to her because she knew they were true, and it was a nice bit of growth for her to just admit that, admit that giving him a false deadline was shitty, and move on from the grudge.

I also like that she directly asked Judy if they could spend more time together so she could figure her feelings out. Fixating on Judy right after her breakup with Tae is not getting to the root of her issues, but it feels like she is still on a journey to get there (and from the preview, it seems there is more story for Ba Mhee and Tae to come, which I am relieved about because their breakup felt too quick and easy). It was telling that she was still framing Judy's actions towards her in this episode in relation to Tae, and at least she's trying to take some time to sort her feelings instead of just jumping into things immediately.

Judy, on the other hand, continues to be a black box. I have no idea what she's thinking or why she's doing anything. This is either a huge hole in the show or an intentional device that will pay off before the end. Fingers crossed for the latter.

Ryan's repetitive jealousy is getting a little old and it does feel a bit like the show is treading water with him and Jane because they're not going to let them get together for real before the internship ends. Now that the feelings are fully acknowledged between them I would love a conversation about their timeline and why Jane is holding back, because Ryan doesn't seem to get it.

I did love Ryan reaching out to Tae by asking him work questions. He's thoughtful in how he tries to support his friends.

Will these people please let Pie drink her coffee in peace!

[hopefull-mindset]

Finally understanding Beast Mori (as Asagiri intended)

Hello everyone, I am hoping you’ll be nice about me talking about Mori for two seconds and express my thoughts about such a guy like this. This isn’t going to be some fancy analysis picking apart stuff like I’d usually want to or even me addressing every trait he has because I definitely don’t go into everything. This is me finally being at peace with Mori’s humanity.

Before you say anything, I’d just like to share my own peace of comprehension. So if you were similarly confused the way I was, I think you’d appreciate this (Or if you’re looking for a different approach on Mori).

Im sure most of you have read the manga adaptation, so just to let you know, I am going to be using passages from the official Light Novel translation and if anyone needs it, I can send it to them!

For anyone who’s decided to read, hello! Nice to meet you. I’m sure we’ve all shared the same confusion when confronted with Beast Mori’s difference in personality and approach. Thoughts like “Why is he so much nicer?” Or “Why does he care much more about how kids are treated, when he himself has treated kids the same way he describes in the past?”

How could this person be the same guy who was Mori the Port Mafia Boss? The war veteran who used Yosano the way he did? So we came up with many idea of why he’s different to justify it, but here’s the thing: Mori is the same person he always was, this is a universe where everything is the same, but different where Dazai chooses to intervene.

After a few days, I was able to recognize it but I couldn’t hold myself to acknowledge it. It’s hard to see a man who represents the dark, the Port Mafia, to the Armed Detective Agency’s light. I couldn’t wrap my head that such a controlling, manipulative man could have humanity like the rest of the characters.

Why was this so hard for me to see? Well two reasons— the fandom and how the anime cuts down Mori’s emotions when adapting canon material. This happens to Dazai too, but people are much more willing to talk about it compared to Mori. Now the fandom really does love blaming everything on Mori and that’s not the most constructive thing to do when talking about abuse narratives. I can’t blame anyone for taking this route when it came to Mori because of Asagiri’s poorly thought out choice with him…. we all know what I’m talking about. Elise.

However, I need some of you to understand that abuse narratives are never as simple as “oh, it’s all this persons fault because they’re a horrible person, so [character] is resolved from any guilt or responsibility”. This not only dumbs down the situation and seriousness of it, by mischaracterizing the abuser, you’re also mischaracterizing the victim as well and what they’ve gone through. You’re putting their story in jeopardy.

Bungou Stray Dogs is a story about human beings, morality, and what it all means. Mori, and in turn Fukuzawa, are important to understand Bungou Stray Dogs because they are in two pinochle positions that start this discussion of Morality. I am baffled that a story like this, one that approaches these topics with so much appreciation for humanity and nuance, has a fandom that doesn’t want to talk about what it has to offer.

Asagiri’s poorly thought out writing decision of a joke is going to have lasting effects with how Mori is going to be approached forever and I see this, but I think the little girl jokes are the least important thing to talk about because they have as much impact as the Tanizaki siblings do. He’s also written to be not a good person either, so you can dislike him easily, but how many of these characters are traditionally good people? Kouyou, for example, is not a “good person” and emotionally abusive in example to how she treated Kyouka. That doesn’t stop people from liking her friendship with Chuuya and making content with her.

So this attitude toward Mori had me lost when it came to him because I could see how much thought Asagiri puts into writing him the same way he does with so many, but I’ve seen so many disregard his humanity that I had no way to express any of my thoughts to sort out what to think about through anyone else when faced with Beast Mori. Everyone was as lost I was, and the people that weren’t never explained it in a way I could break that barrier.

So what finally made me wrap my head around Mori? It was exactly one conversation I had with a friend and it wasn’t even about Beast Mori in particular, it was just about Mori and his poor humanity while navigating how to lead. Everything just clicked with that.

(Dazai, Chuuya, age Fifteen)

This right here is where Mori tells us what he thinks his position means after the struggling we visibly see him go through. Is it an inherently correct conclusion to make? No, but does it make sense as someone who’s a leader of a huge, dangerous underground criminal organization? Yes, it does.

We have no backstory on Mori, but his poor humanity is easy to explain when he’s been in positions that require him to disregard his own and everyone else’s humanity for years now. As someone who’s seen war up close and a physician, these jobs require him to take control of the other person. Well in his mind at least, he sees these jobs and chooses to the route that’s most efficient.

