#still. its so hard to get good screencaps with him in it and idk how to make clean gifs

[tetzoro]

OH AIMSIES MY PRECIOUS AIMSIESSSS !! HOW ARE YOU DOING MY LOVEEE ?? I MUST KNOW !!! guess who ( you already know by the size of the paragraph i fear… :3 !! ) BUT WAHHH !! THERE IS SOSO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT !!!!!!!! T^T

PLS oh my gosh you’re so right, it is like we are lil penpals !! i literally sit in my notes app typing out my little (not so little) response giggling and kicking my feet because EEEP !! I JUST ADORE TALKING TO YOU AIMSIES !! :> your goal is to get me to watch one piece you say ?? omg…and what if i told you… i actually did start one piece a while ago :3 i already have a zoro figure and he looks so darn silly HELP ( ive been roped in by the zoro lovers. nobody save me because i love it here !!!!!)

AHHHH IVE BEEN DOING GOOD !! im finally feeling more into spirit and doing things to make myself happy <3 i started a bunch of new animes and im totally loving them AGHHH !! im sorry that day was rough for you, im hoping you’re better by now because you deserve all of the happiness in the WORLD !! <3

oh my goodness for REAL !! bokuto fics are soso difficult to find… im struggling over here !! when i was in my akaashi phase ( still am to this day oh how i love my keiji <3) i scrolled all the way to the bottom of the akaashi x reader hashtag. like, i read every single one ever posted on tumblr. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE ???? IDK !!! T^T but omg… im letting you cook… someone grab me a bib and a silverware set >:3

RAHH HELP KUROO BETTER RUN AND RETURN WITH THOSE DOODLES !! i will make sure he remembers his promise teehee <3 tinky tried to draw some catsonas of you and kuroo… it didn’t work out too well. i had to console the big guy SOB pls he is too silly !! </3 HELP PLS I KNOW i went up to tsumu after that and smacked him back because ?!?!?! HE WAS BURNT TOO ??? he cant just do that and expect to get away with it !! he was cursing up a storm it was actually hilarious PLS T^T

OHHHHH YOU AND KUROO, KUROO AND YOU, AIMSIES AND KUROO KUROMY !! MY BELOVEDS FOREVER !!!!!! that is so sweet that he sometimes feeds you SOB !! imagine he’s feeding you your yummy funnel cake and you get some whipped cream on your lips, so he pauses what he’s doing… then you’re looking at him like “ ???”, and he tells you that you have something on your face… so while you’re trying to find it he just grabs your chin and kisses it off leaving u a blushy little mess <333 IM MELTING you guys are SO cute WAHHH T^T AND THE ROMANTIC MOVIES !! oh plz, he is just a secret little emotional lil guy, but he wants to share that with you !! i bet you sometimes when he’s watching those movies with you, he’s secretly thinking about taking you on some of those dates, or wanting to recreate some of those precious romantic scenes <3 he is just so enthralled with you and wants to be with you in every lifetime !! HOW PRECIOUS !!!!!!! <3

WAHHH AIMS YOUR KILLING ME HERE !! THE COWBOY BOKUTO SCENARIO ?? im levitating he is sososososososo CUTEEEEE T^T my lil protecter forever SOB !! him with a cowboy hat… im drooling SOMEONE grab me that lasso !! I NEED TO CATCH THAT COWBOY !!

HELP OH MY GOSH i just looked up those animes you mentioned PLSPLSPLS “say i love you” he is LITERALLY kuroo’s reincarnation thats so silly im giggling !! AND WAHH wotakoi : love is hard for otaku looks so DARLING !! if it has a dub version i must watch it <3 i looked at some screencaps of it and just by the atmosphere i too can TOTALLY see you and tetsu in it !! IS IT OFFICE ROMANCE ?? YOU GUYS ARE SO OFFICE ROMANCE !!!!! :3

EEEP me and tinky time !! YIPEEE !!!!!! so, for pets in our lil universe we have a fishy that we love so dearly ( his name is bubblto. yes, bokuto named it after himself </3) but for the future we want to get a golden retriever puppy !! kou is such a dog person and that’s always been my dream dog :3 ( in me and akaashi’s universe, we have kitties !! which applies to my real life teehee :> ) but YES !! kou reminds me so much of a golden retriever so its only fitting we got one and named it something cute when the time comes :3

YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS !! MY OTP KUROMY QUESTION !! : do you and kuroo collect anything ?? if so, do you both by eachother things to add to one anothers collection ?? be it plushies, legos, buttons, i must know !! <3

OMIGOSH AIMSIES !! it is time… my ask does not end here because i am here with a yapfest. THE HAIKYUU MOVIE AND MORE !! ( my apologies in advance i feel so bad that im typing so much… forgive me </3)

for starters, THE HAIKYUU MOVIE AHHHHH !! STARTS SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS !!! i walked into that theater with my plushies and nekoma sweater ready to rock and roll <3 i walked out of that theater a new women. i was a bit sad there wasn’t much of kou, but kuroo made up for it because sweet LORD he looked so good :3 his laughs… the man pecs… his snarky comments… omg i was in heaven and im sure you were too. DAICHI CALLING HIM A DICK WAS SO FUNNY HELP T^T and omg !! i was so happy to see tendou there as well <3 EVERYONE LOOKED SOSOSO GOOD !! i must know what your favorite scenes were 😋

on other terms, can we talk about sanemi. sanemi shinazugawa love of my absolute life ??? pls aims he is so beautiful !! ive loved him since day one and im so happy that you love him too <3 we can giggle about him together !! my selfship with him is screaming in delight with the new season !! the dub couldn’t come any faster !! T^T HIS MAN BOOBS. sorry… im getting ahead of myself. i just thought id share that i’d like to kneed them like a cat… hes so delicious🙂‍↕️

ALSO AIMSIES WHEN THE HECK WERE YOU GOING TO TELL ME THAT BAKUGO WAS ONE OF YOUR BLORBIES AS WELL. we are the same i swear it !!!!!! katsuki is so precious, idk if you read the manga but the latest chapter was so :((( he is so precious NOBODY COULD EVER MAKE ME HATE HIM !! EVER !!

please excuse my yapfest i just had so much to talk about >_< i hope you’re doing well aimsies !! currently frolicking through the tall grass with you as we twirl under the sun, with our favorite men off to the side as they watch us with love and delight <3 we must have a picnic soon !! me you kou & kuroo !! SOB i missed you soso much </3 thank you for always being soso kind to me aimsies. there’s a lil tear slipping down my face because you are just so sweet and fill me with so much love !! YOU ARE A SHINING STAR !! i’m currently sending this letter off with a big smooch for you hoping it finds you well <3 until next time teehee !! MWUUUUAH <3

- :3 & tinky

MY BELOVED :3 !!! oh i am so sorry for how long this took me to respond. ive been reading it and rereading it ever since you sent it to me and i hope you know i cherish you with all of my heart ! it always makes me smile whenever i see you bloop into my asks <3

also we have the same brain methinks (or we share a lil braincell) bc i too type it all out in my notes app before i answer you :3

HOLD ON THO — you’ve watched a little one piece ?! oh i need you to come back and tell me all about it i fear … AND THE ZORO FIGURE ! i need to show u mine :> i have a few but i want more !!

im glad you’ve been doing well lovely <3 i know you watched windbreaker (still on my watch list sobsob im SO behind with anime rn) but what other animes have you been watching ??? did you watch ultraman rising … omg …

anytime you gush about me and kuroo i hope you know i literally ascend … jumping over the moon and dancing between the stars bc im so overjoyed LOL it means so much to me :’) i hope you know you were apart of the kuromy wedding mhm mhm you were right up there beside me with ur tinky ! we couldn’t have the day without u ;( !

you and bokutos pets are SAUR CUTEEE !!!! the lil fishie and golden retriever oh my heart … you guys are everything ! you and akaashi universe you say tho ??? is this a separate selfship or all together now hehe please i must know !

oh we def collect stuff ^_^ kuroo likes collecting cuff links for his suits. he has all sorts of ones and got hooked after his grandfather bought him his first set. he had so many different ones for so many different occasions ! (and not to mention so many that go with those silly ties) i definitely feed into it and try to find him cool & unique ones ! as for me.. i have my lil anime figure collection … i place them around the house aesthetically and he always indulges me 🙂‍↕️ im very picky about them but he knows what i like and will buy me the coolest ones at con !

TINKY TIME !!!!! okay so weddings on the brain i fear … do you and bokuto get married? if so, what’s the theme? aesthetic? colors? location ? WAAAAHH i wanna know all ! i love celebrating love sm im so nosy

NOW TO THE TASK AT HAND. the haikyuu movie. stop omg ur so cute going in with all your gear on !! an icon !! i wore my lil nekoma jersey to the second showing hehe had to rep man i fear i was over the moon for it though. that movie was so good i saw it three times and it wasn’t ENOUGH. i need to watch it again and again. kuroo caught sm strays in the movie BAHHAHA poor baby :((( made me think of a lil high school sweetheart au i fear ..

SANEMI AND BAKUGO PLS IM GIGGLING . you have taste my friend, excellent taste. i love them both so much but i haven’t given them nearly enough attention lately :( big sigh ! i miss them both dearly … need you to gush about them with me more !!!

SOB I LOVE U SO MUCH ! we are on our lil picnic rn and im feeding u strawberries and telling you all about the honeymoon teehee. thank you for being patient with me, i promise i wont take as long to respond next time ! june is just a v busy month for lil ole me !!!!! SMOOCHING U ALL OVER UR CUTE LIL FACE ! i hope life has been treating you well my dear

[xenreth]

things that signify i need to go back to therapy: tamakichi anaru is hot af

[pharawee]

I’ve yet to gif this ep’s spicy scene but maybe I shouldn’t do that when I’ve had 2 cups of glühwein and it’s already past midnight - the perfect conditions for another Big Dragon episode review.

To save me some time screencapping I just recorded the ep while I was watching it so excuse the subs. Or maybe they’ll even come in handy, we’ll see. I cropped them out for my gifs but I’m too lazy to do it here (I say but I’ve cropped out the gagaoolala logo 🤡).

This ep starts exactly where we left off last week (actually, there’s some overlap again - why are you doing this, Star Hunter? There’s only 8 eps of this show!) - only now we see some of Mangkorn’s perspective. It’s still pretty sketchy. I mean, you could have just... not let that girl half undress you while you told her you’re not interested.

But okay. You already said it, you and Yai are both womanizers and apparently old habits die hard.

But it’s Mangkorn’s face when Yai in his fit of jealousy hits far too close to home that really gets to me:

He’s looking almost pained. But of course, Mangkorn being Mangkorn, he’d just rather lash out instead. And Yai, being understandably hurt, doesn’t see it for what it is. He probably thinks Mangkorn is feeling guilty.

Which leads to Yai pushing and Mangkorn pushing back (it seems to be his favoured approach when it comes to Yai acting out).

And then, “If you want me to delete those videos, you have to come home with me.” Which at this point is a very convenient excuse, I guess, because Yai gets to ask himself the following:

And the answer, predictably, is:

Because, honestly, this is probably a lot easier to deal with for them than having to think about their relationship as a whole.

Coincidentally, Mos has said that for him the love scenes were easier to do than scenes in which he had to cry etc, since he could just get into the moment and “be” his character. He would be embarrassed before and after the take since there’s crew around but let go completely when the camera was rolling.

Plus, the camera work is gorgeous - all shaky and raw and in and out of focus, interspersed with light and shadow and spots of red.

I can see why this is Bank’s favourite scene.

I can hear LITA’s Rain screaming in the distance. Phayu would never!

It’s the next morning and the audience is literally wearing rose-tinted glasses. And so are Mangkorn and Yai. This has got to be their honeymoon phase (and look, the yin/yang carpet from the trailer makes its first appearance!).

I love how Mangkorn’s house - where he lives alone since his parents live out of town and don’t visit very often - is all cosy and warm. Compared to Yai’s condo it feels really inviting and personal, like he’s got it all figured out (spoiler: he hasn’t).

The product placement was of course kind of on the nose but unbearably cute. Plus, I’m addicted to Tao Kae Noi so I’m not even mad.

And I love the way Yai immediately gave in when Mangkorn mentioned his mother. I really appreciate how the dialogue in this show isn’t just surface-level. There’s so many things going on, especially since both Mangkorn and Yai are characters who say so many things with so few, conflicting, often hurtful words.

Which is why this honeymoon phase can’t last.

(Oh, and tbh I love how the blackmail video is more of a footnote in this ep. The less said, the better. But yay for showing us the cute MosBank sticker again 🥰 )

Mangkorn’s mum makes a really awkward 1-minute appearance just so she can embarrass her future son-in-law. And then, she just vanishes again because she’s a good mum and read the room (which will probably come up later, judging by next ep’s preview).

Next, Yai goes all overboard and decides to give the place a good dusting. Idk if it’s always this untidy or if he feels guilty for destroying at least two semesters worth of architecture homework. Park and Pong make a short appearance in all of their pink and blue glory but somehow it looks even more untidy when they leave.

But look at them in their little color-coded outfits. Cutest bodyguards ever!

And what is this?

Oh no, it’s the dreaded “maybe I’ll go abroad for a year” trope rearing its ugly head. Don’t do it, Star Hunter! There’s only 8 episodes!

I appreciate the continuous bj jokes, though (so this is what Mangkorn ordered for you?🥴).

No more rose-tinted glasses. Now there’s a heavy red plaid on the bed.

Negl I honestly half-expected Yai to find engagement announcements in the drawer but of course that would have taken away from their fight later.

I’ll get to Hong and Nadear in a bit, please bear with me. Let me just say they’re unbearably cute with their matching bracelets 🥰

Then there’s this - the complete opposite of their Tao Kae Noi-sponsored breakfast (more yin & yang, I guess). And while maybe Mangkorn is right to say that Yai doesn’t listen, it’s really unfair for him to expect Yai to read between the lines when - and Yai is right about that one, too! - Mangkorn is keeping a lot of secrets. He keeps all of his problems to himself and just kind of stoically accepts them. Which maybe works with his family, but it doesn’t work with Yai.

And tbh it really got to me when he accused Yai of being selfish when Yai has outright offered his help no less than three times (once in the last ep) because he sensed that there’s something that’s worrying Mangkorn. Is he maybe naive for offering that help? Sure. But at least he’s reaching out.

