#the pointing thing I added b/c I feel like that’s just how the games are

[thecoolerliauditore]

Pls tell me about Scott's views on women in general pls I'm begging you

o7 and I'm sorry

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

fyi, the post itself isn't NSFW, but I'll be getting all gender theory in this bitch so I'll be referencing a lot of things and putting in pictures of naked ppl sometimes. maybe skip this one if you don't like that

(long post)

Disclaimers

An explanation for the tweet up there

I usually don't write these because I assume the people on my blog have enough sense to realise when I'm talking about the characters vs the CCs or are comfortable enough being a little confused, but I feel the need to extra-clarify here and expand on how I specifically view C vs CC because I think it differs a little from the average person.

To me, C and CC are two separate entities but not entirely disconnected. What differs (e.g. the exclusion of irl relationships -- their wives, kids, etc.) is poignant enough to severely detach them from the people they originated from, at least in my eyes, but there's also the fact that these are not scripted characters, just creators being themselves with a hint of behind the scenes drama-adding and improv thrown in.

For example, CC Pearl is a car nerd. So I assume her character is too.

This is where I state very clearly that yes, a lot of these thoughts come from things I've seen on Scott's twitter, which is undoubtedly the CC and not the C. However I, to me, am still talking about the C because any observations/judgments I could make on actual irl youtuber CC guy Scott Major would be tabloid at best and slightly invasive at worst. I'm seeing these statements within the context of "the death game guy would say this too and I'm writing this based on that", not "this is the inner psychological workings of the youtuber because I, as a fan, can totally tell".

TLDR I don't consider this post RPF but you might. This is a little more RPF-y than my usual stuff. If you don't rock with it we cool.

Everyone is weird about women, and that's okay

One short-hand I've used in the past to talk about Scott and women is just by saying that he's "weird about women" which I'm sure isn't exclusive to him.

(shitpost I made awhile back)

I see a lot of people now who love "villains" and "evil" but when it comes to any traits resembling real life evil (e.g. misogyny in this case) they suddenly become insecure. Just a couple of days back a saw a post on twitter essentially asking for permission to continue liking CC Scott in spite of the "bad things" he did.

And I think, in order to present an analysis like this, I must address that mindset first.

This is not a judgment on Scott's morality, nor is it trying to dissuade you from liking him. This is not saying that he is any more misogynistic than any other player in the series. This is just me pointing out Scott's attitude towards women and what I read it as, nothing less or more.

The feelings that me pointing these things out - be they apathy, disgust, anger or, what I would hope to see most, interest - are your own. I'm not here to tell anyone how to feel and never will try to police that on my blog.

Scott's Relationships with Women

aka. oh yeah this is about minecraft.

Scott and Cleo || "Yeah, you can kill me."

Scott and Cleo's alliance is arguably the strongest in the entire series, spanning through all five seasons and remaining unbroken with no (serious) drama attached. You'd expect from this that they two have a very settled and stable understanding of eachother, yet this isn't a case.

Their power dynamic shifts dramatically from one season to the next.

3L's initial Widows Alliance began on fairly equal footing, built on the mutual agreement that they were waiting for their respective partners to die. Both understood they were eachothers' "plan B" and felt comfortable in that arrangement.

Come LL, Cleo does what she couldn't in 3L, and initiates that plan, going to Scott after her last alliance, the fairy fort, fell apart. Scott requests nothing from her in return.

DL is the longest the two spent as eachothers main ally. Cleo is the one who initially proposes teaming up to spite their "cheating" soulmates and Scott agrees. Cleo admits to Martyn in private that she's aware she's taking advantage of Scott (which I've always interpreted as her talking about all seasons, not just DL). Due to the time they spend together, it's here where it becomes apparent that their initial assumptions during 3L were not entirely accurate, as Scott shows a level of gameplay competency much higher than Cleo's (e.g. teaching her how to axe-crit) but despite this Scott never berates her or thinks any less of her value as his ally.

LimL is probably this pairing at their most unhinged, as Scott, despite once again asking for nothing (or very little -- I'll be honest I'm a bit fuzzy on this) in return from Cleo, allows them and their allies to butcher him repeatedly for time. He gives more time to the Clockers than he does to Martyn, his closest ally that season. Despite this, Scott is never ever considered as a "family member" by the Clockers, despite them giving that title to even temporary allies (like the Bad Boys being their cousins) -- even Martyn gets a title with Scott completely unattached.

SL is relatively more chill, but shows that the two inevitably end up teaming together even despite their oath to avoid eachother that season.

The point being -- again and again, we see Scott literally and metaphorically making sacrifices for Cleo, with the only real transaction he requires from her being that she continues having his back when times get rough. This is despite that he's aware she isn't any more capable than he is and the fact that so far it has only been Cleo in rough times (LL, LimL and SL) and never Scott.

Speaking from a purely transactional perspective, Scott is not getting a bargain here -- and even Cleo seems acutely aware of it, judging by her comment during DL as well as the way she tends to speak of her survival capabilities very lowly in general ("rubbish pvp skills and spiffy one-liners"). I'm speaking in this sense because I've seen discussions in the past about the transactional way Scott views relationships but rarely does Cleo get brought up.

This is at stark contrast to how he treats Jimmy, whose predicted death was what spurred on Scott and Cleo's alliance in the first place.

Scott assumes Jimmy is "incompetent", where he assumes Cleo is capable. When Jimmy messes up, he reprimands him, when Cleo struggles to crit him, he patiently teaches her. When LL begins, Scott's first instinct was to look at Jimmy's lives and note that he was "useless to (him)", but holds no objections to Cleo joining his alliance despite her already having enemies being a potential liability. In SL, he jokes about how Cleo and him being allied is a given and pretty much expected of them, whereas in LimL he explicitly requests from Jimmy a recognition that he still cares ("say love you back!") before he will help him.

Scott and Gem || "You HAVE TO kill me, Gem,"

In SL, Gem settles in very easily in a leadership position within Gem and the Scotts due to her trying to live up to her reputation but also due to Scott and Impulse's more laid back, passive playstyles.

Both Scott and Impulse let Gem kill them for extra health this season, although Scott is arguably much more subservient than Impulse is, with him not only insisting that she kill him in the final episode but also not fighting back (and only yelling for her to stop) when she starts hitting him with a sword during the episode where her task was to literally kill everyone on the server.

Once again comparing her to Jimmy, Scott in 3L had a tendency to brush aside Jimmy's concerns over alliances (e.g. Jimmy questioning if they could trust Cleo) while in SL Scott runs his plans by Gem (and Pearl and Impulse) in terms of who he wanted to team up with (specifically excluding Joel from the potential mounders alliance) implying he held her opinion in some form of regard.

Before this becomes less of an analysis of Scott's treatment of men vs women and more of Scott's treatment of Jimmy vs everyone else, I think it's notable enough to mention that he and Martyn also lacked this sort of communication in LimL. He would inform Martyn of his plans, but rarely was it ever framed as a request.

SL almost feels as if Scott has slid Gem into the slot he had previously designated for Cleo in 3L (his girlboss ally) as he provides her and pretty much forces onto her by the end the acts of service he'd become accustomed to performing for Cleo.

Scott and Lizzie || "You killed her! I don't.. I don't know what to even say!"

Relatively shorter section because this is the one woman he hasn't teamed with, but there's still some interesting stuff I wanted to touch on.

In LL, one of the first thing Scott does is yell at Pearl to revenge-kill Joel for boogey-killing him. Pearl does as she's told and Joel's wet miserable pathetic LL life gets worse from there.

Several episodes later, the roles are reversed -- Lizzie lies to both of them and manages to isolate and boogey-kill Pearl. Scott, instead of reacting with the anger he had for Joel, is almost in a state of shock as he asks Lizzie to let him down so he could collect Pearl's belongings. He doesn't act aggressively towards Lizzie at all, with his most antagonizing act against her being to lie about his intentions when giving her a wither skull.

In SL, he's the only one aware of her early permadeath, but keeps quiet about it almost as if he's in a state of shock akin to when he saw Lizzie kill Pearl in LL. It's not until the others have noticed when he finally brings it up.

Scott and Pearl || "Tilly death do us 'part"

I wrote a whole post just for their relationship alone so for the sake of my sanity I'll be leaving this here.

So now I get to dedicate this section to the meat of this post -- how the way Scott treats women in general impacts his relationship with Pearl and how I view his heel-turn on her as seeping with relevance to Pearl's perceived gender.

In all three of the previous sections, the running theme is that Scott is 1. kinder and more patient with women, regardless of their competency and 2. someone who likes to be in a supporting role to women, occasionally aiding them more than he aids himself and his closer male allies (e.g. Jimmy and Martyn). As shown with Cleo, he assumes that girls have it together, but even if they don't it's not a big deal. When a girl's actions are truly disastrous, such as with Lizzie's, he goes into a state of shock and doesn't really react, preferring to swallow it down and not acknowledge it.

With the amount of times he sacrifices himself, I don't think it's a reach to say that Scott values his own life less than he values the lives of his (female) allies. This specific point actually does extend to his male allies too, shown when he's happy when Martyn literally backstabs him in LimL, but just as with the Martyn post where I point out his victim status-ing doesn't end at only women but includes all the women, Scott has pedastal-ed all the women he's teamed with.

Lizzie is, once again, the exception here due to his limited interactions with her. However that's actually somewhat patched over if you look at adjacent series (such as x-life) where he definitely shows her a level of admiration and respect.

Back to Scott and Pearl.

Their relationship during LL is very standard of how Scott treats women. While the power dynamic between them is obviously more caused by the initial life trade agreement, I don't think it's a far reach to say that Scott is somewhat comfortable in the arrangement.

However, this is also the first thing that sets their relationship apart from Scott with Cleo or Gem -- Pearl is the one making sacrifices, not Scott. She is the one "sacrificing" her lives to him, just in a more non-violent way as allowed by the season's mechanics.

When viewed through this lens, Scott trying to make it up to her and wanting his effort acknowledged makes even more sense. This is suddenly uncharted waters for him. His assuming that Pearl doesn't value him as a person goes hand in hand with him valuing himself less than her.

What Scott has with Cleo or Gem, situations where the other party is clearly uncomfortable with how he treats himself (Gem) or actively aware they are taking advantage of him (Cleo), is equalized to him because he is inherently worth less. What he has with Pearl, on the other hand, looks more equal to most people (lives vs labour) but is wildly imbalanced to him.

It's one of the many factors I see going into Scott's weird decision to abandon her in DL.

An Interlude, Before We Get to DL

La Pieta, Michelangelo

So this has been a lot of words so far and some of you might be wondering at this point: why say Scott is "weird" about women when so far this has been describing how he values women more, is kinder to them, is more patient with them, etc.? How is any of this behaviour remotely misogynistic?

And I would feel horrible if I forced you to read through all of my DL thoughts before I clarified this -- Scott is not your classic wifebeater "women are lesser" misogynist, Scott is someone who subscribes to misogynistic schools of thought and probably considers himself an ally to women, when in reality his beliefs are still rooted in dehumanizing them and these beliefs end up harming the women around him as well as himself.

After all, seeing women are your superiors is still not seeing them as your equals.

I know it's a bit of a meme on this blog at this point. But. Sigmund Freud identified what we know refer to as the "madonna/whore complex", which he described as a pattern of behaviour in men who separated women into being madonnas (pure, holy and admirable) and whores (debased, sexual, deviant). We'll be focusing on the former, the madonna, as it is more relevant to Scott's character.

Freud proposed that the madonna figure was something men projected onto women as a replacement for maternal love. These women are sacred and untouchable, literally as the projection of the maternal role onto them also makes it so that the sufferer cannot feel any sexual attraction towards her (keep this in mind for later).

