#only friends weekly character rankings

[shortpplfedup]

Only Friends Character Rankings Pre-Air

Jojo, Ninew, Ninepinta and Vivienne have now presented their stable of hoes to us, y'all have chosen your fighters, and I am gnawing on concrete in anticipation of August 12. Since I'm gonna be doing weekly character rankings, I wanted to set up a pre-air Clown Checkpoint so I can look back later and see how wrong I was. Until that YouTube premiere countdown hits zero, we know exactly nothing, but I'm ready to predict whose gay wrongs I will most support! Here we go!

1. Nick

I just want you to love only me!

Audience ranking: 6

Ever since Mark Pakin showed up in that pilot trailer scheming and sex-taping, Nick has been MY DUDE. I want him to be the most manclown character of all time. I want him to be DESPERATE AND PATHETIC for Boston's dick. ANSWER EVERY BOOTY CALL NICK, I BELIEVE IN YOU. HE WANTS YOU TO DO A THREESOME? NO PROBLEM, WHATEVER YOU WANT BABE. I want Nick to call his bestie (Sand?) crying because Boston came over at 3:02 a.m. and left at 4:37 a.m. and 15 minutes of that was him taking a post-coital shower. I want crying and begging and clinging and devious acts. Khun Pakin has the chops to make my dreams come alive, make it happen boo!

2. Mew

My type is pretty simple. I'm not a picky kind of guy.

Audience ranking: 4

Right up until time of posting I thought my #2 seed would be Boston, but something is telling me that when it comes to manipulation and making grown men cry, Mew will emerge the champion. Something in this butter-wouldn't-melt expression is telling me this man is the true demon from hell whereas Boston is merely a top-tier-yet-still-garden-variety slut. Him shit-kicking Boston into the pool and then jumping in himself to finish the job is the kinda deranged shit I respect immensely. Kill them all Mew. You deserve.

3. Boston

You should be glad to be my favourite.

Audience ranking: 5

I may have called this man a garden variety slut, but I love a good slut though! Especially one who will lend his toys to help out a friend. And then almost instantly regret it. And then cause chaos and problems for himself as a result. And then make it everybody else's chaos and problems. Basically, I expect Boston's job to be throwing hole around Bangkok and ruining lives, and I expect him to do it WELL, and I expect him to do it in the sluttiest rent boy outfits I've ever seen.

4. Ray

You think my life will be better with you? It's only fucking going down to hell.

Audience ranking: 3

Speaking of chaos and problems, OUR BI DISASTER IS HERE GUYS! Bisexual? Bipolar? Why not both? The trailer is letting us know from jump that Ray is A Mess With Money and happy to use that money to buy himself some company, but also not able to keep those lines from getting blurred. I’m expecting this character to make me fall in love with him but also want to strangle him, Teh Krittikorn Saetun-style, so expect this ranking to go up until he is somehow my fave.

5. Sand

Friends don't charge friends. Besides, you should save your money for a shrink.

Audience ranking: 2

First Kanaphan’s job at GMMTV is to rip our hearts out roughly twice a year, and he’s right on schedule. It seems like Sand never learned not to fall for poor little rich boys, so we will all have to suffer with him. Honestly his ranking is this low right now because I see these guitars and microphones and I want no part of them. There is a short list of GMMTV boys allowed to sing at me and as much as I love First he is not on it. Ditch the microphone and bring back the baseball bat bb, I’m ready to see you bust some heads, kneecaps, car windows, whatever in pursuit of your love.

6. Top

When I take aim, I never miss.

Audience ranking: 7

Ah yes, the hoe-turned-seeming-housewife who’s actually still hoeing. The village bike. The community top. Boston basically turns him out and he’s not only fine with it, he falls for the john. Delicious. I desire his ruin like I’ve desired nothing before in media.

7. Everybody we don’t know nothing about yet (Yo, Nam/Syrup, Nes, Lesbian!Nonnie, A Wild Papang, various and assorted surprise guests I’m pretty sure we’re getting)

Friends don't do this to each other.

Audience ranking: 1 (combined score)

We await the tea on all the side characters, but the casting is superb, and I’m ready to see how high in the rankings they can climb.

LET THE MESS COMMENCE!

[merakiui]

bestie!vil who casually fixes your boobs in your bra for you, no he did not just tweak your nipple, do you think he's one of those desperate dogs you spend so much time with? He also calls you out on your posture and says it comes from the pelvis, he knows a few massages and stretches if you're interested. You want to try on his lipstick shade? Well, he doesn't want to contaminate the entire tube so...mwah! What? It's not like it meant anything, you're best friends after all.

One of the girls!Cater who walks around in his boxer-briefs during a sleepover or before bed. When you wake up he's always cuddled up to your back, morning wood grinding into you but he needs his cuddles, dont neglect him! Also he saw the prettiest thongs at VS, and since a few of yours went missing, you should totes go buy some new ones. Cater thinks you're soooo cute first thing in the morning, too sleepy and tired to realize that he slid his underwear down and has been leaking all over the back of your tanktop the entire time :(

-👠 anon (i think tumblrs been eating my asks D:)

OTL sitting in best friend Vil's lap while he does your makeup... there's nothing to it! Just two besties giving each other makeovers. If you feel something prodding at your ass every time you shift on his lap, pay it no mind. And if Vil grabs your hips and forces you still, don't worry about that either. If you keep moving so much, he'll mess up your eyeliner! You don't want that, do you?

AND CAY-CAY WITH MORNING WOOD AAAAAAAA. It's still so early and you're much too sleepy to realize his dick is between your thighs and he's been slowly and carefully rutting into you every now and then. Quite literally fucks you back to sleep. <3 just let your bestie cuddle with you a little longer. It's so warm and cozy, and he's massaging your hip so sweetly. You doze off within seconds, leaving Cater with enough time to reach his climax and clean you up before you're waking another hour later.

Being besties with Idia and the two of you watch hentai together and rank the ahegao of every character. >:D the tier list is coming along nicely. You're lying on your stomach on his bed while he's gaming, and it hasn't yet occurred to Idia that this entire time he's been hanging out weekly with a girl. But then he starts thinking deeply about it and suddenly his mind is racing with thoughts. orz

Besties with Ace and Deuce, who have slept over so many times that at this point Ramshackle is like a second home to them. They know where you keep everything. Where all of the snacks are hidden from Grim. Which drawers hold your clothes and, most importantly, undergarments. Ace is probably so sneaky and nosy that he goes so far as trying to sniff out if you've got any sex toys hidden somewhere. Deuce is curious, but he has to be nice and respectful of your space like a good best friend. He's only following Ace to make sure he doesn't do anything weird while you're washing up in the bathroom. It's not so he can also learn the location of these toys and compare his size to the size of the dildos. T_T

Being besties with Azul and he's managed to become so comfortable around you that he allows you to relax in the pool with him while he's busy multitasking with all eight of his tentacles. You're happily swimming laps and trying (and failing) to get him to take a break and join you. He keeps you at a distance with one tentacle, pushing you away and claiming, "Not now. This is very important and requires all of my focus." You pout and whine. Maybe he entertains you with that same tentacle, playfully poking and prodding at you while his eyes remain glued to the (magically waterproof) contract he's reviewing. He knows exactly what he's doing when he "accidentally" manhandles you with his tentacle, so much so that your swimsuit top comes untied. Oh dear. Would you look at that? It's come off. <3

[captaindysdexic]

My problem with Twisted Wonderland

As someone who used to consistently play every single day for months, I've got a lot of issues. Let me preface this by saying I know nothing I'm saying will change the game and how it runs, I just want to come here and rant about the game I used to love.

Rant below the cut

My biggest problem is how grindy the game is, especially as a strict f2p player.

As someone who's never spent money on the game, it is so easy to tell how much of a cash grab the game is. The people that work on the game care about it I'm sure, but it is so hard to do anything in this game.

It's hard to get SSR cards, not only because the Gacha system is hella fucked up, but because it's hard to get enough gems to get pulls. Yeah we've got weekly and the logins, but that's so not enough unless you save for a card months in advance.

When you're a new player they give you some leeway, lots of free stuff because all the easy missions are meant for that, but as you get further and further into the game it's extremely hard to get even a 10 pull unless you're on the game basically 24/7.

As someone who is rank 72- and again, played almost religiously for months- it's hard to enjoy the game.

And I know as the story goes on it's meant to be harder, but because of how little they give you it's hard to get past the story as it goes on. It's hard leveling cards up, especially the spells.

It would be nicer if they gave you more materials or gems, that would make all the grind worth it, but that's not how it is. Hell, even events barely give you any pulls and yet they expect you to spend hours doing lessons to unlock the chapters and leveling up the free cards. Someone who's f2p (in my and my friends experience) will find it hard to get motivation to continue playing.

I want to continue playing, I love the characters and the story, but it's so hard to level up cards, or get pulls, that it breaks my heart and makes me want to not continue because I know I won't ever get that card I want, that I won't be able to get past this chapter, that I won't be able to finish an event fully because of the system.

It's so obvious they don't care about f2p's because reruns and even some event banners are strictly p2p things. Rerun banners require special keys that are pay-walled, event banners like the anime expo ones or special non-event related ones are pay-walled, THEY'RE ALL PAY-WALLED.

To me it is extremely frustrating to know that the developers don't seem to care about the fan base at all.

I mentioned earlier about the Gacha system, which I find really, REALLY dumb. 100 pulls for a guaranteed SSR? 200 needed for the event SSR? That's so dumb! Even if you were p2p you'd have to have some extreme luck to get an event card before at least 70 (which it's hard to get if you're far in game and f2p). In my experience, all the event cards I have that are SSR's (WHICH IS 2 BTW, ive been playing since idia's groom event and only have TWO EVENT CARDS EVEN WITH CONSTANT GRIND) I had to do over 70-80 pulls for and spent weeks grinding for. Not to mention pity doesn't carry over to other banners.

Speaking of events, I swear to god the events are getting shorter and shorter every time. The Stitch event that just passed? I swear it only lasted 3-4 weeks, banners ended way too quickly for any f2p that wasn't saving to pull without extreme luck to get any SSR card, got forbid the event exclusive ones. I got like 25 pulls during that event and 10 of those were because it was Kalim's birthday. It's extremely dumb and next thing you know it events will be lasting only a week or two and you're probably fucked over.

Anyways, that's basically all I have to say. There are a lot of things that frustrate me, like how they do events and some characters stuff, but I can't bother to put it here because I'm not as pressed about that stuff as I am about the stuff I did talk about.

I'm aware that people probably won't read this, but it's nice to get off my chest y'know? I'm going to continue to play the game, but I'll never play as constantly as I did when I first started because it's so hard to play and find motivation for it anymore.

