#try different combos for different dynamics and different stories

[masterbuilderintern]

HAII HAIII CAN I KNOW MORE AN UR NOSTALGIA AU?!?

HAII HAIIII HAIIIII nostalgia au is mostly reliant on how much i changed lloyd specifically, he's no longer the center of a prophecy (though the rise of the overlord himself is still prophesied) and no longer an elemental kinda?

all his powers are purely based around his dragoni heritage, if he didnt have said heritage he wouldnt have powers at all, really

he also ages VERY SLOWLY but i think he'll end up an adult by SOG anyway

this change causes a lot of stuff to shift around, including the whole kai and morro egotism issue, which is still a problem they both have to get over! just not based around a prophecy, i might have to make a whole other post about that

then theres some canon adjustments in the plot, like the OVERLORD FUCKS OFF FOREVER IM NEVER BRINGING HIM BACK

"so how does rebooted go without the overlord?" um. best example i can think of is Access Denied from Minecraft Story Mode...... pixal's role in the au is so fun to brainstorm, they dont hack her they CONVINCE her to put trust in humanity to work on themselves and to value the complexities of human experiences outside of optimizing themselves

she takes that "protect humanity" directive and pursues it in a much healthier and kind way that doesnt involve stripping them of agency, however she does take it very seriously still so if she thinks you're a threat to humanity she won't kill you but shes going to beat you within an inch of your life and i love her so much

i have multiple drafts of zane's death so im not going to give a solid response to that yet lmaooooooo

COLE ALSO STAYS THE LEADER AND THEY. ACKNOWLEDGE IT. ive been brainstorming how to make it more obvious he has control over the team

jay is a girl but she doesnt know it yet lol

morro's whole thang has been super duper changed but that needs its own post, just know possession is like this the whole time

character dynamics are also a bit different! but thats also a long talk because theres a lot of combos to talk about

ill try to make more in-depth posts about everything!!

[a-driftamongopenstars]

alright, i finally finished Dragon Age the Veilguard.

tldr; 3/10. I didn't like it.

If you enjoyed the game and would rather keep enjoying it, please don't click the read more section as what follows is rather critical.

I can finally sit down with my thoughts and put them together in a more cohesive structured review, touching on most things that I wanted to address. I'll start with positives and then focus on the negatives.

Warning, this is VERY long.

Overall, I had a neutral to negative impression of DatV, which got worse by the end of the game. It had some good moments, but they were entirely unexplored and underutilized, suffering from bad writing. While the game itself is rather pretty, it didn't outweigh the dialogues, the stories and the lore butchering that took place.

1. Environment and visuals. 8/10.

I think Veilguard is a very beautiful game. I enjoyed exploring the corners of this new world, the little bits of environment design and storytelling that it had. It felt magical, certain locations were mesmerizing! I couldn't stop staring at the valley where you go to with Harding, the carcass of a titan.

2. Combat. 9/10.

I love flashy combat, I enjoy hack and slash, so until the very end of the game I was having most fun in combat. Yes there was repetitiveness but I tried to combat (hehe) it with changing my abilities and weapons every now and then. I liked combos and I liked timed parries. Enemy tactics got a bit boring by the end, but a few enemies still surprised me and challenged me.

.... That's where positives end. Now on to the negatives.

1. Characters. 2/10.

I don't understand what happened. Almost all the characters in this game were tuned down to a two-dimensional personality, "good" and "bad" - and absolutely no nuance. This happened not only to the villains, but to the different NPCs and even our companions. Their interests got narrowed down to single points of interest (Lucanis and coffee being a prime example to me), their motivations got watered down.

This is not what I expect from a Bioware game. I want to be challenged, I want to dislike characters or approve of their choices. I like characters who are messy and complex and don't always have their shit together.

I like villains who may have other reasons for their choices, other than "ba ha ha, I am so evil and I will do evil things". Where is Alexius who sold himself to the Elder one, just so he could save his beloved son? Where is Samson, forsaken by the Chantry and turned to red lyrium with his addiction? Where is Calpernia, misguided in her choices, just to free the slaves of Tevinter?

Where are the slaves of Tevinter anyway?? That's another topic.

2. Rook. 4/10.

On one hand, I liked playing Rook. They were stoic but with a humorous side, ready to get the job done, compassionate to other people.

The problem is that it's the only Rook you can really play. The protagonist is set in their ways and their dialogues and there is very little to roleplay. Rook really does feel like a gentle manager, trying to get everyone to play along nicely, while providing therapy every now and then, and is excluded from the majority of friendly interactions with other people. That awkward glance everyone gives you after their banter is embarrassing. The way you can third wheel people, the way the game actively offers you to leave a couple of animated conversations between other people - why even include those? Why not make Rook a part of the 'team'?

I did like Rook's dynamic with Solas. They got to see a different side of him, one that's not presented heavily in Inquisition. But like everything else, it felt surface level and underexplored.

3. Story arc. 2/10.

I am left unsatisfied with the story. The pacing threw me off so much nearly every quest, it was hard to stay on track. From "we need to solve this NOW" to "actually, let's all slow down and deal with our problems", the plot's priorities were all over the place. We kept hearing about the gods and their destructive oppression, but we saw surprisingly little of it. Yes, there was the Blight, yes there were Venatori and the Antaam, but they felt more like a video game fodder and dressing rather than a part of the story.

Not to mention that all of those things made little sense to me. Why would the gods align with aforementioned factions? Why would the aforementioned factions align with the elven gods? In-game explanation was not enough for me, it did not make sense. Not with the established lore in the previous games.

I also did not enjoy the ending. While the idea of Solas binding himself to the Veil is good and does make sense, what was suggested as the good ending (inviting Mythal to deal with Solas essentially) actually left me feeling awful. I sent a man, full of regrets and self-loathing, on a lonely journey to figure himself out. That... did not sit right with me at all. Neither did the fact that Northern Thedas, supposedly the point of the gods' attack, gets to live and flourish, while Southern Thedas is dying of starvation and blight. That is UNHINGED to me.

4. Music. 1/10.

There was no music. I remember one track. It was not memorable whatsoever and I can't believe they hired Hans Zimmer to do exactly nothing. Just wow.

5. Lore. ???/10.

And here is the worst offender. What was done with Dragon Age lore is unacceptable. I was doing a head-in-hands every five minutes. This was a slap in the face of so many fans who enjoyed the three prior games and delved into deep, interesting lore of various races, countries, cultures and religions. Veilguard showed a big middle finger to all that.

Everyone has already touched upon the sanitization of different factions. From the suddenly slaveless Tevinter to found family Antivan Crows, everything has been scrubbed clean and made sweet and palatable and "good".

The Dalish clans have been removed from existence as we know them. The Antaam left the Qun? Don't even get me started on that. The Chantry has no influence in this game? Really? The Chantry? The biggest religion in Thedas? The one that we know has heavy presence in the Anderfels, the Black Divine in Tevinter? That Chantry?

I think it really hit me how disrespectful the game is during the quest of saving the Dalish elves, where apparently Elgar'nan's Venatori, uplifted to be his servants and chosen people, were trying to sacrifice them. It's a gross and oddly telling idea that the ancient Elven god turned to a faction of racist mages to sacrifice elven people. I actually can't believe I'm writing this. Just how much are you going to shaft these people? Mindboggling.

There is a lot more I have to say on this specific topic, and I probably will later, but the idea is this.

6. Romances. 2/10.

Whoever said this is a game with romance lied so hard. So hard. The romance was atrocious. From the badly written flirting to the lack of romantic scenes (I romanced Davrin), to the poorly timed and awkward 'final' romance moment... It was atrocious. I felt no connection between Rook and Davrin beyond what game was telling me. My actual companions got more screen time with their romances than me and my LI.

Damn, even Evka and Antoine, my single most beloved NPCs in this game, had more romance going on that my Rook.

---

All in all, Veilguard was a massive let down. After having enjoyed the first 3 games many times over, with multiple playthroughs, I was so excited to see how the story of the Inquisition, of the elves, would end. When I saw the first trailer for VG, I knew I would never get to see it. When I played the game, I was left with disappointment and disdain.

I'm glad there are people who enjoyed this game, genuinely. I'm sure there's something to find for anyone, but it was not for me. Nor was it for many other people. It was a let down. I feel like I'll never get the conclusion I wanted - so I'll have to write my own I guess.

