#lead characters have a dynamic i'm interested to see develop

[sablegear0]

Possessor(s) Demo is Live!

Heart Machine and Devolver Digital have collaborated on a stylish 2D combat platformer called Possessor(s) - and the demo is free to play! It's a sizable demo, too. I took my time through it and backtracked a bit to explore and clocked in about 1h45mins.

I took it for a spin and found it overall enjoyable. It has Heart Machine's signature dreamy art direction and chunky combat feel. (Herein I regret not taking any screenshots, I can't load back in without completely restarting because I finished the demo.) The platforming has a lot of potential and the combat seems relatively well put together at this stage. I'm intrigued by the world they're building and want to see where the lore goes from here.

Personally I feel like both the platforming and the combat could stand a bit of polishing, some of the controls feel a bit stiff and close inputs "queue" up instead of cancelling into one another, which can make responding to multiple enemies quickly a bit awkward.

Some quick tips if you want to take a look for yourself:

You might want to check the settings right off the bat. I preemptively turned screen-shake down to 50% and I'm glad I did. The game also features a bit of motion-blur and chromatic aberration as aesthetic choices. Additionally there's some flashing in the intro (but nothing significant through the rest of the demo so far). Just be aware of your own visual sensitivities!

Stunlocking combos cut both ways. Enemies can and will stunlock you to death if you're not careful. Don't let yourself get surrounded or you'll get juggled!

You will not find enough upgrade materials for any weapon. Although you can amass a lot of currency, there is nothing to spend it on. It's simply not in the demo, as temptingly attainable as those upgrades seem at a glance.

There's a minor stun threshold mechanic on some enemies the game does not directly tutorialize; enemies flashing yellow are fine, enemies flashing orange to red will be stunned or knocked around by your hits, enemies that turn pink are fully immobilized. Enemies flashing blue are unharmed.

The computer mouse item is goated, just be aware you have limited uses of your "special" unless you recharge them with melee hits. The parry timing is fairly tight, despite how the animation looks.

I recommend taking a look if you like 2D metroidvanias in the vein of Hollow Knight, etc. This one is shaping up to have a lot of potential. (And of course I have to hawk Heart Machine because I love their stuff).

[fixyourwritinghabits]

Enemies to Lovers or the "Give Us Nothing" Trope

This is a particular bane of romantasy, but it's been going on way longer than that in a lot of fiction. You know him, I know him, it's the "super hot bad guy to whom a redemption arc is a joke" trope. The irresistible evil dude. Pretty much one of the main options for a romantic lead these days. This trope is awful, rarely done well, and has been driving me crazy for ages. Let's talk about why!

Subgenres of this trope are The Liar ("I withheld critical information from you for 2/3rds of the plot yet you still want to fuck me") or the One-Dimensional Rogue ("I have the moral convictions of a flea but you'll still get with me over the good guy you've known your whole life"). All of these characters seem interesting on the surface, but there's a handful of factors that cripple them:

Being unwilling to give us a real motive. Why is the hot evil guy evil? What made him go down this road? What do they truly believe and why? If your character has less motivation than a Disney villain, you've got nothing to go on. Gaston has more depth than most of these bozos, and the point of Gaston is that he shallower than a dried puddle!

Being unwilling to actually write romance. These dudes is supposed to like the lead, yet they never really do. The key problem here is that once your mysterious hot lead starts to actually want to be with someone, he stops being so mysterious. Actual character development might expose some flaws or make the dude awkward, and we can't have that.

Not conflicted, not interesting. The bad guy doesn't have any emotional turmoil about what he's doing and why. Or maybe he feels a little bad about lying to the heroine, but goshdarnit, the sex is just so good. There may be trauma driving him, but it's mostly present in the form of a sexy scar or a sad background that'll never be plot relevant, so why bother?

The redemption is a joke. Being willing to do one good thing and then immediately dying isn't redemption. Demanding (or having the romantic lead demand) acceptance immediately after a heel-turn isn't either. Redemption is hard, there's often little room for it in Enemies-to-Lovers, and the story suffers because of it.

I'm not going to say this trope never works, because it absolutely can. This really can be an interesting dynamic if you put your heart into it. In fact, characters that these characters you can look at that do this right include:

Han Solo (aka the Scruffy Rogue, Star Wars)

Listen, Han Solo is always depicted as the ultimate rogue, but he's actually a loser. He was a shitty smuggler who was terrible at his job. His attempts to hit on Leia were laughable. He probably smelled like Wookie most of the time. Han does not start off as a cool, suave character. He thinks he is, and pretty much everyone sees through him.

But Han earns his way by turning back to help the people he barely knows. He uses his own connections to help the rebels, and when that backfires on him, his friends are invested enough to come save his ass because he already risked himself to save theirs. Han starts off a loser and becomes cool by throwing it in with the good guys, even when he'd rather run.

Han works because he lets go of the walls he's built up and allows himself to care and believe in his friends.

Zuko (aka the Actual Redeemed Bad Guy, Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Zuko's bad boy exterior is almost immediately shattered in ATLA. He throws temper tantrums at his uncle. He blows up constantly. Zuko only becomes cool when the narrative changes and we get to know why he is the way he is, but he's still a bad guy. We see him struggle with his anger, and we see him continue to make bad choices. We see his slow journey to something more.

And, most importantly, he almost immediately loses all his cool aura when he joins Team Avatar. He becomes awkward and stilted, because he has to truly humble himself and admit he was wrong. He's no longer the main character of the story, and he has to accept that. He never really regains that cool exterior, but he becomes a more confident, capable person because he's willing to do the right thing.

Zuko works because he's willing to face his trauma, admit his flaws, and work to correct the mistakes he's made.

Catra (aka the REAL Enemies to Lovers, 2018's She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)

All ya'll motherfuckers are sleeping on Catra. A villain who remains a villain for most of the series, Catra is fueled by both ambition and anger. She continues to make bad choices, even when she realizes she's wrong. She continues to hold Adora's defection to the good side against her, even when Catra knows she's not doing the right thing. She's manipulative and cruel, but absolutely genuine.

Catra's going to be the most controversial person I add to this list, but I think she's the most critical in the Enemies to Lovers done right. Her deep, personal connection to her love interest is the driving force in her decisions to remain on the bad side. Her conflicted emotions drive her to the brink, and only when she breaks does she realize she's in the wrong.

Catra works because we always know what her motivations are and why she makes the choices she makes, even when they're the wrong ones.

People not on this list are Draco (who never redeemed himself and that was the fucking point) or Kylo Ren (done in by bad writing). You can fix them in fanfiction and hell, that's what it's there for. But you can't really build off of them for your original work, because the building blocks are wrong. You've got to knuckle down and make your bad guy character have real flaws, face real consequences, and be able to humble themselves, or it's just not going to work.

[fangirl-writes]

You’re the voice I hear inside my head

Damien Haas x GN!Voice Actor!Reader

Warning(s): none

Notes: I know nothing about the process of voice acting so this is gonna be so incorrect, but we’re rolling with it.

Summary: You’re a voice actor on a new project and Damien can’t get your voice out of his head. If only he had a face to go along with it.

“The voice actor for Phoenix already recorded their lines so you’ll have their recording to play off of,” the director said, walking Damien through the studio.

“Okay, sweet,” Damien replied, almost bouncing with excitement to get in the booth.

He got cast to voice Icarus in a new video game in development called Fire and Brimstone. It was a Hades-like game about Icarus with many liberties taken and characters added.

One being the character of Phoenix, a fire deity and disciple of Apollo that Icarus meets on his journey and is the character's love interest.

Damien put on the headphones and set his script up.

“We’re starting on page 45,” the director said through the mic.

Damien gave a thumbs up and turned to the right page.

One of Phoenix’s lines was first so he awaited the recording to come through.

“Mortals don’t often enter this domain. What are you doing here?”

Damien’s eyes widened, and he near genuinely said, “Who’re you?”

The voice was warm, but had that hint of ice, creating the perfect voice for a deity. It gave him chills.

The recording went on, “I am Phoenix, the guardian of this temple. Who are you?”

“Icarus of Athens.”

“Son of Daedalus?”

“You know my father? I’m looking for him. Have you seen him?”

“Yes. He passed through this temple not long before you. He asked for the gift of my fire.”

“Did he say what for?”

“No. Only that he would treat it with care. I guided him through the temple after. Where he went from here I cannot say.”

“Would you grant me the same kindness? Of leading me through the temple. I must find him.”

“I can see into your heart, Icarus, and I can tell it is true. I will lead you through the temple. But you must leave a tribute to Apollo, as your father did.”

The recording stopped, signaling the end of the scene and Damien looked up.

“That was great,” the director said. “We’re going to run through it once more, just for multiple options and then we’ll move on.”

They did so and Damien felt himself being captured by Phoenix’s voice.

Every day he went in to record his lines, he became more and more curious about them.

Which came to a head the day that they would meet.

"We're having Phoenix's voice actor, Y/N L/N, come in and record this last bit opposite you," the director said as Damien pulled the headphones off. "We want to try the dynamic to let you two play off of each other."

The last scene would be Icarus meeting Phoenix again after the deity sacrificed themselves to Apollo in exchange for Icarus' safe passage from Crete.

Icarus would travel to the underworld and ask Hades and Persephone to return Phoenix to Earth, in which they would give him the same task as Orpheus.

The player then has the option to complete the task and not look at Phoenix as they make the long trek out of Hades, without knowing whether the gods had kept their word, or to turn around and look at Phoenix, which would send them back.

This last recording would be at the end of the game, if the player succeeds in not turning around, that has Phoenix and Icarus seeing each other again after a portion of the game apart.

Damien was practically bouncing with excitement.

"You're in a good mood today," Shayne observed, smiling at his friend as they left the set of a Games video.

Damien nodded. "I'm meeting Phoenix tomorrow."

He wasn't shy about telling his friends at Smosh about the project and telling Shayne and Court about his small crush on the character (or their voice more specifically).

"Really?" Shayne said, eyebrows raising. "That's awesome."

“Who’s Y/N?” Angela asked, catching up with them.

“A voice actor I’m working with,” Damien replied.

“And who he’s got a big ol’ crush on,” Shayne teased.

He blushed as Angela said, “Aww.”

“I’m just excited to finally meet them. I kinda haven’t been able to get their voice out of my head.”

“Your the voice I hear inside my head,” Angela and Shayne sang in silly voices. “I gotta find you, I need to find you.”

Damien rolled his eyes good naturedly and smiled.

“I need to know what this mystery person sounds like now,” Angela said. “What was their name again?”

Damien had unashamedly googled Y/N after the director had told him their name.

They had voiced characters in some other video games, anime, even a few cartoons, which was cool. But this seemed to be their first larger role, which was also cool.

He definitely overthought everything the day they were to meet, nervous for some reason (it was the crush).

He dressed a little nicer than he usually wood, very business casual, put on his best smelling cologne, his hottest earrings, grabbed a cup of coffee on his way to the studio.

