#they've given me bad vibes for a long while but

[mcmuppet]

this may be a hot take but i'm sorry the pit stop boys piss me off

how are you, with a popular f1 podcast, gonna go on screaming meals and say, and i quote: "we're not massive diehard f1 fans"

bffr

[simplydnp]

hey there!

I kind of consider you the resident dnp expert (at least in dnp culture) so I wanted your opinion on a question that's been building for a while now.

What are the boundaries for dnp now?

There are so many things that I feel have changed even in the last four years: writing smutty rpf was Gross and Weird, along with art along that line, speculating about their relationship was ABSOLUTELY a no-go, all things that I see happening on Tumblr now. And I'm not saying that's a bad thing!! I'm just acknowledging things have changed over time. They're different people now and so are we, and the "we know you know" era is lots of fun.

I was browsing reddit today (bad idea, do not recommend) and came across a post from a new Phannie asking if DnP were in a relationship. And while I agree that we cannot say for absolute certain that they are, the responses had a VERY different vibe than on here, emphasizing how bad the speculation was (true) and essentially saying "don't even think about that, just enjoy their content." (or something to that extent.)

Which... is very different from this here website in which we joke about them being horney for each other constantly lmao.

Being a very rules-driven person, I like expectations to be made abundantly clear for pretty much everything. So that's why I want to ask: Is there a line here? Are we crossing that line? How defined is that line? (All of this, of course, I recognize is your opinion and yours alone, and if this is posted I encourage anyone else to share their two-cents in a respectful way.)

Obviously, trying to find out where they live/things like that is very clearly crossing a boundary. But is there some sort of limit or boundary I (and tbh the rest of the phandom), in your opinion, should be keeping in mind?

thanks xx

hi!

'resident expert' is a hefty title, i'm just here trying my best!

'what are the boundaries for dnp now?' is really a great question. cause the thing is, we used to know. there used to be a fairly well-defined and mostly agreed upon line, and ever since the dapg revival in particular, the line keeps moving.

i'll be honest, i never really saw phanfic as rpf, even though it is. my stance on phanfic is the same as dnps: it's a beautiful expression of art and creativity and is so, so important. they've always been pro-fic (even though we subjected them to some absolutely horrific crack fics), so i don't think 'smutty' fic has ever been gross or too far. they've given their blessing, and, as the conversation has been in fandom communities the last few years, rpf isn't 'for' the people in them, it's for the fans. so i digress.

art is much the same way. they love art! they even included art of them kissing in a tumblr tag video back in the day, so to say that's not allowed especially after they're out is kind of crazy to me.

i think the line with stuff like that was showing it directly to dnp--tagging them in explicit stuff, that kind of thing. but creating it? go for it! it's always been a green light. (i think fans have previously overpoliced this and we lost a lot of great fic, art, and community members over it)

browsing reddit is always a Choice. i've never participated on dnp reddit before but i am aware that it is an entirely different space than here. something that's important, i think (and i think you think this too as you're asking about them), is to respect the fandom rules of the place you partcipate in. tumblr is generally one of the most phan-positive places on the internet, especially publicly facing. we make a lot of relationship jokes, particularly because we run on the assumption it's already true, based on what they've both said publicly (mostly dan).

i won't comment on reddit specifically just because i'm not a part of the community there, but the speculation about dnp online was a Lot for a long time. but the worst part of it was the stalking, the digging into personal lives, the contacting family members--that is what was bad. dnp have always had a connection--and, honestly, they kind of love flexing it and kind of always have. they absolutely play into things now, but they certainly did even way before coming out too. i think a certain level of speculation was to be expected, especially in that era of online fandom. but it wasn't just the 'teenage girls' who cared, the media did too, and so did many others.

i think one of the biggest differences now is 1 the awareness of 'our' past and trying to make up for it, and 2 the broader societal conversations about parasocial relationships.

you see this reflected on the snippets ive seen from dnp reddit and dnp twitter. they tend to be Very 'cautious' about the words they say, often undercutting perfectly reasonable statements with 'but whatever their relationship is'. on one hand, they don't want to cross a line, and i can respect that. on the other hand... it's 2024 babes. they just put out merch of them holding hands. dan's directly, intentionally, and explicitly called phil a bottom on dapg. they reacted to all of the pinofs, made jokes about 'theyre touching', and even joked about the tackle being 'wrestling 👀'. dan posted half-naked catboy pics and showed us phil was taking them. the 'watch your step babygirl' tweet & their reactions to it. phil is credited in WAD. they're making threesome jokes about themselves as a unit. i could go on and on.

to me, there's a few things that have 'moved the line' for us, so to speak.

1 - DAPG returning. for the last few years they specifically were not a duo (for projects) anymore. (and no, not because they hated each other). they just weren't. they wanted to focus on their goals and projects. they didn't have to resurrect dapg, but they chose to. marketing and money aside, they knew that if this went over well, it would well and truly revive the 'dan and phil' brand again. it would be specifically returning to being a duo in the public eye. (however they've also fully embraced this in all aspects, including merch, videos, and general attitude)

2 - pinof reacts. even though they'd been out since 2019, we hadn't had regular joint content from them since before that, therefore, while they had become more comfortable with themselves and their 'outness', we hadn't (in terms of them making explicit gay jokes together). so i really think dnp had to de-fang a lot of the 'theyre touching' of it all, because we didn't really know where we stood on it anymore. i think they succeeded, too. we couldn't be here, with the content of the last 3 months, without them tackling it head on (well, as head on as they're want to do).

3 - dapc. genuinely another big shift. they did this for the real fans. purely a passion project, and a specific choice in doing the handhold. they know what we're like. and this wasn't a brief, unplanned, unscripted moment. it's a specifically blocked out scene. they know it's opening a door, and they chose to. this is doubled by the fucking iconic merch selling, and furthered by phil's twitter likes of arguably romantic phanart, and then dan's full straddle like.

even throughout the current 6 months of revival, the line has moved. i don't know where it will settle. dnp keep moving it, in my opinion, and, genuinely, i don't think it's going to leave much to the imagination. as you say, obviously not the stalking or the contacting, but beyond that? especially here on tumblr? i wouldn't get too worried. obviously people will have their opinions, but as long as you're generally respectful and recognize that humans will see your posts and humans interact with them, i think you're good.

my rule of thumb is anything they intentionally put on the table, we can joke about or at the same level. but in terms of art/fic? go off, live your dreams. dan and phil would want you to.

[warmblanketwhump]

hello hello! after an accidental hiatus, I'm back with an entry into the surrender an ask game that @save-the-villainous-cat and @epiclamer put together where we all swapped asks. thanks so much for doing this!!!

here's my ask: Hi! I’ve become obsessed with your Hero Gets Yanked By An Upstanding Citizen Into Their Window And Into Their Heart post and I was wondering if you could- maybe- on the off chance- if you have time- come back to it for another scene? I just love the duo’s dynamic so much, the lovable hero who is trying a little too hard at any given chance, and the citizen who is wholly unafraid to manhandle a superhero into their home and into their life. That’s the vibes I was getting from their short interaction anyway- I love them so much aaagugfyduhijigififiguftgb your writing makes me go insane” Submitted by @yourheartonfire

The hero checks once, twice behind their shoulders, then collapses on to the rickety fire escape. It's off the beaten path, away from anyone. Sure, there's a little prickle of guilt that it's a Saturday night, and there are probably dozens of crimes afoot that need their attention.

But the past few weeks have run them absolutely ragged. If they didn't know better, they'd think that someone was scheming against them deliberately. call after call, summons after summons, each one more dire than the last.

People count on them—people need them, and they like the feeling of being needed. But they're exhausting, aching, injured, absolutely spent. Their leg throbs with a recent injury that they haven't had time to treat, and they can't remember the last time they slept more than three hours at a time.

They lean their head back against the scarred brick of the apartment building, letting their eyes slip closed....

.....and when a wailing siren sounds in the distance, the hero tries not to whimper.

Get up. It's time to go.

And they do get up. Too quickly.

Their toe catches on the edge of the rickety fire escape, and before the hero can react, they're falling, tumbling, twisting, too exhausted and spent to do anything to stop the inevitable pull of gravity on their body.

