#seriously the game’s storyline is INSANE

[billycorn]

PMD2 Partner is not a real person, in this essay I will-

Okay, but seriously, some people think that in Bidoof's special episode, his wish causes Jirachi to make some insane changes to the timeline, resulting in essentially the entire plot of the game, but I digress. Bidoof wished for a Buddy, a new apprentice he could teach. He mentions maybe there's two of them, but he only actually asks for one. So, Jirachi created Partner.

The storyline was always going to happen, but Hero and Partner's meeting was the difference between success and failure. Without Partner, Hero likely wouldn't have joined the Guild, would've been lost, and alone, and confused. Perhaps eliminated by Dusknoir, or lured to his side. Conversely, without Hero, Partner would've been mugged by Zubat and Koffing, left wounded in the Beach Cave, desparately sending out a job request. Perhaps Sunflora would've come to the rescue and while being given a chance to recover at the guild, Partner finally blurts out that they want to be an explorer. Seeing the state of the young one, Wigglytuff agrees and Chatot pairs Partner with Bidoof, on safe tasks to start off with, and they'll see what happens from there.

Partner is not shown to have any relatives and even amongst the people of Treasure Town Partner is just a face in the crowd at the start of the game. Partner mentions living in Sharpedo Bluff before joining the guild, saying they just found the entrance one day (my memory is a little foggy on this point, but I think it's right). So, Partner has been in Treasure Town long enough to be familiar with the layout, stores and shopkeeps, but doesn't really know anyone. Partner is just there with the relic fragment, an innate desire to join the guild, and nothing else.

Partner is timid, but determined. They know they want to explore, but they need help, someone to stand beside them and teach them; they need a Buddy.

Partner mentions that the beach cheers them up, the Krabby's blowing bubbles in the sunset is always so relaxing. What if that's the first thing they ever saw? What if Partner was born into this world and immediately saw the sunset, not knowing one day it wouldn't rise again?

Imagine Partner came into being on that beach, their birth mirroring Hero's disappearance. Speaking of, when Partner breaks down on the beach after Temporal Tower, it's Bidoof that finds them. It's their Buddy (I'd use a stronger word to describe H&P's relationship but Bidoof was definitely their buddy).

Partner was created by Jirachi, given the relic fragment and fake memories that told Partner, more than anything, they wanted to be an explorer, but they needed someone beside them to achieve it. Partner was created for relationship, to share in adventure, to ride off into the sunset and return with the dawn.

So, in the post-game when Darkrai was deceiving them, telling them to disappear, perhaps Partner felt deep down they really didn't belong, they weren't like everyone else, but that just makes it even more significant when they return home and Partner realises "It's wonderful to be alive!"

[theealbatross]

Dark, Slightly Realistic Headcannons (S.S)

Plot | Headcannons on the effects of their traumatic fifth year in Hogwarts had on their dynamics and eventual relationship.

Tags | dark, PTSD, codependency, self-harm (scratching), anxiety, overprotectiveness, trauma, traumatized teenagers are not the best people, IT'S NOT AS BAD AS I MAKE IT SOUND, fluff if u squint, ominis getting stressed out, this storyline is heavily inspired by the background story I gave my character in the game

They are both very popular but also very secretive – in a way that everyone knew them but no one really knew a thing about them. They were almost like a suburban legend in their campus, The Couple who was always together, always huddled in each other despite constantly being the center of the attention.

“Sallow had a twin?”

“I heard she’s one of the few 7th years that was given approval to go into the restricted section for her research.”

“They’ve been engaged since last year?!”

“Look, they’re leaving the campus again.”

If you want to find one, then go look for the other because more often than not they are together. If you can’t find them both, ask Ominis.

Unless you are part of their circle, which is usually just their year-mates, then good luck approaching them. They aren’t hostile but as they grew older, they didn’t get friendlier. And it was for good reason, MC’s anxiety of someone finding out Sebastian’s dark secret and taking him away from her and Sebastian’s fear of the people who are after his girlfriend makes them generally amicable but not exactly approachable.

Suspicious of everyone which is also why they're very protective of each other and their chosen friends.

They were seriously considered to be the Head Boy and Head Girl but both rejected the offer. Imelda was the next best choice but she wanted to focus on becoming a professional quidditch player. So, the mantle was passed to Grace Pitch-Smedley and Ominis Gaunt to the latter’s dismay.

Unhealthy Codependency, but it works for them.

Both will genuinely be tweaking out if you separate them for more than 24 hours. MC feels vulnerable without Sebastian which causes her to lash out at anyone, her ancient magic leaking out in anxiety and Sebastian’s skin itches if he doesn’t know where she is (he literally would scratch his arm till it bled – a painful nervous tic.)

Because of this ‘special circumstance’ and the Gaunts last name, they were allowed to have, more or less, the same schedule throughout their 7th year.

They both have the self-sacrificing disease so they were always keeping an eye on each other.

After The Events of their 5th year, plus MC’s tendency to run alone and headfirst into assured death, and the constant threat to her life from what remains of Rookwood’s organization Sebastian gets a reputation of being insanely protective. The ‘promise ring’ they both wear has a charm that will always leads one to the location of the other, plus it automatically apparates the other when one is in danger.

If you plan to get to talk to his betrothed then you have to get through Sebastian first.

Nothing ever gets through Sebastian.

“No, she can’t find your blasted puffskein in the dark forest.”

“She’s not available because I said so.”

“No, professor, I can’t send her that message. It’s exam season and she has enough on her plate.”

“Dear Officer Singer, the next time you try to send an owl to my fiancé without informing me you will not get it back.”

MC has a soft spot for the younger students but don’t expect her to remember your names. At least Sebastian actually turns you down, she will just stare at you until you awkwardly leave. She was done being everyone’s errand girl.

Every time you think Sebastian’s alone she’s probably just behind him. Or beside him. Or above him. If you think Sebastian's crazy about her then she will show you insane.

Constantly snogging, their professors have given up giving them detention. They’ll just snog there too.

Professors have to beg Ominis to tell them to at least try to hide because there are children in this campus. After an hour long of sermon of how ‘absolutely mortifying it is that I have to tell the two of you to be decent’ they relented. In turn, they just disappeared more often.

In rare good days with good weather, you will find them flying and racing around the highlands.

During exam seasons Sebastian reserves an hour a day to just nap and relax in MC’s lap. Do not, under any circumstances, approach him at this crucial hour unless you wish to risk your life.

They are the Ravenclaws Public Enemy #1 because they clearly don’t pay attention to class yet they’re always at the top of the subjects they actually find interesting. (Potions and Care for Magical Creatures for MC, DADA and Flying for Sebastian). The rivalry even got worse when NEWTs started and Sebastian aimed to be at the top of each class he took to become an Auror.

They get engaged the summer after their 6th year but they don’t get married until Sebastian finishes his training and officially became an Auror because Sebastian wants to ‘earn’ that right and prove to himself and his loved ones that he has turned his back on the Dark Arts for good.

MC becomes a researcher for ancient magic so it becomes a ritual that Sebastian will use up all of his vacation and paid leave at the end of the year to accompany his wife with her travels to different continents

Sebastian fights a dragon in Germany to get the perfect green diamond to place on the engagement ring.

They both take the Unbreakable Vow at their quiet wedding.

They have children but none were seen in public until it was their turn to go to Hogwarts.

Headmistress Weasley does not retire until each and every Sallow has graduated under her careful watch.

She is the longest reigning Headmistress in the history of Hogwarts.

[carlyraejepsans]

UTY!Flowey, "lore" and how to criticize a fan prequel without being an insufferable pedantic, a guide by Biscia.

(for my muskless fellows, here's a transcript of my thread on Undertale Yellow that I posted on Twitter. enjoy!)

There's this really frustrating attitude in fan spaces i like to call "lorepilling" where people are substantially more concerned with encyclopedic knowledge of details & minutiae (so called "lore") in place of full-text thematic/narrative analysis as if the two are mutually interchangeable.

It's especially common in large franchises and story heavy videogames, and it's like... Are You Treating This Piece Of Art Like A Trivia Battle Or Are You Treating It Like A Story

This is coming from a person who is also deeply autistic about UTDR trivia btw, I'm just saying that when it comes to transformative *stories*, depending on the impact it has on character, themes, and narrative structure... lore is expendable.

Ultimately this is why most of the UTY criticism i see (on twitter specifically) falls flat. What does it matter if "lore" means Flowey couldn't chronologically be there when the justice human fell, as long as the game narratively justified his presence in the story in a compelling way?

The real criticism, in the end, is that it didn't.