Were they already there? He wondered as he opened the door. Or did he get there first?

"Hey, everyone," Damien greeted, walking into the recording room. "Am I late?"

"Right on time," the sound operator replied. "Y/N's over getting coffee in the kitchen if you want to say hello."

Damien takes that as a cue and heads towards the kitchen...and almost chokes on air.

Y/N was the prettiest person he'd ever seen, the crush intensifying tenfold.

Damien blinked a few times and cleared his throat, making Y/N look up from stirring their coffee and smile.

"Hi, Damien, right?"

Their voice sounded the same but also different, but perfect. It made Damien’s heart flutter.

"Yeah," he replied. "Y/N, right?"

"That's me," they said, walking over to shake his hand.

It felt right when their hands slotted together, but Damien shook it off.

"Ready for this?" he asked, hoping his face hadn’t gone too red.

"Yeah! I've been excited to do this and to meet you," they said.

"Really?" Damien asked, a little too surprised. "I mean, uh, cool. Me too.”

They don't seem to notice and the two of them head back to the recording room.

“Okay, we’ll have Damien turn around and face Y/N when we give you the cue, that’s when you say your lines. Good?”

The two of them gave the director a thumbs up, which made them laugh as they did it at the same time.

Damien slid on his headphones and turned his back to Y/N.

He was nervous, wiping his hands on his pants and trying to shift into character.

Okay. You’re Icarus, who has just made the trek up from the underworld saving the deity you love and haven’t been able to confirm that they were following you, and you’re worried that when you turn around they’ll be gone. Got it. Okay.

“And action,” the director says, hitting record.

Damien waits a beat or two, heart pounding, before he takes a deep breath and turns around.

Y/N is standing before their microphone, headphones on and smiling at him. “Hello,” they say, voice shifting perfectly into character.

Damien lets out a relieved laugh. “Hi!”

It’s at this point that Icarus is to pull Phoenix into a hug, so Damien just pretends to pick someone up in a hug, grunts accompanying.

The two of them laugh, imagining how the scene would look in the game.

The recording stops and the director’s voice comes through, “That was good, but can we try where you actually hug Y/N, Damien? I think it’ll sound more natural that way.”

“Only if you’re okay with it,” Damien replied, looking to Y/N.

They shrug. “Sure, why not. It will probably be more natural.”

So, the big mics are swapped out for smaller ones and the two of them step around the stands where their scripts are laying to stand in front of each other.

“Okay, action.”

Damien repeats his actions from before, turning around to see Y/N standing there.

But this time they’re closer than before, and he lets out an almost surprised gasp as Y/N grins and says, “Hello.”

Damien laughs. “Hi!”

Then he just scoops them up into a hug that makes them both laugh.

It should’ve been awkward, but it oddly wasn’t.

Maybe it was the two of them being in character, or maybe it was something else entirely.

Whatever the case, Damien didn’t fully let go when he set Y/N down, hands lingering on their shoulders, until the director spoke again.

“Great, that was great you guys. We just want to try a few more scenes with you together to see which versions we like the best.”

That’s how most of the morning went, the two of them bouncing off of each other as they read lines, doing their best not to ad lib since it was, after all, a video game.

They flowed together well.

When all was said and done, the director clapped their hands and smiled.

“I think that’s a wrap, you two! Great job today.”

Y/N beamed at Damien, who could’ve melted into a puddle at that moment.

“Hey, before we go, do you think we can get a selfie? I loved working with you and I usually get one with my cast mates after a project," Damien said, smiling.

“Sure!” Y/N replied, setting down their now empty coffee cup to slide up next to Damien for the photo.

He hoped he wasn’t too red as he lifted his phone and snapped a shot of them together, both grinning ear to ear and Y/N holding up a silly little peace sign that made him laugh.

“Cool,” he said. “You don’t mind if I post it when the game’s announced do you?”

“Only if you send it to me, so I can do the same,” they replied.

“Of course, what’s your number?”

Y/N told him and Damien quickly entered it in as a new contact, sending the picture as well in succession.

Y/N’s phone buzzed in their pocket. “You work fast,” they joked.

Damien chuckled. “If, uh, if you’re not doing anything after this, I’d love to take you to lunch. As a sort of congratulations on the project being wrapped. And I’d love to get to know you better.”

They smiled. “I’d love that.”

As it turned out, Damien and Y/N had a lot in common, besides their voice talents and their affinity for the thumbs up.

It was amazing how well they got on for only knowing each other for the one day.

After that, they texted frequently, and started hanging out more.

It effected Damien's mood and everyone noticed that he was happier as of late.

"How's Y/N?" Shayne asked, slyly, at Smosh lunch one day.

Damien looked up from his phone where he was, indeed, texting Y/N. "...fine."

Shayne laughed.

"You should totally just ask them out, already," Courtney encouraged. "Make it official."

"What? No, it's too soon."

"You guys are practically in the dating stage already," Courtney continued. "You even go on dates."

"They're not dates! We just hang out," Damien protested.

Courtney raised a brow at him. "Hanging out, just the two of you, having dinner and watching movies?"

Damien must've been red. "We're just friends!"

"But you want to be more, don't you?"

It was obvious. Obviously.

He'd had a crush on Y/N since before they'd even met and now that they were "hanging out" it was worse than ever.

But Damien wasn't great at gaging romantic feelings, let alone the feelings of someone that he liked in a romantic way. It was natural for him to feel like they don't feel the same way, right?

"I think you should go for it," Shayne said. "If it ends up bad, then you guys are early enough in the friend stage that if it ends the friendship, so be it, and if it doesn't, great."

He had a point there.

Damien hadn't know Y/N long enough for the end of this friendship to ruin him completely. Sure, he'd be sad, but he could bounce back from it.

Still, there was that fear.

"Maybe," he finally said, taking a bite of his lunch to avoid saying anything else.

Shourtney seemed to accept that as an answer and let the subject drop, but it remained in the back of Damien's mind for the rest of the day.

Every time Y/N texted him, he thought about it.

Heck, he even drafted a text asking them out but deleted it, deciding if he was gonna do it, he should do it in person.

He let it go all the way to the games release announcement and he finally posted that picture he’d spent more time staring at than he’d care to admit.

“Icarus is flying too close to the sun,” He wrote in the caption. “It was an honor to be chosen as the main character for this game and I can’t wait for you guys to get to play it.”

Y/N posted not long after him, a similar post with a screenshot of the release on Variety, a picture of themselves with a photo of Phoenix, a picture of them in the booth, and, of course, the one with Damien.

“Phoenix I’ll always love you but not as much as Icarus,” they wrote in the caption.

Damien liked it immediately and commented. “Fire (literally) 🔥

The likes and comments began flooding in so he closed the app and made his way to set for a games video.

"On the day that we're filming this Damien just announced he's the voice of the main character in the new game Fire and Brimstone!" Shayne said and everyone at the table clapped for him.

Damien smiled, not expecting the comment. "Yeah, it was a really cool experience to work on and I think everyone's gonna love it."

"You worked with Y/N L/N, right?" Angela asked and Damien immediately wondered if it was on purpose.

But he rolled with it. "Yeah, they're really cool as well, we worked together in the booth a bit and had some fun."

"Sweet."

"So, let's get into it," Shayne said before explaining the rules of Werewolf quickly, as it was a common game for the channel.

As fun as it was, Damien was definitely distracted the whole time, he just hoped that it didn't show on camera.

He couldn't stop thinking about them.

We still on for the coffee shop? Y/N texted later that day.

Damien's fingers hovered over his phone's keyboard, debating on what to text back.

I mean, of course he wanted to still go to the coffee shop with them, but he was planning on asking then. And he was nervous, debating on backing out, making some excuse as to why he couldn't make it anymore.

He took a deep breath.

You know it

Okay. There it was. No backing out now. Not unless he wanted to seem like a huge dick.

He could do this.

Right?

"I'm gonna do it." Damien said, seriously.

Shayne looked over at him from his desk. "Oh, shit, really?"

Damien nodded.

"Do what?" Spencer asked, leaning back in his chair and sipping his Mountain Dew Kickstart.

"He's gonna ask Y/N out."

"Really? Good for you, man."

"Thanks," Damien replied, but his nervousness was clear.

"Don't sweat it, dude, they're gonna say yes," Shayne said.

"And if they don't?"

Shayne shrugged. "Then it's not meant to be."

Damien was realizing he hated when people gave him the same advice he'd give them.

"Hey!"

Y/N brightened upon seeing him, breaking out in a smile as a greeting.

"Hey, I ordered you coffee, you wanted the usual, right?"

Damien nodded, sitting across from them.

He'd been nervous on the way there, but Y/N's demeanor had a way of putting him at ease.

“You okay?” They asked.

Damien’s heart soared. God they were perfect.

“Would you wanna go out with me?” He blurted, all the plans he’d made on the way over thrown out the window.

Y/N seemed taken aback for a moment, eyes widened at the outburst, and he feared the worst, but the expression soon cracked into a smile.

Their beautiful smile.

“Officially?”

Damien smiled. “Yeah. Yeah, officially. I want you to be my partner. Exclusively.”

They laughed. “Yes. Absolutely, positively yes.”

And that was a relief.

“Thank god,” Damien said, making Y/N laugh again.

They reached across the table and held his hand and Damien could’ve died happily right then.

“Hey, let’s take a photo,” they suggested, taking out their phone.

Damien eagerly leaned in for the photo, smiling broadly.

Y/N typed on their phone rapidly before handing it to him.

It was the photo as a draft for an Instagram story with the words “Phoenix + Icarus = ❤️‍🔥”

“That okay?” They asked.

Damien nodded. “It’s perfect.”

[lumillsie]

my yellowjackets takes !!

- taissa turner is the most intriguing of the central characters, and her storyline deserves the level of effort the writers put into it back in season 1.

- teen!misty was far too overhated in the first two seasons and I struggle to understand how people can understand shauna making poor decisions due to feeling overlooked in comparison to jackie, but couldn't understand why misty would do something awful as a consequence of being, narratively speaking, completely othered and isolated by her entire community. her actions were objectively wrong but it seems like more of the dislike towards teen misty stems from people finding her annoying rather than unnerving.

- I wish we saw more of nat and kevyn tan. I really enjoyed their dynamic during the brief period of time we got them, and I wish we could've seen them develop. the fact that they both died on the same day is very romeo-julietesque of them.

- I want to know more about adam. I know the concept of him being javi was scrapped, but I really want to know more about the final version of him the writers settled on — was he genuinely just interested in shauna? what did he know about the survivors?

- jeff's complete disregard for jackie makes me dislike him. it's not about the fact that he cheated on her as a teenager, but for as rude as the taylors were — how on earth could you bring up the fact that you cheated on their dead daughter at her birthday lunch? there is not a single moment in which he exhibits any sort of remorse or grief over what happened to her despite his teenage mistakes directly leading to her death (and him being aware of it).