I have more thoughts on this game that I might be sharing, but for now this is the review I wanted to write. Thanks for reading!

[celaenaeiln]

Hey! I just wanted to say that I’m a big fan of your blog and I love your posts about Dick Grayson <3

I must warn that english is not my first lenguage, therefore I apologize for any mistakes that I make.

I’ve seen some posts were you mention some things that I find very interesting, and I would love to have a longer analysis on them. For example, the dynamic between Slade/Deathstroke and Dick/Nightwing, how complex their relationship truly is and some similarities it has with Bruce’s and Dick’s relationship. I would love to read a longer post analyzing this and going into more detail about it, mainly because I’m also kind of new to getting to know much of their story (I’m also kind of new to the whole fandom in general hahah). I also found very interesting something you mentioned in one of your latest posts about Superman’s relationship with Dick, and how you found it a bit more complex than the one he has with Bruce, I would love to read more about that as well! Of course only if you have the time and actually want to do it, I don’t want it to sound as if I’m making any demands hahahah.

Thank you for your time! This is actually my first time asking anything to a blog, so I hope I did alright haha

Hello and THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I would love to talk more about all of this with you!!!

For example, the dynamic between Slade/Deathstroke and Dick/Nightwing, how complex their relationship truly is and some similarities it has with Bruce’s and Dick’s relationship.

Anon's ask is based off this post where I discussed some similarities between Slade and Bruce in terms to their relationship with Dick but it wasn't really in depth.

In some ways I think Dick sees Bruce in Slade. I really don't know if Dick has made the connection between them but I think Dick is drawn to certain traits in Slade's and it subconscious at the least from his dealings with bruce. Meaning, Slade and Bruce have the same relationship with Dick as Dick has with the other. It's veiled because they're on opposite sides of the spectrum, but Dick and Slade's relationship have parallels with Dick and Bruce. We should really break this down lol.

I think the overarching component and similarity to each of their relationships with Dick, is that they see his potential to do better - to be better.

What do I mean by this - I mean that Slade and Bruce are similar in that they both see his potential and try to mold him into someone greater, but in different ways. The end result is that Bruce tests Dick's responsibility and pushes him further but still manipulative, while Slade's approach is more negatively manipulative and he tests Dick’s resilience and ethical boundaries.

So that's the first similarity - the praise and mentorship

Take a look at Slade's interactions with Dick and how he talks to him-

Tales of the Teen Titans Issue #43

He's effusive with his praise -

"You're not a fool, Grayson. Why are you pretending to be?'"

"Tricky brat...gotta admire him though. Took one chance in a million and he got away."

"Funny. Of all the titans, the one without powers proved the hardest."

The way they are to Dick, they are his consciousness. Slade is Dick's evil conscience and Bruce is his angelic conscience. (Their New Titans comics ally-ship was peak)

Deathstroke the Terminator Annual_1

Nightwing (1996) Issue #114

The New Titans (1988) Issue #86

They're nemesis, obviously, but Slade his this kind of tough love teaching going on with Dick. They're on opposite sides but he still makes him better. Dick, the hero he is now, is a consequence of the underlying teaching he learned from Slade. He's as supportive to Dick as he is ready to fight him with makes for a weird combo.

This kind of - I'll let you get your feelings out and then make you settle down - type of mentorship reminds me EXACTLY of Bruce's reaction to the Blockbuster event.

I think Dick is hooked to this type of relationship mainly because of his issues. Dick has canonical abandonment issues -

Now everyone's heard the term but what are abandonment issues?

sounds reallyyyy familiar doesn't it?

Gotham Knights Issue #14

It's very definition is basically the entirety of Dick's monologue in Gotham Knights Issue 14.

Because of his abandonment issues, Dick is a huge people pleaser. There's a comic issue which I can't remember from where he's talking to i think Kori and Kori's like 'you've done enough. you're always there for everyone, it's more than enough. Why can't you be satisfied with that.' and Dick responds along the lines of 'It's ever enough.'

So Dick on a basal level is attracted to figures of authority. He feels both the need to earn praise from them yet this desire wars with his own need to be free of them. He has control issues on top of abandonment issues. There's a comic that I forgot the name of but Dick teams up with members of the Justice League and they trapeze through a jungle under the orders of this corrupt military general. He teams up with Arthur and automatically starts commanding people to which Aquaman tells him off, saying this isn't the Titans. Dick is genuinely sorry and backs off. For a minute. But immediately goes right back into command mode but Arthur lets it go, realizing that Dick's not conscious of it and that his behaviour is automatic. "Too many leaders" he calls the situation in his head.

He's wants his freedom and control and to be acknowledged for that freedom and control just as much as he wants to be acknowledged for following orders/being a good boy.

it's fucked up.

And this all ties back into Dick's relationship with Slade paralleling Dick's relationship with Bruce.

With Bruce, this thought process is very clear and it's okay for him to think about (because he'll never admit it out loud) it because it's his mentor/best friend/father.

Dick can not think this way about Slade because he is not supposed to. Slade is his enemy. But his actions talk more than this words which is why whenever Dick allies Slade, he acts like he does with Bruce. Or atleast, he feels that way.

The Titans (1999) Issue #10

This is the time when their Dick's relationship with Bruce parallelling his with Slade is explicitly written. It's so obvious that even Roy picks up on it. Well, I shouldn't say 'even Roy' because Roy is pretty perceptive actually but the point still stands - it's obvious.

So in brief summary, Bruce and Slade's 'mentorship', if you can call Slade's as much, have parallels in their behavior and attitude towards Dick. And Dick, as a result of his issues, reacts the same way he does to Slade as he does to Bruce. Now this was all Dick's perspective of the situation, but the thing is, Bruce and Slade know Dick. They know him very well which leads to my third point.

The freaking parallel manipulation

It's so crazy how they act towards him. They both try to manipulate him -

Nightwing (2016) Issue #75

Nightwing (1996) Issue #112

But you what's really messed up in their similarity between these two scenes?

It's the fact that both Slade and Bruce are trying to manipulate Dick into coming back or staying with them.

Bruce using using Alfred's death and appealing to Dick's sense of guilt over staying separated from the family in order to coerce dick into coming back into Bruce's fold. This is what Dick means when he says he's sick of the mind games.

Slade, on the other hand, is appealing to Dick's sense of justice and moral righteousness. He's using his daughter in order bring Dick to his side by teasing Dick's need to do good for others. He's coercing Dick by hanging his daughter as bait on a hook and saying 'look. The naive daughter of an evil mercenary. Don't you want to save her?' He's targeting Dick's hero complex and need to protect the vulnerable.

This makes the parallels even more disturbing because both men are well aware of how to play Dick's emotional strings to pull Dick into their sphere and gain control over him.

In summary, there are three overarching components that make Dick and Slade's relationship eerily similar to Dick and Bruce's and vice versa.

With Bruce's relationship, his mentoring is rooted in emotional support but it often borders on manipulation. He sees Dick's potential and pushes him, sometimes excessively. Because of this push-pull relationship with bruce, Dick usually feels torn between adhering to loyalty and fighting for independence. His mindset is just perpetually caught in the middle which makes it so easy for Slade to exploit because Dick’s abandonment and control issues make him crave Bruce's approval while simultaneously feeling stifled by the overbearing nature of their bond.

Slade's relationship with Dick is darker, more manipulative, and rooted in exploitation. Although Slade is sometimes mentor-like, his intentions are really not. But the confusing thing is that's not always true. Sometimes he wants the best for dick and other times he's the worst enemy. He sees Dick's potential and uses it to manipulate him for his own purposes. While Bruce appeals to Dick's guilt, Slade appeals to Dick's sense of justice and heroism.

They both share a deep understanding of Dick’s potential and vulnerabilities. They know exactly how to manipulate him emotionally—Bruce through guilt and family ties, and Slade through exploiting Dick’s need to help others. Just like how both Slade and Bruce act the same way to Dick, Dick reacts the same way to both of them because he needs what they're selling.

Both Slade and Bruce see Dick as a tool to achieve their goals - Bruce shaping him to be a protector and leader, while Slade views him as a weapon in his own fight. Dick’s response to both figures is a reflection of his deep-seated need for approval and his desire for autonomy. This makes his relationships with Bruce and Slade sooo much fun to explore. Treating your enemy like you treat your friend? Hahaha!

