#not disappointed but also like Why Are We Here

[kurogane2512]

Cabernet Birthday 2025

18+ CONTENT

Game: Path to Nowhere

Characters: Cabernet x fem!reader (Chief)

Type: Fluff and smut (Cabernet being thirsty for you, some food play, little bit of soul sucking)

A/n: Cabernet is wearing the outfit from the Lawson collab (see pic below)

You walked through the lobby of the lavish Franc mansion, feeling amazed by its decorations and splendour. Your destination was none other than the room of the esteemed princess of the Francs, who also happened to be your Sinner. However, today you weren't here to arrest her.

"You look good, Chief~" Cabernet's voice beamed in your ears the moment she stepped out of her room.

"A-Ah, thank you. You look very beautiful too...." you said with a small blush.

Cabernet smiled then walked closer to wrap her arms around your neck, "You look even more delicious than usual.... I wonder if you would let me have a taste today on the occasion of my birthday?~"

She teased while licking her lips, the blush on your face growing darker.

"A-Ahem, we can talk about that later. We should get going for the banquet, everyone must be waiting for you...."

She chuckled then released you and held out something in her hand.

"Here, wear this brooch." she came forward to pin it on your pocket, her warm breath brushing past your cheek and her intoxicating perfume filling your nose.

"Now you look even more suitable for tonight's banquet and..." she came closer to your ear and whispered, "....to be my partner~"

"I-It looks expensive...." you averted your gaze from her out of embarrassment, feeling shy at her remark.

"Hehe~ It is made of the purest jade one can find in DisCity."

She dragged her hand across the lapel of your coat and along your shoulder before standing beside you and hooking her arm with yours.

"Well, shall we go now, my partner?~"

You hesitated to immediately reply then spoke, "Are you sure about this? Having me as your partner....? I think it'll be better if I act as your bodyguard or something...."

Cabernet was slightly surprised by your doubt and let out an amused hum.

"Why do you doubt yourself, Chief? I picked you personally, nobody can dare to doubt my choice~"

"It's not that.... Uh, I'm not really used to being in the limelight...."

Cabernet chuckled and suddenly drew close to you, bending down near your neck.

"Wouldn't it be a good practice then? You are steadily gaining more fame in Eastside, having the favour of the Francs will do you wonders~"

"....Wouldn't people find it strange that you are with the Chief of MBCC? You have no reason to ally with me."

"I don't need superficial reasons to justify my partner. As I said, they won't dare to question my choice. Not to mention, I couldn't care less about the opinions of mere passersby~"

Cabernet seemed set on having you as her partner for tonight, and all your reasons to protest were promptly countered by her. You had no choice but to agree and decided to do your best to not disappoint her. You walked to the banquet hall with your arm locked with hers and were instantly greeted with a flood of camera flashes along with cheers. Cabernet posed naturally; of course, she was used to this, while you appeared stiff and out of place but did your best to compliment her.

You walked down the stairs with her and glanced around at the onlookers. To no surprise, all eyes were on Cabernet. She drew a crowd unlike any other, instantly mesmerizing everyone with just her presence. You still remembered the very first time you met her and the way she was swarmed by her 'fans' all around.

"Welcome, Ms Cabernet! A very happy birthday to you!"

"You look dazzling, Ms Cabernet!"

"This party is amazing, Ms Cabernet!"

Just like that time, a crowd was immediately gathered around her, chanting her praises. You maintained a simple smile throughout and were rather glad nobody paid attention to you. Cabernet calmly replied to everyone's greetings and engaged in formal conversation, it still amazed how naturally she could do such things. You tried to release your arm from her grip in order to give her privacy but she didn't seem keen on letting you go.

"Oh, this bracelet? It's a gift from my partner here tonight~" Cabernet suddenly leaned near your shoulder, and all eyes were on you but you sensed a rather sinister vibe in their gazes.

"And who might your partner be? I don't think I have seen her around before." a man with a judgemental stare spoke while looking at you from head to toe.

"She looks familiar.... where have I seen her before?" another man spoke while pondering, but couldn't remember your identity.

"I'm Y/n, Chief of the Minos Bureau of Crisis Control. A pleasure to meet everyone."

"Minos Bureau.... Ah! That agency that handles Sinners?" the man who was pondering finally pieced it together. Though, saying that you only handled Sinners was quite disrespectful to all the other work you had put in to solve Mania cases.

You nodded at his question and everyone became silent for a while. You could tell what they were thinking. Why was Cabernet with someone like you? How did you get to know the Francs so well? Why would Cabernet choose you as her partner? But none of them spoke anything and went back to conversing with Cabernet, practically ignoring your existence.

As time passed, you had eventually been released from Cabernet's grip and simply followed her closely behind. The crowd around her never reduced, everyone was eager to have a moment with her. You couldn't imagine how exhausting it was, you had become tired enough of the minimal fame you got some time ago and Cabernet was on another level.

Some moments later, you saw her clear her throat and realized she was possibly thirsty from talking so much. You looked around and spotted a waiter carrying drinks then went up to him and grabbed a glass for Cabernet. You tried to make your way through the endless crowd but it was proving difficult.

"Cabern—" you tried to call out to her.

"Oh, are you thirsty, Ms Cabernet? Waiter! Get some drinks here!" a man who was close to Cabernet shouted and everyone made way for a waiter to come up to her and she politely picked up a drink then thanked the man. You slowly retracted yourself from the crowd watching the scene unfold, unknown feelings surging through you. It wasn't really a big deal, you couldn't understand why you had this strange feeling bubbling inside.

Soon after, dinner was announced. Cabernet was obviously the first to be seated, an entire table reserved for her. She sat alone on the edge as dishes were served in front of her and everyone gathered around to watch her display her speciality. The crowd waited in anticipation for her to take the first bite but she suddenly stood up and walked towards them. A way was automatically parted for her until she stopped at what— or who— she was looking for.

"There you are. Come, eat with me~"

Cabernet grabbed your wrist and pulled you towards the table, snatching you from the dense crowd. Everyone stared in shock and whispered envy amongst themselves while Cabernet was unfazed. You took a seat beside her and felt a little awkward feeling the uneasy gazes on you. She placed her hand atop yours as if to reassure you, and it indeed worked as you relaxed a little.

The first dish was served on your plates and you waited for her to take a bite out of courtesy. Cabernet elegantly cut the meat with a fork and knife then picked up a small piece. Anticipation grew as the piece drew closer to her lips and was then swallowed, followed by a pleasant smile from her.

"Delicious, the meat is tender and perfectly seasoned."

Her praise assured everyone, especially the chefs who had sweat dripping down their foreheads. You also started eating after her and enjoyed the meal, it was far more exquisite than anything you'd ever had at the MBCC. While eating, Cabernet suddenly brought her fork near your mouth and offered you a bite. You blushed at her but accepted the gesture, then offered her a bite from your own as well.

"My, I feel it's more delicious when you feed it to me~" she teased.

You smiled back at her and continued eating, relishing the feast. All of a sudden, she placed her hand on your thigh and slowly dragged it up and down before drawing circles with her finger. You tensed up from her action, aware of what this gesture meant. She then leaned near your ear to whisper something, her breath immediately sending shivers down your body.

"Mmm, I wonder when I can have the real treat I have been waiting for~"

She sneakily licked your lobe then pulled away, acting as if nothing happened while you were feeling flustered. You barely ate anything for the rest of the time, still feeling shy of Cabernet's previous action. Once the feast ended, everyone was back to standing around her to converse. You couldn't believe they still had more things to talk about with her, and even the energy to continue such pleasantries. Despite standing beside her, you were slowly pushed out of the way and were once again back to just observing her from afar. Your suggestion to act as her bodyguard would have been fruitful, you thought.

Slow and pleasant opera music played through the hall and you noticed some people started dancing casually, simply holding onto their partners and swaying to the rhythm. You concluded most were drunk by now and indulging themselves, it was quite a good day to hold a banquet as the next day was a weekend and everyone could enjoy to the fullest. More people eventually joined in the dancing, even those who came alone found partners and filled the hall.