The last thing they see is the extended metal overhanging of the fire escape before pain shot through their body, and darkness overtook them.

_________________

The hero hoped that when they awoke, they'd somehow find themselves in their own spase, yet comfortable bed, that the last two months had been just a nightmare.

Instead, they hear frustrated, disembodied grunts and feel someone pulling at them, tugging them over something hard and metal and painful for their aching body.

"Get...in...here..."

The hero wants to swat the hands away, but their limbs are dead weight at their sides, and their voice gets stuck in their throat when they try to cry out. So darkness falls again.

_________________

When the hero wakes a second time, they're aware of a throbbing in their bad leg and a pounding in their head, and an ache that's more painful than anything they've ever felt. They're in a dark room, save for a softly glowing salt lamp in the far corner, and they're aware of being tucked under a thick, soft blanket on some sort of couch or daybed.

It's comfortable, safe, warm—and wrong. They have no idea where they are or who they're with, nor how long they've been there, nor how many lives have been lost while they've been knocked unconscious.

They try to call out, but the "hey" comes out as more of a raspy whisper, and the blanket is far too heavy for them to toss from their broken body. In their efforts to move, something gets knocked over with a crash.

"Hey, hey, hey now, don't move. Shhhh." A figure darts into the room and the hero feels two hands against their shoulders, pressing them back into the bed.

"W--where..."

"You're....here. At my apartment. Figured I didn't want to leave you out on my fire escape all night." The shadowed figure flicks on another lamp and the hero winces, hand flying to touch their face—

Their bare face.

A strangled cry flees their throat. Not only have they failed their city, but someone's seen their face, seen how utterly, desperately ordinary they are beneath it all. This someone knows who they are and could ruin it all. Their eyes flicker up to see the stranger standing at the foot of their bed, holding their disguise tenderly in their hands.

"I'm so sorry....I didn't want to take it off, but you were bleeding from a pretty nasty forehead cut, and I didn't want to leave it too long." The stranger's hand lightly ghosts over their hairline, and the hero realizes there's some sort of thick bandage over where the throbbing is radiating from. "I won't tell a soul. Promise. If you have some sort of mind control....thing, you can even erase my memories, if you want, but you need like....a ton of medical attention first. I've done first aid and an outdoor wilderness survival class a couple times, but you probably need some kind of doctor, but I get if you don't want to do that with your identity and all that...."

"Won't....won't bother you" the hero slurs, trying to sit up again, before collapsing back down. Try as they might, they couldn't leave this cursed couch.

"Oh no, no, you're not bothering me at all. You just sorta...freaked me out, is all. And there was a TON of blood, and I couldn't just leave you there, so I just kinda—" the stranger motions with their hands "yanked you right in here, did some first aid, and here we are." The stranger adjust the blankets, tucking the hero in tighter. "You looked pretty banged up."

I supposed I did, the hero muses to themselves. "It's....been a rough few weeks. But I'm okay."

"You sure?" The stranger's brows furrow, and their hand gestures to their leg. "I'm no doctor, but that gash on your leg looks...pretty bad. Shouldn't someone be looking after that?"

Hero hears the subtext of the question. Shouldn't someone be looking after YOU?

The hero isn't quite sure what to say to that. How long has it been since someone tended their wounds, tucked them in, brought them in from the elements, and asked how they were?

"I'm....I'm alright." Hero's mortified to hear the smallest wobble in their voice.

"Hero, that's not what I asked." The stranger's voice is firm, yet gentle, their hand resting on their uninjured knee.

"Right." The hero sniffles, suddenly unable to speak.

The stranger seems to understand the thousand thoughts of the hero's mind that flood the silence, then gently pats their other uninjured leg. "Well, in that case, it's time we get started now that you're awake. I'll get the bandages, and we'll really get you cleaned up and take stock of how much healing you've got ahead of you. No promises, though—I told you, it's only a couple first-aid classes, so don't you judge my wound dressings."

Hero's suprised to hear their own thin, crackly laugh. "Wouldn't dare."

[theamityelf]

In your Kamakura Wrangler Au could you rank who would be the most likely to hurt/endanger Makoto to the least likely to hurt/protective of him out of the students please?

That is a great question.

Honestly, I think his greatest protector (in terms of effectiveness) would actually be Hiro. While he's not actively protecting him or staying with him most of the time, he often does little things to set the right future in motion to protect him. In general, Hiro happens to lack the kind of hollow boredom that most Kamukuras feel; like I mentioned, his vibe toward everything is just that he is watching reruns of real life. Makoto is a recurring character he likes well enough on a show he's seen plenty of times. (The only show. The only channel. But it's not a bad one. It might even be really good, if this were his first time watching.)

Plus, Makoto's luck can occasionally surprise him. One time, Makoto trips and spills food on himself, and Hiro surprises everyone by actually laughing, because wow! A new scene for once!

Second most protective, of course, is Taka. He is vigilant about making sure none of the other Kamukuras kill this innocent and normal person. I think Kyoko and Byakuya would come around to protecting Makoto, too, but initially their vibe might be more, "You won't survive here for very long, so tell me this, before you die..." Taka is protective right away.

The only catch there is, Taka values Makoto's humanity so much that there is a non-zero chance that, if he thinks the scientists will change Makoto into one of them, he might mercy-kill him. It wouldn't be his default response. He's significantly more likely to attack the scientists or whoever else is posing a danger to Makoto than Makoto himself. But if he's identified it as impossible to protect Makoto from being Kamukurified, he would view death as the kinder, more ethical alternative. It would be very quick and painless, and he would cry for the first time, after. Makoto's ability to sway Taka's view on the humanity of the Kamukuras is so, so important to how well everything goes. Though the increasing investment of Byakuya and Kyoko would be helpful.

And Chihiro would also be a big help. They're usually hiding (and as a Kamukura, they're really good at it), so Makoto's conversations with Chihiro read like conversations with a ghost, but the arc there is that gradually Chihiro starts to become a physical presence. Eventually leading to Chihiro protecting him if and when it becomes necessary. Maybe someone thinks they've gotten Makoto alone, his allies are elsewhere, and they can attack him, but lo and behold Chihiro appears and saves him.

Mukuro initially protects Makoto only from being taken away by the scientists. Her strong sense of personal loyalty from before is now expressed as a rigid bond with the new collective, meaning she is very strict about the treatment of the Kamukuras. They have been given this resource, they have negotiated his use, so the scientists are not allowed to take him. Makoto always has Taka on one side of him, but when the scientists enter the room, Mukuro immediately stands at his other side. I think the two of them don't talk all that much, but she still grows fond of him from what few conversations they do have and how positive a force he's been for the other Kamukuras.

On the other side, of course Junko might harm or kill him just on an impulse. More likely harm than kill; despair is one thing, but she does actually need the enrichment. The thing is, the more he interacts with her, and especially the more he reminds her of the past and maybe helps some of her memories return, she might start to actively enjoy despair again, instead of just feeling the impulse toward it. And this time, she's got all the talents of a Kamukura. She would be extremely thankful to him, and killing him might be an expression of that thanks. Or she might keep him on hand as she develops into her new self, with the understanding that she'll kill him when it will hurt her most. If she actually starts to care about what's happening, she can manipulate her friends' eccentricities to get Makoto to herself. (Give or take a wild Chihiro.)

Sayaka would actually be something of a problem, not because she actively bears him ill will, but because she can't handle his attempts to be present as a friend and support for her. Her way of making sense of the trauma she underwent in the Kamukura Project, and even more so the very particular brand of demeaning that is being one of many Kamukuras, is to perceive herself as the one person who doesn't need any help, support, enrichment, or anything. She's supposed to be the one who can help everyone, and then Makoto shows up and talks to her in ways no one ever has, tells her about a past self she's not supposed to yearn for, etc. If she wants or needs it, then suddenly what she went through was just a pointless thing that harmed her and not the thing that made her what the world needs. She feels she needs to take him down several pegs. But I believe she can overcome it.