It’s never positioned to be for himself though, he doesn’t take glee in what he does for self serving purposes, it’s always for the country, the city, the organization. His thought process is never the power hungry yearning we see everyone mistake it for. It’s never that he wants it, it’s that he needs it for everything to go well.

That’s exactly how he treats Yosano because even though it’s creepy to base your abilities looks on a little girl, that doesn’t stop him from seeing her use before her age and humanity.

His clinical utilitarianism is his core trait but also most disliked one from what I can tell in the fandom, and people tend to misinterpret it to make the more non-favorable view of him. But again, he’s not supposed to be the greatest guy ever and you can understand where these traits started forming. And again, to paraphrase another’s words: he’s cunning, but not power hungry.

He’s also not disliked by his subordinates and actually respected, he respectively enjoys the company, but there’s a mixed answer to that and that it is… nobody is going to listen to you if you don’t treat them with decency. Why would you expect a tool to work if you break them? One of his earliest lessons he learned with Yosano and leadership.

(Dazai, Chuuya, Age Fifteen)

For example, we all know this scene is manipulation. He’s baiting Chuuya with information while still treating the teenager with respect and enough honesty to form a bond. Chuuya is perfectly aware that he’s being used in the present and in the past, but he respects Mori as a leader objectively after his own considered failure and lack of control over the sheep, even if he didn’t consider himself one. I don’t think this honesty comes from nowhere because that quote, “only a Diamond can polish a Diamond”, came from Natsume in reference to himself and Fukuzawa.

He sees himself and Fukuzawa in Soukoku fondly, but I tend to rethink this quote time to time because at first it comes off as a quote about partnership and building off of each other’s good qualities to perfect their own, but the way Mori uses it here feels as though it’s positioned to mean that one of them comes out perfected and the other weared down. Pretty competitive if you think about it.

(Bungou Stray Dogs BEAST)

We’re finally at the part you’ve been waiting for guys! So what was my point for analyzing canonverse Mori? So as I said before, these are the exact same guy and all that word jumble? That was an extended version of what was communicated with me to finally get what was going on with Mori in this universe and why he’s suddenly in an orphanage.

Now I couldn’t tell what was going through Beast Dazai’s mind and where this decision came from instead of actually killing him like the rumor’s implied, but I can come close. I think that Beast Dazai recognized this potential of change either from the multitude of universes he was able to witness or recognized it in his own considering canonverse Dazai never does anything against Mori (even if he visibly dislikes him).

Possibility is one thing, the why is another. It was either that he saw potential and good that could come out of this in the long run, Mori’s intelligence and expertise still proves usefulness, less dangerous for Oda in the long run if he let Mori stay there instead of the Mafia, or all three.

I can say for sure though that this is better for Mori because after the years of being in atmospheres that require so much of him intelligently and exempt of any emotion involved for the sake of efficiency, being able to rekindle his humanity where nothing is expected of him except to raise kids in a non-exploitative context sounds really freeing to me. Considering he’s been there for 4 years, I find the development understandable.

Okay I’m hearing what you guys are saying again, “What about him saying he wanted to save Dazai? That doesn’t seem like typical Mori.” And I’m gonna say something really controversial: Well maybe he did.

Really though, I think he did care about Dazai and not because he saw a child struggling (think about Yosano and Q for 3 seconds), but because he saw himself in Dazai, which ultimately changed way more about their relationship than you guys think. There’s a lot of comparisons to Yosano and I understand where they come from because I think there’s a lot you can see similarities in, but Dazai is not purely a tool for Mori the way she was.

The avoidance of letting him die do come from his use and overall importance to the original plan of becoming the new boss, but I don’t think he would’ve left Dazai alone like that for 4 whole years after leaving the mafia if he didn’t care in some way way. What strikes me the most is how Asagiri decided to add “the man who raised Dazai”.

For Beast Mori, I think he’s had enough time to actually feel guilt and regret for Dazai as a person like a normal human being does. Oh I guess Elise is important too. Her aging up just meant that Mori has become less controlling and not like the little girl who he literally sees as a tool since kids are easier to manipulate. Can’t bring that energy to an orphanage, nope!

There’s better stuff out there about Mori that I think if you’re more open to thinking about Mori after this, you should check it out, these are just my thoughts recently. To end this off, here are two links to Asagiri’s own thoughts on Mori.

[ahdriking]

Mansuang Review:

Mansuang was amazing. I was particularly impressed by Apo's performance as Khem, which was emotional and complex and deeply moving. His story was riveting to me. I personally love characters with trauma in their backgrounds, who have been beaten down by the world into a certain way of thinking and behaving, and Apo captured that experience gracefully and expertly. There is palpable pain in his performance of the darkest moments. I will say that they could have expanded upon his character development a lot more. It would have been nice to have a bit more emotional nuance in his journey towards self-love and acceptance, but I definitely didn't feel unsatisfied by where his narrative ended up. The movie was already juggling so much they clearly just didn't have the time to dedicate to expanding upon the nitty gritty aspects of his healing.

I will say that I am honestly kinda surprised this didn't have any romance in it at all, because there is such a good foundation for it that it feels like they wasted? Like, Khem feeling that no one cares about him except for his body could have been the gateway to Chatra demonstrating care and affection for him outside of sex, proving that he's capable of being loved for who he is. That jumps out at me. That might have been an opportunity for them also to have expanded on Chatra's character, and given him more presence and personality. Khem is a protector, that's clear in the way he treats Wan, but he so often has to sacrifice himself in that role that it would have been devastatingly effective if Chatra had had an opportunity to take care of him in some way instead.