He's a plot central, main cast character from the canon returning in a cast of mostly OCs and what does he have to show for it? An admittedly sick boss battle in 1/3 endings, sure but... not much else. He has no significant "presence" in the story, no tie, interaction, or even just... an opinion on the rest of the cast. Which is a huge miss when Flowey's meta role is to be Thee completionist player mirror. He's the OG lorepilled UT fan! He's an opinionated little shit!

This isn't to say that UTY *didn't* engage w/ his metanarrative. When me and @a-town-called-hometown first started playing the game (we were both skeptical of Flowey's inclusion), he immediately said "It would be really cool if they made it so this has been going on for a while and Clover has no idea". Which is precisely what the game did in the neutral ending, and what I will openly say was the most well written & well executed part of this game's story...

...a part we almost didn't see, because the pacifist ending disappointed us so much we lost all will to replay.

To put it in the words of my friend Mel @clowwwnbytes, there's a deafening hollowness to UTY Flowey's motivations & core principles where his guilt towards Chara—and resulting black and white thinking—should be. You're telling me Mr Kill-or-be-killed, "sacrificing yourself to do the right thing is stupid", would stand there after 1000s of failed attempts to make Clover survive, look on as they make the same mistake Asriel he did, and fondly call them friend? Cue the guitar, roll the credits?

He would lose it. Oh my god he would lose his goddamn mind, he would throw the nastiest temper tantrum in the world. Are you serious? How dare you. How DARE you. All this effort, all my patience, and you just let yourself DIE for a few worthless idiots? I should've let you ROT!

*clears throat* sorry got a bit too into character. as i was saying.

I can understand a UT prequel wanting to distance itself from the canon Chara storyline in order to form its own identity, but then turning around and choosing Insane About Chara The Character™ for a sidekick is... far from optimal. In the end, Flowey comes across as underutilized and inconsistent, with a whole lot of wasted potential.

This is an issue I have with UTY's character writing (original AND returning) and story structure as a whole. Lots of inconsistent character arcs, tonal dissonance, overuse of situational sadness... it's an amateurish work, after all, and you can feel it. There's no shame in that.

(Though, there ARE some issues that i take more seriously with its writing, especially when it comes to its two main female characters—Ceroba's lack of narrative agency and depth borders on misogynistic writing imo. But that's a topic for another day)

Over all, UTY was an incredible piece of collaborative transformative work, with gorgeous art and a genuinely incredible OST, which... would have benefited from more experienced writers. But hey, you can only ever learn by trying!

For all it could've been a better story, it certainly did not fail to entertain: both when my friend was playing it, and after in our many discussions of its writing, its faults and how it could've been improved (royal scientist!ceroba character fix you will always be famous. to ME!)

I'm sure this project served as an incredible source of experience for the developers: as individual creators AND as a team. I look forward to their future projects!

but also if i have to see another person say UTY is better than Undertale i might turn into The Jonker.

end of the essay! really couldn't stand any of the pedantic ""criticism"" I'd seen of this fangame so far, so i had to say my piece as someone more versed in analysis. happy to elaborate on anything in the replies or in my inbox!

[kikyoupdates]

Otherworldly Attraction ⭑˚🔮⭑ 𝑠𝑒𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

yandere!jjk x f!reader

yandere, reverse harem, isekai, jujutsu kaisen x fem!reader, slowburn, slowburn yandere

You don't know how or why, but you've been isekai'd into the world of Jujutsu Kaisen. Although your first instinct is to stay away from the plot, you've been blessed with an abnormal amount of cursed energy, and for better or worse, you find yourself sucked into the storyline. You decide that you may as well use your newfound powers for the greater good, and if you're lucky, you might succeed in rewriting some of the characters' fates. But it turns out that your presence in this world is an even bigger deal than you first thought, and soon, everyone wants to make you theirs.

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“Draw two,” Sasaki says. 

“I’ll add another draw two. So now [Name] has to draw four,” Iguchi follows up, throwing another card onto the pile.

You stare at the two cards left in your hand, and then you cast a glance beside you, over to poor Itadori, who’s easily holding more than ten. Part of you wonders if you should be nice and spare him, since he’s clearly suffering more than enough already, but then again, this is Uno. 

Uno is just about as cutthroat as it gets. 

“Sorry,” you mumble, wincing a bit as you add another card onto the pile. “I still have a draw four card left… which means Itadori has to pick up eight cards in total. Also, um, Uno.” 

“No way!” he cries out, and you swear you see his soul leave his body. 

Sasaki throws her head back and starts laughing. “Man, Itadori, you stink at this! I swear you’ve placed last every single time we’ve played. It’s actually kind of impressive how unlucky you can be sometimes.”

“I haven’t lost yet,” Itadori stubbornly refutes, but of course, within the next round, you win, and Sasaki and Iguchi quickly follow suit. 

You watch as Itadori’s shoulders slump in defeat. 

“Fine, now I lost,” he sighs. Most people would probably be pretty frustrated seeing as he’s lost more than four—or is it five games in a row now? In any case, Uno tends to ruin friendships and drive people insane, but since this is Itadori, it only takes a few brief moments of adorable sulking for him to perk up again. “Alright, well, I’m ready for the next round!” 

Iguchi shakes his head. “Sorry, but no more. I’m starting to feel bad about beating you this badly.” 

“Really?” Sasaki blinks. “I’m having the time of my life.” 

“You don’t always have to voice your intrusive thoughts aloud, Sasaki.” 

“We can play more next time,” you say, gently patting Itadori on the shoulder. “And I’m sure you’ll win a bunch then. Enough to make up for all the losses from today.” 

“Doubt it,” Sasaki muses. 

“Sasaki, that’s seriously enough out of you,” Iguchi sighs.

“Alright, fine,” Itadori relents. He quickly glances towards the clock on the wall. “I guess it’s about time for me to head out anyway. It’d be nice to get to the hospital early for a change.” 

More than a week has passed since you first awoke in this world, and during that time, you’ve spent pretty much every day hanging out with Itadori. It’s quite literally a dream come to true to be able to talk to him like this. From the moment you discovered you attended the same school, you were already starstruck, but you figured you would only ever be able to stare at him longingly, from afar. Never in a million years did you imagine that you would actually become his friend. 

Even though your friendship is destined to be cut short, you’re determined to enjoy these blissful moments for as long as you can.

You and Itadori say goodbye to Sasaki and Iguchi, and the two of you walk out of the building together, stopping by a vending machine to grab some canned drinks. You crack your can open and sit down next to him, relishing in the fresh air paired with the cool liquid running down your throat. 

“Visiting your grandpa again, right?” you affirm. 

Itadori takes a big gulp, then nods. “Yeah. Same old, I guess. That’s another reason why it’s nice being part of the Occult Research Club. A lot of people have pestered me to join athletic clubs, but they run way too late. I wouldn’t be able to make it down to the hospital in time for visiting hours. It just works out better this way. Plus, hanging out with those guys is a lot of fun.”

“It’s nice that you always make an effort to visit him,” you say, smiling gently. “I’m sure he really appreciates the time he gets to spend with you. It must mean a lot to him.” 

“Well, I’m the only one he has left, so I’d feel really crappy if he had to spend every day all on his own.”

“Still. Not everyone would make sure to visit every single day, like you do. You’re really kind. You’re a good person, Itadori.” 

You hold your smile as you take another sip of your drink, and you don’t notice that Itadori is staring at you wide-eyed, at least, not until you turn and realize he’s nearly breathing down your neck. 

“Um,” you say, feeling a bit embarrassed by how close he is, “y-yes? Is there… something on my face?” 

Itadori scratches his neck. “Uh. This might sound like a bit of a weird request and all, but I was just wondering if… maybe you wanted to come with me today?” 

“Come with you?” 

“Yeah. To visit my gramps. Since we got to talking and all, I figured maybe he’d like to see someone other than me for a change. To be honest, I don’t think he has much longer left. He’s always snapping at me for visiting him, saying I shouldn’t waste my time going to a depressing place like that, and that I should be spending time in clubs with my friends instead. Maybe he’ll feel better if he sees me bring a friend along. He won’t worry that I’m lonely, like he is.” 

You proceed to just stare at him, and although you didn’t intend for your gaze to be unsettling, Itadori lets out a nervous chuckle and quickly shakes his head.

“Aw, man, what am I even saying? Sorry. That was kind of weird. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to waste your free time going to a hospital, of all places. I didn’t mean to try and pressure you into anything. Just forget what I—” 

“I'll go,” you blurt. “If you're sure you want me to come with you, then yes. I'd be happy to meet your grandpa.”

Itadori blinks rapidly, clearly bewildered, but it doesn’t take long for one of those ridiculously cute smiles to spread across his lips. 