Scott projects the madonna figure onto his female compatriots -- they are to be protected, served and supported. They are goddesses, queens, but they are never human. The madonna role in of itself is not inherently harmful to the woman, as seen with Cleo who takes control and advantage of it. However, it is enforced, as seen with Gem who at first revels in the superiority but almost breaks down when Scott offers him up as her sacrificial lamb one last time.

I linked this Utena AMV awhile back when vaguely talking about Scott and women, and this was the point I was alluding to.

Girls are beautiful and pure. They don't spit on the street, they don't piss on the street, they don't build hierarchies -- they subvert all the expectations of masculinity that I hate having to deal with. They are my escape.

But what about the girls who do spit on the street? The girls who piss on seats? Who build social hierarchies, who size up their competition?

The girls Scott interacts with are all painfully human. Cleo weaponizes his beliefs and take advantage of him. Scott is smart enough to know and accept this. Gem's playing into a role she has been assigned into by not only Scott but everyone around her. Scott supports the character she plays. Lizzie reflects traits he hates in Joel and Jimmy, but for her, he looks the other way.

Are they "demons", as the song says, or are they no longer girls at all?

(demons, gods, but never humans)

Weaponized Femininity and Women In Total Control of Themselves ;)

Hylas and the Nymphs, John William Waterhouse

Historically, weaponized femininity I'd argue is one of the oldest tropes in storytelling. Whether it's nymphs or sirens or witches or succubi or even more roundabout cases like Helen of Troy, there's countless stories of men's sexual attraction to women leading them to disaster.

One way to view these stories is to see them as warnings, don't let womens allure be the end of you.

There's a lot of good writing done on the femme fatale trope both in the context of weaponizing femininity and as a sexist way to argue against victims of sexual assault, as these stories often say that men who experience attraction to these "evil" women no longer have agency over their own actions.

Look at the painting above, for example - is it the nymphs who are responsible for drowning Hylas, or is Hylas climbing into the lake of his own accord?

Despite the fact we all know sirens, nymphs and succubi aren't real, the belief that men will simply lose control of themselves when encountering a particularly alluring woman persists to the modern consciousness. That there's something inherently dangerous about women and attraction to them.

(this is not 100% applicable to Ninja saying he won't stream with women, but it's the real life example I felt most comfortable putting in here)

Now, let's combine this with what's been said so far -- let's say you don't hate women. You love women, in fact, and you hate the way men treat women. You hate men, in fact.

Yet, you still believe in this inherent power women hold by being female and the loss of agency that men experience when attracted to them -- how disgusting.

It quickly becomes easily to not only demonize men for sullying the holiness of women, but also men, masculinity and attraction to women as a whole.

(apologies for using twt discourse in the meta post but this flew by my TL and i had to grab the irl example of mens non-violent attraction to women being used to frame them as misogynistic before the stupid app refreshed and i lose everything forever)

"To Venner" is a student film exploring a world set within this belief, where all the women have vanished and the men have become monstrous figures as a result of their pent up sexual frustration. fyi this is one of my favourite student films (and ive watched a bunch), but I do think its messaging is worth breaking down (especially its juxtaposition of dirty horrible monstrous sexuality vs pure and beautiful romantic love)

NOTE: this film is super graphic, lots of violence and nudity. have fun. or not

I admit this section is a bit hard to gauge as everyone in the series is gay as fuck. The closest in-series example I can think of is Scott reacting to Martyn's antics in DL with a sort of indigence but otherwise I can't really think of an example of a man expressing attraction to a woman at all, let alone one Scott reacted to. However, I do think it's still worth talking about because it opens up some interesting trains of thought in regard to Scott and Pearl.

For Scott, he himself has never been part of the picture. He's gay, after all, which gives him an edge over the bad straight men who objectify and assault women. Likewise, there's little evidence to suggest he finds the expectations of masculinity frustrating, but I don't think it's too far a reach considering how common of an experience that is for gay men and his adapting of more feminine mannerisms.

Double Life and Corruption

As mentioned in my previously linked post about Scott and Pearl's relationship, I do think Scott experiences what he would name as attraction towards Pearl, so my writing will reflect that.

Pearl is. ahem. not like other girls.

Not actually. But to Scott, she probably isn't like other girls.

She remains unaware of his different standards for her (how could she when she had nothing to compare them to), she acts out, sometimes violently, against Scott's urging (such as when she stole from Scar's wagon). She maintains their already irregular dynamic, and while she appreciates his care for her, she never quite falls into seeing him as a source of subservience the way Cleo or Gem do.

At the end of LL, right before the 1v1v1v1, she monologues to herself that she no longer has to feel bad for killing Scott. Which, in turn, implies she expected Scott to give it his all against her as well.

She entirely fails to embody the madonna with her immature naivete and her questionable morals. She is unpredictable, she doesn't take what she is owed, she is a monster in a lot of ways.

Scott, too, is a monster, to himself, for how he feels about her.

The very foundations of your understanding of yourself being ripped apart aside, let's rewind to the madonna/whore complex. To sexualise the madonna is to corrupt her and make a monster of yourself. Suddenly, you are no better than the men around you, the ones you've grown to hate. Suddenly, you are the grotesque figures in films like To Venner. You are Hylas and she is the nymph. And you are so stupid. Your worldview crumbles around its flawed foundations.

Scott is, however, immune to this corruption. This is a theme that appears in Empires as well, but throughout the traffic series he's prided himself on being loyal and kind and good. His monologue leading up to LL's 1v1v1v1 summarizes it quite well.

He can't let himself or anyone else see this side of him, but the energy needs to go somewhere. To defy fate, abandon your soulmate, is to admit you had a fate in the first place, is to acknowledge that she was your soulmate in the first place.

I've previously talked about how fate and romance are very ingrained in Scott's belief system, if it was anyone else it would've been amazing. He could've been like Bdubs and Impulse or Ren and Bigb, diving into domestic life and performative romance with a stranger. Or the world could've made his happy ending from 3L real, as he got to be Jimmy's husband all over again. I think it says something that he accepts Cleo as a "soulmate" before Pearl.

So what do you do with all that energy and tension, clearly apparent to yourself and everyone else, when you can't let them observe your feelings?

You project them.

Shout-outs to @/legally-allowed-to-slime for pointing out Pearl's comment early on in DL that she "feels like (she's) been broken up with" confirms she never saw Scott in a romantic sense. The "crazy ex-girlfriend" and "this is why I'm gay" comments really did come out of thin air, or perhaps insecurity.

Pearl is the crazy one. She's insane, because she wants me. She wants to be with me, so she does all this crazy stuff. She's lost control of herself because she wants me. She's disgusting.

I mentioned before that Scott is not your classic misogynist, but this is where the gears start turning. Scott's views of Pearl echo that of other players, most prominently Ren and Martyn, that Pearl has been overcome with some sort of corruption. She has become the witch, the demoness, the whore, in their eyes. Scott does not want to be the same as these men and I think his overcorrecting his behaviour in SL makes sense when you view it from this angle, but for now he has to rely on more traditional misogyny in order to navigate this new obstacle.

"Corruption" also implies that she had to have been pure (or at least pure-er) beforehand, something Scott personally knows is not true, but it falls in line with defaulting women to being "madonnas".

This is a Scott post but. shout outs to Ren for being all of this about Pearl but without the complexity of Scott like he literally accuses Pearl of seducing Bigb what the fuck man.

Pearl is, of course, none of that. But she plays into the role of being the witch much better than she fared playing into the role of the madonna.

Sidenote: I know I'm looking at this from a Scott/Pearl POV but I do feel like you can omit Scott's attraction if you look at it from a purely "pearl not performing to standards of femininity I expect and she makes me realise I don't view women as a whole as human which makes me feel weird so now we have to do this" POV. Like idk I think the exact reason he abandoned Pearl is going to be lost on everyone forever so any analysis I could perform is going to suffer at least a little bit of making-shit-up-itis.

I do also think there's something to be said about Pearl being pushed until she performed a role, any role and generally failing at Being A Girl tm but that's another post i think. yknow shes um. a bit. 🏳️‍⚧️ (but also very much not at the same time idk that's gonna need its own post)

anyway yeah uh the minecraft movie looks crazy huh

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for getting 'harsh' with a friend because being 'nice' wasn't working?

I(23X) had a friend, F(29X), who was in every DnD game I played in and ran. I had thought we were close friends, but eventually noticed that there was a pattern of behaviors while playing DnD with them, both as a fellow player, and as a DM, that just didn't lend well to collaborative play, and made the game less fun for everyone else at the table. I attempted to gently and indirectly bring this up with them a few times, without being accusatory(they had told me they did better with indirect communication b/c direct communication made things feel worse, so I was trying to accommodate them). After multiple months, and multiple attempts at communicating indirectly with them with no visible changes to how they went about things I did attempt to gently, but directly, bring my concerns up with them. I, and others, were having a difficult time enjoying playing DnD with them because their playstyle wasn’t very inclusive of everyone else at the table, and made other players feel like side characters/unimportant to the story/unimportant to them in general.

I did make sure to stress that 1) I didn’t think any of what they were doing was malicious, I didn’t think it was intentional, but either way it still hurt people, and I would appreciate it if they worked on those things and grew as a player. And 2) I didn’t expect immediate change or perfection, I know growing and implementing positive change is a continual process and takes time. I was willing to wait and let things take time. They requested bringing a couple of other friends(28M & 30F), we’ll call them ‘D’ and ‘V’, in on it, and asking them their thoughts and opinions. They did their best to mediate, and agreed that F needed to change how they approached play at the table, and D started DMing a game with both of us(and some other players as well), in order to be able to see first hand if the things F was doing were actually an issue.

F did not take the request for growth and change well, and became very upset with me about it on multiple occasions during discussions F started. I never saw improvement, and in fact noticed that they seemed to get markedly worse in the areas I asked them to work on. When I pointed this out after a DnD session that D was DMing where they seemed to act very petty and passive aggressive towards me the entire time, and asked why they behaved the way they did, F did not respond and instead blocked me on all social media, but has told other people that I was ‘harsh’ and ‘emotionally abusive’(I never said anything cruel, and the harshest I got was when I stopped cushioning my requests in order to coddle their feelings and just bluntly stated that I needed them to work on their selfish and hurtful behavior towards me and others.) F then went crying to D about how I was attacking them out of nowhere and not giving them adequate time to improve. (Added context here being they had messaged me the night before the DnD session in question to talk about things more, and had agreed to continue that conversation later when it got too late at night to continue, so they had known we were going to keep talking and had agreed to it.) D then asked me and my partner, W(24X), if we’d noticed any issues with how F was playing. W had been listening in on the DnD sessions and had a list of things F had done specifically to spite me, and when they pointed it out D agreed that it was a pretty big issue and started noticing it in the sessions afterwards. Things blew up when D decided to confront F about how they were treating me, F accused me of emotional abuse, and quit the DnD campaign D was running after accusing both him and V of being inherently biased from the start. (Both D & V had privately admitted to me that they’d actually been harsher on me than on F up until that point, because F had been misconstruing the situation to them and making me out to be much crueler and harsher than I ever actually was, which they realized after a different friend, C(19F), confronted F about the situation and saw F blatantly lie to her face about things they knew I had not said or done.)

I lost a couple of other friends because they'd only heard F's side of the story and think that I was a huge and cruel asshole who's willing to treat their friends cruelly over something that is 'just a game'. I personally don't think I did anything cruel, but just in case... AITA?

What are these acronyms?

[coldgoldlazarus]

Okay, mostly done screeching in excitement, now it's analysis time.

First point: That purple blast of the turret getting taken out looks great.

Looks like we're opening hot, a lot like Corruption's beginning. Hopefully won't be quite as protracted as the Norion battle, though, lol.

Also, I've seen some jokes already about how this section will end with Samus getting depowered like the openings of Prime and Echoes, but given how barebones her arsenal seems to be here, (missiles and morph ball, which sometimes she just starts with and keeps, maybe bombs too) I don't expect that to happen.