I'll answer the Dick and Clark question in another post because I'll definitely exceed the image count per post if I try to answer it in this one.

And thank you again, anon!! you were perfect (*^ ‿ <*)♡

[davekat-sucks]

Daaaamn that last ask I made did numbers! I think I’m gonna do a part 2, the alpha version.

1st, some addendums:

1. I saw that reblog saying people were flanderizing Gamzee as being a religious healer and spiritual person when he’s a juggalo and I just wanna say, okay I did lean in hard on his spiritualism but you gotta remember Alternian juggalos are part of an obscure clown cult and Gamzee was heavily invested in Miracles so I still think he’d make a Yourube channel for spreading his gospel, but doubles as also a music review channel. He 100% is invested on who’s part of the rap game and wants to teach people how to spit bars. His rap game is just so ass people would rather watch his miracle videos instead. Also when he livestreams he does it on his unicycle to keep him “physically and mentally balanced” as he says

2: my headcanon is that everyone is alive and living on Earth C as adults because I can do anything when Lord English is dead.

3: I could not say enough how many combos everyone would interact each other. There’s some underrated dynamics here like Eridan being Rose’s #1 hater and claiming all her evidence and recordings of the horrorterrors summoning black magic can be scientifically proven to be fabricated, and when John steps in and says he knows when to spot a fake and this is 100% real Eridan just calls John a simp.

Now that that’s off of my chest, what is everyone else up to?

Alpha trolls/

Damara: she’s not a Youtuber, her aggression and comments usually get her banned from interacting with her other friends, she more uses Instagram and Pinterest to upload her story. It’s a lot of photos of landscapes, anime girls, and for some reason the interiors of mansions color shifted to be green. Her captions are all in japanese (or East Alternian) and usually vaguepost towards how she’s lost and abandoned, she wants to be alive and someone to be with her and understand what she’s actually saying and that everyone who has wronged her is going to inevitably suffer. Her posts usually get 1-2 likes and they’re from Rufioh and Aranea.

Rufioh: he is an anime news and fandom channel. He is quite the reputable journalist and consistently finds leaks and obscure interviews from creators to share what is coming soon for the anime industry. When he’s not making news he does speculation and powerscaling videos, a lot of “what if” ideas and top 10 lists for hottest anime baddies. How does Rufioh stay so much on top of anime news? You’d have to ask his ex-girlfriend.

Mituna: Guy Who Annoys You On Purpose. Mituna is someone who since has been left by his friends for his declined mental cognition decides to have fun by trying to make new friendships his way, unfortunately that way is his erratic and vulgar way. He likes to go on GTA V servers and Omegle chat rooms and annoy people. He likes to quip jokes, distract or overwhelm people with his rambling and his body language. He most especially likes when it gets quiet and he jumpscares everyone with a loud scream. It makes him laugh his full body suit off.

Kankri: Video Essay Breadtuber. He makes those 2-4 hour long videos stitched together and scripted about different pieces of pop-culture or the current thing on social media through a lens of social justice, but his version of social justice happens to be morally condescending and judgmental. The average title of his essays would be stuff like “Michael Bay’s Transformers, the uncritical advocate for the patriarchy.” And you know these get dislike bombed into hell and back. A surprising theme of many of his video essays is the themes of sex and family dynamics. These essays commonly conclude that the only liberating relationship is lesbian polyamory and men should be celibate to save their sperm for the next generation of people to be raised.

Meulin: 100% a drama channel that covers recent topics, like Penguin0 but Charlie is a cat lady and the video focus is much more on people than online trends. Meulin loves to speculate and draw diagrams on the personalities and types each person has and what other e-celebs are the most compatible with. This discussion goes off topic from the actual events happening and usually becomes a nuisance. The neat thing is all her videos have working subtitles, since she wants deaf people like her to enjoy her content as well!

Porrim: Lifestyle Blogger. Porrim wants to show the world there’s a different way for women to love by and their own way to go, so she bought a farm and raised herself in the homestead. She likes to do many things around the house, like home improvement, cattle handling, cooking and cleaning, and decoration. Her audience is such a mix because her subscriber base is both lesbians that want a pretty lady like her and misogynistic guys who view her as a “tradwife” who is missing a worthy husband. She has the most subscribers out of any channel, reaching 750k subscribers and getting her own Youtube awards.

Latula: She’s quite the gamer. She reviews video games and loves to livestream her playing various Esports titles like League of Legends or Street Fighter. She encourages her subscribers to stay physically fit and active, and her Youtube shorts consist entirely of a Go-Pro recording her doing sick skateboarding tricks. When she’s not recording anything she’s miserable and uses Mituna as an emotional crutch to keep her happy. Kankri also tries to call and text her, but Latula never replies.

Aranea: She loves to talk about things that happened and her opinion on them. She is the Sarah Z of the Homestuck cast. Her focus, similar to Sarah Z is also on fanfiction and fandom culture. Her Youtube channel has about 225k subscribers but her Tumblr blog only has 20k. Such is the rot of this hellsite.

Horuss: Men’s Advice Channel. The twist for Horuss that deviates himself from the likes of fitness YouTubers or pickup artists is he actually strives to be a Beta Male. He makes videos with titles like “don’t let the others get in your head, Beta is Better” or “Smile and keep quiet, you will be rewarded” and goes on and on about being submissive, obedient, and empathetic are actually the good things men should do and Alpha Males get it all wrong and push women away with their misguided masculinity.

Kurloz: he’s the silent type. His videos probably would be more akin to artistic performances or interpretative dancing. Kurloz’s way of dancing, however, is more akin to doing mime things and charades than bodily rhythmic motion and expressionism. In a way, doing mine shit is one of the greatest ways to express one’s self through silent theatre.

Cronus: He’s the nerd. To try and connect with humankind as much as oossible and be humankin he has tried to buy as much content and toys from human media as possible to connect and act like a human. He 100% has a wall of Funko Pops, and he wants to show you them.

Meenah: She’s a Sims Youtuber, but instead of making silly guys from cartoons and TV shows interact with each other, all her episodes involve her ex-friend group and the Alpha kids. She likes to play God, randomly rewarding and punishing her sims in ways she sees fit. She finally has the control she always wanted, and amazingly she has 400k people subscribed to her antics.

Wow the alpha trolls were quite a group, now onto more familiar faces!

Alpha kids/

Jane: baking and food palette channel! Her cooking skills are unrivaled, and she’s even sold a few books on how to cook like her. While her cookbooks are good for generally feeding yourself with delicious recipes, her Youtube channel is more focused on fun and entertaining an audience. Her spin is every plate she makes is treated like a detective story. The ingredients for the recipe are used as clues for a crime scene, and she even uses tape, chalk outlines, and utensils in plastic bags as props for her investigation. Every crime is solved when the culprit is revealed to be the completed dish and the crimes they commit vary from wanting to not be eaten, or first degree homicide against multiple minors (don’t worry the minors in this case are chicken eggs)

Roxy: Genetics and Cat videos. Roxy is a cat breeder Youtuber that wants to show you how to make a cat even without a mate, and she does this through the wonders of ectobiology! She has tips and tricks for how to set up your ectobiology machine, how to track your cat through space and time. How paradox clones are made and when you can retrieve your cat at the right time, and most importantly, how to store freak clones of your favorite pet. Dave has gone on her channel to explain and show how animals are preserved in resin (yeah remember that’s a thing Dave liked to do? Reread his introduction pages back on Act 2)

Dirk: Animation and Story channel. Trying to pick up off of Dave Strider’s work on Sweet Bri and Hella Jeff, Dirk has took it on his own to create the next generation of incredible irony. He has made a 134 episode comic series about Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff coming across a portal to a parallel universe where they meet their bizarro twins, Sweet Jeff and Hella Bro. The webseries has it all, a simple start full of lighthearted shitposting and comedy evolving into a metanarrative about the nature of humanity, the struggles between stoicism and the desire to be loved and vulnerable to others, a Geromy redemption arc and a plot thread involving the Mane Six from My Little Pony becoming REAL. It’s considered the greatest work of Internet culture since Problem Sleuth 2: The case of the Midnight Crew.