You naturally looked at Cabernet and thought to ask her as well, but you knew plenty of people must have already offered her. Still, you decided to try your luck and walked up to her. Just when you could invite her, another man blocked your path and asked her instead. You recognized it was the same man who brought her the drink, you realized he had been glued to her the whole time and kept flattering her. His intentions weren't hard to guess, Cabernet had dealt with enough people like him.

He placed his hand in front of her, thinking she would easily accept. But to his dismay, she didn't even bother saying her refusal and stepped out of his way to hold you instead. You were surprised she saw you standing behind him, perhaps she had seen you come close long ago and was in fact waiting for this. You escorted her to the centre of the hall and took a dancing position, casually draping one hand around her waist while she wrapped around your neck.

"Uh, just to inform you, I don't know how to dance so forgive me if I mess up...." you whispered, earning a chuckle from her.

"Just follow my lead, Chief~"

You started slow and steady, following Cabernet's rhythm and getting used to the movements. As expected, everyone was focused on you both. You could again sense some envious gazes, but you didn't want to be sidetracked anymore. She was in your arms and she chose you herself, you wanted to show you were worthy of her. You were thankful you learned some basic steps from Hamel, and Cabernet was making it easy enough for you to follow along.

"Finally, we are up close.... Ah, how I missed your touch, Chief~" Cabernet sighed and leaned closer to you, her breasts pressing against yours and her silky voice flowing past your ear.

"C-Cabernet, we shouldn't...."

You felt her lean even closer as she almost embraced you, breathing in your scent.

"You followed me step by step like a puppy.... it was adorable but I wished to have you beside me~"

"I-It couldn't be helped.... everyone was eager to talk to you...."

"Always so humble.... Oh, how are you going to survive in the world of the rich and powerful, my sweet Chief?~"

"I'll figure it out as n-needed.... You tell me, did you enjoy?"

"Mmm, this is the best part so far— aside from the food~"

She leaned even closer, "But, I wish to have my sweetest delicacy now~"

Her voice came in a hum, her body pressed closely to you. You didn't dare look around, lest be caught up in wolf-like gazes of envy. As the dance floor filled up, Cabernet found a chance to slip away with you and dragged you to a secluded corner away from the hall. You barely had time to process her actions when she pinned you to a wall and hungrily pressed her lips to yours, instantly devouring you. Her lips moved with fervour, not giving you a chance to breathe.

"Ah... C-Cabernet— Mhm.... we shouldn't....mm.... shouldn't leave the party u-unannounced....mhm~"

You tried to speak between her kisses, but every time she would press harder than before. Her tongue soon found its way past your lips and slipped in to roll with yours, dancing sensually and tasting every part of you. It was hard to breathe now. She had a tight grip around you and pressed you into the wall further, even holding out your arms to the sides. Her fingers traced up your skin and joined with yours, clenching tightly.

"Mmm.... Chief.... more..... give me more....!~"

She moaned into the kiss and pressed herself closer, as close as possible and giving you no space to escape. You were breathless from the passionate kiss by now, unsure of how much longer you could hold on.

"Aaahn~ Chief.... my sweet Chief~" Cabernet finally released the kiss with a moan, gazing at you with hooded eyes as you both breathed in and out. Her hand cupped your face as her thumb traced your lower lip, her tongue swiping past her own lips at the taste of you. You knew she was insatiable now, desperately holding back from taking you right then and there.

"T-The party.... everyone must be looking for you...."

"I don't care about them. I only want you, my Chief~"

She then grabbed your wrist and started dragging you somewhere. You were too aroused to refuse her now, the guests be damned. She brought you to her room; of course, there was no better place than this right now. What you didn't expect were the preparations inside the room. A trolley stood beside the bed, filled with a strange assortment of foods. There were no full dishes and only toppings— mostly sweet ones at that— and some exotic fruits. Cabernet was quick to pull you in and remove your coat before shoving you on the bed and climbing up to straddle you.

"Finally.... I can have you, my Chief~"

She leaned down, her luscious hair cascading over your face. Her lips were on yours before you knew it, once again devouring you. She was even needier now, biting your lip and kissing deeply as she put all of her weight on you. You slowly dragged your hands over her body, caressing and feeling up her curves over her dress. She swiftly unbuttoned your shirt as her lips travelled down to kiss your jaw and neck. She lapped up your neck like a kitten, tasting every bit she could find.

"Say, Chief.... You always try to satisfy me with other delicacies, but you know well what I truly want. Since it's a special occasion today, how about.... letting me have a little taste? Just enough to satiate this fussy tongue of mine~"

Your eyes widened in shock. You knew what she meant. She didn't mean to simply touch you this way, she was talking about having a part of your soul— her deepest desire in the world. She had promised to wait until your soul had cultivated to the best taste, but you knew she was always desperate for it. The rationale part of you would swiftly deny her, but currently you were being controlled by another part of you.

"....Fine, only a little bit."

Cabernet's eyes sparkled, not expecting you to agree but she was absolutely pleased.

"I promise, I just want a tiny part...." she whispered as she leaned down.

"Since you are being so kind, I'll let you choose from where I should take it. Your lips.... your pulse point.... or perhaps the place closest to your heart? I'll be satisfied with any~"

You didn't know what to say. The only difference for you was the sensation of being touched and drained of life.

"I.... Whichever is the most effective for you?"

"Hmm...." she hummed and traced her finger down your lips, "Your lips are a good direct source, and tasty..." Her other hand traced up your wrist, "I took a bite from here when we met.... Mm, the taste still lingers on my tongue~" Her finger now traced down to your chest, "The closest to your heart.... life is most potent around here and easy to suck~"

"....T-Then, take it from my chest...."

Cabernet smirked and made no arguments. She unbuttoned your shirt more and exposed your chest completely, awaiting to mark it. She leaned down and felt your heart beating through then licked up a spot before biting down. You gasped softly from the feeling of her teeth, followed by her sucking on your skin by wrapping her lips around the spot. You suddenly felt drained of energy, of life, even when she only took a small amount as promised.

She pulled away before you knew it, holding a crystal-clear grape in her mouth. The sight was familiar, but the feeling strangely different from last time. She bit the grape gently and rich juice flowed down the corner of her mouth, trickling past her beauty mark and falling upon your lower lip. Normally, you'd have the urge to lick it, but you were currently feeling dizzy due to having your life sucked even if just a little.

You knew this was a dangerous thing, yet the tantalizing sight of Cabernet above you couldn't make you deny it. Cabernet swallowed the grape in her mouth, sighing at the delicious sweet taste. You gazed at her motionless, watching her throat bob as it went down followed by noticing the way her tongue licked up the juice from her mouth. She smirked before bending down near you again, and you simply laid motionless.

You felt her tongue lick up the drop of juice on your lower lip, savouring the sweet taste of you even more. Your delicious taste aroused her, filling her with more lust and hunger for you. She looked down at you with a flushed face, her tongue lolling out and you knew what was in store for you. Thankfully, you had gotten stronger since your previous encounter and were able to recover quickly from her soul sucking.

"Aaah, Chief.... haah.... You are so cruel for making me wait, you are even more delicious than before. Oh, how I wish to devour you right away.... but I want to savour you as long as possible. I know your soul can become more delicious.... I will wait.... till then, please satisfy me in other ways as you always have~"

The night continued. You both were completely naked now and Cabernet still straddled you. You soon found out the use of the sweets tray beside her.... how could you not understand it sooner. Cabernet held up a full bunch of big and juicy grapes over your lips, she pushed them down and you bit off one grape then held it in your mouth halfway. She smirked and leaned down to bite the other half, her lips merely brushing yours as she took the piece. The lingering taste of her lips was somehow evident as you ate your end of the grape.

She then picked up the bottle of honey. You subconsciously licked your lips in anticipation at the sight. Cabernet only smirked more and started pouring the honey over your body, oozing some on your lips then down your neck. You licked some of the honey on your lips and saved the rest for her, but she started licking from your neck first. Her tongue hungrily dragged up and down, not wasting a single drop of the honey with your taste. It was addicting to her; she could feel herself getting more intoxicated by you.

She licked clean all the honey from your neck and was impatiently licking up your lips now before parting them to kiss you, your honeyed tongue rolled with hers and exchanged moans, hot breaths, and each other's tastes. Cabernet loved savouring you this way, just the feeling of your sweet taste through your lips could satisfy her. But tonight, she wanted to be greedy, for she knew you wouldn't let her go this far otherwise. It was the best birthday gift for her.