The HUD and helmet edges are a lot more dialed back this time, pushed as far into the corners as they can go. Probably better for visibility this way, but I am gonna miss the more wraparound feel of the previous setup, with the missile count and hazard meter along the sides. But this isn't a bad look by any means, and we still have a fair few items here.

A & B: My bet is this is the replacement for the old hazard meter. In addition to keeping it out of the way, putting it right next to the motion tracker is a good move. I may actually remember to use that more this way.

C: Health bar is obvious, of course, but I really like the move of tucking it away into the notch on the top of the Echoes/Corruption/Beyond(!) helmet visor. The lines around it suggest an empty row above, undoubtedly for the energy tank pips once those are picked up.

D & E: Minimap is present as usual, not really much to say there, but I love the addition of a compass direction scroll beneath it, which should be helpful for putting places in context of the broader map. (Tallon IV's elevator label system, anyone?)

F: Missile count has been shunted down from the side to the bottom corner. I'm interested to see if it will grow upward, or just stay in its present spot and scale accordingly, as you collect more expansions.

G: This is the one everyone's already pointed out, but it seems that we won't have a visor OR beam swap readout.

Scan Visor is still an option as shown in the next bit, but based on the lack of an indicator in the hud, it's probably just going to be a toggle between that and combat, without anything else like X-Ray or Thermal or Echo or what have you. (Or it could be that that would only get added to the HUD after picking up a third visor, but I won't hold my breath for it.) Kinda disappointing to deemphasize one of the cool new mechanics the Prime subseries brought to the table, on one hand, but I'm still grateful to have the Scanner, and the extra ones always did struggle a bit to see much use.

Similarly, a bit disappointed this means we're probably looking at a stacking beam like in Corruption and the 2D games, (unless of course beam swapping is still there and just being left off the HUD until relevant for the sake of cleanliness #copium) but not entirely surprising; I'll live.

But what is interesting is what's there instead. The D-Pad seems to be tied to non-Beam weapons or tools instead, with the missile launcher as the only one available at present. I'm really curious to see what the other items will be; I imagine this is going to be Prime 4's unique spin on things. I saw someone suggest affinity weapons like in Hunters, but given those all function like Beams, it feels weird to me to set them against Missiles instead, ammunition requirements notwithstanding. I'm not going to rule those out, of course, but I could see this being something completely different entirely.

Again, I am very glad to see the Scan Visor is still here at least. Even better is that it uses the full-body highlighting of objects like Echoes and Corruption instead of Prime 1's icons. Pretty minimalistic layout, all told; I like that the scanning bar is a ring now. And it doesn't reflect Samus's face by default like in Corruption, which makes sense since we're not liable to have the same kind of mutation shenaniganry happening here.

I forgot to snag a screencap of this bit on my computer, so forgive the lower quality, but this scene is interesting for a few reasons.

The Pirates' breaching charges letting them into this room just as Samus passes through a gap in the wall overhead is a nice touch, and also remniscent of some sequences from early on in Corruption.

The Federation guys in here seem to be wheeling away someone or something on a stretcher in a hurry. That could be important.

Energy tank up in the rail section, but blocked by a box. Are we just going to bomb through to get it right away, or will we drop down into the room, and have to come back from the other direction to pick it up? (Please be the other direction)

Samus looking spiffy here, even at a distance. And as some have pointed out, looks like she's walking out of a portal instead of a door, pointing to either more dimension-hopping shenanigans like in Echoes, or possibly the time travel elements I recall hearing Tanabe wanted to play with at some point. (This plus the black hole look of the logo makes me think this could be more likely.)

Whatever the nature of the portal, though, the interesting thing to me is the sort of circular structure in the rock around it, suggesting a doorframe almost. A lot of the portals on Aether seemed to actively cut into the environment at random, the rock carved out in perfect spheres with fucked-up edges, and interrupting the pre-existing architecture or geology. In contrast, this looks like it was put here on purpose, implying a more controlled creation. Potentially really fascinating implications in that.

I also kinda wonder if these portals will be replacing elevators as a way to get between regions.

Ignoring the big numbers in the middle, (though they do kinda mess with my prediction that Prime 4 was going to be a 2024 holiday title to avoid getting eaten by Switch 2's inevitable 3D Mario launch title,) a couple things stand out to me here.

Giant tree in the background is giant, and I love it for that. Also looks like it's not the only giant tree here, even if still probably the biggest. I hope we get to go there later.

But in addition, we have a bridge in the middle distance, and a tunnel opening in the foreground. I will eat my hat if we don't get to cross that bridge, and my bet is that they're going to pull a similar trick here as with Skytown, letting low-poly versions of other "rooms" be visible from the current one, but dividing them with interior sections for optimization reasons, allowing for amazing landscapes of all traversible terrain. I loved that there, it looks great here, I can't wait to go explore all this myself next year.

[arcadiabaytornado]

Do you have any hot takes or unpopular opinions regarding Before The Storm?

I have a lot, actually!

A: It could have been the best game in the entire franchise if Episode 3 just didn't...do that. Like, I genuinely think Episode 3 is so bad that it tanks the quality of the game even though Episode 1 and 2 are fantastic. In fact, Episode 2 is my favorite stand alone episode in the entire franchise.

B: Rachel would have been a better protagonist.

C: The back-talk mechanism isn't bad or cringy. Yeah, it does feel like Chloe isn't dropping any actual good insults and instead the people around her are just tired of dealing with her...but I think that's kind of the point. A part of Chloe's characterization is that the people who should be helping her (Joyce, Wells, Etc.) don't know what to do with her, so they just....don't do anything. I think the back-talk is meant to make Chloe look like a troubled teen, not Kendrick Lamar talking about Drake.

D: Rachel doesn't actually get much characterization in this game, and she's still pretty much a blank slate. She tells Chloe at one point that she's afraid she doesn't have a personality, and she thinks she mirrors other people because she's unsure of herself. That in of itself is characterization, and we do know some things like "Rachel was passionate," and "Rachel liked theater," but I still don't think we ended the game truly knowing Rachel Amber, because Rachel Amber didn't even know herself. In other words: Most interpretations of Rachel are still valid. (And TBH I prefer it that way.)

E: Chloe's characterization was really good. I've heard complaints that BTS softened Chloe's personality too much, but I think it makes sense that she's not as jaded considering she hasn't lost Rachel yet. I also disagree with the complaint that Chloe is too "teenage angsty" in this game. She is very teenage angsty, but she's enduring the normal amount of teen angst while also having heavy trauma. That's just going to make a fifteen year old real angsty.

F: I LOVE Steph and Mikey...but their characters make no sense. In the first game, Chloe is heavily implied to not have had any real friends since Max left other than Rachel. Adding their existence just makes things more confusing...though it's very clear that Before The Storm resented being a prequal and desperately wanted to be it's own thing...which isn't how prequals work usually for...a good reason.

[talenlee]

Game Pile: Apiary

Something that I’m keenly aware of when dealing with students talking about games is the way that games are a genre with their own language and jargon and how sometimes things that are very complicated the first time you see anything like them become standardised pieces after you’re familiar with them.

Consider that when I point to a game called Apiary which is about bees in space and whose theme feels like it’s spray-painted on without that being any kind of detriment to the game. I’ve played it once, I didn’t win, and I had a lot of fun even when I found it frustrating.

Alright, let’s just pull the lid off this game, strip away the fictional framework and talk about the raw mechanisms. Apiary is a worker-placement game with bumping, gating workers, and depleting workers. You have your own personal build space, which has limitations and perks, and you build things in them by spending workers on those actions, out of resources A, B, C, and special resources D and E. You can spend resources on upgrading parts of your engine or adding to your board space.

Okay, some extrapolation on those terms if they don’t mean anything to you:

Worker placement is a game where to take actions you have to put your workers in one of a limited number of slots. Every action in the game is limited by how many workers you have available. If all your workers are on the table, you have to spend a turn bringing them back.

Bumping refers to a system where when someone places a worker, it pushes previous workers out of their spot and sends them back to their player – meaning that players can’t permanently block spaces.

Depleting workers means that workers wear out; in Apiary they ‘build up’ – going from a level 1 worker to a level 4 worker, whereupon the level 4 worker retires to hibernate and you need to spend a worker action to get a new worker.

Gating workers means that there are tasks that need workers of a certain quality or level to do some actions.

This means that in Apiary, you place a worker, but a level 1 worker can’t do as many or as effective a thing as a level 3 worker, and one of the options, a victory-point gainer, is only doable with a level 4 worker. This creates gameplay situations where you want to do everything at once, and you can’t, and you also want to anticipate what other players are doing. If you put yourself in the right spot, another player will potentially bump your worker back to you, which will increase its level and give you better options on your next turn.

There’s a trap in this design, where the game rules give you two options for your turn. One of them is placing a worker, which gives you a whole extra set of decisions to make, but the other option is retrieve all your workers, and each returning worker can trigger one of your farm tiles.

In the game I played, I saw two retrieve actions done. Bumping happened all the time, meaning that it was much easier to just find something else to do with your turn while you waited for someone else to give you one of your workers back. I wasn’t planning for the turn I had coming up, I was planning for one turn after that, because the turn I had coming up was pretty much locked in; I knew I was about to do something that bumped someone else, and that I would in turn, get bumped.

It’s a good feeling but it is also incredibly confining. There were actions I simply never took in the game, because I never needed to with my options, which meant that the players who were doing those actions were often bumping one another. The action that gets you victory condition tiles require a level 4 worker, which means they get bumped very rarely – and then when they bumped, they go to hibernation (usually).

At most you’ll have four workers out there, and unless you have four farms, retrieval isn’t going to get you resources from every one. One worker, one farm, two workers, two farms – it feels like a real tricky choice to plan for. So much so that unless there’s some Hive reason to really care about farms, those feel like it’s not worth your time to get them… but I say that as someone who was getting victory points from his recruits. I was being biased in one direction, there’s obviously a way to be biased in other ways.

Now I may have discussed the game rules in a pretty lore-agnostic way but I think it’s pretty reasonable to treat it as a lore-agnostic game because what the hell is this lore? It’s about bees in space which is while a great idea, and I love it a lot, it’s also an idea that fels kinda like it was tripped over. Like the only reason this game looks the way it is, is themed the way it is, is because someone at a meeting misheard something, an artist generated a bunch of work based on that mishearing, and when they were done, the designers just rolled with it rather than re-do a bunch of art assets.

There’s some odd things at work here, too, where the lore sort of implies something that isn’t in the game. See, there’s talk about how all the bees are growing older faster and there’s a need to put the bees in hibernation because they’re sleepy (beepy). There’s talk about a reason for it, a sort of coming plague that’s slowly creeping at their population, and with all the technology and enhancement happening, I thought that maybe the endgame signalled some sort of successful overcoming of the plague.

But no, it’s a classic: The winner is the player with the most points. The end game is when you run out of game.

It’s hardly my place to complain about that, I mean I love Wingspan to pieces, and that is a game that plays until the pieces run out and the scoring happens. It’s an abstracted system game, and complaining that a Stonemeier game is not deep on a fictional entrenchment for its mechanics is a bit like complaining that bicycles aren’t good planes. These games are merely excellent in other ways and just good in others. That’s okay!

A particular detail about Apiary that feels present that isn’t in Wingspan is the constriction. Wingspan turns feel precious because you know how many you have but you also are all growing at roughly the same speed. It’s easy to look around the table at Wingspan and see people whose boards are roughly as developed as yours (though it’s just as possible for things to go poorly, part of that game’s skill floor), but in Apiary the board is full of signs of what’s going on. It can be hard to tell how close the end game is, and I know it snuck up on me.