Jake: Reaction Channel. Jake does not have a creative bone in his body, and rarely an original thought, but what he absolutely loves to do is support his friends, so he made a reaction channel where he reacts to the videos other people have made. He’s reacted to a lot of content, like all of the Alpha and Beta kids content, Karkat’s rant videos, Equius’s electrical engineering work and even some aloha trolls like Latula and Mituna. It’s the lowest bar for Youtuber content but tbh Jake is a page and it’ll be a while until he reaches his full potential and starts making his true calling: videos of himself shooting things from very far away. He’s a Marksman still getting used to his aim.

Yeeeeah! I did it woooooo all alpha trolls and kids done!

These are so goddamn good!

[haleigh-sloth]

idk if youve written about this before but who do you think will heal like "fix" Rin: Isagi or Sae? (sorry for bad english)

(don't apologize!)

I kind of did

This was not too long ago and I still think feel the way I did when I wrote that.

I still think Rin's issues will be one of the core conflicts later on, seeing as how this entire PXG match was written to develop him further (make him more insane). Dedicating 200 chapters to developing one character means that character's conflicts are important and there will be more shit for that character later on. As far as fixing or helping (I get what you mean) I think it's gonna be a combo of both of them but more than that, Rin pulling himself together. Mostly because that's the pattern in Blue Lock so far. Nobody really discloses their baggage with anyone, the only one to do that was Bachira and that's because of how his relationship with Isagi is (very different from the other dynamics in the manga) and how Bachira just is as a person (very open about everything, esp w/ Isagi).

Bachira*, Chigiri, Barou, Nagi, Hiori, Yukimiya, Kaiser--> all of these people were "helped" by Isagi, but Isagi didn't do anything. He reached out to them to get them to collaborate and win matches. He was either met with resistance (Barou, Chigiri, Yuki) or willingness to make it work (Nagi, Kaiser**). Each time the outcome is the same though. Chigiri remembered why soccer was fun, so he jumped back in, Nagi realized what it's like to actually feel fired up about something, anything, Barou realized he can't just be The Way That He Is and win matches/be useful in matches/be a part of the team and given the opportunity/chance to score for the team. Hiori and Yukimiya found inspiration just playing with Isagi, Hiori moved past the pressure his awful parents put on him and found his own personal reason to play, Yuki and Isagi had a couple of Bad Moments and it worked out because they're both willing to admit mistakes and learn and change.

*Again, Bachira's situation was quite different from the rest, so we won't dive into his stuff here **Kaiser is unreliable and this comes with a grain of salt and that is an entire other post in itself, but the point still stands

Soooo moving back to Rin...I expect him to follow the same pattern. When you compare Rin's reaction to Isagi just PLAYING SOCCER and literally EVERYONE ELSE'S REACTION to Isagi just PLAYING SOCCER it's really wild.

Everyone else:

Rin:

Even fucking Kaiser started out acting like Rin and then shifted to feeling like everyone else (Kaiser and his unreliable narrating is a whole other post so I won't get into that here).

Everyone figured their own stuff out on their own terms (Not Kaiser lol). Rin should probably work out the same seeing as how he is seeing the same Isagi as everyone else but having a total 180 reaction. Rin is very much an anomaly though because unlike everyone else in the manga, he's stuck in his emotions and broken heart and can't get past it, and *his issues/narrative conflicts actually involve other characters who participate in the story (Sae). We're never gonna see Hiori face his parents or anything like that, so Rin is clearly a different type of story than everyone else.

*Kaiser and Ness but again, different post

Rin has two obstacles:

Figuring out what Sae was trying to tell him when he dumped him (in a fuck awful way, Sae is an idiot)

And the way he views Isagi

I didn't include "fixing relationship with Sae" as an obstacle because THAT will not happen unless he realizes #1. This story is all about "egos" (ego meaning finding your reason/motivation and not relying on anyone else). Rin always just wanted to be in his brother's shadow and Sae got really tired of that because he knew Rin was capable of more than that, so he dumped him.

Rin loses his shit a little (understandably honestly, really sad), uses his anger as a motivator (still missing the mark, that makes Rin codependent on Sae still), realizes there is finally someone who isn't just one of Rin's stepping stones (how Rin used to view everyone around him, first character flaw we see), and lost his shit a little more. Decided that beating Isagi was his next goal, which setting more reachable goals like that is good (it's what Isagi did with Kaiser), but because Rin has so many other unresolved issues he wasn't able to be normal about it and he let Isagi send him into a spiral/borderline meltdown on the soccer field in the PXG match LOL. Rin placed Isagi in the same playing field as his brother, literally compared the two saying he needs someone who makes him suffer in order to play to his fullest potential.

I don't think I need to explain why that thought process is completely fucked up lol. Sae legitimately hurt Rin. Isagi did nothing to him, so this comparison is evident of how desperate Rin is to keep finding a reason to play (his own ego).

I think the order of events for Rin has to be:

Get over this weird fixation on Isagi. Shift from letting Isagi ruin his life to letting Isagi inspire him like everyone else. View Isagi as someone to fight alongside and compete against without escalating into a mental breakdown lol.

Realize why he's playing soccer---> he SHOULD come to the conclusion that this sport brings him joy and it's fun. So far we've never see him really enjoy it. That's been the core of several arcs, Chigiri, NAGI especially my god (that's literally been the whole reason anything in blue lock has gone the way it has for Nagi lmao), Hiori. And even Bachira calls him out on it.

If things go that way---> THEN I think Sae will see this change and their relationship can mend itself. Sae just sees Rin as an annoying sibling who wants to ride his brother's ass and annoy him forever being happy with settling for living in a shadow (literally, this was confirmed by Kaneshiro that Sae does not view their little spat the same as Rin does, he thinks Rin is just being annoying, Sae is an idiot lol).

I also think Rin needs friends. He has none. Realizing that people are playing WITH him is started this WHOLE downward spiral in the U20 match, so for me it seems that Rin's endgame should be embracing the 10 other people he's playing with and enjoy it with them, not feel like he has to be alone and do everything himself otherwise he's not good enough. I think Isagi (and Bachira too tbh) will be key to this part of Rin's story.

To answer your question:

Yes. Lol.

[chocolatepot]

OFMD fandom, consider TGCF

Tian Guan Ci Fu is a Chinese light novel with an English translation published by Seven Seas Entertainment as Heaven Official's Blessing. You might not have heard of it, but chances are pretty good that you've heard of Mo Dao Zu Shi, adapted by Tencent into a tv series that aired on Netflix as The Untamed. ("Sexy Times with Wangxian", yes.) That's by the same author, Mo Xiang Tong Xiu!

For roughly the year before OFMD first aired, I was in MXTX fandom, more focused on MDZS than TGCF, although I'd read and liked both. Recently, though, I've come back to TGCF in a big way - doing a full reread - and a number of parallels to OFMD have been jumping out at me, making me think, hey, maybe my friends would like this?

Canon m/m romance that is the emotional backbone for the story

Lots of humor!

Main character from a high status background ...

... who is derided as a laughingstock by his high-falutin' peers and by people on the ground

Love interest who is widely believed to be the most powerful evil being in existence

Despite the obvious aesthetic differences, the MC and LI get each other on a level nobody else does

Also despite appearances, both MC and LI are very much not young and spend a long time alone before they meet

You could even say there's a "slyly complicated butch/femme dynamic" (a phrase from an old article about OFMD that always sticks in my head)

MC's kindness and attention to people considered "worthless" often help solve the problem

Okay, curious? I'll tell you about TGCF in more detail behind the cut.

(I do want to be clear here, I'm stressing these points of similarity but these two canons are not The Same - I'm just saying, if these are aspects of OFMD that really resonated with you, you should think about giving TGCF a try!)

Okay, if you haven't really heard of MXTX novels before, I assume you might not be familiar with a lot of the genre conventions, so I'll step way back. TGCF is xianxia, which is a type of fantasy where people can gain powers and eventually ascend to immortality/godhood; in some xianxia books, the process of gaining or using those powers is the point, but here it's really just background for the story. These powers are gained through "cultivation", which can be a combo of meditation and martial arts practice. People who die are either reincarnated or turn into ghosts, depending on how much resentment they have going on.