- while I really enjoy young taivan and consider them to be the core romance of the show, I preferred tai and simone in the adult timeline. simone's presence didn't take away from taissa's own arc the way van's did, and I do think there's a reason as to why taissa married simone despite breaking up with van over her fears to come out of the closet. is it necessarily a romantic one? no, of course not, but it does paint that bond in a much deeper manner than the show portrayed it post-s1.

- sammy should have been the wilderness' child instead of callie.

- I don't hate adult melissa. I know people are a lot more attached to van and were devastated by her death, but I do think some of them are forgetting that melissa's would be murderer was right outside the door, and she saw an opportunity to escape and took it.

- mari being pit girl makes sense but it shouldn't have occurred until season 4, or they should've done the pacing differently in s3. the reveal felt rushed.

- I'm not sure if this is a controversial topic but I don't believe shauna would have hooked up with jeff if she actually believed jackie loved him. in the scene where jackie tells her she should've said "I love you" back to him, she seems rattled before asking her if she does — because the foundation of her justification for her betrayal had itself been rattled.

- perhaps contradictory to my previous point, but I don't believe that shauna was ever a 'good' person. I know people try to justify her by pointing out instances of her kindness and care for others early on, but one of the first acts we see her engage in is a heinous betrayal of one of the people closest to her. on the flipside, I also don't agree with the people who think she had no redeeming qualities due to that betrayal, when her scenes with javi and van show the opposite. it's okay to admit that the characters you root for did in fact start out as morally fallible individuals — I adore misty, yet I don't feel the need to justify her actions.

- I love lauren ambrose but altering the plot to make van a survivor really didn't benefit the adult timeline that much. (although I may change my opinion on this once I see taissa's season four arc.)

- I prefer adult shauna to teen shauna, mainly because I've always been a major melanie lynskey fan and I find her to be one of the most compelling figures on screen.

- I really liked mistywalter in season 2, and I enjoy walter as a character.

- I need to know who on earth was javi's friend.

- with how many crackships there are within the fandom, I really want to see more of them with taissa. I know she's one of the very rare few characters in a canon wlw relationship and that does play a part in the lack of them, but I really do like the concepts of tainat, taikilah and taijackie come to mind.

- mistynat > lottienat

- I really would have loved to see more of lottie and misty's dynamic !! in my head they're best friends who both understand what it's like to be different and help one another cope.

- jackieshauna being the most widely-known and popular yellowjackets ship is perfectly reasonable. there is an element of unfulfilled potential and grotesque tragedy that compels the masses to them and a significant portion of screentime is dedicated to them (with jackie continuing to appear in scenes with shauna postmortem).

- shauna was AN antler queen during the pit scene, but not THE antler queen. there is no one singular antler queen and we see the mantle pass through the seasons, and I think we will see tai in that role in season 4.

- shauna's most tragic relationship isn't that with jackie or with her son, but rather with callie. the scene where she places her 16yo daughter's bunny in her bed next to her breaks my heart. she's there and she's present and shauna wants to love her but she's scarred and wounded and struggles with it immensely.

- jackie was not as bad of a friend as shauna was, but she had her flaws too. her communication was just as abysmal as shauna's and her assumption that shauna understood her affection for her and refusal to genuinely say something kind and loving about shauna that didn't center her contributed to the downfall of their relationship. with that, I do believe shauna was the person she loved most in the world and that she would've done anything for her — but they had diabolical normal people levels of communication.

- I absolutely adore the original concept of mistyjackie in the script but if it had made it into the show itself, I don't think jackie would have died.

- I actually like the fact that they separated travis and natalie this season, as I believe it helped develop their characters more individually in the teen timeline. I liked getting to see nat interact more with misty and travis interact more with akilah and lottie.

- travis seeing lottie in his scenes with natalie and imagining her comforting him is a storyline that feels unexplored and I wish we saw how they got to the point of their early season 3 dynamic

- natalie was not the only person to show jackie respect in the wilderness / after she passed away. taissa attempted to help her during the confrontation, advised shauna to go get her and was narratively/psychologically absent during the feast scene. she exhibits concern both for shauna's mental state and the fact that jackie's body is being used as a doll. she reminds natalie of what happened to her after mari and shauna get into a conflict. taissa respected jackie just as much as natalie did.

- taishauna is THE friendship of the show.

- jackie taylor remaining the face of the show and such a widely-talked about character years after her death (and so high on people's rankings) is a testament to both ella's performance and the value of her character.

- earlier on, misty sought the validation of acceptance and the motions of friendship more than she did genuine companionship. we see that in the way she snitches on jackie (who is one of the first people to offer her genuine friendship) and in the way her allegiance shifts from girl to girl. I don't think it's as clear cut on screen, but I think nat becomes the one person she is truly loyal to with the events of late s3. had nat lived, regardless of what happened, her allegiance would've remained with her.

- mr matthews gets a lot of hate but I genuinely believe that he was just terrified for his daughter and enraged by the fact that he could do nothing to help her. I don't believe that he resented or despised lottie.

- jackie taylor did not hate rabbits.

- I hope we learn more about kodiak. joel mchale is too peak of an actor to play a character whose only role is to be mysterious and then get shanked. I'm still convinced he's related to our cabin guy.

- travis dying so early on made sense narratively but I still hope we get to see more scenes of andres soto in the role. I thought the casting was a miss until I saw one specific photo of him that really illustrated to me how much he looks like kevin alves.

- the soundtrack is absolutely peak and a major contributor to the quality of the show.

[ratatosk777]

Dysfunctional Trio AU MASTERPOST

figured I'd do this for more convenient search

AU description: Mothiva and Zasp enter Snakemouth den before Kabbu and Vi, hence they are the ones who find and save Leif. At first Mothiva isn't interested in keeping Leif around, but she changes her mind as she learns he has ice magic powers. Leif doesn't have much choice but to join the exploration team, so it's easier for him to get around in bugaria in search for answers to his questions. Team Mothiva is now the leading team in the association, mostly because they have Leif, his abilities allow them to defeat enemies and get to places they couldn't get to without him. Inside the team though it's not going as well. Mothiva is selfish and egocentric. Leif hates Mothiva but has to stick around, he is sort of on his own in this team. Zasp tries to overcome his simping for Mothiva. this AU explores the character development of each team member.

later Zasp and Leif would develop some sort of queerplatonic relationship, because I feel like that fits their dynamic more.

see all dysfunctional trio stuff in my blog here, and also I made a list of art posts. I'm ordering them based on their position in the timeline, but miscellaneous and team vi are random

Pre-Snakemouth

Chapter 1 part 1 part 1.1 part 2

Chapter 2 part 3 part 3.1 (shitpost) part 4

Chapter 3 part 5 part 6

Chapter 4 part 7 part 8

Chapter 5 part 9

Chapter 6 part 10 part 11

Chapter 7

Post-sapling

Team Vi stuff part 1 part 2

MISC (shitpost, none-canon, out of timeline, random sketches, etc) 1 - random sketches 2 - doodle 3 - silly leif/zasp sketch 4 - meme 5 - silly leif/zasp sketch 6 - random sketches 7 - DFT THEME SONG BY ZACH!!! 8 - meme 9 - I talk about Mothiva

[chongoblog]

oooh which RPGMaker game did you mean for wasted potential, if you don’t mind me asking?

I've ranted about it before (I've thought about this game ever since I first played it way back, like, a decade or so ago), but I love yapping so I'll tell it again with the caveat of if I see anyone who follows me finding this game and harrassing this developer, then I genuinely find you to be worse than anything I feel about this game (which I won't even be naming). I have respect for them to the extent where they've still created a game and expressed themselves creatively.

Anyway, this RPGMaker game's big twist is that you play as the main character (whose name we'll say is Tina because I can't remember her actual name), however the main character is aware of the fact that you are controlling her. This leads to a lot of drama between you and the player. The problem arises from the fact that "you" have dialogue that's already been written by the game. So it's not really the main character having drama with you as much as the main character having drama with "you". This can lead to a lot of issues for obvious reasons. For example, from what I remember "you" are portrayed as pretty masc-coded and as a sort of love interest for the main character. That can be fun for some people if they want to insert themselves and have that kind of a relationship (never mind the power dynamic), but odds are there will be SOMETHING at odds with the player and takes them out of the experience. Once that happens, the relationship stops being about the player and the character and it becomes about the character known as "You" and Tina. The other big sticking point I had with it was that it was incredibly railroad-y. This isn't really the fault of the dev, since opening up possibilities would EASILY lead to scope creep, but it is very strange to have Tina go on a diatribe about "oh my godddd I'm no longer in control of my own actions, this is crazy I'm at the whims of some other external force oh no" only for you to try to get Tina to go into A Weird Room and for her to go "hmm...maybe we should find our way out of the hospital and head for My House!"

I've been thinking about this game ever since I first played it. Despite my many complaints (I still have a few others), I still respect them for not only having a cool idea, but putting their energy into executing it. And I've had an idea for how to build on the concept.

Here's the big one: NO Dialogue from the player stand-in. Kind of a classic rule (see your Gordons and Links). But that does lead to some difficulty, since the game's central focus is the relationship between the player and the main character. So how do we communicate with the MC? Through actions.

For example, I've been pondering a sort of combat system for this where it rewards cooperation between you and the MC. Basically, the idea is that throughout the game, you can have the main character learn magic (so long as you walk him to the right places). But the thing is that you only control his BODY. Not his mind (or whatever ethereal power magic comes from). So he manages to break out of your control JUST enough that he can move the fingers on his right hand. Whenever you're in combat with an enemy, he'll put out a certain number of fingers to signify what kind of magic he wants to channel. From there, you can move the MC's body, and depending on how you move their body, they can perform multiple types of attacks. So let's say MC is holding up 3 fingers, which you've been told means he's going to be channeling Fire. Then you can choose his action, whether it be Shield (creates a fire shield), Sword Slash (a burning strike), Punch (a Flaming Uppercut), Arrows (A flaming bow), etc. with each combination of element and physical action having a different effect.

Another one that I've mentioned in the past is that when the game begins the MC would want to know how to address you, to which he says "hey, tell ya what, I can't hear you, so walk me over to that pen and paper and you can write down your name!" and what you write on that paper will determine what the name on the file is called. BUT, you can also walk out of the room without writing your name, at which point the MC will just say "okay fine asshole, I'll just call you Jerkface" and your file's name is now Jerkface.

Anyway, that's my thoughts. From what I've seen it seems like Deltarune might be kind of going in this direction so I'm excited to see where it goes. Even so I might want to give it a try myself. I just need to nut up and do it.