Mangkorn is throwing “selfish” around like it’s an insult, like it’s really supposed to hurt - when, yeah, someone like Yai probably needs to be a little bit selfish in order to figure out what he wants. That’s not a bad thing.

I really feel for both of them. I feel for Mangkorn because he’s so used to going it alone and keeping his problems to himself, and I feel for Yai because he won’t face his problems (case in point: he later runs off again rather than facing his dad and his dad’s new gf).

But I’m glad that this time the uno-reverse card backfired on Mangkorn big (lmao) time.

It’s really convenient that P’Nine has a rooftop bar.

And look, it’s Tung!! 🥰 And his character is having the worst day at the job ever, but somehow he knows the exact song that Yai is going to sing.

I don’t even mind the singing, though, because I was a fan of ISBANKY the singer before I was a fan of Bank the actor so this is like, a major stan moment for me.

If it isn’t the consequences of your own actions, Mangkorn...

And again he just rather keeps to himself instead of reaching out. Have you learned nothing (probably not, there’s still 3 eps to go)?

Oh, wait, is this supposed to be Yai, his sister and Nine in the photo?

It’s really tragic how Mangkorn triggered Yai’s bisexual awakening. He could have eloped with Nine years ago.

I would recognise this ikea blanket anywhere.

Okay, but I need a moment to just stare at Big Thanakorn because he’s literally perfect. We might not survive a show with him as the lead. He’s too powerful. 

I wanted to screencap Jet & Jame’s appearance but it’s too short and this review is already too long. Just know that I love them both very dearly.

Okay, parallel time!

In this ep we have three couples seated at a table, with Nine and Yai being almost an exact repeat of Hong & Nadear, at least in the beginning. Only, while Hong immediately understands and gives in to Nadear, Nine misunderstands and tries to fix it by being his charming self.

And while Nine and Yai seem more relaxed compared to Mangkorn and Yai, Yai’s conversation with Nine remains superficial (and a safe space) while his conversation(s) with Mangkorn are anything but.

That being said, Nine remains the MVP for treating this cute little caterpillar like the most precious thing it is. He even carries it outside 🥰

I need another moment. 🫠

Oh, how the turntables.

Nine & Yai look so good together.

So it turns out that Mangkorn was trying to fix things by bringing food. I guess acts of service are way easier than talking. Only, uhm, yeah...

I’m guessing Nine kissed Yai first and he just needed a moment to react. Because in the book Yai is quite clear about his feelings being platonic - even if he’s all kinds of dazzled by Nine (which is understandable. He’s perfect lmao).

[felassan]

Some DA trivia and dev commentary from Twitter

There’s a lot of different tweets, so I’m just pasting and linking to the source rather than screencapping them all or making several different posts or something. Post under cut for length.

User: Was dragon age 2 your favourite in the franchise?

David Gaider: DA2 was the project where my writing team was firing on all cylinders, and they wrote like the wind- because they had to! Second draft? Pfft. Plot reviews? Pfft. I was so proud of what we all accomplished in such a brief time. I didn't think it was possible. [source] DA2 is, however, also where the goal posts kept moving. Things kept getting cut, even while we worked. I had to write that dialogue where Orsino turned even if you sided with him, because his boss battle had been cut and there was no time to fix the plot. A real WTF moment. >:( [source]

Mike Rousseau: I remember bugging that! And then being told it wasn't a bug, and being so confused. Doing QA for DA2 was an experience. Trial by fire. [source]

DG: So I think it's safe to say DA2 is my favorite entry in the DA franchise and also the sort of thing I never want to live through ever again. Mixed feelings galore. [source]

User: (I personally blame whoever it was for ruining most romance arcs in other games for me; they don't live up to Fenris's romance storyline)

DG: I wrote Fenris, so uh - me, I guess? Or maybe his cinematic designer, who put in the puppy dog eyes. [source]

User: If DA2 had just been an expansion, do you think it would have been better received? There was a lot of great stuff in there, and I think my initial dislike of it was because of the zone reuse. If it hadn't needed to be a full game, would that issue not have arisen?

DG: Hard to say. It was either going to be an over-scoped expansion or an under-scoped sequel. If it had stayed an expansion, it might never have received the resources/push it DID get. [source]

User: I'd love to visit the universe where you had an extra year or so to work on it. You did a very good job as it stands, but it definitely had rough edges. Not just the writing team either. The whole game had hit and miss moments, that just a little more dev time could have fixed.

DG: On one hand, DA2 existed to fill a hole in the release schedule. More time was never in the cards. DA2 was originally planned as an expansion! On the other, if we had more time, would we have started doing that thing where we second guess/iterate ourselves into mediocrity? [shrug emoji] [source] 

Jennifer Hepler: This is what I love about DA2. Personally, I greatly prefer something that's rough and raw and sincere to something that's had all the soul polished out of it. Extra time would have helped for art and levels, but it would have lost something too. [source]

DG: Right? I think we could have used some time for peer reviews (and fewer cuts), but I think the rawness of the writing lent a certain spark that we usually polished out. [source]

JH: Definitely. I think the structure (more character-driven) and the tightness of the timeframe let each individual writer's voice really come through. Polish can be very homogenizing. [source]

DG: I should add I'm not, by any means, against iteration. Some iteration is good and necessary. The problem that BioWare often had is that we never knew when to stop. Like a goldfish, we would fill the space given to us by constantly re-iterating on things that were "good enough". [source]

Patrick Weekes: I appreciate your incredibly diplomatic use of the past tense on "had". :D [source]

User: DA2 was my gateway into the series and I’m so happy it is. I love the game the way that it is. It’s one of my favorites of all time. But I am also aware of everything that was said here. If it were remastered, do you think it would change?

DG: I'd be surprised if it was ever remastered. If it was, do you really think they'd change things? Do remasters do that? No idea. [source]

User: Both sides got undercut as I recall. Didn't that whole sequence also end with the mage leader embracing blood magic? It was very much "a plague on both your houses" moment, at least for me.

DG: Yep. Orsino was supposed to have his own version of Meredith's end battle, which only happened if you sided with the templars. That got cut, but the team still wanted to use the model we'd made for him. So... that happened. [source]

DG: I would personally say that DA2 is a fantastic game hidden under a mountain of compromises, cut corners, and tight deadlines. If you can see past all that, you'll see a fantastic game. I don't doubt, however, that it's very difficult for most to do that. [source]

PW: I love DAI with all my selfish "I worked on this" heart, but DA2's follower arcs and relationships are probably my favorite in the series. [source]

User: As I've expressed many times, I love the game, especially it's writing and characters but, for me, the most impressive aspect of it, in consideration of it's lack of time for drafts and revisions, is the 2nd act with Arishok.  What amazingly complex character and fantastic duel

User: Just played it again and I have to agree. Though he is bound by the harsher tenants of the Qun, he makes valid points about free marcher society. Though it is obvious that he and Hawke will come to blows eventually, the tension builds gradually and understandably

DG: Luke did such a fantastic job with the Arishok I found myself sometimes wishing the Qunari plot had just been THE plot. [source]

User: What do you think would have changed, story wise, if you had more time for DA2?

DG: I would have taken out that thing where Meredith gets the idol. It was forced on me because she needed to be "super-powered" with red lyrium for her final battle. Being "crazy", however, robbed her side of the mage/templar argument of any legitimacy. I hated hated hated that. [source]

User: I deeply lament that there wasn't/couldn't be some sort of DA2 equivalent of Throne of Bhaal's Ascension mod.

DG: I'd have done it, if DA2 had allowed for anything but the most rudimentary of modding. ;) [source]

User: I mean, and I think I understand where you were trying, but how much legitimacy did the Templars and her as top Templar have after they're keeping the mages locked up against their will in the old slave quarters? Feel free to not reply.

DG: I think it's the kind of discussion which requires nuance, and which discussions on the Internet are not prone to. [source]

User: Was a compromise that the quest lines don’t branch? It felt like it was supposed to be that way but then you end up in the same place later regardless of what you pick. Like I hoodwinked the templars so good to help the apostates escape but in Act II they were caught anyway.

DG: I remember us having a lot more branching in the initial planning yes. Most of this got trimmed out in the first or second wave of cuts, in an effort to not cut the plots altogether. [source]

DG: "If you could Zack Snyder DA2, what would you change?" Wow. I'm willing to bet Mark or Mike (or anyone else on the team) would give very different answers than me, but it's enough to give a sober man pause, because that was THE Project of Multiple Regrets. [source] I mean, it's the most hypothetical of hypotheticals. It's never gonna happen. I wouldn't be surprised if EA considered DA2 its embarrassing red-headed stepchild. We'd also need to ignore that in many ways DA2 was as good as it was bad BECAUSE of how it was made. But that aside? [source] First, either restore the progressive changes to Kirkwall we'd planned over the passing of in-game years or reduce the time between acts to months instead of years... which, in hindsight, probably should have been done as soon as the progressive stuff was cut. [source] I'm sure you're like "get rid of repeated levels!" ...but I don't care about that. All I wanted was for Kirkwall to feel like a bigger city. Way more crowded. More alive! Fewer blood mages. [source] I'd want to restore the plot where a mage Hawke came THIS close to becoming an abomination. An entire story spent trapped in one's own head while trapped on the edge of possession. Why? Because Hawke is the only mage who apparently never struggles with this. It was a hard cut. [source]

User: I would LOVE to hear more details about this! I don’t suppose there’s any chance of a short story?

DG: I don't even remember the details of the story, sorry. There was a fight, and you caught the bad guy and then realized none of it was real and woke up idk [source]

DG: I'd want to restore all those alternate lines we cut, meaning people forget they'd met you. Or that they knew you were a mage. Or, oh god, that maybe they'd romanced you in DAO. So much carnage. [source] I'd want to restore the Act 3 plots we cut only because they were worked on too late, but which would have made the buildup to the mage/templar clash less sudden. Though I don't remember what they were, now. Some never got beyond being index cards posted on the wall. [grimace emoji] [source] As I mentioned elsewhere, I'd want to restore Orsino's end battle so he wouldn't need to turn on you even if you sided with him. And I'd want an end fight with the templars that didn't require Meredith to have red lyrium and go full Tetsuo. [source] Heck, maybe an end decision where you sided with neither the mages nor the templars. Because it certainly ended up feeling like you could brand both sides as batshit pretty legitimately, no? That was never planned, tho. No idea how to make that feel like an actual path atm. [source] Maybe an option to go "umm, Anders... what are you DOING?" 👀 [source] And, of course, a Varric romance, because Mary took that "slimy car salesman" character we'd planned and did the impossible with him. I can feel Mary glaring at me for even suggesting this, tho. [source] Lastly, the original expanded opening to the game which allowed you to spend time with Bethany and Carver BEFORE the darkspawn attacked. And, um, that's about it off the top of my head. Zack Snyder, WHAT PANDORA'S BOX HAVE YOU OPENED. [source] Shit, I remembered two more things: 1) Restore the "Varric exaggerates the heck out of the story" at the beginning of every Act, until Cassandra calls him on it. Yes, that was a thing. 2) Make DA: Exodus. Yes, I am still bitter. [source] God damn it, I meant "Make DA: Exalted March". The DA2 expansion, NOT Exodus since that was DA2's original name and makes no sense. Because the expansion ended with Varric dying, and that will always be on my "things left undone" list. [source]

User: Whaaaat?

DG: Well, you know that scene in Wrath of Khan where Spock goes into the dilithium chamber because he's a Vulcan? Well, imagine that but with Varric and red lyrium and because he's a dwarf. ;) [source]

John Epler: I distinctly remember referencing the bit from MGS4 where you crawl through the microwave corridor in the split screen, while cinematic battle rages on the other half. [source]

DG: It would have been glorious, John. Glorious. [source]

JE: I don't think I've ever been so certain what a shot should look like as I did Hawke coming in and finding Varric in the broken throne, just like when he was telling Cassandra his story. [source]

DG: It would have come full circle! Auggghh, it still kills me. [source]

User: Lord, you folks are a little too good at this.

JE: The true secret behind videogame narrative is knowing how to make yourself seem a lot more clever than you actually are. [source] 'Oh, we TOTALLY planned that.' [source]

User: Ok, this thread [the DA2 regrets thread, which is the big chunks above] but Inquisition.

DG: My regrets about Inquisition are, more or less, the normal kind. Nothing so dramatic, I'm afraid. [source]

User: You can keep your Varric romance, I want a Flemeth romance goddamnit!

DG: I would allow for one flirt option, and then a recording of Kate Mulgrew laughing for three minutes straight. [source]

User: I had a hypothesis about the repetitive caves in DA2. They're repetitive because it's Varric telling the story and he didn't consider them important.  They're like sets in a play.  (Okay, I really suspect it was a time/money/resources thing but I like my fake explanation better.)