Hina is a danger, but she doesn't particularly mean to be; she's just very curious and she assigns no positive or negative moral value to any means of exploring that curiosity that pops into her mind. She'll mitigate her own more destructive thoughts because the group will have made agreements as to how to engage with Makoto, but for anything they haven't made explicit agreements about, there is no guarantee she won't hurt him. Even once she considers him a friend, it would be a separate thing for her to fully understand why suffering is a thing that people actively avoid, because she just doesn't factor suffering into her own thought process at all. (She understands suffering, functionally, and she has a full grasp on the ways in which it motivates and influences people's actions, but her own relationship with suffering colors her understanding of what it means that most people avoid it. Not to mention she's an analyst who spends a lot of time around Junko; her data is skewed.)

Celeste will become a danger if it will help her escape, but in most circumstances it won't.

Mondo will become a danger out of agitation over changes in the status quo, since they cause him to feel a lack of control. Like Sayaka and Hina, I believe he can overcome that.

Hifumi and Leon will be more into watching from the sidelines than anything. When Makoto befriends them, they still won't be too active. Sakura I think would be pretty neutral to him. And I'm going to say Toko likes him but does nothing for him.

[anyroads]

Really wanted to reblog a post about about the trans sports ban in the US and info to call senators, but since the OP is one of those users who blocks everyone who so much as breathes wrong near them, I can't. So I think I've hit my limit with the culture around blocking on tumblr.

I've been annoyed with the whole "you don't need a reason to block someone just do it" attitude on tumblr for a long time but I've seen other posts talking about it get dogpiled on and I have enough chronic illness and problems in my life as it is without adding to it. But man, this situation now? It's just stupid. It's self-defeating for all of us on here.

What I've wanted to write a post about is how on a site with such a large population of neurodiverse people it's ableist and just mean to indiscriminately block people. I'm not talking about blocking people who are actively mean or harassing other users, btw. I'm talking about users who just say, "eh I don't like this person's vibe" or who assume bad faith without cause and hit block instead of just moving on or asking for clarification. The OP of the post on the trans ban that I wanted to reblog blocked me because a few years ago they posted misinformation about something minor and I offered a correction as someone with experience in that field. Instead of considering what I offered or why, they blocked me - a friend later sent me a screenshot of OP saying in the notes that they blocked me because they thought I just wanted to show off (and look, I could go into why that's not true, but it doesn't matter - we had subjective experiences of an interaction that was, ultimately, innocuous, and could easily have been resolved).

This kind of "lalala I can't hear you, gonna block you" attitude is not only hurtful to others, but is ableist on a website where so many people have NDs that make communication challenging or difficult for them. It reinforces the experiences ND people have in aggressively neurotypical spaces where they aren't given the benefit of the doubt and constantly feel misunderstood and dismissed - people for whom part of tumblr's appeal is its openness to neurodiversity, who then experience the same kind of dismissal and rejection every time someone blocks them for not being able to express themselves in exactly the right way another user wants them to.

Blocking doesn't keep them off your feed, btw - as long as someone else reblogs their content you can still see it. They just can't comment on or reblog your posts or message you. Which is useful when someone is abusive, but pointless when someone just disagreed with you innocuously and you didn't like how it made you feel. That person doesn't even get a chance to clarify their meaning - they can see your content but they're shut out from your conversation. People on this site do this to autistic people daily, and then reblog posts about autism awareness. As an example of this kind of pointless behavior: I said nothing offensive or hurtful to the OP of the post I couldn't reblog today when they blocked me, they just didn't like what I said, assumed bad faith where there was none, and instead of taking a few seconds to check if their assumption was justified, blocked me like they've done with tons of others, as their reputation attests. And while I can't say it felt nice, I also haven't cared - until now, because I don't just want to reblog their post about this trans ban, I feel it's important and urgent to do so because it was a good post, and I know that because they're a popular user who blocks others with such ease and frequency, there are probably hundreds of tumblrs out there who also can't share it. And that actually hurts all of us.

This thing today actually brought up a much more important point: if you keep blocking people just because you can, then you significantly decrease the number of people who can share your content. And that matters, especially right now when that content is important information combating fascism and important to boost. We talk about the problem of too many factions on the left, and this is an example of it: tumblr users limiting the scope of their reach when trying to resist fascism because of how little they're willing to sit with the discomfort of having to try to figure out how to understand someone else, even someone whose perspective mostly aligns with theirs. Assuming bad faith and yelling at each other helps no one except fascists, because division is their best weapon and their base is cohesive. Blocking people on tumblr for not saying exactly what you want to hear just limits who can support you on posts that matter.

It's wrong that I can't reblog this post full of useful, important information about a trans ban that's going to be voted on in Congress in the U.S., just because several years ago the OP couldn't manage their emotional response to a helpful addition on their post. It's wrong that we keep telling people to just block indiscriminately and move on, and that if anyone challenges this idea they get dogpiled on. Yes, block fascists. Yes, block people who are actively hateful and harmful. But that's it. Every time a new flood of refugees from another platform comes here, we pass around posts about how the core of this site is reblogging and adding to each other's content - the idea of blocking indiscriminately goes direcetly against that. We can't keep limiting ourselves like this.

So I guess go search for posts on US Congress SB9 because apparently I can't help you until someone else who hasn't blocked me for a pointless reason posts as comprehensive a post that I can reblog.

[adamandjohn]

Do you believe Bosselot is requited and why?

Depends of how I feel at any given moment to be honest lol Sometimes I wish I was the kind of person who could just say "yes absolutely!" (or "no, and I don't give a shit") and call it a day but I'm not lol My thoughts and feelings about it are kinda complicated. Kojima can be as subtle as a brick to the face. But he's also amazingly good at implying things, leaving things vague and up to interpretations, adding hidden layers. I think bosselot resides enough in that grey zone that even when I try to go strictly by canon, to be perfectly objective, something makes me go "but". Maybe that's proof I'm not THAT objective though, I don't know lol Giving myself a pat on the back for at least trying lol

To the question "did Snake love Ocelot back", the most direct answer I can come up with is "I don't know". Snake doesn't talk much about his feelings, the direct interactions with Ocelot in canons are rare so you can't really judge by his actions or their interactions, and with how intense Snake's fixation on the Boss and War are, it's hard to say how much he feels about anything else (even Kaz, and bbkaz is as explicitly gay as you can get). It's just a vibe, but I'm not sure Snake really knows how he feels and why most of the time anyway, I think his emotional intelligence might not be super high? Because of that, I'm don't know if he's even aware how down bad Ocelot is for him. Sticking to a view closer to canon, I don't think Ocelot would actually tell him, and Snake can be quite dense, he'd need it to be spelled out very clearly lol

What I do know for sure at least is that Snake trusts Ocelot, which is not nothing considering how many times Snake has been stabbed in the back by people he trusted. He directly tells Ocelot he's counting on him, and Zero says about Ocelot watching over Snake while he's a coma that "it's how he'd want it". From a meta level, there's also what Kojima said about them: "Snake and Ocelot, from the first moment they set eyes upon each other, they both fell into liking with each other. It is a pure love". You can interpret that as simply kinship or as literally love at first sight, to me it's both. That's important to me because there's always some people trying to pretend that Snake doesn't care at all about Ocelot, which simply isn't true. It's very clear to me that their relationship is special, that they have a unique bond. But the long-distance nature of their relationship gets in the way a lot of its development.

Now, outside of canon, it's very possible that they've had more direct contacts than what we've been shown. In one of the MGSV tape Snake says "you never liked the French". It sounds insignificant, but that tells me that Ocelot bitched about that at some point. It's just a hint that they probably know each other better and more intimately than the games let on. And if the cigar lighting scene at the end of MGSV was an intentional reference to symbolism of 50s cinema with the same underlying meaning*, then Snake is outright asking for a kiss in that scene lol

TL;DR: I can't say for sure if Snake has romantic feelings for Ocelot in canon, but I think it's definitely plausible that he does. I don't think absence of evidence in this case is necessary evidence of absence.

*Films of the '50s used loaded terms to signify things that couldn't be discussed. "'Can I light your cigarette for you?' was code for kissing,” says Allison McCracken PhD, a professor of American Studies with a focus on the history of sex and sexuality over the phone. When the cigarettes came out, everyone in the audience would have known what the characters were alluding to.