The first volume opens with a prologue explaining that Xie Lian was a handsome and popular prince who ascended at seventeen; when his kingdom was beset with war and famine, he came back to help the populace but was unsuccessful. As a result, they burned his temples and stopped worshipping him, and he was also banished from the heavens with his powers cut off. Having to live as a penniless normal person (but still immortal) was some Real Bad Times, and when he ascended again, angrily, he was banished again. This time, he went back down and lived peacefully but in destitution as a wandering busker and scrap collector for several centuries. And then he ascended a third time.

That's where the story picks up! Xie Lian is now a god again and everyone appears to either hate him or think he's incredibly pathetic. He starts off in trouble by accidentally causing a lot of property damage, and to repay it he's sent to solve a mystery: brides in wedding processions that go by a particular mountain are being kidnapped. Part of his investigation involves dressing up as a bride as bait for the "ghost groom", and this is where the reader gets their first sight of Hua Cheng, taking bride!Xie Lian's hand and briefly guiding and protecting him. After the mystery is solved, Xie Lian finds out that the man who seemed very kind and attractive to him is actually a ghost who defeated and destroyed thirty-three gods - he's the ruler of Ghost City, someone everyone is terrified of.

I'm not going to go further into the plot because there are some big central mysteries that are so fun to uncover as you go, and I don't want to deprive you of that! But as the story goes on, Hua Cheng is involved more and more, and the adorable thing that I think will appeal to OFMD fans is the way everyone else is really concerned by AHH OH NO HUA CHENG while Xie Lian always feels safe with him. (And by the same token, Hua Cheng is always impressed with Xie Lian despite the way everyone else thinks he's obviously the crummiest god that could possibly exist.) There's also a lot of resonance with s1 of OFMD in the way that Hua Cheng, let's just say, has been following Xie Lian's ship before arranging a meeting, and also is well aware of his feelings for Xie Lian while the latter is considerably more confused.

The full translation has been pulled from the web as its translator collab'd with Seven Seas, but you can find some other people's translations of the earlier chapters still online via NovelUpdates. If this all sounds interesting to you but you're not sure about buying or can't find it through your library system, I'd recommend checking that out (although be aware that free translations are sometimes ... real bad, just run through Google Translate).

My last point, not really aimed at OFMD fans: I feel like a lot of people who say that canon queer romance can never match up to the fanon surrounding queerbait need to get into BL! It has a very fanfiction sensibility, all the drama and yearning and sex you could want. (Well, this one doesn't actually have sex in it. But in the MDZS extras Wei Wuxian has a canonical non-con kink, so.)

[irresponsibleink]

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is Off to a Great Start, but Who Asked for This?

*No spoilers*

I stayed up to watch the premiere of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (3am on the east coast) and things are off to an interesting start, but I have to ask, who wanted this show? When it was announced, the series was meant to tell Spider-Man’s origin story in the MCU, but as production went on, the producers realized how boxed in they were, so they decided to make it a multiverse story. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man takes place in a universe similar to the sacred timeline, but instead of Tony Stark recruiting Peter, it’s Norman Osborn. 

I understand why this show isn’t in the MCU, and while I admit that the series is taking the character in a different direction, I’m tired of seeing Peter Parker in high school and most fans seem to agree. I love a good superhero/average teen combo, which we see in this series. Peter misses class and skips parties to fight bad guys, and I love that dynamic. I love that Peter can’t tell his teachers why he wasn’t there for the test, or tell his friends why he missed their play, or birthday party. I enjoy that dynamic every time I see it, but it’s not anything that The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008-09), Ultimate Spider-Man (2012-17), or Spider-Man (2017-20) didn’t do. The live-action films also take on these scenarios, and they execute them well for the most part. 

I don’t mean to be a pessimist, because this is a good show, but I can’t write down my thoughts and opinions about it without also expressing my exhaustion at how many times we’ve seen this play out. Marvel Animation should’ve placed Peter in college for this series. It would’ve been way more interesting, especially if they framed it for adults specifically, like Invincible (2021-) or Creature Commandos (2024-). My idea isn’t for them to make Spider-Man unnaturally dark, brooding, or edgy, but it would’ve brought more fans to the table in my opinion. 

Some people say this show should’ve been about Miles Morales and I don’t agree. To me, the Miles-shaped hole in my heart is being filled by the Spider-Verse movies, and if they do a Miles Morales animated series, I believe it should wait until the Spider-Verse movies are over because the Spider-Verse movies are animated I believe the producers would have their work cut out for them trying to create another animated universe that rivals the Spider-Verse films, and because of this I believe that the show would suffer critically for it because everyone would compare it to the Sony rendition. 

But let’s talk about this show and why it’s good, sans spoilers, of course. 

The first thing you notice about this series is the animation and it’s just splendid. The fight scenes look immaculate, the shots of Spider-man swinging around the city are so well done. Episode 2 in particular had some really sweet shots. The voice acting was okay. I can’t decide if Hudson Thames is a good Peter Parker. At times he sounds good, but then it sounds like he’s got phlegm and didn’t bother to clear his voice before recording. The opening title was superb. The music and art together were just perfect. The callbacks to Civil War were also pretty cool. The suit Peter wears feels homemade, more so than the MCU edition and I liked that. I like that he uses some propane-type thing to power his webshooters. 

Peter Parker feels like Peter Parker in this series. He’s stumbling around, chronically late, and missing the bus, it’s all very Peter-coded. On top of that, he’s very empathetic to criminals, something I think was lost in some of the films. The characters have got good chemistry. I like the dynamic between Peter and his friends. There was a certain character whose name I recognized from the comics, but he looked so different and there were some scenes with him that I didn’t fully understand, so I’m curious how his future in the show will play out. I can’t decide if Norman Osborn will be a villain or not. I always got the vibe that he has something going on under the surface, but that could be an intentional choice to make us suspect misdeeds from him. This show wants to subvert our expectations, similar to how the MCU films did. There were more names I recognized and I’m excited to see where they go from here, especially since the series was renewed for a second and third season. 

I like that Marvel Studios is putting effort into this show. There have been plenty of Spider-man shows in recent years, but you could tell they were for children. This series has more attention to detail, it’s an animated superhero show that can be enjoyed by adults, and as I get older that’s something I value more and more. I love to rewatch shows like The Spectacular Spider-Man (2009-09) but something gets lost there as you get older. You can’t enjoy the story as much because it’s written for children, but today’s animators seem to understand the need adults have for these shows. 

I just said that I’m tired of seeing Spider-Man in high school, but this series makes me nostalgic in all the best ways. Watching shows like this makes me feel like a kid again, and in recent times I value that experience so much. Listening to the awesome music selection as Spidey swings through the city oddly reminds me of walking to class in the morning, blasting music, and worrying about the math test I had later that day.

Overall, I’m excited to see where this show goes. 

Final grade: B+

Rick Stepp (irresponsibleink@gmail.com)

[ddarker-dreams]

THAT GOJO FIC THOUGH??? an absolute masterpiece and soooo beautifully written. definitely felt super in character for him - equal parts eerie, entitled, and light-hearted? loved loved loved it.

i’m curious (not necessarily a request…unless?) just want to pick your brain about what that relationship between gojo and reader might look like as adults or a few years in the future. does his yandede tendency worsen? does reader ever try to leave or just accept how things are? what, if anything, would anger your interpretation of yan!gojo? how does he keep reader under his thumb for so many years? do others understand what he’s doing and what their relationship truly is? what even is their relationship? haha i’m so sorry i just loved your gojo so much and am foaming at the mouth for any more scraps you may have to offer

THANK YOU VERY MUUUUUUUUUCH there's something about questionable men that turns my pupils into hearts each and every time.

as for your questions, let's see... first and foremost, i've decided that the fic i discussed writing is like the 'baseline' universe with 'it's graduation, isn't it?' being a branching yandere narrative (or AU i guess)?? i came up with a backstory for the darling in IGII and thought it had enough potential to be explored further. so, all this to say that i'm working on the main story right now which will flesh out reader's relationship with shoko, geto, and gojo in particular. this'll give additional context to the relationship gojo and reader have in the yandere fic! for their time in high school, i've decided to split the story into three main arcs, each one taking place during reader's time as a first year, second year, and third year. (i have ideas for post high school-to the present day in when the main events of JJK pick up, but i'll focus on that later).

here's a general overview of the start of the fic. presently, its working title is 'golden girl.'

