#tough criticisms

[nova-moon13]

[nekrosmos]

John and Nikolai finally have time to spend an evening together, but John came back exhausted from an op and is now fighting to stay awake for Nikolai's sake, while Nik really only wants him to rest.

(Just a little bit nsfw at the beginning)

...

"Are you sure you are up for this, John?"

Nikolai wasn't a fool, he could see the exhaustion on John's face, the way his eyelids felt heavier than the dumbbells he was used to pulling almost every day, the heavy bags under his tired eyes. It was a good sight, a more vulnerable side of John he wasn’t used to showing to the world. To allow himself to drop his guard enough to fall asleep by someone’s side, well, Nik certainly felt like the luckiest man in the world. 

“I am… want to make you feel good….”

Those last words were barely coherent, John’s speech getting worse and worse with each passing minute he was fighting to stay awake. It was adorable. 

“Right. So if I asked for your lips around my cock, you would do it?”

Nik was teasing him, a wide smile on his face as he observed John’s reaction, or lack thereof, as the captain stared vacantly at him, his eyes barely open. For a second, Nik assumed that John had finally fallen asleep, until his hand moved, brushing his tired face with the back of it. 

“Just fuck me, Nik, c’mon.”

A gentle and quiet laugh was Nik’s response. If there was one thing John Price was, it was stubborn. Unless he physically restrained him and tightly tucked him under a blanket, this wasn’t a fight he had a chance to win. There were, however, many ways to win a fight. 

“Da, let me get to it then.” 

It was getting difficult for Nikolai to stop himself from laughing. John was laying on their bed, absorbed by the pillows and the blankets, like he was floating above a cloud. Nik stood on his knees between John’s legs, hands gently brushing the inside of his thigh. 

Spending time together was always a difficult task when both John and Nikolai spent their days on different sides of the world, dodging bullets and risking their lives. It was rare for them to be on the same continent, let alone the same room, despite how much they wanted it. 

When the two finally had some free time to spend together, Nikolai always wanted to do something special for John: taking him on dates, making him try food he knew he would love, fly him to a secluded place and make love to him under the stars. He wanted to make up for lost time, of course, and John knew that, a slight leftover of guilt left in the captain’s heart over the years he had wasted being too scared of this relationship. 

But, sometimes, all they got was a single night together, shared after John came back from an op. Often times, he was exhausted, bruised, and needed rest more than he needed any more adventures. This was such a case, as Gaz had informed Nikolai earlier that no one in the team had been able to get any shut eyes in the past forty hours. John was exhausted, but he was as stubborn as they came and had assured Nik that he was up for this. Right. 

A soft smile still on his lips, Nikolai bent down, kissing the naked skin of his lover’s hips, while his hands kept wandering around the lower parts of his body, his thighs so perfect under his fingers. A low groan escaped John’s throat, a quick glance confirming that his eyes were now fully closed. Not yet asleep, however, and so Nik continued, leaving kisses on his belly and ribs, hands still massaging him as best he could, soft sounds coming from John until eventually, his breathing changed, slowing down, limbs going limp. 

Nikolai smiled softly as he pulled himself up, resting next to John as he dragged a blanket on top of their naked bodies. He allowed himself, for a moment, to just observe the now asleep man next to him.

There was a sternness to John that immediately disappeared when he was sleeping, his brow relaxing, his jaw less tense, at peace, finally. Nikolai knew that his dreams wouldn’t be comforting, they never had been and probably never would be, but he was here, for him, ready to pull him closer when needed, ready to kiss the nape of his neck as his arms wrapped themselves around his shape. 

Perhaps Nik was a selfish man. He had pondered this thought many, many times in the past. To want something as much as he wanted John, to crave him like he was the only thing that mattered, it had been maddening, and still he waited. Now that John finally was his, there was nothing in this world that could pull him away from him. He had waited for so many years, that spending some time watching the other half of his heart slowly drift to sleep as they laid in bed together felt like a well-earned reward. And if that made him a selfish man, well then to hell with it. 

“Good night, John.” 