[leonawriter]

I'm sure I've said this before some time in the past, but- there's certain ships that since they have no foundation in canon and one or more of the two are already canonically attracted in a monogamous way to someone else... I tend not to feel any sense of attachment to the fandom portrayal of them, because usually (not always! just often enough that it sticks in my head) the impression I get is that fanon erases the pre-existing attraction one or either of them has, in order to make things more... simple. Or something. So I see that, and I lose interest.

But the thing is, if the fanworks I see accept and address the fact that one or more of the people in the ship used to be attracted to/in love with someone else? I'd be WAY more likely to get on board the ship!

It does several things for me.

One: It doesn't disregard canon in a way that makes me feel like certain things are being retconned purely for the fan-preferred/author's ship. Often I'm a fan of how things actually go in the canon, or I just use it as a base point of reference, so if something's been thrown out and it feels arbitrary... that's off-putting.

Two: it keeps their core personality traits intact. This might sound weird, but it's a fact that who we are changes depending on who we're most interested in at any given time. If a character has been seen crushing on someone so badly that they base parts of their own personality on matching someone else, that's not something you can or should easily ignore, given how big of an effect that is. And when it comes to relationships, you'll notice that the vibes they give off shift how the characters act and are written/portrayed. Some pairings with one character have them be soft, while others have them sharper.

Three: I enjoy seeing characters go "I used to like [x], those feelings were real, but [I moved on]/[they don't like me back, so I had to move on] and now I've started to like someone else." I like to see that sense of progression. Especially if the canon has them all as teens, it's more realistic to have not all of them create their livelong commitments in the course of one year when they're 16! Some, sure, it's fun - but not all. Let them make mistakes, break up, move on, find someone else.

Four: It... honestly adds nuance and depth to the characters - both in a pairing - if they're shown moving on, and/or attracted to someone who either still has feelings for another person, or who's moved on. Give them a bit of time. A bit more maturity. As said above, not everyone finds true love at 16 or so. Having that happen is simple, it's cute, and it's kind of like a fairy tale - but there are other ways to have it work out without making it love at first sight.

But really. How do they feel about this? How does the first person feel about how long they've had someone feel that way about them? Is there a dance of "the last time we knew each other you were still tagging after [other person], are you available now?" or is it more "I want to attempt asking them out, but I'm too nervous in case it's not wanted" when at this point, it'd be welcomed?

Have Character A be there for Character B when they've realised they'll never be with C!

Maybe they even just see each other as "just friends" for the longest time, until someone goes "doesn't your idea of a perfect partner sound like [A]?" and it's the first time they've thought of that.

And in the case of both of them having previously been attracted to the same person (no matter how much or how little), there's the evergreen "oh fun, we can roast [C] together now!"

So like... so many of those ships aren't even bad. I just wish I could see them having gone through a progression from "where they're at in canon" to "where they're at crushing on someone other than their canonical crush/love interest" more, y'know? Even if it's just handwaved as having happened in the past!

[semper-legens]

29. Hidden, by PC and Kristin Cast

Owned: No, library Page count: 302 My summary: The truth is out. The world know how terrible Neferet is - or, at least, they should. But while she's been shunned from the House of Night, Neferet is working her evil magic on the humans surrounding it. She's conned herself into the mayor's office, into a penthouse suite, and into a dangerous position for Zoey and her friends. The Darkness still needs sacrifices. And what better victim than Grandma Redbird? My rating: 1/5 My commentary:

Speedrun, speedrun, only got three more of these let's go! What else is there to say about the House of Night at this point? Not a lot. It's still bad, it's still offensive and bigoted, it's still a giant piece of shit. And I'm still getting a perverse kind of joy from seeing just how bad it is. Seriously, though I'm going to be glad to see the back of this series, I don't actually regret having read it. If nothing else, it's a great what-not-to-do when it comes to crafting a story. Just do the absolute opposite of House of Night, and you've made a reasonably solid story! Yay! Anyway, let's get into it.

So, picking up from the pointlessness last time, we kick off here with Lenobia and a fire in the stables. And we learn one more thing about Lenobia! Is it about her as a character, or about her relationship to sex and romance? Surprise! The latter. Yeah, turns out Lenobia's pointless sexy cowboy is actually the reincarnation of her lost love from when she first came to America in the 1700s. After he died (because she failed to save him, natch) she swore she'd never love another person. Travis is that guy's soul come back to her after so long, and it's a stupid plot point for two reasons. Reason one - the dead lover was a black man from New Orleans, while Travis is explicitly white. Which…is not a good look. Black lover is fridged, white lover is endgame. Given that the only other men of colour are Kalona and Rephaim (maybe? I don't remember if Rephaim is actually described as looking Cherokee) this is not a particularly good look. Reason two - we're just doing soulmates, I guess. Lenobia has exactly one person she's allowed to be in a relationship ever. Zoey's thing with Heath (more on that later) is a very similar vibe, they're just ~cosmically connected~ and so they've gotta be endgame. People aren't allowed to develop attractions to each other! Don't be silly! You've got to get with the one person you're cosmically destined to be with! Bleh.

Most of the ongoing plot of this one concerns Neferet's rise in human society, a plot point that…does not really go anywhere. It's not even that Neferet needs to struggle to get to the top in human society, she literally just goes up to the mayor like 'you support me unconditionally now' and he's like 'duh you're hot okay sure'. It's bizarre how mundane the conflict between Neferet and Team Zoey is here. Team Zoey are trying to make her seem like a disgruntled ex-employee, and both sides are using the news media to influence people to their way of thinking. Which, given that Neferet's 'exposing' Stark as a murderer, feels…disproportionate? The worldbuilding, or lack thereof, is being thrown into focus here. Surely the police would have something to say about Stark being a murderer? Like, it's established that the vamps are allowed by the police to take care of their own security and policing and such, which is fine, but a) this has not come up so often and b) the amount of vamps there are in the world makes this suspect? At various points, the worldwide vamp population has been implied to both be substantial and not so much. Almost every celebrity has been said to be a vamp in this world, and yet vamp numbers are actually small enough that the world governments apparently just let them take care of themselves with no other oversight. Vampires are supposed to be both incredibly powerful and influential and also a minority, both at the same time? It's vague to the point where you're obviously not meant to think about it, but incidents like this just bring into light the fact that it hasn't been well thought through. Hey, Casts? If you're not gonna worldbuild this stuff, don't bring it up.

More Aurox…ugh. Once again, we're circling the 'badboy redeemed' trope. Honestly, it wouldn't even bug me that much if it wasn't exactly the damn same every time it showed up. The Boy has done some shitty things, but feels bad about them and wants to change. Some people won't give him the time of day, but at least one other person, usually his love interest, is ride or die for him and totally believes he has changed. Over time, the change is proved to be correct, usually with one big heroic action. Stark, Rephaim, and Kalona have all had this arc. Can we have a different arc please. It's getting boring.

So the big climax to this one comes when Neferet kidnaps Grandma Redbird to use her as a sacrifice to the Darkness, which means it's time to talk about Grandma a bit more. Grandma is Zoey's Cherokee grandmother. That is also the extent of her characterisation. She is loving, forgiving, spiritual, and always knows the right thing to say. Everyone loves her. She has no flaws. She is perfect. She knows everything. And she's boring as hell. She's not a character, she's a plot device! Grandma Redbird exists either to be a perfect moral guide or to give exposition about Cherokee culture and spiritual practice (which, as we've talked about previously, isn't by necessity actual Cherokee culture). Oh, and to be in danger. This is, what, the third time her life's been endangered? There's no tension in it anymore, because there's no way that the Casts will actually have anything bad happen to her. Zoey's mother can die, because she was a bitch, but Grandma? Nah, she's too good to die. I never got the feeling here that anything bad was actually gonna happen to her, because she's bounced back from being the damsel in distress so many times.