2005 — reader's first year arc.

takes place primarily from reader's perspective with the occasional shift to omniscient perspective. reader's from another country, so she's unfamiliar with all the politics/bureaucracy in japan's jujutsu scene. in-depth look at her first day at jujutsu tech, her initial impressions of shoko, gojo, and geto. gojo does something that reader views as irresponsible, kickstarting their decades long relationship with reader disliking him 😭

exploring the quintet's dynamic with one another. reader still thinks gojo is annoying, is okay with geto but finds something about him mildly unnerving, gets along best with shoko. gojo has intense 'kindergarden boy pulling the hair of the girl he has a crush on' energy. reader sloooooooowly warms up to him.

reader at this point has a rose-tinted view of jujutsu society. while she isn't ignorant to the reality sorcerers face when going about their jobs, she assumes everyone at the top must get along so everyone can best preserve the public's safety. can't fathom why it'd be any different. as such, the story's tone up until this point has a slice of life-esque vibe.

the first real conflict in this arc comes in the form of an assignment gojo, geto, and reader receive. a zenin sorcerer got whooped on what should've been an easy job, dirtying the family's image. to rectify this, the zenins pester jujutsu tech to send in the heavy artillery (aka gojo and geto) so it looks like the job was so difficult, some of the best sorcerers had to handle it. reader is also requested to join them for reasons that'll be revealed later.

(more under the cut because whewie this got long)

gojo and geto can pretty much see through the petty politics going on. they explain the machinations to reader, who decides to take the assignment serious regardless. gojo in particular is very blasé about the entire thing because one, that big ass ego and two, he's a teen. bad combo.

the assignment itself takes place in an abandoned nursery on the outskirts of nagoya. here, the three encounter the curse 'the caretaker' and its 'little ones.' now it's psychological horror time. gojo's arrogance exacerbated by reader's insistence on following protocol clash bad. the fight ends up not being so simple after all due to the curse's abilities. they eventually realize reader's cursed technique is Suspiciously best suited to work as a counter, but at grave risk and damage to herself. thanks zenins. ultimately, reader pulls it off, but receives heavy injuries in the process. gojo and geto are pissed about this entire thing. character development for the squad that'll play into their themes into adulthood (gojo's wish to upend the higher-ups, geto's disillusionment with jujutsu society, and a secret third thing for reader).

in what will serve as a parallel for post star plasma arc, the three are able to 'overcome' the event enough and grow closer for it. everyone's coping mechanisms kinda sucks but not to the degree it'll suck after the events of post star plasma arc.

reader's like oh boy, that was an eventful first year haha! i sure hope my second year isn't anywhere near as chaotic haha! :)

as for where the narrative would branch into a yandere AU, that'd take place mostly in reader's third year. personally, i think gojo would be a bit of an unhealthy weirdo no matter what in a romantic relationship, but just not to the Full yandere extent. so you'll see him up to some questionable shenanigans even in the main fic.

i apologize, i ended up laser focusing on gojo's relationship with reader so much that i didn't really answer your other questions GJSDKLFS i just feel like the events of the main story will go on to shape yandere and non yandere gojo's behavior with reader enough that without context, it won't make as much sense.

[erisweekofficial]

Another week done! Tonight let's unwind by giving @ceoofyearning all our love 🧡

Check out her Mafia AU fic half algorithm, half deity! It's the perfet combo of smutty and angsty. We're taking notes over here!!

Read on to learn more about Mira's thought's on the Vanserras and what reality show Eris is participating in 👀

What drew you to Eris x OC as opposed to other Eris ships?

The main appeal of Eris x OC/Reader, for me at least, is the creative freedom. With an OC, I can explore different character dynamics and backstories without the constraint of lore or fan expectations. Also, I’m still new to the fandom, and I get a bit anxious about whether I’m interpreting the characters well. Character x OC is closer to my comfort zone and the immersive quality of these stories is a fun little bonus. But I’m also a fan of other ships with Eris, particularly Azris and Neris! I’d definitely love to write for these ships in the future.

How do you interpret Eris's relationships with his family?

There is still a lot we don’t know about Eris and much of his relationship with his family has been left as subtext. I’m definitely no expert and this is just my personal interpretation of their dynamic. I imagine living in that household is a constant balancing act. Beron has been cast in a cruel light, and I suspect he would be an even crueler father. He’s uncompromising, unforgiving, and the only traits he tolerates in his children are those that mirror his own. Eris resents him and fears him, but his father’s approval and being indispensable to Beron are necessary for continued survival. In a culture where sibling rivalry is encouraged and fratricide is expected, it would be near impossible for Eris to build a deep and meaningful relationship with his siblings. Whether they’ve inherited their father’s sadistic tendencies or are just reluctant participants, these siblings can never truly trust each other. They’re all in survival mode. I don’t believe that Eris would hurt any of his siblings unprovoked, but as the eldest living son and prospective heir, he has to maintain their respect - even if that means keeping them at arm's length and constantly keeping himself in check. Despite all that, I suspect Eris has a soft spot for his mother and Lucien. He would try to protect them in his subtle way.

What inspired you to tackle a Mafia AU featuring Eris?

I've always been a big fan of AUs since it gives us a chance to explore our favorite characters outside canon. I feel like Eris, with his cunning and moral ambiguity, would be fun to see in the dark and cutthroat world of a Mafia AU.

If you could cast Eris on a reality tv show, which one would it be and why?

I want to see Eris and Az or Eris and Nesta in The Amazing Race. They’d either beat everyone in record time or end up at each other's throats.

[rubykgrant]

AU where every Freelancer had an armor ability, Beta didn't become a Freelancer (so no Tex agent), and no AI trades? Carolina has Sigma & Speed Boost, York has Delta & Healing Unit, Wyoming has Gamma & Temporal Distortion (or maybe replace with Cloaking), North has Theta & Bubble Shield, South has Omega & Armor Lock, Wash has Eta (fear) & Emp, Maine has Iota (joy) & Autosentry, Connie has Epsilon & Holo-Decoys, and Florida has Xi (Yellow Church, Love+Greed=Desire) & Promethean Vision. Thoughts??

It would be interesting to see how it all would have played-out if they each actually had an AI companion, and it's also a different kind of combo with give Wash and Maine Eta and Iota, then give Connie Epsilon! Maybe since Beta is still an AI, she could also go to a Freelancer (though, I doubt the Director would allow that in any scenario). While everybody enjoys a good "Meta Carolina" scenario, I think if she actually had Sigma from the beginning, they would have come to a different conclusion together about how to "bring back the Alpha", and she may have fought against the other Freelancers at some point, but it wouldn't quite be as the "Meta"... I feel like maybe from Sigma's influence, Carolina would have resented her dad more and wanted to break away from his shadow, while from Carolina's influence, Sigma would want to give the AI a chance to "realize their potential" without being tools, so he still encourages her to steal them from the Freelancers, but instead of holding them in a containment unit/combining together, they each get put into a robot body like Church and Tex, maybe also with memory loss, so now there are just some guys out there who don't know they're illegal AIs.

Connie with Epsilon is VERY cool, if the whole "Allison" incident didn't happen, and Epsilon had a chance to settle down after he was activated, I think they would have an interesting dynamic of not totally trusting each other at first, but without animosity; they're both secretive but have motivations to help others. Epsilon existing as an AI BEFORE we get to know him after Caboose tells him stories about Church is also a whole other concept... like, yeah, he's still That Dude, he's still Church, but "Church" isn't even Church yet! Alpha is still trapped somewhere! He would also have a different dynamic than what we see with Epsilon helping Carolina, etc

South getting Omega kicks-ass, and I think ti would be especially unnerving for everybody else if she DIDN'T fly off the handle in a rage right away. Calm and quiet South is NOT what they're used to. I think internally, she and Omega would rant and rave at each other, but all this venting gives them a chance to burn-out on the anger, so they can recover and move on. They become each other's vindicators, Omega defends South's feelings, and South appreciates his intensity. Ironically, they work so well together, it makes North go into over-protective-brother-mode, and South is just... so DONE dealing with that. This flips into North feeling like the one being "left behind", because he's not sure how to exist side by side with his Twin when she's succeeding and he doesn't need to clean up after her