[coconox]

my 2 cents on the state of whb

i've been contemplating about my thoughts on this game since i never really sat down and processed it, and a month of not playing the game and just keeping up with fandom content/official game news i think i can properly format my words (hopefully idk lol)

if you're looking for a specific section dw i'll properly format everything under the cut so you can just scroll till you find whatever you're looking for (also head's up it's insanely long i'm sorry but kinda not sorry i wanted to just put all my thoughts into one post rather than multiple)

SMALL INTRO

for some context on my experience, i have been playing this game everyday since launch/day 1, i was f2p up until i got juno's card, which i'll talk about later, but just know in advanced that juno was the only case where i've spent money. i uninstalled around the time the announcement was made in regards to no posting full stories of paid content, so almost month ago, and only reinstalled recently to grab certain items to add to the spreadsheet that i've been maintaining since november (aka a month after launch)

i've said it privately to a couple of close friends but i'll say it publicly here: imho, i think they released the game way too early even with the fact that they delayed launch 3 times.

i understand a handleful of bugs are from the fact that the public servers are significantly larger than test servers, but playing this game after the servers kinda stabilized feels like we are the test players, like we're constantly given rough drafts rather than the final copy.

the localization is rough to say the least, but i think i've been so used to it from other gachas that i've played that it didn't really ruin the experience for me,,, except when the text would switch to an entirely different language HJGFDHJGK

from visual bugs to gameplay bugs to voiceline bugs, there's been a lack of communication in terms of what has been fixed and what is still a wip. instead the players just have to "fuck around and find out" in terms of whether something has been fixed or not.

as i continue to state the issues with this game and its direction i'd like to put a disclaimer that i am by no means an expert in any of this stuff lol. i'm just a guy who nerds out over math, spreadsheets, and video games and everything i'll be saying is my personal opinion based on what i've seen/experienced.

THE ISSUE(S)

SOLOMON SEALS AND GACHA

i think the first mistake was them adding solomon seals in the first place. based on what packs in the past looked like, it looked like red keys were originally designed to be for debut characters, but instead they throw a curve ball and add ANOTHER gacha currency that was essentially p2w only up till some point early this year. this ultimately led to there being 2 standard banners, both of which essentially do the same thing except one doesn't have A/B/C-ranks. the fact that now even with realm of seraphim, in order for f2ps to have enough to guarantee with seals, they need to save for a year and a half. that is WAY too long for ONE character. this is of course worst case scenario of needing to hit pity, i'm aware you can get characters early but you should never always expect you'll get early in gacha games, i learned that the hard way during my idk how many years i've been playing gachas lol

i personally think that there's no winning across any of the gacha banners. there's no pity for either of the standards, and debut L/S-ranks have imo too high of a pity for what we're actually receiving per week. we essentially get more or less 1 pull per week in terms of red keys, yellow keys, and seals through dailies/weeklies alone, though of course that can vary cause of the rng key boxes, monthly login rewards, etc.

PANCAKES

there seems to be a general pattern that i've noticed of rather than confronting an issue directly they try to create something new in hoping that fixes the issue instead. an example of that would be the pancake shop.

the old pancake shop was fine as is, we could get a multi for relatively cheap price and get pie boxes everyday (albeit they're rng but pies are pies). what they could've done was add the L-ranks and skip tickets or whatever new thing they wanted to add into that old shop, adjusting the currency wherever necessary. yet instead they just remove the old system entirely and replace it for a new one that no one really asked for? while having the L-ranks in shop are nice, an entirely new system wasn't necessary to make that one relatively small addition. having A+-ranks and lower give gold and books was also not necessary, we have resource stages containing those 2 things and it's very accessible to everyone. what resources we are lacking in however are tears and pies, which are arguably more important than gold and books since those 2 currencies are the core to ascending/lvling characters and their skills.

PIES

i've emailed pb in the past in regards to if there will be other permanent methods for obtaining pies, and their response was holy coin portal and events. those two are NOT stable enough for pie income considering the prices of skills. if there's instances in unholy board where we need to level a character's skills, i'd expect there to be some sort of resource stage that would allow us to get pies so that we can easily obtain that skill level requirement.

"META" GAMEPLAY

i'll explain the quotes in a bit but i do want to put a disclaimer that whb was the first time i've experienced a full on tower defense style gameplay for gachas. i was already familiar with how it works kinda because of neural cloud even though the game as a whole is more like an auto-chess game of sorts, but some story gameplay had tower defense mechanisms and i learned a fair bit from playing that. personally i also haven't played arknights since i'm trying to cut down on the amount of gachas i play but i am aware of its playstyle through friends who like to attempt to drag me into playing it cause of certain characters that i might simp over (*cough flamebringer cough insider cough chongyue cough*)

disclaimer aside, trying to piece together what characters work and what don't genuinely hurts my brain. i put "meta" in quotes because realistically there's only 1: all L-rank light types, ideally at least 1 tank, maybe 1 healer (though a tank can act as both), rest be whatever dps you'd like really (preferably satan considering the fact he can be extremely reliable without his ultimate unlike a few characters). of course, everyone will have a different opinion on what they deem as meta, but that's the general idea i'd personally follow based on what kind of battles have been given to us, what characters are available, etc. the rest tbh are just "cope and seethe" for lack of a better term.

there's a huge type advantage with light and dark types, and i really wish they could buff the other elements more just show they have some spotlight too. i also wish there were more non-light L-ranks. as of making this post, out of the 23 L-rank characters there is currently only 1 non-light L-rank, and it's juno, an L-rank fire marksman.

the part that really "hurts" me the most (don't really know what other word to put here LOL) is the fact that this game is going in a very specific direction of just dps'ing through everything and hope you clear the stage before the enemies kill you.

this game has a huge and imbalanced ratio between dps characters and support characters regardless of element. the fact that we only have 5 healers (NOT including lucifer (victory) considering he's technically a marksman and the healing is from his artifact and not in his skills) and 8 tanks, whereas marksman and close-rangers have twice or thrice the amount is absurd. what pains me more is the fact that for tanks, if you don't have mammon, you're screwed. arguably the best non-mammon option players have that's accessible is bimet. valefor and eligos share the same kit with the fact that their downfall is the possibility that they could be instakilled the second they pop their ult. healers on the other hand are somewhat more lenient. if you don't have lucifer, marbas is your next best, then gamigin (marbas and gamigin can technically be placed interchangeably since their healing differs by 0.1%, it just depends on who you have), then morax, then maybe buer but he only heals 1 unit at a time rather than multiple but i digress. healers still have multiple and very reliable non-L-rank alternatives whilst tanks really only have 1. i really, really hope there's more support units in the future cause man this sucks.

NIGHTMARE PASS

spending $50-$70, on paper, is significantly better than spending ~$400 for a character, and that's really the only "good" thing about it 💀

$50-$70 may feel like nothing to some players, but to a majority, that is a portion of a cost towards food, groceries, rent, etc. basically, i'd assume a majority of people would prioritize surviving than watching pixels on a screen.

i understand at the end of the day pb is running a business, but for kings to be fully locked behind a paywall knowing for a fact that a majority of the player base are 1. casuals/f2ps and 2. are here for the kings is absurd. plus with the fact that typically nightmare pass characters aren't added to standard and aren't always 100% guaranteed to rerun in the future just puts the nail in the coffin for me.

i think it makes more sense for non-kings like juno to be in nightmare pass because it's just additional fun and silly content that arguably won't be tied to the main lore and whatnot, maybe referenced as a silly bit here or there but it'd be more of an easter egg than something important that you absolutely need to know.

personally i bought juno's pass because i love his design, kit, and voice. story was kinda meh for me personally but i really just cared more about the va and gameplay. gameplay-wise, he certainly does not disappoint as a gehenna support unit. but do i regret purchasing him? yes and no. oddly enough this was probably the first i've ever felt guilty in terms of buying something i wanted in a gacha game. yes i regret it in terms of i'm no longer really playing this game anymore, which is unfortunate considering i barely made it through half a year of this game's release. yet at the same time, no i don't regret it because he is a really fun unit. for example, when it's gabriel's rotation in realm of seraphim, juno's, leraye (nostalgia)'s, and leraye's ultimates absolutely DESTROY gabriel in a matter of like <10 or so seconds and it's so satisfying to see. i also just really like his va, scratches a very particular itch in my brain.

anyways before i get sidetracked over appreciating juno, the fundamental flaws of nightmare pass are essentially

you shouldn't need to buy both tiers to get the character. you should realistically need to buy the highest tier and by default it unlocks all previous tiers below it

ui is a bit confusing. i still don't get why f2ps have to unlock parts of nightmare pass that they can't even access/obtain. there should be a clear separation between what f2ps get, what advanced tier gets, and what premium tier gets.

it's too expensive. most bp's i know are ~$10 at the highest tier, though that's considering the fact that bp's i'm familiar with only give cosmetics rather than actual units

from what i've heard through the grapevine, beel (bath) is basically in the same formatting as all the other currently existing bath cards, which are all currently obtainable through gacha. beel has no reason to be in nightmare pass. it genuinely makes no sense as to why pb put him there aside from getting money and that in-turn alienates a majority of the fan base since we can't even view the prologue of card stories if they're a nightmare pass character.

when nightmare pass was first released during christmas, everything was in chaos. the fact that a nightmare pass character needed the other two limited gacha characters gameplay-wise is absurd (mind you, this was before we were given the chance to earn seals through weeklies). everything was too expensive, and rather than an enjoyable christmas event it felt like a "merry christmas, now give us money" kind of situation. i think nightmare pass should not be happening as frequent as it is now. the gap between gabriel and juno was perfectly fine (4 month gap btw), but for a nightmare pass to happen back to back on top of gacha events is too much for both f2ps and p2ws.

the point of buying packs, bp, anything that costs real money in a gacha game is so it makes your gameplay experience easier, paying shouldn't be the main component of your game. personally based on what i've experienced through playing gacha games you should theoretically be able to pull for almost every character on debut just by playing dailies/weeklies/events, yet here we get a bit over a multi per patch (this includes playing realm of seraphim).

DICTATING FANDOM INTERACTIONS

i wholeheartedly believe a fandom is what keeps a game alive. a hindrance to the fan base is a hindrance to the game, which can be seen with the aftermath of pb announcing that legal action will be taken if full stories of paid content are shared publicly. while i understand from a business standpoint that pb would want to enforce the "no sharing full story" thing for paid content since they want players to yk, buy the card, like i mentioned in the previous section, the majority of the player base just cannot afford it.

the people who posted full stories wanted to share to those who cannot afford it, some people may not want only tidbits of the story but rather the whole context, especially those who enjoy dissecting character lore but don't have the irl funds to fully experience it themselves. some people may even want to archive it, cause honestly no one knows how long this game will stay up and we want to archive story so that it's something we can easily look back on. to essentially make players borderline terrified on trying to figure out whether or not it's ok to publicly post stuff in relation to any sort of story content is absurd.

there is also that loophole of what is defined as a paid story. when events end and get put behind a paywall, does that now count as paid story or is that still ok? what about debut L-ranks that are behind seals and there's a 3 month downtime till they're added to standard? or is it just referring to nightmare pass characters? paid stories in the context of the state of the game right now is insanely broad, it's practically at least 50% of this game (i'm exaggerating (or maybe not i wouldn't be surprised if that was actually the case)).

i understand no datamining, while it technically speaking isn't illegal, it's disrespectful to the devs, but a lot of these call to action methods they're announcing are rather extreme imo.

with the most recent cards either being put to standard 3 months after their banner ends or flat out paywalled and not 100% guaranteed to have a rerun, story content as of late has been very sparse. what people want most is a main story update, which we were originally promised to be updated every 3 months and it is now month 6 and we still have nothing.