“Awesome! Thanks so much, [Name]. That’s really cool of you. I feel like you’re always the one doing me favors, even though it should be the other way around.” 

“It’s not a favor,” you reassure. You pause, smiling shyly. “I really like spending time with you, after all.” 

Itadori’s smile shows no signs of disappearing, and together, you make the trip to Sugisawa Hospital, where his grandfather is currently admitted. 

You have to admit, you feel a little nervous. His grandfather is his only remaining family, and naturally, you want to make a good impression. Even more so because you know that he doesn’t have much time left. You may not be able to stay by Itadori’s side once the canon plot begins, but at least for now, you’d like to put his grandfather at ease. 

“Don’t worry,” Itadori reassures, smiling brightly. “He might seem like a crabby old man at first, but he’s not actually that bad. I know he’ll be happy to see me with a friend.” 

You smile back and quickly nod, and after a moment’s delay, Itadori slides the door open. 

“...you again, Yuji?” a gruff voice immediately barks out. “I thought I told you to quit wasting your time stopping by. Don’t you have anything better to do? What about your school club?” 

Itadori steps into the room first, rolling his eyes as if this kind of reaction is typical, but once you follow behind him and make your presence known, his grandfather’s expression does a full one-eighty. 

“Oh,” he blinks. “Who’s this now? Yuji, don’t tell me… you finally managed to get yourself a girlfriend? Good going, kid. I didn’t know you had it in you.” 

Itadori blushes a bit, but his embarrassment dissolves once he lets out a sigh. “Cool it, old man. Don’t make me regret bringing her. This is [Name]. She’s my friend. You always seem so worried about me not spending enough time with other people, so I invited her to come, and she accepted. Make sure to be nice to her, okay?” 

“It’s very nice to meet you, sir,” you say, bowing your head. “I hope me being here isn’t an inconvenience.” 

“Itadori Wasuke,” his grandfather introduces. You watch as he sits up a bit straighter in his hospital bed. “Hm. Are you sure you’re not dating Yuji? You seem like you’ve got a good head on your shoulders. You’ve got manners, unlike this brat. Hey, Yuji. Don’t be stupid. You don’t want to lose a pretty girl like her to someone else.” 

Itadori rolls his eyes again. “It might be easier said than done, but try to ignore him. Sometimes I think he just says things because he likes hearing the sound of his own voice.” 

“See that?” Wasuke points. “Do you see how this ungrateful grandson of mine treats me?” 

You bite back a chuckle. Naturally, you’ve already gotten a glimpse of what their relationship is like, well before meeting either of them in person. Wasuke may have a sharp tongue, but it’s clear that he loves his grandson, and he wants him to have a good life. He wants him to be surrounded by people who care for him, and even though Itadori will face plenty of hardship in the future, the fact remains that he will have plenty of friends who are willing to stand by his side. 

“Itadori’s a really good guy,” you say, lacing your hands together and smiling. “Everyone likes him. He’s got a lot of other friends besides me. And I know he’ll make countless more friends from here on out.” 

You pause to gauge their reactions. Itadori is blinking at you, perhaps a bit flustered by your sudden declaration, and Wasuke’s expression hasn’t really changed much, but you notice that his eyes are a bit wider than they were a second ago. 

It’s awfully subtle, but for just a brief moment, a smile rises to Wasuke’s lips. 

“Is that so?” he chuckles. “Thank you for saying that, young lady. I’ll admit that it brings me some relief. I’m glad Yuji isn’t just wasting the best years of his life tending to a sickly old man like me. If he’s got friends like you who speak so highly of him… then I guess he must be doing something right.” 

“No way,” Itadori marvels. “Did you just compliment me, gramps?” 

“Don’t get used to it.” 

“Still! You actually said something kind of nice for a change!” 

“Alright, I take back everything I just said.” 

The two of them go back and forth like this for a while longer, and you’re perfectly content to just stand there and watch. It’d be nice if Wasuke could stick around longer. It’d be nice if Itadori didn’t have to lose the only family he has left. But without a doubt, Wasuke will live on in his heart, and you get the feeling that even when he passes, he’ll be watching over him for a long, long time. 

Wasuke clears his throat. “Seriously, though. If you don’t act fast enough, by the time you know it, [Name] will be dating someone else. Don’t live a life filled with regrets, kid.” 

“...gramps, come on.” 

Uh-oh.

You’re not an idiot, so of course, you know what this means. The wooden box he’s referring to is where Sukuna’s finger was being kept. Up until Itadori found it, that is. 

Which can only mean that soon—like, very soon—the main plotline will begin to unfold. 

You nervously chew on your lip. Truth to be told, you want absolutely nothing to do with that stinky finger. You already know that everything will be fine until the Occult Club members remove the seal, but still. The whole thing just freaks you out, and it’s way too scary to even fathom getting involved in. 

While you struggle to come up with a reasonable excuse, your phone buzzes again. 

Balls. He’s just too goddamn cute. It makes it downright impossible to turn him down. 

With a heavy sigh, you text him that you’re on your way, and you eventually get there, unsurprised to see him standing in front of the same storage box that Fushiguro was frantically searching at the start of the series. 

Itadori grins widely. “Thanks for coming! Here, check this out. Have you ever seen something like this before? It looks kind of supernatural, doesn’t it? I bet Sasaki and Iguchi would go crazy over this.”

He proceeds to hold up a small, visibly old wooden box, and you gulp as he opens it up to reveal the cursed object inside—one of Sukuna’s fingers.

Of course, he doesn’t have the slightest clue what it actually is. It’s completely wrapped up in the seal, making the object inside indiscernible. He probably wouldn’t be grinning ear-to-ear if he knew it was some wrinkly old finger. 

…then again, he swallowed said finger without even hesitating, so maybe he wouldn’t actually care that much. 

“Oh, c-cool,” you say, doing your best to mask your discomfort. “Yeah, it definitely gives off that occult vibe. I’m sure the other club members would like it a lot.” 

“I really wonder what it’s even supposed to be, though.” Itadori frowns as he picks up the sealed finger—much to your horror—and leans in closer to get a better look at it. “Yep, I honestly have no idea. You got any theories, [Name]?”

Without warning, he tosses the cursed object towards you, and out of pure reflex, you lurch forward to catch it. 

The second it falls into your hands, you experience a sense of dread that is almost too nauseating to put into words. 

It’s only for a moment, but the scene before your eyes changes. All of a sudden, you feel something wet sloshing around your feet, and you look down to find crimson liquid, red water, or perhaps—blood. 

You try to choke out a few words, but no sound escapes your lips. You’re understandably disoriented, so your gaze then pans upwards, and to say that you’re terror-struck would still have been an understatement. 

Right there, sitting on top of a pile of skeletons, is Sukuna.

It seems as though you’ve lost the ability to speak, but even if you could speak, you doubt you would have been able to find the right words. You’re too overwhelmed with fear to even think clearly, and right before you collapse onto your knees, just shy of a meltdown, Sukuna knits his brows together and leans forward.

“...who are you?”

You snap out of it with a gasp, only to find that you’re still standing in front of Itadori, who has a worried look on his face. 

“[Name]?” he frowns. “What’s wrong? You don’t look so good. Sorry, did I freak you out by tossing that thing at you? I probably shouldn’t have done that. I get why you’d be startled.” 

He crouches down to pick up the cursed object, which you apparently dropped to the ground without even realizing it. You place a hand over your chest, exhaling shakily. Your heart is pounding relentlessly, and you feel dizzy, like you might pass out at any given moment.

Just now… that was Sukuna’s Innate Domain, right? But how is that even possible? He hasn’t even been incarnated through Itadori yet…

You swallow hard. That finger is completely sealed. Even though the seal is old enough to be torn off by even a regular human—like Sasaki, for instance—Sukuna shouldn’t have appeared before you. Or at the very least, you shouldn’t have been able to see him. 

Maybe it was just a strange vision. Maybe the shock induced some kind of hallucination, or something. None of this makes any sense in the first place. The fact that you’ve been transported into the world of Jujutsu Kaisen.

Itadori places the cursed object back inside the box, then tucks it into his pocket. “Sorry again for catching you off guard like that. Are you okay? You look a bit faint. That was my bad. You even mentioned before that you don’t really like scary stuff, so I should have thought twice before doing that.” 

“I’m okay,” you reassure, and it’s true. You feel perfectly fine now. That sensation of choking up and being overcome with fear is already a thing of the past. It seems more and more likely that it was probably all in your head. 

Yeah.

You must have just been imagining things. 

“Kokkuri, Kokkuri, please tell us… which creature is the school council president weaker than?!” 