DG: Hang a lampshade on it, maybe? Cassandra: "But that's the exact cave you were in last time?" Varric: "Whatever. They all look the same, I'm not THAT kind of dwarf. Can we move on?" [source]

User: that makes sense, hypothetically to make Varric romanceable and keep his arc—that had to happen for the main plot—I imagine you would have to make double the content (or more)? which would've been a tall order given the time/budget constraints the game was under

DG: Right. When it comes to "romance arc" vs. "follower story arc", we generally only had time to do one or the other. Never both. Romancing Varric would have meant not getting the story of his that you did. [source]

Mary Kirby: The one exaggeration I really, REALLY wanted, that we never got to do was Varric narrating his own death scene with Hawke weeping over him, then cutting to Cassandra's pissed off glaring at him. [source]

DG: Haha! The one I wanted was Varric's plot where he takes on the baddies single-handedly, sliding across the floor like Jet Lee, action movie-style, until finally Cassandra gets irritated and he has to admit Hawke & the rest of the party showed up to help. [source]

MK: We did that one! (He didn't do any Jet Lee moves, though.) Jepler gave him letterboxing to get The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly showdown vibes while he shot a ton of mooks single-handed. [source]

DG: Wow. Shows how much I remember. [source]

JE: I found it! I remember seeing this sequence as my treat for doing a bunch of much more challenging work. It was fun to see how far I could push our limited library of animations. [link] [source]

DG: Heh awesome. I could have sworn it was cut, honestly. I think I was even in that meeting. [source]

User: no disrespect but that’s surprising and rich of Mary “Hard in Hightown” Kirby to think DA2 shouldn’t have had a Varric romance when she wrote an entire book of Varric’s self-insert character pining over his Hawke insert character… HIH is the reason we had VHawke Summer 2018

DG: I can't *really* speak for Mary, or how she feels about it now compared to back then. I only know how she felt about it back then, and I'm not sure it was as much the concept of the romance but that Varric's entire story would be bent to "romance arc" ...a very different thing. [source]

JH: I remember pushing to have the first DLC start with Hawke having an option to ask Varric, "Did you tell Cassandra about us?" and if you picked it, Varric would answer, "Of course not, baby. I told her you were sleeping with X..." and then proceed as if you had had a full romance. [source]

DG: I still wonder how that would have gone over. x) [source]

JE: Okay, one more DA2 thing. Putting together the cinematics for this scene was a blast. [link] [source]

MK: These lines are my greatest legacy. I want "Make sure the world knows I died... at Chateau Haine!" inscribed on my tombstone. [source]

JE: I was so glad no one said 'no' to the crane shot. [source]

MK: It needs that crane shot. It's the perfect icing on that cake made from solid cheese. [source]

DG: The designers were all "we need more combat" and I think we were all "I think you underestimate just HOW interesting we can make this dinner party". [source]

JE: And finally. I think @SherylChee wrote the one-liner. I think we had a collection of like, 20. [link] [source]

Sheryl Chee: Yeah! Something like that! I remember submitted a whole bunch and Frank said you only needed one. Wish I'd kept the other fifteen. [source]

JE: A random chooser where, each time through the scene, you get a different one-liner. [source]

JE: DA2 is the project I'm the proudest of. I also absolutely get that it didn't land for a lot of people. But I don't think it's inaccurate to say that, in a lot of ways, DA2 defined my career. [source]  Everyone spent a year working at their maximum ability. I was a fresh cinematic designer and was given all of Varric's content, as well as the Act 1 Finale mission. It was a lot for someone who had been doing the Cinematics thing for literally 6 months. [source]  There's some stuff in there I can't look at without wincing. And there's some stuff I'm genuinely proud of. Not to mention, it was my introduction to most of the writing team. Several of whom I'm still working with today! Albeit in a different capacity [source] Also, weirdly, one of my most enduring memories of Dragon Age 2 is how much Bad Company 2 we'd play at lunch. It was a LOT. [source] Every game I've worked on has a game I played attached to it. ME2 is Borderlands. DA2 is Bad Company 2. DAI is DayZ. I, hmm. There's a progression there. I don't know how I feel about it. [source]

User: Is DA4 going to be tarkov then?

JE: I've kind of churned out of Tarkov for now. Probably Hunt Showdown, at least right now. [source]

User: I think people also don't take nuance into consideration -- like I FULLY acknowledge the flaws in my favorite games and will openly criticize them, but that doesn't mean they're not my favorite games anymore??? You can like and thing and still be critical of it.

JE: A lot of my favourite shit is deeply flawed! I acknowledge it and I think it's interesting to dissect the flaws. [source]

User: I still wish Justice was an actual character in DA2 rather than a plot point.

DG: There was a moment during DAI where we *almost* put in you running into Justice with the Grey Wardens, and he's all "Kirkwall? I never went to Kirkwall" [source]

User: Does that imply that Justice was shoehorned in to DA2?

DG: Nah, it was an in-joke where we thought it'd be fun to suggest that "Justice" was simply some demon that tricked Anders in DA2. Wooo those tricky demons! We didn't do it, though. [source]

User: [about templars]  except, I don't think it had very much legitimacy to begin with. keep in mind, we interact with other characters with the same argument. The one that comes to mind is Cullen, a sane templar in power. The templar's side of the argument is inherently flawed.

DG: I don't doubt that many people agree with you, and yet people can and do argue on behalf of the templars as well. My place isn't to pick a side, but to provide evidence that players can interpret for themselves [source]

User: Can you shed some light for us on how DA was able to do multiple same-sex romance options for different genders but the Mass Effect team treated them like the plague? What process existed for your team that just wasn't their for the other tentpole franchise?

DG: Different people making the decisions, almost different cultures. I don't know what it's like now, but for many years the Mass Effect team and the Dragon Age team were almost like two different studios working within the same building. [source]

User: It truly boggles the mind. Kudos for doing demonstrably better on consistent queer representation than the ME teams. Y'all never needed us to make petitions to try to get the studio's attention and ask them to do better by us. That's the fight we're once again embroiled in now.

DG: Honestly, I don't feel like tut-tutting the Mass Effect team. They did their part, and if they were a bit later to the show than the DA team they certainly did more than almost every other game out there -- and willingly. [source]

Updates begin here

User: So what was the reason for naming Dragon age 2 "Dragon age II" and not using a subtitle?

DG: As I recall, that was purely a publisher decision. I think they wanted to avoid the impression it was an expansion. [source]

User: Is there no chance of ever remaking DA2 under better circumstances? -Somehow remove the repetitiveness of gameplay by making changes and updating the tech and adding much more to the storyline. It could almost be a new very exciting game.

DG: I'd say there's zero chance of that. Let's keep our hopes up for the next DA title instead. [source]

User: I am a little confused here, help me out here please! How exactly was the cut boss battle with Orsino supposed to work out? How it would've kept him from turning against the player?

DG: It means that, if you sided with the templars, the entire boss bottle at the end would have been against Orsino and the mages. No fight against Meredith. The end decision would have been more divergent. [source]

User: I do remember that one of the reasons going around for that, was that resources were going to the transition to Frostbite. I'm still not fully sold on that having been a good choice. I felt that more time should have been given for that transition considering it was made for FPSs

DG: We didn't transition to Frostbite until DAI. Given our time frame for DA2, I don't think we *could* have transitioned to a new engine. [source]

User: Since your talking about the what could have been for DA2. Could you say what your script was for Anthem? Cause I remember reading that you wrote the plot on that game.

DG: I created a setting for Anthem and scripted out a plot - but, as I understand it, almost none of that ended up being used. So it's a bit pointless to talk about what I'd planned, as that'd be for some completely different type of game. [source]

User: [in reference to the exchange above where DG said “Being "crazy", however, robbed her side of the mage/templar argument of any legitimacy. I hated hated hated that.” re: Meredith] except, I don't think it had very much legitimacy to begin with. keep in mind, we interact with other characters with the same argument. The one that comes to mind is Cullen, a sane templar in power. The templar's side of the argument is inherently flawed.

DG: I don't doubt that many people agree with you, and yet people can and do argue on behalf of the templars as well. My place isn't to pick a side, but to provide evidence that players can interpret for themselves. [source]

If I missed a tweet, got the wrong source link or included a tweet twice, feel free to let me know and I’ll correct.

Edit / Update: Post update 22nd April

[heathneycanon]

reasons why phobia factor fucking slaps

ok this lowkey just turned into me rambling abt phobia factor while i rewatched it. putting it under a read more bc it’s super long lmao

like, the entire first five minutes are the campers being friendly to each other?? and vulnerable, to a degree??? you know i love that shit

courtney and trent?? talk to each other?? like. okay they’re never in the same frame together unfortunately, but they do have like, two whole back and forth conversations.

also in that campfire scene at the beginning, cody and trent are sitting next to each other and there are some. good screencaps

“exSQUEEZE me?!” like cody. ur such a dork omfg

duncan vulnerability hours

lindsay asks what a standee is and trent explains it and doesn’t mock her/isn’t annoyed with her at all, in contrast to a lot of the other campers interacting with lindsay. i love them as friends SO much u all have no idea

harold’s little scene with the ninjas. i love him sm. why does he have nunchucks with him when he goes to the bathroom??

leshawna is afraid of spiders and she runs away screaming from. chef wearing a spider suit??? like i don’t love spiders but if a man i knew wearing a spider costume was calmly walking toward me i wouldn’t react the same way as i would to a real spider. anyway i think this is hilarious.

season one heather vulnerability hours.....

i mean, i really wish they’d actually shown her talking abt her fear at the campfire, rather than just having it told by gwen in the confessional, but i get why they did that. regardless that one scene right before the sumo wrestler charges at her where she’s literally shaking.... i want to give her a hug

side note i hope the sumo wrestler is okay he hit his head quite a few times

ok so. trent accidentally leaving gwen buried underground because he’s getting chased by a mime isn’t like. a sweet gwent moment. but it is one of their interactions that i remember most vividly from tdi lmfao

what is a cute gwent moment is trent like. kneeling next to her while chris is burying her. and the face he makes at chris when he jokes abt not digging her up..... i love them sm

also gwen sounds so fucking dramatic when they close the box she’s in like. “goodbye cruel world” gwen ur being buried for 5 minutes ur not dying sdfjlafskj i love her

duncan hyping dj up before he picks up the snake is so cute?? like he’s clapping for him and he’s got what i call “adorable duncan face” which is where his eyes are full circles and he’s smiling. i can remember him making this face at courtney, dj, and alejandro throughout the series and it’s just. ugh loving soft duncan hours

“ah! it blinked” “it means she likes you��� sadie where are u getting this information

okay so i googled if this was true and the result i got was “snakes can’t blink” so first of all i have no clue where sadie pulled that fact from and i have even less of an idea of where chris got that fucking. blinking snake from. is that even a snake??

when dj picks up the snake and they all hype him up?????? i love the killer bass so much it’s unreal

more cute gwent moments... gwen and trent talking on the walkie talkies.. they’re so cute

when the mime pops up behind trent and he does that little scream.... it’s loving trent hours u guys

trent is so bothered by a mime literally just. being a mime. me too trent. me too.

duncan and the celine dion music store standee.... everything abt that scene

"DUDE SHE’S MADE OF CARDBOARD” tyler i love you

courtney genuinely saying that it’s okay if he can’t do it (when she was being harsh to dj about the snake earlier..... duncney is so good in tdi u guys)

and then theY HOLD HANDS GUYSSSS IM SOFT FOR THEM

and THAT is what gives duncan the encouragement he needs to go for it?? they’re so good.

his “okay, okay” right before going for it... duncan’s voice acting is so good in this episode omfg

THE MUSIC THAT PLAYS WHEN HE HUGS THE STANDEE AND THEN EVERYONE CHEERING ITS SUCH A GOOD SCENE

THE DUNCNEY HUG

“duncan, you’re awesome!” and the look of shock on his face at both the fact that he did it and that courtney’s hugging him...... have i mentioned i love duncney yet?? bc i do

i can’t believe i used to dislike duncney omfg

then when courtney realizes that she’s hugging him and steps back jafksdfjlsa she’s so cute

and then the rest of the bass come over and hype duncan up more like. i love how supportive they all are in this episode!!

trent is so excited when he finally gets the mime to leave him alone fakjldjfl like he didn’t have to ROAST the dude. but he did.

chris somehow owns a remote control hail cloud?

lindsay getting excited about the “baby cloud” and calling it over?? she’s so cute omfg

trent fucking. hates geoff. gwent has geoffphobia in tdi ig

when they dig up gwen and she throws the walkie talkie at his head but he doesn’t stop smiling..... your honor i love them

owen and izzy getting out of the plane and kissing the ground together..... adorable.

cody with a fucking. watermelon on his head and covered in trash scares bridgette out of the woods. that will never not be funny to me

THAT ONE FUCKING SCENE. WHERE SADIE AND LINDSAY HYPE EACH OTHER UP. THAT MAY BE ONE OF MY FAVORITE SCENES IN THE ENTIRE SERIES. I LOVE THEM SM

the only bad thing abt this ep- tyler should have gotten the fucking point. he completed the challenge. i love courtney, but realistically, she should have gone home this ep and tyler should have stayed.

bridgette hyping tyler up...... im soft they should be friends

“quit being such a girl” courtney im sorry but the only reason you’re still in the game rn is because ezekiel made sexist comments in episode one. what are u saying lmfao

tyler and heather’s reactions to their fears rly make me think. bc like. most of the other campers have a more outward, loud reaction, maybe scream and run away. a couple are just a little wigged out. gwen gets a little snippy and is clearly super freaked out as well. but tyler and heather just. completely shut down. like, curled up in a ball, nonverbal, and shaking. makes u think.

why did cody need a calculator to figure out that the score was 7/3....... cody is canon lgbt+ bc he can’t do basic math without a calculator confirmed

also regardless of how little sense that made. at least that screencap gave us commie cody

when gwen starts trying to psych courtney out and heather like. gasps and looks shocked..... i like to think that heather feels a little bad for courtney here. heathney real.

duncan and bridgette hyping courtney up..... i love the killer bass so much omfg

courtney looks so sad when she walks away from the jelly.......

and then in the confessional right after?? she’s like. crying a little bit :( and she’s beating herself up abt it like..... :( courtney no

LITERALLY she’s like “how could i be so weak” “i deserve to go home” “you’re pathetic” (to herself) and then tells herself to show some confidence and then. she just starts crying again. and then slaps herself?? GOD I FUCKING LOVE COURTNEY SHE’S SO HARD ON HERSELF

owen just. hangin out in the tub of jelly. i love u, u wild dude. fuckin sit in that green jelly. loving owen hours

the little look that courtney and tyler give each other when they’re the last two without marshmallows..... half solidarity half “i don’t want to be the one going home”. i love them sm :(

i KNOW i said this earlier but. tyler should NOT have gone home this episode!!!!!! only bad thing abt this ep

all the fuckin chicken puns are a little bit funny tho

“he won’t be flying high tonight” bridgette chickens can’t fly

when courtney goes “okay, that’s enough” like. tyler’s not even there at this point but she’s defending him. maybe it’s because she still feels she should have gone home instead? maybe it’s because of that little bit of solidarity she felt for him when they were the final two without a marshmallow? maybe i’m reading too much into this? but idk. i think it’s sweet

okay no i have another complaint. what the fuck was the whole boat ride for tyler?? like when sadie gets eliminated the surprise she gets is that katie is on the boat. when tyler is on the boat, CRYING, after literally none of his teammates came to see him off, after he LITERALLY COMPLETED THE CHALLENGE BUT DIDN’T GET CREDIT FOR IT. the fucking. CHICKENS POP OUT?????? tyler deserved better

also some of the challenges were a lot easier, or at the very least, harder to fail than others this ep. i love it but come on. lindsay and sadie vs like. gwen vs owen and izzy vs dj. there were very different time limits, actual fright level, ability to back out once they were doing the challenge.... not a fair challenge

also uhm. if we’re being technical tyler and heather had the exact same reaction to their fears, so why did heather get a point and tyler didn’t? if the chicken had run at him, would he have won? smh

i do love this episode so much but. i had a couple complaints

okay finally lindsay’s little confessional to tyler where she blows him a kiss.... they’re so adorable lyler rights!!