[housemdork]

house md rewatch: 1x20, "love hurts"

chase being a Confirmed Freak* is, somehow, not the most interesting moment of this episode

*good for him! not his fault that the rest of PPTH is boring lol.

i love how you can see the way house's expression changes just before he self-sabotages like wild - the moment of decision to (attempt) to read cameron for filth would be hilarious if it wasn't so tragic. so overall, i really enjoy this episode. jennifer morrison is so powerful in scenes where cameron's world view/morals are challenged, and this is one of the strongest of those moments. and all of this combined with a dominatrix subplot, the ethics of which bleed into the rest of the characters? slay.

despite everyone dogging on chase for being into kink, i'd argue that this episode is lowkey pretty sex-positive (in a 2000s tv sort of way. i'll always apologize for that context lol). i like how 1x20 offers the patient, harvey, and his dominatrix, annette, and the clinic patients, an elderly couple struggling to negotiate the frequency of sex in their AFFAIR, as 2 sides in a sexuality spectrum. crazy different situations and perspectives, but both advocate for clear communication and consent and an understanding of one another's boundaries. and once it's revealed that harvey and annette's asphyxiation ritual is to blame for some of his health problems, they give it up.

so it's fascinating when annette is introduces the central theme of the episode: control. she says that harvey enjoys being safely asphyxiated because he can "feel in control by being controlled." in a character arc fraught with competing attempts to control the terms and outcome of their burgeoning relationship, neither house or cameron feel this way. house seems to realize this when he leaves the conversation with cuddy, the hospital lawyer, and annette once it's determined that she's not hurting harvey:

annette describes a perfectly equal relationship in terms of power dynamics, despite what it seems like to outside eyes - harvey has as much agency as she does. since neither house nor cameron feel comfortable rescinding any control, 1x20 implies pretty early that the date that's haunting the background of this episode will not work out.

paradoxically, however, foreman's quick preview into one of the show's writ large strongest themes undercuts this episode-specific argument. when chase is describing the more private, scandalous parts of his sexual history, foreman says that, "why would you want to be with in a relationship with someone that's so obviously only gonna lead to pain?"

that's it, foreman. that's the show. vulnerability and control and meeting halfway and every other piece of a successful relationship will never exist without pain, no matter how badly characters like house try to resist this.

cameron's expression during this conversation is hilarious because, whether she's just realizing it or has known subconsciously for a while, she's about to do exactly what foreman decries:

in my notes, next to the "to feel in control by being controlled," i wrote why #hameron doesn't work. i think she may have an inkling of that here, or at least feel a little targeted by some cosmic irony.

i'm actually gonna outsource some observations about cameron and her relationship dynamics to my resident fellow-expert @all-pacas in this link here. it's a really good breakdown of how the original house/cameron arc leads into her later development with chase, growth within romantic relationships, and how she leaves house in the dust in terms of Growth. regarding the date itself in 1x20, however, i'll add this:

the massive flower vase isn't emphasized in the early shots of them at the restaurant, but when things go south because house gets tired of being read for filth by cameron and lashes out, it divides the frame in half almost perfectly.

even cameron's corsage implies distance; by conflating her visually with the flowers, it acts as another component of house's failure to bond. he meant well by the gesture (it's so cute and would have worked on me lol), he ruins it by self-sabotaging. his body language is closed off, too, with his menu off the table and his feet crossed. cameron, meanwhile, extends both her arms and foot toward him. i truly cannot imagine how the rest of this night panned out lol.

additionally, in his attempts to scare her off, he completely misses the mark. he says that she thinks he's a charity case, and that "but what i am is what you need: damaged." nope. she does, in fact, like you. we've been through some of her messed up reverence issues, how she thinks she should thank house like he's some deity, and how love is a moral obligation to cameron, but that doesn't discount the fact that she does want to be there. he's such a jerk smh.

also, this is a misdiagnosis, and applies in later seasons to another character who is attracted to the shine of someone's needi---

finally, i am qualifying this as Wilson's Compulsive Heterosexuality Ground Zero. my entire viewing experience is informed by my reading that wilson likes men in a schroedinger's closet sort of situation. if he doesn't know the closet exists, can he really be trapped inside it? and if that seems wildly out of left field to you, i am dedicated to convincing more people of the merit of this perspective throughout my rewatch, so please stick around! i even try to differentiate this from strictly hilson posting, the caveat being that house is the only man (for a while) with whom he has any close relationship.

superficially, and much like how chase and foreman treat house and cameron's date, it's a huge, silly spectacle to wilson. when he squeezes it out of house at the beginning of the episode, he's comically elated. we can safely lump him in as another Guy Friend who's teasing his emotionally stunted buddy about taking out a much younger woman.

he undoes this, however, after making a surprise appearance (seriously where have you been lol) to cameron much later in the episode. he appeals to her about the upcoming date, friendly at first.

with 1x19 in mind and wilson's warnings to house that if he doesn't drop the pushing-people-away problem, that he'll wind up alone, it follows that he'd warn cameron about how house is most likely going to hurt her feelings, right...?

no, that would be too simple. abruptly, wilson seems really unhappy with this arrangement, and not because it's breaking a dozen HR policies (chase and foreman are right to be worried lol). he tells cameron that she needs to conduct herself well around house because, if he gets hurt again, he might close himself off for good. noble though wilson's intentions might be toward house, this is an unkind thing for wilson to do, imo. he's investing himself in the situation despite house actively keeping him out of it; he's giving his 2 cents when no one asked; he's attempting to control the situation.

and much like how formulaic annette and harvey's arrangement was, that's how wilson views the date's proceedings. the scene immediately following this one is wilson coaching house on how to act, with a nod to sleeping with cameron at the end - the infamous "panty-peeler" comment...

this is an event to be orchestrated, to be observed from a distance, toward which to give unsolicited advice and feedback. wilson runs through the laundry list of topics to bring up - cameron's shoes, her earrings, her DHA (dreams, hopes, and aspirations) - with the express goal of sex at the end. despite asserting to cameron that this date means a lot to house by way of threatening her, wilson won't conceptualize of anything beyond the superficial. he's the persona guy, after all.

wilson's involvement means more to him than the date does; his ability to influence, live vicariously, control his friend and be protective, is written all over his face here:

along with some real kindness because he does want house to find happiness. we haven't seen what happens when they fall out of sync yet though. they can't handle it lol.

this is all pretty subtle - i know i'm reaching a bit - but just think about where house/wilson/cuddy goes in the future seasons. they're both obsessed with orchestrating sexually-charged scenarios to embarrass the other toward the woman who holds power over them both, the difference being that house has genuine feelings for cuddy, while wilson...? it's all about Living Vicariously, without even knowing that he's doing it.

furthermore, it's certainly a 2000s gay joke atp that wilson is so obsessed with shoes. this is at least the 3rd time he's made a comment about them - the time house noticed that he looked pretty at work; the interviewee from 1x19 that was wearing prada shoes, according to wilson; and now this, when he's so certain that women will respond well to compliments about their footwear. clever way of using said gay joke to make the point that he is forcibly superficial in his romantic dealings.

and what did i say in the last recap about inverted visual dynamics/posturing between house and wilson? wilson is seated, looking up at house, talking about/analyzing him, dominating the conversation:

this is NOT, and never will be, a process by which i erase wilson's adultery. whether or not he finds fulfilment in his relationships over the years doesn't mean he hasn't hurt a lot, a lot of women. just because you're suppressed doesn't mean you get to make it everyone else's problem. and the episode's merit isn't all that impeded by qualifying all of my rambles as just wilson being a dirty rotten player who can't keep it in his pants.

i know i deemphasized parts of the episode that stand out, but as the characters get Bigger and Bigger, i've found that i need to focus on what grabs me the most if i ever want to get thru these lol. and is it just me or does wilson consistently have crazy, unwarranted beef with cameron, whether or not house is involved?

[hotwaterandmilk]

Grabbed the latest issue of Sho-Comi because Mahou Shoujo Dandelion has been making waves on Twitter in advance of its release and I had to see how it actually turned out.

Mizuho Kaeru seemed a tad overwhelmed on socials about just how much anticipation the series was receiving based on concept and characters alone, but Mizuho should honestly be proud of how well they've lined up trending tropes in Dandelion.

You've got the nasty-cute monster dude (Shade) who would do anything for his bright ray of sunshine (Tanpopo). Throw in the nostalgic magical girl element and it's not hard to see why both Japanese and English-speaking fans have been anticipating this first chapter. So, does it live up to the hype?

I'd veture that yes, Dandelion is worthy of the excitement that has been building around it. It was good as a lunchtime read on my phone and while I'll probably have to re-read it to get everything I want from it, my initial impression is a positive one.

I'm not a fan of grumpy/sunshine type stuff but Tanpopo's strengths as a character really helped me enjoy what was on offer here. You can see why the Special Magic Warrior Management Organisation was interested in her, she's got a good heart and she's got gumption, even if Shade is the one who continually helps break her fall.

The complication here is of course that Shade, while obliging of Tanpopo in his own way, is also monstrous. He plays into this when he wants to, menacing Tanpopo herself at one point because he's A VILLAIN OK?? (Sure buddy.) With Tanpopo becoming Dandelion, how will their dynamic change? Can this uneasy relationship develop further when our leads are technically on opposite sides of a battle with life-altering stakes, despite a potential unspoken desire to present a united front?

What I like about Mizuho's approach in this first chapter is that the world these characters live in is already tinted with grey and what should be a black & white / good vs. evil situation is far more complex than this right out of the gate. The "monster of the week" that shows up here is grotesque and violent, hardly the sanitised version you'd see in childhood cartoons. However, the magic warrior org is quite willing to lop heads (literally) when they have to, showing that they are not all sparkles and rainbows either. Tanpopo and Shade are very much walking into unknown territory here and I'm interested to see how Mizuho handles things in chapter two.

I just have to add that I absolutely loved this moment where Dandelion, newly transformed, performs her first magical action -- restoring the umbrella she'd used defensively as Tanpopo. So much about her character expressed in this simple yet powerful action. LOVED ITTTTTT.

If the hype remains then I can see this one turning out to be a solid little series. There's definite potential here in both the characters and scenario. I highly recommend grabbing the magazine issue and supporting any other official releases that become available if you can. Mizuho is also happy for people to produce fan art, so maybe draw pic or share a tweet/post/etc. about it if you don't have the money to invest and help keep that hype train moving this way instead!