Ah. So, it’s finally starting. 

The question is all too familiar, of course, and as you allow the coin to be guided around the board, the word formed is exactly what you expected. 

“What? A fish?” everyone laughs in response, and just like in the canon series, the door abruptly slides open, revealing none other than the student council president himself. 

He starts berating everyone in the room, of course, but you're not really paying attention. 

Instead, you gaze at Itadori with a wistful smile, realizing that after today, you will no longer be part of his life.

There's no place for you by his side. It's simply too dangerous, and even if you were strong enough, you can't risk upsetting the delicate balance of this world. Everything will unfold the way it's supposed to, which means that your role here, albeit small as it was, is over. 

…or is it?

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[pico-farad]

Asuka's problematic trait is that she's a Not Like Other Girls girl.

I love her so much.

This is how I interpret her beef with Rei — it's not jealousy over Rei having a crush on Judai, it's a very typical stage of teenage internalized misogyny where she blames other girls for the way she's been treated under patriarchy.

Rei: *winks at Judai*

Asuka: *malding internally* This is why people think girls only play Duel Monsters to find boyfriends—

girl calm down she's 13

Asuka has a very consistent storyline of having femininity — and by extension heteronormativity — forced upon her by the school, her brother, and even her friends. This is a classic Not Like Other Girls origin story; it's a frustration response from young girls facing insane pressure to conform to traditional femininity, which results in contempt for the feminine altogether. The frustration is displaced on Other Girls, because they're a representation of the traditionally feminine, and they contribute to the pressure to conform, whether directly or indirectly.

A huge part of Asuka's character is how she copes with the systemic pressure that girls face by putting up like five different layers of defense mechanisms, including distancing herself from femininity or even being perceived as a girl at all. Because she just wants to be taken seriously as a duelist in a male-dominated, misogynistic industry.

(the manga canon isn't the same as the anime canon, but I wanted to include it)

She has side-eyed EVERY other female character in GX for being obsessed with a boy — Junko, Momoe, Rei, Tania, that bug girl, the frog princess (I put a whole aside about her relationship with Junko and Momoe below)

Asuka, you're bombing the Bechdel Test.

I know it's bad that GX caricaturized all of its female characters other than Asuka to be boy-obsessed, but, well... it's a narrative that does resonate with the audience of young girls who were playing a card game made for boys in 2004. You can cringe at the bad feminism now, but I think that's the part that's charming and nuanced about Asuka.

Teenage girls mostly grow out of their Not Like Others Girls phase and look back at it with embarrassment (maybe because we turned Not Like Other Girls into another way to shame girls), but it is something that's worth exploring. Asuka is a genuinely kind person, and I think she too will grow up and realize how stupid and reductive she was being.

"a real woman" Asuka sweetie you're going to cringe over this in five years.

THE JUNKO MOMOE ASIDE:

Asuka is nominally friends with Junko and Momoe, but as the series progresses, she spends more and more time instead with her group of male friends. A significant portion of her interactions with them are her showing veiled judgment towards them for fangirling over boys, from tennis guy to Edo Phoenix to her brother.

And when she joins the Society of Light, that veiled judgment becomes unveiled.

Junko and Momoe are in the middle of losing to a sexist wine dude, and Asuka is so furious, her Not Like Other Girls instincts override the Society of Light brainwashing and she takes over the duel for them. ASUKA'S INTERNALIZED MISOGYNY IS STRONGER THAN BRAINWASHING.

Sommelier: Goodness me, I had high hopes for the ladies of Obelisk Blue. But I suppose to you, duels are like making tea or arranging flowers. Just one more skill you learn to land a husband. Just surrender, why don't you? Asuka: Wait! Junko & Momoe: Asuka! Asuka: If you two lose, there won't be any more students in the tournament representing the long-respected Obelisk Blue girls' dorm. I will carry on the duel. Naturally, I will carry on with their life points.

Even though Asuka would win if she used White Veil, the signature card of the Society of Light, she discards it in order to activate Hallowed Life Barrier. Because this is all her, not the Light.

Asuka: (I won't rely on the Society of Light's power. I'll win with my power from my days as a girl of the Blue dorm.) Asuka: Let me show you the power of Obelisk Blue girls. My turn, draw!

Neither of these scenes are girl-power-girl-solidarity moments. It's the opposite. Asuka takes over the duel because she doesn't want their loss to reflect on the entire Obelisk Blue girls' dorm, and all female duelists (therefore her).

When the duel is over, she contemptuously rejects Junko and Momoe, shaming them for being so bad at dueling and victim-blaming them for the sexist attacks they receive. Asuka spent the whole duel defending the Blue girls, but she is NOT one of them.

Junko: Asuka! Come back to the Blue girls! The way you dueled just now was just like old times! Asuka: You're so naive. This is why you get told that you only "practice." Protect your own pride next time. I am a member of the Society of Light.

Everyone who ships Asuka/Junko/Momoe as a default lesbian best girlfriends uwu ship get outta here, those three have BAGGAGE to unpack before any lesbianism can be achieved.

(I have more to say about these three and how it parallels Judai's relationship with Shou and Kenzan, but that's outside the scope of this post)

Anyway, that's why Manjoume is a better feminist than Asuka

[buddiebeginz]

If they are keeping Lou around for any part of season 8 the show has to put an end to the cameo nonsense. Some of the Buck/Oliver takes that are starting to make the rounds are next level insane. I saw one scolding Oliver for making Lou do all the promoting of the ship. Another post said the writers needed to up Buck's game because he's not at the level of commitment yet that Tommy is being written (wtf when were these episodes). And yet another post scolding Oliver for promoting Buddie and Buck for continuing to spend time with Eddie.

They are taking these PAID (you paid him to say this shit) videos and making them canon. No part of anything he's saying is canon. Firstly, he wouldn't be allowed to tell them any actual canon facts and secondly Oliver/Buck is the character/actor the show gives a shit about. He's encouraging this nonsense and it's gross. Him promoting himself is fine, it's low-key cringe given the fact the other half of the ship is silent but you do you, babe. Oliver's silence is what's pissing his fans off. Seriously tell me you're new to Captain Starks ways without telling me you're new. He promotes no ship but the Buddie ship, canon or not. These people are here for Lou. When he goes, happy for him to take them with him.

I'm not sure why they keep letting him do those cameos especially after he pissed people off when he said T*mmy being homophobic and racist to Hen and Chim was just teasing. He also talked about people recognizing him in Thailand in the AH interview and did this fake stereotypical asian accent. 🤦‍♀️He really needs a better agent and some media training because they'd for sure tell him to knock that shit off.

I could see the cameos being fun to do a few times when he first came back to the show even to garner excitement about B/T and T*mmy but the fact that he's done so many now and has even raised the price just makes him look desperate for attention. And like you said he gives all these headcanons about T*mmy in his videos that his obsessive fans have taken for absolute fact. We would never hear the end of it if Buddie fandom was paying Ryan for videos like that.

I agree with you that a majority of B/T stans are here first and foremost for T*mmy and Lou not Buck and Oliver. I still can't believe that a lot of them used to be Buddie shippers. I think everyone should be able to ship what they want including multishipping but I don't get how some of them dropped a ship they were seemingly invested in for years for the nothing that is B/T.

That part of fandom also loves to call us delusional and say we're seeing only what we want to see but a lot of times we're just pointing out what's actually happening. Like in the recent episode T*mmy was being a downer to Buck's enthusiasm (which has basically become the norm for them). The camera also paned to Eddie after Buck got his award not T*mmy. Buck chose to run off to Eddie's after work not to T*mmy's. These are things the show is literally showing us not just stuff we're imagining.

It's similar with Oliver. They can come up with all the reasons in the world why he's never promoted B/T through this entire season but it doesn't matter because he still hasn't and likely won't. I've seen them say Oliver doesn't post anything about B/T or Lou to avoid dealing with the hate or to not upset Buddie fans or to protect Lou. The thing is though Oliver has left social media before when he's had issues and could again if he wanted to. He's also been dealing with homophobic comments since Buck came out but he's never shied away from talking about Buck coming out and has even addressed the hate on his insta.

Oliver liked a couple of B/T pieces of art when the story first happened but I think that was more to support the bi Buck storyline and the artists than anything else. Multiple times during this season he's liked Buddie art (including a tattoo which he commented on three times) he's also posted Buddie related and Ryan stuff on his stories. If he wanted to show support to Lou or B/T he could easily post on his stories where people can't comment. B/T stans can think what they want but it's clear Oliver doesn't promote any of that because he's rooting for Buddie harder than anyone. I think he knows B/T isn't going to be around forever and he's trying not to lead people on about it as he's said in the past he hates to do that.