EVENTS AND EVENT STORIES

event stories being locked behind a paywall after the event ends is probably the first time i've ever seen a gacha game do this. most of the gachas i've played either don't archive event story at all and just rerun it every year, don't rerun or archive the event at all (i.e. if you miss it, cope and seethe), or they archive it for FREE. it feels insanely greedy how EVERY event story needs payment if you ever want to backread an old event.

what also concerns me is the fact like instances like gamigin's event or beleth's event carry so much lore for their respective region and that may never show up in main story, which then screws new players over in not knowing the full context behind every region. events like minhyeok's or bimet's are fine in the sense that it doesn't carry that much lore in comparison to the more recent events. the first few events were like silly banter and getting to know a bit more about the cast.

also changing the event shop from daily pies to a set limit per account was an awful choice it just emphasizes my point earlier of how unstable obtaining pies are in this game.

FULFILLING PROMISES

i think while it was a smart move to list what's gonna be implemented throughout the year, they shouldn't have stated deadlines on when they're doing so.

the following are the things that still aren't implemented yet as of making this post:

new daily chats (expected within february)

friends system (expected within march)

birthday system (more specifically celebrating your bday) (expected within april)

new main story chapter (new chapter expected every 3 months)

if pb were to just say "here's what to expect in 2024" and NOT give specific months, that's fine, but giving these specific months sets an expectation that they would complete it within that timeframe. main story for example is probably the one people have been anticipating the most. by now as of july, if we were to follow the expectation pb gave us, we would currently be on chapter 7, or at the very least chapter 7 would've been released some time this month. we have not even gotten chapter 6 yet. chapter 5 was released in january. it has been 6 months since the last main story update. failing to meet these timeframes will make people upset, because it was mentioned in the announcement that it's 1. a promise (i hope i'm not the only one that takes promises seriously) and 2. in bold yellow text, "what we can realistically expect to see in 2024." the only promises that were fulfilled on-time were the ones in january, the rest have been delayed by at least a month. if you're giving a timeline of what's happening, announce if there's any changes to that timeline, because not doing so will make players believe you were lying to them even though you probably aren't and are instead just falling behind schedule.

i think what hurts more to me is the fact that they aren't publicly communicating these delays. it shouldn't be our responsibility to find out why or when something isn't happening within the timeframe they promised (e.g. by emailing them), it should be up to the devs to communicate that publicly to us. i'm not saying they should overshare what's going on behind the scenes, it can simply just be a simple announcement of "hey, we're very sorry but we're having some technical difficulties with this certain feature and we need more time. here is some compensation in the meantime, thank you for your patience and again, we're very sorry." it's that simple.

FINAL THOUGHTS

i mentioned back in my intro that i feel like this game was released too early purely because the fundamentals of making a bare minimum decent gacha game are just not there. if every patch update has people complaining on what's just recently been added/removed, you're not fully listening to what the audience wants. while i understand pb is a small business, a business is still a business regardless of size and criticism/feedback is necessary especially in a game dev setting.

i've followed this game's news ever since it was teased, which was december of 2022, i've lurked/participated in the fandom (on here at least) ever since september of 2023. i've felt a rollercoaster of thoughts and emotions of "omg this is so great" to "why is this even a feature," hoping that over time the game would get better, but the only thing that's improved was server stability (and even that's still a bit rocky 💀).

a huge part of my stay was just being a lurker in the fandom. i genuinely appreciate all the creatives who fulfill asked prompts of characters, make ocs, fanart, write theories, reactions + many more. i love seeing other people's works/opinions and having just a lively fandom made it all more fun.

but at this point this game is just not for me. i've really only stuck around to read mammon's lore but since main story hasn't been updated in 6 months i'll really only chime back in when there's finally an update. it still amazes me to this day that my patience lasted this long. i think i've covered everything i wanted to cover but my memory is swiss cheese so if i forgot something,,, woops 💀

as for the future of the spreadsheet for those who check back on it, it's still being managed by myself and windy, who has been a huge help since day 1 of creating the build lists and team comps and i honestly can't thank her enough for also enduring this pain of a game with me as we've worked on this spreadsheet together hgjdfgh (luv u bestie 🫶). though it's written in the narrative that both of us will eventually quit updating it entirely if this game persists on not having any signs of improvement. when that day comes i'll make sure to post an announcement about it.

as for myself i'm probably still gonna lurk in the fandom/keep an eye out on game news. i doubt i'll be making any fanart anymore unless if i really have the motivation/boredom for it, but currently i'm revamping the "aesthetics" of this account so nothing's really set in stone. maybe i'll make a few whb rambles here or there if some game news really irks me but for the most part i've already been in the process of moving on to other things.

if you've stuck around this long to read this mess of a post, thank you for sticking around and have a cookie, you deserve it 🫴🍪

[glossglamour]

The Doctor is in the House: A 2011 Article on House M.D.

BY SHERI LEVINE, POSTMEDIA NEWS NOVEMBER 17, 2011

LOS ANGELES - Paging Dr. House. After eight years, Hugh Laurie is still keeping House's heart beating. And while the medical mysteries may serve as plots for the long-running medical drama, it's Laurie's alter ego, the man himself, Dr. Gregory House, who keeps people tuning in for their weekly fix.

Laurie, who made a name for himself as a comedic actor in his native England, was relatively unknown to North American audiences when House first aired. Of course, that's no longer the case. The multi-talented Laurie -- who recently released a fine album of New Orleans-inspired blues music -- has become a huge star across the pond, as well as one of the highest-paid actors on TV.

"I highly doubt that," says a modest Laurie, who actually seems embarrassed by the very notion that he would rank so high on the actors' payroll. Clearly, he doesn't take his good fortune for granted. Laurie calls himself "a lottery winner" with the great success he's achieved on House.

Dressed casually in a blue, button-down shirt, black pants and black and white sneakers, or trainers (as the Brits would say), Laurie rests his cappuccino cup and saucer on the table in front of him. The charismatic Englishman playfully takes on the group of international journalists who have invaded his turf.

In person, the affable Laurie smiles easily, laughs frequently and seems to never be at a loss for a witty response or anecdote. He is adorably charming, with piercing, blue eyes -- an intense blue not picked up on camera.

It's oddly amusing to see the man -- who plays such a cynical, depressive, perpetually grumpy person, week in and week out -- so happy. Of course, that's the mark of any good actor. But as creator and executive producer, Canadian David Shore, says: "He didn't become House, he WAS House."

Laurie's strong comedic roots may have been what resonated so strongly with Shore upon seeing Laurie's audition tape.

"I venture to guess that, actually, that's part of the reason that I'm here," says Laurie. "Unless this character had a sort of grace and a wit about him, he would be just too much of a pain in the ass, really. The elegance of the way his mind works, and the speed at which it works, is part of his charm, if he has any. Now, lots of people would say he doesn't have any. I disagree. I find him immensely charming.

"I'm not sure I would put up with him as a best friend, but I do find him endlessly entertaining. And I find . . . the references he draws on, the way he seeks out people's weaknesses in such a cruel and horrible way, I find he does at least do it with wit."

House has become an iconic character, largely due to Laurie's flawless portrayal of a brilliant doctor with a horrible bedside manner whose asinine qualities are overshadowed by his brilliance. He's not really an ass, he just acts like one . . . a lot.

The antithesis of House is his best friend, Dr. James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard). One might even go so far as to say it's their friendship that humanizes House, and is a big part in sustaining the show's success.

"One of the things I'm proudest of in the show is that relationship," says Shore. "I think that it's something you don't see on TV very often -- the male friendship explored," he says.

Leonard weighs in: "His actions are what count. It's the only relationship on the show that's not tied to any employment. I don't work for him and he doesn't work for me, and it's not true of any other character on the show. So we're the only two characters that have actually chosen to be together."

The onscreen pals are also good friends off-screen, a likely contributing factor to the genuine House-Wilson dynamic.

"Well, now that we've stopped sleeping together, it's a lot more comfortable in every way, physically, as well," jokes Leonard. "I don't know. He's very complicated. He's a very strange guy. He's very funny. He's like most of the people I like in my life: tortured, miserable, and just a pain in the ass," Leonard says (referring to Laurie, not House, just in case you were confused).

As to whether this is the show's last season, David Shore says he's undecided.

"I'm not being coy, I'm just honestly not that well ordered," admits Shore. "I would love to and I would hate to (continue the show). It's been a wonderful opportunity for me. It's just been amazing on so many different levels, and I'm continuing to find new and interesting things to do with it. But it's been eight years. It's a long time to do a show. And so I really am not sure what's going to happen."

In the end, Shore says the show is ultimately about "trying to change, but we inevitably fail."

"But if we don't keep trying to change, we're just going to slide completely backwards. I think House would like to be the type of person who could do things differently. But he's not, and he will never (be)."

What does this mean for the fate of Dr. Gregory House?

"I'm not going to change his character for the end of the show," says Shore. "It may not be a miserable ending, but (House) is not going to ride off into the sunset with love."

--- (source) ---

this one surprisingly only took me like twenty minutes to find. my favourite part is when shore says that house is not going to ride off into the sunset with love and yet .

[ikuudo]

SOL JINHAO’S ALTERNATIVE LORE

warning: long post + infodump

This is Jinhao’s alternative lore where if he was born under normal circumstances(?) and have not been involved with the Order of Aesir (yet)

CHILDHOOD:

- He was left on the doorstep of an orphanage when he was a baby. At age 11, he meets Andre Lai (the person with spiky hair) and became best friends with him.

- Andre ended up in the orphanage because his village was raided by pirates, leaving him as the only survivor.

- Both decided to join the Grand Navy when they were kids.

childhood doodles:

GRAND NAVY:

Both joined the Grand Navy at age 18 (around the time the in-game story starts)

In this au, Jinhao is 21 y.o while Andre is 22 y.o (in the grand navy for 3 years since the start the original lore)

Andre is largely respected among his peers as he is one of the few that has managed to climb up the navy ranks without magic

Both are popular among their colleagues: Jinhao is seen as a nice guy to talk to, while Andre is seen as a reliable senior (although they find him scary sometimes)

They’re mostly seen together outside of missions/off-duty: either doing paperwork, fishing, or just strolling around town outside HQ like normal citizens (occasionally gets ambushed by criminals looking to collect their bounty placed on them by the Assassins).

EXTRA INFO (random info bout their time in the navy):

Jinhao’s nails are always painted different colours every week cus he joins his female juniors during their weekly manicure sessions

(Andre gets forced by Jinhao to join in the manicure session, so he always wears full gloves to cover up the painted nails cus he finds it embarrassing.)

They have this competition thing where they try to catch the largest fish they can find, and whoever has the biggest fish by the end of the competition wins.

The fish competition started since they were kids and it has since become a tradition for them to do this once in awhile.

Current largest fish record: COLOSSAL SQUID (caught by Andre)

author's note: feel free to ask any questions regarding their lore or the character themselves

[fablestudios]

This is Marshal, he is baby.

This lil bean’s been taking over my head recently, so character rant below

I'll probably be posting a character rant weekly, not that I'm making a new character weekly but I'd like to share all of them eventually. Plus, it keeps things interesting around here.

Name: Marshal Anand

Nickname: Mar, Marsh (ik how that sounds, shut up, I think it’s cute)

Age: early 20s

Pronouns: he/him

Sexuality: Aro/ace

Okay, ranting, uhhhhh-

Some basic info that I have bc I built this world but most people won’t know:

The clothes Marshal is wearing in the bottom right and left pictures are his soldiers’ uniform. Vamore, the kingdom in which he is a soldier, has this teal color all over their palace. The basic uniform is the teal vest, and shirt, gloves, and pants of whatever color their magic form is. Nickolas’s uniform is slightly different because he is Marshal’s superior.