[thesehandsfic]

okay i got three (3), count ‘em, three, asks about this exact same thing so FINE. you've forced my hand (not really, i was always gonna answer). this meta has been peer reviewed (thank you to @neurosses and @parrishwife) and is backed up by certain things in canon that can be interpreted a certain way.

i will preface this with the disclaimer that i’m not trying to say maggie sat down and wrote a D/s dynamic on purpose. i’m not saying everything they do has a sexual undertone. i’m not saying this is the only correct reading of canon. i’m not saying anyone has to agree with me. i’m not saying they engage in a “lifestyle” dynamic involving total power exchange or 24/7 scenarios. if you think i said these things, i didn’t. i'm not even going to run this through the lens of daddy kink, even though i really could and really want to, but we'll stick to the basics: one of them's The Boss.

it’s a general rule of thumb that any relationship between two people has an inherent power dynamic. an intimate sexual relationship involving emotional vulnerability and cohabitation will have a more pronounced power dynamic. it is my opinion that ronan is submissive to adam in their dynamic, and that is they way they both prefer it. ronan is not that way because adam is domineering and he just doesn’t want to argue. adam is not the boss because ronan is lazy and spoiled and won’t take initiative. ronan likes to feel he has someone he can answer to. it stabilizes him to feel as if he is under someone else’s control. adam likes to feel he has someone he can wield control over. it’s gratifying to him to know that he can always go home and boss ronan around. it’s irrefutable this is their dynamic in canon, i just also think it happens to become sexual as their relationship develops.

i don’t want to say “if you’ve never had D/s sex then you just wouldn’t get it”, but if you don’t understand or haven’t experienced a D/s dynamic, then it might be more difficult to see where i’m coming from.

with regard to adamronan, there are some things in canon we can point to in order to support my hypothesis. some highlights:

adam is saved in ronan’s phone as MANAGEMENT

adam behaves possessively towards ronan in public in front of their peers/his friends

ronan lets adam take the lead in many scenarios, including most of their decision making as a couple (even if he doesn’t always like it, re: greenmantle scheme)

adam is described as the instigator/active partner during the laundry room scene in opal

“ronan likes being told what to do, and adam likes to tell him what to do” “adam likes being with ronan because it makes him feel like he’s in charge”

ronan becomes like a henchman to adam (greenmantle plot, the cabeswater team up, sleeping on the floor by his bed, standing between him and the world in a way that won't offend adam's need for independence)

adam is able to set aside some of his more extreme tendencies with ronan, and relax into a dynamic where he is secure in knowing that ronan won't try to usurp or control him

it is additionally noted by several characters in canon that ronan is a follower. he is easily manipulated and turns to men he respects for guidance, even if they are not capable of or have no interest in providing it. they do not have to be good or smart men for him to respect them; they simply must possess a few of the qualities ronan finds appealing.

some specific ronan “tells” regarding his submissive tendencies:

ronan says to gansey “i’ll be waiting right here for you to tell me where to go”

the whole ronsey master/dog dynamic is crazy, actually. ronan responds to simple verbal commands, comes when he is called, acknowledges a snap or a shout as an order, thinks it’s funny when it’s suggested he should be leashed, and it does not bother him (in fact, he is proud of it) that others know he is subservient to gansey. i think ronsey is a nonsexual dynamic, but gansey still fills a stopgap role in ronan’s life when he is in the space between niall’s death and adam’s introduction

declan acknowledges to another character that ronan prefers to be led/guided

he refuses to comply with anyone he hasn't assigned a dominant role in his life, and sometimes pushes back against those he considers "in charge" of him in order to be reminded of his place/the security afforded to him in knowing he doesn't have to be The Boss

there are definitely more but i don’t want to go on about this forever. ronan plays a submissive role in his own life because he was raised to do so. (in the same family, and in stark contrast, declan is the opposite: he plays an overly assertive role in his own life because he was raised to do so.) ronan is submissive to niall, and losing niall so young in such a traumatic way leaves an enormous hole in his life: nobody is telling him what to do anymore, and it becomes a more immediate, pressing need for him to replace that figure. he is also submissive to bryde. in both cases, he is more powerful than the men he allows to control him: niall was afraid of him, and ronan is the reason bryde is alive. bryde's existence as a "dominant" figure for ronan to emotionally roleplay with is undeniable: he was tailor made by ronan’s imagination to fill a gap during a time when he felt alone, absent a domineering male presence (niall still dead, gansey gone, adam on campus, declan in DC).

i also think ronan is a masochist (the tattoo, the constant thrill seeking behavior that results in pain, when ronan was hit he was more alive, etc etc). pain = sensation = pleasure. but that is not what you asked. i just think it's neat.

on the flip side, adam is manipulative, and actively seeks control in most of his dynamics. he constantly butts heads with gansey, and detests declan (initially, specifically for declan's casual shows of power/status). he is sexually attracted to power and assertiveness (blue, greenmantle, ronan). adam is not looking for a doe-eyed pushover to drag around on a leash. he is looking for an equal that he can keep under his thumb. he wants to take someone in a position of power and put himself above them. some specific adam “tells” regarding his sadistic and dominant tendencies:

“i want to take off all your clothes”

“they were both hungry animals, but adam had been starving for longer”

his internal monologue is often about physical desire, though we see it mostly with blue: he wants to make out with blue, he wants to touch blue, he likes blue’s legs and other features. he thinks about them constantly and entertains fantasies in which he gets what he wants from a person he finds attractive.

greenmantle refers to him as a teenage sociopath, TGM refers to the gangsey as “adam parrish and his merry men”

he scries into a dog bowl, he is tied up, ronan basically says “next time choke me in a sexy way” (which could be read as him simply trying to make adam laugh; it works)

he mentions a few times that he knows ronan is attracted to him, and while he isn’t sure at first how he feels about ronan, he knows how he feels about the attention, and he likes it. he holds a power over ronan because of ronan’s feelings, and adam is drawn to that

he daydreams about ronan being a teacher (authority figure) as a means of projecting an inverted power dynamic onto their relationship

i think adam’s a horny little freak, basically. a lot of his narrative is about power and control. adam has virtually no power or control over anything beyond his grades, and even that sometimes escapes him: the abuse causes him to miss class, and ronan is better than him at latin. he can’t change these things. he spends a lot of time coping with his helplessness by daydreaming about when he will be powerful and successful and in charge. i think it gets him off that ronan is basically a cosmic entity who could dream up an atomic bomb big enough to level the eastern seaboard. that is power, and adam is technically the one who controls it: ronan would do whatever adam asked him to do. it’s mentioned in the series that ronan is a weapon/tool, and in the wrong hands he's dangerous, etc. with regard to adam and ronan’s dynamic, ronan is able to fully submit to adam because he is secure in the knowledge that adam wouldn't abuse this: he rarely asks ronan to dream things for him, he is aware of ronan's power and never tries to harness it for himself, he thinks it's impressive and he likes it. i’ve said this before, but imagine what an ego stroke it must be for adam to know he’s literally having sex with some sort of god. adam is in awe of ronan because of what he is capable of, he doesn't seek to use ronan for personal gain.

just because ronan is aggressive does not mean he is dominant. he is textually passive when it comes to things that really matter. all bark, no bite. he is waiting by the door for his master to get home. adam is textually flirtatious, manipulative, and power-seeking. he will hold something in his teeth and shake it until it stops fighting back.

also not for nothing: submitting feels so good. like the relief a submissive person gets from it is crazy. i find it hard to believe that’s not something ronan really enjoys. i think adam also likes that he can’t genuinely hurt ronan. ronan’s a little bit taller and a lot stronger. there’s nothing adam could really do, and even if he did, ronan could and would stop him. with blue we saw adam holding back and hating himself for his outbursts and his temper and his instincts, and with ronan he doesn't have to do that. they are both aggressive people who find aggression cathartic and sexy. i think ronan likes to be told he’s a good boy and i think adam likes to make him cry and then tell him he’s a good boy. put yourself in adam’s shoes and live that for a second: you have total physical control over someone, you hurt them or push them to their limit and make them cry (or otherwise overwhelm them) and then you reward them and tell them that you love them and they were perfect for you and you’re so proud of them. i find it really hard to believe that’s not something adam’s weird little brain would want.

i think the power/control distribution in their relationship is pretty interesting. ronan is wealthy, a bit taller/stronger, placed more highly in society because of his class, has living family that love him, etc, but he doesn't want control. adam has drive and initiative and not a penny to his name, and he wants, more than anything, to belong somewhere. the open space in ronan's life is where adam fits. again, i don't think they have a master/slave dynamic or a 24/7 TPE lifestyle, but i think they both find comfort in knowing that they can give each other what they both need.

kink is theatre; kink is roleplay; kink is wish fulfillment. kink is something people engage in because they get something out of it that they can't necessarily get anywhere else.

tl;dr ronan likes to get ordered around and adam's into ordering him around. and also sometimes he probably ties him up and makes him cry. both of these things are because neither of their fathers loved them in the right way, which left them both unfulfilled and psychosexually stunted, and now they've got complexes so vast and far reaching it's really too bad freud is dead 'cus he'd have a blast with these two freaks. thank god there's gay people and sadomasochism

genuinely am sorry this is so long. if you want the essay about daddy kink, then you know where to find me.

[greensaplinggrace]

the fact of the matter is that buffy ends up isolated no matter what the scoobies do because she bears the burden of the slayer alone at the end of the day and nothing can change that. the problem with this isn't that she's separate from them, it's that they don't want to acknowledge that she is, and in doing so they drive a wedge between them that just grows and grows. the best thing about spike is that he's similar enough to this other side of buffy to understand it and her by extension. he is the only person around who can support that side of her.

most of buffy's issues in season six stem from the scoobies rejecting a part of buffy that spike accepts. and this shame she feels for her reliance on spike and the presence of this darkness and isolation she cannot avoid is largely because of them. i'm sick of this bizarre assumption that pointing out where the scoobies go wrong in their relationship with buffy somehow equals an uncritical uplifting of spike. just because he understands her and represents a certain aspect of her doesn't mean he doesn't fuck up. i mean that's kind of the whole point of their season six dynamic. one of his biggest issues is that he thinks he's helping her by enabling her completely because he doesn't have the ability to properly identify the line between self acceptance and self destruction - pursuit of the id is one of his biggest character traits. that's what makes the end of season six and his decision to get the soul so interesting (although of course there's just as much i can say about the narrative framing of that in regards to lore consistency and the story's obsession with angel, but that's a whole other thing).

point is, the scoobies cannot understand all of buffy, and when they refuse to acknowledge this they destroy their chances of building any bridges to even a simple relationship with that other side of buffy or helping her carry that burden in any way. meanwhile, spike is in the proper position to understand buffy as the slayer and hold his own with her in such a way, but his definition of love is wholly obsessive and destructive. while i disagree that he's incapable of love and even of loving selflessly without his soul, i think spike's version of love in particular is self destructive in a way that enables buffy's own desire to hurt herself through hurting him (see the aforementioned shame regarding her shadow self). spike cannot identify why allowing buffy to give in to her dark side in such a way is bad because he struggles to understand how she could use this to resent herself - although i do think he realizes it's happening on some level.

spike is also buffy's only form of catharsis and the only one that actually listens to what she is saying during a time when everybody else is dismissing her because of the aforementioned inability to understand her as the slayer. it's a clusterfuck - and a clusterfuck that needed to be shattered with a hammer for any kind of relief. and quite frankly to disregard the scoobies' own part in this situation does a disservice to buffy as a character. to be honest, she deserves fucking better than what everyone in her life gives her, especially the scoobies, who grow to take her for granted and feel entitled to controlling her life as a way of keeping her conformed - again, due to the aforementioned lack of desire to acknowledge this other part of her that they cannot connect with.

which leads to season seven, where spike is the only person on the show who has developed and changed enough to remain at buffy's side helping her carry the burden. while everyone else suffered during season six, none of them opened their eyes to what they were doing to buffy - and if they did, none of them acted on it. spike is the only one to acknowledge the damage he's done and work to become better for buffy in any way he can. he is the only one that ends up able to carry that burden with her because he is the only one capable of facing the truth and acting on his desire to do better.

the fucking problem isn't that he hurt buffy - because to be quite frank everybody did - it's that he's the only person on the whole damn show to acknowledge his place in buffy's life, and to acknowledge the burdens she bears, and actively change himself for her. did you know he has almost all of the genuine apologies in the entire show? seven seasons and all of the harm the scoobies cause buffy, and it's fucking spike that is acting like a mature person capable of being a proper partner.