I really hope we can get rid of T*mmy at the end of s7 although knowing Tim he'll probably keep him for added drama until s8. Unfortunately even when B/T ends I expect those fans to do a lot of complaining because they've concocted this whole idea in their head that T*mmy is Buck's endgame soulmate. They even want T*mmy to be added on as main character and get a begins episode. So I fully expect some of them to riot when he inevitably gets the ax. The rest will probably run back to Buddie the minute it becomes canon and try to pretend they never left. Jokes on them though because a lot of Buddie shippers have blocked them for how awful they've been this season especially towards Eddie.

[ananke-xiii]

Another dream, always mine (and yes it's still spn s13 related because i have a bone to pick with dabb over that season specifically)

So here it goes. (Part 1)

Spn s13 but kelly doesn't die, cas doesn't die, crowley doesn't die. Lucifer dies for *reasons* but mary, dean and sam are stuck in the AU.

It's still spn so we just have to have mirrors and parallels, okay? Like, this show doesn't care about continuity but damn! They will stick to mirrors and parallels like it's a religion and so we do too.

The thing is that the AU is not the lame-ass AU Dabb or whoever came up with, it's at least an attempt at being an interesting place. So basically the AU is as boring and dumb as our earth, nothing has really changed, people are still trapped in the rat race that capitalism is (see, we have a little bit of critique here too, there is no escape from the capitalist-fascist-heteronormative narrative or isn't it?), the frigging white picket fences are still everywhere like a fucking nightmare BUT! This is an earth without monsters, angels, demons, nothing goes bump in the night but depression, paranoia and suicidal thoughts (now these are the real monsters) and YET this is THE chance for our heroes, this is the promised land, no past, only freedom, the american dream is theirs to grab (but don't worry this place hides a secret, this is still spn everything must be queer, you'll see). Sam, dean and mary are kinda lost cause, surprise surprise! It turns out that's not the things you want that you can't have but that you didn't know what you wanted so how could you have it in the first place? Mary is restless, this was supposed to be her dream, she died for it and now she doesn't want it and she goes through another deep existential crisis (and, really, we all just get mary because seriously? any character named mary who's also a mother has too much fucking weight on her shoulder, just let the woman be). Sam is kinda okay with it, he once again refuses to get in touch with his emotions and flees from them like the plague: they're gonna make it work, they will find a way (i want to convey ross from friends vibes when he's like *in a squeaky voice* i'm fine! Here, that's sam in the AU). The guy lives in his delusion, this is his chance at being normal (and oh boy is he wrong, you'll see). Dean feels just bad, he's supposed to feel happy with his mother and his brother/son (the weird implications of this situation will be explored) but he keeps thinking about that little house by the sea (or was it a lake?) that cas bought as fucking jimmy novak and how the angel spent months there with kelly playing daddy and how the fucking angel played him and dean just went along and repaired his stupid truck as if to thank him for breaking his heart but also, also, dean will never admit it to anyone ever but deep down he knows, he knows, that that was his place, his angel, his chance (we will also have an explorations into the complex theme of mpreg with the due "Junior" references we all deserve and insights into dean's maternal insticts).

Now back to earth.

Kelly gives birth to a baby jack, cas lives with them to protect them from the angels and demons that will sure come for a visit (but once again he will end up being a total agent of chaos, you'll see), the angel is a bit of a mess, though, and his obsession with saving dean winchester is finally making kelly feel quite concerned with her life choices, maybe trusting this guy was a little bit insane, was he always this deranged? (We'll soon see why she thinks that, she might have a point). Meanwhile crowley goes back to hell and we once again have a cheap game of thrones situation (because why not? i can't come up with infinite original ideas to fix this plot, okay? Also this is still spn, i can condone SOME cheap storylines on the side, and anyway mark sheppard makes anything work so we're good) where his varys-like smart brain cells will put him on the throne again (who's this asmodeus guy anyway, prince of hell or not, fuck him, he will not stick around here for a second season while dagon died like after 2 episodes she was in, not gonna happened in my narrative). But, you see, the demon has his own issues, and goes visiting kelly and the angel because why not? He likes kelly she seems interesting enough for a person who birthed satan's son, escaped from a fucking angel of the lord, was kidnapped by a goddamn prince of hell, managed to baby trap said angel of the lord, stole the frigging impala and escaped that menace that the winchesters are. She then proceeded to give birth knowing she might have died. She is something. Something a bit unhinged maybe but crowley digs her, okay? He still also has varys-like smart brain cells so he needs to visit to make sure that baby lucifer is, like, not plotting to take over hell or whatever newborn babies half-made from cosmic entities do these days. Also, also, watching castiel putting baby jack to sleep with those big strong angel gym-bro arms did something to him, his daddy fetish and his mommy issues raised their head and something else too, and he foolishly promises to keep jack safe from hellish attacks and indulges castiel in his winchester obsession. What? He misses the brothers too, those handsome, tall, cruel white boys (we are reminded that, visually, the whole cas/kelly/jack situation is quite similar to the weird crowley/dean/amara thing of s11, mirrors and parallels need to keep happening people, this is spn, we gott have 'em). Castiel is living his tragic destiny yet again, he's seen the AU, has been there, technically knows that dean, sam and mary are safe but he just has to see it for himself, right? Like he has to make sure, it's not like dean not being there is eating him from the inside, it's not like he starts feeling the pang of guilt over the huge betrayal he's forced onto dean,leaving him left behind again and again and playing him that way, no. He copes by sitting in his stupid truck that dean had repaired listening to that damn tape (every time he does that we have a close-up of kelly watching the pathetic scene from her window and sighing as if in "fuck, FUCK, my life"). And oh, yes he also starts researching about archangel resurrection because i may or may not bring back my girls, aka raphael and uriel but this is for part 2, you'll see.

[sciencetechnologyandsoteriology]

The degree to which Lae'Zels story Fucking Got Me is insane. I truly was not prepared.

I really appreciate how they keep her fierce. She's fierce in her vulnerability - pulling your ass out of bed because she realizes that there's something important changing in her. The growth in realizing you cannot demand devotion. How her growing closer to someone has nothing to do with her becoming less deadly or passionate, but seeing how her old attitude weakened her. How intimacy can straighten your back and grant certitude into the strokes of your sword.

The other beats of her story where she copes, with struggle and grace, with her entire belief system slowly being shattered. There are real limits to the video game genre here - one can imagine what a role this could be for a live action actor in a traditional movie - but it is also a testament to the unique power of including the viewer as a true active agent. Her story is truly more interesting and powerful because you can shape it and share it. She can arrive at many destinations and it's much more powerful that you direct the storylines of characters within your playthrough. I genuinely think that, among everything else, Baldur's Gate 3 testifies to the power and validity of this kind of branching story. The scale of the work is obviously hugely challenging. It's one thing to be a single author, it's another to manage a team of hundreds of creative professionals who have the skill to collaboratively combine the synthesis of so many performances. Too often "taking video games seriously" as places to tell stories means putting up with weaknesses because of the enormous difficulty of producing any product - I hope we're entering an age where strong work like this is rewarded and thrives.

Meme Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/comments/15sfov2/if_you_all_havent_realized_she_is_a_tsundere_and/

[megafreeman]

I was talking about Saints Row to someone who never played Saints Row recently, and they asked me why do I invest myself in this series' story if I hate it so much which is so funny. But you know what? I'm beginning to think that's what makes this series so appealing in the first place.

Thinking about it, Saints Row 1 was an amazing entrance to the series, and the start of the Saints saga. Not to mention that it was literally ahead of time in the terms of delivering a deep, thoughtful storyline that took itself seriously. And then, they did something insane, something that GTA never did (this is really important, considering that at time, the reputation it had was "GTA clone"), but did a direct sequel to the first game, with a lot of returning characters. All while perfectly capturing the mix of wacky fun and serious storytelling, and all that the same Rockstar rebooted GTA with brand new cast and direction, which made Saints Row stand out on its own as a series in comparison.

And then it just went downhill from there, getting further and further from the original deep and serious direction, even being a Mass Effect parody at one point (That's the part that made the person ask me this originally btw). This usually causes the fandom to pick a favorite entry and then base their entire perception of the series on the tone set (usually SR1 and SR2 claiming the majority)

And that's where it gets fun, where you form a unique bond with series. The fanart, the fanfiction, the fanon. Because every has their interpenetration of the series, everyone tends to reimagine their own take on the individual games to fit this interpenetration. From small things like adapting Saints Row 1 to be about a female Playa, to completely rewriting SRIV and removing sci-fi elements from it.