Alright, magic forms. Magic in present-day Ismaria has seven forms, each a different color of the rainbow (think roy g biv). People are typically born with one magic form, and practicing more than that is seen as a curse. However, it is possible, and with enough balance, will not physically harm the body. Without balance, the individual will start to wither away.

Back to this little ray of sunshine.

Marshal has his widowed mother for family. He grew up an only child and his father died soon after he enlisted as a soldier. His mother is a sweet lady who I’m gonna name Sasha. Sasha struggles financially because Vamore is classist, and Marshal does his best to support her (part of the reason why he became a soldier).

Becoming a soldier met Marshal didn’t have to pay for a place to live or food on the table, he pretty much lived within the castle’s borders, so he was able to send most of the money he received to his mother.

Mar enjoys being a soldier. Though his fighting style involves more defense than offense, he managed to rise quite high in the ranks, being a lieutenant right below Nickolas’s rank as captain.

Fighting style, uh…Not all soldiers have the default fighter magic form (red). As you can see from the stuff above, Marshal’s magic is actually orange. This magic involves a lot of foresight, seeing the future, present, and past. How does Marshal use this in fighting, you ask?

Well after he bonded with his magic, it appeared in the form of a staff, the weapon he grew up using. What I have right now is he channels a lot of negative energy through the staff that shows whoever it touches (other than himself) their worst possible death. Fun, right? He changes this up when he’s training, just messing with people, or just because he’s bored. Sometimes it’ll show you the thing that’s about to happen in 3 seconds, which usually has some pretty hysterical outcomes.

Though he finds much joy in being amongst his fellow soldiers and fighting, Marshal also longs for the quiet career of an author. He’s been working on it for quite a while too, having planned out many of his own stories, but finding the time to work on them is harder than you’d think. He hopes to, after serving as long as he can as a soldier, settle down and focus more on his novels.

Uh, aaaaa, random lore bits.

Marshal wears his hair back in that little headband(?) because the Vamorian army typically requires you to cut you hair super short (visibility issues), but he didn’t want to do that and found another way. You might notice that Nick doesn’t have his hair cut short either, and that’s for another reason that I’ll hopefully discuss in future. (Someone scream at me if I forget because it’s wholesome af)

Uhh, Oh, I haven’t discussed Marshal’s actual personality.

Marshal’s a sunshine character. Think Frankie from Castoff or Rapunzel. Always finds a way to lighten the scene or put things in a bright light, cares for the people around him, makes friends easily. He enjoys joking around with his friends and having a good time, even if his occupation involves training for a possible (and upcoming…..) war. He wants to be able to do everything: help his mom, be a good soldier, write his novels, spend time with his close friend, and everything else!…but life isn’t going to make it so easy for him.

Oh yeah, circling back to Marshal’s magic. Remember how I spent some time detailing what happens if you practice two magics? Marshal practices the magic form of messages (purple/violet) on the side of foreseeing. Of course, he has to keep this hidden, but he’s found great ways of implementing this into his fighting style, such as sending small messages to the minds of his opponents, saying such things as “miss”, “retreat”, and stuff like that. This has actually proven quite useful as often the opponent will mistake Marshal’s message for their own internal monologue. Marshal’s magic mixing practice has not taken a tole on his body as he learned very quickly to bond with this new magic and help it flourish into the way his magic is in present day.

Now, as to who taught him to bond with both magics and implement it naturally, that credit would go to the kindly king's advisor, Donna. She and Marshal share a close mother/son bond. When Marshal joined the guard at 16, Donna basically saw that he was struggling emotionally and helped him through the years.

The scar across the bridge of Marshal's nose could've been a scrape in the streets when he was younger or one from his early soldier days. To be honest he doesn't really know either.

Uhh, well I’ve just given y’all a lot of random not useful info. Marshal’s a side character in Nick’s side story, by the way. They’re close friends, despite one being stoic and the other extremely expressive, and have a very balanced and healthy friendship that only grows stronger throughout Nickolas’s side story.

Anyways, feel free to ask questions about my world and characters and stuff and uhh…thanks for reading through my messy rambles.

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

My weekly roundup CW 22

I try to write down my thoughts after watching stuff to create a little weekly ranking in relation to the previous week on my, most of the times, quiet sundays (and because I love lists!). These are just my personal opinions and preferences based on the feeling I got watching the episodes.

And yes, this will contain spoilers!

Step by Step was on a hiatus this week, so it doesn't come up in this ranking :)

The award for the best character this week goes to:

→ 1. The Day I Loved You (10/10 Final)

The episode with the ending. It's prom night and of course Nikko doesn't make it in time. But Eli and Justin wouldn't be the two great guys who love Nikko more than anything if they hadn't prepared something. And that is to just bring the prom to Nikko's house and Eli gives him the prom dance and they are prom king and king. And all of that would be cheesy to no end under normal circumstances, but it's spot on here. Where the series lost me a bit was the ending. Eli gets accepted to an Ivy League university and goes to the US to be with Nikko. It's totally romantic and all at first. But it was a little too much for me. I was set on a sad ending because it's realistic. Nikko is going to die sooner or later from his illness, and the way he's been, he wouldn't want Eli to accompany him through that process. He would want Eli to go his own way, to find his little happiness on earth. That's just my personal feeling and what I took from Nikko's character and maybe personal experience also plays a small role here. With such topics I am then nevertheless somewhat more for realism at the end. This is only a small drop on the hot stone and has in the end no influence in the fact that it was simply a quite wonderful series! One of the best I've seen so far. Very wholesome.

↑ 2. Be My Favorite (2/10)

The episode with the most surprising ending.

Kawi is the embodiment of all people with a fragile self-esteem and Pisaeng is the voice that we don't like to listen to, that we hardly believe, but that simply speaks the truth. All the shortcomings Kawi thinks he sees in himself exist only in his head, and out there are people who want to be his friends because of who he is. Pisaeng wants to be his friend, even if Kawi can't understand that. But that's not what friendships are about. You don't get to decide why a person wants to be friends with you or what they see in you that you might not see yourself. Your friend sees something in you that helps himself, that gives him confidence, that is valuable to him. And shit, this show makes me cry simply because Kawi represents all my insecurities and my thoughts in my head, which I also have when I wonder why people want to be friends with me when I am just the way I am, with all my shortcomings and insecurities. I thought the conversations Kawi and Pisaeng had in the park and in Kawi's room were so wonderful. And I like that Kawi can travel back and forth in the timelines. I'm a curious bitch…this series satisfies my curiosity a lot! And it provides good humorous moments. And just endings like this one…Where you just sit there and wonder, what the hell happened between you in all this time? I'm really taken with it.

→ 3. La Pluie (6/12)

The episode of the roller coaster of emotions. First hot, then confused and shy, then I was briefly confused, then suddenly sweet again and then at the end I thought only Nope… So first Patts and Saengtai make out on the floor after Patts had showered - he could have joined him in the shower afterwards - I have nothing against the make out scene, it was aesthetically very pleasing, how it was built up, how the desire slowly increased, how the glasses flew and the emotions were released, just a very nice scene. And after that, Saengtai was shy as hell. I mean yeah, you can be a bit shy after something like that, but Patts was already trying to comfort him a bit and yet Saengtai is quite tense in his presence. I don't know, this hot and cold is a bit too much for me. But well, that's personal preference here. And in the end, Saengtai comes along on the trip and everything in my little heart was good again. Well, until Lomfon showed up and has this look on him and Saengtai kind of dives into that look and I can't see through what's going on in his head. And then he agreed to go out to dinner with him…argh! I don't like it here. So Patts, mark your territory! Saengtai is yours!

↑ 4. Our Dining Table (9/10)

The episode that felt very wholesome. There's my wholesome series back again! The dad is just the best! And Yutaka confessed his feelings to Minoru? Though in a very clumsy approach, but still! And it was sweet! And finally they can talk to each other again and be happy and when Yutaka was with his family and had the conversation with his brother, I shed a little tear! That was urgently necessary this conversation. Even if he himself has found his place in life and his own family, so to speak, he always has a place there and that's nice. An all-around nice episode.

↑ 5. My Story (8/10)

The episode of the (re)unions. Fifth and Zeke finally got to talk about what they actually are and how they feel about each other and my heart wanted to burst with sweetness! So no drama here this week, just pure love. It was about time!

And our main couple? Things were heating up here. First Sky was romanced by his boss, who had to confess her feelings to him. What Sky then very nicely and considerately rejected. But then it seems that he finally clicked and went back to Win to spend a hot night with him. I have to say, one of the best first kisses I've seen so far, because there was so much insecurity and caution in it, that they approached each other slowly and didn't just press lips to lips. I thought it was really good. Otherwise, my heart was befuddled by two love confessions before and I may have been a bit blinded.

→ 6. The Luminous Solution (2/6)

The episode with the dream sequences Okay, who the hell is this Time and what is he up to? I just see two possible cheating paths in my mind's eye: Thana and Time and the doctor and this one friend of his who flirts so openly with our little doctor, even though he knows the doctor is in a long-term relationship. He who has such friends does not need an enemy. The dream sequences looked very aggressive, why did they have to be so aggressive with each other? Okay, maybe that's their thing, but even the facial expressions didn't look like, "now I'm going to spank you", but more like "I'm going to really beat you up"…. And Mai and Ryou? They're getting closer, while the best friend doesn't like it at all. Mai is perhaps a bit pushy and the best friend too possessive. And Ryou stands in the middle grinning silly. I think it's quite cute.

↑ 7. Naked Dining (8/12)

The episode with the What the Fucks. What the fuck is going on here? First all the misunderstandings and not listening properly or articulate and then at the end of the confession of the colleague, although she knows exactly that something is developing between Mahiro and Souta. A blind man with a cane could see that! Argh…this story makes me angry! Why does such a stupid drama have to be built into it and why did no one listen to the other? And why did I always call Souta Futa before? Questions that don't seem to have answers. But seriously, this jumping to conclusions that arise in one's own mind I find insanely annoying. I draw such conclusions myself, which is why I welcome it in my environment when people simply speak to me clearly and do not keep opinions behind the tree. To then see it repeated in a series that has actually been very good so far just upsets me a bit. Mahiro is so convinced that Souta doesn't actually like him and yes, I agree with him, the attempt with the kiss, that was really stupid…you should know before a kiss if you really want to kiss the person (although sometimes a kiss can be so bad that you spontaneously lose interest in the person - speaking from my own experience). And Souta should try to express his thoughts more clearly, so that there is not so much room for interpretation. And then Souta runs to Mahiro to tell him not to jump to conclusions, sees him embracing his colleague, and jumps to those damn conclusions himself and runs away dejected….AAAAHHHHH!