And finally…good Lord, I cannot believe that it has taken me this long to realise exactly what's wrong with Nyx as a plot element. To be fair, I haven't given much thought to Nyx as a character to this point; she literally just shows up to be a perfect mother goddess and be right about everything and then disappear. But the climax of this book comes about when Zoey and co are scared and unsure of what to do about Neferet kidnapping Grandma Redbird. Zoey prays to Nyx, and essentially gets the answer that she needs to stop cowering in the darkness and actually do something. All very fine and well, and even a half-decent plot beat. The thing is that how the plot actually resolves is that Kramisha gives Zoey one of her prophetic poems, and it tells Zoey exactly what to do to save the day. And since Nyx gives Kramisha her visions, this is essentially just Nyx ssaving the day with Zoey as a conduit. And the problem with all of this is that it's the worst of the conservative Christian idea of God and humankind's relationship to God. God is infallible and doing what He wants will always solve your problem. Nyx is always right, and finding what Nyx wants you to do, even if it's hard, is always the right path. Zoey has free will, but pretty much any path other than specifically what Nyx wants her to do is usually wrong. I don't know much about what the Casts believe theologically, but I really wouldn't be surprised if it was a 'raised Christian, switched to 70s Neo-Paganism' kind of thing, because Nyx here just reads as if the Casts switched Christian God for a mother goddess without really changing anything about how they percieve this deity and their relationship to said deity. I've been getting the vibe as we go through the series that Nyx does some shitty things, but I'm not sure I was meant to? Her forgiveness of people like Kalona and Rephraim seems overly punitive at times, but at this late stage in the series there's no room for that to be an arc or anything, I think we're supposed to take as read that Nyx is perfect. And that just skeeves me out in general.

Next, I told you it was a speedrun! The penultimate installment of the House of Night series!

[gunsatthaphan]

Heyyy! I have been following your account for a while and I LOVE to hear your analysis, they have such a nice balance of objectivity and going gaga xD.

So, whenever you have time and if you want; to can you share your thoughts on the current gmmtv pillar couples, like their offscreen and on-screen presence/chemistry. Since, most of them are new except EM, I am trying to understand/predict how this will pan out how successful these ships will be going forward.

A few examples

FK : Onscreen: They are just so comfortable with each other, every scene, from being not liking each other but simping to what they were in OS. Offscreen: They have such soulmate/best friend vibes which feels so sincere, and despite lack of physical touches/skinship like OG, JD, or even First with other people like Tay, they have better chemistry than most ships I have seen(maybe the constant staring at each other while talking things, most interviews feel like they are talking to each other). Khaotung needs to stop looking at First not just when first is talking but also when he is talking xD

FB: Onscreen : I just don't get it, I dropped a boss and a babe so many times, because I just could not! I see no chemistry/ not even I care for you chemistry. But I feel that was maybe direction, because the 10 seconds of OF between them had so much more chemistry than the whole ABAB. Offscreen: I love their banter and they are pretty fun to watch, but again it is a lot of brotherly vibe, maybe because they loook sooo similar. I think this ship will dissolve soon, idk

EM: They seem to have similar chemistry/ characters both oncsreen and offscreen, given earth is more relaxed since he is not a troubled man like his characters . I have not seen cupid's last wish, but in both MLC and ATOTS, and real life, mix is always the sulking young guy and earth, the more mature elder guy. They are already succesful as a ship so yeah

Wow, this ended up being long xD

hi there anon!

thank you for appreciating my opinions. after having some people in my inbox who don't, this is nice to hear 😌

I already shared my take on the current gmm couples a few weeks ago here but to comment on your thoughts:

FK: couldn't agree more. everyone who follows me knows they're my favorites and that won't change anytime soon lol. I like that they don't do fanservice or skinship stuff bc their energy around each other is more than enough to make me lose my mind lol.

FB: I like their dynamic off-screen, they're likable people, but ABAAB is so bad that I'm having a hard time separating their on- and off-screen presence lol. I hope they redeem themselves with only friends bc right now they're a lost cause for me.

EM: love them!!! I said this in my previous post but they're giving comfort couple energy lol. their characters are a bit similar sometimes but that might be due to the fact that they're a very distinct pairing. they're 2 very different types compared to the other couples so their characters often go into a similar direction which I don't mind though and would not file as typecasting. I always felt like they matched their characters very well. they've been around for a while so I don't know what their future looks like but for now they're one of my favorites for sure ✌🏻

xxx

[kitkatt0430]

goldenvibe, frostwave,  supercorp, coldflash, harrisco, hartmon and flashwave for ship opinion bingo

So, going ahead to say that since there are a bunch of ships here and I did just get another ask from an anon who also asked for Hartmon, I'm gonna skip that ship here and then answer it as part of the anon ask. 'Cause even with skipping Hartmon, this is gonna get long.

I just ramble so much. ^_^

Goldenvibe:

So I am very intrigued by their dynamic, but since I heavily headcanon Lisa as being aro (or arospec bi) I don't really read romance in their ship. I see them as having a QPR - with or without sex thrown in - and it being very sweet between them which probably scares Lisa a bit about Cisco at first.

On the one hand, Lisa doesn't get nice things so where's that shoe that's gonna drop? When will Cisco prove too good to be true after all? Or will it be that Lisa wrecks things herself and hurts Cisco?

But on the other hand, Lisa deserves nice things and nice people and given enough time she can settle in with Cisco and be happy.

I feel like their dynamic works best as two points in a polycule though, so I'm more likely to go for Hartley/Cisco/Lisa or Kamilla/Cisco/Lisa or so on.

FrostWave:

So if I'm remembering correctly, FrostWave is really Caitlin/Mick and not Killer Frost/Mick, but I'm gonna talk about both.

For Caitlin and Mick, I like the dynamic where she brings out a softer side in him and he brings out more assertive side to her. Caitlin had really retreated into her shell at the start of Season 1 and Mick definitely would act as impetus for her to step out of her comfort zone and really grow beyond the rigid box she'd placed herself in. In turn, Caitlin shows Mick that he doesn't have to put up this front all the time either. He doesn't always have to be the tough guy.

I mean, they do have to get over that whole 'tied Caitlin to a bomb' thing, but I'm sure they can do it.

With Frost and Mick, they've both done things they're not necessarily proud of and they're trying to figure out who they are when they're not being the bad guy. And finding themselves together is kinda poignant. But also they've got the fire and ice thematics with his gun and her powers.

SuperCorp:

Such an OTP for me. The fact that this wasn't made canon is so disappointing. On a show that already had one of the characters have a lesbian coming out story and the show runners ignored the incredible chemistry between Lena and Kara. I don't usually care whether a ship is canon or not, but this is one where I really think they wasted an amazing story opportunity by keeping the characters relationship platonic.

With the enmity between Lex and Clark, there's a bit of a Romeo and Juliet vibe in that Lena and Kara come from two houses at war with each other and find love anyway. Lena needs to be loved for herself so badly - to prove that she's more than just her family. And Kara wants to create a name for herself too, something that stands free of Superman's shadow.

They have this instant connection that only grows stronger over time. And while Kara's fears and secrecy damage things for a while, they come out the other side much more sure of how important they are to each other.

Honestly, by the end of the show they're basically already married. I'll never make it all the way through their ship tag but every so often I make a decent effort at trying. There's just so much and continues to be more every day, even with the show over they're still such an active and beloved ship.

ColdFlash:

If Legends hadn't wasted a perfectly good character by killing Len off, then on the Flash Iris would have been basically sharing Barry with Len. There's just so much chemistry between Barry and Leonard, it's so fascinating.

They were enemies in the original timeline too and Len showing up to monopolize Barry's time made Eobard soooo jealous. They're both such dorks and it's amazing how they can be both dorks in love and enemies to lovers all at the same time. They work together like they were meant to. They both love the thrill of the chase between them and will protect each other even when it's not in their best interests.

These two are just sooo goooooood. And I love to make them just be so silly about each other.

Harrisco:

Took me a while to really get into this ship and now I can't unsee it. I adore them so much.

They start off with having every reason to mistrust each other and become best friends anyway. And then fall in love over time. Like... seeing the way Harry gravitates towards Cisco when they're in the same room, the way Cisco gets so excited to work on things with Harry, the sniping and teasing and easy, happy smiles...

They're married. In season 4 they're just so married.

Harry always making sure that Cisco doesn't make light of his contributions, always so proud of how brilliant Cisco is... and Cisco just wants so badly for Harry to learn to like himself, to see himself as wonderful the way Cisco sees him... They both value each other so much and it's so lovely.