Dex and Troy are a perfect example, where everyone has their own take on the two characters because Volition did a terrible job writing them post-SR1, and we just soak that up, take notes from each other??? Can you imagine doing that in some other fandom? Imagine going to someone in Mass Effect fandom and telling them you rewrote their favorite character in the later games because you hate the direction devs took. You'd literally be put in witness protection.

And because everyone is doing this, this creates an unique environment in the fandom where we aren't really toxic to each other and our takes on the series, because we understand its just our different experiences of the series. Especially since almost everyone I met on Tumblr fully understands that fanon is something personal to a person writing it, and it makes the experience of sharing it and consuming it a lot better compared to someone on YT or Reddit writing their "ideal" SR sequel that always seems pushing their fanon as "one true canon" compared to being a cool little story you make and share with your friends.

[mischas]

Just rewatched the 3×15 "I want you" scene and I hate the writers so much for interrupting it. Y'all couldn’t have just let them fuck one last time? Lmaooo but seriously. This show has enough ass backwards storylines that punish Marissa so they could've let that scene happen and then have Marissa feel guilty (even more than she canonically did) because she was wildin while Johnny was dying 💀 (okay im not serious, that would've been terrible but I just wanted that scene to finish lol). No seriously, why would you go thru all the trouble of giving RM the tragic and poetic last hurrah of having Marissa "choose" Ryan after the ultimatum thingy that would directly lead to Johnny's death which in turn would lead to their breakup if you weren’t gonna give us one last poetic raunchy consummation? (Okay that was cringe but you get my point) Did they hate RM or what? What was the point of doing mid-S3 the way they did?

Rant over

Yeah dude I hear you. There was ample time in s3 to course correct and they just kept giving us everything except what we actually wanted. The scene in 314 is so good chemistry-wise, it's kind of insane just in terms of the story and the actors. Just get RM in a room uninterrupted and they'll come out of it with 80% of their issues resolved. This show is literally a never-ending 'what if' because everything gets exponentially worse.

Having Kaitlin present the Baskin Robbins metaphor in conjunction with the letter had to mean something at some point but it got dropped in favor of rebound relationships instead. The show was suffering in the ratings at the time and thought adding an element of sex would help them out. And you know how much this show loved bringing in guest stars. And it's massively insinuated that Mischa and Ben weren't getting along at this time (like I said, making the 314 chemistry... something). So production went all in on those rebounds. By this time the scripts were only written three weeks before an episode even aired, so imagine the quick turnaround this late in the game. The show was a goddamn mess by s3 and they thought removing Mischa from the equation would solve everyone's problems. And they quickly realized it didn't solve shit because she wasn't the problem after all lmao

[flowersofstarlight]

Okay so, @themisfitmouse explained what McBasilRocks said and finding out about the Original storyline of Epic Mickey 2, and reposting what the original plot was, I was shocked by the fact that Prescott was supposed to die in the second game, which sounded dark and insane. The Mad Doctor was supposed to be possessed by the Shadow Blot as they transformed into some kind of a monstrous, abomination creature would be interesting. And the fact that Oswald was supposed to gain a heart of his own after he and Mickey defeated the Mad Doctor and the Blot sounds a lot better than the second game’s ending.

While I still love and enjoy Epic Mickey 2 as much as the first game, there are many things that I hated about and wish we could’ve gotten the original plot that @themisfitmouse said. Epic Mickey 2 would have been greater and I think it should’ve been a little darker, not too dark at least from the concept art for both games. It also made me question why they made The Mad Doctor sing the whole cutscene when he’s on screen.

The story in the second game is poorly put together, lacks consistency, and very predictable on who the villain is. It seems like there was no thought put into it and they only did it to get a younger audience, even though most people who played Epic Mickey weren’t little kids. I also feel like the Mad Doctor is kinda pathetic. I feel like him gone for good would be a better ending than in the game. I honestly didn’t care much about the Doctor, so I think the original plot would’ve been better.

I really hate what Disney did to Oswald in the second game. He went from a well developed character to one of Mickey’s dorky sidekicks. They really didn’t take him seriously and made him idiotic. Throughout the game he’s praising the Mad Doctor, saying that he trusts him and instantly believes he’s changed.

But they really made him not learn his lessons or forgot that the Mad Doctor BETRAY him and choose to side with the Blot in the first game. In the cutscene, when he and Mickey find out what The Mad Doctor was really planning, Oswald acted shocked and said “I can’t believe the Doc lie to me.” And I was like, “Dude! He literally betrayed you in the first game and destroyed the Mean Street while singing!” It really disappointed me and I’m sure the Oswald Fans would agree.

I really think they could’ve made Oswald a bit serious, smart, and not trusting the Mad Doctor easily even though he’s giving him a chance. They could’ve made Oswald not trusting him fully, and is suspicious what the Doctor’s up to, to keep in eye on him a little bit and trying to find secrets while Ortensia and Gus create a machine that can transport Mickey back to Wasteland to find out if the Mad Doctor is still a threat. But again, they really made it so predictable in the game, it was really obvious that the Mad Doctor is still evil and lied that he changed. And then Oswald’s only concern is that people aren’t paying any attention to him. Like what exactly did you think this was going to happen when you and Mickey are on an adventure to find clues?

And the other thing that annoys me is the Mad Doctor is the only one singing the whole cutscene while on screen. I really don’t understand why they made him sing instead of just talking like Mickey and the others. I don’t see the point of why singing is necessary. It would’ve been better if he didn’t sing.

While I never played the second game, I did hear that people complain about the gameplay, sidequests and puzzles. I heard that it was tedious, confusing, and too difficult to figure out. The bosses were easy but also tedious.

The only few things I like about Epic Mickey 2 is the animation, the voice acting, Oswald and Mickey’s friendship, and Gremlin Prescott. What I like about Prescott is his personality, his voice fits his character, he has a unique design compared to the other gremlins, and I found his motivation and becoming an enemy is well written and thought out well. In fact, I think he could’ve had redemption after helping Mickey and Oswald defeat The Mad Doctor by dismantling his machines in the final battle while Gus frees Ortensia and the others.

I feel like they could’ve wrote Prescott to be a sad, prideful and bitter character to redeeming himself by helping the duo by distracting the Mad Doctor in the final battle to give them the opportunity to defeat the Doctor. I imagined at first Prescott thinks he doesn’t deserve forgiveness and is accepting whatever punishment they’ll give him, but Mickey sees the good in him and gives him a second chance. Oswald and Gus agreed, and while both of them forgive him, he still needs to atone what he has done and fix the projectors, help rebuild the town, and other things that got damaged by the earthquake that the Mad Doctor caused to bring the Shadow Blot back to life. Prescott would be surprised and may never understand why or how Mickey and the others would forgive him and have faith in him after everything he has done working with the Mad Doctor.

But I also think he would have been a great surprise villain and that would have made him an even better villain than the Mad Doctor. He has the perfect motivation and was tired of feeling under appreciated by Gus and the other Gremlins and wants to prove that he’s better and more intelligent then them, which I think makes him a better villain.

So yeah. That’s all I want to talk about Epic Mickey 2. I’m really excited to see Epic Mickey: Rebrushed! The gameplay and animation looks great, they’re fixing the camera that people complain about in the original first game and I heard they’re adding new skills for the remake that might be for combat and puzzles, which sounds cool.

I’m also wondering if the cutscenes will still have 2D animation like in the original and have actual voice acting in the remake instead of just dialogue. If that’s not the case, then I guess it’s fine. Anyway, to those who are Epic Mickey fans or enjoyed the games, let me know what you think in the comments or reblog it, because I am curious what you’re excited about the Epic Mickey remake and my thoughts about Epic Mickey 2.

[hetrosjistin]

Help I'm thinking about subbing for WoW Again

So there were a lot of things that lead to me more or less giving up Warcraft for life, including the horrors of blizzard that were revealed that made me seriously question why I was in the industry any more (warcraft 3 and world of warcraft are -why- I became a game developer).

But battle for azeroth was where it started and how... empty, and schizophrenic, and the way the world just NEVER capitalized on the story they were laying down, and then a little while later 2 things happened that, combined with the sexual abuse scandals (which came a little later iirc and would have been enough on their own), lead to me going 'yeah I'm gone, forever' (and also lead to me picking up FFXIV).

The first was that blizzard announced that they never planned the story of their games further than 1 patch cycle out.

The second was a clip of blizzard devs being asked when they were going to stop nerfing demonology warlock and responding "when are you going to stop playing it" (I cannot put into words how insulting that was, I main that spec, but if you don't want to make something work in the game then fucking remove it and have done with it, mad respect to the FFXIV team for having the balls to do that to summoner effectively, even if I disagree with it).