[taziidcvil]

My Thoughts on RWBY’s new intro and chapter 1

This is going to be long so is there’s someone or something specific you want to read, I’d suggest using ctrl+f

WHITLEY

ngl i just want to start with my boy bc I’m so glad to see him back. Half of this is speculation and theorizing with no real merit ngl, but it’s something I’ve been thinking of for awhile

First of all this is a,,, very uncertain and conflicted look on his face here. He has his arm wrapped around his stomach and he looks very pensive. imo, Whitley’s going to be faced with a choice, one with no easy answer for him. And an answer that

might not bode well for the schnee family

Those clouds are, of course, Salem’s. Which makes me fear that Whitley may fuck up badly, and end up siding himself with the wrong people and it is likely going to be up to Weiss to bring him back.

Whitley isn’t a fighter. and if Whitley does cause the downfall of the Schnee family, he wont be at use for long. And once Whitley outlives his usefulness, there is no reason for her to keep him around.

But there’s a line that has been in my head for the last couple days. Namely Whitley’s line of ‘what could one huntsman do that an army cannot?’

Again, Whitley is no huntsman, but what it boils down to is ‘what can one person do?’ And I think Whitley is going to have to answer that question himself. 

I do think that Whitley is going to have to act at some point. Do something that puts him out for the greater good. I don’t expect him to suddenly join the fight, but I do think he will have his Pacifica moment. Where there’s something that he is physically capable of doing, but emotionally and psychologically it’s a mountain to him. Something only he can do, and Whitley will have to be the one person who changes the outcome of something dreadful. And most likely, i do believe it will involve Weiss

NORA & REN & RENORA (but mostly Nora)

ngl i am STOKED for this divide here

I love renora. it is one of my favourite ships. probably my third favourite i have to admit. 

what I don’t like is how its been going lately. while i do have the initial shipper reaction of ‘YES’ to the kiss, nora forcing it on ren sits wrong with me. Even more so their song last volume. It’s a bop of a song, true, but so much of it is nora telling ren to tell the truth only for her to tell him to love her. and while i’m sure he does love her, nora’s forcing it out of him and assuming is not healthy for either of them. Ren needs to come to terms with his own feelings, and these two need a wedge between them for a moment to develop separate from one another. 

and while i think ren will come to understand and accept how he feels

i think nora might give up on the pursuit and will put their mission above her feelings

But I do absolutely love the focus on Nora and I hope that’s a sign we are getting her backstory this volume. Nora is going to be a major piece in all of this and I personally cannot WAIT

I will say tho that I think her siding with Ruby’s plan is a little,,, strange to me. She was all gungho for protecting mantle last volume and i find it odd that she’s not on team ‘protect mantle first’. i get that she needs to be in that group because of what is shown in the trailer, but personally i would prefer her reluctantly forced into that group because of her usefulness. to keep the devive, that would mean ren would need to side with the ‘protect everyone’ but I don’t think it would have been that hard to spin his mindset that way

I’ve seen some talk about winter maiden nora and, while i personally would have preferred it, giving the power to penny only to give it to nora next volume is a little,,, cheap to me. ignoring the fact that it would likely mean penny would have to die and i am not about that life

i still think penny shooting lightning bolts at nora to power her up would be OP as FUCK tho

CLOVER

NO I AM NOT USING THE ONE SCREENCAP OF CLOVER THIS VOLUME YOU CAN’T MAKE ME

WARNING: Talk about dead bodies. Both fictional and real.

now i won’t lie, i am avoiding that shot like the fucking plague so I’m working mostly from memory here

I have seen bodies hours after someone has passed. Unless the body has something what effects the colour, here’s a greyness to the skin. Yes, this includes all skin colours. there’s also a distinct blue colour to the lips though clover doesn’t,,, exactly have distinctive lips. 

But seeing his body gave me the same nauseous and horrified sensation as seeing a long dead body. Of course not nearly as strong as he’s fictional and it’s animated, but it was the same. that sick greyness I’d expect from a body. ngl that shit,,, i wont say it triggered me, but it got damn close. it brought back memories and left me feeling very sick. It’s obvious he is very dead.

but even with that feeling, that didn’t stop me from being very fucking confused when I realised where the body was.

Now there’s a number of reasons that clover’s body would be there

They could have tried to save him and failed. They’re in a state of emergency and all the doctors are brought to one collective spot to deal with the potential rise of people needing medical attention. Maybe Atlas just works this way who the fuck knows. Most likely, they just wanted the Ace Ops to witness James and having Clover there just makes it easier to do that. but jfc if you’re going to have bodies in the medical area can you not install curtains??

ngl if i was at the hospital and they had a dead body uncovered and in full view of my room i would be 

I didn’t want to go back and see that image again, so i poked around the clover tag to see what people were saying in case i’m dumb and missed something. but i think if they were trying to bring clover back, they’d make it more obvious. and they sure as hell wouldn’t have coloured him that way. but I don’t blame people for being confused about if he’s dead or not when they literally put him in with people getting medical treatment and give him a patient number

but talking about Clover fuck i miss you so much brings me to

THE STAFF OF CREATION (with mentions of ‘that’ theory)

Ozpin: [mentions that using the staff will make Atlas fall]

Joanna: [talks about plans to move mantle citizens into atlas’ crater]

While it is debatable what the staff will be used on, I think we can all agree this bitch is coming down. Personally I think it’s how the volume will end. with the staff used, and atlas dropping. It’s a fantastic cliffhanger but fuck imma be so mad if that’s really where it ends. 

let me,,, get to that theory first. we all know which one i mean.

I’m not going to lie, i haven’t read much into it. mainly because i’d rather not get my hopes up and be pleasantly surprised than get my hopes up and be disappointed. Do i think it’s plausible? Well... after steven universe i think anything is possible. If it has even the slightest merit behind it I wont rule it out.

Do i think it will happen? debatable. i don’t think it was their plan but i also wouldn’t be surprised if they added it after the reaction to clover last year. but i’m not holding my breath. i’m leaning far closer to ‘no’ but i’m open to being wrong Do i want it to happen? god yes i fucking miss him okay i’m sorry i’m selfish i love my dumb fisherman himbo

the problem though is, if it can be done, there needs to be some form of payment. I know there’s been talk about a life for a life, and these are the options that come to mind: James: Don’t like this. James is a character rooted deep in the story and I think trading his life for Clover’s is,,, questionable. idk something about this doesn’t sit right. Especially when he has far more history with qrow than clover did. Tyrian: this feels cheap. trading a villain for a hero? that’s not even a payment, that’s hitting two birds with one stone. I do believe Tyrian wont survive the series, but this way is,,,, very cheap Qrow: pppppppppffffffttttt honestly this would just be a dick move that’s some monkey paw shit right there

either way, reviving clover would drop atlas and put both the people on atlas and under in danger. so the question is, is reviving clover worth it.

ethically, no. it’s not. one life will never outweigh thousands.  but would my selfish ass rather risk thousands of lives for one comfort character? you bet your sweet ass i would. it’s fiction, see if i care. storywise tho, we probably shouldn’t

But there’s nothing in the OP to suggest that Qrow is after the staff. and while it could be left for volume 9, i don’t see this volume lasting without dropping atlas after this volume started with the reminder that’s what would happen.

but ruby is shown reaching for it. (also is it just me or do those look like nuckelavee arms?) which makes me wonder just what she could want it for. Sure, she could be reaching to protect it, and that’s highly possible. but if we’re already talking about bringing characters back, i would not be too surprised if ruby considers the same idea. Namely with summer (though pyrrha is also an option). If she does consider that though, I don’t think she’ll succeed. and I doubt she’d really try if she knows atlas would fall. 

though if she wants to use it to save the world, if there’s something she can make with it that will stop salem, then i might believe she’d risk it. but even then i have a hard time believing she’d risk peoples lives.

but who else could and can get her hands on the staff?

PENNY

our sweet and dear penny, who has already suggested giving herself over to salem. and who is shown divided and framed opposing the team

While her being hacked is an option, and one i think james would consider letting watts do, from a story point I believe it’s far more interesting if penny is the one to decide this for herself.

Penny is a protector. And she wants to protect everyone. And one way she could possibly do that is by cooperating with salem. And with that gd whale having docking stations and a whole damn room inside it, penny going to salem fits with the whole ‘being eaten by a whale’. 

and if penny is the cause of atlas dropping, that girl is going to be dealing with even more guilt than she already has.

JAMES

me: okay, i know james shooting oscar was a big dick move, but james has done so many good things too. imo it’s questionable writing, but james’ stance is understandable. he’s still a good person-

listen. listen. listen. I... i don’t know what the fuck the writers are doing with this one. it would have been just as easy to arrest him but we just... gun happy i see. but james being gun happy makes me very nervous for qrow and that ‘if you were one of my men, i’d have you shot’. qrow’s out for james’ blood, but I don’t think qrow could ever actually kill him. and normally i don’t think james could try and kill qrow, but these are,,, not normal circumstances, and james has a semblance that will absolutely help him pull the trigger

i still love james. and i still understand both sides of the fight. and i still believe james is a good person. there’s so many good things james has done, but fuck if the writers aren’t trying their hardest to make the fandom hate him. and for the most part, it’s working. my gf already hates him lol

when all is said and done, there’s a lot that james is going to feel guilt for, but it’s guilt he’s willing to bare

while i understand the reason behind making james the bad guy, i will admit that i’m bitter about it. namely because in volumes 2 and 3 there were so many people expecting james to be bad, only for him to prove himself as a good person. and now the story is doing its best to take that back

THE ACE OPS

Again, one of the main reasons i think they put clover there and confused the fuck out of people. I think there’s going to be a divide in the ace ops, and i think we see which side people fall on here

harriet and vine are going to be harder to turn, but i think this moment just planted some uncertainty in elm and marrow. I dont think it’ll be an instant thing, but this isn’t something they’re going to forget. this is going to bother them for a good long while. yeah, the writers are trying to turn the fandom on james, but storywise it’s planting the seeds of betrayal and giving the ace ops a reason to switch sides. but i don’t think they’ll come into fruition until the end of the volume

And while we’re talking on betrayal, Winter is edging herself closer too. but while i think she’ll turn faster than the ops, i also think she’ll be the most understanding and caring of james of them all. 

Yang vs Ruby

pitting them together is honestly a good thing for yang’s character. they still love each other. they’d still fight for each other.

they may see things differently, and they may go their own paths, but there’s no animosity. they can work together and have each others backs, even when they don’t agree. 

and that’s something team rwby/ornj and friends and james/aceOPs need to work towards

Yang was never happy with Ruby keeping secrets, and personally i think it’s good for her to voice it and go a path she sees as right

Tyrian (and nuts and volts)

we’ve seen a lot of tyrian’s smiles. he is a very animated person who broadcasts his emotions. in fact, the only time he ever quiets down is in front of salem

this smile is the most ‘you bitch you’re lucky mum is here’ smile ive ever fucking seen on this man grhueiorfubgnjfroe

look, i don’t think tyrian and arthur are romantically involved. but i do think tyrian is fond of arthur. whether that’s romantic or platonic is up for debate, but tyrian has always spoken foldly of arthur. tyrian obviously does not like cinder or her crew, though he does love picking on them while i dont think he has that level of dislike for hazel, hazel is the sort of person to not like unnecessary killing, so i don’t see them getting close. Arthur crafted him his tail, and he organized a plan where tyrian got to murder often. out of the bunch, i think it’s rather obvious arthur is the person closest to him, and I also think he’s absolutely looking forward to seeing arthur again

Emerald/Mercury/Neo

first of all, FUCKING FINALLY! MY KIDS HAVE NEW OUTFITS! now there’s things i like and don’t like about mercury’s. personally, i like his old outfit better, but he NEEDED new clothes so i don’t miss it! Emerald is looking GOOD!! i don’t give a fuck what anyone says, she looking fine as hell

hazel tho, what the FUCK did they do to your hair?? who the fuck did this?? how DARE YOU

that’s all i have to say about hazel bc boy is quiet but WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE?? while we talking about new looks, winter is looking FIIIIINE too

Neo is, very obviously, finding this whole situation fucked up. i know a vast majority of us thought Neo would turn on Cinder, but at this point i believe she was content with finding a new reason to live. but the more cinder brushes her aside, and the more she gets to know salem, she’s looking more and more disturbed and annoyed with it all. 

emerald is an obvious turn. with her whole Aladdin tale, i wont be surprised if she takes the lamp from salem and uses the last question. (i’ll admit though that i’m curious what salem’s question(s) is). now i still think neo will want to kill ruby, but i don’t see her staying sided with salem and cinder.  i will say tho that I find it fucking HILARIOUS that salem has no fucking idea who she is. how much of cinder’s plan did salem even know? did she know about roman? did she know about mercury and emerald before they went to pick up her silver eye’d ass? Salem cut Cinder down for ‘acting without salem’s say so’ but how much of that has cinder already been doing before now pffffttt

but mercury’s the only one that isn’t showing that much hint to turning. and personally, that makes sense. Mercury’s been shown plenty of times being disturbed by it all. he’s always stood beside emerald, equally frightened or distrusting. but if salem is calm and mercury’s in no real immediate danger, mercury has always tried to play with the big boys. he has a better poker face than emerald and neo, but he doesn’t belong there nearly as much as he pretends to.

but mr pokerface isn’t perfect. the moment he notices cinder, his attention goes back to emerald, and he watches her. he’s told her before that cinder doesn’t care for them. he’s tried to break that to her, and when they come to face cinder he’s not happy. less so when emerald instantly runs back to her. he knows emerald’s goiing to get hurt, and while he’d like to think he’d be the type to say ‘i told you so’, he’s not going to take pleasure in seeing her hurt

but one think about emerald is that she reminds me a lot of nora. they were both starved and homeless, and were ‘saved’ by someone else. but cinder is no lie ren, and emerald’s gone a very different path. not to mention her ‘saviour’ came much later in her life, and nora is on equal footing with ren and has saved him right back. but nora has been shown to empathise with mantle and its condition. which makes me wonder if emerald will too. she described the attack on vale as ‘sad’. So emerald, how will you feel when you take in the situation in mantle?

CINDER

i’ll be honest, i don’t like cinder. I’m sorry ;n; she just never interested me. she has a nice design, but other than that i just,,, never clicked with her. but i am happy we’re getting a backstory for her. mostly because it’s damn well due, and for her fans. y’all enjoy your food

that is,,, where i’m going to leave it. it’s late and i need to sleep. there’s probably things i missed, and if there is i’ll add to it in the morning. but these are the immediate thoughts that come to mind.

please feel free to discuss. and remember these are just personal opinions and thoughts, many of which probably will lead to nothing. 