She pulled away to gaze at your messy state, a trail of your saliva sticking to her lips before she licked it away. You laid absolutely bare for her, giving yourself to her to do anything. She planted kisses all over your face, giggling to herself watching you be smothered by her lipstick. She continued by picking up the chocolate spread next and dipped in her finger to dollop a mouthful.

She extended her finger near your lips and you tried to lick it, but she playfully kept pulling away just as you'd get up. She loved watching you struggle so adorably, but she was kind enough to relieve you. She leaned down as she finally let you lick the spread, and at the same time licked it herself. Your tongues touched each other's as you fought to lick up most of the spread before sloppily kissing.

"Hehe.... Oh, Chief.... you are always so fun to play with. But, I can see you are getting impatient for the main course~"

She didn't even have to look to tell you were practically dripping from your core.

"Aren't you the same?~" you quipped with a smirk, making her chuckle in return.

"How could I not be when you are in such a state? You have given me the best birthday gift I could ask for~"

She shifted back on your body while kissing down, dragging her tongue and lips from your chest to your abdomen and was now between your legs, gazing at your throbbing core. The sight was insatiable, how badly she wanted to just eat you out right away. She picked up the whipped cream this time and sprayed some over your clit, the cold sensation made you gasp and buck your hips and she chuckled at your amusing reaction.

"Time to feast~" she moaned and immediately placed her mouth on your clit, licking it with the whipped cream. You thought she'd be fast but she was licking you unbearably slow, so much so that you could barely even feel her touch your skin and only lick up the cream. Of course, she was doing this intentionally. You felt her tongue drag up from your vulva, licking up the cream along the way then sucking your clit. Your body arched up as she finally touched you more, intensely sucking on your bundle of nerves.

"Aaah.... C-Cabernet...."

She lapped up your folds faster now, dragging the remaining cream with your essence and inserting her tongue inside you. Your head shot back from the surprising sensation, eyes dropping down to watch her diligently eat you out as if you were her last meal.

"Mmm.... so delicious, Chief.... Oh, I'll never get tired of your taste~"

Cabernet moaned, her hot breath making you shiver. She raised up your thighs and dove deeper, probing her tongue at your most sensitive spots.

"C-Cabernet.... I'm close.... ngh— f-fuck!~"

She attached her mouth to you completely, thumbing at your clit one last time to make you release. The orgasm was electrifying, she drank up every single drop of you, licking it from everywhere and relishing the taste. Drool dripped down her chin as she kept lapping you up, the cream messily spreading over her lips but she was focused on having everything you had to offer. Once finished, she sat up to gaze at your panting state and licked her own lips clean, eating any residual she could find. The feeling was outright euphoric to her, she felt up her neck as it went down her throat and moaned in ecstasy.

“Aaah.... this is it. My favourite..... my favourite dish from Chief~”

You breathed in and out as you came down from your orgasm then sat up to hold her, straddled your lap by wrapping her arms around your neck and coming forward to embrace you. Her fingers gently laced through your hair in soothing motions as you buried your face in the crook of her neck, just breathing in her scent and feeling her up close. Cabernet giggled when she suddenly felt you lick her neck, the tickling sensation making her chuckle.

“Thirsty, aren’t you, Chief?~”

“So much.... thirsty for you....” you whispered against her skin.

Cabernet bit her lower lip then extended her hand towards the trolley to grab a glass filled with wine.

“Let’s quench your thirst then~”

You watched as she tilted the glass above her chest, letting the wine slowly trickle down her body. You impatiently licked up as it dripped, dragging your tongue across the valley of her breasts down to her abs and naval. You didn’t let a single trickle go to waste and intently licked up as it kept pouring, eventually finishing the entire glass this way. Cabernet gazed at you with lust, staring at your wine-stained lips and couldn’t help diving forward to kiss you passionately. Messily rolling her tongue with yours, she exchanged the wine from you and moaned into your mouth. You suddenly pushed her back to lay her on the bed, her legs still locked around your waist. She arched her body with a smirk as you kissed down her belly then were right in front of her clit.

“You are wetter than me, Cabernet. Shouldn’t you care for your own relief first?~”

“Hehe.... I know you won’t leave me unsatisfied, I can wait as long as it takes~”

You smiled to yourself then pulled her legs up to rest them on your shoulders before leaning in to attach your mouth to her folds. She gasped when she felt your tongue slide up and down her vulva, subconsciously biting her lip to conceal her voice. But you were intent on making her scream, you wanted to see her come undone too. You parted her folds and dived your tongue inside to probe at her warm, spongy walls while thumbing her clit. A startled moan came from her, and her body arched up further. She was merely hanging from your grip as you raised her lower body completely, pushing your tongue even deeper inside her.

“Aaah.... Chief.... yes... r-right there- ngh! Aaahn.... more.... give me more....!~”

She clenched the bed sheets when you sucked on her walls, her body turning to the side as pleasure increased. You watched as she writhed, moving around uncontrollably. As if to satisfy her wishes, you turned her from your side as well and completely flipped her over. Her stomach arched off the bed, face flushed in the sheets and her teeth biting down on the fabric as you ate her out deeper and faster.

“Nghhh.... C-Chief.... yes.... aaaah..... oh dear! I’m cumming.... yes Chief.... more!~”

Bringing the princess of the Francs to this state was no less than an accomplishment, but for you it was simply a way to satisfy her and make her happy. You loved the way her voice cried out moans of pleasure, the way she writhed in your hold and rutted against your mouth seeking more friction. The final straw for her was when you touched her clit again, rubbing it in circular motions while pressing your tongue at her most sensitive spots. Her eyes rolled to the back as an intense orgasm hit her, releasing as if a dam was broken. She cried out the loudest ever tonight, essentially squealing as you sucked out her delicious essence.

You lapped up all of her release diligently, cleaning up from every spot. You finally dropped her legs down, gently turning her over again and placing them on your thighs while she panted and took deep breaths. Her hair was scattered in a mess with drool dripping down her lips, yet she still looked as beautiful as always, akin to a Goddess. She soon raised up and gazed at you with the same lust filled eyes, still not having had enough. If anything, she seemed even more drunk in lust now. She practically pounced on you and pushed you down again while hungrily claiming your lips, her hips rutting across your abs.

“I haven’t had enough yet, Chief. Aaaah.... you drive me crazy.... I need you more. You’ll stay with me tonight, won’t you? I have yet to devour you whole~”

[bengiyo]

The Uncertain Melancholy of Our Youth

I’ve been sorting out how I feel about the end of Our Youth, and I’ve yet to arrive at something concrete that I want to say. I’ve been reading reactions from others to see if someone else could vocalize what I’m feeling, and in the process realized I wanted to talk about Our Dating Sim again. 

Like many others, I’m left with a feeling of melancholy from this show. I feel a lot like @small-dark-and-delicious in that I think this ending felt very realistic for them, because Minase has never had friends he can count on, especially the “bespectacled demon” (@chicademartinica). I find myself empathizing a lot with @asiandramas-takeover about how bleak the future feels for them.

With this series overall, I’m a bit frustrated thematically. I was glad to have @wen-kexing-apologist offering insights about the manhwa while we were watching, because, like @worm-priest, I don’t think we did much with the different kinds of people theme. 

However, I am left with some genuinely warm feelings for the characters and the actors. I loved mj’s post reflecting on how Hirukawa connects for people who dread becoming like their parents (@forcebook). Like @memiaatanonymous, I really enjoyed Motojima Junsei in this; I especially loved the way he managed his physicality and expressions when Minase had to flee Hirukawa’s house before the dad began beating Hirukawa again. 

I also agree with @delasaria-blog that Minase in the special does a lot to close out this story; I don’t think I’d feel as positively as I do at the end of this without the effectiveness of the special episode. The implied growth of these two into a relatively stable couple (@incandescentflower) worked well for, especially because Minase was left with separation anxiety (@lurkingshan). I also really liked the way the show approached a closeted couple’s feelings about marriage as an inevitability (@jemmo).