[nobodyfamousposts]

I remember reading a post by @critical-thinking-is-mandatory a while back about how Lila would realistically be disliked by people because of how self centered she is even if they don't think she's lying.

With this logic, Adrien's public friendship with Chloe (a school wide bully) should have a lot of people side eyeing him, if not outright avoiding him all together.

What do you think?

That's a valid point, and one that I and I think a number of others have considered.

Origins played with it but not nearly enough. By all counts, when a bully comes in with their "celebrity best friend" and parade him around the way Chloe does, there would be a mix of people being put off by him being her friend as much as there would be people impressed by Chloe being his friend.

Honestly, it would have been a more interesting setup and added extra layers to the love square dynamics if they started off going from enemies to friends to lovers. Or at least slow down and not dive headfirst right into over the top crushing.

But in that case, it would likely work better as a reverse love square. Ladybug loves Chat who is Adrien who loves Marinette who is Ladybug. Have Marinette be someon who gives Adrien a chance which builds a friendship and starts up his crushing on her.

Otherwise it would just lead us back into cringe with Marinette crushing on Adrien despite having valid reason to not trust him for being Chloe's friend or potential boyfriend.

I'm fairly certain I pointed this out in another essay/critique/salt post that they completely missed out on a potential character arc for Adrien in having him actually ADJUSTING to public school. Having him struggling to make friends with his stigma both as a celebrity and as "Chloe's friend". The effects would be two-fold.

First, it would help the Adrien salters better sympathize with him. Yes, I know there's his horrible HORRIBLE father, but storywise, the "Gabriel sucks" angle doesn't really matter if Adrien isn't having to be the one to face that. In addition, he seems to have no trouble with acclimating to a public school and making friends. Heck, he's not making friends, people are jumping over themselves to make friends with HIM. Part of what makes people sympathize with characters is seeing them try and fail and just generally make an EFFORT for what they want. Turn that around. In the hands of competent writers, this would be a setup that would do that more for Adrien. We see that in some aspects with the manga where it has Nathaniel mistake Adrien as a snob who looks down on comics and him as an artist. It would have been great to see more like that with Adrien getting to know his classmates or being the focus through which we get to learn about the classmates since he is supposed to be the new boy.

Second, it would be a stepping stone/building block to the eventual confrontation with Gabriel—which yes, should happen. Building relationships and forming HEALTHY bonds really helps to understand when other ones you have are not. (COUGHCOUGHScarletLadyCOUGHCOUGH) They can help you gain strength and courage and build a new identity for yourself. They also give you support in dealing with major conflicts. They can help him form attachments that make him NOT so willing to jump in to join his father's craziness. And they can help him become a better hero in his own right.

I'm not saying make Adrien suffer and be friendless. Far from it!

I'm saying to USE this as a plot point to develop Adrien and give him focus and room to grow. Or at least a point that ISN'T just him being half of the endgame pairing and desired by everyone in the city.

Show Adrien try to interact with each of the classmates. Show how Adrien becomes friends with others. Show how he comes to care about people who aren't there just to give him what he wants or tie him to the plot.

And yes, this would inevitably also lead in to some changes for Chloe as well...for good or bad.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hi :) Before I ask my question I just wanted to say that I love how you characterize the twst boys in your writing and always take the effort of digging deep into these extremely (sometimes almost mind blowingly) complicated characters.  

So I am one of those people who loves making and seeing art of the twst boys genderbent. As I sometimes do admittedly lament twisted wonderlands lack of female cast members at times (though I do understand that having an all male cast is part of the games genre!) 

Anyway I was just wondering if the twst cast members were girls, would that in any way change the character development and dynamic of Epel and Vil in book 5? Because a large part of Epel's character development centres around his narrow, traditional ideas of gender roles and his internal need to feel “tough and manly”. Then Vil teaches him that femininity does not necessarily mean weakness and blah blah we know the story. Long story short, if Epel was a girl would that change her views on strength in any way? Would she feel the same need to be super tough and manly like her male counterpart? Would this change rewrite Epel's character arc entirely? Just wanted to know what you think. 

Hello and thank you for the compliment ^^ I work hard on my posts but especially on the analysis ones so I'm always really happy to see such positive reception to those efforts!

I love seeing Twst genderbend AUs too :DD My favorite interpretations have to be by tribbutribby (aka bunnyshadeow), who has made a few zines (Twisted Bimboland) with that theme in mind. I love how they don't just draw "the Twst boys, but with boobs"; they thought through every character and how they would actually be as a woman, from the designs to the personalities. For example, their fem!Leona has short hair because female lions don't have manes and their fem!Jamil is described as a cool onee-san type, which totally fits with what we know about Jamil. I also love that they actually have a variety in body types! Fem!Riddle is short and flat, fem!Floyd is tall and lanky, fem! Azul is more plump, fem!Jack has thunder thighs, etc. Highly recommend their works, CANNOT RECOMMEND THEIR WORKS ENOUGH!!!

If NRC were an all-girls school, I think the conflict between Epel and Vil in book 5 would have to be considerably rewritten. We could still explore gender identity and expression, but it would have to be framed differently because of Epel and Vil, the main players, being women and not men. I guess it would still be possible to have Epel have outdated views on gender roles (tradwife!Epel?????????), but it doesn't make much sense since... Epel's technically at an elite school instead of preparing to be a wife or something. That might also lead to a very stereotypical message with Vil coming in and telling Epel "actually, you can girlboss too".

It might be interesting to see an interpretation in which Epel is forced to live by gender roles, but then she tries to rebel against it + disparages femininity by being a tomboy?? And then the lesson Vil ends up instilling in her is that femininity shouldn't be underestimated, it can be a strength too. That would be similar to the original message imparted onto Epel, and I think it would be more nuanced and less predictable than the girl power version.

[indigosaffron]

Caitvi being endgame was the thing that ruined season 2.

I don't mean that in a homophobic way - I am literally a lesbian and in the first season, I rly liked Caitvi's dynamic. Vi was given a space to heal and a person who helped and cared for her. She didn't need to protect and lead Caitlyn like she did with Jinx, Mylo and Claggor, and as a result we got to see her heal and be vulnerable as she didn't have to be strong for the people she loved. Caitlyn, on the other hand, had grown up sheltered and privileged, and her relationship with Vi allowed her to see the people of Zaun more clearly and encouraged her to help them and set aside her prejudice. This dynamic was also reflected in how the show portrayed the people of Zaun. In the first season, it's very pro-Zaun, pro-revolutionary, anti-fascism, all that.

And then the second season, Caitlyn pulled a complete 180, started acting like a fascist and hating the people of Zaun, and in the end... Vi forgives her.

Is this in character for both of them? Yes, actually. Caitlyn has grown up sheltered and was raised to look down on the people of Zaun, it's very easy for her to just turn back to that way of thinking. Vi is also incredibly dependent and forgiving when it comes to those she loves. We see how hard it is for her to let go of anyone - Vander and Powder are obvious examples. So it isn't strange that she doesn't leave Caitlyn and forgives her in an instant.

Would it have been so much more interesting if Vi didn't forgive her? Yes. A million times yes. I would've loved to see that character growth for Vi, of her establishing that boundary and deciding that she had to leave Caitlyn behind. I'm honestly kind of mad that they gave Jinx so much development and growth throughout the story and Vi has barely changed. Her political beliefs seems to be the biggest thing that has changed, and even those are rooted in the same character traits - first she was fighting for powder, now she's fighting for Caitlyn.

It's not just that I'm mad that they never address how toxic this relationship becomes in season 2. I saw someone else mention how it went from "privileged + oppressed" in s1 to "oppressor + oppressed" in s2 and if that doesn't just sound like literal abuse to you idk what to say. They frame this in the show as a normal relationship - at best, it's both of their faults and their both in a bad place mentally. They never address how horrible Caitlyn acts throughout act 1.

As a result of this, they kind of lose the whole "Piltover is an oppressive force and the people of Zaun should revolt" plot line. Instead it becomes "both sides are bad and in the wrong", just like with Caitvi's relationship. After all, the show can't properly condemn Piltover and yet support Caitlyn at the same time. And if they want Caitlyn and Vi together in a relationship that looks healthy, they have two options - either they address the flaws in the relationship and take the time required to fix them, or they ignore the flaws and pretend it's not a big deal.

They don't have the time in 2 seasons to address those flaws, though, so they decide to ignore them, and in doing so ignore the flaws in Piltover's overall treatment of Zaunites. This creates a contradicting message between the first and second seasons. In the first season, it was obvious that the Zaunites were being mistreated and that they should rise up. In the second season, they suddenly ignore all of that, and instead make the nations unite to face the "bigger problem". I didn't really like the hex tech plot line to begin with because I felt like it distracted from the more important plot line, which was the whole Piltover v Zaun thing, which they completely brushed under the rug.

Maybe this would've been better if they'd had more time to properly flesh out Caitvi's relationship, but as it is, it would've been better if it wasn't endgame at all imo.

[0daylighthours0]

A Deep Dive into Milkvan and Byler's Development: If Milkvan Was Endgame All Along, Why Was it Written Like This???

SO. I've been rewatching st with my mother, who's never seen it before. And she was a fan of milkvan throughout seasons 1 and 2. Viewing those seasons again I could see why, they're cute. However, come season 3 and INSTANT distaste. And, listen, my mother is not the consciously shipping gal. She simply routes for main character pairings as writers intend, doesn't read between the lines, doesn't nothing. And she does NOT know my own opinions on the pairing. In other words, completely unbiased, uninternet drama influenced eyes. We've now reached season 3 and, after getting through a chunk of it, I asked her,

"so what do you think of Mike and El?"

and she expressed to me that they seem to be, quote:

"not very good together."

She said El's character doesn't suit the way she's acting now (in the first few episodes, concerning Mike), that Mike is more likeable and interesting when he's away from her. She doesn't like the way they ditched the party, and when it comes to their 'making out' the scenes are seen by her from Hopper's perspective (in other words, distasteful). She claimed that they'd be much better characters as friends.

And ya know what, she's right. And I mean like - duh, that's what we've been saying all this time, I'm not stating anything new here. But guys, wouldn't it be strange if the central couple of the show, pivotal that it is liked by audiences and is rooted for by them as they are THE pair, would be so dislikable like this? So uninteresting, so cliche.