[yakocchi]

Melted Down by an Extreme Love // Count

beh, the count card is a ranking prize so I can’t use a nice rip of it as the header until after the event so... this will have to do. idk i guess i could use the faust one but that’s false advertising 

Honestly, I probably could’ve gotten that all-chara card in that set and it’s more worth it than having to try to rank but… I just can’t spend 8.5k dia on an expiring set of event points it just sounds especially wasteful. Man, if you’re going to do that just bundle it with stamina items instead. Though I guess that would be too good of a deal

I just want the Count card bro. smh. I think Charles might even shape up to be more popular than he is, so why is his card the lower tier one… yea I’m salty but as you’ll see in this event route easily salty people are attracted to other saltines

Spoilers under the cut. Please credit if you take any of it, thenk u (･ω･*) image heavy!! bc i decided to use screencaps to break down this post. tumblr formatting ehuehhh???

—It was a still night in a single room, when a deep voice sweetly rang. [Count]: “So, it is time to administer your punishment.” He pulled my arm with great strength and my body sank into the bed. [Kara]: “A-ah…!” The Count, slowly… as if to steal away the possibility of escape, hung over my body, the bedsprings thickly creaking under the added weight. [Count]: “Did you not expect me to do this to you tonight? Not even a little bit?” [Kara]: “—Hn-” (“Expect”…I couldn’t have expected anything like this, at all.) (I hadn’t realized it at that time...)

...

—It had all started today, early in the afternoon.

[Kara]: “Leonardo, are you in? I brought your things, but…” I had received a parcel during work and was thus summoned to Leonardo’s room. I called out from outside the door, and there was a reply after a moment. [Leonardo]: “Come in. Just - tread lightly, all right?” (Tread lightly…?) Tilting my head, I opened the door the way I usually do when… [Leonardo]: “Wh- Watch out…!”

The moment I opened the door—

With a rustling sound, a tall pile of books came tumbling down like an avalanche.

[Kara]: “Waah…?!” (There’s no way I can avoid that…!)

The very moment I had thought that, I was struck by the drifting scent of sweet tobacco. Returning to my senses, I found myself collapsed over the floor - with Leonardo hanging over me as cover.

[Leonardo]: “…Sorry about that, sweetheart. You’re not hurt?” [Kara]: “I-I’m all right…” (That surprised me a bit, but—…) [Leonardo]: “Nice. Well… I knew it was gonna fall over one of these days, but I didn’t think that would be now.”

⋆ i was about to say, wow my hero we stan etc. but yea this was kind of your own doing huh

Looking over at the mess of books on the floor, he chuckled. But then… [Count]: “Leonardo, I heard a loud noise, but…” Those words were coupled with the sound of footsteps coming through the open door. My eyes widened and turned to face that direction… (Th-The Count!) [Count]: “…Kara, what on earth are you doing?” When I had turned my gaze, I was met with my favorite golden eyes looking down at me scattered across the floor.

[Kara]: “Umm, that’s—” [Leonardo]: “As you can see, I’ve pinned her down here.” [Kara]: “Wha—! Hold on, Leonardo, what are you saying?!” [Count]: “…” I hurriedly rose from the floor to look up at the Count, who had fallen silent. [Kara]: “Count, that’s not true. I…” [Count]: “Ah, Kara, I know.” The Count replied with an apparent smile, before shifting his eyes back… [Count]: “Leonardo. It would be well to tidy your room a bit more already.” With only those words, he left the room.

[Kara]: “Ah… Count…” [Leonardo]: “…Heh.”

Leonardo let out an amused snort, and I naturally puffed my cheeks at him. [Kara]: “Jeez... Leonardo, why would you say something like that?” [Leonardo]: “Yeesh, don’t get too mad. From time to time, it’s a bit fun to tear off our beloved Count’s mask of complacency, eh?” [Leonardo]: “He’s the type of guy who hides his passion and other troubling emotions behind a mask, you know.” [Leonardo]: “So it’s amusing to get to that point where his true thoughts come out.” [Kara]: “’Amusing’…” I could only sigh at Leonardo’s typical devilishly-smirking self. (The Count said that he knew the situation, but… I should make sure that there isn’t a misunderstanding.)

...

That evening after work, my thoughts were naturally occupied with the Count. (Even if what happened earlier was just an accident, I want to discuss it properly this time.)

I peek into the dining room looking for him, and there sat the man himself. With lowered eyes and a teacup on hand, he appeared to be deep in thought about something.

[Kara]: “Count…?” [Count]: “…Kara. Is something the matter?” He wore the same smile as he always did; but for some reason, I couldn’t shake off this awkward feeling. [Kara]: “Um…” (I really want to explain the situation from earlier, but… something about it is hard to put into words.) While I was searching for the right words to say, the Count’s eyes narrowed… [Count]: “If this is about what had happened with Leonardo earlier, I already understand.” [Count]: “Leonardo had protected you from some falling books, correct?” [Count]: “And about that claim of having ‘pinned you down’ - he was only playing around too much.”

My heart finally relaxed at his gentle tone. (I wouldn’t expect anything less from the Count.) (Well, if I think about it… Since they’ve lived together for a long time, it’s not a surprise that they would know each other’s ways quite well.) (With that, he would never make that big of a misunderstanding.)

[Kara]: “Hehe, I’m glad that there wasn’t a misunderstanding. Since Leonardo’s always purposefully messing around, I was restless about it.”

[Kara]: “But, I really was worried. I thought you would care about that sort of thing—” [Count]: “… ‘That sort of thing’, huh.” [Kara]: “Eh?” Turning my eyes at the sound of a low mutter, I see him get up from his chair.

[Count]: “—From my angle,” [Count]: “I had said that I understood the situation, but I do not recall saying that I do not care about it.” (Huh…?) [Kara]: “…Count?” He had swiftly rose from his seat and was slowly making his way towards me. (The Count, he… the air around him is different.) It was... the mood that surrounded him when it was only the two of us.

[Count]: “Of course, I understand that he intentionally instigated the matters of the situation.” [Count]: “But, even then…” The crisp clicks of his footsteps approached, step by step, before promptly stopping right in front of my eyes.

[Count]: “That the sight of you, before my very own eyes, pinned down by another man, would not incite jealousy… Is that what you are thinking of me?”

[Count]: “If so—” [Kara]: “…!”

He captured my chin into his long fingers, turning it upwards. His focused golden irises were filled with so much emotion that a single glance could not capture its entirety. My heart leapt a beat.

[Count]: “Kara, you do not yet understand me.”

The moment my eyes widen, with my chin in his grasp— He stole my lips.[Kara]: “Nn… uh-“ His wet lips joined mine over and over, and a sweet sensation kindled in the air.

[Kara]: “Count, someone might come-… ah, mm-“ [Count]: “Do not get distracted, Kara.”

When I protested between kisses— He immediately grabbed my jaw, sealing my lips to swallow my words. (Even though it’s still bright out…) The fear of potentially being seen by someone melded with the aggressive heat, and it heightened this strange sense of immorality.

[Count]: “…Hah…Hh,” Our lips separated for a moment and his breath mingled with mine. At that moment, my mind suddenly recalled something…

[Leonardo]: “Yeesh, don’t get too mad. From time to time, it’s a bit fun to tear off our beloved Count’s mask of complacency, eh?” [Leonardo]: “He’s the type of guy who hides his passion and other troubling emotions behind a mask, you know.”

(Could it be that… Just now, the Count…) With his face right by mine, I could see his hidden passion, now unmasked of the veneer of placidity. When I had realized this, there came the sound of footsteps in the hallway and the Count’s hands promptly released me. Instead, his lips approached the shell of my ear—

[Count]: “—Let’s continue this tonight, shall we?”

[Kara]: “… Mn.” His voice, tinged with heat, made my cheeks burn... and I inadvertently detached further away from him when I heard the door open.

[Leonardo]: “Oh. Did I intrude on something here?” (…The footsteps from before must have been Leonardo’s.) [Kara]: “Ah, no, you’re fine. I’m done here,” Shaking my head in a fluster, I briskly slipped past Leonardo to leave the dining room.

...

(That moment from before… was that really the Count’s jealousy?) (I know it would be in poor taste to make him jealous on purpose. But…) There lied a part of me that wanted to, once again, touch upon the heat that I had witnessed behind the mask.

[Count]: “—Let’s continue this tonight, shall we?” (The Count’s feelings… I want to feel them more.) Pondering his whispers in my ear, my heartbeat quickened… and I felt my face burn up to my ears.

...

Watching Kara leave, Leonardo gave a small chuckle towards the Count. [Leonardo]: “That face on the little sweetheart… I reckon you’re guilty of that? And to think you ragged on me earlier.” [Count]: “A certain someone had riled me up to begin with, so I merely went along with it. Besides…” [Count]: “Even if you didn’t ask about me that, on purpose— I would think that you of all people would know what’s going on in my head?” The face he gave Leonardo was a composed one, but the heat from just a moment ago still lingered within it.

[Leonardo]: “Well, whatever. Our beloved Count has finally realized how unbearably adorable the sweetheart in his arms is, but…” [Leonardo]: “…Don’t go overboard, all right?” [Count]: “…” The Count simply smiled. Leonardo shrugged his shoulders at his masked old friend before lighting a cigarette.

⋆ The Count simply smiled, knowing that because Leonardo had been a punkass beech to him today he was going to ignore his advice. both of u deserve each other ( ´_ゝ｀)

...

That night—

Surprised by the knock at the door, I slowly opened it to find… [Kara]: “The Count…” [Count]: “Kara, may I come in?” I nodded, and the Count slipped into the room before shutting the door behind him. As if that sound was a signal (for something)— I was suddenly aware of the distance between the two of us and my heart noisily thumped, quickening in pace.

[Count]: “Could it be that you were obediently waiting for me?” (…guh. Appearing as if I had waited for him to “continue” is pretty embarrassing, but…) [Kara]: “…Yes.” He smiled at my straightforward answer. It was a gentle expression, but there was visibly some sort of implication behind it. [Count]: “…”

⋆ i like to imagine that he was just standing there like ( ﾟ∀ﾟ)ｼﾞｰｯ for like 5 minutes. sir you’re scaring me

While calming my rising heartbeat, I stared at him smiling right before me. (First, I need to properly apologize for what had happened earlier today.)

[Count]: “That the sight of you, before my very own eyes, pinned down by another man would not incite jealousy… is that what you are thinking of me?”

Though I am a bit happy about his jealousy, having made him feel that way had been on my chest for a long time. When I had opened my mouth to speak these thoughts—

[Count]: “So, it is time to administer your punishment.”

⋆ ctrl c + ctrl v haha aw ye

He pulled my arm with great strength and my body sank onto the bed. [Kara]: “A-ah…!” The Count, slowly… as if to steal away the possibility of escape, hung over my body, the bedsprings thickly creaking under the added weight. [Count]: “Did you not expect me to do this to you tonight? Not even a little bit?” [Kara]: “–Hn-”

Looking down at me from above, a smile began to slowly spread over his face. [Count]: “So that from now on, you will no longer carelessly enter men’s rooms and get pinned down…” [Count]: “I’ve been thinking that tonight, I shall violate even that easy nature of yours.”

⋆ or “trample on”, if you want something a little more visceral

I was left speechless by his extreme words, unfitting for the soft smile on his lips. [Kara]: “Ah- Please, wait…” Placing a hand to his chest, I tried to resist, but… these hands were easily pinned to the sheets. [Count]: “Do you honestly think… that I will grant that wish of yours tonight?”

Premium Ending

⋆ the Sweet Ending tl;dr pretty much lets her explain her thoughts but they reach the same boning conclusion because she wants to be punished anyway. wowee

[Kara]: “…kgh.”

My body instinctively trembled with a jump, and without an answer to give him… his finger suddenly traced along the vein of my neck.

[Kara]: “Mn, Count..?” [Count]: “First, let’s help you to properly understand just who you belong to, shall we?”

The next moment, he buried his face into my neck— and sharply sucking the skin, a sweet pain ran down my body.

[Kara]: “Ah…” The Count lifted his body slightly, dropping his gaze to my throat. [Count]: “When I leave a mark, it looks just as if I had bitten you.” [Kara]: “Cou-… Ah…” Speaking in a seemingly-amused tone, he buried his face once more. Trailing down, his lips… on the collarbone, on the chest… teasingly left traces of both pain and pleasure. Every time a red mark was left, this heat rose like a flame. (My skin… little by little, it’s like it’s being dyed by the Count.) (Dyed only in... his color.) [Count]: “The only person who can push you down like this should be me. Isn’t that right?”

[Count]: “Next—…” Smiling, his finger touched my lips— While pushing my gently-shut lips open with his thumb, he continued to speak.

[Count]: “I’ll help you to properly understand my thoughts— My bare jealousy and desire to keep you all to myself.” [Kara]: “Eh–…Mn, ah-“ With a kiss that swallowed my voice, he teased my mouth with his tongue. (Nn…This kiss, is more intense than usual…) Our tongues tangled with a wet sound, our sighs mingling. In his kiss that seemed to devour everything, both my breath and mind gradually muddled. (The inside of his mouth… it’s hot enough to burn.) (Is this, the Count’s thoughts…?) Finally, my lips were released… and my vision was blurred from my teary eyes, having been enraptured by the kiss. Wiping the corners of my eyes, the Count gave a bewitching smile. [Count]: “…Do you understand now?” [Kara]: “Y-Yes…”

⋆ (made her cry) expectation: “oh fuc im sorry child” reality: “lmao (more turned on)”

(That passion… to the point where it makes my head all dizzy…) (Ah… I can’t even think about anything but him.) When I nodded obediently, his eyes narrowed before his lips took on a dubious curve… [Count]: “But… it doesn’t end here.” The fingertips that were stroking the corner of my eyes began to move down along the contour of my body.

[Count]: “Kara. I am not saying that I do not want you going into any other man’s room.” [Count]: “Everyone in this mansion is, indeed, like family. I would like you to deepen those bonds as you wish. It is just that…” [Count]: “Even if they are family, I am not taken with you showing your vulnerabilities to others.” [Count]: “—Much less something like getting pinned down.”