I loved the *bad touch* backstory, for whumping reasons, but it did leave me a little confused. Why did Khem have to have sex with those people? Was it because he's ambitious enough that he'll sell himself to advance his position? Was it because someone was forcing him to, like a boss or person in power? Was it because he felt he had no choice, or was protecting Wan from something? I just wish we could have gotten to know him better, because we get to see the impact of the trauma but we don't really get to understand it, and that leaves me wondering. It felt like, during the dance scene where Khem goes off script, that he did that as an attempt at seduction, because seduction is what he knows and what he expects. He's used to trading in on his beauty and sex appeal to get what he wants. That suggests so many characteristics to me that just... don't quite exist in the rest of the story. And there's no real conclusion to it other than Khem, at the end of the story, choosing to be a dancer because he's at peace with his place in society. Again, lots and lots of opportunities were built up that just didn't quite manage to hit a home run.

Mile did a fucking fantastic job with what he was given, but I was a little disappointed with his role in the story. I felt like the relationship between him and Khem was half-done and underdeveloped, but it had so much potential! He put in an absolutely solid performance, and knocked the emotional scenes out of the park, but I couldn't help but feel like he wasn't given the chance to really shine.

Tong killed it. Killed it fucking dead. That man has the screen presence of a King, which surprised the fuck out of me cos I thought he was a character actor based on his performance in KinnPorsche. But no, this guy has range. I was very impressed.

Bas did a great job playing a racist sad boy. RIP Wan.

In conclusion: a flawed movie, but still so enjoyable and so, so worth watching. I cannot fucking wait for Shine, I hope that it delivers in some of the areas Mansuang wasn't able to.

[chaifootsteps]

a nice bit of sanity from the HB Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/HelluvaBoss/comments/1azjg5i/blitz%C3%B8_is_not_the_only_one_to_blame_for_his/

(the post has so far attracted minimal responses, which might be why there's no downvoting for critiquing Stolas yet):

And you need to keep in mind without Blitzø, Stolas still has a life as a prince, husband, and father and he could drop Blitzø and still have all of these things. If this deal were to stop Blitzø, has nothing... Stolas is essentially a big shot man who holds Blitzø career in his hands, and with one mess up can take that all away. It’s like dating your boss when you have been brought up from nothing. Objectively it’s a bad idea, but you of course are going to bend to his will and do your bare minimum to pleasure him without provoking him.

Finally, Blitzø is clearly hitting rock bottom and with the way the story is being played out he’s going to have to confront his past. Blitzø has always been in denial about everything that has happen to him, laughing it off like a joke. You know what isn’t helping this inner turmoil? Stolas. Because of how confusing their relationship is. Stolas is like a fuck buddy that you’ve already told you only want things casual yet they keep on pushing the limit, asking for more. Blitzø has always had trouble looking at others need and wants so he can’t tell what’s bothering Stolas. And have we seen Stolas have a proper conversation about what he wants? No we just see him pin[e] for [from] afar lusting for a relationship.

And in the responses:

Some people don't like nuance, and they also don't like the idea that a "nice" person can also be the bad guy [emphasis mine]. Blitz is more directly, and at times intentionally, an asshole, so he MUST be the "bad guy" in all this, in some people's minds.

[Different poster] There is so much baggage to this relationship because it was always about Stolas getting something he wanted. Be it a friend or later a sexually exciting partner. Blitzø only participated to get what he needed, not because he truly wanted to. It also doesn't help that for the majority of their "agreement" Stolas couldn't control his lust and constantly publicly lusted over Blitzø despite him asking him to stop time and time again. For a long time it didn't feel like Stolas really respected Blitzø's wants and needs, every meeting and every call was just foreplay to him. It's perfectly understandable why Blitzø doesn't feel truly loved by him. Not in the way he needs, which seems to be what the MnMs have, hence why he stalks and intrudes on them all the time.

Always nice to see a breath of fresh air and sanity on the HB subreddit, which tries so hard to stamp it out.

[magpie-trove]

August Reads

Cress & Winter • Marissa Meyer | it was Trying Times and for some reason Lunar Chronicles is one of my go to escapes and comforts turns out. I really wanted to reread Cress but got sucked in and had to do Winter too. Still as good as the first time. Deeply near and dear to my heart.

The Talented Mrs Mandelbaum • Margalit Fox | new non fiction about a Victorian crime boss lady and her band of thieves and fencers. Short and to the point. Interesting. Wouldn’t say it was one of my favorites of the year but it was worth reading.

Your Vote Matters • Rebecca Katzman | childrens non fiction about the electoral process. Made sense and had a real nice layout and pictures!!!!. (Not a picture book it was like 80 pages or something? But yeah I like it!)

Howl’s Moving Castle • Diana Wynne Jones | was just rereading all my faves for a bit there. Still a 12/10 book.

Yours from the Tower • Sally Nicholls | new YA epistolary fiction set in the 1890’s. Surprised me! Actually had a little nuance! Was very good about the characters. Important to me cause it made me understand how people work in certain situations better than I had before. I think I cried sad and I know I happy cried a little towards the end. I do recommend.

Sonnets from the Portuguese • Elizabeth Barrett Browning | still a favorite

Voices in the Air • Naomi Shihab Nye | the Emily poem!!!!! I think I loved Everything Comes Next more, a lot of these poems got more specifically political and idk it takes away their power a bit to me? But it still had plenty of bangers

Wheels of Change • Sue Macy | YA non fiction about the role of the bicycle in the suffragette movement. Interesting topic, real nice layout, lots of good primary sources. It had a reprint of a lot of pretty funny things women were advised not to do while riding, including “do not say Feel my muscle” and “do not ask Do you like my bloomers?”