His voice was barely a whisper as his fingers brushed his lover’s hair, gently kissing his cheek. There were no reactions from John, and Nikolai allowed himself to close his eyes as well, a hand resting against John’s chest, right above his heart. There, in the quiet intimacy of the night, he could almost feel it beat under his palm, the perfect lullaby to lure him to sleep.

[limeandorange]

SJM really gave Nesta this insane, god-tier power… but conveniently made her unable to winnow so she could be trapped in the House of Wind and the Night Court.

And yet, somehow, she never acknowledges how similar this situation is to Feyre in the Spring Manor—both isolated and held somewhere they did not choose to be.

The difference? One was framed as abuse. The other was framed as tough love. 🤔

[danikatze]

[ID in alt text]

A cute request I got while waiting for the live show :3 I didn't do it back then, but really felt like doing it now!

[bardly-working]

Okay, genuinely, Ashton's "you've never understood me" line to Chetney is hilarious, cause BITCH, HE'S HAD YOUR NUMBER SINCE DAY ONE.

Seriously, I am and continue to be convinced that Ashton is basically Chetney 300 years ago, or at least a lot more similar than they'd like to believe. I mean… fucked over and abandoned by his family, left to fend for himself as a kid during the reign of a tyrant, chip on his shoulder, defaults to snark and cynicism to mask vulnerability, pretty abrasive until he warms up to you (remember how he was with Dorian at the beginning?)...

Chet's just had 300 years to level out, devote himself to a craft, learn to appreciate things rather than resenting everything.

[revvethasmythh]

Ashton really is providing great contrast to this conversation. Like, yes we need to discuss if perhaps Liliana could be swayed, that's important. But it's equally important to remember that Imogen does not know her, and that familial connection they share could nonetheless effect and manipulate Imogen in dangerous ways. They're providing that good, stark contrast to round out the conversation, and it's something that needs to be heard

[happi-dreams]

woah !! special spaceship ?!? again ?!? and rex. i guess !!!

[alilyamongroses]

ASOIAF bitches have made an entire genre of literary criticism out of twisting themselves into giant, angry knots over how unfair and misogynistic it is that such a huge swathe of women in this text get murdered or tortured or raped for the purpose of influencing the male characters’ storylines but you make a single inadequately deferential point about how many women of color are made to swallow up huge amounts of graphic, intense suffering for that same purpose in the service of white women and they turn into stupefied, pearl-clutching children who just can’t understand why you’re being so mean to their Stronk Female Lead Who Has Been Through So Much

[luminousstardust]

bitches who say they “love angst” during that imodna conversation:

[sloshr]

After watching through Side Order... I have a Few Thoughts.

[Spoilers ahead]

My Review of the Side Order DLC - Its little more than Gameplay.

Initial Opinion

- - - - - - - - - -

Overall; I like the gameplay mechanics initially, but the story absolutely feels lacking to me, imo. It feels like they were really banking on Side Order being Hard but... multiple of my friends finished it on their 2nd or 3rd run through the Spire.

That in itself isnt a problem! But... everyone felt sort of unsatisfied? There were no developments in the story, as we, Agent 8, were just assigned the task to Get to The Top of the Spire -> The Player Does That -> You beat a Boss -> Credits Roll (?)

On my watchthrough I literally said Please Say Sike 😭 because, dont take this poorly, but they were advertising Side Order as;

• Difficult (stated Multiple Times in basically every Trailer)

• Story Driven (You Uncover things as You Climb)

• Character and Lore Intensive (as shown by the trailers with all the concept art as well as promo art)

I dont feel like it was wrong to expect more based on how it was advertised.

But... if you complete the DLC in 1-2 runs, which is Very Much Possible, no buildup happens at all. The story was banking on the player struggling, and putting all the content behind repeat runs, which falls through and Doesnt really work/feel satisfying if the main goal is achieved in such a short time. I Feel like anyone who regularly plays Salmon Run will likely have a similar experience. And I feel kind of cheated? Because what we got was something that was Tell Not Show rather than the Show, Not Tell formula. And in my opinion, it really doesn't work as well at all. It puts all the major lore that the game has set up behind repetetive climbs (which never change btw, despite each climb being generated differently, its the same after a while) and you get about 1 Sentence of Exposition, with a Modlog from Marina if you are Lucky.