As his words trailed, a long finger slid down the line of my neck…. down my chest… [Kara]: “Mn…”

I subconsciously teared up once more, as there lied the sensation of my body being traced over the surface of my blouse - to tease me. His gold irises locked with mine, as if aiming, shooting for prey.

[Count]: “Kara. The ones allowed to your heart and body… you know who they are, don’t you?”

(Ah…) Even my very thoughts were stolen away under those firm eyes. A small, bleary voice came out— but it gave a definite answer.

[Kara]: “Only to the Count… They’re only, for Abel.”

[Count]: “…Correct, Kara.” [Count]: “I won’t allow you to accept any man besides myself into your heart and body.”

A large hand snuck under the hem of my blouse, gently caressing the skin. [Kara]: “Hn… Abel-…“ [Count]: “…The one who may reveal every part of you, is only myself.” He tore off my blouse, dropping kisses all over my exposed skin. Pecking here and there, it gave only this frustrating sensation. Heat slowly rose from the core of my body.

[Kara]: “…Mm, hah…” [Count]: “What’s the matter…? You look unsatisfied.” [Kara]: “…Mh, it’s not…” “like that,” is what I had meant to say, but my words had faltered into nothingness. [Count]: “Truly, you are so lovely with your open heart... it is wicked.”

⋆ versus [Count]: “You are, truly, so lovely with your openness/honest nature… it is an ill-natured trait (to have).” when he means by her “openness”, “easiness”, etc. he’s saying that mc is very frank with her feelings. the sort of person where it’s really ez to tell wat they’re feeling and/or thinking abt, u know

[Kara]: “Ah…” With a smile, he dropped a sigh on my skin.

On one side, my body desired more of him, while the other was that in my heart, a different emotion was welling within. (This is “punishment”… but even then…) (His words are cruel, his touches are meant to tease… and yet, I’m somehow completely happy... It’s strange.)

The kisses suddenly stopped, and pulling my arm, he set me upright on the bed. [Kara]: “…?” Foggily looking back at him, I saw him guiding my hands to his clothes…

[Count]: “Now, you try and reveal me too.” [Kara]: “Eh- But.” [Count]: “I know you can do it?” (kgh- It’s embarrassing, but…) Simply nodding as his words had no room for objections, I slowly moved my fingers to loosen his clothes.

(…Ah, just doing this is making my heart beat like crazy.) His shirt finally fell with a light thud, and when I touched his bare shoulder… His skin was carrying a heat that was hot enough to melt. (It’s so hot…) (Could this be, the passion… that he’s always hiding behind a mask?) In that moment, that heat… I was touching that very heat born from his heart.

The intimate touching became unbearable— and as if that heat from inside (of him) was then released, I let out a sigh. [Count]: “Is something wrong?” [Kara]: “You’re being meaner than usual… so my heart feels like it’s about to burst.” Saying this, Abel’s smile deepened. It was not the usual smile of a composed adult, but of a man. [Count]: “Well, that’s quite the problem.” [Count]: “—Because the show starts from here.”

FIN

As usual, there’s an Epilogue with these routes. The Count one is pretty good (*´▽`*)b dunno abt the others but they’re… probably good? idk. they can’t skimp out on Arthur stuff, his JPN stans could probably single-handedly fund the game. and they’re already being spicy with the new guys already for some reason. ( ´_ゝ｀) gotta do that now to prevent audience disinterest amirite

ok sorry about the inconsistent screenshots but i want to buy my cosmic brownies now. ty for reading  (*´▽`)

[keepcopinghoe]

catch up pt.1

quick rundown of what’s been going on with me

ramo is the first guy that i’ve consistently and personally interacted with since about 2018 and definitely the first guy who actually around my age that i’ve formed a relatively close bond with. i think it’s for this reason that i’m so attached to him. he frequently described himself as an incel (ironically tho) and i think his last actually non-paid-for sexual relationship was back in 2017. so i stupidly assumed that i was the only girl in his life that he was actually close with and this delusion i think in many ways also is what build the foundation behind the inexplicable quasi-infatuation that i have now.

 on 06th june he told me about some girl that was part of his i***c*** discord which i already knew he was a part of since ages ago. i asked about her and he said she was from lithuania and that he was pissed off because some other guy was orbiting her which immediately set off alarm bells to me since there’s legit no reason to get pissy that someone else is orbiting a girl unless you like her yourself. he also said some shit to me which i think was unintentionally (or maybe intentionally?) hurtful, about how he could easily afford my prices and that i sell myself way below the market rate (both true but still). i think it’s both these things happening at the same time which particularly stung: ramo orbiting some e-girl who is involved in the same interests and hobbies to a greater extent than i am and also the emphasis that i’m a whore (and a cheap one at that) who no one would ever really consider as a serious dating prospect if they knew anything about my history.

i told him shortly after than i didn’t want to see him for a month or so, making up the excuse that it was because i was gonna be too busy. this is partially true cus i did initially have the plan to work every single day until the date of my breast augmentation/lift surgery which would be 25th june, earning like £700 a day in profit if i worked very hard. that didn’t quite come to fruition because there was some guy who booked with me that left a negative review on UKP which led to a fussilade of criticism from various users about me being a power-tripping time waster who frequently ghosted clients. this is kinda true except the power-tripping part; my timewasting is a direct result of substance abuse problems which is a direct result of whoring myself out to men that i often find unattractive. all in the preceding week (i met ramo on a sunday and this shit happened the following week).

two separate people passive aggressively threatened to send me another negative review over text, i have to provide a discounted rate to two of my regulars due to consistantly missing bookings, someone left me a negative review under my AW profile (which they did through sending a booking request that i didn’t confirm) saying that my service had declined massively over the last few months and that it was like ‘fucking a zombie’ and the final night of working on thursday (10/06), i saw this guy who has followed me under various aliases i’ve had in the past (jade/sana/etc.) and that i last meant at kingston premier inn in like june 2019. would have been a nice blast from the past in some respect but i made a stupid retarded decision to do coke with him - i then sniffed poppers which was retarded as well because poppers are a stimulant and speeds the heart up even further which i didn’t really know at the time. i then got super paranoid that i was gonna have a heart attack and kept telling the client in question to ensure that he call an ambulance if i collapsed, which i’m sure really got him in the mood. his name was james and i stupidly told him my real name. he couldn’t come and i felt like shit because i knew he didn’t enjoy himself - he told me in his mind that he had kind of ‘built’ the meeting up and i suppose it must have fallen massively short of his expectations. it is what it is.

i couldn’t sleep really at all due to the coke. i had several meetings arranged for the next day on friday with regulars all of which i cancelled. i just couldn’t continue on with the same routine of waking up in the morning feeling disgusting because i keep eating junk food delivery, doing an enema, getting drunk and just getting fucked until bedtime even though it was really good money.

i fucked around and went to chinatown on saturday evening and was feeling really happy and relieved about not having to work. i’ve figured that i can just make money after my surgeries and start again under a new profile where i don’t have any negative reviews attached to it and maybe rent out an actual apartment on a monthly basis, since it’d be cheaper than air BnB and i can set things up the way i want. i ate sweet and sour fish and egg fried rice, it was taste (ramo always says that lol).

idk what compelled me to do it but on 14th june, i looked through ramo’s likes on twitter. i think it was because i recalled seeing an obvious girl account in his likes previously - this is something i didn’t really think about at all previously but with the new information he had told me the sunday before, i ended up browsing her account which kind of led to a personal crisis. i found out fairly quickly that this girl was the same one he had referred to on discord (m** on discord, j**** on twitter) simply because there were screencaps on her media referring to the same discord and she was definitely from lithuania. i always assumed that women in these circles were lame and bland tradthots who lacked any kind of constitution beyond mindless pandering to irony poisoned scrotes and genuinely retarded wignats but i was suprised at how immediately endearing this girl appeared even to me, through the internet and as someone i have every reason to feel petty resentment towards.

her shitposts were funny and while she is edgy, she has an underlying sweet and kind disposition. her art is shit but cool in its own scrambled way. she’s also apparently only 16 so it’s understandable - i was a lot more cringe at her age and just as shit at art.

the feeling of inadequacy was overwhelming since in addition to being an actual whore, i’m super cringe, lame and normie compared to her. it made completely sense that ramo would orbit a girl like this and i’ve since completely re-evaluated my position and meaning in his life. it’s a good thing that my cope of feelings of intense inadequacy is to launch myself into a phase of hyper-productivity - i kept practicing drawing (apeing her in a way ig since i recently had kind of given up on drawing), fasting, reading, etc. to try and overcome how worthless and self-loathing i felt at being the unwitting basis of comparison to a young girl who was better than me in every conceivable manner. i even listened to msg 3.

i was in so much pain over this that i couldn’t listen to songs which reminded me of ramo (any i****c*** but specifically drug approved and also temptation) and when i did, i just felt anger at my position and a weird resentment towards him. worth mentioning than ramo had sent me a weird bootycall kind of text sometime before then which came across as really crash, so that made me feel even more devalued. 

this is already super long so i’m gonna follow up with a pt. 2 later or maybe edit.

[thewinterspy]

i was looking for ‘cheaper by the dozen au’ notes for hours in my documents. and then i realized that i saved it as ‘yours mine and ours’. it’s basically a transcript of a conversation i had with @vermofftiss in the sherlolly chat

katie: I see Sherlock and Molly being more of a "Yours, Mine and Ours" type sam: aww, but that means they're both widows katie: Or they could be single people that decided to have kids on their own before they met sam: ooh, true. ... *whispers* what if widows for a moment. stay with me. what if molly was married to tom before sherlock, and all her kids are convinced she's only with sherlock because he looks like tom katie: hmmm. IDK I think that gives Tom too much improtance. I was thinking that Sherlock just keeps ending up with kids by finding them through the homeless network. sam: i was thinking something like that too. like it starts with maybe two or three he has doing  bit of spywork for him katie: he means to just be a temporary waystation until something permenant comes along but then every person that tries to adopt them he deduce something that makes him go "nope!" sam: but maybe they don't take his money and they're like "we'd rather have a bed than be paid" so sherlock's like "alright, keep up though". but then they stay the night, and the next day, and the next day... katie: and it's not even major things it's that he falls for them. yes! maybe molly is raising her siblings. like she had young siblings that she was left to take care of after her dad died sam: ooh yeah, that could be it. oh my gosh are we thinking hard on this au katie: like they can work together and never know the other has kids~ we could totes collab on this fic! sam: oh my gosh that'd be so much fun! well, sherlock being sherlock, he'd probably notice something on molly and be like "are you a mother, molly?" katie: their kids go to the same school, they meet up at the Headmaster's office because they were fighting and it's like... "oh..." sam: "Oh no, i just take care of my siblings" "Oh. okk." katie: yeah! sam: and sherlock assumes that means like one or two -- ohhh no katie: lol Molly is Catholic of course sam: i'm just giggling about all the misunderstandings. like, when molly meets sherlock's kids, and none of them look the same, and he's like "they're all mine" and molly's thinking to herself "really, you must get around" katie: let's do. YES! and none of his kids call him dead. and she's like "my that's progressive" sam: and it's not just for a minute, imagine if it gets dragged out for days katie: i think there should be three each sam: and the kids are offhandedly mentioning the things that happened in their homes before they ended up on streets and molly's just completely bewildered katie: too many and then it's just madness. yeah! like maybe one of their mothers is an addict and still on the streets and she tries to come around for money or something sometimes sam: "my dad says eat your vegetables or you turn into a bird" "my dad didn't like vegetables" "my dad would *never( be able to pronounce vegetable!" can you imagine one of the kids being used as sherlock's pressure point katie: AHHH! sam: sit back and imagine the catatonic rage if one of them was taken. katie: yes that can tie in with the addict mom still on the street sam: can you imagine if one of molly's siblings was taken! katie: like they could be taken together. sam: what if they're all like "we don't like sherlock" but then he saves them and they're like "he's ok i guess" katie: they fight over whose fault it. YES! ok so here it is. the kid is a pressure point so the person in question basically uses the addict mom by getting her set up in a flat with an income and polishing her up to look like she's recovered and she wants her kid back and then they stage the kidnapping to make Sherlock look like an unsuitable guardian sam: OOOH, yes! ..... oh my god, what if moriarty katie: and the poor kid can be conflicted because he really loves his mom sam: because when moriarty was first trying to ruin sherlock, the most important thing to sherlock was the work. katie: but she's not interested in recovering sam: but now it's all about family for him katie: yes! so where will john fit in? or is this after he gets with mary? sam: i think he's probably with mary and baby watson katie: works! sam: but he and mary probably stop by to help with the kids/cases/etc. "uncle john" and "aunt mary" katie: yeah and he's their pediatrician as well or something sam: of course sherlock's like "they're not your aunt and uncle" "whatever you say, dad" "sherlock." "dad." "sherlock." dad." "sherlock." "dad." katie: yeah and toward the end he and Molly find out they're pregnant and when they announce it his kids are like "congratulations, Sherlock" and he's like "You should call me dad." sam: AHHHH that's so cute. ok i'm screencapping this, this is all too great katie: so it can be angst and smut and fluff and everything that is awesome in the universe sam: yessssss. all i really want is sherlock being sherlock-ish with a bunch of kids katie: definitely! sam: BUT there's one small one where he just can't help but be very caring and gentle around katie: no OOC and no crack. yes! like maybe he found that one and he or she doesn't speak. and he can use his skills of deduction to understand what he or she needs or wants sam: g osh i'm just squealing, that's so adorable katie: like it's trauma-related psychosematic mutism sam: of course, if anyone ever told sherlock he was adorable, he'd go into a sulk katie: right!? one big moment in the fic can be after molly and sherlock are together and they're all cohabiting like a real family the little one starts talking again sam: AWWW. ok, my brain gave me this katie: like something super innocuous like "pass the wheetabix. pelase" and everyone is like O.O sam: maybe sherlock's tucking in the little one. he usually doesn't tuck in the kids, but maybe something happens and they ask him to, so he does it. and the quiet one just sort of snuffles and asks about molly. "is molly gonna be our mummy?" katie: awww! sam: and the others just look at sherlock expectantly. im just katie: And they'll definitely need to rent out 221c. OMG all the Mrs. Hudson moments would be priceless. sam: lol, yes! they need plenty of room. katie: Like Mrs. Hudson always has treats for the little ones sam: awww katie: the older ones go in and raid her cupboards without asking and she doesn't mind. sam: by older ones you mean sherlock? katie: like they come straight home from school and instead of going up to 221b they go to Mrs. Hudson and she's always stuffing them with goodies. they sit around and watch jeremy kyle and one of the kids is looming yarn with her sam: what a small sherlolly moment where molly's feeling unsure about taking care of her siblings, because she misses her dad, and something's gone wrong? katie: yes! sam: and sherlock ends up comforting her. but it's sherlock, so he probably does it without realizing he's done it. katie: yeah he helps her realize she can do it. Sherlock's kids help Molly's siblings come to terms with the death of their parents sam: all the squabbles though, can you imagine katie: YEP! sam: sherlock's kids might think molly's siblings are snobbish and ungrateful because "at least you still have a home" katie: i imagine the older ones will get into a squabble and one of Molly's calsl one of Sherlock's street trash sam: ooof, what if one of hte kids say that in earshot of sherlock, who's hurt by it without realizing he's hurt katie: and Molly takes them aside and rails on them sam: because he thinks he's done alright by the kids, but the kids are assuming that sherlock's care is temporary, because they've never had anything permenant katie: aww yeah! yeah realize this will be about a bazillion chapters long! well we definitely need to write this. i know AO3 has a cowriting option I just don't know how it works sam: i'm sure we can figure it out. ao3's not that tricky katie: that's why i love it! of cousre we have to have an epilogue with molly and sherlock's "oops" baby being raised in this epic blended family sam: aww, yes! all these kids need names too katie: like looking at her life and all her awesome brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles and how her family is different from everyone else's that makes her extra lucky. yep! sherlock's kids can have really urban sounding names sam: i think sherlock's kids would probably make something up. like, little nicknames. katie: yeah! sam: oooh, and for the quiet one, maybe the other kids give them a nickname? katie: like they call her Kitty because she likes to curl up in your lap sam: awwww katie: in the official paperwork they settle on "katherine" OMG the older ones prank mycroft whenever he comes round. but kitty is always sweet to him and wants to sit in his lap and hug him and he's just like uhm... sam: "Sherlock what do I do with the small one?" "If you rub her back she hums." *"Sherlock."* "No, honest to god, she does." katie: like maybe he found her hiding in a skip and he had to lure her out with sweeties sam: awww, and what if kitty actually doesn't want to get close to him at first, but maybe he does one of those small monologue things about "it's okay to be scared" and stuff like that katie: yeah!! sam: maybe he finds her on a case! katie: yes! he thinks she might have been a witness. but by the time she's able to talk about it it's too late to do anything about it... legally. so they go vigilante justice on their ass sam: oooh, yes! katie: ooh ok so he lures her out with food! sam: Yes! oooh, maybe he just happens to have a sweet in his pocket because mrs. hudson was handing candies to the other kids? katie: at first he's just trying to get her out but she won't so he and John get sandwiches and just sit by the skip and lay an extra sandwich a little bit away from them and start eating and are like "mmm sure its good!" and she kinda sneakily gets closer and closer and they pretend not to notice that she sat down beside them and started eating the other sandwich