The Castle of Llyr • Lloyd Alexander | follow up to The Black Cauldron. Beloved. He writes at such a good level and manages to keep the Nobility to the story.

Kilmeny of the Orchard • LM Montgomery | I actually didn’t like this one that much? Kinda hinged on some racist stereotypes and was mean about adoptees and the romance felt kind of condescending. Idk I wasn’t really impressed.

Saintly Women of Modern Times • Joan Carroll Cruz | Learned so many cool stories!!! I did also discover though at times you need examples as encouragement and at times examples might get a little discouraging. The women highlighted were all unique and interesting though!

Mapmakers and the Lost Magic • Amanda Castillo and Cameron Chittock | children’s graphic. Nice art interesting premise and world building. I’d probably read the next one.

Uniformity with God’s Will • Alphonsus Linguori | very good

A Wish in the Dark • Christina Soontornvat | HELLO!!! Childrens fiction with the premise Les Miserables but in Thailand. LOVED IT. SHOOK. I CRIED. BEAUTIFUL. I loooved the characters looooved the words, it was sooooo goooood!!!!!!!!! Made me want to do something nothing else has ever succeeded in (read Les Miserable). Do recommend!

The Lucky Poor • Mazie Lovie | adult graphic memoir about getting a house through Habitat for Humanity and unexpected drawbacks or something? Nothing really struck me about it tbh

Sisters of the Lost Marsh • Lucy Strange | the VIIIIIIBES VIIIIBES FOR DAAYYYYS. Middle Grade fantasy based on English folklore and circus, about six sisters who’s father says they’re under a curse. Beautifully done. This one will haunt me. Do recommend.

Romanov • Nadine Brandes | YA historical fantasy. had its moments but I kinda wanted the fantasy out of it at times though it wasn’t as jarring as some other stuff in that regard. It was a nice walk in the park and then the most nightmarish thing I’d read then just kind of ok. Not bad at all but not my most favorite. I just wanted to read about Anastasia tbh. I think (?) it had a pretty good illustration of forgiveness at one point though that made it make sense to me in a new way.

[coldpintglass]

Ship bingo: southkane!!!

Oh Southkane my beloved 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿⚽️🦁👔

What was it you said recently about them Laura? 

“Theirs is a deeply ethical age gap power imbalance boss/employee workplace extramarital affair” 

What is it that makes two (let’s be honest) quite strait-laced and otherwise “reserved”men such an interesting ship? 

Gareth full on embracing and being as mentally/emotionally supportive as he can to the squad. We can certainly debate how successful he was bringing England to glory BUT he certainly was well liked and respected as a result of this angle (until the recently). This has got to be down to his calm, level headed and actually very paternal role (especially with younger players). With older players (think Hendo, Walker etc.) you’ve got a more “normal” gaffer role that Gareth plays. You can sorta draw a line in the sand between with WHO and WHAT role he leans his managerial style too. 

A good chunk (probs 50% at least) of his motivation for being a very hands on supportive manager comes from the ‘96 euro penalty. The other two reasons are he failed as a manager at a club level and he has personally watched/played for England when they were REALLY not doing well internationally. He is absolutely driven by a need to fix things and probably sees this as a “duty” as opposed to a dream job. He has to prove it can be done for himself AND the country. 

Despite having a level headed and calm approach to managing, it doesn’t mean he’s necessarily right OR fair in judgements. He absolutely has favourites, he tries to go with what his team thinks works but has no qualm overriding it if he doesn’t like it.

And who better represents that last point than Harold?

Harry Kane is one of the best strikers produced by England. Individually he has a glittering number of achievements (ie Golden Boot from the WC 2018). But he’s never won anything as part of a team. And boy, does that fact follow him. 

He is exceptionally hard working and  determined. In his chat with Gary Neville on the Overlap, he says he used his left foot to score exclusively for 6 months to train himself to be able to score with either. That’s NUTS. He also has no qualms saying he WANTS to go down as a legend, he wants to be able to reach a level like Messi or Ronaldo. 

As an individual, Harry is a nice(ish) lad. He loves being a husband and a dad. He feels representing England is a joy, it’s duty and it’s a privilege to do so. He takes being captain VERY seriously and tries to mirror support similar to Southgate (and I’d argue a bit more successfully)

Harold is a noted teachers pet. Hilariously so. Responds, respects and acknowledges authority like it’s breathing. Every manager loves working with him because they say jump and he’ll say how high. 

Gareth has been part of Harry’s international career since he was part of the U21s!!!! These guys go way back, and how electrifying must it be to be able to mold/support/shape someone like Harry into the England captain you want to lead the country? Gareth is just besotted with Harry through and through, the line between loving him as a son vs as your favourite student gets blurred big time. 

Harry Kane is Gareth Southgate’s favourite and it’s not even close (every time someone points this out, Jordan Henderson gets a headache) 

So together you have:

Two men who see playing/managing England as a duty more than a job, complementing each other wonderfully. Harry has said winning with England is great than a trophy with a club, he damn well means it. 

Managing England completely redefined Gareth’s history and public imagine (until recently lol). Harry Kane is THE best goal scorer for England of all time and love his country evidently. Their England careers have made them folklore hero’s 

A man who’s gone through the agony of being the face of England’s failure and is determined not to let that happen to any of the next generation (although well I have more nuanced thoughts on this but I digress), who saw Harry Kanes penalty miss in the WC and his life flashed before him, desperate not for history to repeat itself.