FlashWave:

I really see Len as being what brings Barry and Mick together, whether he's actually there or not. But I feel like the more they spend time together the more Barry would really see Mick, not the front he puts up but the intelligent man behind the dumb muscle facade. And Mick would see that Barry was kinda messed up too in a way that does kinda compliment Mick's issues.

They're both very devoted characters in their own way and what could easily start as trying to find in each other something of what they lost when Len died would become finding something new in each other.

Barry's own affinity for fire, via lightning, would fascinate Mick and Mick's buried romantic side - see all those romance novels Mick wrote - would appeal to Barry's own romantic nature. I kind of feel like they'd be able to explore sides of themselves with each other that they might not feel comfortable doing with others.

[wordsandrobots]

I've been mulling over the GQuacks designs that have been revealed so far, especially in light of more kits being announced, and I'm trying to work out if I have any coherent thoughts on them. Because I *like* them, and the more that I have seen, the more I am convinced my problems with the GQuuuuuuX itself do entirely come down to the colour layout/lowered contrast on said colours. Slap some more traditional blocking on this style and it looks much clearer to my eye.

But actually, the interplay of 'tradition' and 'innovation' here is somewhat interesting. It puts me in mind of the design work for the first live-action Transformers movie, back in 2007, where the Autobots and Decepticons receive an extreme makeover in the name of making them more 'alien'. Or whatever the preferred excuse for reimagining them as exploded cutlery drawers was. There is a school of thought that treats revisiting designs from cartoon media as an exercise in increasing the complexity of those designs because that is more 'realistic', by whatever metric we are judging that today.

Taken to its extremes, it can lead to a total disconnection from the source material that, depending on what you are aiming to achieve, can invite very unflattering comparisons. But it's not inherently a bad thing to push things into new aesthetics and see what happens, and I do kind of like where a lot of this has ended up.

One thing they've done very well here is distinguish the mobile suit design philosophies very sharply, with the Zaku and Gundam looking like they belong to completely different schools of mecha construction. I love the Zaku redesign overall, with all its bell thrusters and fuel pods, and its stodgier build. And, actually, it's got a touch of a G-Reco Grimoire about it, which I whole-heartedly approve of. But then I do have zero attachments to Zakus in the first place, so doing anything other than just turning up the definition knob gets my seal of approval.

The Gundam(s) though . . . I think I like the idea more than the execution. We're kind of butting up against humanoid mecha are inherently ridiculous so if you try to over-engineer them for realism, you land in an odd variation of the uncanny valley. Slimming the RX-78-2 is a canny move and there's some nice negative space in there. However, the head design feels like it's got at least one too many things going on at once and like it won't dovetail with the more traditional approach taken with the GQuuuuuux (which I like a lot). Love the Guncannon though. That looks top-notch and I'm curious to see how much action it will see, given the dearth of details so far about what the main characters will actually be doing in the long-run.

My biggest complaint here is the externally-mounted thruster flange thingies. They're just . . . inelegant. Jarring, in fact. They draw the eye way too much for a minor detail and seem far too easily knocked off the physical models. I love the idea of extra verniers (look, the Leo influenced me hard at an impressionable age and you're all going to have to live with that), but couldn't they have been more closely integrated into the body? Again, it's something the GQuuuuuux does much better and while I get that the Gundam/Guncannon have a prototype vibe going on, I would have much preferred following the hero mecha's lead here.

My biggest nitpick is the interpretation of the RX-78-2's colour layout. Again, the blocking is good, but something about the prominence of the yellow on the upper chest doesn't quite work for me. You kind of lose the rather natty recessed yellow vents under the equally yellow frame. They might have been better off keeping all that detail but extending the blue to more closely follow the original layout.

All this being said . . . I'm still not convinced any of this will look especially nice in motion. Which is a whole other kettle of kippers in terms of the way CGI and traditional anime styles do and don't mesh easily. Just as long as they remember to turn up the contrast for any night/dark scenes, it'll probably be fine. *scowls at Gundam Hathaway*

[irresistiibles]

was that lee joobin? oh no no, that was just cho hyun ju a canon character from squid game. they are thirty three years old, use she/her, and are aware that they are not actually from washington dc. too bad they can’t stray from this city for long.

how long has your character been here

she's really just arrived like this week or so we're talking brand new

what is your character’s job

at the moment she's unemployed but will ultimately get a job either back in the army or as some sort of private security (there could be potential for a connection of someone getting her into some kind of work)

where has your character been pulled from in their fandom

after the mingle game because considering the cliffhanger of episode 7 idk what to do with that

has any magic affected your character

nope.

any other info!

best character in season 2 don't argue with me okay

i'm not gonna talk to much about the games cause i know the show is still very fresh and i don't wannt give any spoilers. what's most important to know is hyun ju joined the games to fund her transition and move to thailand to start over

so honestly, as insane as suddenly showing up in washington dc is, she's not particularly mad about it. it's not the fresh start she particularly envisioned, but it's one nonetheless and she's going to take it

though she does have some lasting nerves and mistrust that this is somehow part of the games given how it happened.

but she is trying to settle and move on! however she can. it's just not super easy considering she knows little to nothing about america and also there's people around from squid game and it's hard to let go of those things.

she's a little shy and awkward to start with people, but is really head strong, a good leader, and really does not take shit so do not try to start it with her these hands are rated e for everyone when necessary.

stuck in a weird place of happy to let go of her past and pretend none of it every happened, but because of how new and unplanned everything here is she really doesn't quite feel settled yet either

potential plots:

anyone else who's new that hyun ju can sorta follow around and get to know the city with

also just someone to show her around if they've been here a while

some neighbors. hyun ju is in a lower middle class area i'd presume.

again, if anyone needs some private security that is a potential job for her and maybe they could help her get involved in something rather than me just throwing her into a job

in the meantime she'll probably be doing random tasks for money helping people move, or helping business that could use an extra pair of hands just part time, so that's also a possibility. she would absolutely take a night or two working as a bouncer for money until she's properly settled

anyone younger she could take under her wing. she's definitely happy to be an older sister figure when needed. and she's good at it!! let her do it!!

or just a ride or die in general. she's very loyal once attached.

little support group of people who have been through weird shit! squid games season one people she can bound with, or just others who need to yap about their nonsense. she's bad at opening up but would be better in a group

maybe dates? for muses who are like late twenties or their thirties. i'm writing her as bisexual so open to men and women i have a feeling it's been a very long time since she's been in the dating scene, so no idea how that would go

could even potentially have an enemy/some fights considering she just is not gonna vibe with assholes

[soundofseclusion]

Sound's Games of the Year for 2023

I know we're almost into the third month of 2024, but please bear with me for a bit as I talk about my favorite games I played in 2023. I always mean to do one of these posts but never end up doing one because I take too long. Well, I may have taken too long this time, but I'm doing it anyway. This post will explain my top five 2023 games which released in 2023 and WHICH I PLAYED. Ok here we go.

Top Games of 2023

#5. Super Mario Bros. Wonder SMBW is a phenomenal game. It pushes 2D Mario beyond the staleness of the NSMB games (all of which were really good, just kind of uninteresting): something the series has been sorely needing. I believe that Mario as a franchise really needs weirdness to thrive, and for a while, they've been playing it pretty safe (with 2D Mario at least). Wonder allows for the developers to do weird and wacky stuff, all without compromising the immaculate level design the series is known for.

#4. Jusant When I was a kid, my dad used to take me mountain climbing a lot. I always really liked it, but it was pretty scary. Jusant fundamentally understands that what is engaging about climbing is that each movement feels like a small puzzle. It also understands that climbing is a connection between the self and the environment. It also understands a lot of other things in the realm of beauty, connection, design, etcetera. It also allows for all these things without the anxiety that comes with climbing, which is both a good and bad thing. Ultimately, they knew what they were going for, which was a vibes-based puzzle-exploration game, not a high-stakes action climbing game. I'd say it's better for that.

#3. Small Saga Okay so technically I beat Small Saga in 2024, but I'm still putting it on the list because it was one of the best games of 2023. It's a fantastic approach to an RPG where the battles are well-balanced without requiring any grinding (grinding isn't even possible, it's designed that way). The story is awesome and engaging and the world is fully realized and compelling. Combat is fun and the side content is fun and the writing is fun and. The game is very very fucking good.