I think it was @theside-b comparing this to the disappointment I know I felt at the end of Love is Better the Second Time Around that got me thinking about Our Dating Sim. In that show, we spend the majority of our time in the present with Shin Ki Tae pursuing Lee Wan again after Lee Wan abandoned him at the end of high school. Our journey with them is about how Lee Wan hurt Ki Tae and himself, and the consequences of Lee Wan's decision. We focus there on how Lee Wan has to grapple with the fact that Ki Tae was open to his feelings.

I think most of why I’m feeling a bit unfulfilled by this project is that I had hoped we’d spend more time in the present. The opening sequence had me waiting in anticipation for their eventual reunion and reconciliation. I had hoped we’d spend the bulk of the show on that, like in Our Dating Sim, rather than on the events leading to their separation. I think I set myself up for this because I brought too much of that to the table. 

Reflecting on what the show did or didn’t do, I don’t think there was much for me to gain from seeing Hirukawa and Minase’s separate montages, though I think it would have been interesting to see Minase getting lonelier and see where he and Hirukawa lost touch over the phone incident. I personally feel like I’d have liked to see more of them getting back together and rebuilding trust, because I felt myself pulling away from this show as it spiraled over Hirukawa’s life getting worse in the middle. There was almost a really great moment of Minase trying to step forward and use his voice only to be silenced by the adults and friends in his life. 

Final Verdict: 8, Recommended With Reservations. I’m not sure how I will feel about this show in the long term, and I want to thank everyone linked above for sharing their thoughts, and all the gifmakers included for their creations. There is a useful kind of melancholy here that I personally enjoy as a person who absolutely loved All of Us Strangers (2023) last year. I am always the type who, even though I know we’re seeing marked improvement in many categories, cannot erase the scars I carry from what I survived. I struggle to find a solid coherent thought I feel coming from this one, and I hope to read more compelling reflections in the weeks to come. 

[mochimochimona]

Rewatching Arcane only Jayce and Viktor and it's hilarious S1 EP3

08.01.2025: So I forgot to include the first scenes with these two because I didn'T take it that serious before, so I added the other scenes from the Episode to have a more complete analysis.

Confident Viktor is so awesome and also: he can stand on his own and even move a little bit. It makes me sad to see how his sickness hadn't gotten a hold of him yet when he met Jayce. And also, his "we have to crank it" and unsure smile is so sweet.

This scene makes me 100% sure Viktor is a sneak little bitch and he is going very far to achieve his dreams. Oh wait.

"Why, Why would you risk this?" Viktors explanation is real here, I don't think he only wants to help Jayce because he is nice, but he has a dream, too. Which is even more important to point Jayce's reaction, how could I not include it here? He looks at Viktor so adoringly and happy, that he found someone who wants to help. And he smiles at him, after that, a little bit. It is a soft smile. I am struggling to interpret that as love, but definetly affection.

and than this shot, which makes me smile: "Our Hextech Dream". And that is important here, because for Jayce, nothing is more important to give magic to the people. And Viktor is the one who helps him the most.

The fact that Jayce keeps on touching Viktor after that is not lost on me, but again I am a touchy person myself and not romantically involved with everyone I do that with, so I leave it here as a character trait he has and a comrade-thing to do. Even if you don't know someone that long, you can do that without any thoughts behind. But I find it interesting that he is doing that just with Viktor. He never touched Mel before she made a move on him (he wasn't even flirting with her. WAIT A MINUTE).

And after that, onto doing mischief:

Honestly, I can see why people doubt the shipping, especially in the first few episodes (or the first season) but honestly, Viktor did like Jayce but more importantly he wanted Jayce to focus on their endeavor; when Mel showed up and Jayce was like this, smiling after her, Viktor was clearly pissed Jayce was not paying attention. I am weezing, Viktors face.

His pout.

And then this weird look, this short flash of...sadness? Disappointment?

Anyway, Jayce was staring at Mel for a long time. Not gonna lie. That's why I wasn't on the shipping train in the first season I guess.

Can't shake the feeling Viktor knew or something lol, now I have thought about it and now I am seeing things.

Like when they tried it out he was so sure it will hold.

So I was thinking why would Jayce be so protective of Viktor all the time, when Viktor is pretty confident (shown in the scene with Mel and the scene in the lab)

Edit 08.01.2025: Like he was calm and confident and saying "the resonance will stabilize it". We do love our confident scientist. As someone pointed out, there were a lot more scenes in this episode important to their relationship, but I started taking a closer look after this episode. So I will have to revisit them and take the other scenes into account, too. So don't be confused if the first episodes aren't in order!

Honestly asking: Is it just me, or am I delulu? In this scene Viktor says "ALL YOURS" and looks at Jayce like this. Yes, we know Viktor, all his. Every damn time *goes crying into a corner*

Anyway, before the Gemstones somewhat work, Jayce is guided by his memory of the mage how he could activate the gemstone, which is a nice thing to watch after knowing who that man is (and man, does Old Man Viktor look healthy??). And we get this magically scene with them, Viktor keeping the screw makes my heart clench.

This scene is really magical! I love it so much.

And how Viktor is smiling at Jayce!

But instead letting us see a close up of Jayce smiling back at Viktor, Heimerdinger comes in and Mel decided to show up, too and Jayce is giving her that look again.

So I rest my case here, that Jayce is fond of Viktor, but not romantically interested. Which makes me question myself but again, we don't see much of interaction with these two until Mel gets Jayce away from Viktor and the research. Hm. Interesting.

[doublel27]

i joined thai bl fandom about six months ago, and although i will keep watching thai bl/gl/ql shows, all this latest stuff has been the final nail in the coffin of my enjoyment in fandom. i've been in fandom for about 20 years and i think along with the dead internet we very much have dead fandom. where communities used to be about fic, fanart, fanmixes, etc now it's just criticisms. do people really enjoy this? constant negativity? i appreciate your voice here and am grateful somebody is standing up for people. there are too many bad faith discourse generators in this fandom unfortunately.

Thank you so much! It breaks my heart that you feel this way. The fact that people don’t feel safe to speak publicly or reblog stuff because of a small vocal minority is incredibly sad and disappointing. I am also a fandom old. 24 years baby!

I mean, I don’t think the social media and increasingly isolationist views have helped with fandom, but this energy has been in fandom for a long time. I survived Cassandra Clare’s minions in the fandom that shall not be named and someone having a tantrum (to years after I had said something and left the group) where she deleted an entire EZ-board full of years worth of X-Men role-play writing because more people stood up to her. It keeps happening and always does when people get into feedback loops and don’t engage outside of narrow focus.

I know it seems like a lot of people engaging in bad faith discourse, but this experience has shown me how small that circle is despite how loud and how much they write and reblog each others posts. But also how many people don’t engage with them. There are so many people doing beautiful things in this fandom: edits/gifsets, fanart, fanfiction. There are wonderful things happening, but it does require some hunting.

Someone was talking about creators of gifsets using (fandom name)edits so people could avoid everything in the tags and I wonder if a bunch of us could use consistent thaibl(type of art) as well as (fandom name)edit so that there are some tags that are focused on creation.

Because we can’t change the behavior of bad actors. I have no intention of changing their behavior. That’s not why I said anything. I said something because people deserve a fandom experience where they’re not harassed. And people who are harassed deserve someone to say that’s not okay.

I’m sorry you’re leaving fandom, but sometimes it’s necessary if it’s not bringing you joy! And you can change your mind. I was never coming back to fandom after X-Men, and here I am.

But my ask box and my DMs are open. 💜💜💜

[frenchkanna1808]

Why chapter 3 was a enormous let down and the possible negative impact it might have on the rest of the game

I remember after finishing chapter three one how exicted I was, how deeply impressed I was with the banquet and the qtaro development. And I mean I wasn't the only one, again and again I had seen so much praise about chapter three and how awesome it was. How great midori was as a villain (my like idk how many words analysis about him is very much explicit of that), How amazing qtaro development was, and mainly how great the banquet was, and I had seen the claim around that 3-1 was as great or even better than 2-2. And so I had decided after the hype fell down a little to play yttd again with friends, and that when I realized, god , wait, chapter three is like, extremely mid. I played the entire chapter 1a and it only got to the heights of 1b. I at first couldn’t tell what was wrong with the game, why did it feel so disappointing? And after a while I have finally looked back at the chapter, and yes this chapter is not only extremely lackluster but also a very bad prediction for the future of yttd if 3-2 is written the same. So here in this long french analysis I will discuss the main problem of chapter three the absolute shit characterization of almost all the characters. But also the destruction of emotion route and the crazy pacing

Hi like always, I’m frenchgremlim, I’m the french kanna fan I write stupid essays on yttd from time to time, this one will be compared to some of my others quite negative. But I will try as hard as possible to be an objective critic. This isnt meant to attack any fan of any character no any fan of yttd 3-2, I just want to discuss a possible problem in yttd writing that personally scares me for the future, this topic was one I brought up a lot in many post, if you have seen any of them then well you will already know some of my grievances with chapter 3. So with all my love thank you for reading this, lets start!