Side Order was (to me), after watching it all;

• Not Difficult, But Repetetive Gameplay (This easily runs people down, which would be fine if the tower had more than 1 setup or phase)

• Inital Story Setup with no complexities or stages. You climb the first Tower, Save Marina, Climb the Second Tower, Beat Order, and the credits Roll. In its most complex, you could fit what Side Order's Story is in 2-3 Sentences. Rather than Lore being revealed During the story, it feels Pushed to the Side as all of it is either in Text the player may never see (different climbs) or care to read (Marina's Mod Log)

• Use of Character Drops with no explaination / mention (The Agent 4 Boss, Anyone?) (This felt very Bait-y, with No Payoff)

Rating

- - - - -

If I had to give Side Order a Rating

4/10. At Best.

I am a bit disappointed with this as I feel like I was promised more, Storywise, and honestly a bit gameplay wise. I think it fails where other DLC has succeeded Due to being Built in such a way where anything engaging is stuck behind barely changing gameplay. It is not built in a way where the experience cant fail to show you whats important to the characters and the worldbuilding. It relies too much on telling you whats happening rather than the world showing you. Its too Simple, and It Doesnt Work, personally, in a series that contains Octo Expansion.

Which is Sad to me!! It had so much wasted potential and I really hope this isn't the last we're going to see of the concept, we get to see ideas actually built into the story, and... maybe find Agent 4.

Conclusion

- - - - - - - -

Tldr; Side Order had a good concept, but failed in execution for being simple and gameplay dependent, which was ultimately disappointing due to it being advertised as something more for all involved.

It was an alright attempt. The experience will just be known to me as... well. Baby's First Rouge-like. Nothing worldbreaking.

(PS, this isnt meant to be mean spirited or overly critical, I just love the Splatoon Series so I give it Tough Love. This is just my personal view on the DLC)

Thank you for Reading! Feel free to share or add any thoughts!

[llamaisllama777]

DAILY*/WEEKLY* LAES, TSAMS, EAPS REVIEW! 👏 👏 👏

Yesterday's episode were great I wonder what today's episodes will bring...

HE'S HERE!!! TAURUS IS HERE! EVERYONE PANIC! let's see how badly this ends....

Surprisingly well actually.

The music in this episode was also really good. I usually don't pay attention to the background music, but the music in this episode was really good it kinda reminded me of Walking Dead mixed with Last of Us. I'm not sure if that was the intent, but it works really well I feel for this situation.

Taurus is obviously menacing, but he's also oddly calm. Not what I expected from a destroyer of worlds. He says he's just here to observe Lunar and the others and decided if Lunar and probably the whole world should live.

I ain't gonna lie, I don't have hope for this world.

Taurus is gonna take one look at the whole place and decided everyone is better off dead. Which will probably lead to some kinda of Astrals civil war or Nexus showing up and whooping Taurus and the others Astrals behinds and Lunar having to step in and save the Astrals. But that's a pipe dream I guess. We'll have to wait and see.

I can. Nebula isn't a big fan of Taurus, and he clearly isn't a big fan of her. The way he talks to her, I get she's just the messager, but she's still a person. Taurus is gonna be observing everyone and his next stop his Sun and Moon, and I don't have high hopes for what he'll say or think of them. Him and the other Astrals know about Nexus and his little stunt with star power. Sun, Moon, you guys better have a good space lawyer. I know Earth plans to befriend Taurus and make things easier on Lunar, but I have a feeling Taurus isn't the friend making type.

Gemini did say Taurus would threaten Lunar's family to get a reaction out of him. Taurus, I swear to gosh! If you hurt any of them.

Also, I think it's a matter of time until Earth runs into Nebula again, and if she does, I hope she can convince Nebula to help them with EVERYTHING going on.

We'll have to wait and see.

Now, let's see what Sun and Moon are up to maybe they'll have a calmer episode today...