#2. Pikmin 4 Despite never including Pikmin 4 in my 2023 media thread, I did technically beat it. I just know it features an extensive post-game which I intended to full clear, so I never posted about it and decided to wait until that eventual full clear (a line of thinking that has changed for media threads going forward). Of course, life got in the way, and distractions happened, and I put my return to the game on hiatus, but that won't stop me from saying Pikmin 4 is the second best game of 2023. I don't think I could really add much to the existing discussion about why this game is great, but I'll attempt to do so whenever I do fully complete it.

#1. Chants of Sennaar Sometimes a game comes along that manages to accomplish something so beautiful in a way I would have never considered. This is one of those games. With a wholly unique gameplay concept that it fully fucking nails, Chants of Sennaar deserves to be played and completed. It's one of those games I wish I could experience for the first time again.

Bonus! These are the best games I played to completion for the first time in 2023 from a different release year.

#5. Trek to Yomi (2022) A very cinematic game with satisfying combat, a really cool setting/story, and a good flow overall. I felt very engrossed during my time with the game, and constantly found myself impressed by the visual spectacle and atmosphere. I feel like maybe it doesn't quite live up to its potential, but it was still one of my favorite games I played in 2023.

#4. Co-Open (2021) A delightful and short experience where you are given the option to interact with as much or as little of the world as you like. The game can be beaten in like 5 minutes, but my playtime was about 2 hours. Whether or not you'll enjoy this game depends on whether you can allow yourself to view the mundane as exciting through the lens of a young person. Personally, I quite enjoyed doing that.

#3. Eastward (2021) As time has passed, I've grown more and more fond of Eastward. Its world and story are so compelling, and it's a game that you can obviously see an immense amount of compassion was put into. When I completed it, I stated that it was marred by a lot of minor issues that made the final experience less than satisfactory. And at this point, I don't think I care about the gripes so much, because I can only think of this game's world with total adoration.

#2. Red Dead Redemption (2010) I wrote a pretty lengthy thing about Red Dead last year, but the gist of it is that this game does a lot of things very right.

#1 MetaWare High School (Demo) (2020) One of the most interesting games I've ever played and which I refuse to speak on further.

[branches-in-a-flood]

Shatters, this has altered my brain. I cheated a little by skipping repeat artists (because Spotify's shuffle is absolutely useless and out of 1700 songs, decided to play me 3 each from AFI and Silent Planet in this small sample.)

Post is gonna be a little long, so under the cut.

AFI covers Silent Planet's Offworlder

Honestly I would enjoy hearing this. Their sounds are nothing alike, and AFI hasn't played heavy in years, but I'd be down for it. Davey was my intro to screaming and harsh vocals, and I would love to see what BSitS-StS era Dave would have done with this vocally.

Silent Planet covers Atreyu's So Wrong

I wouldn't say no. Atreyu tends to be pretty straightforward, so it'd be interesting to see if the Silent Planet lads would put any twists in. So Wrong isn't really one of my favorite Atreyu songs though, so I'm not especially hype.

Atreyu covers Tiger Army's Moonlite Dreams

Uh. Not. Not too sure here. Lyrically I think the vibes would fit, but the entire style and structure of the song is. Not what I would expect Atreyu to work with; though I have not listened to anything they've put out since Congregation of the Damned in 2009. Maybe they've done some more exploring. I would give it a listen, but I don't think I would expect it to be good lol.

Tiger Army covers Joe Pug's I Do My Father's Drugs

Yes. Absolutely yes. The original is a folk rock song, and I think the lyrics would translate super well to the psychobilly sound Tiger Army does. I can hear Nick 13 singing it in my head. Would absolutely listen to, and be obnoxious about it.

Joe Pug covers Tejon Street Corner Thieves' Whiskey

I'm gonna be honest and tell you that I've only ever heard one song from Joe Pug. But given that one song, I think he would do a respectable job of Whiskey. The vibes and sound feel close enough together that it would work well.

Tejon Street Corner Thieves cover Ashnikko's Drunk with My Friends

This one made me laugh out loud when the song came on. I do not think this would happen, lmao. While I would love to hear

Pussy-pussy my religion

Legs getting tired, can we switch positions?

Now we three-way kissin'

I wanna make a couple bad decisions

made into a thrashgrass song, I have exactly zero hope it would ever happen.

Ashnikko covers Måneskin's Timezone

Yea, I think this would work. I think the topic of distance and travel and the end of a relationship fits very well with what she's put out in the past, and I like getting to hear her be a little more vulnerable in songs (I also adore her party songs!)

Måneskin covers Sleep Token's The Night Does Not Belong to God

I'd give it a shot. Damiano has a nice voice. I have a surprisingly small amount to say about this one, because any thoughts I had about TNDNBTG prior to Red Rocks have been annihilated by that experience, so this is... Listen it's like someone doing their version of a hymn or something. Keep it close to the original, do your best, don't try anything crazy.

Sleep Token covers Bad Omens' Running in Circles

Of course I would listen to it, and it would be great. I think I would prefer a different song, if I could pick, but this would undoubtedly be a good piece of music. Again, it's not my favorite option from the band being covered. I don't know how much there is for Vessel to play with in this song.

Bad Omens covers Trampled by Turtles' Codeine

One that I personally would like to hear, but couldn't see happening. The song is, unsurprisingly, about drug abuse and personal demons, and we know how I feel about the intersection of bluegrass/folk and metal, so yea I would love to experience Noah's take on it. Maybe he'd do a casual acoustic version like when he played around with Levitate? I feel like I should make a playlist of metalcore and bluegrass/alt country and make myself sad that those two worlds don't interact much.

Gonna tag @lauratheghost @minervavasa and @excelsior9173 with no pressure and the understanding that I have no idea if anyone's been tagged

Thank you @elkkiel 💖

Ghost is covering: Palaye Royale’s Showbiz

Fuck yeah I think it would be awesome

The Plot In You is covering: Exploring Birdsong’s Turntail

You know. I think it would work in a weird way. Like. Her voice is so smooth but they’re both so emotive. I would love to hear it.

Chelsea Wolfe is covering: Blame Candy’s Pathetic

I mean. Anything she does… 😘💖🥰 (of what I’ve heard anyway)

Why Don’t We is covering: Palaye Royale’s Stay

To be honest I have only heard one song from them. I have no fucking clue. Probably??

Make The Suffer is covering: Rina Sawayama’s Frankenstein

Have I really listened to them? Not so much. But based on the one song (The Attendant) I think it would go well ✨

Miley Cyrus is covering: Janelle Monae’s Screwed

Fuck yeah!

I literally don’t know the next two well enough to even give a quippy no clue joke.

Madelline is covering: Brye’s Diet Culture

Hell yeah

Scary Kids Scaring Kids ft Noah Sebastian is covering: Sleep Token’s The Apparition

Idk but I am SO CURIOUS

Lizzo is covering: Chunt Chunes’ cover of Sleep Token’s Granite

I can’t picture it very well but I’m very curious. This is a version of the song that I shook it too hard to so I imagine she’d be shaking it too.

Unprocessed is covering: Banx and Ranx ft Rêve’s Headphones

You know THIS WOULD SLAP SO HARD

Polyphia is covering: Nickelback’s She Keeps Me Up

I’m curious is it would just be a guitar for vocals but I’d be so down

Halestorm is covering: The Faim’s My Heart Needs To Breathe

THIS WOULD (possibly) FIX ME. it would be Iconic.

I admit my biggest playlist currently isn’t that large. And I use it strangely. But I think I got a fair variety of some slightly older and newer stuff. But alas. Maybe I’ll expand on a few soonish?

Tagging if you want: @branches-in-a-flood @ghoulangerlee @ongreenergrasses @bubacorn @eepymonstrr @xticklemeemox @huntingteeth

[vaguely-concerned]

I binged through all of Dragon Age: Absolution today and honestly I really really liked it! I was allowing myself only some very cautious optimism after watching the twitch premiere of the first episode, but freed from the need for infodumps and setting up the characters the rest of the show actually rapidly gets better from there (some pacing issues here and there excepted but hey they were given 6 episodes, I think they did pretty well considering those constraints)! If like me you HUNGER for, you YEARN for, you CRAVE more Dragon Age right the fuck now, this is not at all a bad thing to help keep some of that hunger down while we wait for the next game, and has a few loveable new characters to get into and some great action animation to boot.