A man who only wants to do his country proud and tries so very hard but well, as we saw recently, that’s not always enough. 

Harry’s also generally good at holding himself together and his emotions but I think that’s been slipping lately as the weight of two big Euro failures and the real vocal negative response from the public is starting to eat away at him. Who better to turn to then the man who’s put you in that position? 

Also we started to see some cracks in their otherwise very picture perfect relationship as captain and gaffer. Some of the comments during the euros about each other got a bit….. pointed. And what is it about footblr girlies LOVING some angst huh? 

They’re both doomed by the narrative and impossibly similar and all in all it makes for such wonderful (and hot lmao) fiction. They probably het their unique experiences more than anyone else should. 

Finally:

Age gap, HELLO!!!!! I’m a shallow woman and not above admitting that little taboo element between these two makes it’s sooooooooo delicious. Opens it up to some utterly fucking hot kinks as well AND it gives adds a bit of interest to both men. 

Infidelity from either man is unlikely due to their characters and therefore fun to explore with each other 👀 Obviously it’s nicer to go with the No WAGs element but lmao be real. Come on now. You’re  shipping real people…. 

Neither of them (Southgate especially,  sorry Gareth) are classically handsome. Which tbh means I kinda like it a bit more, feels a bit more…. Likely? Does that make sense? 

I can see a case for either of them being a bit more in love than the other - blind devotion vs proud teacher, both are great tbh!

Sorry just want to say it here but both of them are cringe and a bit too earnest to a degree that I think Harry styles off as endearing but Gareth it comes across as off putting whoops ahahah 

Anyway. Wow okay. Southkane manifesto over I guess! I bet there is something I’ve missed which is hilarious considering how fucking long this is but please feel free to add in anything or go ham!!!! 

[lobautumny]

So like, there's some really shitty video that this toy saw a while back about QoL mods in Terraria and how if you install all of them and then crank all of their settings up to the maximum, then the game basically plays itself. The whole video was weirdly hostile and vindictive and effectively just made fun of the concept of QoL features/mods as a whole. But it stuck in this toy's mind, not because the video itself holds any value, but because the core topic of how quality of life & accessibility features have a tangible impact on a game's design is really interesting and nobody talks about it with any kind of nuance.

So like, Terraria is obviously a very different game from what it used to be. But all of the raw content (hardmode, bosses, biomes, weapons, NPCs, etc.) that always gets the spotlight in updates only makes up a relatively-small portion of that outside of, like, the tinkerer’s workshop from 1.1, and damage classes being added in 1.0.6, both being relatively-early additions. The plethora of things that were changed/added to make the game look nicer also aren't the core thing responsible, obviously. So what is the biggest reason modern Terraria feels so alien when compared to 1.0.X versions, or even 1.1?

It's the quality of life features. Inventory management got exponentially easier/more efficient, you have a minimap at all times, smart cursor lets you expend far less effort mining and dealing with backwalls, there are special equipment slots for grappling hooks and light pets, grappling hooks are bound to a hotkey instead of being an item that you need to manually select and use, you can use items directly from your inventory instead of needing to place them in your hotbar and then select that hotbar slot, you automatically walk up 1-block inclines and open/close doors as you walk through them, there’s a plethora of features to make getting around the world trivial, the start of the game moves way faster due to the player getting access to better equipment faster, block-swapping exists… This toy posits that this is all why Terraria feels like a fundamentally different game. In old versions, it felt like you had to fight tooth and nail to get anything accomplished, but nowadays, everything feels all buttery-smooth. The main friction you encounter in progressing through the game is with boss fights, as Re-Logic obviously intends.

Now, obviously, it would be insane and stupid to claim that Terraria is a worse game, right now, than it was all the way back in the 1.0.X era, and it would be even stupider to claim that it’s worse because it has QoL features. However, this toy does not believe that every single QoL feature added to the game was inherently objectively positive or correct from the game's inception. Rather, they were natural, smart conclusions for Re-Logic to come to with the direction they decided to take the game in as it continued development. But this was not the only direction Terraria’s development could have taken.

There’s a very unique feeling to old-ass Terraria versions, and it sucks that tracking down and playing these versions is so goddamn hard. You only ever have a vague idea of where you are because there’s no map to use as reference so you’re heavily encouraged to keep most of your stuff on the surface, and to build infrastructure to connect important things underground/in the sky so you don’t get lost. Everything is so unwieldy that building a simple house and making it look remotely nice feels like a herculean effort, enemies kick your ass way harder earlygame due to decent gear being much harder to access, and there’s a lot more gravity to the choices you make in what gear you use, because it’s a lot harder to hot-swap your armor and accessories when you're not actually at your base, which is harder to get to/from due to the world being far more difficult to navigate, as a whole.

This all leads to an exponentially slower game than modern-day Terraria is, where every single thing you do needs to be deliberate and well-thought-out, and everything takes a much longer time to do. This toy remembers spending weeks as a kid building housing for the meager number of NPCs that were in the game back then, alongside farms for all of the potion-making herbs and a big obsidian generator, and all of that could be accomplished in a single play session in 1.4.X.

There is a universe in which Terraria saw minimal QoL updates and instead leaned really hard into this direction, making a slow, exploratory game where the player’s power level very slowly increments upwards and you’re encouraged to build largescale infrastructure rather than the (relatively) fast-paced boss rush where your power balloons out of control immediately and your infrastructure is a fast-travel teleportation network that takes minimal effort to set up that the game currently is, and that version of the game would not have been wrong, inherently. It would’ve been more niche, for sure, but it wouldn’t have necessarily been bad, or even worse than the current game is.