I mean, okay, let's do a little mental experiment I like to do to test if I'm not just acting delulu. Let's play a game. In this game, milkvan ARE meant to be endgame. They are in love, they were all along, and they're here to draw in viewers and appease all El stans. Now, seasons 1 and 2 their relationship is honestly fine. Surface level, yeah, people will watch and appreciate them. They perfectly blend in with all the other neat pairings of the seasons, and have their own unique character traits to stand out as a main couple.

Just pretending our mate Will doesn't exist, we now get into season 3. Now, writers have nothing to lose here. If you've finished season 2, you probably like milkvan already. The issue is that they're already together now, so what's the conflict going to be? The arc? And every central couple needs that conflict to stay juicy.

Just take a look:

Jancy: quarrels, struggle to understand one another

Jopper: not yet together, one sided? will they won't they

Lumax: ...

Lumax? Lumax. Huh, guess they were simply together. Some loveable bickering, maintained a friendly dynamic while clearly in closer proximity. Well then, writers can do the same for milkvan right? Well, yes easily. But one might argue that since they are supposed to be THE pairing they need more going on between them than that. So what'll it be? Well, it seems that writers thought,

"hey, why not break them up?"

ok so.. that's a bit risky. I mean you want people to like this ship, if you break them up then that threats: 1. there being a disliking to one or both characters, 2. coming off generic if done incorrectly, 3. the break up might make no sense considering how in love they came off as just a season ago. But hey.. it could work, if done right. Some kind of misunderstanding, similar to Jancy. Maybe an argument leading to a sudden parting. I mean, yeah, Yeah! I can see that. Perhaps Mike is being too overprotective whilst El's trying to sacrifice herself for something, so she NEEDS to separate herself from him attempting to hurt him less. Or, I dunno, something akin. What's crucial is that us, AS THE AUDIENCE, still know them to be deeply in love. I mean, we have to still want them to be together. And we've seen couple trouble before. Just take a look at Lumax season 4 - did you or did you not want the best for both of them as a pair? You most likely did. See, it's doable. So did people like milkvan season 3 the same way, even after a separation plot? No.

Okay well, there are obviously those who'll always love milkvan no matter but, see, season 3 tainted it. "We need to write them like this cause it's more realistic to teenager behavior" my ars. You can make it messy without making it icky. Not only did it sour their unique dynamic, it flabbergastingly stomped on Mike as a character.

Honestly, I feel Mike has always been a mild struggle to write. Season 1 his motivations were 'find Will' (who still doesn't exist in our mind game yet shh) and 'protect El'. This worked well for him. Afterwards though, El and Will became more separate plots to him. But as a main character it remained integral that he be closely linked to them somehow. This sets him apart from Lucas and Dustin, who can easily be given any arc any season as their plots have the flexibility of a side quest nature. Since what Mike does is meant to matter more - with there probably being a better way of phrasing that but you know what I mean - it's harder knowing what he'll do when El and Will (who we'll GET to sh.) are their own separate people. And Mike is just a boy, he doesn't have super powers and he isn't a cop, which leaves there even less for him to do which is of significance. Season 2 writers decided upon having him support Will's arc, making himself of enough relevance by being able to take credit for some Will development in the story, and the plots that surrounded that, and then Mike was thrown a little bone by being the one to come up with the idea of burning those vines in the finale.

Truthfully, you don't really remember Mike's deeds much when reminiscing the series. It isn't like Dustin who's bond with Dart sticks to everyone, or Nancy and Jonathan responsible for kicking out Hawkins Lab. This is due to them, again, being able to traverse all sorts of adventures without limits. But my guy Mike can't do dat. Sadly, this kind of leads to him coming of as a little.. well... insignificant. And I know I know, the Mike truthers are gonna come at my throat. And hey! I love him too. I only want the best for my boy.

This makes season 3 a unique case cause it seems that, for the plot they decided they wanted, writers actually had to almost entirely change his character. I mean mate s2 Mike and s3 Mike are two different peoples, don't even. And I don't believe that the Duffers had their story and character turnouts completely drawn out from the very start at all. If I was to guess, I'd assume they have vague ideas of little plots they plan to include in future, but there is definitely a lot that has come unpredicted or changed throughout st's runtime. And one of those phenomenons are Michael Wheeler. So they decided to make this guy a di-

So they decided to make him more douchy, more movie typical teenage guy. It's not as if he wholly sucked, he didn't, but he didn't really do much. Whined about his girlfriend, separated the party. I mean what even was his arc? (UnLESS–)

You see, if milkvan is written to be loved, then season 3 was strike one. All of its charm was stripped away. It seems they had some cute scenes after their reconciliation, but it's not enough. It's just sort of

"oh, ok, so they're happy with eachother now. yayy."

and Stranger Things should want to be anything but boring. Sure they often enjoy indulging in tropes, but they always do something different with them. Something standoutish. And from this point on milkvan just got dull. Either writers ran out of ideas or lost interest, honestly (still with our mind game of telling ourselves they're meant to be).

But it's okay. Look, so season 3 was a bit rocky, maybe lost a couple of fans for the guys, but it is salvageable. Easily, easily. Looks like we want a plot of Mike struggling to tell El he loves her. Great! Much to work with.

So let's get into it. Season 4! Choices were... made. And, okay, now we can't go any further without bringing in our boy Will.

Mike is intrinsically tied to Will and El and has been from the start. Maybe Will was more of an accident. Maybe s1 Will was just a plot device for Mike, then s2 Will was a plot device again and Mike needed to be there as the main boy character. Come season 3 and it seems their relationship still matters. Will was sidelined - hard - so most of Mike's moments revolved around El. But as his bond with Mike is the only one that's been properly built up, that's the only friend we'll get him interacting with in a way that matters. So the Mike and Will tie continues!

But that does not have to be the case for season 4. Now the writers have a chance.

They made Will gay.

Ok so.. ok so yeah that's fine. Yeah! I mean they didn't have to do that, might put them in hot water with the bylers since milkvan is their golden beauty but.. you know what no no that's okay. He's been hinted at being queer since episode 1, why not make it canon! Cool that works. Explore that, especially since we now have Vecna who can easily target Will for this. Give him a boyfriend! Or a guy crush. He's at a new school now? That's cool. Maybe we can explore some new male character Will's taken interest in. Hey maybe he meets someone who interests him which rises to surface his whole sexuality plot and-

he's in love with Mike.

Ok. No. No. What are you doing? What do you mean?? You didn't have to do that. Strike- strike EFING TWO mates! Strike. 👏 efing. 👏 2!

This was part 1. I am tired and gots to get my ars in bed. But ohohoh, do not worry. I am just getting started.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - THERE IS SO MUCH ON RIGHT NOW, it's crazy-making!

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

July 2024 Week 1

Ongoing Series - Thai

Wandee Goodday (Sat YT) ep 10 of 12 - I am with Dee, noodles do solve everything. The brothers were SO GOOD together. I’m getting to really love a back drop in BL, it’s like the mic drop of gay boys smooching. This is such a good show. I had a big grin on my face while also crying a bit. Everything I want from a BL is happening right here, in front of my eyes.

Did they gloss over the trauma a bit? Yes. Do I care? No. I don't like dwelling in trauma in general, mine, friends, online, or in my BL.

The Rebound (Weds Gaga) ep 2 of 12 - All Thai mafia is gay… again. Yes, it’s still great. No, I have no idea why they’re dropping so many eps at once. That’s not normal for a Thai drama. But I’m not gonna complain except there’s a lot on right now. I like the side couple too. I also like Frank’s poor little rich kid side dish action. I mean, Meen is an ult for me, but Frank is giving excellent second lead syndrome. Suspiciously aggressive and a touch stalker, but I don’t mind a boy that sus if he that cute. And of course, with the mafia involved there is kidnapping.

Look, is this the best show currently airing? No. Which is why it slid a little in the standings. But that's only because Wandee hit it out of the park this week. Frankly, this may not be the best BL airing right now, but it’s the best BL for me.

Sunset X Vibes (Sat iQIYI) ep 4 of 12 - That oppa bit was fucking genius. (You get it right? If you don't, I can explain.) And I immediately adore the secretary character as a result (I typed that as "reslut" and that works too.) Pleased to have such a "rich man and his spoiled boy" dynamic it going already. A dynamic I am personally IRL familiar with from the 90s. Also, kiddies stop filming adults at play! Sheesh.

I pretty much love all the couples in this show. It’s lots of fun. SamYo’s cat and mouse thing is delightful. Meanwhile, the mains are so sweetly hesitant about kisses and everything (hilarious coming from this pair). I love them and their awkward first time, or whatever is going on.

Do you know what? After that "oppa" comment this lead pair makes me feel a little bit like I’m watching a gay K-drama, similar style of personalities and everything, even the random martial arts ability. And the outing. I'm getting Business Proposal vibes. Nothing wrong with that, I was weaned on K-dramas.

All in all, great episode.

My Stand-In (Fri iQIYI) ep 11 of 12 - Yet again I spent the entire episode saying "poor Joe" over and over again. This time I didn’t cry though.

The pat way to end this is to have Joe walk through that door and then wake up back when he was about to get into the motorcycle accident. So that none of it ever happened. I suppose we’ll see what they do next week but I hope it isn’t that.

We Are Cute (Weds iQIYI) ep 14 of 16 - Do you know what this friendship group reminds me of the most? The old Love Sick music club boys. This is just the college version... 10 years later. (Love Sick was one of the few shows where I mostly didn’t yell “no singing” at the screen (also Ingredients). In my defense, I didn’t know any better back then.)

As boyfriends, PhumPeem are even more puppy/cat paring. And I am even more delighted by it. And them. In fact, this show is ALL puppy/cat pairings. I’m not mad about it.

"I’m hugging you so you won’t feel hungry" is the weirdest pick up ever. But Phum is weird. 

This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans (Fri iQIYI) ep 1 of 8 - The PittBabe team behind a new restaurant set BL full of hidden agendas and starring my new favorites SailubPon. I’m reminded so much right off the bat of PokeTongue’s side dish couple in What’s Zabb Man. Interesting, considering that came from Pon’s former studio. Love the call out of obnoxious content creators (not to mention corporate property developers). I like the chef character, he’s nicely complex. In fact, so far I like most of the characters, it’s a good range of different personality types. The plot is a little contrived and complicated but I don’t mind because the characters are such fun.

The Trainee (Sun YouTube) ep 1 of 12 - Reported on this last week already but here's what I said:

Gun still looks like he’s just out of high school. Madness.

The set for the print shop reminds me of Mork’s dad’s place in ‘Cause He’s My Boy? I swear GMMTV has only 3 sets.

I wasn't looking forward to this show at all. Maybe I just needed more of a break from OffGun? Cooking Crush happened yesterday.

Whatever, because I was absolutely riveted by this first episode.

I’m enjoying The Trainee a lot. Like, a lot a lot. It's not higher up just because there is so much good content from Thailand airing right now.

My Love Mix-Up Th (Fri YT) ep 5 of 12 - Still a chaos muffin no matter which country. So earnest. So cute. Talking stage commence!!!