More idle thoughts/reactions under the cut!

first and foremost I love Roland and Lacklon so much haha, a surprisingly well paced romance considering it mainly happens in quick background-ish moments! I'm especially interested in Roland's backstory, since he's very chill and openminded for what seems to be a decently well-trained/educated Orlesian? Lacklon being like 'I want to hold his hand and suck his dick 😔 fml' every time Roland did something cool in battle was just *chef's kiss* too, it was kind of smart to have their fight scenes double as foreplay as well on a writing level since they're arguably the least plot-important characters overall (though they and Qwydion are definitely the heart of the story as far as I'm concerned)

I understand why Miriam clung to Hira so much since she just lost literally everything in her life, good or bad, moments before and that relationship was the only time she had tasted anything like real love since her brother died, but girl... girl when people show you who they are, believe them. marry Qwydion instead you deserve so much better (Hira gave me the Bad Vibes right away from how she didn't respect anything Miriam said or expressed and kept pushing in ways that made me really uncomfortable, so I won't say I was shocked or anything lol.) There is the (??deliberate??) mirror of Hira hugging Miriam from behind in the blood magic dream and Qwydion coming up behind her in very much the same way to rest her hand on her shoulder in the real world afterwards, so I have hope maybe?

can you imagine Dorian watching shitshows like this go down every other week all around Tevinter and tearing at his perfectly sculpted hair because Andraste's tits if you motherfuckers would stop acting stereotypically for FIVE MINUTES! could any of you go take a PISS without resorting to blood magic! Dorian's job is a shit job and he's probably been doing it for a while by the time of Dreadwolf so y'know. get my son a drink

speaking of Qwydion, I am so glad for further support for my theory that vashoth born away from the Qun are actually some of the most well-adjusted people in all of Thedas. they've dodged the Qun from birth by definition, they don't seem terribly interested in the Chantry or grand politics of any kind, they don't have a caste system hanging over them, they can step on anyone who tries to mess with them even if they don't have magic... truly the only sane people running around out here

so you're telling me the Inquisition screws Fairbanks over no matter what you do, b/c either he dies or he's forced into Orlesian politics. Oh buddy I'm sorry we should've just let you frolic around in the Emerald Graves on your own you didn't deserve this

Poor Tessa. she is probably better off without him in the long run but that's a rough week

I was so excited to see Kirkwall again, I saw the horrific chain statues and went 'OH HELLHOLE MORE LIKE HELLHOME'. it's so grim and awful I miss it so much lol

meredith, huh. so uh. hawke really has failed at everything, pretty much, then. even the few people they did manage to kill to protect everyone didn't stay dead. I'm just waiting for the dragon they killed in the Bone Pit to come back and ravage the city as well now, just to top it off. celestial punching bag of thedas hawke. babyyyyyyyyy if it helps I still love you the most and so does your collection of bi weirdos found family

rezaren wasn't even that good a mage, as far as we can tell, so you have to wonder what the FUCK dorian's ancestor was pulling to have created this thing that he could barely control with half a dragon's worth of blood (and what someone like Dorian, who helped crack time like an egg in his student days sort of just to see if he could, it seems, could do with it if they didn't have like scruples or other pesky things like that. everything we see about tevinter magisters makes me more impressed with how comparatively not fundamentally shitty Dorian has managed to turn out (no wonder Bull is kind of impressed with him for having actual integrity, if this is the competition he's up against). can you tell I miss him lol)

I found it genuniely interesting how much rezaren and hira are thematic mirrors to each other and mutually cannot see it, right down to treating miriam ultimately as an object. same self-centered idiot, different hairstyles. what a scathing indictment of Tevinter high society that even Hira, who's family was notoriously progressive and trying to enact change, still treats people exactly the same way as the other magisters when push comes to shove.

thank u to Lacklon for pessimistic cynical bastard representation, he is right that that dragon is going to ravage the countryside and someone on the crew has to keep clear eyes for that sort of thing even when it's a downer

[dailyadventureprompts]

My youngest sibling has a couple overlapping friend groups who have tried to play a few D&D games over Discord, but they've all given up as in-character arguments became out-of-character, or elements of a character backstory or adventure have triggered negative responses from one or more players, and it eventually broke up each game. I love D&D and have wanted to play with my youngest sibling for a while, and have offered several times to DM a few sessions for them and their friends, but they're hesitant as their experiences have been colored by these incidents. So I wanna ask: what advice do you have for keeping tempers cool, keeping IC interactions from harming OOC interactions, and preventing story or character decisions from becoming uncomfortable, offensive, or triggering?

DM Tip: Can't we All just Get Along?

I think there's two elements at play here, the first is whether these people should even be playing as a group to begin with, and the second is a matter of table moderation.

First let's address the former: It's the sad truth of our hobby that not everyone can play together, personalities clash, expectations differ, and sometimes the vibe just isn't there. There's no shame in that, and part of coming into your own as both a player and a DM is realizing what sort of group you'd like to have and taking steps to find one. This is one of the many reasons I don't play in store games, because for me the true magic of the game is only possible when I have the right alchemical balance of players around my table. For me, No D&D is better than bad D&D, so I am exceptionally choosy with what games I do end up playing in and will drop a game the second I determine it isn't for me. I encourage you all to have this exact same mentality, as it will lead to a higher degree of enjoyment to be had by all.

Second, lets talk about fights at the table: It has been a long, long time since I've had anything resembling open player conflict while I was running a game, and I credit that to a decision I made well over a decade ago that I wasn't going to be the sort of DM you heard d&d horror stories about. Instead, I dedicated myself to ensuring that the people around my table were going to have the best time possible, which is the only real metric of success a DM can really have.

To do this, you need to be utterly open and utterly heartless when you sense conflict arising at your table. Someone doing something that makes another player uncomfortable? Quash it, right then and there, and tell everyone why you did it. Person getting overly heated or demanding and bringing everyone down? Call a time out, get some snacks, and talk it through. Player have their feelings hurt? Pause, check in with them emotionally, assure them that it's alright to step away, then continue on.

Like any relationship, a d&d group only works when the participants are invested in eachother's wellbeing, and take that into consideration when determining their own actions. People who don't care about how they affect others are problem players, and problem players need to either be corrected or ejected for the health of the group.

Here's some things you can do at your table to avoid conflict:

Use Safety tools: A lot of people have said it a lot more eloquently than me, but there are lots of resources available to help you and your group manage the stresses that might come up during play.

Writer's room it: when describing what d&d is, I literally always start with "It's a collaborative storytelling game", despite the fact that most people forget about the collaborative part. The campaign isn't just the DM's story to tell, and the players should be given a chance to stretch their authorial power when it comes to deciding what happens. This goes double for moments of conflict, when one of the players feels the actions of another might ruin the story for them. When these sorts of things happen, zoom out, talk to your players about what's going on and what their take on current events is. This change in perspective will often let a player go from feeling that they were personally wronged, to seeing this setback as something they can use to further the story. Do not hesitate to use bribery saying: " if you're ok with your character taking a loss here, something good will happen to you later on." This advice obviously doesn't apply to anything that might violate a player's personal boundaries, which you should simply not let happen.

Say No: D&D, when done right can be one of the most intimate and cathartic experiences imaginable, to the point where it's recognized as a therapeutic tool. On a more casual level, people are there to enjoy themselves and in both instances Players shouldn't have to contend with assholes who get a kick out of ruining their fun. You as the DM are invested with the authority to let things happen/not happen, from whether or not you actually play to whether an action your players decide to take is canonical to how the story proceeds. Don't indulge the asshole, if someone does something that makes people uncomfortable, don't narrate them doing it up until one of the players gets triggered.

Encourage them to be open: everyone at the table needs to be fully up front with how they're feeling, and if one person's not enjoying themselves, you should stop. Players likewise need to be open about their own feelings so as to not get them confused with how the characters might be feeling. It's fine if your characters argue, but only if the players signal that they're cool for that level of antagonism happening in game.

Art