This is what makes this toy sad that old Terraria versions are so difficult to get ahold of, as well as what fascinates it so much about the retro Minecraft community. Speaking of, let’s switch gears and talk about Minecraft for a bit.

Minecraft, as it’s sure most of the people reading this are well-aware, has recently been having something of a renaissance in its retro community, the people who prefer alpha and/or beta versions of the game to the modern game. A handful of complete overhaul mods have come out for these versions (notably, Better Than Adventure and ReIndev) that put interesting spins on the game’s design, basically asking the question, “What if Mojang decided on a different direction for Minecraft to take from this point in time?”

A lot of these mods cast aside the instant-gratification convenience and linear progression of modern Minecraft in favor of slower-paced, more survival-ey gameplay, placing more emphasis on the act of exploring your world and gathering resources as the core gameplay loop as opposed to… Well, modern Minecraft really doesn’t have much of a core gameplay loop to speak of, and that’s sort of the problem, now isn’t it? This toy doesn’t want to get too far into all of this, though, as its thoughts on Minecraft’s game design are not the focus of this essay. Rather, it wants to put the spotlight onto Minecraft’s community.

An ever-increasing number of people have been growing more and more critical of Minecraft over the last 5 or so years. It’s obviously always had its detractors, but in recent time, there have been more of them that have gotten more vocal, and it’s become pretty normal to have the take that Minecraft has been getting worse lately. And a big culprit that people keep pointing to is QoL. One of the most common criticisms of Minecraft online is that quality of life features have made it way too easy to trivialize the process of blasting through the game’s content, getting obnoxiously overpowered enchanted diamond (or netherite) gear, reaching the End, and getting access to elytra and shulker boxes.

Despite both being excessively popular games that have been made far easier through their QoL changes and overall polish, that have both been in constant development for over a decade at this point, the critical responses to those features in Terraria and Minecraft could not be more different. This is amusing, and gets at something deeper with regards to game design that this toy doesn’t know it’s ever heard anyone actually say: Quality of life features are fantastic tools for reducing the noise that gets in the way of a game’s vision, but when you add them haphazardly and/or with no real vision for what you want your game to be in the end, you can very easily wind up accidentally removing a large portion of what could’ve otherwise become compelling parts of your gameplay loop. They need to be used intelligently, or they can, in fact, harm your game and make a significant contingent of your playerbase enjoy it less.

[pyro-madder]

Maria & Gehrman for the bingo! :D

(Also I just saw your banner it's so cool and fun XD! And I just saw the freaking timeline post ghjklm going insane it's so cool! I mean I have one too somewhere & I made silly family trees hcs but yours look so nice edited like this! and it really create something cohesive! very well done! 👏)

yeah Powerup who made the banner is insane like that :'} and THANK YOU that's two days on canva babyyyyy (what am i doing with my life)

if you're ok with it i'd love to see your own timeline/family trees though !! hand it over /no pressure 🫶

now for the trouble duo, oh boy

Mary

maria maria maria... mixed feelings. don't get me wrong - i have no criticism on her character, she and her role in the story are extremely interesting and nuanced, and of course she's cool and pretty, but i have this automatic turn-off with most characters who are widely popular like she is. and then i came in the fandom and saw the poor girl surrounded by discourse and it made me So Tired without even getting into it 😂 i can't fully check off "everyone else is wrong about them" because i have few thoughts of my own about her and mostly just stick with the homies' takes, i'm in no position to really judge others'

AND GUESS WHAT said homies' takes are making me want to try to get over that initial turn-off !! i'm still thinking about your post about her love for lumenflowers ! it's !! so !!! cute !!!! and it prompted me to see beyond her boss fight's ice-cool persona - it's only a glimpse of her !! there is more !!! so, it's hopefully underway.

Gehrmy

ALMOOOOST DFGHJKLM i've mentionned him becoming a comfort which i blame on my muses (hunter and laurence) ! so yeah, again, Thoughts are underway

... i don't need to expand much on the rest, i fear you know it better than i do 8''') i'd have liked him just fine as the amazing, tragic, not-quite-mentor final boss he is, but seeing all the vitriol automatically made me like him more, especially since a lot of it is of extremely poor faith X) let him rest...

[absolutebl]

Hi!

I love your Blog and love to read your takes in everything. So thank you so much for all your Posts and thoughts about the industry etc.

Here is my question: i came across one of your posts where you wrote "actually gay, not bl gay" (it was a Post about Jojo and Only Friends) and while I FELT that I TOTALLY understood what you meant and instantly was like "yes 100% clear" Id love to read and learn more about what this means exactly and why some bls feel quite heteronormative while some dont. Would you mind explain the take on "actually gay Not Bl gay" a little bit? And why some Shows feel just more queer than others (besides the unbelievable stupid "gay only for you" trope lol)

Thank you so much and I hope you will have a nice day!

actually gay, not bl gay

There's actually quite a discourse on this right now mostly originating with @waitmyturtles and @wen-kexing-apologist (Post @killiru references above is here.)

I tend to mostly talk about this in broad brush strokes as a queer lens.

But there's a great ven diagram (which of course I've lost the link to) that approaches the idea of and queer lens by tunneling into its approach and intent:

about queers

by queers

for queers

How do different BLs intersect in different ways with these three elements?

When I said "actually gay, not BL gay" I was alluding to this discourse. Specifically the "about queers" category of BL.