But at the same time, because I’m planning two steps ahead, any time something I wanted finally arrived on my player board, because I could afford it, and the worker to get it and the space to get it set up it was a little party. I didn’t remember why I wanted that Carve action in particularly but when I had the time to do it I threw a little party. I wasn’t sure if what I was doing was the right thing at the end of the game, but putting down the last two tiles on my board in the last turn was a real thrill, feeling like I had used every drop of what the game offered me.

The game holds on tight, and that means that doing things within that constraint brings with it a great pressure but also the pressure made all the successes feel more gratifying.

Apiary is a type of game you know if you need it in your life when you hear the pitch. It’s a Stonemeier Worker Placement game about Bees In Space. The Stonemeier formula is polished and exquisite, it’s thoughtfully produced, it’s got a good rulebook and rules appendix, its player guide is excellent, it’s just going to do all the things you expect a game of its type to do well.

It’s not a game to consider for its ‘point’ or its ‘direction.’ It’s a game that’s good and interesting because of its in-the-moment experience. The moment when you’re planning your turns and hoping for the next one. It’s a game that really shows where friction can come from though; one slow player slows down every player, and that can mean a game of relatively quick decisions can be pretty frustrating while I’m just waiting, waiting, waiting, to do one thing and move one piece because it’s the turn after this one that interests me.

Basically, the complexity load on this one is a real thing, and don’t expect a story.

I know, shocking, Jamie’s done it again.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[rassicas]

We are getting playable Cuttlefish in Splatoon 3.

i dont like saying im totally certain about predictions, but the evidence is so subtle, yet so very intentional in the exact way that the splatoon team would do if they were trying to hint at something. (under the cut because long post)

I’m sure some of you have seen PandaUniverse’s tweet introducing the cuttlefish evidence. first two images are from that tweet, putting it out there that i cant take credit for those.

exhibit A: train station gates

the splatoon team foreshadowed OE before release with a blocked off train station in inkopolis square....this seems even more obvious? no entry for squids, mysterious 2 finned squid thing can enter? exhibit B: weird hat

again, two finned squid thingy like in the ticket gates. i saw some ppl saying “its just a weird octopus” but like. why would the splatoon team purposely model an octopus hat super weirdly? also @sprousprou​ sent me a better image:

that is not an octopus lol After i saw the tweet, i remembered a thing that me and my friend dodo were scratching our heads at a few months ago while we were reconning all the s3 stages for details, because... Exhibit C: that’s a fucking cuttlefish

again, 2 fins. found in Mincemeat Metalworks, it’s in the same style as the Angry Squid and Angry Octopus graffiti that’s been seen before.

So how do I feel about this? well... not even a month ago i thought it would be weird to expect a new playable species, but the evidence feels so undeniable now. but i also mentioned in that ask, cuttlefish are pretty much the only species that would make sense with current lore. being ink-producing cephalopods in real life, unlike nautiluses or dumbo octopuses, i would expect cuttlefish to be ink-based shapeshifters like the inklings and octolings. and we have seen cuttlefish in splatoon’s canon before... albeit only once in the japan-only octo expansion artbook....and they look a lot like inklings. However i find it a bit... weird... that they’d be introduced like this with next to zero build up, unlike the playable octolings which were hinted at from the first game. i’m also deeply concerned about the idea of this truly becoming a pattern, like the splatoon team potentially introducing a new species in each DLC, leaning on "play as this New Guy” as the main selling point and not “play this cool story.” I also would prefer if they just expanded on customization for octolings and inklings and not added a new species. but i guess it’s splatoon 3, gotta have 3 species too. and ill take it any day over salmonlings also in the aforementioned ask, the only justification i could think of for a sudden introduction of cuttlefish would be that they happen to live super far away outside of inkadia/splatlands. combine that with the knowledge that the DLC is more than likely going to be a world tour of some kind...well, that’s probably gonna be the reason for their introduction: they just live far away. tl;dr im feeling 100% sure cuttlefish are coming to splatoon whether we like it or not

[joking-suggestions]

Albedo A-Z Fluff Alphabet

prompt list by @/imagineimagineimagine

!!! : gn reader. might be present grammar mistakes. i apologise, since english is not my first language.

I just love this man too much, I have to create my own headcanons because consuming his media online is not enough-

A = Attractive (What do they find attractive about their partner? Physically and Mentally)

I think that Albedo is not a person who pays much attention to physical appearance, for him it would be something that would be secondary and would only get added value if he was already taken with someone, as we've already seen in the game (in fact, he tells us more than once that he likes intelligent people). Albedo values mentality, so he'd be particularly attracted to someone who's open-minded, smart, even better if they can play along with his mindset, and whom he can have complex and profound conversations with, someone who can offer him new points of view, inspire and stimulate him, not only in his work, but also in his daily life. Intelligence is what really attracts him, physical appearance comes after. For him beauty is all a matter of attitude.

B = Baby (Do they want a family? Why/Why not?)

I don't think Albedo ever thought about starting his own family before he had a romantic partner, he's just too busy with his job that he wouldn't have the time to dedicate to it properly. and Albedo already has Klee, who's like a little sister to him, therefore a family to dedicate his attention and care to since she's a young child. however, after finding a partner, i don't deny that the thought of starting something of his own with them would cross his mind at least once, but it would just be a sterile thought, imagining a concept that is impossible. Because of his non-human nature, Albedo is unable to procreate. He is aware that it's not his fault, because he knows that it wasn't him who decided how to give birth, but sometimes he can't help but feel a little guilty, especially in the case his s/o particularly wanted to have a child. if his partner doesn't want children, so much the better (after all, he'd be the first to know that there's no traditional way to have a family... if we look closely at his family tree, lol). He just wishes to have the person he loves by his side to be happy, and Klee, of course. After all, being a family means being good together and being able to rely on each other without anyone being left behind, regardless of blood ties, right?

C = Cuddle (How do they like to cuddle?)

for him, cuddling with his s/o would be a way to regenerate and relax after a long, stressful day. it'd be a sweet moment, a little blurred by sleep and tiredness, but very deep and intimate. some evenings he might seem more sensual than others (and so getting carried even further than that). albedo likes to rest his head on his partner's shoulder or chest, as if seeking comfort or protection from them. he would give gentle kisses wherever his lips could land, play with his partner's hair, lose himself in the scent of their skin and clothes, often collapsing in their arms (he looks so adorable istg).

D = Dreams (How do they picture their future with their S/O?)

whatever his partner desires, so does him. First and foremost, Albedo wants to make the other person happy, to be able to live carefree and at peace by their side, to discover new things together, to explore the world together, to experience new adventures by each other's side.

E = Everything (You are my ____ (e.g. my life, my world…))

For Albedo, his partner would be his muse, his source of inspiration, his safe haven, his home, his certainty, what makes reality more beautiful to face.

F = Feelings (When did they know they're in love?)

Albedo noticed almost immediately that he felt different in the presence of this particular person. how shall i put it? he didn't feel the same as usual. he wouldn't even know how to properly explain the strange sensations running through his body, from butterflies in his stomach to his pounding heart. there is something - some kind of force majeure - that draws him to them. he feels the need to be in their company even when they are not present, as they take up most of his time and often distract him from his work. this seemed strange to him already, but other people from the outside also started pointing out that lately, the chief alchemist seemed head over heels in love. when kaeya started teasing him about whether he had fallen in love or not... it was like an epiphany for albedo, like he had discovered something he might have known all along. not only that, but Klee herself asked him if he had feelings for (name), leaving him completely stunned and unable to deny it any longer. at this point, albedo could no longer lie to himself, having searched within himself for as many answers as possible. what seemed impossible to him was actually the irrefutable truth. Love. it had always been there, maybe he really had always known it, but he didn't know if it was right to admit it to himself first, despite his incessant curiosity to explore this new and nameless feeling that did so much good to his heart.

G = Gratitude (How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their S/O does for them?)

of course Albedo is a very grateful person. both to life for putting this person trough his path, and for all the things they do for him; from taking care of him, to listening to him when he ramble on for hours about incomprehensible subjects, to understanding and accepting him for who he is. albedo didn't even believe it was possible that such a person could exist in this world and still love him. of course, he tries his best to show that gratitude because he knows it wouldn't be fair otherwise.

H = Honesty (Do they have secrets they hide from their S/O?)

Albedo is a person full of secrets and we know that very well. however, when he starts to trust someone, he tends to open up more. of course, it is not easy to gain his trust. Albedo is a very selective and in order to open up completely to someone, he has to feel that this person is different from the others. obviously in a relationship he'd feel that it would be only right to let the other person know basic things about himself, because a relationship must be built on mutual trust and honesty, it wouldn't be fair to hide anything from his partner. then slowly (probably already in the friendship stages) albedo would start to open up and reveal more aspects of himself, probably even the darker ones, but only when he's sure that he won't be rejected and that he can trust his other half completely.

I = Injury (How would they react if you got hurt?)

outwardly, albedo would appear calm, placid and logical as usual, but actually, he would be trying to maintain a rational composure in order to react in the best possible way and help his beloved. in reality, inside albedo would be panicking, frozen with the total terror of losing the love of his life. thoughts of all kinds would be running through his mind. luckily, Albedo is good at regulating his emotions and would try to channel them into action in order to defend his beloved from danger and then to help them with love and whatever else they may need. although he would seem to be handling the situation in the best possible way, you would still notice the anxiety through his worried look and the trembling in his voice and hands, at least until he would be completely sure that the danger is gone.

J = Jealousy (Do they get jealous? How do they deal with it)

albedo is not a person who is prone to jealousy, but if he was, he wouldn't let it show. for example, if his partner were particularly affectionate with someone, i couldn't deny that he'd sometimes feel a gnawing feeling in his stomach. he wouldn't be able to explain it at first, but the thought of being abandoned, or of his favourite person choosing someone else over him, would embitter him. of course, Albedo would still try to maintain his typical rationality, but sometimes you can tell from some of his cold looks and answers that he is actually jealous. however, he would do his best to keep it to himself, and only if the situation became unbearable he'd talk about it. this is because he'd not want to worry his beloved, he has great faith in them and their love.

K = Kiss (How do they kiss you? How do they like to be kissed?)

Albedo's kisses can have different shades: sometimes they are sweet, full of love, the kind that seems pure and can only be found in fairy tales, the ones that express affection and last only a few moments, but still leave you with a sweet warm sensation in your heart. other times (very often, especially when you are alone) they are the slightly sensual kisses that make you feel wanted, that express hunger, love, a slight possessiveness. albedo loves to be kissed on the lips, especially when these kisses make him feel wanted, even if it's just a simple greeting. other kisses he loves to give and receive are those on the neck. if you kiss that diamond mark on his neck? he will be yours forever.

L = Love (Who says ‘I love you’ first?)

i think that would depend very much on what kind of person Albedo would find as a partner. before saying something like that, Albedo would want to have some confidence. not that this phrase has no value to him, on the contrary, but he would want to be sure that this phrase is clear and unequivocal. in any case, i think Albedo could very likely be the first to confess.

M = Memory (What’s their favorite memory together?)

for albedo, there would be many beautiful moments to remember, many firsts, many new beginnings; their first meeting, the first time his partner bonded with klee, their first fight during an adventure, their first kiss. for albedo, they would all be things to treasure in his heart, all moments of shared happiness that he would never forget.

N = Nickel (Do they spoil? Do they buy the person they love everything?)

albedo is not a stingy person, but at the same time he is not materialistic. ergo, for him, gifts would not be just material things, like expensive, worthless things bought in some fancy shop just because they are "trendy". of course, he would have no problem giving his s/o gifts, buying them something he saw them looking at so longingly. but for him, the gifts of real value are the moments they spend together, the things he can make with his own hands, because he is an alchemist and an artist. so what he is able to create can not be compared to anything that can be bought with money. if his loved one wants a new dress, Albedo would be able to design and craft it for them. he would draw them a lot and dedicate many of his inventions to them. in this respect, he would certainly shower them with gifts. gifts whose value can not even be determined, so deep is the love that goes into them.