↑ 8. Our Skyy 2 (13+14/16)

The episodes with the rehashed scenes. I'm having a hard time liking the second Bad Buddy episode. I still found the first one quite entertaining. I would have found it more interesting to see more of them hiding their relationship from the friends, especially since the friend groups are getting along and hanging out now. So why couldn't they at least pretend to like each other a little bit, you don't always have to push and hit right away. But when it collided with A Tale Of Thousand Stars, my two hearts collided inside me. The series are not for me to mix. The dynamics and comedy are so different that by the end it was really hard for me to feel sympathy for anyone. I love Bad Buddy and I love A Tale Of Thousand Stars even more. However, Phupha is drawn so unlikable here that I have a hard time liking him. He was a loving loner who would have moved mountains for his friends and those he loves. Why he doesn't want to travel to Bangkok now to celebrate Tian's birthday with his family is a mystery to me. Even if he doesn't like people, he would have done that for Tian. I feel like they tried to make ATOTS match the dynamic to Bad Buddy and it doesn't work for me. Also, all the Easter Eggs from the original series ATOTS that have now been rehashed just don't taste right. The iconic mosquito net scene, for example. It is iconic because it was at the very beginning of the relationship and there was no kiss, but you could feel the attraction and tension of the two across the screen. It doesn't need to be humorously analyzed, whether they kissed or not. The scene with the T-shirt was more of a slapstick than anything else and I didn't find it funny and I don't want to think about it again...

[miminmimikyu]

Hearing that PPPPPP has been cancelled is making me feel so sad and so angry. It's not the first time Jump axed one of my faves (RIP Mitama, Magu-chan, Agravity boys...) But this one really stings.

PPPPPP was a real gem among the current lineup-- unconventional and with so much potential. Of course an introspective story about classical music was never going to be the number one series in the home of the battle manga. But it took some other Jump staples as a starting point (the school setting, the mediocre main character persevering through effort, friendship and (piano) battles) and turned it on its head-- using beautiful silent panelling to convey sound! And convey complex emotions! Gently twisting reality and portraying devastating loss by making chapters 61-64 feel off and dreamlike. Losing competitions but winning the bigger fight: helping his siblings one by one by showing them kindness and love. A manga you'd expect in a magazine like Harta, or published alongside Totsukuni no Shoujo.. but read by thousands in Shonen Jump!

Yes they took a risk but you'd think that PPPPPP did enough to prove its value in Jump during its 70 chapter run: Despite not scoring high in weekly rankings, the volumes sold well (350.000 for 7 volumes in one year is not bad!!), it's been recommended by other mangaka (including Shiro Usazaki, artist of Act-Age), it ended up on a few lists of manga to watch out for (THIS MONTH placed #10 in the Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2023). It was by no means an unpopular or bad manga! It did not deserve to be cancelled like this. It's not even moving magazines or to Jump+. Not getting a long epilogue chapter in Giga or online. Not getting extra chapters in the final volume. Just an axe.

This story deserved a proper ending. No way Lucky is getting his catharsis in one 24 page chapter. No way are we going to gain insight into Gakuon's mind. We won't get proper reconciliation between the siblings. Find out how Don and Shikato played the piano, their relationship with Lucky. Or see what happens to Lucky's friends who have been deciding on their own futures.

I can only commend Mapollo 3 for still giving us so much in those last few chapters. I don't know how much notice he was given before the axe, but I am thankful that we got to meet Don and Shikato and got Dada's flashback. Shikato's creepy, dissolving smile and the "average Gakuon fantasy" two page spread will be seared into my brain for a whille.

For us readers, for a few days more, Lucky is still lying in that graveyard with Gakuon gazing silently at his unconscious body. It seems like a cruel, poetic coincidence that actually feels fitting for this manga. I hope chapter 70 takes us back there, so we can say goodbye to Lucky, and Mapollo 3's quietly captivating story.

[invisiblegarters]

Only Friends Ranking - Ep 3

Just accept that this is going to be a weekly thing, self. Because these mfers keep making me switch it up. I can't even pretend to be annoyed, tbh.

Characters (Most to Least Fave atm)

Boston - not this motherfucker out here doing the most. And not me genuinely not knowing where the truth ends and the lie begins. If it does. Because honestly? Resetting his own virginity sounds exactly like something Mew would do, especially if Ray was too drunk to remember that it ever happened. As far as Mew knows it was just the two of them - it's not like he suspected Boston was being a creep and recording them - and however he felt or feels about Ray it clearly suits him to pretend nothing ever happened. I would fully believe they did have sex, tbh. And I would fully believe it of Boston to hold onto the evidence and play along as if he didn't know for his own ends, until he has a good time to pull it out (like he literally said Mew is a virgin who can't drive to Top in ep 1). I can't even be mad at him for it. I'm too busy cackling with unholy glee. Whatever games everyone is playing, Boston is the one winning at the moment.

Nick - Except this dude right here is now going to be the one in a position to fuck shit up. This dude is set up to go full on insane and a part of me can't wait. Personally, I hope he uses it to blackmail Boston into exclusivity. Why? My own amusement, mostly. I hope he does that and Boston can't do anything but comply (because he does seem absolutely terrified of Mew actually finding out - which is how we all should know that what he's doing probably has very little to do with Mew and much more to do with Boston and Boston's hangups about himself). And then when he finally gets Boston out of his system he should send the file to Mew. As a final goodbye. Yep, he's shady, we knew he was shady, this comes as no surprise to me. Might as well use what he has to get something of what he wants until he can find something or someone new to fixate on.

Sand - I never thought I'd demote him but I'm kind of bored. Whatever I wanted from him, I'm not getting it. I swear to god if he doesn't pick up a baseball bat at some point...but yes, he's just not giving me what I want and that's fine, not every character can be for me. I just feel currently, in ep three, like they gave him the most bland, almost predictable edit: he's gonna fall for Ray's shit despite himself, he probably had an ex that Top fucked and he hates him good for it, he probably had a parent (my guess is dad) who drove drunk or was killed by a drunk driver and now he has trauma surrounding it, he's going to put up with Ray and be jealous of Mew and probably cry from ep 5 on but hey, the good part is that this edit more than likely means that he has the best chance of getting out of this heartbroken but not in prison or dead. Just don't get in a car with Ray again.

There are two things that that kept him in the third spot today and not further down for the severe crime of disappointing me: the first was flipping off Top. That was hilarious. Even though I fully expect the problems between them to be about an ex and not that they are exes (I swear to god my poor bingo card is just gonna have one thing crossed out by the time this show ends; this hurts me why do you have to kill all my TopSand exes dreams, show? Why do you hate fun?), that was a great interaction and I want more. The second is that there are still times when he's looking at Ray that I don't see fondness, reluctant or otherwise. I see a man assessing how likely it is that the animal in front of him is going to bite. But more and more I am beginning to think I'm delusional because the guarded, emotionally unavailable man I sometimes think I see in Sand is not the one I'm getting in scenes like one in the car after the party (actually he was so smiley and easy in that scene I at first thought he was drunk. Have some pride, dude. I know you're twenty two and dumb but yeesh).

So yes. Three because he made me laugh and because I've still got the clown shoes on, if not the facepaint and orange wig.

Mew - I still think he's being manipulative, but not at Top this ep. I don't think it was coincidence that every time Ray's attention strayed from him this ep, he was right there to give him some encouragement. Ray might have been drunk when he confessed to Mew two years ago (and I'm betting he was, it's his whole thing), but you better believe Mew remembers, and I get the impression that for whatever reason - genuine feeling, wanting to be special, boredom, etc - Mew very very much wants to make sure that Ray never really looks away from him. Part of me wonders if he is kinda into him but he also knows what a bad decision he is, so he's waiting for Ray to clean himself up or for someone else to do the work to help Ray clean himself up (hi, Sand!) before he swoops in to claim the well-adjusted person that's left. If so, kudos dude. I mean that. Because the one thing that tends to be true about the fixer uppers is that they rarely stay with the person who puts in the work.

Even with that though, Mew fell flat for me this ep. And frankly I will be a bit annoyed if it turns out that he isn't actually a virgin, not because I think his virginity is Important but because I liked the idea of a virgin being as sexually confident as he is.

But also if he slept with Ray his whole speech in ep one to Top about how he'd get if he slept with him is taking on a whole new light. Just putting that out there.

That said, I do not think that the call to Ray was part of that manipulation, unless it's manipulative to know which person will come help you no matter what. I'd have called Ray too. He's the only one of Mew's friends who will drop any and everything for him, and a tipsy dude needs to sleep. In all fairness he tried Top first (foreshadowing for endgame, maybe?)

Top - He will get a pass from me on the anger if and only if it turned out that Mew and Ray actually fucked and I will tell you why. Because I would be furious too, but not about the virginity thing. Or Ray being the one he slept with. I would be furious because Mew has been harping on honesty this entire time while lying to him about this thing, this thing that he's actually using as both shield and weapon in their little battle of wills. Sure, Top wants to conquer the virgin or whatever and that's weird but I'm not gonna fixate on it because I already know how people get about virgins, especially when they start to get into their twenties (it's always either being almost afraid like virginity is catching or fixating on being the one to take it like it's a raffle prize), but for me personally the lying while demanding honesty is the thing. And Mew does wield his virgin status like a weapon.

But here's the thing. If he isn't. If Boston isn't lying his ass off or manipulating a situation to seem like something it isn't. If he in fact did sleep with Ray two years ago and then just decided to pretend otherwise because as far as he knew no one was the wiser. Now Top knows. He knows that Mew is a liar and that he's not above telling the kind of lies that can break things.

He's been mostly playing by Mew's rules. But if all of that is true...he won't be anymore. And that's where Mew's gonna get way out of his depth. Because as manipulative as Mew can be, I definitely think Top is better when it comes to this kind of game.

The reason he is so low is because he knows better than to just trust Boston's word. He should have asked, or done something else, anything else but just trust that Boston wasn't being a manipulative turd. He knows Boston wants him, he knows that he's got a ruthless streak. And he mostly went to him in the end because he was mad Mew put him off again. It's also because if Boston didn't show him a full on sex tape, then he's not only stupid but he's entitled. A kiss two years ago is nothing. A love confession two years ago is nothing. Hell, sex two years ago is nothing, if it weren't for the lying.

but at least he's not as low as

Ray - I keep seeing that Ray doesn't know what he's doing, following Sand around and begging him for time and attention constantly. Yes he fucking does. He just doesn't care. He's exactly like Boston, only I will give him that he isn't trying to pretend that he's after more than he is to keep Sand around. Sand's big, beautiful, dumb head is doing most of the work there.

Sand is convenient and fun now. Doesn't ask him for anything and lets him basically get away with being a total dick with a smile and a shake of the head. Of course Ray likes him and wants to be around him. But wait until Sand stops being convenient. As all people eventually do.

But no, I don't blame him for picking up Mew's call mid makeout or for leaving Sand to go to him. I wouldn't even if it wasn't that Mew was tipsy and didn't have his key. The dude has said over and over again that he just wants sex. He's given no indication he's going to give anything else - oh, he'll happily demand and take more from Sand for sure, because he's selfish and he doesn't think past his own immediate pleasure when it comes to him - but he's not offering himself. That was never on the table,

He's low because he annoys me. And because I do actually think that he sees that Sand likes him more than he's willing to reciprocate, but he just flat out doesn't care enough about Sand to care if he hurts himself over it. Ray wants what he wants, and if Sand ever even hints that what Ray wants isn't enough for him Ray will throw their FWB status in his face so hard it'll rattle his teeth. We've already seen him do it more than once here, and Sand wasn't even asking for more, just trying to warn Ray how he was coming off!

He'll leave Sand for Mew again, too. Mark my words. It'll happen over and over until Sand (hopefully) finally gets it through his gorgeous skull that he's fighting a battle he can only lose and puts and end to it (and then Ray will probably have a rich kid tantrum about it because his toys aren't allowed to decide he no longer gets to play with them). And then when you throw his alcohol issues into the mix...