There are characters in BL who read as genuinely gay (as in belonging to the queer family of this terrible reality we live in) and then there are those that seem more performative (to exist in a bubble of fantasy were sexual identity is almost unimportant, only the romance matters, everything is safe sweetness & light). For some queers this can read as manipulative or even exploitive (because it is inauthentic to most queer experiences). For me, it's fine... even desirable. I like the safe bubble. I enjoy the utter delusional escapism of it. Sometimes I will call this sanitized gay. (Since it is designed to make gay palatable to non-gay identified folks e.g. seme/uke.)

A sanitized gay BL may be unintentional but it is nested in origin yaoi and mm romance whose target market has never been the queer community, and whose authors have historically not been members of it, either.

Let's be frank, we queers are generally a terrible target market, we don't have enough spending power - especially not for a piece of pop culture as niched as BL. And as creators we really want our voices to be heard (obvs), which makes us produce content that those unsympathetic or uncaring find uncomfortable. (Yes, I know, fuck them, but also, they have all the money and the entertainment industry is a numbers game.)

So in the arena of office romances, just as an example:

actually gay = The New Employee

sanitized gay = Our Dating Sim

actual gay = Step By Step

sanitized gay = A Boss And a Babe

All of the above have the same tropes, archetypes, and premises. All of them are BL. Some are just... queerer feeling than others. And the characters in those shows (Step by Step and The New Employee) read as more "actually gay."

This has nothing to do with the actors, chemsitry, or how much we may personally like the show (Our Dating Sim is one of my absolute favorite BLs). It has to do with how closely those CHARACTERS intersect with the reality of queerness as we inhabit it today. It will be lots of little touches given to the drama by director and script:

language use,

surrounding friendships (and friendship style),

mannerisms and physicality (specially body language around straights vs other queer characters),

makeup & wardrobe,

facial expressions,

surrounding queer-coded behaviors by side characters,

layers of story nuance that indicate a complicated queer-driven back story.

Markers of specifically a queer identity are given to the leads.

These kinds of BLs are satisfying the "about queers" category. ("By queers" can be difficult to extract because IRL outting is involved. "For queers" is the rarest kind of BL, because making something specifically for us often alienates the majority of the rest of viewership/market. I could be argued that SCOY did this.)

I'm sure I've missed things, but I hope that kinda makes sense?

By/For/About discourse from @wen-kexing-apologist here:

Parts 1

Part 2

Part 3

I'm indebted to them for the links!

More Queer Stuff from Yours Truly

BL Linguistics & Queer Identity - I Am Gay versus I Like Men 

Will BL Get More Honestly Queer? 

Queer lens (from the director) and chemistry (from the actors) in BL (A Tale of Thousand Stars)

Touch & Daisy in Secret Crush On You - Queer Coded Language and 3rd Gender Identity

BL in Taiwan & Gay Marriage

Debating Queerbaiting in BL ( + Devil Judge... is it queerbaiting?) 

BL Actors and the Assumption of Queerness - outing actors, coming out, being out, more:  Is that BL actor actually queer?

So is it really fetishization? straight women loving bl 

Some BL fans are sasaengs, and it’s a problem in this fandom 

BLs That Highlight How Society Treats Queers

10 BLs That Are Honest to a Queer Experience 

(source)

[aotopmha]

Tl;dr The optional dungeons rocked.

They look amazing, sound nice, have really cool lore and great boss fights.

I finally also fully ventured within spoiler discussions and I think I've decided I'll just keep engagement with Dawntrail takes to a minimum, probably to any interesting ones I see because I've seen very few interesting nuanced reviews.

Something about this expension's story just seems to destroy any media literacy people might have and I have never felt more like I consumed a completely different story than some seem to have.

It's one of those stories I immensely enjoyed for myself despite the issues I might have with it.

A comfy pleasure of going on an adventure in a beautiful world with themes of emotional closure, carried legacy, identity and understanding perspectives foreign to you.

I hope anyone who deeply despises it more than anything else gets something better somewhere else.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[oonajaeadira]

here's what i think

An anniversary is a really good time to reassess.

I really hate the lead up to my yearly job assessment, but every year I leave my boss' desk knowing that I'm valued and I'm actually contributing and innovating more than I can see from my perspective. It's an amazing motivator and helps me to appreciate my work. I hate doing it, but so glad when it's done.

I very much believe that we should have to retake our drivers test every year. It reminds people how to navigate a four-way stop and weeds out people who are not fit to drive for whatever reason. Cars are murder machines and a yearly test ensures most people will think about the choices they make and remember the rules more readily.

On our anniversary, the SO and I take the time to appreciate our relationship and put on the table things we'd like to work on or change, things we'd like to do in the next year together. It helps to get it out at once, shine up the nice bits, sift through the things we don't need anymore. Clears the air, confirms we're on the same page.

Birfdays should be the same. I like to walk through my day as normally as possible--well, maybe with a few treats--and just appreciate what I have, listen and look at the world around me and realize what life is and what's in it--that I"M in it. Try to clear my head of the mundane and see creation for what it is--one big damned miracle.

In a perfect world, I think we should be able to go to a life expert once a year on our birfday and just tell them what we think about anything and everything. Maybe just recount our blessings, talk about what we've learned in the past year, how we've grown spiritually or bodily. Maybe even just be quiet or say, "Yeah, it's good, I'm pretty content." However long or short it takes. Then they say, "Great. Today you are one year older. Would you like to try for another?" And most of the time people will say, "Yes. I will keep having this adventure" or "Yes, I would like to try a different tactic this year" or "It's hard, but I don't think I'm done yet" and they are sent on their way. The point being that they have to say out loud to another human "I am alive and here's how I feel about it and I'm going to live at least one more year if I can." But on the flip side, say you've been suffering illness or you're old and hurting, I think you should be able to say on that day "I've seen some pretty neat stuff and laughed a lot, but I'm not going to get better and every day will hurt a little more. I can't see myself going through another year of this. I think I'm ready to just call it in." And then you would have a medical team to help you shut it all down with ease and dignity and mercy. There's some nuance to every situation, of course. In a perfect world, I'm saying. A world that doesn't and can't exist.