THE GOOD STUFF

Chapter Three 1 definitely has many great points. First off, the plot progression is pretty great, we get ton of infos on asunaro, on ways to escape and clues about the hades incident. Midori was a blast and bullying him became my favorite pastime. The dummies were an amazing concept (remember the word concept it will be important for the rest). Despite me disliking ranmaru deepy his development was interresting. THE QTARO DEVELOPMENT WAS CRAZY GOOD, for the first time I got to be justified for being a qtaro fan since chapter 2. Keiji had ton of development in this chapter??? that is very rare considering how much of a stable character he is troughout the game, his relationship with sara is really highlighted and I think thats great. Gin stays the most consistent character in yttd and despite normally being something I dislike in a game I think it makes sense considering gin is pretty much sara anchor in reality in both routes. The obstructors were an amazing idea and I think, adding new mechanics like that truly freshen up the game. Also shin ai is litteraly one of the best idea ever and maple too. And of course the banquet was a thrilling nerve wrecking experience with so many twist and turns that truly got your blood pumping……. Thats my praise for chapter three, the thing that doesn’t make it outright bad but correct. See how I mentioned a few characters by name, but not all, you can pretty much count any of the other either barely present or useless to the narrative. Which will lead me to my first point, the absolute character waste that genuinely every single yttd character going from the least worst to the worst (if you know me you know who will be last).

AN ENSEMBLE CAST IS AN ENSEMBLE NOT SARA AND HER MINIONS NANKIDAI

MAI AND KURUMADA

okay so I will start with them because funny enough new characters have better characterization, than actual character we knew since chapter 1. If I had a word to describe both ami and kurumada it would be good but lacking. Let’s start with mai, I think mai concept of her starting has a sort of traitor and then becoming a true ally is very good, same for kurumada startinga s a heartless asshole only caring about himself to him literally on the ground crying that keiji doesn’t cause the doom of the other dummies. Overall Mai and Kurumada have the strongest character out of all the dumies and are truly multi layered characters. Mai is depicted as a fake idol like girl who hides herself behing the pop like smilling persona (inverse of shin) to hide the fact that she is terrified but can also be a cunning manipulative person too. She truly wants the best for others but is terrified that she might die and would do anything to survive. Kurumada is a brute, he acts like a bully toward the others, act heartless and values himself over others, he has a sort of superiority complex and rejects affection. But trough the power of the bucket, kurumada starts to warm up, and he starts truly caring about the others. He starts devaluing his life after getting destroyed by maple. But in the end he was the only one of the surviving dummies wishing not to be brought back but avenged. Both have interesting dynamic with their pairs and overall importance on the narrative, something that can’t be said about all dummies. Why lacking then. I think kurumada and mai still suffer from what I will call the dummies problem, they feel like there is so much like missed potential its crazy. Seriously we had like one scene where kurumada learns to warm up to kanna, thats it, it feels like we had the basics but it was very rushed. Which is a shame considering THIS IS THE THING THAT MAKES KURUMADA CHANGE AS A PERSON. Mai has less of this problem I think, but still she has no relationship with like anyone in the group except qtaro ( I still think in logic route we should have had the obvious parralele between her actions and like keiji/shin actions it feels like wasted potential) But again this is a flaw that is ommitable since reminder the characters are well written despite being rushed. What isnt forgivable is that kurumada has no relationship at all with shin in logic route, its clear that nankidai envisioned emotion route kurumada before logic route kurumada. Overall I think the pairing system was terribly done for some characters, which is apart of the overrall dummies syndrome.

But lets take a look at the other dummies where my praise will quickly end.

ANZU AND HAYASAKA:

I am deeply sorry for anyone who is a fan of those characters, but I need to be objective, anzu and hayasaka are the most nonexistent characters in yttd. I complain about the lack of kanna content, but the absolute uselessness of those two is crazy disappointing. Remember how I described mai and kurumada, full rich descriptions, what is anzu character. She is a dumb clown girl, thats it there is nothing more. And the problem isnt that she is a simple character on paper, because for example mishima is quite a simple character, its how nankidai decided to utilize them. Lets start with anzu because I think she shows off well the problem, what does anzu do during the narrative, when is she useful, not even like talking about like puzzles or stuff like that kanna also doesn’t help that much, I mean overrall, what is the goal of this character. A character can be a bit flater personaility wise but he has to HAVE A REASON TO EXIST EXCEPT FILLING IN THE BLANKS.

Why was she paired with the yabusames, because reminder all the dummies were paired with a human for a reason, sara with ranmaru because of joe, keiji and hinako because they are edgy emo dyed hair dodgy person, kurumada with greenbling because he has one of the highest percentages while they have some of the lowest, hayasaka because he is similar to mishima with gin. Anzu was paired up with the yabusame, because she had to be paired up with someone, she has NO relationship with them, isnt a contrast isnt anything. My problem with anzu is that she is a a boring character because they did NOTHING WITH HER, she feels like an C rated anime girl in the fucking cast of death note. And no I’m not saying a nice person is boring not at all kanna is my favourite character of fiction, what I’m saying Is that creating just a nice girl is a problem. If we go to hayasaka its the same, which is even worse because hayasaka IS TIED TO THE NARRATIVE. I would say haysaka is more plot interresting but his personality is so boring that it doesn’t help at all. He is just clone non chad mishima. They can die and it will genuinely almost affect nothing at all(which is also a problem the death problem). You get surprised when they actually talk because you had forgotten they existed. Thats how I will define the dummies problem, it feels like the characters were added but had very limited impact in the end, because while it makes sense for asunaro it doesn’t make sense for the cast, why add characters if they have no meaning, thats just bad writing.And why does that piss me off, because you could have done so much more. Remember the mishima comparaison? Mishima is the most good guy ever made but how does he shine, by his interractions, he is a light of joy and good and shines from how kind he is towards others. He’s a bit silly but his unwaring kindness and undertsanding is what makes him a compelling character. Especially I contrast with brooding characters in the cast. ANZU COULD HAVE BEEN THAT. I think especially in logic route, anzu isnt the brightest light bulb, but she can shine in her unwaring compassion, her passion is making others laugh as a clown. While she isnt the best and can sound awkard she tries her best for others, because thats whats right to do, despite how much she is scared. After keiji gets coffined, anzu goes to see keiji in the coffin and tries to cheer him up with the worst joke ever and it makes him truly laughs from how bad it is. Reko see nao painting and gets depressed about it,feeling like she was able to save nobody whether her brother or lover, anzu decides to show her some epic clown skills and absolutely fails, reko laughs finding the kiddo endearing. After alice discovers that midori had hanged out with reko, he wants to destroy him and get filled with rage but anzu tells him to do the breathing exercises she used to do before any performance. Anzu could be used as this idea of childlike kindness a little light in the dark of the group especially in logic route. She can still be a fail girl clown make her bicker with kurumada more, make her be so impressed by how calm mai is, make her despize ranmaru in logic route, make her a dumb kid with tehir cool aunt/uncle with the yabusames. MAKE HER EXIST. SAME FOR HAYASAKA, hayasaka is supposed to be a straight man type character make him even more of a loser, make him silently judge the crazy ass people he is with, do his development litteraly not Five minutes before his death. A character being simple isnt a problem, what is a problem is not using them to their fullest, and for me in the state that they are in currently anzu and hayasaka are bad characters in term of the narrative.