Love Sea (Sun iQIYI) ep 4 of 10 - I got so bored I started looking up ways to organize my sunglasses. Trash watch here.

Knock Knock Boys (Thurs Gaga) ep 6-7 of 12 - The exes are odd. I like that Latte finally got some backstory.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

I Hear the Sunspot AKA Hidamari ga Kikoeru (Japan Weds Gaga) Ep 2 of 10 - I’m still enjoying this quite a bit. It’s paralleling the manga quite closely, which is nice. But it’s not gonna be a particularly exciting drama if this continues. The manga is rather quiet (pun intended to amuse not insult).

Takara's Treasure AKA Takara No Vidro (Japan Mon Gaga) ep 1 of 10 - Look, if some kid followed me to college and changed the whole course of his life because I was nice about his dead bird? I'd be skeeved as fuck too. It's odd and uncomfortable, in that way Japan loves. Visuals are on point but can't say I'm enjoying it as yet. Still, it is JBL, and so I am intrigued and open to all possibilities.

It's airing but...

The Last Time (Thai Fri YT?) - Convoluted story of loss and possible reincarnation or something. Can't find it.

OMG Vampire (Thai Sun ???) 10 eps - I've put the search on hold for and y'all can let me know if it's worth tracking down once it ends?

In case you missed it

Blue Boys finished it run. I like it quite a bit. This felt a lot like a Strongberry short series. It’s very curtailed and could’ve used some legs but I've been trained into ignoring that for Korean BL. Short has always been their thing. Essentially, two boys who were acquaintances in high school are reunited and it turns out always had crushes on each other. It’s definitely an extrovert meets introvert scenario, and this being Korea, they can’t resist a tiny love triangle in the eleventh hour. But it all came out fine in the end. It has great kisses and higher heat than is normal from Korea. All in all, a surprisingly charming offering. Recommended with some reservations around the brevity of plot and character development. 8/10 

The Time of Fever AKA Unintentional Love Story 2 (Korea movie) trailer released to Korean theaters 5/25. HoTae & DongHee, side couple from Unintentional Love Story are back! Same actors, same character names. I love them. Devastated this hasn't had international distribution. I demand you tell me the moment you find it!

Next Week Looks Like This:

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

July Releases to Come

7/10 Century of Love (Thai Gaga) 10 eps - trailer here, DaouOffroad are back, this time as fated mates in a quasi historical paranormal moment. San has spent many lifetimes waiting for his lost beloved, to reincarnate from her death a century ago. But if he fails to find her within this century's time window, he will succumb to a tragic death. And this time she's a boy. Very much Director Who Buys Me Dinner meets First Love Again, hopefully better than both. I love this pair and think they can handle the premise, it's whether the storytelling is up to the challenge. I'm curious to see but I have reservations.

7/24 I Saw You in My Dream (Thai Weds WeTV) - Dee Hup is behind this one so I have high hopes. Younger boy chronically teased his whole life by the older boy next door suddenly starts having horrific prophetic dreams about his bully and must save hime.

7/26 4 Minutes (Thai Netflix or iQIYI?) - Great is a university student from Faculty of Business and the son of a wealthy business owner. Out of the blue, he gains the supernatural power to see four minutes into the future.

7/29 Battle of the Writers (Thai ????) - trailer here, TutorYim return and while I adore them, I really hope this is better than Middleman's Love. Won't be hard. However: that premise! Ugh. Something something authors fighting - save me. Why don't writers understand that nothing is more boring than writers?

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Product placement du jour! Also the only product placed in a BL that I regularly enjoy myself.

Yes I cried. I'm a sap.

The faens in the wive's positions! So cute.

All Wandee

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

Sigh, Tumblr in it's infinite wisdom doesn't like too many tags.

There's these tricks, remember.

[lucatumbling]

Digital Circus Episode 5.

Welp, time to talk about this show again! Let's see what is in store this time!

Disclaimer: YOU'LL GET TOTALLY SPOILED!!!

Let me start with the man who is likely redefining the ENTIRE fandom at this point. Jax.

While I am not a fan of what others do to him in this episode, in fact I downright despise it. This episode has solidified why Jax is my absolute favorite character of this entire show.

Ever since the Pilot itself, Jax always felt like he was hiding something, which was only proven further in Episode 2. I knew something was going on him the moment I saw those details. And man, was I right.

I love how much more interaction he shows in this episode. Partially with Kinger. Bantering with Zooble. Pushing around Gangle. (Rightfully) calling out Ragatha.

And then there's Pomni. At first, he messes around with her like usual... until we get to the stargazing scene. He opens up and Pomni starts to see the man beneath his mask. Throughout the course of this episode, this even seems to develop into a friendship as Jax requests Pomni to go with him to show her "the thing he was talking about in the hall." which Pomni agrees to.

Jax as a character rings home the message that is rather absent in many other shows nowadays. No one is evil by design, everyone has their inner struggles. Goose, you earned a huge amount of my respect with this message alone. Well done.

Considering that Episode 5 feels like the prelude into Episode 6. (Remember that Goose described Episode 5 as "the silly before the storm.) I'm interested to see what will happen with this friendship dynamic moving forward.

Which leads me directly into the next character, who is also likely redefining a ton of perspectives in the fandom. Ragatha.

Get outplayed.

In all seriousness, Ragatha gets some interesting development in this episode too. Learning her past but most importantly, seeing more of her true character, something seen previously in Episode 4.

She has some talks with Jax and Pomni here and there which leads to Pomni seeing her as someone who is rather untrustworthy. She never drops her act around Pomni but when she drops the act around Jax, she sees the true colors of who Ragatha REALLY is.

This was something that I felt building up since the release of Episode 2. When that Episode dropped, I couldn't help but feel that Ragatha felt worse as a character. (Which then eventually made her my least favorite character in the entire show, congrats on your loss by the way.) This overarching flaw remained persistent in Episode 3 where it felt even worse during the Pomni apology scene. Now we finally see the truth that I knew was building up.

Which is rather interesting to think about. Jax has essentially become a better character than Ragatha via one simple thing. Showing their true sides as characters.

The end of the episode solidifies this even further, Pomni and Jax walk off together in one direction, while Kinger, Gangle and Zooble walk off together in another direction. She's alone. All alone... Meaning we are likely to see her escalate further in Episode 6. But for now, we will have to wait and see.

Next character, since I've been talking about her the whole time. Pomni.

We learn more of what her past life was like but beyond that, I've pretty much already stated what I wanted to in the sections talking about Jax and Ragatha.

She's seeing things unfold between the two and realizing that there is a huge gray area. Jax is better than he seems on the outside, while Ragatha is worse than she seems on the outside. She's the middle woman, if you will.

But that's all I have to say for her.

Next character on the vote sliding pin. Zooble.

Zooble has been consistently appearing more often since Episode 3. We've been able to learn more of their character and their dynamics with the group.

The dynamic with Gangle was on full display in the previous episode and here. The dynamic with Jax is very apparent.

But what I love most is how much we get of Zooble's character. Stoic but can also mess around in their own ways. And we also get more backstory with them being a tattoo artist, bartender and more past life stuff.

Beyond that though, not much else to say.

May as well get two characters done with one lightning round. Gangle and Kinger.

Gangle: barely has any screentime which is understandable considering their character development in Episode 4, remains mostly the same and is still a fine character.

Kinger: has some more screentime which some more humorous moments, but doesn't get anything more than that. Which is fine considering Episode 3.

Now I want to talk about some-

"HOLD IT! INTERMISSION TIME! YOU FORGOT ME!"

"CAINE!"

"Go ahead my fellow superstar! Tell them how great I was this episode!"

Uh- can I get someone to- HOW DID HE HIJACK MY POST?!?!

... *sigh* Okay okay, you are a part of the show and you are a great character and I'm going to be honest I almost forgot to talk about you.

"Great! I'll leave it up to you then!"

...right, Caine. He's interesting this episode. He isn't as active as a participant in this episode but he is constantly observing the Circus cast due to one thing.

He's becoming desperate. He tries to go all through the adventures from the suggestion box as quick as possible in a lightning round and with an option to skip the current adventure at play. To Caine, this entire episode of Digital Circus is filler. It's nothing important to him, he wants it over with. He wants to go back to his work, his adventures, his art. However, he then starts to notice that no one is liking his adventures anymore and are instead enjoying the adventures from the suggestion box.

This Episode (along with Episode 3) feel like the tipping points of what may cause Caine to eventually break down. If Caine thinks he's bad at what he does, has no purpose, worthless, then... well... I think we know what will happen, won't we?

Now time for an extra section for general episode talk!

Interesting concept for this episode to do a more fast paced approach with its lightning round idea. Also shows how fast Caine is able to work, making one adventure after the next in rapid succession.

Democracy exists in this universe, and Jax is right. Democracy sucks. But it does also show that Caine might be able to do more malicious things to all the Circus members if he so desires.

The disappearing NPC is funny as hell, love how he shows up TWICE for a two separate gags and they both land PERFECTLY.

The rest of the NPCs are... eh. Don't care for the evil team, though it's likely intentional that Goose made them very cringeworthy.

So overall, while Episode 5 has some great high highs (Character development) it also has some serious low lows (Other people except Pomni treating Jax badly in this episode)

And because of that, Episode 5 has become my second least favorite Episode out of the whole show so far, ahead of Episode 2. A great episode, but has some difficult parts to sit through on rewatches.

However... before I want to end off this post, I want to speak my mind free for a moment. I have some... choice words... to speak to a good majority of the fandom.

So, allow me to speak further.

Back in October 2024, when I was on the horrific site known as Twitter/X. I made an opinion thread regarding Episode 3, similar to this post you are seeing right now.

In that thread, I had some opinions regarding how Jax and Ragatha were handled in the episode. Unfortunately, I worded this poorly which led to some people sending some criticism. While I do still stand with what I said in the thread, I do apologize for the poor wording I used in the thread regarding these two characters. I have since learned from this mistake and improved. That wasn't the problem however, the main problem was what followed afterwards.

I was harassed. This made me leave Twitter/X altogether.

Now... why am I telling you this? Well, a lot of people within this fandom seem to lack basic media literacy/comprehension. As if the only way they can receive information is via literal spoon feeding. These same people who mischaracterized characters like Jax and Ragatha, who would blindly follow their opinion and headcanons as if it was fact/canonical in the show, when it in fact was not.

And now, with the release of Episode 5, most of the fandom's perceptions are now shattered or completely altered.

So, how did it feel? How did it feel when your perception was shattered? How do you think back now, knowing you may have possibly been someone who harassed people away from this fandom, this wonderful show, simply because people didn't agree with your view of the show?

Ruining someone's life over an online indie animated show.

You psychos...

To anyone who has spoken up to the fandom about these problems and continue to stand strong.

Please continue to be the shining beacons of this fandom.

You guys are legends.

Well, that certainly was a way to end a post.

I shall be seeing you all next time. Whenever that may be.

Until then.