I have a feeling Ray saw his only time above the low end of this list last week. It was a good run. I am still delighted that I aggressively dislike this character though. Between this and Kang from Dangerous Romance this is apparently my era to dislike characters played by some of my favorite actors and I am living.

I am not even putting my girl Chueam on the list because she had like four lines this week. But hey, now we know Title is playing her bro! I was wondering when he would show up. And I wonder if he still has some connection to Sand, since he did in that one chart Jojo posted forever and a year ago (I am also wondering if Yo is related to them as well - big sis?)

Relationships

The only relationships I am interested in this week are the ones we don't know much about. Top and Sand, Nick and Sand, Sand and Boston. Kinda sorta Ray and Mew in that I really want to know if they did the do or not (that they will eventually smash is taken as read by me, but I am curious if it happened before too), and whether Mew's apparent disinterest is real or he's just waiting for Ray to get his shit together to be the kind of boyfriend Mew wants.

But if I had to pick an "established" couple (insofar as any of these guys are established, lol), I think I'm most interested in Boston and Nick right now. Least interested in Ray and Sand, but that's par for the course.

Top and Mew I expect to fight Nick and Boston for the number one spot next Sat.

In Conclusion

We're getting some real mess and I for one couldn't be happier. Full speed ahead on the messy train, Nick come on out and go hogwild. Give our boy Boston a run for his money.

I expect we won't see fallout from the car event in the messy olympics for an episode or two. Mew and Top gotta work through the Ray issue (or pretend to), and they both have to settle back into believing that they have the other one right where they want them (or, maybe, actually start to like each other). Nick has to decide what he's gonna do and how much havoc he wants to wreak (my guess is he'll let Boston or Sand talk him into sitting on it for a while, if Boston finds out. But that won't laaaaast). Ray has to maneuver Sand around his own wariness (shouldn't take long) and into the pale imitation of what he really wants with someone else.

They've all gotta get comfortable. But not too comfortable. What would be the fun in that?

[shortpplfedup]

Only Friends Character Rankings Episode 1

THE MESSY MESS IS HERE! Here's the week's runners and riders.

1. Nick

It's with one-year warranty. If there's a problem again, drop it here anytime.

Everybody was playing their little games this week but Nick WON for most inventive and effective thirst trap. He clearly knew who Boston was, and he figured out how to get his attention. Now to keep it.

2. Sand

How did you manage to live this long?

HE IS SO FED UP OF THESE HOES, but he is also a softhearted fucker so one hint of vulnerability from Ray and now he's starting to feel FOND. Oh Sand...don't do it. Run a mile. Also, we will ignore the singing.

3. Ray

You’re sulking like we’re boyfies.

This man is so Gemini I had flashbacks. 'You saved me? Well FUCK YOU VERY MUCH.' His pissy faces every time Top came around though? *chef's kiss*

4. Boston

You and I are the same kind. Don’t get his hopes up. If you want to do him, do it and get it over with.

This 'I can be a ho but you can't call me that'-ass motherfucker. Top clearly rearranged his brain as well as his guts when they fucked that ONE TIME. He thought Top would try the novelty of naivete, realise he prefers experience and return to blow his back out again. Instead, he played himself and he doesn't know how to un-play himself.

5. Mew

I’m a grownup. Don’t worry. Besides, I know how to screen people.

Oh Top has met his MATCH. Mew got that heat-seeking missile to nearly blow him, cuddle him to sleep, take him on a date and confess in public, and IT'S ONLY EPISODE 1.

6. Top

A virgin? Seriously? I wanna try. I’m so sick of those fierce ones who already know it all. I want something new.

Oh I HATE THIS GUY. He thinks he's a player but he's the one getting played and I LOVE IT. Mew already has him wrapped around his little finger and it's only gonna get worse. And he knows EXACTLY how Boston feels and is toying with him. Still, when he HOPPED up on that countertop I may have blacked out a little from the downward rush of blood.

7. Cheum

We live in a country where PM 2.5, Covid, and radioactive cesium take turns to say hi. We can die any minute. If you found the right one, you found the right one. Love doesn’t need much time, Mew.

The lone lesbian trying to keep these boys alive and happy like so many over the generations. I am ready to see more of her.

8. Surprise!Drake

How about we continue at my place? There’s alcohol, music, and...me.

LEGS WIDE OPEN WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE!

[macgyvertape]

D2 Season of the Deep thoughts

Gameplay:

The seasonal bonuses seem to be the start of the pivot to weekly challenges and no pinnacle grind. I'm glad the power cap wasn’t raised this season and won’t be again next season.

What’s the point with creating a hidden mechanic that requires the whole team to initiate it in a matchmade activity?! I never ended up doing a Tier 7 pressure trial, because matchmade with random people it never worked out and doing it with LFG or friends we never got past tier 5. 

Deep dives with ingame matchmade were toxic af after the release of the exotic quest and a waste of time, because there was often someone trying to do the exotic mission then leaving when no one else joins them. It really bad design to have the matchmaking mode set like this when people are trying to do it 3 different ways, and I don’t know why it was designed to not have backfill from the beginning. 

I like specific exotic armor focusing, new fun form of gambling and the stats are very generous. At the same time getting new seasonal exotics still feels like you waste a lot of time.

Being able to buy past season Iron banner armor makes me actually want to grind Iron Banner more in the future. 

Should be easier to get focused fishing, I never ended up finishing all the fishing challenges. Overall I thought fishing was fun at the beginning of the season when I could do it and chill with my friends, but I found the lack of obvious audio cues meant it wasn’t fun to grind out by myself when watching a show.

Deeply appreciate how you could skip so many seasonal challenges this season, that way I’m not grinding out hours spent in playlist activities and then burning out on the game. At this point I’m one of the people burned out on the seasonal model, the less I have to play things I don’t want to do to get my pile of bright dust. the more I like Destiny.

Speaking of not spending time in playlist activities, I didn’t reset any vendor rank twice and Vanguard I only reset once because I farmed Sepiks GM during double loot week. Deeply ironic that Gambit is officially not a dev priority considering that I find it the least aggravating playlist to grind. 

I knew I didn’t play as much this season but wow “27 minutes underwater” 

Story:

Opening mission: Fun to watch Saint lose his shit when Xivu-Arath mocked Sagira’s death. Her line about being the hand around my throat, I hope all those who are into the Hive enjoyed this season

I’ll really be upset if Sloane dies this season, I never really cared that much about her until Arrivals and when she stayed behind so I’m enjoying she gets to be the focus of a season (glad she didn’t die making it 3/3 focus characters dying)

Really appreciate Zavala, Drifter, Sloane, and Saint as a cast of characters who haven’t really interacted much onscreen but who have history getting to interact.

Drifter’s radio message about The Nine and Gambit felt more like pre-WQ Drifter, I have a lot of thoughts about this has been some of my favorite onscreen Drifter writing since Arrivals & Beyond Light and feels like the missing arc he should have gotten in Beyond Light to reconcile his views in Arrivals vs Plunder 

Week 2: Saladin and Saint arguing about who is being overbearing to Sloane was great; a sense of how do these characters get along, how do they react to a circumstances, both voice actors seemed to be having fun with it

Week 3: I feel very much like a floating camera but the cutscene with Drifter and Saladin was fun and is the pinnacle of what I’m enjoying about this season in terms of “these two people are some of the oldest guardians and have kept crossing paths in lore” so we finally see them in a scenario in game

Week 3 Drifter: enjoying the heavy implication that Drifter’s ears are doing the Hive are whispering at me bleeding thing.

Week 4 Drifter: “they didn’t go so quite not until I shut them up” … “I did what it took to get offworld now I’m here” …”somethings you carry with you forever” DAMN where was this writing for Drifter in Season 18 vs wacky woohoo gambit man

This season really cements that while I might not have the plot around why Saladin became Valus Forge, I really like him being in the story with fresh things to do other than rehashing the Iron Lords Legacy yet again

As Immaru’s #1 fan excited to see Saladin mention him by name, hope next season is Immauru vs Saladin as rival tacticians

[rayereil]

Uryu’s time to shine! I’d forgotten that his chapters also include Chad and Orihime getting their powers, so this will be split into four parts. Here’s part one for today: Uryu’s introduction!

I remember reading these Uryu chapters a thousand times over. Uryu is one of my favorite characters (both when I first read Bleach and now).

The humor of early Bleach is unmatched. I miss it in later chapters, honestly.

There’s a lot of humor between Ichigo and his friend group. I just picked this scene but there’s a lot in this arc! It’s also nicely juxtaposed with deep insight about Ichigo before we hop into Keigo’s humor. Also, the comedy of Ichigo and Chad ranking in the top 50 was perfect too.

Into the meat here…

Uryu’s introduction is excellent. We see him briefly in the Don Kanoji stuff, then his lurking presence is noted a few times before he finally reveals himself. It’s a great way to build suspense. Uryu comes across as a real threat and we get some nice world building on top of it. I’ll touch on that a bit later… overall, he gets style points for his introduction! Also, I’m a big fan of this Quincy cross design. The star is fine (though it always reminds me of a starfish), but you can’t beat how badass this version of the Quincy Cross is.

TatsuHime! And Orihime being excellent in general. I enjoy that she’s super smart (another reason to love IshiHime, but I digress). I wish Kubo put it to more use. Now, academic intelligence is different than, say, tactical or battle intelligence, but it’s specifically noted she’s smart… and she doesn’t have to be smart or a tactical genius to be important, I just wish Kubo highlighted her intelligence more. We see she’s somewhat emotionally intelligent, but that doesn’t make you top 3 in school tests scores. I don’t recall Orihime using her keen intellect for… anything, actually. Maybe it’ll happen in Soul Society, then I can be pleasantly wrong.

Since I’m cynical, I’d say Kubo added this only to build on the ‘big boob girl is kind of ditzy but surprisingly smart’ cliche. It’s why there’s no narrative payoff for this scene. She’s just smart but also has big boobs (Tatsuki even implies this).

Orihime is still the best though, so it’s whatever.

Moving on!

Uryu sewing! I love him. Also Orihime being crafty! IshiHime begins. I’ll wax poetic about this when we get there, but eventual IshiHime would’ve been my het-romance preference. It’d require good character growth for both Uryu and Orihime… Ah well.

Notably, Ichihime is showing up a bit here. Orihime is once again not speaking her true feelings and Ichigo is once again not noticing her feelings or concerns. If this actually improves on both fronts, the ship will have more sway with me. For now, Ichigo is completely oblivious and dismissive - though this makes a level of sense. They still aren’t good friends here. To him, Orihime is a nice friend of Tatsuki’s. He’s not going to share his thoughts with her. Meanwhile, Orihime would really like a connection with him, but is clumsy and awkward about how to achieve that. Other than losing a loved one, they don’t have much in common; and don’t have any similar interests or goals. He won’t talk to her and she can’t make him talk. One-sided love done perfectly, honestly.

Now the world building!

There’s some level of discourse out in the fandom about Kubo’s foreshadowing ability. For example, ‘Kubo knew about TYBW events (the history of the Quincy’s and Zangetsu) from the very start!’.

Ill keep this somewhat short. He didn’t.

He didn’t plan all 600+ chapters of his story from the start, and plot holes are everywhere. That doesn’t make him a bad writer (there are plenty of other things that make him a bad writer). Over 600 weekly chapters for a series that grows in complexity… of course there’ll be plot holes, plot devices, ret-con, and contradictions!

Here’s some proof (and for fun, I’ll point out more as they pop up).