SHIN

Okay so shin isnt a character in chapter three, he’s just there, I’m putting that low because he is a main character. The problem with shin being a bot, is that we just left one of the craziest chapters for him to do nothing, I understand him being stunned by midori and stuff. But I still think this is quite a letdown, especially for the obvious parralels between him and maple almost never being utilized. You can tell nankidai didn’t have the time or want to do much with the guy, which is bonkers considering THIS IS THE CHAPTER WE MEET HIS ABUSER. Then why isnt shin lower? Because shin is the type of character to have development throughout the story, who has a continuous storyline etc, which means that even though he didn’t get anything special this chapter next chapter he will get it. Its not a case of actual waste of character ,its more so, putting the character in the drawer for now. I am not scared for shin writing because he will always get something and always had something. Which makes is non importance in chapter 3-1 not that bad

KANNA

OKAY SO I WILL TRY TO NOT BE BIASED. Kanna characterization disappointing me In 3-1. As the biggest kanna fan, I think nankidai doesn’t care that much about her character as an actual protagonist. This one will be a bit longer but to explain why it was bad I need to do some sidenotes.

Sara is the protagonist of yttd, and keiji and gin are deutarogonist (idk how its written forgive me I’m french, please tell me if its badly written). Sara throughout the story goes trough many changes and developments, while characters like gin and keiji stay pretty much the same the whole story before 3-1. Sara main development is her living with the grief of losing joe and her importance in the group. While keiji is this morally grey, in the end bad person because of his actions guy, that still deeply cares and wants the best for sara, but what he does for her like putting so much responsibility isnt good for her in the end, it creates this codependent dynamic where keiji wishes to protect sara but in the teaches her how to be like him despite him wishing the inverse. Is keiji a good influence? A bad one ? I would say a bad one, but does he care for her? He sures do, and would do anything to protect her. Why am I going a tangent you might say, because shin and kanna are the mirror to keiji and sara. They are in the end the same. Kanna is a direct parralel to sara story wise, which is why I think if the story was twisted the point of view would be either shin or kanna. Kanna is the emotional core of the game, the soul I would say even, her development has a character is the deepest and most complex. Going trough hell, wishing to die to then deciding to live not herself yet but for the people that loved her, Kanna went trough some of the worst events out of the cast, litteraly everyone she even remotely liked or was friends with dies. And yet she decided to stand, for them, for their wishes, that makes kanna the most emotionally strong character in all of yttd. Because compared to sara she had almost no help and was left to her suicidal tendencies. Kanna represents hope and bravery in its purest sense. Thats why kanna is the soul of yttd, she litteraly made shin realised that he could care about others again. But despite all of that kanna was always in the shadow of someone, lacking self worth and self confidence feeling the need to be protected by others, hiding behind shin schemes despite how dodgy they were. Shin was her shield, and now he is gone, and kanna has never been more alone than now. Two people died for her, she hates herself and wishes to go seem them deeply, but she has to stand up for them. And what do we get for chapter three!!!! One scene. Thats fucking it. Okay maybe a little bit more but like god its bad. Kanna is implied in one scene that she doesn’t understand why shin would sacrifice himself for her, which implies that she doesn’t understand that people could love her, which could imply that in general she doesn’t get why either kugie or shin did this for her. COOL ONE IMPLICATION. And like if you read the scene where she says that she will like be epic for them, its implied that kanna doesn’t feel better and is still very much suicidal she still hates herself, kanna doesn’t think she can live, but she has to survive for them. Kanna is implied to be in survival mode more than having hope to be outside. OKAY COOL.

Now I have a question, why does for kanna we have to acively search for her to have any actual development and like relevance, while for other character its more laid out. Why does sara get a scene where we see her change mentality after seeing the joe ai, while kanna GETS OFF SCREEN DEVELOPMENT. IF THERE IS ANYTHING I HATE ITS OFF SCREEN DEVELOPMENT. WE SHOULDN'T HAVE TO GUESS A REASON A CHARACTER CHANGED. Plus kanna is a victim of this almost all the time, which is why people call her flat or not as interesting as shin (I heavily disagree I could write so many pages about her). Kanna is a character which is made in subtlety, which isnt a problem, what is a problem is that she is perhaps the only one. Kanna like I said is a very important character for both routes and yet she is barely treaten has a main protagonist, she is a sidekick, and thats a problem. Because of that her individuality and complexities are not explored. For example I think kanna has many many actual flaws that are barely treated in the narrative, she is far from a perfect kind person, but never tackled on. Kanna is a character that not only never gets a W but also get no breathing room. THIS IS THE FIRST CHAPTER KANNA IS MORE PROACTIVE AND YET WE DONT SEE HOW HER. Yes there is some things that show that, but again its not protagonist level of development, it feels like non important side character development for a character that shouldn’t be that. Kanna SHOULD be a protagonist of yttd, and should get finally her chance to shine instead of always being in someone shadow. I not making pessimistic claims right now since the last chapter isnt out, but I’m very much not hopeful about how nankidai will handle her #challengewriteafemalecharacterwiththesamerespecthasamaleone.

ALICE AND REKO

I Have already written many post about this, but post chapter 2-1, Nankidai had no idea what to do with yabusames, they havent had any actual interresting impact except from lore in any chapter. They become background character especially after nao death. Despite being actual game changing choice, alice and reko are useless to the narrative. WHY? Because nankidai had decided to get them killed by sheep boy, and since nankidai clearly wrote emotion route before logic route, in emotion route he had no idea what to do with them so the became npc’s. Alice relaionship with cast has not evolved from chapter 1, and reko became just one of sara goons. I think this ties into another problem, the emotion route problem, what should make emotion route compelling the character which is supposed to represent it, kanna and the emotion route based choices, but since kanna and the other yabusame gets zero content, emotion route seems like the least interesting route. Because nankidai was more lazy doing it which is a clear problem. That affects the yabusame heavily, sicne he had no plans with them past death. Thats why they are static. Its also linked to another problem which I will mention later. But yes nankidai simply doesn’t know what to do with them, which is especially worst for alice a character that is LINKED TO THE ENTIRE CHAPTER. I think its not only a waste of alice and reko, but also a sign of favoritism. I think nankidai simply cares less about complex ideas for emotion route, I will perhaps write in another post all he could have written interesting for emotion route. Now lets get into THE REAL STINKER OF THE CHAPTER.

NAO EGOKORO: HOW TO MESS UP THE MESSAGE OF CHARACTER

What. The. Actual.shit. I have no words except from that. This out of every charcater bothers me probably the most and actively pisses me off. Imagine writing a character, a female character who was shown as capable and strong despite being an emotional person, imagine creating a character which showed the defiance of asunaro, the fact that yes despite their overwhelming sense of control and power, that there was in fact a way to beat them at their games, imagine writing a character that fought against adversity and had the only canonical route where despite all their wishes that character won, imagine creating a character with a doomed fate which is in direct parallel to another character and shows why he somewhat has the right to be scarred, imagine writing a tragic story about a girl who was only brought here to suffer and be a tool for the progression of A MAN in the canonical narrative, imagine writing a character who entire existence was a tool for asunaro and died because of them, imagine writing that the floormasters consider her useless and non important because she isnt some holy participants, imagine writing that. Okay so imagine that after this poignant ending you decide to do another chapter where you mention her 1 time in a non essential dialogue. THIS IS INSULTING. Because what this honestly says is that, yes nao life truly was unimportant, we get references to greenbling death in the chapter, NAO DIED LIKE THREE HOURS AGO. THIS MESSES UP THE ENTIRE MESSAGE.