Shadowlands seemed to have vindicated that choice to an insane degree, especially with the level of FOMO they were willing to engage in with main storyline quests.

Now Dragonlands seems to have reversed that, the story is done and complete and it looks like they actually went into it with a plan, I've not heard of any major quest deletions of the main story, and the new expansion feels like it's coming along nicely, and frankly... I miss playing my first roleplaying character.

Counter balance that with the fact all my old friends are gone, they're probably not coming back... and... I dunno.

It's a weird feeling to have.

[candycoated-rage]

ok I’m just gonna go insane for a minute

I don’t like genshin impact at ALL. you’re telling me this is one of the most popular mobile games of all time and it’s a Gacha-based open world exploration game? Where all the characters are either conventionally attractive or adorable kids?? What??

It’s obviously riding off the popularity of Zelda BOTW/TOTK but from what I’ve seen it has ZERO of the charm. BOTW/TOTK has enticing characters and a beautiful world and a storyline I WANT to get invested in, but whenever I try to get into Genshin Impact, I find it BORING.

The character designs all feel like the same except for the blue guy with the eyepatch. They’re all pale and skinny and wearing clothes that make them look attractive. The artstyle is a generic anime artstyle which somehow WORSENS the experience? All the environments are pretty and all the characters look perfect.

It all feels so.. sterile, somehow. Genshin Impact seriously feels like the Illumination of mobile games. Playing things safe by choosing a basic artstyle, using the popularity of other genres in order to copy it, and people LOVE it. I see the appeal, and I understand the appeal, but how do people.. genuinely like it?

Compared to BOTW’s world (which is definitely an influence to Genshin), it has so many different stunning locations and characters and a beautiful story, and on top of that, a beautiful and unique artstyle that makes the entire game look like a painting.

Genshin feels… too generic, and I genuinely don’t understand the appeal. The genre has been done before, and much better.

Anyways tldr; Zelda does what Hoyoverse doesn’t.

[iguessitsjustme]

Love Sea Ep 7 Thoughts

I was considering not doing a liveblog this week. This honestly might be my last one. I don’t know. I just…I don’t feel particularly welcome here anymore so this might be my last post for a while (here being tumblr. this is not love sea specific. everyone has been very nice about my liveblogs thank you). Also my tendonitis has been so extremely bad lately. Honestly, this will probably not even be much of a liveblog. Click to read if you want. Or don’t. I’m just gonna eat my pizza and watch.

I want Rak’s shirt with the little infinity over the heart.

I actually think they’re being cute right now. And I really like this music choice. Either this show has gotten better, I’ve stopped caring, or my mental state is more fragile than even I realized.

I still hate the narration at the beginning of the episodes. Stop this. It adds nothing.

Can I skip all of Vie’s scenes? Will that make it better or worse?

Rak don’t give that man money. Give that man a concussion. 

Honestly, I’ll forgive Mut everything if he just…punches Rak’s dad. Just a little. As a treat.

Save Mook. Save her.

The way I would have left Vie stranded so many times. Mook is a far better person than I. And she deserves better. This manipulation is such ass. I’m not gonna talk about it any more. It’s making me angry. Like real angry. Not just haha internet angry. But angry angry.

Mook has to threaten to quit to get Rak to do part of his job that he agreed to do and somehow she’s the bad guy? They should just rename this show Hate Mook.

This storyline with Rak’s…cousin?? I think. It bores me. I am bored.

Okay I was worried that someone would try to make it seem like Mut met Rak’s cousin in secret but it does seem like Mut told Rak about it. That’s good. Unexpected but good. Wish I cared.

What was the point of all of that? Why introduce that problem just to immediately solve it? Why immediately cancel it out? It did nothing. It added nothing. What was the point?

Noisy neighbors go AWAY

I managed to get so far into the show today before they appeared but dear god. One of these days I’m gonna leave my apartment and just be like “y’all noisy. Ya mind?”

Even MORE noisy neighbors? Anyway clapping very loud and saying “excellent. wonderful. truly amazing. love it.” in a deadpan voice gets them to at least stop being so freaking noisy. They’re still there and talking but at least they aren’t so damn loud.

Anyway I rolled my eyes the entire way through Rak’s speech.

What was Prin’s plan really? Rak will get accused of throwing water at her? If people actually believed he did that, it would blow over in what? A week? It was water. She also didn’t think there would be a camera? Seriously. What was her end game? What kind of weak ass plan was that?

If Vie just asked for help like a normal person and was willing to accept a no from Mook, Mook would be so much more eager to help. But the manipulation is crazy. How are you going to say that Mook not helping you rehearse will lead to OT for the crew. Be better at your job then???

I just had to go wash soot off of my hands. It’s better if you don’t ask. But I need you all to know my struggle.

Honestly? This episode was fine. Rak and Mut are cute now I guess. Vie can go…away. Just go away. Mook deserves better. Prin is unhinged but also this is a huge scandal because she dumped water on herself. That’s insane. The framing of the show is making out like it’s the most egregious crime. Like yeah. She tried to create a scandal by saying Rak dumped water on her but again…it’s…water. Many people have had water dumped on them and more people will in the future. It’s not like someone pulled a gun on someone. It is literally the least serious scandal of all time. The best way to deal with the Prins of the world is to just not give them any attention. Let them be off in their own little corner being unhinged by themselves. When she appears be like “oh hey. It’s you. how you been?” Just indifference. And also this scandal will blow over in a week if she just doesn’t do anything else crazy. This whole plot is so boring. Like oh no! Someone splashed some water! Whatever will they doooo???

I should go cause I’m being petty about this show. I did enjoy the episode for the most part. No screenshots today. It’s fine. It’s not the best but at least now I can enjoy it for what it is. Except for Vie. I need her not in this show actually.

Oh the show wasn’t over yet. There’s a little bit at the end. Oooohhh this is so on the nose it hurts. I get it. But dear god. This show’s writing has no subtlety whatsoever. It’s like “I need to smack all viewers upside the head with this giant hammer that says MESSAGE on it!” I GET IT. Damn this show really wants to try to do all of our thinking for us. The problem is that it isn’t doing it well. The message you are beating us over the head with should match the story you’re telling. And it’s not. Not quite. Close but not quite.

Oh and it’s paired with product placement. Message with an ad!

Oh I’m gonna hate next week’s episode. Good thing I probably won’t be liveblogging it! I might but the odds are not in liveblog’s favor. I am now gonna go and do/watch something that I actually enjoy and talk to people I love.

[cxhleel108]

S7 Thots for this week: Chile…

• I NEED HIM

• He’s so fine uggghh I wasn’t even gonna replay this mess of a season after it was over but now I have to just for Evan content (I’m not THAT mad tho😛)

• This just pissed me off so bad like what was the point of last week if they were just gonna get thrown out??? Now Estelle can’t be my bestie/potential wife😢💔

• No, she will not.

• No, we will not.

• Ok girl…

• I did not take her seriously at first but then as the episode progressed it was clear sis meant that shit like woah😭😭😭

• I woulda went harder on her but my character’s whole thing (also my irl thought process tbh) is girl if he still wanted you he wouldn’t have switched to me. Like both yo ex AND yo current nigga are eye fucking me heavy sis you are not a threat💀💀💀

• This whole thing also makes no sense whatsoever to Willow’s supposed character or her and Bryson’s storyline but when does Fusebox ever make shit make sense in this game.

• I’m begging for someone to inform Bonnie that just because my character is pansexual that doesn’t mean she wants her.

• Willow yo tea been getting clocked this whole volume, do better!

• She’s really mad at the fact Bryson switched when she was thottin it up with all the casa boys…bitch please be fr😭😭😭

•I’m glad I got unlimited diamond flow cuz 29 for all these lame ass scenes is actually insane.

• The swing set scene with your LI was cute tho I won’t lie. I liked it especially for my MC and Bryson because it showcases how they bring different sides out of each other which is what I wanted. She makes him soft and vulnerable and actually act like a big boy😚

• Don’t shoot me…I actually like #Raphne togeth- *mic cuts off*

• This game is rated 17+ isn’t it? If not, it needs to be cuz the sex scenes are NOT doing it for me. It be the same rotation of words every single time and they even brought back the damn toy box from last season…with the SAME. EXACT. SHIT. Come on y’all it’s getting so lackluster I wanna read some freaky shit!

• Oh great, yet another “Bombshells enter and steal MC and LI away from each other for like 3 volumes before they can get back together” trope incoming…🙂

[maxwell-grant]

Street Fighter 6: Issue #2 thoughts

Not at all a fan of this new art style especially for the women characters but I must say, I never thought Street Fighter of all franchises would make their geriatric Russian terrorist wizard villain look cute and not as an ironic thing.