The world building here is excellent. The Quincey were around, then 200 years ago they were exterminated (by Soul Society). A first hint Soul Society may not be “heaven” as previously described (though Soul Society has yet to be implicated). Uryu’s rage at Shinigami (especially after we learn about his grandfather in later chapters) makes perfect sense. Uryu’s reaction to Ichigo also makes sense. We also learn over the SS arc that Quincy are rare since they’ve been exterminated. Mayuri has some specifics he discusses in his fight against Uryu.

There’s absolutely zero indication that the Quincy are alive and kicking, that Ichigo is part Quincy (his spiritual energy is red for goodness sakes), or that 1000 years ago there was a big war and only 200 years ago did Soul Society decide to finish the job. Sure, once could say Kisuke is lying, or Ichigo’s spiritual energy is red because it’s related Rukia’s or because his Quincy powers aren’t awakened yet… but twisting ourselves into knots to “prove” Kubo planned this when the more obvious answer is right there?

I believe he had plans for the Quincy. He didn’t just introduce a rival “species” to Shinigami for fun. But there’s no way he knew the specifics. Later on, once he figured out the details, he ret-conned what he could, left plot holes for the rest, and viola! TYBW. No problem with that. That’s just showbiz.

Anyways… I prefer this level of world building and wish he would’ve fleshed out the 200 year old extermination instead of making everything so much grander in TYBW. Kubo’s strategy for Ret-con is mostly to add scaffolding instead of furnish the interior. Not my preference, but here we are…

Back to Uryu!

The hollow bait never comes back, but it’s an interesting concept! It was probably used by Quincy to attract hollows and keep them from killing communities… wonder what would happen if you used it in Huecho Mundo. Also, I imagine the bait is just spiritual energy (did he talk about its composition and I just ignored it?), but it’s be pretty funny if it was like catnip for cats. I digress…

I like that, up until now, we’ve only seen cool, composed Uryu. Now we see Uryu with righteous indignation! We see him being emotional and confrontational. I also love the recklessly protective characters, who actively try to protect everyone even when it puts those same people at risk. The ones who burden themselves with protecting others for their brand of Justice. It’s *chefs kiss* Such a contradiction in their characterization! Such complexities!

Also, IchiIshi begins. They were my first fave gay ship, and I still love them together. They grow together through the series and have excellent banter.

And for quick reference: No, I don’t believe Ichigo and Uryu are related. Yeah, Kubo had some throwaway lines in EBTR about Masaki being cousins with Ryuken, but this comes across as a front for the Ishida family. They bring her into the house, say she’s their cousin to avoid scandal, and eventually the plan would be Masaki and Ryuken get married. I actually happened upon some interesting information about foster care/orphans/unwanted children in Japan (while reading about one of my favorite video games). Like many places, there seems to be a stigma against orphaned/unwanted kids. It can even impact that person’s ability to get a job or housing. So Masaki being orphaned would’ve been a huge “stain” on the Ishida family. Ryuken could never be allowed to marry someone “like that”. So bringing her into the family, pretending she was a relative instead of a stranger, makes sense. I believe some level of cousin-marriage is allowed in Japan (like most places), so Ryuken marrying his “cousin” isn’t scandalous, but him marrying an orphan would’ve been. So, by bringing Masaki in, the Ishida’s get to keep one of the last pure-blooded Quincy close by to ensure her safety, and they avoid scandal. Masaki wasn’t brought into the family out of compassion (we can see that by how she’s treated). It was all political. Masaki is well aware of that too (Ryuken even mentions it).

Anyways…

There are great emotional stakes here. Uryu is purposefully doing this to prove a point. He’s being a reckless teenager with trauma and a grudge, and Ichigo ends up helping him through it. Yes, we’ll see Ichigo be super strong because he’s the MC and the shounen plot demands it, but the emotional storytelling here? Excellent.

I’m also excited to see Chad and Orihime gain their powers… we’re moving towards Soul Society! Full speed ahead!

Alright! Part two: Chad is next!

[t0kidal]

The Alef Part 5

_______________________________________________

(I do not own Mairimashita! Iruma-Kun or it’s plot or characters. All credits go to Nishi Osamu.

The idea was to use similar transitions from the series here, from Wicked phase to (I don’t know if I’ll do an evidoll arc) harvest festival to music festival. Plus side stuff that will be non-canon (at least non-canon in terms of “It’s fanfic and I want a high school romance.”)

tw: conflict, slight self depreciation, I was not expecting this to suddenly come out like that how to turn it around help)

Masterlist

_______________________________________________

The weekly duration for your wicked phase had passed. 

But you were still growling around like a feral animal!

Was that drool?! 

Shichiro assumed that it might’ve been due to the rough shape of Babyls. It smelled, it was loud, and for someone like you (sort of insecure after the attack last week) it was concerning but unsurprising that you were like this.

In fact, it was kind of endearing. You allowed yourself head pats and platonic cuddles that fulfilled him, and he appreciated the opportunity. Of course, this was after making sure that you were ok with it. 

“Hmm? It looks like your fangs sharpened in addition to sudden hair and nail growth.”

He had to write this down.

You only churred in response.

“Lunch is almost over, class is about to start, I don’t think Dali-sensei is going to let it slide that you’re skipping out.”

You don’t respond.

“Tsk, just let them be. If they get in trouble for this it’ll be something to deal with later.”

Shichiro frowned but, they couldn’t really do anything regardless about your current actions.

~~~

“IT’S THE TOP DOG’S GANG!”

“JUMP ‘EM”

Why did this happen...

Kalego just wanted a moment of peace. Ever since that damn senior started ordering him around, nothing seems to go right. Even beating the shit out of these riff raff didn’t seem to change anything.

He was about to summon Cerberous when it suddenly went quiet.

His opponents froze in confusion, and a sudden heavy weight filled the air...

Was this... you? Where were yo-

Suddenly there you were, teeth bared, hair bristling and adding volume to your smaller figure, pacing between him and the attackers in question...

~~~

You were afraid, seeing them, hearing them, you were afraid and so so mad. 

You, after all, were just you. Small, and low ranked.

But as you were locked in your wicked phase, only half aware of what was going on. You knew, you sensed...

Danger, Prey, Fight. Now.

And so you did.

~~~

“Y/N! Y/N! Damnit! Stop!”

“Huh?” 

Where were you? You were at school weren’t you? You... You were acting really strange you knew that... 

“Y/n! Let go of him!”

Your mouth tasted like brass...

“I-I’m sorry! Please!”

Oh... that’s right, you got in another fight...

One of the guys who jumped you and Kalego was under you, crying. You had his arm in your mouth, jaws locked tight... 

This... wasn’t... right...

You let go almost immediately, pausing to take in the chaos around you. Balam had arms around your neck in a kind of wrestler’s hold; Kalego had summoned Cerberous to hold you down, both you and the Shichiro on your sides, and there were the other demons, peering back from around the distant corner at their friend.

They themselves had multiple scratches, bites, and bruises.

Turning back to the guy you just bit, he flinched as you locked eyes. 

“I...”

“Opera-kun, please escort the injured to the nurse’s hall. Y/n, come with me, let’s talk.”

Oh shit... it’s Sullivan... aid to the missing demon king, one of the three heroes, the principal... and you weren’t sure which of those would be the worst to face right now. 

You didn’t say anything as you got up, noting the various aches and pains that jolted through you but otherwise ignoring them.

“Sullivan-sama-..” Opera started to speak but silenced at the hand of his master.

“Later, Opera. Follow me, young demon.”

You’re too ashamed to spare any of them a glance as you walk.

~~~

“Now, let’s talk about what happened.”

“... I... I was in my wicked phase... and perceived a threat... it’s never been that bad before... I don’t know what happened...”

“Could it have been affected by your fight off campus last week?”

You look up at him, ‘He knows?’ written all over your face.

He only chuckles, “Yes, I know. Opera told me.”

“Oh...” you weren’t sure what that meant for you but...

“Please don’t expel me. I really need to be here... I know I’m not the most noticeable and I try to lay low, a really bad quality for a demon, a really poor quality demon-”

“Hm? I’m not going to expel you.”

“Huh?....”

“...”

“... b-but, that doesn’t even make sense?!”

“I think it makes plenty of sense. We’re demons. Just because you’re ranked Alef doesn’t make you any less of one. Wild, ruthless, with a drive to prove your own strength and capabilities to survive.”

“But- what-”

“You just need a liiiiittle bit more training. I’ll have to notify Naberius-san that you’ll be enrolled into a higher level course. I’m assuming that he was your only teacher or tutor during your time here so far? As most of the other Alefs had dropped out to retake the practical test again later?”

“Y-yeah, but... but why?”

“Because in order for you to grow into a proper, full fledged demon, you must learn to replace your fear as your drive to survive. To survive isn’t a bad ambition but -- but as a fearful, possibly insecure, wayward soul, internalizing survival and fear -- your methods are too reckless and brutal for both yourself and those around you. Too wild.”

“You... you should just send me away... not just cause it sounds hard for myself but...”

“Hmm.” 

He- wait is that a pout? 

“Mo~! You can afford to be a little greedy don’t you know~! Satisfaction with how things are, at the very bottom, is unacceptable, Lazy~! It’s decided!”

He stamps something on a piece of paper.

“You’re going into a higher leveled class!”

~~~

What happened after is a bit of a blur, you had to sign a couple things, and come back early tomorrow to get your schedule.

You could guess that some of his reasonings were that in a higher level course, you’d be forced to try harder to survive, which would lead to growth, and you’d be under the watchful guide of more teachers.

You’re still not sure how you haven’t been kicked out yet.

But right now, you were on your way to the medical wing to treat your own wounds.

Just as you were about to open the door it swung open on its own and before you were the students that tried to jump you and Kalego.

“Huh?” Yes, brilliant, so smart, much eloquent.

~~~

And now you’re all stuck in a room because Buer came by and told you all to go back inside to sit still and “Think about what you’ve done.”

There’s about five in the room, including you.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Holy shit this is awkward. What do you even say? Do you need to say anything? There’s more of them then there are of you! If you apologize will they think you’re weak? Will they think you think they’re weak if they say something? Will you think they think you think-

“O-Oi.” Says an ogre looking demon from your first encounter with Opera.

“Huh?”

“Are you still…” he taps at his temple, “gone?”

“Uh… no… no, I’m here…”

“R-right so…”

“Ok, I got this one.” Interrupts a wolf demon. “Ahem, you’re fucking terrifying.”

“...”

“I respect that.”

Of course they do... but... this could be an opportunity.

“Don’t get in my way again.” You start off firmly and almost scare yourself.

‘Was that too harsh?’

“Got it. It’s clear now, all the Top Dogs are no joke.”

“Wh-” Well, that works too...

As time went by, Buer-sensei came by to make sure you all were alright and that you hadn’t killed each other.

Eventually, he sent everyone but the ogre (or oni) demon from earlier. Looking a little closer, it’s that “little brother” from a week ago. His arm looks hurt really bad and you vaguely recall the taste of blood.

“So-”

“Abou-”

You gesture for him to go first. 

He only sighs and stands up, steps closer; You tense, unsure if he was about to attack until...

He kneels... it was only the two of you there, so you supposed it helped him save face. 

“I’m sorry,” head down, fangs no where in sight (another sign similar to baring your wing base but less intimate). “I was wrong about you being a leech that just... clings onto the other three. And I’m sorry about calling my big bro to avenge my pride...”