Nope. Just trauma and sadness.

Solar and New Moon reunite.

Probably not the way either of them wanted but here they are.

Okay, Nexus has just completely gone off the rocker!

"All it takes is one bad day" -Joker

Guess that saying was right for Nexus (Not really but still)

Solar tries to reason with Nexus and even says he can help him come back to the family, and Nexus just laughs! He starts spouting off all these lies about the family, like how Lunar never cared about him. He did! That Earth was just trying to fill the void cause her dad didn't love her. Earth still believed the creator loved her at that time, so that's a lie! And that Sun never cared and just took pity on Nexus. Nexus, you dense mother.... Nexus, you are just a terrible person. Knock off the oc act and get a life! Seeing as how you lost the one you had. I mean, you'll probably get yourself killed soon anyways so what's the point. But we probably should worry. Someone pointed out to me that Nexus could be a part of Rez's plan, and it's definitely looking like it. Maybe Dark Sun is Rez's master or at least is in league with Rez and his boss. I feel so bad for everyone here. (And I kinda feel bad for Nexus.... but not by a lot.) I more pity Nexus cause one day I hope he'll realize that he lost the BEST thing that ever happened to him and will never get it back and I hope he dies knowing that.

I more so feel bad for Sun and Solar.

Solar already had to kill his Moon once... and now he has to do it again. And Sun sounded so shocked and saddened when Solar suggested they kill Nexus. Nexus/New Moon was the Moon who actually showed he cared for sun. And he did at one point, but now he can't even say Sun's name without wanting to gag! Oof.

This is just sad all around.

And now they have Nexus, Taurus, and Creator after them.... LOVELY!

This is all going to boiling over and culminate in some crazy Infinity war level poo I hope.

And now, it's a less sad one but still equally as worrying.

Puppet and Solar reunite! Yay! At least one of his reunions went well today.

Puppet filled in Solar to everything that has happened. Gosh, that must have been fun. This is like the second time someone has had to explain to him what's been happening since he's been dead.

Solar gave Puppet some advice on what to do about Eclipse, and Sun gave her some advice on what to do about the other Sun and Moon. I hope their advice works. Puppet expressed at the very end of the episode her wish to leave this new dimension and return to the old one.... Puppet...

WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST STAY IN THE OTHER DIMENSION THEN?!

Puppet, you left that universe to protect everyone from Puppeteer. Now, I'm not sure what the deal with Puppeteer is now. He's been weakened cause Puppet herself has been weakened, but there is still the risk of him coming back. Are you really gonna take that chance, Puppet?

Also, Puppet, you uprooted your entire family's life to go here. You don't have that apartment anymore! You can't just decide to move to a whole other universe and bond to said universe only to decide to leave it after what 3 weeks?

Yes, I know Foxy chose to go with her, and he could have chosen not to but did, but still, you can't just decide to ditch when the going gets tough Puppet, you stick it out and ride the waves till it all calms. I hope everything works out for Puppet and Eclipse and hope Sun and Solar's advice to her works. Also, sorry if it seems like I hate Puppet's character, I don't. I love her character and this flaw of hers. I'm just being critical.

11/10 TAURUS HAS ARRIVED.

[dysfunctional-cryptid]

Sticky note doodles!

~ Fjord

~ Nott

[shiraishi--kanade]

"Nobody is using Curly's disability as a narrative punishment for inaction!" bro. The game does

[alienfailboy]

it's really crazy that people don't know that their favorite shows are propaganda

like i am a law and order svu enjoyer and i have watched every inch of criminal minds but you all can see that the cops are made to be likable and they're not actually like that. right?

[makosgotmoxie]

hello CR friends that I've abandoned this past year. life got in the way, so I started falling behind on episodes all the way back in February (I know!) but I have spent the last two months or so desperately trying to catch up and I would like to announce that I'm *only* 3 months behind now. more specifically, I just finished episode 103, but if I can keep this up, I'm hoping I can livestream again soon. I'll keep you all updated, partially to keep me honest.

103/115, here we go.