Seriously though he looks WAY different than he does in-game, but I’m not complaining. I actually really like how Johann is drawn here, one of the highlights of this issue for me. The way he’s drawn here actually succeeds in making him look like he’s not a villain. He looks way more like someone you could buy as a deceiver, someone who’d trick you into giving your savings away to help poor starving children.

They scale him down hardcore from his game design in a way that would suck if this was meant to be in-game, but here? It works great. He has this breath of expression that you just don’t see in the usual villains of the series, because he is putting a lot of effort into pretending not to be one and actually succeeding! He gets sad and worried over hearing about the opposition, he reacts with convincing shock over the broadcast, he looks scared and distressed over the news reporters closing in, he even displays enough moments of genuine concern over his assistant without anyone looking. I know none of this is that groundbreaking but we never actually see fighting game villains in storylines putting in effort when it comes to this stuff, even the ones we’re supposed to buy as great deceivers or upstanding public figures. The art style really does a lot for him here.

In fact, JP in-game doesn’t act like this, he quite clearly embraces his villainy more openly in it, which means this is pointing to a neat little arc of sorts where we’re seeing Johann on the backfoot working the long game in terms of attaining power, versus in-game where he’s clearly not afraid of openly skewering and poisoning his opponents with Psycho Power and then making a point out of not crushing their heads beneath his heel when he’s through because they are that insignificant to him, and I really want to see that mask-off transition as it plays out.

Okay so for those viewers at home trying to keep track of the score so far: After last issue where Ken was almost assassinated with a car bomb in the midst of a political riot, this issue kicks off with him being framed by a terrorist hacker group of anti-capitalists dressed like plague doctors (a BANGER of a fitting design choice the more I think about it) who wish to “expose the agents of chaos to the world”, who seem to be using A.I deepfakes to frame Ken and claim he was both working with the Nayshall establishment as well as funding terrorists to manipulate the cryptocurrency market, and that they have seized these funds to be “an iron hammer, swung down upon the head of all capitalist exploiters”.

And this is part of a master plot to increase viral searches for Nayshall and the tournament, thus driving the crypto value up as well as bets related to it, which we know has to with a N.G.O oligarch and policy advisor’s personal project to secure military power and political stability for his nation through, among other things, viral popularity and weaponization of content and successfully scamming a billionaire into thoughtlessly tanking his country’s economy so he may rebuild it better than before.

...

I feel like I should clarify that Street Fighter and pretty much all fighting game have never really so much as acknowledged the word “capitalism” before, let alone made a plotline focused on it. And yeah the “anti-capitalist terrorist” is a loaded archetype to say the minimum in it’s own right, I’m certainly trying to keep expectations measured, but look, it is insane that this is happening at all, this is the franchise putting on big boy pants in regards to a storyline in a way it never really has before.

Street Fighter’s been dark enough allright, even too much, and it individually brushed past or even handled mature storylines from time and time, but it’s never remotely been this topical or even tried to be, it’s never made a conscious effort to go hard on being political, that’s just not what fighting games tend to do. Maybe they’ll botch it, maybe it’ll just be window dressing, but I’ve not been dissappointed so far and I think it’s very commendable that they’re actually giving it an effort here.

(Also calling it right now that Amnesia’s leader is JP’s assistant)

How long was this before the game? In this, Chun-Li’s still with Interpol and got promoted apparently, but in-game she’s clarified as an ex-agent. So how much time passed?

Chun-Li’s fairly boring in here visually and character-wise, I’m not happy to see her as a cop ever. I like them putting her in work clothes and putting the characters in different outfits in general, but I don’t like how generic she looks. I like her scene with Li-Fen though.

Completely forgot Li-Fen was put in SFV as a hacker prodigy because I forget most things about SFV on the regular, but I dig her being Chun’s “guy in the chair”. Some people got confused by it but I dig that Li-Fen calls Chun her older sister, that’s kind of a role Chun-Li’s played before with other characters and I like that it makes their dynamic more casual than if it was a mom - daughter kind of thing, gives them more room to bicker a little and I think it gives Li-Fen a little more independence in their dynamic.

I do like that Chun-Li clarifies she isn’t fooled one bit by the video and that she’s keeping Ken in custody for his own safety, because Ken turned into a worldwide-hunted criminal overnight and it’s the safest place for him to be on. I also like that they’re clearly not close and barely even recall meeting each other and so they don’t really talk things through, I like it because it acknowledges that these characters don’t all know or even like each other just because they’re on the same sides. Small thing I know, but the more recent games really homogenized the cast dynamics so I like anything that corrects that.

Oh man now THIS is great, Ken is so fucked. I need to talk about this guy.

This is deepfake A.I Ken, and if anything he looks way too convincing to be an A.I thing (but then again Street Fighter has enough sci-fi tech, I mean Seth was a thing years before this and so were the Illuminati shape-shifters), but putting all that aside, damn, this was kind of a revelation to me. I finally figured out why I just never liked Violent Ken as a concept and this is why: because he quite clearly should have always been THIS guy.

Violent Ken was designed as a counterpart to Evil Ryu, a Ryu who’s overtaken by the Satsui no Hadou and fully given in to his worst self, but because Ken doesn’t have the Dark Hadou, instead he’s based on the SF II film concept of Ken having been fully brainwashed by Bison’s Psycho Power. He’s not that terrible a concept or design, I think the SVC Chaos artwork is pretty cool, but he was never really worth much, not that much more interesting than if they did like, Evil Dan or Sakura (...well I guess they did do both at some point).

See, Evil Ryu as a character is not the best idea in the series by a long shot, but he works mainly because he’s Ryu designed around Akuma, which is not just cool but also works meaningfully, since Akuma was already designed to be Ryu’s darker opposite and ultimate enemy. Besides the fact that “hero becomes like their own worst enemy” is a time-tested cool idea with a lot of storytelling power and Akuma being an incredible all-timer design that is very clearly worth ripping off, Evil Ryu takes the shared traits they have, powerful martial artists who wander the world in pursuit of strong opponents to challenge them and to prove themselves the greatest among warriors, and twists Ryu into the fascimile of Akuma that he always dreaded becoming and was always in danger of becoming with or without supernatural bloodlust, changing very little about his motivation.

I’d argue Evil Ryu only really reached his potential as a character when brought back for IV, when they made him look like a monstrous and savage endgame for Ryu instead of just Ryu with a tan, and showed more thoroughly what would happen if Ryu was consumed by the Satsui. His already tattered gi is shredded beyond repair, he burns with overflowing uncontrolled power, and he is more animalistic and brutal than even Akuma because he has no control whatsoever over this power. Like Ryu, he lives for battle, he wanders the world with nothing on his back to seek out and fight the strongest warriors, but he has fully devolved into a fighting beast who fights and maims and kills wantonly, who finds no answer in the heart of battle because the heart isn’t there anymore and there’s only a volcanic gaping necrotic mark of shame and tragedy where it should have been.

Twisting Ryu to make him more like Akuma works because Akuma is Ryu’s nemesis, and because they have enough in common to have a middleground, something that Ryu cannot concede ground on (because the one time he did, he nearly killed the world’s strongest fighter with a cheap shot attack, over a fight he clearly lost). But twisting the other shotos to be more like Akuma always felt more tacked on than anything, because they just don’t have the same dynamic and motivation that Ryu has, and that’s kinda the major problem I have with Violent Ken: he’s an evil version of Ken who actually has nothing to do with Ken’s character, he’s just an imitation of Evil Ryu in Ken cosplay, and he doesn’t even get to fall in the dark side of his own accord since it’s Bison’s doing.

And so this is why I think this, this thing that shows up for like a couple of pages? This is what Evil/Violent Ken should have always looked like. A Ken who becomes the worst version of himself, who maintains his basic character and motivations but is wholly and completely stripped of humanity, isn’t going to be a fighting hobo in torn clothing and an obsession with pursuing strength, because that’s not what Ken is.

Ken is the upper class rival who has everything his rival does not, the champ who flaunts his strength and privilege and fights with flash and style, the “arrogant steward of globalized capitalism” as he’s called in the comic. Evil Ken isn’t going to be a battle berserker caked in blood and dirt, he’s going to be Dio Brando squeezed into an immaculate yuppie shitbag suit. He’s going to be the picture-perfect image of selfishness

I frankly really hope this design shows up again even past whatever else they have planned for this cover-up. I love this split-second idea of Evil Ken too much to never see it again. I really want Terrorist A.I Ken to be a thing they bring back.