“...”

“I’m sorry to cause you trouble.”

“... Pfft.... sorry sorry... Thank you, I really appreciate your apology, I was just thinking it must be rough getting your arm caught in all the chaos.”

He looks up a little confused but seems in awe when you smile.

~~~

(Note: we got our closure! and things are starting to look up for us! Next parts are gonna be focused on whipping us into a force to be reckoned with.

Oni/Ogre guy was supposed to be the guy who got his arm broken by Shichiro in Kalego Gaiden. I don’t know if that was clear but my idea was to drag him along maybe, make him start a fan club for the reader. And call him “Ko” (get it? Ei-Ko?) and give him a successful love story when he meets another fangirl of reader (who will come later) and call her “Ei”

Meanwhile, me, neglecting our love story T-T

Anyways hope you enjoyed, sorry if the writing got a little sloppy, still trying to work on transitions between themes and moods in sections of the story (not to mention, proper endings).

Thank you so much for reading!)

[treesap-blogs]

happy saturday y’all if ur in my time zone or any other nearby ones! Here’s a “When The Angels Left The Old Country” by Sacha Lamb!

TUMBLRIANS!! Greetings!! As of the publication date of this review, it will have been about 5-6 days since I finished reading When The Angels Left The Old Country by Sacha Lamb! And ugh! What an excellent book. Up at the tippy top of my mental rankings along with A Lesbiana’s Guide To Catholic School. (P.S., I’m sticking true to my word and developing a weekly schedule! I’m publishing reviews every Saturday! Every other day of the week I’ll just..do whatever I want lol.)

I don’t think I fit into the intended demographic of this book; I have not watched a minute of Good Omens in my life (I only knew that it borrowed a bit from the basic premise/setup based on reviews by people who have watched or read it), nor am I Jewish! The Hebrew and Yiddish glossary at the end was greatly appreciated for the latter reason lmao, although I could guess what some things were based on context clues it was good to have the extra help for visualization. (I picture stuff in my head like a movie when I’m reading, so it can throw me off if I miss a detail.) Regardless, I got sucked into the world of this book, and how culturally rich it felt; the Yiddish/Hebrew/Jewish aspects blended in effortlessly and never felt once like they were being shoved into a line or piece of dialogue. And consequently, I became terribly invested in all of the characters. (“Terribly” meant in an 18th-century-lady-saying-“very much” way, not the negative connotation!) I loved to tune into an angels and demons story that wasn’t exclusively Catholic or Christian(and acknowledged the existence of other religions, too!), and there was something so uniquely poetic about both Little Ash and Uriel discovering what it means to be human, on top of realizing they’re becoming a bit more like that the further along the story they are.

Oh my goodness though, I’ve never wanted a book to be a little more under the romance subgenre than this one. Uriel and Little Ash’s relationship was just..beautiful. I so badly wanted them to get together like the other romantic pairing we get in this story (that one felt a little rushed admittedly, it felt more like infatuation and a fun little fling than genuine romance and we didn’t get a ton of development between the two). (Folks who read the book, you know what I mean.) Although I do think that it would change some of the writing and I wouldn’t want that to happen, I think it’s good as is and I suppose it’s nice that you don’t have that at the front and center so it doesn’t distract from the plot. Not that Sacha Lamb ever rules out the possibility of them getting together, but it just doesn’t get finalized ☹️. You can see how their affection towards each other changes to become a bit more romantic towards the middle of the story, and..goodness. They’re just so sweet. I usually don’t get emotional over a book romance, but these guys?? They’re everything to me!!! They should’ve kissed damnit. LET ASHEL AND URIEL KISS GODDAMNIT!!!

Anyhow! I also really loved the characters. Uriel and Little Ash/Ashel(I call him a lot of things in this review sorry) complimented each other’s personalities well! Although there was a possibility that Ashel’s “always sniffing around for sinners and mischief whenever he can” gimmick has the potential to get old after a while, as well as Uriel’s moral perfection being the foil to that (and acting as a means of keeping him in check), but both characters undergo their own changes and arcs, meaning that neither become “tired”. I liked their banter too. And Rose was a force of her own, a “firecracker” as I’ve seen another reviewer describe, her and the other two worked well as a trio once she became accustomed to both of them(+Ashel didn’t see the point in messing with her anymore lmao) and I liked seeing them become more of a friend group as the story progressed.

Also, this was one of the only times where I’ve felt truly satisfied by the ending of a non-contemporary novel! So that was a nice surprise. (So many sequels and open endings nowadays!) (I sound like a boomer, sorry.) 

Overall, it was a well-written book, one of my favorites at that, and I’ll definitely recommend it to those who read historical fiction. No spoiler section for this review, everyone! I don’t have a ton I feel the need to rant about, which I can’t tell is because of my enjoyment of this book or because this week has been truly exhausting (and it’s taken everything in me to gather up my remaining energy and finish this review). (Apologies for those who saw my deleted post, I haven’t been in the best state.)

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars! 

Paz, signing off!

(Book trigger/content warnings: Historical xenophobia and antisemitism, violence, some blood.)

[studentofetherium]

here's some thoughts on stuff that's in Jump right now

ive been doing my weekly Jump rankings for about six months now but i don't actually talk about Jump manga all that often so i'm going to try and fix that so here's a bunch of thoughts on everything i'm reading weekly right now

Akane-banashi

young Skane seeks to become a rakugoka to make better on her dad's failure years before. this is consistently one of the best manga in the magazine. i always appreciate when stories focus on niche subjects and rakugo is certainly that. framing it through an apprentice means that the audience gets to be led into things slowly. a lot of praise needs to be given for the way its able to translate rakugo, a spoken art form, into a print medium, but it does so really well, with fantastic art and paneling. this series feels really unique, yet at the same time, wholly familiar and approachable. highly recommended!

Ayakashi Triangle

technically this one isn't even in Jump anymore but it still comes out on Sundays so i count it. Matsuri finds himself transformed into a girl through supernatural means, and wants to find a way to transform himself back, while at the same time this leads him to reconnect with a childhood friend and possibly lover. this is by the author of To Love-Ru and you can really tell. it was too horny for Jump and eventually got cut and put online, and since then it's only gone on the deep end more and more. so a warning for that. but at the same time, the stories it tells and its characters are genuinely fantastic and the entire thing is entirely queer. over time, Matsuri feels more and more like a trans character, and Suzu, his childhood friend, has to come to terms with her own sexuality as it relates to her possible boyfriend-turned-girlfriend. it also has a lot of fun action, as well as a great side case for the slice of life moments. the series has a lot of different moods and genres it traverses and all of them are incredibly fun and good. highly recommended, but do know what it is before going in (that is, an incredibly horny manga)

Blue Box

80+ chapters of pining and angst. also there's sometimes basketball and badminton. two teenagers end up living together for a time when one's parents leave internationally. this leads both to realizing that they have a crush on the other, with no way to know how the other feels. also, they both play sports. Blue Box really excels with both its writing and its art. while the characters can sometimes feel like they're trying to get a good grade in therapy, their characterization and angst is incredibly compelling, and the dynamic between the main two is incredibly effective. Miura is a fantastic artist and in particular i love the way she draws motion. even for people who don't like sports manga (i usually don't) this is great. highly recommended

Cipher Academy

set in a cryptography school, Cipher Academy follows Iroha as the token boy in the school as he gets caught up in a plot involving trillions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency. this series only has three chapters out so far, so it's a little hard to say where it's going, but its writing, by NISIOISIN, is certainly fun. the focus on buzzles gives the protagonist a lot of odd stuff to work through, so there's a lot of potential here for atraditional battles with clever solutions. i also love the art and designs, although they're less notable compared to the writing. highly recommended

Elusive Samurai

from the same mangaka as Assassination Classroom (a manga i haven't read), a feudal era war story focusing on Tokiyuki Hojo as he seeks to redeem his family and bring them back to power. this has a lot of interesting fights which are complimented well by the art. however, characterization is lacking and a lot of the humor can be scattershot. when this series is good, it's really good, but there are also a lot of times when it feels a bit more lacking. still a recommendation, but with less enthusiasm than the manga before

Fabricant 100

the newest story in the magazine, Fabricant 100 is a story about a boy from a family of rich, long-lived people who all got killed by an artificial person. now he wants to kill all of those artificial people. since this is only in its first week, i can only say so much about it. the art is fine, and while there's a lot of exposition in the first chapter, it's conveyed well, but i'm not sure the story has a lot of legs in the future. there's a clear goal (kill the other 82 fabricans) but it sort of runs past a lot of the concepts in its premise which i imagine might be explored later. if this sounds interesting, check it out, it's only one chapter so far, so it's not a huge time investment

Ginka & Glüna

a young girl living out in the mountains comes to know a walking snowman who claims to be a great wizard. after training her for several years, they set out to reconstruct his body. i love love love this series. its art is great, its character designs are all very strong, and there's a lot of creativity present in the world. the story itself has been rather simple so far, with the two titular characters traveling around, meeting friends, and getting up to adventures. simple, but good. another high recommendation

Ichigoki's Under Control

this series is awful. i do not recommend it

Ichinose Family's Deadly Sins

from the author of Takopi's Original Sin comes a manga about an entire family who wake up with total amnesia. as they try to adjust to their new lives, they realize something may be up with their history. unpleasantness ensues. i find it hard to talk about this because it's clearly a mystery that's still setting itself up, and at the moment it's a lot of unpleasantness as the characters find themselves in a world which is cruel to them for reasons they don't know. the art is good, but it's a tough read so far, and without knowing what the payoff is, it's hard to recommend. i love Takopi's Original Sin and i think this has a lot of potential as well but only time can say

Mashle

the worse manga in Jump at the moment. it had an incredibly promising start as a One Punch Man-esque series about a kid without magic in a world of magic, who uses his sheer strength to make do and achieve magical feats. however, the last six or eight months have been nothing but one long fight scene. i'm not sure why anyone is fighting. the main character has been missing for most of it. it's meaningless. it feels like a parody of other shounen action manga that will have long extended fight scenes, except that if this is a joke, it's an incredibly unfunny one. it doesn't even have good action, as the focus on magic gives it a poor sense of continuity. i'm hate reading this. there's no way i recommend it

PPPPPP

PPPPPP is frankly a bit of a mess. the art is unique and striking, but it often distracts from the story, which isn't a problem because the story its telling is rather minimal. i think that's to its strength tho, and it comes together well sometimes. it's certainly an enjoyable read, but mostly for the art and i don't think it's as good as its contemporaries. recommended, but lightly

Tokyo Demon Bride Story

a guy reunites with his childhood friend, who turns out to be a demon, and now he has to marry her. over time, he comes to meet other supernatural friends of hers. this is a mix of romance, action, and slice of life akin to Ayakashi Triangle and while i don't think it's as good as that, it's still highly enjoyable in its own right, especially for the interesting designs and also great characterization. it has its ups and downs, but i usually have a lot of fun with it. recommended

Witch Watch

Witch Watch is... inconsistent. it's about a witch and her bodyguard, and theoretically, it's a romcom focusing on their relationship, except the series has a massive side cast each with their own supernatural gimmick and powers. what this means is that chapter to chapter, the series can vary wildly depending on the characters involved and what's being done with them. when this series is good, it's really good, and when it's bad, it's really bad. hard to recommend this, even if i do enjoy it