Wash and Maine having the twin AI might mean they need to work together as partners more often, which would be good for them both (takes some of the pressure off Maine to always push forward on his own and carry all the weight by himself, and allows Wash to grow more confident by helping somebody else). Eta and Iota would also encourage their Freelancers to think about their actions and the end results a little more, meaning they might dip out and escape Project Freelancer on their own (so there would be a whole bit of the other Freelancers thinking they have "betrayed" them, plus Carolina and Sigma are trying to find them for Eta and Iota. sure would be funny if these two guys tried to be inconspicuous and hide in a box canyon in the middle of nowhere haha)

Florida not only having Yellow Church, but also having him during Blood Gulch is hilarious; he might even use this guy instead of Vic, so now Yurch is the one answering the phone calls from both teams, all bored and sarcastic like- "What do you want NOW?". Church talks about how this guy is SUCH a loser and a buzz-kill. Tucker tries to point out that he, uh, kinda sounds EXACTLY like Church? "No he doesn't, I'm way cooler than this a-hole". Yurch is only helpful with Flowers around, the rest of the time he's just snarky (however, he secretly does a lot of stuff to keep everybody from killing each other. he just doesn't want anybody to know he gives a heck)

[brightest-stars-if]

Hello! Just played the new chapter and had to come here to say how much I loved it!!! I got so invested that I just had to replay it trying the different Lux-MC combos, since the changes in dynamic are so interesting! Not only between them, but also with the family. Reading Lux's POV at the end was also great, and I couldn't help but notice and feel sorry for the difference in f and m versions of Lux- the f version being much more acquainted with shame and so. Also the scene with Isolde made me feel so sorry for her! It's just outright awful.

Talking about the family though, I must say I loved their scenes more than I thought I would! Each of them feels distinct, and in the brief interactions we've had so far you can already tell the core aspects of their personality and their relationship with the MC. I particularly liked the scene where a parent comforts MC after a nightmare. Thank you for making family dynamics that are not black or white- they feel complex, just like in real life. MC deliberating whether to be honest bc they know their parents' personality but still wanting comfort was way too real.

As a last note, I like how from so early on our relationship to our "faith" is already being calibrated. There were some options back at the ceremony last chapter, but with the prophecy ritual in this one we really get to mold how devoted (or not) our MC is. It felt immersive.

Thank you for the update and I'm so looking forward to play more!

I'm so glad you liked Chapter 2, anon! And I'm even more glad that you played with multiple Lux-MC combos. I totally get that not everyone is interested in playing with an MC who doesn't match their own gender, or playing with an RO who doesn't fit their sexuality, but I think the variety is worth giving those things a shot.

Good catch with male and female Lux's differing familiarity with shame! I slipped that in as a little tidbit, but it says so much about them as characters, and I'm glad it's being noticed ;). As for Isolde, yeah, she's... absolutely awful. Both to f!Lux, in ways you've seen in the demo so far, and to m!Lux, in ways that haven't been shown yet in the game. She sees far too much of herself in f!Lux especially, and she hates her for it. Which is going to be really fun -- for me, not for poor Lux -- to dig into to as the story goes on.

As for the MC's family, I love writing them a lot! They're such an important part of the MC's life and will continue to be, and so I'm taking extra care to flesh them out as much as possible. Alaric and Eulia are certainly complex people, and their respective traumas can make it difficult to connect with their children. But they are loving, as is seen if the MC decides to confide in them. Complexity for the win!

And lastly in terms of piety, that's a really difficult thing for me to balance in terms of both realism and giving the players breath to calibrate their own level of faith. Because the prophecies are unquestionably real, making the MC a complete atheist isn't possible. But I do try to give the players some leeway in how their MCs view the faith as a whole.

Thanks for playing, and I'm looking forward to writing more 😁

[theside-b]

I went into GG Precinct without any expectations, especially after knowing Austin wouldn't be in it — they avoid any mention of his character by the way, not even a flashback or a cameo of any character associated with him, like they make an effort to erase his presence, we don't even see Wu Ming's apartment so they don't have to address the Mao Mao's picture he keeps. So if you are interest in some sort of sequel to Marry My Dead Body, this ain't it.

As for what the show brings: not much really, it just proves that what made the movie was Austin and Greg combo, here that energy vanishes completely even with the show bringing a crop of new and returning characters. I was baffled by Lin Zi's return, she shows up again as if nothing really happened, the reveal that she was a villain in the movie is the one moment they do address, and make a swift addition of her returning the money she stole in the end, which doesn't nullify the fact that she put all of them at risk and committed treason and sold them out in the end — Wu Ming nearly died due her direct actions multiple times — but somehow despite all of that she is awarded the status of captain of the team (?)

They try to make hers and Wu's dynamic a substitute for what we had on the movie. It fails spectacularly. I couldn't see any comedic nor romantic chemistry between them (theres a very brief moment in which they seem headed towards a flirt but maybe everyone on set noticed how terrible that would be, it's embarrassing to watch, it gets to a point that they barely interact as the show progresses).

Wish I could say the show was at least fun, but it's very uneven through-out all six episodes. With a convoluted serial killer plot that involves different timelines, a Hannibal knock-off, multiple red-herrings and a myriad of side stories that lead nowhere.

[constelationprize]

ROBIN/ELODIE ??????

if this about to be like my eva josten/ad��le moreau scenario i will cry then ask u to please marry me.

i need this more than i need air. u don’t understand. i love u. ur the freaking best. tell me more.

Yeah that one came to me in a vision.

The thing is that like most of my other niche rarepairings I just cannot resist the allure of Narrative Parallels™. Mostly I just realized how similar Elodie and Robin's stories are (in concept) and that they could actually be around the same age (considering Elodie would be around 15-16yo in 2007 and Robin joins the Foxes in 2009 after Kevin graduates, and assuming Robin didn't get held back due to the Horrors, that would put them at around a 1-2 year age difference).

So the basic concept for the AU is that Elodie survives and is rescued by Stuart during TSC and then brought over to the USA to live with Jean and the Trojans. This goes about as well as you would expect, which is to say not at all – she's heavily traumatized, barely speaks English for the first couple years, and is resistant to any kind of help that would result in her having to leave Jean's side. She also at first does not want anything to do with the other Trojans at all because she sees most of them as adults she can't trust and also resents them for monopolizing Jean's time, and none of these college sports players is anywhere near qualified for unpacking All of That.

Elodie and Jean effectively make each other's recovery worse for a long while because they immediately try and fall back to their childhood dynamic, which can no longer work for multiple reasons. But through Betsy Dobson all things are possible and eventually they get to a point where they aren't actively standing in each other's way anymore, though things are still Not Good.

It gets tough again when Jean graduates and they move out of LA, which just uproots what little stability Elodie had again, and he has developed a need to constantly check on her that cannot be good for his now even busier pro player schedule. Also, Elodie is almost 18, and at a point where she should be graduating high school and thinking about her future, which she very much is not doing because until a couple years ago she didn't even HAVE a future so she doesn't really know what to do with it.

They start floating the possibility of getting her into a community college or something in the state Jean's in, but eventually the possibility of having some strings pulled to get her into PSU is brought up, and Elodie latches onto it immediately, mostly because she both feels stifled by Jean's helicopter parenting AND kind of wants to punish him for not actually spending time with her by moving away. Jean doesn't want to let her, but he also doesn't really have a choice, and PSU might be far but at least he knows Elodie will have people there to reach out to if she needs it.

Joke's on Elodie though because going to college to annoy your brother does mean she just conned herself into taking classes and figuring out what to do with her life now and she has to do it while dodging 20 phone calls per hour. Anyway now that she's on PSU she has to learn how to do human person things like making friends. She ends up joining a roller derby team as a combo meeting people-getting exercise-venting anger deal.

Robin, on the other hand, is going through a similar situation where Andrew just graduated, and Neil is in his last year, so she's about to lose her anchors at PSU. Once Neil graduates, she won't have anyone to night practice with anymore, so she also joins the roller derby team to fill in her nights, in a way of trial-running how to maintain some sense of routine and normalcy and maybe make some friends as well.

And that is how the world's saddest most traumatized girls meet. They have no idea who the other really is at first because Elodie doesn't follow exy out of spite and they also don't tell each other their full names because they are very googlable and the team is for both of them a way to finding who they are outside of what happened to them, so they don't want to invite the past in there.