[magiclesson]

Evan Hansen

ooooo okay

favorite thing about them: i know its woke or whatever to view evan as a bad person bc i mean. yeah he did a lot of bad stuff but i honestly love him so much. he tries really hard all the time and i really feel for him when things just don’t work out and he just doesn’t know what to do. i love how he loves trees and his dumb polo shirt and OH MY GOD you know how in the first draft of dear evan hansen he wore UGG BOOTS! Evan “Wittle Uggy Boy” Hansen light of my life

least favorite thing about them: oh man. the lying and the using connors death for personal gain is big time fucked up. and tho i do think his main intention with the connor project was to raise awareness so people don’t feel so alone like he does (because i mean clearly he saw what happened to connor and was like. oh i feel that way, and connor felt that way, i don’t want anyone else to feel alone because it sucks) he still did use connor to date zoe in a way, and abandoned a bunch of people when he finally did get with her. fucked upppp evan u shoulda told the truth u fool

favorite line: no one should flicker out or have any doubt that it matters that they are here 

brOTP: evan and zoe had so much potential in terms of friendship  guuuh

OTP: oh i am for SURE gonna get sniped for this… i um love kleinsen in like post-canon AUs where they develop a healthy friendship and (whispers) in ‘connor lives and then evan, jared and connor all get the help they need and become friends’ AU’s uhh in those cases sincerely three is my JAM i just. love that so much

nOTP: honestly? evan and zoe. i feel like after the stuff he did evan really wanged it this time! also i can’t see any chemistry w him and alana partly because sometimes chemistry just isn’t there and partly because i hc her as a lesbiab 

random headcanon: he wears ugg boots around his house constantly. you can pry Evan “Wittle Uggy Boy” Hansen from my cold dead hands.

unpopular opinion: hes good. fdjgk i’m too tired to even elaborate on this that much i just. he did bad things, i believe he learnt from them, his intentions were for the most part good. hes good 

song i associate with them: high hopes by kodaline? shrugs

favorite picture of them: 

okay this is just a random screencap but i love him in the whole school scene? just. IDK hes cute i don’t even have a reason for it 

send me characters! 

[booksandchainmail]

nanoha vivid liveblog: episode 8

TOURNAMENT RC TOURNAMENT ARC TOURNAMENT ARC

oh the castle from the op

and looks like it’s the saint church, makes sense

… this was probably already established, I just forgot

must be awkward fighting clone jesus in a tournament when youre a nun

this is a really good point, and also raises questions about vivio’s friends all training together

some sort of invisibility?

Oh no wait she was the speedster right? So too fast to be seen

Also, cool device design

OH FUCK YEAH I LOVE TONFA

Okay, paying attention during the tournament section of the op this time, and it looks like harry punching with fire, 

victoria with a polearm and lightning,

unknown glasses girl with chain circles, chantez with her tonfa (do they spin?), 

shrine maiden with a katana, 

miura gets a longer segment, 

and then sieglinde still hooded

That is the least trustworthy thing you could possibly say

called it

I feel like attacking before your opponent is armed is cheating

Then again, vivio was in a fighting stance and ready to go, so maybe its legit

Also, on a closer look I think chantez’s weapons could also be wielded like swords (edit from later: no kidding she can, her style was listed as dual swords)

Huh, have we ever seen a non-transforming power up before?

naruto run

eye glint! magic is happening her folks

i will never get over how happy vivio looks all the time when she’s fighting

dramatic much?

wait what

(also i promise this looks genuinely worrying when its not a screencap paused on a goofy mouth) 

oh okay it was a vision? Killer intent or whatever?

Do not tempt fate like that chantez

like i said, maybe don’t fight clone jesus in church when you are a literal nun

d’awww

it’s the tie club

awww, they have a family gesture thing

KITTIES

...okay, those particular kitties are kinda doofy looking around the faces

agito has good clothes

AWWWWWWWW

HOW DARE YOU NOT LIKE THE CAT

LOOKIT HIM

thank you for giving this child one soft cute thing, even if it also a weapon

BABY KITTIES

well fuck now im sad

oh gods

so they just actually are nerds

okay then

that’s a really good name that i had completely forgotten from the manga and am now suddenly flashing back to

this is very fair, and a major disadvantage of being an unarmed fighter. normally that gets mitigated by speed i guess, but no one in this show seems to have trouble swinging giant weapons around, so that might not actually give an advantage

So golem practice for corona, and maybe some basic review just in case her golem goes down? Though at the level she’ll be competing at, basic skills probably won’t help

More martial arts for rio I guess. It might be better for to be training with her family since she uses their style?

And vivio either needs a weapon, which I kinda doubt based on the shape of this anime, or techniques to counter weapons and range

With who? I guess it could be chantez, but that seems implausible for the whole “going to be competing against each other thing”

Presumably the tsab group is too busy with work, and hayate has her own candidate, so maybe another number?

Oh so it was another competitor, and a new character. Bit of a conflict of interest there, but im glad nove has made friends

And holy hells is she experienced

actually, I took a look at the wiki, and nove is technically 17 (barring clone weirdness). Which means she’s younger than this girl, and could totally be participating in this tournament. Honestly, if your teenager’s tournament has coaches who could compete in the age bracket they’re coaching it’s probably a sign you should narrow the brackets. 

That said, I’m guessing nove doesn’t compete because this is a civilian tournament, and even four years on I doubt she sees herself as a civiliain

So… do you have any strengths?

... they used to belong to jesus, so if anyone you’re fighting is religious it’ll throw them off?

Okay, I thought nove was just going to go for some sagebrecht power thing, given the eyes association, but using the cradle would probably disqualify vivio

~magical girl show technically~

called it!

didn’t call it!

Yeah, nanoha probably has access to a hell of a lot of training materials, plus footage of high power fights

oh, for chris? didn’t think of that

... the fact that he’s looking for this on his own raises disturbing questions about how sentient devices are

this reminds me a lot of bnha where baby izuku watches all might, except its just a tiny plushie

BUSTER HEAD

THE BEST NAME

Oh that’s gonna be hard for rio

Though they both have similar personalities I think? And maybe both use flames? So could be a fun matchup

So that’s sword girl against vivio? And her weakness is weapons, and that girl has a long sword…

Honestly kinda surprised it doesn’t look like einhart and vivio will fight each other

Maybe they’re saving that for past the qualifiers? But honestly with the power levels we’ve been shown, idk if vivio could make it realistically, and idk how much this show will push protagonist plot powers

OH 

So we do have two of our protag group in direct competition, but not a pairing that’s thematic

Huh

And no mention of who else is in that group. Probably at least one other important character? Victoria or sieglinde would have belkan relevance to einhart

theyre also so sweet and kind about violence

good team name!

Every group competing at once is probably the only practical way to get through this many people, but it must be annoying if two good/personal matches are on at once

this year’s contestants are noticeably more anime than the girls in the video from earlier

also, are there any guys in this thing? there’s no mention of it not being co-ed, so i guess were just running on nanoha rules of very few guys existing

His voice is so deep

There are at least 367 contestants in this thing? Even with six matches at once, that’s at least 60 rounds, and those things could run for a while

Oh she’s tiny and excitable, it’s like vivio’s mirror

HOW MANY CONTESTANTS ARE THERE?!!

also they can’t use devices this round, which makes things fairer I guess. Probably non-device weapons are allowed, otherwise this would bias towards hand-to-hand fighters, but this levels the playing field in terms of money and equipment

Someone weve never seen before, who’s disparaging towards our protagonist… yeah she’s going down

she is so nervous

in utter contrast to literally all of teachers being battle hardened knights

so she’s kicking focused? a good contrast to all the punch girls

also, im a big fan of miura’s opponent

MAGICAL GIRL LYRICAL NANOHA: where tiny girls beat up teenagers

Oh so that’s the personally important matchup they’re going for

also i guess it isn’t one ring per group

[xdemondrinker-a]

1,3,8

[ x ] | What is the biggest headcanon deviation from the canon material that you have incorporated into the way you write your muse? Why did you come up with it?

This is kind of hard, mostly because I tend to be very lowkey about my headcanons. Kind of like I’m scared to voice  them so I tend to not really analyze as much as I probably should? Considering I’ve been playing Sam Winchester for YEARS you’d think that I’d have an entire Encyclopedia set full of headcanons that either tie in to canon or veer away from it. It’s only recently that I’ve felt the desire to share anything and that’s mostly because I finally took that jump and made Sam largely AU and  therefore more mine then Supernatural’s. EITHER WAY I’m going to try and say that the way I’ve written Sam his demon blood addiction never entirely went away. I kind of hate how he just kind of came back one day scrubbed clean like nothing happened, I get that it was divine intervention and his body was literally reconstructed from scratch multiple times. BUT he had this demon blood in his system since he was a few months old, he drank literal gallons of it before going against Lilith. Sure he might not be aching for it, but it’s still something he struggles with in my writing. I remember one of my professors saying that addiction is in the grooves of the mind. When you’re addicted to something it wears away its own path in your brain, and that path can’t be erased. Even later when you get better, that groove is still there and it’s very easy to fall back into it. So my Sam hates the metallic taste of blood in his mouth more than anything else in the world, hates the smell of it. Not because it makes him sick, but because it does still cause some sort of arousal deep down inside.  If someone were to slip it to him even in my verses for the later seasons, it wouldn’t be that hard to get him hooked again tbh. 

What is something that was never addressed at all in the canon material that you have independently developed for your muse?

Hmmm, there’s lot’s of things in Supernatural canon that I feel were glossed over. Especially in relation to Sam. Don’t get me wrong, I adore Dean and this is nothing against him, but it feels like Dean is given a lot more space to grieve then Sam is. If they loose someone you get so many scenes of Dean losing his cool and taking his anger out on the world around him. You see him spiral and get back up and all this stuff, while you never see much from Sam. I get that the boys grieve different and Dean has always been more physical, but that doesn’t change the fact that Sam doesn’t really get to show us much of anything except in brief moments and USUALLY in relation to Dean. I haven’t really gotten a chance to do any of this in my own writing or to implement into my muse, I don’t even know if this counts for this question really? I just feel like Sam’s emotions get glossed over a lot and I’d like to see more from him. I’m not saying he should pull a Dean and throw a lamp across the room or drink a bar, but seeing him quietly mourning in his room? Or idk maybe a few scenes where he’s got nightmares that don’t involve the cage or some weird Lucifer induced torture porn, would be great. /shrugs I might write something late for this tbh idk. 

For movie or TV muses, what is a scene with your muse that you hate? Why? Can you show a screenshot?

Oh God there’s one scene that makes me so FUCKING ANGRY. Like it’s such a good scene, I don’t hate it because it sucks or because Sam is out of character or anything like that. I just hate it because of what they put him through. It’s the scene where the hunters try to force demon blood down Sam’s throat. Like I get so pissed every time I watch it. I literally see red. JUST TALKING ABOUT IT RIGHT NOW HAS ME FUMING. I’d put a  gif or a screencap here but I don’t want to get mad lol xD

[cupkayke]

Cupkayke Rewatches/Liveblogs Boueibu!

Season 1, Episode 5

Hokay! Moving right along- and surprisingly I actually have a lot to dissect in this episode! (Well, mostly about a couple of key conversations). This ep is where we get introduced to the Press Society fuckers and the boys start to pick up on a base level that their monster fighting might have a bigger purpose- although most of that is glossed over in favor of focusing on the lack of privacy. 

Thanks again to those who keep commenting on/reblogging my liveblogs! I come to love this community more and more each day, it seems like. You all rock <3

THAT GODDAMN FISH I FORGOT THIS WAS WHERE HE WAS INTRODUCED

And from his first moment on screen I remember thinking he was going to be significant

And they aren’t concerned about the censoring?