O = On Cloud Nine (What are they like when they're in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?)

i think it is quite obvious when Albedo is in love. first of all, he seems more distracted than usual (this particular person takes up a lot more space in his mind) and for Sucrose and Timeous it would be obvious that something with their master is off, especially because in the presence of this person he'd become much more attentive, he'd talk and smile a lot more. it would be a fact that would not go unnoticed by others. a person who is normally as composed and deeply devoted to his work as albedo suddenly seems to be shaken by something new. then it is really true that love makes people blind! Lisa would like to discuss this matter with Jean and point out to her that, contrary to the grand master's expectations, the boy is not actually ill, but just in love. for Albedo, on the other hand, everything would seem normal, but in reality the people closest to him would be very aware of the novelty - hell, even Klee managed to notice that there was something unusual about her brother! especially because when that person is in the albedo zone, he will look for any excuse to be in their presence, to talk to them, to discuss alchemy with them, to show them his latest drawings or his newest experiments. these are subtle things, but to a loner like albedo, they mean a lot. it means that he feels comfortable in the presence of that person.

P = Pet names (What pet names do they use?)

i imagine albedo would use things like "love", "darling" and "honey" a lot. The more corny ones like "sweetheart", "my Cecilia", "my queen/princess or prince/king" would be saved for rarer, special, particularly emotional occasions.

Q = Questions (What are the questions they’re always asking?)

albedo is a person who asks a lot of questions. sometimes he just wants to know his s/o's opinion about something, sometimes he asks deep questions, but most of all he asks a lot of strange things. things that frighten you and make you wonder how the hell they got into his head. after all, what do you expect to find in the head of a genius?

R = Rainy Day (What do they like to do on a rainy day?)

usually, when albedo has to work, not even the rain can stop him. however, if he could, he would much rather to stay at home to avoid colds (at least for his partner, considering that he rarely gets sick). it would be an excuse to be together, cuddle under the blankets and watch the rain, and only when the storm has passed they can go out and explore the fruits of the earth's rebirth.

S = Sad (How do they cheer themselves/S/O up?

albedo, contrary to what many people expect, is good at understanding human emotions, even if he is still learning how to manage them. he doesn't usually feel sad very often, unless he is reminded of his master. but he is good at chasing away his sadness by distracting himself with other things, like work and the people who love him. then again, having managed a child for so long, he knows the secrets of cheering people up all the more....although maybe it works differently for adults. in any case, he would have his own strange little ways of offering support to his beloved, offering them ways to talk and let off steam, and then doing all their favourite activities together. albedo would be close to them, affectionate, and he'd even cook them something good to cheer them up. albedo is actually a very caring and supportive boyfriend.

T = Talking (What do they like to talk about?)

Albedo loves to talk about his experiments, he'd go on for hours about them, and the fact that his partner would be willing to listen to him would only make him fall even more in love. he loves talking a lot about klee too. albedo is the kind of person who is open to everything, with him you could talk about deep, somewhat philosophical things, exploring the meaning of life, of the universe, gradually moving into strange, indefinable, absurd and sometimes even abstract things. he'd be willing to talk about scientific things, sometimes diving into detailed and nerdy explanations about the mechanics of the world. then I like to think there would also be that good dose of gossip because it never hurts. what did kaeya do today to upset albedo, for example? but let's face it, he'd love to talk to his s/o about anything.

U = Understanding (How well do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?)

i repeat, albedo is actually a very empathetic and emotionally intelligent person, otherwise he wouldn't be able to deal with children so well. i have no idea why the genshin fandom sees him as an emotionless robot. of course he would get to know his partner inside out and take note of their every trait and mannerism, he'd try to understand them deeply in order to understand and help them. he's the kind of guy who doesn't make you feel lonely, who will stand by you and help you, but who will also give you practical advice on how to deal with a problem and offer his help where it's needed.

V = Value (How important is the relationship to them? What is it worth in comparison to other things in their life?)

albedo tends to give the right amount of space to everything in his life: work, family, but also his relationship. especially after finding the love of his life he would try to learn to be more balanced with work as well, to give the right amount of space to the people he loves. each of these things has an important place in his life, but he could not deny that his family and his relationship are probably the two most important values to him.

W = Wedding (When, where, and how do they propose?)

to be honest, albedo would think about it for a while, he would not find marriage absolutely necessary at first, he would be happy just to live together without giving in to social pressure. but once he is convinced, he would certainly make a very deep and emotional proposal. It would happen during a moment of vulnerability, of loneliness between him and his beloved, while they are out walking or having a good time together. he'd have to feel that it is the right moment, that it's the time. i won't even hide the fact that he would feel a little nervous before getting down on one knee. wait, does everything have to be done in the traditional way? at the fateful moment, he would whisper those words, almost as if they were powerful magic. the moment would be intimate and magical in its simplicity. he probably wouldn't propose right away, he would rather wait a few years after starting the relationship, but when he will be sure, he wouldn't back down. the ceremony probably wouldn't even be that big and ostentatious. if anything, something nice and simple where only the closest people could attend, but still romantic and beautiful. a memorable day for everyone. even the chief alchemist got married, crazy, right?

X = XOXO (How affectionate are they? In public/in private)

albedo would find it difficult to let go at first, as everything in a relationship is new to him. How exactly is he supposed to behave? but once he is comfortable, he would certainly become very affectionate. certainly very touch starved, as he has never received enough affection and care in his life. this is especially true in private. outdoor, he'd be more reserved and his displays of affection would be more subtle unless his partner isn't bold enough to be affectionate in public. This would probably make albedo a little uncomfortable at a first (it would also depend on how and how much his s/o is affectionate), but over time he would begin to appreciate and reciprocate, albeit very slowly. you will need to be patient with him.

Y = Yearning (How well do they cope when they're separated from their S/O?)

mainly by keeping busy with work, which helps him distract himself just enough. but in the moments when even that is not enough he dedicates himself to painting his beloved, at least to remember their face and recall the memories they shared by imprinting them on canvas.

Z = Zeal (Are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship?)

albedo is a very busy man, so it would depend on the reason behind this distance. but of course he would be willing to do anything for reasons of force majeure. he'd do everything in his power to ensure that this relationship will last.

[coconox]

my 2 cents on the state of whb

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

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

SMALL INTRO

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

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

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

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

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

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

THE ISSUE(S)

SOLOMON SEALS AND GACHA

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

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

PANCAKES

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

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

PIES

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

"META" GAMEPLAY

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

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

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

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

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

NIGHTMARE PASS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DICTATING FANDOM INTERACTIONS

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

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

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

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

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

EVENTS AND EVENT STORIES

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

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

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

FULFILLING PROMISES

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

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

new daily chats (expected within february)

friends system (expected within march)

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

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

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

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

FINAL THOUGHTS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[yandere-dark-cupid]

I don't know if you do Yandere alphabet, so if you don't just ignore this. But if you do can you do some of RF or Hunter Wally please.

Bun Anon 🍞~

Ok. Coming right up. Also decided to do RF because my boy's birthday just recently passed. So here you go 💕

Warning⚠!⚠: This fic includes unhealthy relationship dynamics, mentions of death, mentions of inhumane experiments, and a yandere. If you are uncomfortable with those concepts, just move along and ignore it.

P.S.A 📢: Do not glamorize nor romantize yanderes!!! It is ok to fantasize about them, but putting them on a pedestal is the last thing you would want to do since they're so harmful. They are walking red flags for a reason.

Yandere RF Wally ABCs...

A- is for... Affection: How does he go about affection and how intense does it get?

Walden isn't an affectionate person by any means. Kind of the opposite. But I can see that he probably wouldn't mind being on the receiving end of it unless he's busy. Then he'll be annoyed. But hey, at least he isn't the type to force you to be affectionate with him and vice versa.

B- is for... Blood: How much blood is he willing to spill for you?

He doesn't mind it and is willing to spill as much blood as he needs to get the desired results. So here is your healthy reminder. Walden works in a murder facility. Hell, he even runs it. So seeing blood and getting involved with it won't phase him. He's desensitized by it. But on another note, there is a likely chance that he might put the offender to good use. Perhaps by turning them into palatable colors or a stepping stone the further the field of science….

C- is for... Cruelty: How does he treat you once they're in his grasp and does he mock you about the predicament you're in?

Look. Walden is many things, but an asshole isn't one of them. Intentionally speaking that is. So he wouldn't make fun of your.. circumstances. He's at least one of the more aware Wallys. So he knows what he's doing is very wrong and he isn't ignorant on the fact that you are not happy in the slightest about being trapped by him and with him. And he doesn't want to make you feel any worse than what you're already feeling by adding lemons to open wounds by mocking you. As for you being in his hold, he'll be firmer with you. But other than that you won't be treated any different than when you were free.

D- is for... Darling: Other than kidnapping, what else would he do against your will other than the former?

Nothing else really, since Walden already has you. Which is already enough. He isn't forceful of you when it comes to personal boundaries. He at least respects you on that front.

E- is for... Exposed: How much will he show his heart to you, how vulnerable will he get with you?

It is no secret to anyone who knows about Walden that this man has a family road trip full of baggage. With that baggage comes very tall and sturdy walls that box his heart. So to say the very least, he's not going to open up to you. It takes time for Walden to let down those walls. Even if you are within his grasp by force, his heart is still boxed up just by lesser but still very strong walls. But don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to break down those walls because as far as him abducting you goes all you will have is time to burn on your hands.

F- is for... Fight: What will he do if you fought back against him?

Walden won't be amused to put it lightly. He'll be irated. Since he doesn't tolerate disobedience in the slightest, especially the rebellious type. But he'll give you some lead way since again he's very much aware that what he's doing is messed up and you are with it your right to fight back. But once he's tired and reaches a certain point, that's when punishments come into play....

G- is for... Game: Is this a game to him? Does he enjoy watching you try and escape him?

No. I've already discussed in previous points that Walden doesn't fuck around, especially after a certain point when his tolerance has run thin. So you trying to escape does not bring him any pleasure. Besides, it's not like you can escape him anyway. Your chances of escape are very low since he has all your needed necessities under lock and key and the Factory is built like a fortress. So really it isn't fun for either of you.

H- is for... Hell: What was you worst moment with him?

The first major punishment you've received from him. Like I said before, once Walden is tired enough and he has no more grace to give he's going to stomp out that defiance right out of you. However, I'm not going to go into too much detail about how he did it since that is reserved for a later point and a potential later fic. Just know one word. Green.

I- is for... Ideals: What future does he want for the both of you.

Walden wants to be your spouse and you his once you're well adjusted and is more willing to sign a marriage certificate. Children are a gray area, especially with his past experiences of being a parent. But he hopes that one day it's as much of a possibility that won't fail just like the last ones. But for now, he's satisfied with having you with him. Besides, he knows that those ideals are very far-fetched in the future.

J- is for... Jealousy: Does he get jealous easily? If so how does he cope?

Listen. Walden isn't a jealous man. A controlling one yes. But a jealous one, no. He knows that he has a lot of traits that many people can appreciate and like. He's handsome, wealthy, and quite brilliant. The only way I can see him getting jealous is by being confronted by someone who is your type while he isn't, that's when he gets jealous. How he deals with that jealousy is usually the default answer. Which isolates you from that person if he hasn't taken you or if that doesn't work force the person that got him jealous in the first place into the large pile of bodies that rots underneath the Factory's working cogs.

K- is for... Kisses: How would he act around you?

Walden won't act to different from how he acted before the abduction. This only difference is that he's oddly more strict with you now that you're under his thumb care. Yet oddly enough, if you haven't been taken by him yet is still under his control he's somewhat more open and almost expressive with you. It's kinda strange and confusing.

L- is for... Love letters: How did he approach you? How did he go about wooing you?