This feels like nao was some kind of rug, that when not needed could be trhown out, was her death just shock value, was that the goal of her character. I wanna remind that yes nao was only brought to boost mishima percentages, which mean she was only a tool for another man progression. THERE IS SO MUCH META POSSIBLE COMMENTARY ON THIS. Asunaro who uses children and women as toys for their own goals, that they will throw out when not needed. But instead the fact that nao was completely forgotten just deepens this idea that yes in fact they were right, she was unimportant, and thst deeply isulting I think. Why does every chapter mishima comes back while we get no mention of nao. Why is there a clear focus in this game about more stereo typically strong stoic figures, isn't this entire game about the conflict between emotion and logic. Why does characters like kanna and nao representations of the conflict get zero content. Characters like kanna and nao MATTER, they are perhaps some of the only representation of empowerment that people like me can relate. Because I will be truthful, logic route is in fact not the good choice, not in narrative standpoint (logic route is awesome for the narrative for sure), in a moral standpoint, its an extremely good idea of course. But the message of the game is that in the end its wrong, it’s a wrong choice to act or pretend to be an emotionless logic based robot, keiji is in the wrong, shin is in the wrong, midori is in the wrong. Whats the point of a moral dilemma if you don’t talk about it from one side. THEN WHY DOES THE CHARACTERS THAT REPRESENT THE INVERSE GET ZERO CONTENT. I think nao disappearance is not only one of the most disappointing things in all of yttd but genuinely gets me scared for the future of yttd themes.

Now that we finished every character, you may wonder, why, why is this chapter characterization so bad? What even happened? Ill tell you what happened, there is two reason everything went to shit and let me list it here:

THE SARA PROBLEM OR WHY THIS CHAPTER PLOT FOCUS IS ASS .

YTTD chapter three was way more plot focused than any of the chapters I would say, and honestly thats great for the narrative, if only it was done well. Remember my speeches about the characters about how like 60% of the cast is useless to the narrative, characters we know since a while, why do characters have no development, why does the dummies gets jack shit to do etc. Thats because of one thing, this chapter prioritized PLOT over CHARACTERS. And how can I claim this, because most scenes are sara and her doing everything. This chapter wasn't really about her, at all even, yet we have focused more on her reactions to the events that literally any characters. Chapter three at least half of it shouldn't have been sara focused. You might say what are you on about french? I’m gonna explain. I wanna state some example to show my point clearer, the reveal of why non candidates were brought here, why, in the flipping heck is sara the charcter in particular they choose to only know that, to have the big emotional scene, why especially in logic route, why?????? Yes she knew nao, sure thing, yeah she knew kai, but she wasn't the only person that knew them, sara didn’t even like mention nao almost the whole chapter, you want me to buy some emotional ass scene, for a charcter you barely even cared about showing in the narrative. I could think of a million characters who knwing this would flip out and have ACTUAL CHARACTER MOMENTS (kanna, reko, shin when he would learn that they brought kugie only to die which in the end CAUSED KANNA TO BECOME SUICIDAL AND DECIDE TO KILL HERSELF, GIN).

Another example the final scene where sara presses the button to get rid of midori that scene feels so empty, it doesn’t feel like a revenge or anything, midori has no emotional connection or link to sara, it doesn’t feel deserved, why out of everyone of the cast, why is midori getting killed by the person who he hurted the least. It feels like yeah sara the protag so she has to do it, it doesn’t feel cathartic because the characters that deserved the most to get this final bow didn’t get to get it. IM PRETTY SURE ANYONE IN THE ROOM COULD HAVE PRESSED THE BUTTON AND IT WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE EMOTIONALLY DRIVEN. I wanna discuss emotion route sara in particular, sara isnt as interresting as before in emotion route, since now she is healing and is closing her arc, which means that compared to logic route you don’t really have this want to see her arc which make scenes that should have been about other characters feel even more flat. I am not saying we should stop having sara as a protag no no of course, my problem is that we have seen that sara can work as the protag while focusing on other characters drama.

Example chapter 2-1, in 2-1 the focus is on reko and alice, and yet sara still has conflicts for herself, but they don’t seem to overpower the narrative. This intense sara focus destroyed the other characters screen time, and caused a lot of scenes that should hav been more impact to be less impact. Sara story in emotion route should have been the keiji stuff an ranmaru stuff mainly(and the whole logic route sara becoming crazy stuff too), the whole conflict with midori just felt like it was created only for the narrative. NOW I CAN FINNALY COME TO MY POINT. The sara focus was because yttd decided to focus more on the plot progression that character driven story, thats why sara does everything, thats why the characters have overall less to do. And imma be honest I did not come for yttd for the plot, people love yttd because of THE CHARACTERS, why do people play logic route, because they want to see shin evolve and sara too, why do people save kanna to fullfill shin wishes and save a kid they care for, what most people play yttd for is not the plot. YTTD IS A CHARACTERS DRIVEN STORY, characters not character. I genuinely don’t give a flying fuck about the plot if the characters are non existant, a bad plot can be carried by good characters, but a good plot will never carry bad characters. I know we are getting closer to the end, but yttd always had that balance between action and character moments. But I don’t think its only the direction of the story that is faulty. ITS the:

PACING

YTTD CHAPTER THREE PACING, wow we met this new guy midori, WTF REKO DEAD, anyway who cares lets move on. Thats it thats the pacing. THE CHAPTER IS WA TOO FAST. We go trough plot points so quiclky, we randmoly see reko/alice die then nothing, they don’t exist anymore, characters the cast know since the beginning, again for the dummies its logical, in a way, they don’t really know them, plus they are robots. RANDOM AHH REVEAL KANNA AND SHIN ARE ACTUAL SIBLINGS THEN NOTHING, NO MENTION, NO ACTUAL IMPORTANCE TO THE ROUTE, this only felt like this was added in for plot for logic route so that we know in advance that shin and kanna are siblings. The dummies just die at the end of the chapter in five minutes, qtaro dies in five minutes then the chapter ends. How do you want us to feel emotional weight for a character dying if you give us no time, joe death is one of the most viceral death because its slow and painful to watch, while if he died in chpater three he would have just exploed for shock value. Shock value thats how reko and alice death felt like, just that. Sara figuring out the whole participant thing, shock value thats it. The pacing is just horrible in this chapter so much so that I had actually forgotten kanna and shin were revealed to be siblings at the end of my first playtrough

CONCLUSION

I don’t think chapter three was bad per say, half of it was amazing truly, but the other half was incredibly disappointing, the whack characterization, the horrible plot focus and the pacing are terrible. Emotion route suffered the most because of this and I think on an objective standpoint is the worst written route (i’m the biggest emotion route glazer but like I can’t lie on how bad nankidai fumbled). I still love yttd and am full of hope that chapter three two will be the most amazing thing ever made, but I am scared of dissapointement now, I hope nankidai comes back to his roots wirting like chapter 2. If you like loved chapter 3-1 then honestly I wish I was you, I don’t like being dissapointed, I don’t like being let down, I am not critiquing from a place of hatred but from a very passionate fan, I know my opinion is pehaps not one of the most shared but as a fan of yttd for so many years I think we need to open our eyes to flaws. Perhap chapter 3-2 will fix everything I say and I hope so, I hope this post becomes outdated, but if it doesn’t then it would in my eyes truly ruin yttd. It won’t change chapter 2-2 changed my life and that kanna kizuchi saved me from a lot of dark times.I love yttd and i belive in nankidai and that why as a fan we shoudl critic his work

[transsexula]

Yall bare with me. I watched a new show with gays in it.

[spitedemon]

i really don’t think it’s “typical dragon age fandom nonsense” for people to be genuinely upset about the world state choices. combat, level design, art direction, gameplay gimmicks, those have all varied across each dragon age game. the one thing that’s remained constant are nods to our previous choices.

i wasn’t expecting my HoF to come riding in on a griffon, but i can’t find a monument dedicated to warden tabris somewhere around the anderfels? lucanis couldn’t have some lines about the time that one arainai boy was stirring up trouble in antiva city? you’re gonna tell me that making a mage the new divine wouldn’t have some impact on nevarra and antiva? on the anderfels, the supposed most devout militant andrastian nation in thedas? you’re saying nobody in the north is paying attention to who rules orlais or ferelden? come on.

[hanzajesthanza]

witcher netflix: [drops]

henry cavill fans: honestly, i don’t really care about the story, i’m just here because hcav is hot asf

me: wtf? how shallow is this… only there because the titular witcher is hot? talk about missing the point…

witcher 4 trailer: [drops]

✨ciri✨: 😡

me: … i understanded.

[r0semultiverse]

Hey Digital Extremes, why are you limiting our play style to only one romance? Thought this game was about player choice. Let us choose to have the gameplay option of polyamory! 💕

There should also be a platonic New Years night option too that involves no romance for those not comfortable with it!