Like that isn’t normal in real life, dude.

Ominous scene is ominous - I have more on this later~

Animation callout here- I could even notice Atsushi’s eyes scanning the pages here. A+ detail.

I agree En- I hate the rain with a burning passion. Makes me just want to nap. (Again- I have a strong feeling that En is my spirit animal)

Again noticing the color-coordinated cups lol- @nardaviel 8D

ATSUSHI WITH THE SASS AGAIN- similarly to Arima, why did I not notice how much fucking shade Atsushi throws (mostly towards En) the first time I watched this series? He has the best lines lol.

AND EN IS JUST LIKE ‘ORLY?’ LIKE HE ISN’T SELF-AWARE.

Not quite compliments there- but what does En say?

HE CALLS HIM “MY ATSUSHI” AND COMPLIMENTS HIS ENGLISH OMG I AM DEAD

Like... is there any doubt that they’re boyfriends at this point? Or at least getting there? Lol

Side note I just noticed that while En never wears his tie he keeps it in his jacket pocket at all times... c’mon En if you make it a point to have it on you why not just wear it?

I apologize in advance that I am basically screencapping this entire conversation but I am going to over-analyze it to death because A) My graduate degree is in English and B) Linguistics is fascinating. SO BUCKLE UP KIDS.

On this note- at first, I agreed with Io wholeheartedly that ‘naive’ and ‘sensitive’ are not considered compliments in English-speaking cultures and was a bit confused as to how they could be in Japanese.

However... then I thought about it again, and taking ‘naive’ as its definition of ‘innocent’ and ‘sensitive’ as its definition of ‘sympathetic/empathetic’, then the former can be seen as neutral, rather than an insult, and the latter can be seen as a compliment. So... culture differences are fascinating.

But definitely gut reaction is that you do not want to be called naive or sensitive in English so...

The way Ryuu says this makes me think he’s heard that phrase directed at himself on more than one occasion lol- which is probably why he brings it up.

Atsushi’s definition, however, is not one I commonly would think of when confronted with ‘naive’. It more to me means ‘childlike’ or ‘ignorant’, because ‘careless’ is a deliberate action, whereas ‘ignorant’ is simply passive. 

I have no reason for this screencap other than that I melted at Io’s English. Adorable- and I get the feeling from his pronunciation that he’s definitely got top marks in English.

Though it makes sense that he’d be pretty fluent in English due to his business transactions.

Then the fact that he pointedly directs this at Ryuu is hysterical for other reasons.

Well, Ryuu, you kind of had it written all over your face when you brought it up that you were thinking of a phrase that had been directed at you~

Love Io’s sutble teasing here, too haha. Look at his face.

Ryuu is so earnest in his defense of himself lol

But the word he chooses here- ‘guileless’- is interesting because when I went to the dictionary page for ‘naive’, ‘guileless’ is one of the synonyms

So they’re all basically meaning the same thing here, however- ‘guileless’ has a more direct definition of ‘honest, sincere, & straightforward’, which does describe Ryuu pretty well.

His demeanor in this entire scene as an example, and the phone call with a potential girlfriend we hear later (which is hilarious for other reasons) definitely contains that tone.

And Io continues with his gentle ribbing lol

The camera cuts away before we see Ryuu’s reaction but I would imagine he pouted at Io after that

In general, aside from the language discussion this scene just shows how the boys interact with one another beautifully and asdfgjlskjf;lkj they’re all so cute

En you just keep setting yourself up for Atsushi’s shade lol

Ummm Yumoto you okay?

That is not convincing me that you are okay at ALL

I LOVE THE PEANUTS REFERENCE

Smol fluffy child stop being creepy you are molesting an innocent creature

Like seriously I don’t care how cute you and Wombat look here it’s UNSETTLING

Yumoto says ‘feel so fine’ in English- but this one I’m stumped. I haven’t heard that used as a phrase, before. I mean, I get his meaning... does he perhaps mean to say “that feel good feeling?” Idk... I guess it can be said multiple ways but that particular phrasing seems weird to me

MOLDY TEACHER

Uhhhh I don’t think it works that way, Wombat

Psssssh En just gave Wombat the ultimate diss- you almost feel sorry for the poor pink creature

Side note- Press kids are creepy as hell

And then they don’t give a shit when Wombat falls THREE STORIES- or is it 5 stories?

Io how do you have such a calm face saying that- Atsushi looks like he’s about to shit himself with panic

No explanation other than their expressions are hilarious- NOW Io looks panicked

From their first like 3 seconds onscreen I immediately hated these assholes. Well, I suppose the smol asshole. The other one is just... there.

Also, how the fuck did they get up to the club room so fast from taking pictures down below just moments before???

Binan’s website is sophisticated as all get out like whoah

From this monologue, I get a couple of things;

1) Kinosaki’s hair is stupid

2) I feel like his true calling was drama club but he got stuck with newspaper/website instead

3) He just REALLY rubs you the wrong way with how he talks out of his ass like that- it makes me wonder exactly how much they know ahead of time about the DC

Like, if I remember right, it’s revealed later that they knew about them (because the fucking fish- Hireashi- is apparently their club mascot???)

But it isn’t clear at this point if they actually know their identities, or if Hireashi just told them about CIDE2 but didn’t tell them right away about the DC’s identities and Kinosaki just kind of deduced on his own that they should probably investigate the club that does nothing because they’re kind of suspicious now that this cosplay group thing has shown up

...but I suppose it makes more sense in hindsight that they’re in on the entire thing and they’re just trying to see how the DC react- their real purpose here instead of getting a story is getting better ratings for CIDE2

Regardless-

I agree, Yumoto

En once again picking on Yumoto.

Sometimes I get the impression En’s just doing it in a teasing, good-natured way and then at the same time I get the impression that En just barely tolerates Yumoto in the earlier episodes.

Hm. I can’t tell.

I wonder if this line is just more bullshitting on Kinosaki’s part or if he’s actually hinting at something here.

And now I can’t tell if Kinosaki just simply DOESN’T NOTICE Tawarayama is technically DEAD or he KNOWS because of the stupid fish and is blatantly ignoring it just to see how far the DC will go to get him the fuck out of there lol

Either way, he’s succeeding in freaking them out

Evil reporter is evil (THOSE EYEEEEEES)

I love their expressions here- and then the way they all look at one another, expecting someone to come up with a plan to get the annoyances out of there

Like idk it’s super cute how Ryuu and Io look at one another and then En and Atsushi look between each other and Yumoto and Yumoto just looks up at his senpais like “ummm”

And it definitely WOULD be Io who’s the one to come up with some loopholes or a ‘logical’ point about press responsibility in an effort to scare Kinosaki off

I have a feeling he’s well versed in these things because business

I sometimes have a hard time remembering he’s like 16/17- he acts MUCH older than all of the others.

Not quite sure what he’s implying here- though it’s definitely an interesting line if you take into account that he likely knows all about the DC and their true identities as the Battle Lovers

Perhaps he’s alluding to the fact that they should use their interviews with him to make themselves look better to CIDE2′s audience, which would be really interesting because potentially he’s operating under the assumption that the DC know they’re being filmed. Which is plausible because Hireashi could have told them anything.

Or on a more local level, it could be him wanting the DC to take him up on his offer to improve their position in the school (although I get the impression that some of them are already pretty popular as is? Ryuu definitely but potentially En as well)

Maybe he has heard rumblings of the conflict between Atsushi and Kinshirou and knows that the DC is on thin ice with their status as a club so he’s offering them a favor to make Kinshirou hate them less?

Oooh looking at him from these angles he’s a bit more likeable as a character

But this is all still speculation so I most probably am wrong.

En goes from adorable to annnoyed in .2 seconds flat lol

Snerk- he points out so easily that En an Atsushi are always together.

Everyone knows they’re boyfriendssssss

This conversation is a bit telling- definitely a lot more so than when I first watched it.

En doesn’t like talking about himself. He says as much in his next line, although it’s a bit sutble;

Give me some questions that are easier to answer.

I can read this scene as En nearly admitting that he doesn’t find himself remarkable- or he’d have to think about it a little harder if Kinosaki wanted a better answer. 

Talking about himself doesn’t come naturally- he doesn’t think of himself as anything special, or he has a hard time thinking about what does make him special.

Talk about a pointed question

Io just ignores him lol

Though that’s a bit on the nose. Io definitely finds the whole Battle Lover thing bothersome

Although that contradicts my headcanon that Io is secretly super into it even though he isn’t at first lolol

Money is SRZBZ

RYUU I HAVE A FEELING THAT’S NOT HOW YOU FLIRT WITH GIRLS

Though there is his self-described ‘guilelessness’ lol

Guys... stahp

Fffffffft RYUU WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT WHY DOES IT SOUND LIKE A VIBRATOR

I’m sorry I can’t picture anything else that he could possibly be talking about. Nope. Can’t do it. My mind is trash.

Though I have to say this is probably some of the worst foreshadowing. It was like the writers were like ‘shit we’re halfway through the episode and we haven’t foreshadowed what the monster is going to be here let’s let Ryuu talk about it suggestively’

Upset Pink isn’t getting laid tonight

Meanwhile Atsushi is still trying to rival Arima to be the Sass Master

I can’t with Tarawayama and Wombat it’s so silly

And all the kids have just ACCEPTED that their teacher now carries around a pink plush wombat that sort of seems alive all the time

Yumoto bby that’s not how you get to college...

WHAT THE FUCK GUYS THAT’S SO CREEPY

AND NO ONE EVEN NOTICES

That was the quickest exposition for a loveless character

Like seriously, 2 lines, a Zundar Needle and a sassy line from the CC

At least they all realize it’s just Kurosaki who is annoying. Tazawa just snaps pics in the background.

Wombat has spent too much time on Tumblr. I’m sorry I had to

Wombat’s Kansai accent cracks me up

So basically you’re admitting that Tawarayama is dead-dead and your ‘technology’ isn’t doing much?

WOMBAT! Is that anything to say to the character who’s mother is mysteriously absent? <.<

Nice callbacks!

NAKED HANG OUT

Tho why the fuck does he have a camera in the onsen?? INVASION OF PRIVACY MUCH?

SERIOUSLY HOW DO YOU NOT NOTICE HE’S DEAD

Wombat’s pissed and firing back the nonverbal sass at Atsushi

Another line supporting the “Press society knows too much” idea- it’s as if he was clued in on what to listen for~

Wombat’s little anxious dance is like wtf

I like how imaginary Yumoto is covering his shorts all ashamed lol

Is this Yandare simulator?

No srz tho Yumoto is savage af and everybody’s like “WTF”

Self aware “we are in an anime” joke featuring genre/time period awareness

I think someone on staff just really wanted to draw Ryuu like that lol

About here is where I realized I really liked Tazawa’s design- his ponytail is super cute

Yumoto is a very convincing actor in a pinch

Attempt at badass poses isn’t very effective when you all are naked

Side note I just realized they all tie their towels in the same manner- is that a cultural thing or are they all simply right or left handed???

Or is it just a lazy animation thing? hahaha

I swear Tazawa only has like 3 lines but he’s adorable AF

Also... he’s got a point

Ryuu does have a point

Because how else will we know that we’re true magical boys???

Okay, so I’m not a huge fan of the ‘remote control monster’. But I suppose its symbolism is twofold;

1) It directly represents the micro-conflict of the episode, the DC having their image controlled by the Press Society

2) It leads the way for the DC to put two and two together and realize that the monsters are being controlled by someone (although I feel like that’s obvious because they’ve been... y’know... members of their school spontaneously turned into monsters? Like that doesn’t just happen)

Idk tho I wish we’d gotten a smidgen more about this student; but I suppose the actual conflict is the one going on with the DC

This line made me giggle hysterically but I just realized how big of a culture gap there is because I have never even SEEN a bidet toilet. The quick google search I ran indicates they’re fairly common in Europe/Asia? Like WTF America you’d think we’d be more hygienic.

I love when they use physical violence lol it makes it more serious

It also serves a dual purpose in knocking annoying monsters down a couple pegs

ONE HIT KO

Srz though Yumoto that was epic

Though there definitely wasn’t much of a point for the others to be there which I know is a stab at the typical magical girl genre trope of the main character being OP’d but on the other hand that’s so frustrating that this happens ALL THE TIME

Like once is funny, the entire series playing it as a running gag is old

Though I wonder if we timed all of the monster encounters in this show if this one would be one of the shortest lol

But seriously though... this show HINTS at being a much deeper magical boy show and then it just subverts everything by having Yumoto be OP and they talk their way out of ridiculous, potentially DANGEROUS situations

Like exhibit A)

Like this COULD BE REALLY SCARY. Cliche remote control monster with the ability to control real people!

He could have ALL the battle lovers fight one another! Or like what’s hinted at happening- have Yumoto do the love attack on his friends!

Like it’s not outside the realm of possibility for Yumoto to fire a shot at the others. They could have dodged, and having him resist the control is a great tension device, but then-

DEUS EX WOMBAT

Like... so disappointing. Boueibu your narrative needs to go up a notch.

And this is where my crunchyroll app fucked up and couldn’t buffer anything over 240p long enough to take screencaps, so I’ll just summarize the last couple of points;

The monster before it turns back into the student is self-aware enough to exclaim that he was being controlled by someone else’s will- which is enough for the DC to pick up on the fact that the monsters are being controlled. I mentioned it earlier but I suppose it bears repeating that these poor boys aren’t necessarily too bright lol- or they just aren’t thinking too hard about the surreal monster thing.

The scene back at the onsen doesn’t have much- I just thought it was funny that Kinosaki was scared of Gora with his giant axe.

Kinshirou’s typical arrogance was typical; a bit more of his irritation towards anything having to do with Atsushi’s new crew but nothing major here with their characters.

And then the last scene- Kinosaki’s line about ‘our initial report went well, huh?’ and then the shot of Hireashi is an example of foreshadowing DONE WELL and not played for laughs. That definitely confirms that those two are in on the whole CIDE2 thing and are acting as agents for the TV network. Makes me wonder how THAT conversation happened- like those two probably would have been WTFing over a TALKING FISH.

But anyway! Another episode that’s a bit deeper with character development than at first meets the eye, and disappointing shades of what could have been a magical boy show that played at the tropes but ultimately subverted them. Sigh. I suppose this is what fanfic is for... and thusly I continue my research gathering!