The likely chance is that he met you when you were one of his workers since that's the default answer. But Walden was always cold and professional with you, that was until you began to melt his walls. Which caused him to warm up to you a bit more and cruise off a smoother and slightly more casual dynamic together. As far as wooing go. Once most of that professionalism is chucked into the grinder, he begins to show his interest in subtle ways. In only ways, he knew that you would understand. Like slipping you things he knows you'll enjoy, checking up on you a bit more than usual, etc.

M- is for... Mask: Is his true colors different from the one he shows to others?

Kind of, but not really in a way. His colors are just a bit brighter with you since he's more open with you. This very slightly contrasts with his dullness. But at the end of the day, he's still the cold but blunt Walden with you, he's just brighter with you because he's warmer to you.

N- is for... Naughty: What punishment would he dish out to you when you're acting out of line?

It depends on what offense you've committed. If it's something minor, then the penalty will be minor. Then again I did say that Walden will give you some leniency for a time. So even then he won't punish you often during that time. However, I also said before, that Walden won't take defiance well once he hits the wall. So after a certain point, he combats your defiance with more serious punishments other than taking away the things that keep you occupied. That punishment is, Biochemical warfare to be exact. Since he's a scientist and he's in charge of a secret government facility, finding something nasty to not only keep you more compliant but also knock you back into line won't be to hard. But on the fly chance you did something you can't come back from; like escaping and managing to avoid him for a long time, this can lead to a BAD ENDING all around.

O- if for.. Oppression: How many rights would he take from you?

Your financial freedom and will also dictate your social interacts, once you've earned your socializing privilege when you gain enough of his trust. Other than those two, nothing else.

P- is for... Patience: How much lead way does he give you.

More than what you'd expect from him given his short temper. But that's only for a limited amount of time. Because after the adjustment period, Walden's patience will be reduced by half from when he's taken you. That's if you've been defiant with him that is.

Q- is for... Quit: If you die, leave, or successfully escaped; What is he to do if that happens?

When Walden gets you, do understand he is hanging by a last strand. So if he were to lose you by any means, he's going to snap. And depending on if you are indeed still around and are not boxed up underground when Walden gets to you it won't be nice.

R- is for... Regret: Does he feel remorse for what he's done and would he ever set you free?

I would say yes, but then I thought about it… Yeah, no he's not sorry for what he's done. This Wally has already lost so much, so the minute the opportunity of him being selfish for change he'll take it. Because he's never felt feelings like this before of such magnitude; even with the little past experiences he's had, and once it fully sets in and he likes it… He's decided that he's not going to lose it. So even though he's very aware that what he's doing is messed up, he's gotten to the point were he doesn't care therefore he isn't sorry about what he did. As for setting you free, I've already established that he doesn't want to lose you at all. That includes from his grasp too. But what he would do however is once he trusts you and you're well adjusted in your new life, he'll give you some of your mobility back. But you'll still be on a leash though.

S- Is for... Stigma: What brought about this side from him? Was it his childhood, curiosity, or?

Walden's childhood did play a key part in his development as Yandere, as most of his traumatic and sad past has. But I'm going to say the leading causes of this were his damaged psyche and his track record of losing people he held near and dear to him.

T- is for... Tears: How would he feel about you screaming, crying, and/ or isolating yourself from him?

I don't think Walden would comfort you if you shout and weep about your predicament. He understands that what he's done isn't right in the slightest and is a pretty messed up thing to do. Walden also understands that he isn't the best person when it comes to comforting someone, and that's in a general sense once you take his yandere-ness out of the equation. On top of that, he's very much aware that he's the last person you would want to see during this time never mind seek comfort from. Even as a stoic person and he ultimately isn't remorseful for what he did, that doesn't stop him from feeling some level of sadness upon seeing you very upset. He also can't deny that a subconscious part of himself does not like the thought of causing you any distress and loathes it. So he does the best thing he can do. Leave you to your own devices ( albeit, still under his sharp eye though.. ) to process everything by yourself. Also as far as isolation goes, he wouldn't do anything about it. Sure he'll be annoyed and agitated by this choice sometimes, but he's not going to do anything. Since he knows that you'll come around eventually. Especially when it comes down to your needs being met.

U- is for... Unique: What makes him different from the standard Yandere?

Not much to be honest. The only thing I can think about is that there is a higher chance that Walden won't kidnap you because he has control over most of your assets. By that point he won't see the need to keep you under lock and key. So as long as he has a lot of control over you where you won't get froggy and leap away from him, than he won't fully commit to the kidnapping bit.

V- is for... Vice: What weaknesses you can use to your advantage to escape him?

Walden has very few weaknesses you can exploit to get away from. Especially since he's very powerful. The one weakness I can see you can use to get away from him is a child(ren). But that could work only if you coin it against him first and you know exactly how to do it.

W- is for... Wits end: Would he ever hurt you?

Besides, when it comes down to some of his forms of discipline, Walden won't intentionally. But the only exception to this is when he snaps and falls a BAD ( well really worse ) path, and then his intentions will shift to hurting you.

X- is for... Xoanon: Does he revere you, does he worship the ground you walk on? To what length would he go to win you over?

Walden isn't one of the Wallys that would worship you. But if there is any accomplishment(s) you are proud of, he'll celebrate it with you. Also, there are no lengths he wouldn't go to have you. It's no different from what he does for his job to get whatever results he wants. The only difference is the reasonings behind them. So if he has to pay for a certain thing that you always wanted he will gift it to you; no matter how expensive it is, he will do just that. He has to get rid of a pesky co-worker that won't just leave you be, then they will be given the sudden demotion to test subject. Really the lengths he would go to for you aren't super far off from what he typically does for work, it's just more personal if that makes sense.

Y- is for... Yearning: How long would he ache for you before he snaps?

A fairly long time. Since it would take a while for you to get close to Walden and it would take even longer for him to fall in love with you. I'll give it.. 4 years to be generous.

Z-is for... Zenith: Would he break you?

No. Well, kind of? He would.. crack you if that makes sense. Enough to keep you compliant yet still somewhat yourself.

First post since my return back from shadow realm and it's about my husband 🙂. Other than that I'm pretty proud of it. I am doing Yandere Alphabet now if you're wondering, so feel free to request that if you want. Also, do any of y'all have any anime recommendations because I just cleared out my list, so feel free to send that in my ask box if you have any. But other that that, I hope y'all are having a wonderful day. Until next time My little tainted Angels, see you soon 💜❤💜 ~

[color-craz]

Good game and good fight everyone! This is another compilation of all the artworks I've made since my Midweek Post + Artist commentary. A significant less amount than last time because I got hit with that Burnout Special soon after. Speaking of that, everyone give a Huge Thank you to @mouwuma for doing the lineart and coloring of my sona!! (I owe them bigtime b/c I was NOT drawing that complicated ass outfit for a third time). Please give them some love or financial compensation! Without further ado, let finish this!

@twidaisi I had to get Twi back for that attack of Compact!! So I decided to do the character that was on my bookmarks as revenge!! I went a different route on him than I usually do (The neckless style again) because I thought it would fit his build better than if I did give him a neck. It was fun doing this cartoony lad who totally isn't committing fraud and medical malpractice!! (That license is totally valid I swear)

@goatpaste I always loved loved loved Sammi's fan JJBA part with Holly and just have been a big fan of his in general, so when I realized he was on AF I knew I had to draw at least one of them!! I picked Roxanne because she is just so pretty and her lore is just really really neat! Fun fact, I sneaked in a I.M.P at the last minute because the top half of the canvas was feeling empty and then remembered stands can partially show themselves. Overall a lovely design so such a neat character!

@salezmanradioz Polyblank was actually in my bookmarks since the beginning of AF! I ended up seeing them right before it started and saved it until now. This also another character that I read into the lore for him and god it's really really intriguing! I had to hold myself back from putting more people into this one because I had other things I needed to do. Polyblank is such a lad and I liked doing their face + colored lineart. (P.S Check out this character playlist it's BANGIN)

@lovelandfrogofficial A little backstory here, once I logged back into AF after posing the Midweek Roundup I found myself hit with four attacks!! Two revenges and two surprises! Cryptid's being one of the surprises, so I felt like I had to give some art in return. I picked out Valentine because he had very few attacks and I had an idea from reading his character desc (A kid like him would definitely dramatically pose inside of a coffin). It was an experience doing the lace and adding the roses (Which was actually a last minute decision, thank godness it turned out so well) but overall I like the look of this one!

SunshineCo225 Their attack of Underscore was my second surprise attack of this year, so I chose Elie of Dicey Dungeons to revenge with! I actually do quite enjoy DD so I went with a location I personally liked from it, which was the library stage. It ended up working out well since Elie's greens and yellows give a wonderful contrast to the reds and blues. I gave her a hammer since her daggers can transform into other weapons which is really cool :>. Honestly the contrast, pose and lighting makes this attack my favorite out of this batch.

@prizebubble A friend of mine attacked one of Nep2ne's charaters, which inspired me to do one of my own as well. A double whammy if you will! The idea behind this one is Kit ripping through AF to cause chaos so this one is transparent. It was lovely doing the patterns and stitching on Kit, it was like I was decorating her myself! Overall just a nice quick one with such a rambunctious looking character.

@mouwuma Me going "Oh I can't participate in AF this year" and then hitting you with an attack should be tradition at this point, it's happened like twice now. Anyway, this one is a Double Whammy of Dop & Ninian, they come from completely separate universes but Dop is a gigantic, pretentious nerd. And I thought it would be funny for them to be rambling about Ninian, a Pokemon fan character of theirs, and make up a fake amiibo pose for him. I felt like I had to do one for how much I pestered you to put Dop on AF so here it is!! (Fun Fact, Pokemon doesn't have an official amiibo line like Mario does. All the Pokemon amiibos are exclusively for the Smash Bros line. Nintendo is losing out big time here.)

@skittisketch My final attack of the year! This one almost didn't get made at all (So thank Jesse next time you talk to him). The ref described Skitti as a "wandering artist" so I thought her walking around a park for inspiration would fit her nicely. I could've simplified the background but god dammit I had sketched it already I had to go all in! (Even if I was on a bit of a time crunch). Overall a good work to finish of this year's Art Fight with!

Honest to god I didn't even expect myself to get out as many attacks as I did for this second half. So I'm quite proud of myself for that one! This was an ArtFight of trials and tribulations, but I finished this year off with 862.75 points! Thank you to everyone who gave me art this year and one more Thank you to mouwuma for doing the art for me (And for being such a good friend!)

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to collapse before school starts ;-;.

-Gappy, A Very Tired Witch

[literaticat]

Hello! I'm writing a book that falls into Middle Grade Fantasy, but I don't actually want to continue writing in MG, and I feel like this'll be a problem if I actually get this book published. I've heard that once you make your debut, your agent/publisher will expect you to stick to that age-range for a while, and I don't want to do that unless I get a miraculous series deal or something. Do you know what the consequences are for authors who hop age-ranges? Is it bad for their career?

Hmm -- I'm of two minds.

On the one hand, yes, you're correct that ideally, a publisher would want to establish your "type" or "brand" of book. It's nice for them, it's nice for the audience, it's nice for your career. If you write a MG Fantasy book and readers love it and want more books, well... those people aren't going to follow you from MG fantasy to Adult Erotica or Silly Chapter Books. (They MIGHT follow you from, say, MG fantasy to MG supernatural thriller. Or MG fantasy to YA fantasy.) Additionally, your PUBLISHER wouldn't necessarily want to follow up that MG fantasy with another totally random and unrelated type of book -- especially if it isn't one that they even publish!

(Plus, sidebar: You don't say what the other kind of book you want to write IS. Lots of MG authors make money and sell books by doing things like School Visits, etc -- if you only ever have the one book that is appropriate for those, that will essentially cut you off from those opportunities. Which, maybe you don't care, and that's fine, it's just something to keep in mind if you DO care!)