[sonknuxadow]

it just hit me that the movie is coming out next month imgonna throw upppppppp

[ir-abelas-vhenan]

Oh cool you're a gamer? Normally I'd claim such a chill and nebulous label for myself, but thanks to a helpful anon I now know instead that the proper term is "piece of shit"

[nomidreams]

god i finally watched new episodes my honest reaction is jgiwoaoKzmxmkwkakkak

[bengiyo]

2024 Recap: ✨A Summary✨

Post your most popular and/or favourite edit/gifset/analysis for each month (it’s okay to skip months!)

@troubled-mind and @my-rose-tinted-glasses brought this back, and @lurkingshan mentioned me in hers.

January:

most popular - Last Twilight Ep 12 (Finale) Stray Thoughts

favorites - An Apology to Ossan’s Love and The Novelist, and Goblin is One of the Best Shows Ever Made

Seems I decided to cope with Last Twilight’s disappointment by capping off three big catchups. I am still so glad that I went back to Ossan’s Love and The Novelist to watch them properly. I still think these shows get a bad reputation, and I’m curious to see how the Thai version lands with audiences. I feel like I could also say so much more about Goblin, because I’ve also been considering a rewatch.

February:

most popular - Quick Post about How Great It Is to Be a J-BL Fan

favorites - My first interaction with @happypotato48, Love for Love’s Sake Finale, Drama Shower Explainer, My Post About How Much I Love Dynamite

What a fun month! I made a new friend, and found a new favorite show! I was so correct about how much Japanse QL we were getting and how much we’ve gotten in the past year. Though I was disappointed in the end of Drama Shower, I’m still glad that MBS is making BL…and whatever Red Blue is (I want to watch it so bad). My love for Dynamite has only grown since I wrote that post. I need to see so much more Aungpao this year.

March:

most popular - Love is Better the Second Time Around Ep 2 Stray Thoughts

favorites - Perfect Propose Finale, Cherry Magic TH Finale, Cherry Magic Anime Finale

It really was unexpected that we got two good adaptations of Cherry Magic in the same year, both of which would supplant the original adaptation for me. I think the Thai live action might be the best one for viewers, but damn is the anime still my favorite. Perfect Propose also may have been short, but that show has stuck with me. I still think about Kai giving Hiro the first good sleep he’s had in forever.

April:

most popular - Threatening people to tag Unknown spoilers

favorites - A “violence” ask about I used to shout out Tadaima, Okaeri.

This month looks relatively quiet for me, but holy shit was Tadaima, Okaeri unexpected. I was not expecting one of my favorite shows of the year to be an omegaverse husbands becoming dads show.

May:

most popular - Asking other BL fans how often we’d seen a 69 in BL

favorites - My Post About Why I Don’t Like We Are, My Wandee Goodday Check In

Man, I really hoped that Wandee Goodday would be good. I’m still flabbergasted by how badly that show lost me. Oyei and Cher were so important to me. Pour one out for the homies.

June:

most popular and favorite - Love Sea: Tongrak is Kind of an Asshole, and I Like It

other favorites - My Love Mix Up TH: The Adaptation Changes to the Class Play

Becoming a fan of MAME was not something I ever expected of myself, and yet here we are. I’ve now enjoyed three of her shows in a row, and supported another adaptation of her work. I also am so sad that MLMU wasn’t something I could enjoy. I was so amped after Cherry Magic TH and had real hope that this could also be fantastic.

July:

most popular - I Hear the Sunspot Ep 5 Stray Thoughts

You can tell I was traveling this month. I was quiet.

August:

most popular - Ben’s Big BL Blurb

favorites - Knock Knock, Boys! review, Office Romance Meditation on The Trainee and Other Shows

There were too many episodes to catch up on after traveling, so I dropped Stray Thoughts. It was probably for the best, because it took up a lot of time, and it made me grumpy to write about shows that were in a slog. I’ve enjoyed writing more focused pieces since.

September:

most popular - Horniest Sex Scenes Ask

favorites - The Trainee Reflection on Adulthood, Happy of the End Review, I Hear the Sunspot Wasted Taichi As a Character

The Trainee was so solid that I wrote about it two months in a row! Unfortunately it coincided with two J-BL losses that I had to mark.

October:

most popular and favorite - Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo: We Are So Fucking Back

other favorites - An Apology to The Miracle of Teddy Bear, Love in the Big City Part 1: It’s Gay, Peaceful Property: There’s Nothing Noble About Being Poor

What an incredible month for me! I finished one of the best shows we never got to see properly in 2022, we got a fantastic adaptation of one of the best books I read this year, and Hwang Da Seul came back with an absolute banger.

November:

most popular - Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo reaction

favorites - Love in the Big City Part 2: The Weight of Homophobia, Making a Clown of Myself at the Beginning of Your Sky, Ben’s Big BL Blurb 2: Fall is Finally Here, Blue Canvas of Youthful Days: BL is So Good When The Characterization Holds

I feel like I must have had a lot of time to write this month. I still stand by what I said about Blue Canvas at this point, even if the finale threw a lot of this away. I also highlighted my Your Sky post as an example of how exciting the beginning of a new show can be before it veers off and loses steam. 

December:

most popular - Ben’s Big BL Blurb 3: Blue Canvas of Youthful Days Blew It, But I Still Recommend It

favorites - Random QL Superlatives 2024, Our Youth: “Don’t Do It At School”

I really love the end of the year posts as a time to reflect on everything we watched. What really stood out for me this year was how much I just let go. I’m glad I’ve watched less, and have stuck with things that compelled me in some way. Hilariously, I think it’s actually lowered my overall average, but my general mood is up because I’m not forcing myself to slog through shows. 

You can go here to find your top 10 posts of each month.

[morningmask27]

Honestly I'm also not fully happy with what they did with Whis this book

[yellowloid]

Do we know Miles's or any of the AM members' opinions on the genocide in Gaza? Like I love them to death, but the lack of response has reaaally been bothering me. Not to mention the amount of privilege in not carrying about politics *looking at you, Alex*. I've seen Louise being pro-Israel.

OHHHHH anon i've been WAITING to talk about this. thank you for the question.

the answer is no we don't. to my knowledge, none of the members have openly talked about it. there has been no story on their official instagram, nor has matt (the only one with a public profile) posted anything about it on his account. not only that, but i did some research and apparently that benefit concert that him, tyler parkford and josh homme took part in also hosted people like jesse hughes and sarah silverman who are more or less openly pro-israel. which doesn't mean *matt* is, it just means he's not careful who he's associating himself and his image with.

the others have stayed silent. and miles, too - who's so active on social media - has never even reposted anything about it. not a word.

about the girlfriends, louise (and amanda) have spoken about "wanting peace" and louise especially has reposted some stupid ass posts a few months ago basically saying it's not "childish" to just wish peace for everyone - proving that she literally knows nothing about what has been happening for DECADES. both her and amanda have repeatedly proven they're centrists, which is just so. yikes.

the only one among all of them who has openly and almost immediately asked for a ceasefire is katie.

i've seen some people argue that the royal albert hall proceeds have gone to the war child association, but honestly - that's not enough. that was before, and even though knowing that is better than nothing, something they did in the past doesn't justify their lack of a statement on the genocide in the present. the fact that they're not even active on social media - just because they're too lazy to get someone to properly manage their account - isn't an excuse for staying silent.

whether they like it or not, they're celebrities. they have a platform they could use and they repeatedly choose not to use it. i love them but for the past few months i've been beyond disappointed in them.

[corokoro]

twitter was having a shit fit earlier when the SGF happened and the s2 cast was revealed and like

i understand part of the rage at two crossovers and bison already being back, people wanted the big faves to come back like the sf3 cast in general, cody, menat, etc

but think of the LORE, gang, the POTENTIAL

and also when it comes to growing rosters and what characters get in, you gotta get used to the odd choices and potential disappointment, this is why the smash dlcs still worked even with characters like piranha plant and min-min, so i was kinda surprised by all the anger on twitter, and it was genuinely hurting my own hype because yeah i didn't think bison should've been added this early either, but since he is here now anyways, it's time to deep analyze on what they could do with this, because they could prove JP to be the bigger bad if they play their cards right

anyways guess im lurking on tumblr for a bit, yall are stuck with me now KFHSLFND