A year is a very short time. It's long enough to forget rules or that things exist outside of routine. I always pop my parking brake when I stop for gas because if you don't use it--if you don't shake it up now and then--it can rust in place and get stuck. It can lose its function and reason for being.

I like to use anniversaries to "pop my parking brake" and "look through the owner's manual." Just to refresh. Just to make sure the system is functioning. And maybe remind myself on a tip or two of how to drive this thing.

Yes, life is very nice. I am enjoying it a lot. It was a good year full of friends and stories and dogs and seeing the world. Yes, I think I shall do another.

[ppeonppeonhan]

Jack & Joker: U Steal My Heart - Ep. 11 & 12 Finale Thoughts

Episode 11

"Grandpa knows you can do it." Nearly ended me.

I COMPLETELY forgot about Carbon. I was like, who is this man? Of course, that sociopath would throw a child off a balcony. Smh

I couldn't tell you what happened in that monopoly scene, but yay?

I want to think Joke keeping the bloody napkin was sweet, but my face went 😣

Abuela breaking out martial arts skills and going at Carbon with a meat cleaver was not on my finale bingo card, but I was screaming.

Episode 12

Awww, Aran and Tattoo designed a product together. It is...hot pink chloroform, but still. Progress. lol

All they need to do is disable the collars. What is this clownery?

When did Hope become a programmer?

I understand that Hope has an agenda (rescue Save), but like...you could've released everybody else too.

For those of you too young to ever have played hangman, you always start with the most common vowels. Never guess U... 🙄

Who thought it would be a good idea to leave Hoy with the gun? Tattoo lucky he only got shot in his ass.

Dickhead?! I'm screaming. OK Rose, I forgive you. But if anyone was supposed to guess the word based on knowing you, that would've been impossible. Lol

I cackled at Joke saying Sorry in perfect English after claiming he couldn't spell it. lol

I kept wanting Rose to choke Carbon out with the chain but Jack and Joke finally used team work to put that bitch down.

Not Rose becoming a JackJoke stan by the end. Lol

I love how even Boss was distracted by Jack and Joke's passionate kiss goodbye.

Oooh sister takes down brother -- a legal and financial death. Nice.

Lol to abuela forgiving Save completely for poisoning her, but Hope only partially because he trashed her house repeatedly -- and then telling Jack to hit him. What a G.

I don't love that Aran forgave his father but he is a good son and a good man in the end.

Wowwwww what a coward. I feel like they had the opportunity to tell a nuanced story of how Boss is a product of his environment and the real villains were the Horsemen, but he didn't earn this heartfelt goodbye with his dead wife -- or a second chance at life.

"If you're staying, I'm staying." Crumbs. They served us crumbs with Tattoo and Aran!!!

I like Save as the new boss. Even though he looks like a child. He played the figurative and literal game very well.

Well that was fun! Worth if only to have met this queen. But YinWar made one of the sweetest couples of the year. They deserve all their flowers.

[stealingpotatoes]

Okay, here's the thing, I feel so bad for TBOBF in a lot of ways.

Cuz parts of it (albeit very short parts) are just Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen wandering around doing hot girl shit, or Boba hanging out with his adoptive Sand People family, or Cobb Vanth just showing up and flirting with anything that moves...But in a lot of ways, the show suffers from A) Being a backdoor pilot for Mando s3 which had already been confirmed which takes over the last 3 episodes out of nowhere and feels really shitty as they cast Boba aside in his own show and B) The show seems uncomfortable with it's own premise in a lot of ways. It falls into the trap that "protagonist = morally and ethically perfection" instead of just letting Boba be a crime boss? Like, sure he doesn't have to be as cruel as the Hutts, and he doesn't have to be okay with the Pikes moving in on his territory, but in the end...He's too nice to be a believable threat to anyone. (And in a lot of situations...is just bad at his job, or ill prepared for what he has to do.)

Which is a shame, because there could have been a really compelling story about Boba taking over Tatooine's mob scene, ruling it with an iron fist, while managing to win the love of the people. Hell, have a whole arc about him outlawing still totally legal Tatooine slavery and fighting all the people who would oppose people being free. But instead they just have him turn into this dude who shows up, not really kick as much ass. He was far scarier when he showed up in Mando s2 and beat the crap out of those stormtroopers then he ever was in a show meant to be about him.

Sorry this got long and rambly, I just...I feel like the bs robo-Luke stuff in TBOBF is only the tip of the iceberg. The urge to write an academic paper on the subject is strong.

WRITE THAT ACADEMIC PAPER YOU ICON!!!!!!! but also wtf that's so shit. i've heard from a couple ppl that they were rlly on the right track w some boba scenes so it sucks ass they didn't just. have the confidence to continue that and also TRYING TO MAKE BOBA FETT A MORALLY PURE GOOD GUY??????? DO. DO THEY KNOW WHO BOBA FETT IS??? DIDN'T HE BLOW UP A VENATOR WITH CHILDREN ABOARD??? HE WAS A BOUNTY HUNTER!!!! that is the biggest nuanced morality fail i've heard of in my life