On the OTHER hand, I mean, lots of authors "genre hop" or "age hop" -- maybe they write MG and PB, or MG and YA, or YA and Adult, or some random combo of other things. That's not a problem. HOWEVER, they generally do so by establishing one strand, and then adding another strand. It's a long game!

How that works is, they publish a couple MG Fantasy with Publisher A, then they write a funny chapter book series for Publisher B. So standalone MG fantasy comes out with A, and funny chapter books with B, and the author goes back and forth with both. Then maybe the author decide to do a YA fantasy instead, and A is OK with that. So now the strands are Standalone Fantasy (MG/YA) with A, funny chapter books with B. Their books are doing well, they are an established author at this point, they have an audience.

Then maybe something happens -- their editor at Publisher A leaves the biz and/or they decide they don't want to write more MG/YA right now anyway AND that chapter book series comes to its natural conclusion. BUT, it's OK -- they decide they want to write a grownup SF novel next -- A and B are kids book publishers, so the grownup book goes with C. And yes, that DOES mean kinda starting from scratch, but the good news is, they have name recognition now, they know the ropes, and some of their kid/teen audience is now grown-up and will follow them, so it's easier than starting from square one!

And then maybe they get an amazing idea for a funny PB, and wouldn't you know it, that great relationship they had with B comes back into play and that goes to them. ETC. So now the strands are funny younger books B, adult SF C. Maybe the adult books take off huge, so then really their focus is on C, with the occassional random B, and that's fine -- would you look at that, they have built a career over a decade, written lots of different kinds of books, and what they started with is different to what they do now!

That's how lots of authors do it, anyway! Building on success, pivoting when one thing doesn't work, being flexible, etc. It's not that there are "consequences" for category hopping -- you won't get thrown in Writer Jail or anything! But of course if you aren't thoughtful about it, it COULD be an added hurdle in your career.

Basically, you're talking about doing something super hard (getting an agent for a book, selling that book to a publisher, establishing a great relationship with that editor, finding an audience for that book) -- and then, instead of building on that, immediately starting from scratch with the next book. Which sounds difficult to me! But what do I know?

I guess what strikes me as a LITTLE odd is your assertion that you don't want to write more MG... like... EVER? You'd only want to write a series if you got a multi-book deal to start with, but you wouldn't be willing to revisit these characters or this world if it was a one-book deal? What if this book is successful?

My suggestion would be, if you know for a fact that you ultimately want to write adult books (or whatever) -- make sure you are querying agents who work on both types of books, and be open with them about your goals and thoughts for future books. But also, I probably WOULDN'T lead the conversation with a dramatic claim like "THIS IS THE ONLY MG I WILL EVER WRITE" -- keep your options open! Instead, say "I'm interested in lots of different kinds of books and, while I'm happy to write more in this world if there is a demand for it, ultimately I hope to have a long career where I get to do a little bit of everything" (or whatever is both true and POSITIVE). If your agent is on board with that and gets where you are coming from, they will be better able to help you strategize to make that possible.

[grimmmviewing]

S1E8: “Game Ogre”—B/C+ (Watched 2/29/24)

“No record of where he was born, no record of a family. It’s like this guy just fell out of the sky.” – Hank re. an ogre/giant (Got a, not exactly unhappy, groan from me!)

“Just the facts, right?” – Monroe to Nick/Hank re. the ownership of an important watch (Bonus points for Dragnet reference?)

Exactly how much silliness I find charming and at what point the goofiness should result in some sort of deduction for review purposes are questions I find myself thinking about a lot while watching Grimm. Even the episodes I’ve scored as “A”s have their Moments. And if I had to sum up my feelings about “Game Ogre” I would say that it starts as a fine enough monster of the week story but then, perhaps fittingly for an episode that prominently features a watch early on, it accumulates enough “complications” that it becomes genuinely interesting or noteworthy.

First—the central role of Oleg Stark, an ogre. I did love the very physical performance, which has a lot of stiff-bodied stomping around and grunting and growling. It had to have been fun to try to play that role and to try to make yourself seem as big, burly, and dense (in more than one sense) as possible. The way the camera frames this big boy and the way that shots of him getting physical are filmed and edited to make him feel as large and powerful as possible is just very entertaining. Definitely goofy, but also definitely fun in a C+ sort of way.

Another entertaining C-sort of goofy detail is how the initial murder victim is a judge, and we know that because he’s just got a gavel sitting out on his desk at home. It’s used in his murder to help suggest that the crime was personal, of course, but the placement is still such a ridiculous way to communicate the man’s profession, especially when you consider that we’re also explicitly told he’s a state judge when Sergeant Wu and his partner are investigating the scene of the break-in.

There are some similarly unnecessary-feeling, awkward quick flashbacks in the mix—back to Nick being brutalized by the ogre in his house and to the ogre-killing poison and gun in his trailer. Of course, one way of looking at these is as part of the TV series package: Commercials are a thing, and people come in late. You have to catch up the late-comers and maybe re-establish a sense of drama and of the critical details for folks after the ads. This is one of those things I struggle to identify as a positive or a negative in my subjective assessment since Grimm being so obviously What It Is is absolutely part of the charm and was part of what I wanted out of this whole experience.

And there are a couple of plot oddities here, too, like just how long it takes for someone (Wu) to put together the idea of using Hank as bait for the vengeance-seeking Oleg. Captain Renard going along with Hank to a suspect’s place probably shouldn’t feel weird, but it does since, as far as I remember, this is new behavior for him.

It’s the mounting “complications” that ultimately elevate the episode, though, because of their novelty. Actually seeing Nick kind of shaken and vulnerable after he’s hospitalized from Oleg’s attack offers a new emotional angle from which to view him. He hasn’t been this badly beaten by a Wesen before. Hank similarly gets pushed emotionally in this episode, and the exact nature of the strain on him ends up being a nice twist, with how he and the DA colluded to “lose” evidence that might have gotten reasonable doubt for Oleg at his trial years ago.

The trust that Nick places in Monroe, a Wesen, by revealing the trailer to him is very much understated and great for it. The fact that Monroe ends up being the one who has to put Oleg down is also a cool, interesting wrinkle. The focus on the .600 caliber “elephant gun” bullets that are over 100 years old in the final scene with Renard and Hank is just a delightful little bit of quirkiness and suspense. That the weapons from the trailer are actually deployed here is something I was glad to see. It certainly makes sense for Nick to use his service weapon rather than swinging around a sword or flail or something, but that armory has been essentially teased up to this point, and it was just good to see some of it put to use.

[songsofbloodandwater]

Ask game! 5, 11, 19!

5. Do you have a favorite spell that you find particularly powerful?

Excluding healing arts (because I personally wouldn't consider them 'spells'), I think the most 'powerful', rather, shocking effect I've gotten was with one specific cleansing method I tried, not really expecting much of it, but with surprising results. In the weirdest way possible. I kid you not, I ended up waking up in the middle of the night to unknowingly summoned spirits manifest in physical form. That kind of weird. It's become my favorite way to remove unwanted spirits and things from the home ever since.

11. Do you have a favorite book or resource that has influenced your craft significantly?

Book, I don't think so. I do read witchcraft books but they're not deal breakers to me. What I read more often, and do end up adding up to become important references in my practice, are articles in anthropology, history, or similar publications. As a researcher, I'm more in sync with that kind of sources and they're easier for me to read and understand (and importantly, put weight on) than most 'witchy' books I read. Less mass-marketed, regurgitated, commonly misappropriated filler, less pseudohistory, more substantial data, in it's proper very specifically stated context and with all which that context entails taken into account in the writing and described, with further similar quality references at the end for me to continue digging. Those are things that I can actually work with. Picking one article to be my most influential source at the moment feels impossible to me, there isn't one. It's how all the little pieces from different sources (including many being personal experiences) add up to form the bigger picture that has meaning and influence to me.

There are good books out there, of course there are. But I don't really get 'influenced' by them because I was already brought up with a lot very clear answers to my questions, and those answers don't tend to agree a whole lot with what I read from other people. I read grimoires and 'classics' as what they are, an often embellished glimpse of what somebody else was thinking or doing at the time. I might compare ideas, practices, beliefs and conclusions, but I don't have a book (or books) that I can point to and say "this is where I got my beliefs/practice from!" or "this was my starting point". I would be pointing at my family's elders instead. There are books that I've found fascinating because they seem to have come to similar conclusions to my own but from a completely different angle, and from very different paths, but I don't think that's what the question was referring to? (is it really influential if you were already doing or thinking the same thing?) I consume a fair amount of books, articles, podcasts and videos from other practitioners, but frustratingly to me, most of the time what they talk about is either (a) while still interesting, exciting even, to hear and contemplate, old news to me, (b) factually wrong or misinformed and thus painful to hear, (c) simply something I already have formed ideas about and therefore something I simply have to disagree with the other person on. I deeply enjoy option (a), I also enjoy (c) because it puts my brain to work and challenges my beliefs in a healthy way, but I dread (b), and it breaks my heart when the hit comes from someone I respect. The influential break-throughs, twists and turns I take at this point are coming from personal experience, UPG becoming VPG, and various forms of communication with my Spirits, Deities and Ancestors.

19. What advice would you give to someone just starting their witchcraft journey?

Besides the obvious answer for me being "begin with your Ancestors" and seeking ancestral spirits in general, I'd say it's also important to figure out where your strengths lie and to nurture those gifts first. Sometimes people online make it seem like you have to know everything and be able to do everything to be a "real witch", and that's simply not true. It's even a harmful thing to believe. For starters, acknowledging that certain practices will absolutely be closed to you or out of your reach from the get-go, and there's certain things you will never be able to do for multiple reasons, is not an option, it's a fact, is a need. But even further, there's certain things that you simply will not be the best at, or not even be good at. And that's perfectly normal. Focus on your gifts instead. What can you do. What comes natural to you. How you can develop a full working skillset from the talents you were given at birth and the strengths you already have.

Thanks for asking!

[salt-volk]

Saw the post about "other sites" and I'm feeling ~salty~, so lemme give some context for where the bar is with pet sites to y'all. Maybe you've seen ads, maybe you tried playing it and quit because the tutorial is its own circle of hell, maybe you're a blessed person who has never heard of it: Sylestia. It's run by one (1) man. He codes the entire site, has exactly 0 help - by choice. People have literally offered to help him with coding stuff *for free* and he refuses to let anyone touch his precious code.  His ex girlfriend (yes you read that right) is supposedly the other admin - she barely ever shows up, posts games/events that are full of errors, once vanished in the middle of running a game, and has personally insulted players before because they dared offer feedback on one of her ugly ass designs. There is exactly one artist for avatar items and one for pets - one other artist is listed in the credits but it's unclear what regular work, if any, they do for the site. Over 200 different avatar items are released per year, and new pet traits debut anywhere between 4-8 times per year, AND the site is in the (glacially slow) process of redoing all the art for various species. The site is at least 98% RNG by volume - including items you pay premium currency for. Retired items? RNG only. Getting pets? RNG. Getting items period? RNG. And the RNG is also awful - people are constantly having to literally beg for rates to be adjusted.  Plenty of features for events are also just. straight up gambling - you can pay solid chunks of premium currency and walk away with items that are literally worth nothing. You think DV is grindy? Sylestia not only practically requires you to spend a full workday glued to it - including events that basically require you to literally not sleep for several days - the site owner is actively making new content to further encourage ridiculous amounts of grinding. Why? Because he's worried that older players will be bored without new content - so instead of fixing any of the old content on the site, or the site itself which is a mess, he makes new content that ALSO doesn't work.  As of December, the site will be in its ELEVENTH YEAR IN BETA. So when I say "not fixing old content", I'm not talking like, a couple glitches or iffy art. I'm talking *half the site is completely incompatible with the other half*.  And all of that my friends, is still somehow not the source of my salt.  Someone pointed out to the site owner that one of his avatar items was, perhaps, a bit racist. It was (I should say is, it's still on the site :) ) a stereotypical native american dress, CLEARLY based off of the stupid Pocahontas movie, titled "Pow Wow Costume". It was released with a Pilgrim costume in the site's early years. Pretty not great, yeah? Multiple people complained, provided him sources explaining why "Maybe don't keep this on here, maybe this isn't great".  He, is white. He responded by saying he a) would not remove it, b) did not think it was offensive, c) what about the Christmas items or St. Patrick's day items the site has aren't those the same, and d) he actually visited a reservation once so he knows it's OK to have those items, and e) native players should actually be HAPPY to have those items because it was to iNcLuDE tHeM.  I am not joking.  The site has 0 acknowledgement of pride month, not a banner, not an announcement, no items, no anything - it DOES however have an entire festival for the American Fourth of July holiday. The owner claims he doesn't like to have political things on his site, make of that what you will.  The owner also issued a mass ban on a bunch of people because they said some rude shit (about the racist items, the rng, his refusal to get coding help, general issues taking feedback, etc.) in a private, off-site discord server. How did he know what they said? Why, he asked some players in the server to *spy on the others for him*.   He edited time stamps out and published a bunch of the screenshots from this private server, out of context and who knows if they were edited, and threw a public tantrum about how the players were harassing him and secretly planning to destroy the site… by bitching in a private discord.  So yeah. Not excusing Anji's behavior, but happy to show y'all exactly how much worse it could be LMAO. 

[blot-squisher]

Could you do The hillbilly from dbd for the SFW Alphabet?

SFW Alphabet Ask Meme for Surviving the Game the Hillblly

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?) Max doesn't know how to show affection as he has never received any. Caleb is the closest thing he has to a father figure, but the Deathslinger isn't exactly a fount of affection himself. If Max really likes someone, he'll try to give them something. It might be a cool looking bone he found, or a rock. It'll just depend on how much he likes you.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?) Befriending Max is no easy task. It'll take a lot of time, patience, and band-aids. He isn't violent towards people he likes, but he's still incredibly rough most of the time.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?) Max doesn't even know how touch starved he really is. The first time someone actually tries to cuddle him will be met with a very confused hasty retreat. Give him time to realize you're not trying to hurt him, and he'll be back for more in no time.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?) The idea of staying in one place for the rest of his life sounds like torture. Max was a prisoner for the majority of his life and 'settling down' just sounds like a self imposed prison to him. He can't cook to save his life, and he only cleans if Caleb tells him too. Even then, it's mostly just rearranging the mess.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?) He'd chase them away, probably with a running chainsaw in hand, until they got the hint and stayed away from him.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?) Max is secretly afraid of intimacy even though deep down he craves physical affection. It's something he's never experienced, but he's seen enough times to know it's something he would enjoy. He's not looking for something emotional, just physical. Marriage doesn't interest him in the slightest, but if you get close enough to him, he'll start to view you as someone worth sticking by.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?) He is not. In any way. The man can break an egg just by looking at it the wrong way. Caleb has done his best to teach him how to do things gently or with a soft hand, but other than brushing down Maurice every so often, it doesn't seem like it'll ever be added to his wheelhouse.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?) Any unexpected attempts to be physical with Max will end with one of two things happening. A hammer to the skull. Or you're getting tackled. If you let him know what you're doing, (assuming he trusts you) he'll allow it. Once he realizes how nice it is to be physical in a way that isn't violent or hurtful, he's going to crush you with the tightest hug he can. That's how you're supposed to do it, right?

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?) He will never say that. Love is something he's never received nor felt for any other living thing. He respects Caleb, but to say he loves anyone would be a tremendous stretch.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?) He doesn't, really. He's used to having nothing and no one, so when others receive attention instead of him, it's nothing new.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss their partner? Where do they like to be kissed?) If it ever got to that point, even a single kiss on the cheek would turn him into a blushing, fidgeting mess. He's not used to receiving that kind of attention from anyone, and although it definitely won't make him mad, he won't quite know how to react.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?) He's wary of them. The only interactions he's ever had with children were when they'd sneak onto his parents property to poke sticks through the tiny hole in his prison used to pass him food and make horrible remarks about his appearance.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?) Unless Caleb gets him up to help with something, Max will sleep until his stomach wakes him up. True, he doesn't need to eat in the Realm, but like Thomas he's always got a hell of an appetite.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?) Max can usually be found hanging out around the Saloon or exploring the fog. You might think there's nothing out there, but you'd be wrong. There's all kinds of odd lost things in the fog.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?) Much like with expressing love, Max will never reveal anything about his past. He doesn't like to remember it. He's not going to share it with someone else.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?) Max is perpetually angry and has a hair trigger temper. He doesn't always lash out right away, however. He may wait years to lash out... He can wait until the time is right...

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about their partner? Do they remember every little detail they mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?) He rarely remembers any important dates or things people tell him. Why would he? He doesn't really care all that much.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in their relationship?) When he realized Caleb really cared about his well being. The Deathslinger was the first and only one to really reach out to him in the Entity's Realm (or in his entire life). If you can do that for him, he'll always remember that and cherish it.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect their partner? How would they like to be protected?) Max doesn't generally try to protect others. He doesn't care enough about them to do so, and he knows Caleb can handle himself. He will, however fight like a demon against any enemy for the right reasons, even if he knows he'll probably lose. He doesn't understand the concept of someone protecting him, even though Caleb has in the past. It confuses him, but he respects it none the less.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?) If he were to try and do something to make his partner happy, it would be to give them something he saw and thought was cool. It doesn't matter if you think it's cool. He does, that's why he's giving it to you.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?) He doesn't really get the concept of personal hygiene. Caleb does his best to get him to bathe regularly, but unless he's hounded about it, he probably won't do it.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?) He's very self-conscious about his looks, but not because he feels unattractive. He doesn't particularly care what other people think about how he looks, but he's tired of being insulted and made fun of.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without their partner?) Nope. He's used to being alone.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.) He's afraid of the dark. He spent his entire childhood and early adult life locked in almost constant and complete darkness.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?) Max needs his space and he needs the people around him to respect that. If you try to lock him in or out of a room however, he's going to lose his mind and that door (and probably the wall around it) are going to get destroyed.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habit of theirs?) Max sleeps with at least one light on. Be it an oil lamp or a small light bulb, as long as there's light in the room he can sleep.

[grungeeuvu]

A through Z (minus the ones you've already answered)

A - Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed.

My favourite ship at the moment is FengQing (Feng Xin X Mu Qing from TGCF) and I am constantly talking @astrowaffles 's ear off about them. Platonically, I'm always mentally ill about the Shiratorizawa team and how they all support each other. Family-wise, I can't get Shen Twin aus out of my head

B - A pairing–platonic, romantic or sexual–that you initially didn’t consider, but someone changed your mind.

Yaku and Suga from Haikyuu, both platonic and romantic :) I think either way would be really sweet and funny

C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will.

Shiragoshi. I see no appeal in it for either of them and it kinda just gives me the ick

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t.

Anything with Karasuno first years that aren't the stereotypical main ships except maybe Yamahina. Idk I just feel like Tsuki x either of the volleyball idiots would go terribly and someone would end up getting hurt.

Also, Yachi is very much a lesbian to me and I'm taking that to the grave 🫡

Also, kawagata doesn't click with me. I prefer reongata, since they're both third years and at least had dialogue with each other

For a non Haikyuu pairing, I've got to say giyushino or shinogiyu - I don't know if it's hinted canon or just widely popular but I really can't care for it. I don't hate it, I just have no interest

E - Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom? If so, what?

I haven't altered the fandom with it but I made #RichPrinceFuckerVirgil a trend with my friends back in 2019

G - Have you ever had an OTP? If so, do you remember your first one? Who was in it?

The timeline gets a bit confuddled here but my first otp was either prinxiety (Roman X Virgil from Sanders Sides) or klance (Keith X Lance from VLD)

I - Has Tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why?

I scoped out the Skulduggery Pleasant fandom and I'm not planning on going back (which sucks because the books are amazing)

K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?

Either Zuko, Tsukki, Mu Qing, or Ming Fan (can you tell I'm a fan of grouchy people with the ability to do good?)

L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves. (Characters you’re neutral about are fair game, as are characters you merely dislike. Characters that you absolutely loathe with the fire of ten thousand suns are exempt, as there is no point in giving yourself an aneurysm over a character that you hate.)

As someone very neutral over Asahi, I really have to say that he is portrayed as the ace amazingly. Even though he isn't the main character and can't score all the epic points, he's still an inherently powerful force and you always trust in him when the ball goes his way, as this viewer.

M - Name a character that you’d like to have for a friend.

Feng Xin :)

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice).

Reincarnation fics (TGCF)

Multi-chap AU fics (Haikyuu)

ObaMitsu content (KNY)

O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?

The song "Black Sheep" by Gin Wigmore reminds me of Hua Cheng/TGCF calamities :))

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).

Sendai Frogs as a forced together bounty hunting crew in a space au that becomes found family 💪

Q - A fandom you’ve abandoned and why.

DSMP/MCYT - after Technoblade sadly passed away and then the finale was handled so clumsily, I just couldn't bother with it anymore. However, I still watch a lot of those YouTubers today, like Tommyinnit and Jack Manifold :)

R - Which friendship/platonic relationship is your favorite in fandom?

Shiratorizawa Third Years for the win!!!!

@/baguantte has an AMAZING piece of fanart for all of them which I regularly return to look at :))

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)

Shen Yuan was chronically ill before he transmigrated and he died not just due to choking but because a seizure happened during his rage-eating. We know he's an unreliable narrator, hence why he never mentions this - he hated being ill and felt ashamed by it, so he never wants to think about it now he's no longer sick.

A prompt for this could be Shen Qingqui gets wife plotted and the consequence is far too similar to how he lived his old life that he keeps nearly breaking over it. Could lead to an identity reveal or just some good ol' hurt/comfort

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending? 

Yamagata has clinical depression. Idrk where this came from but it's something I very much stand by and have lots of interlocking ideas with so, yeah, no one is changing my mind on that.

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.

Mu Qing (TGCF/Heaven Official's Blessing) - he's my favourite because of his complicated character. He says negative things, the rumours about him is how he is cold and unkind, yet we see his actions and behaviour portrayed very differently. He's a truly complicated guy.

Goshiki Tsutomu (Haikyuu) - I've written an essay on him which I now cannot find??? I'll have to fish it out but basically he's a really well written character whom performs so hard despite the anxiety he's visibly under being in such an infamous team

Shen Yuan (SVSSS/Scum Villain's Self Saving System) - he's a nerd who died and is now a hot guy but has the nerve to complain about it, he's just like me and I love that.

V - Which character do you relate to the most?

It sounds dramatic and emo as fuck, but Mu Qing. I just get him on a very deep level.

W - A trope which you are virtually certain to hate in any fandom.

Major Character Death or just Character Death in general - I always find it very cheap or unfulfilling. To get me on board with Major Character Death takes a LOT

X - A trope which you are almost certain to love in any fandom.

The Girlboss X Malewife ship - I don't mind the genders, I don't care for dynamics... if that ship is in there, it's likely to be my favourite!! See FengQing and KyouHaba for reference lol

Y - What are your secondhand fandoms (i.e., fandoms you aren’t in personally but are tangentially familiar with because your friends/people on your dash are in them)?

Bnha, Bungo Stray Dogs and a bit of Mob Psycho

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go! (Prompts optional but encouraged.)

AHHHHH OKAY UHHH I accidentally got my mother into not just Haikyuu and Demon Slayer but also TGCF?? We've been watching The Untamed together too - she really wants me to read her manga series Boys Over Flowers and I've been meaning to haha