Neil figures it out pretty fast though, since he's been keeping an eye on Elodie, but he tells no one because he thinks it's going to be funny when Andrew and Jean (who absolutely hate each other) discover they're dating (He's right). The basic idea I have is that everyone kind of finds out at the same time when Andrew and Jean play against each other in a nearby city and both Elodie and Robin come to watch and it's a very spiderman pointing meme moment all around.

Getting to truly know each other then is a blessing and a curse because the similarities between their stories are as important as the differences. Elodie would have given everything to have parents that would want her back home and want to protect her and Robin would kill to have her family understand and relate to her trauma the way Jean does. Elodie genuinely cannot understand Robin's guilt over escaping by dooming another girl because she would have actively killed without remorse to break out. Robin doesn't get why Elodie is bitter over having to be rescued when she used to dream about someone finding and saving her. It's a very "grass is always greener on the other side" situation, and they clash a lot, but eventually they work it out.

I'm also thinking of having Robin being conflicted over whether she wants or even is capable of going pro (since as per the EC she technically wasn't good enough to be recruited if not for Andrew's constant endorsement). I'm not sure what Elodie would be majoring in, but that's fine because neither is Elodie. So that's something else they're both dealing with.

That's mostly what I have so far, I'm hoping some day this fic will grow a plot that can hold my attention so I can actually write it.

[muninnhuginn]

Hi Mun!!! I wanted to ask if you have any other kdramas or cdramas you would want to recommend? :0 I still need to catch up with Stranger/Secret Forest, but I’m curious if there are any others I should check out too!

That I do.

Okay so I'm trying to decide how much to factor in enjoyment vs quality here because I have a few shows I really enjoyed but are, um, well, you have to let some stuff pass.

I will mention that my tastes in terms of romancey stuff tends to lean towards non-existent or subtle and so that's largely reflected in my recs. The only exception to this on the list is Flower of Evil. (I didn't intend it but this list doesn't actually have any main BLs/GLs either. A lot of people ship various combos of the main three in MLC and WCL though.)

Shows below cut in no particular order:

Flower of Evil

(modern kdrama)

I wasn't sure how to start with this one so I'll just nab the description from Wikipedia as it's actually fairly accurate here:

Baek Hee-sung is a man who hides his identity and past from his wife Cha Ji-won, a detective. On the surface, they appear to be the perfect family: A loving couple with a beautiful six-year-old daughter who adores her parents. Cha Ji-won and her colleagues begin investigating a series of unexplained murders and she is confronted with the reality that her seemingly perfect husband may be hiding something from her.

I don't want to spoil much about this, but it's very cat-and-mousey. It's evil with the cliffhangers. At one point, it briefly becomes a buddy comedy between a guy and another guy he kept in his basement. And there is one scene where people just sit in a car crying for two minutes. So, like, it has the range? I think of it as a guilty pleasure kinda show personally, but it's probably the closest to Beyond Evil of the shows on this list.

Mysterious Lotus Casebook

(historical cdrama)

Full disclosure: I have only recently finished this and it has somewhat taken over my brain so I can't claim to be in any way unbiased here. Li Lianhua is a lying liar who lies who may or may not be the fallen hero Li Xiangyi (he is). He wants to get by pretending to be a doctor and minding his own business, but unfortunately, the plot is out to get him. And so he, along with Fang Duobing, end up investigating various crimes as Li Lianhua tries to find the body of his former senior to lay him to rest before his own body gives out on him.

My favourite thing about this show is a) Li Lianhua, and b) the dynamic between the main trio. The levels of trolling and identity porn at any one time are through the roof. It's a comedy until it isn't.

Reset

(modern cdrama)

This is the incredibly rare type of show known as a decent *modern* cdrama. It's a timeloop show and is fairly short at 15 episodes. It's about two strangers who are trapped on a bus that keeps exploding and their attempts to uncover why and how it keeps happening. Being a modern cdrama, some of the police stuff can be fairly... heavy-handed, but I think the writers do what they can despite that, and it does use the different bus passengers to explore different societal issues, which is neat.

Overall, it's a bit of a mystery show, a bit of a character drama, and a teensy bit of romance which is for the most part nicely underplayed.

White Cat Legend

(historical cdrama)

This is waaaaaay more down the enjoyment end than quality but I'm having such a good time here. This is originally based off a manhua (I've only read pieces of it myself) but mainly just takes the characters and some story beats and does its own thing. I watched the donghua first and tonally that was an interesting experience in how it raced between funny cat shenanigans and reckoning with the nature of war crimes (though the donghua stuck much closer to the og source overall). But the live action so far is staying firmly silly (I'm midway through so it will shift at some point, I'm sure, just can't see the tonal whiplash being as bad as in the donghua).

Anyway! To explain what the show actually *is*, it follows a guy who has been cursed to become a cat (in the manhua/donghua this means he's like a walking furry but the live action has it more of a werecat/shapeshifter deal which is good because I could not handle that cg 24/7) and his attempts at running investigations as part of the local court. This is not helped by being the only competent guy in the entire place. Still, at least his underlings are *incredibly* entertaining in their failures. So, most of the show is investigating crimes against a backdrop of Li Bing (catto dude) trying to uncover the origins of the curse and why the old court and his father died. There's also a purple dude with whom he has History and an italian vampire. And vice president shangguan, who is one of those rare female characters you get in historical cdramas where the show is actually normal about her existence *without* just entirely brushing over the implications of her being in her position as a woman.

Move to Heaven

(modern kdrama)

This is a genuine rec where I'm not going to say you have to let quality pass or whatever because it's objectively good and doesn't have a high entry barrier. It may be good to watch an episode at a time depending on your mood though rather than trying to marathon it or anything.

This show basically follows the 'move to heaven' team, who are summoned to clear out the belongings of the deceased. Each deceased person has a story associated with them and as part of tidying the belongings away, there's an element of investigating to find out what their story was. It can be a tearjerker at times, but it can also be incredibly sweet. Also, it has a canon autistic character where it actually strikes a really good balance in terms of not infantilising him whilst still having it make sense why he wants help with certain things.

Nirvana in Fire

(historical cdrama)

This is my beloved. My favourite cdrama of all time. But I suspect it may not fit for you if Secret Forest doesn't. Still, I'll mention it and say to look up the diagrams to keep track of all the characters in the early episodes (...yeah, it's that type of show).

Anyway, this show is about a terminally ill man who takes on a secret identity or two as he plots to take revenge/bring justice (depending on who you ask) for the crimes of the past. This is part of the 'lying liar who lies' subgenre. It's much more serious and complicated overall than Mysterious Lotus Casebook despite the superficial similarities, but it does have its lighthearted moments.

Misc. shows that didn't make the list

I'll mention Signal (kdrama) and Kairos (kdrama) because they both have neat time travel mechanics, but with huge stipulations here. Signal is the objectively better one of these two and the male mc in Kairos is unbearable at times but at the same time Kairos has enough good points to keep me watching. The friend trio of female mc (they're just besties frfr) and the villain romance subplot especially. Signal had potential to be amazing, but for me, some of the time travel mechanics fell through and it was almost BBC Sherlockian at times with some of the 'profiling' deductions.

Signal's premise is that there's a walkie talkie that links the past and the present between a current day consultant profiler (with a distrust of the police despite now working for them) and a past police officer who is dead in the present day. It follows various cases between the past and the present that are interlocking with each other, with the overarching mysteries being present day profiler's backstory and past cop's death. I feel like this started out decently, went hit-and-miss, had a few episodes where it was absolutely amazing, and then lost steam somewhat, though the ending hit the main points.

Kairos' premise centres around a mobile phone. When a phone is disconnected, the number ends up being assigned to someone else. So, the two main characters, living a month apart in time, have the same number and thus can communicate with each other. The male mc in the future has recently found out that his wife and daughter have both died and the female mc's mother has gone missing. So they've both got a scenario they need the other person to help them with and as they change things, more new problems keep cropping up. It's a show where the premise is super interesting, but I personally found it a very frustrating watch, not least because of characters making decisions that were in-character, but incredibly stupid and *not* in the entertaining way.

Also, as I didn't include any BLs/GLs, I'll mention that I cannot in good conscience recommend Guardian (cdrama), but it's such fun trash and it has Shen Wei. It's a bit like shows like Torchwood and Buffy in that it's ostensibly modern era but there's magic (sorry, 'aliens') and a team that's meant to be keeping on top of it all led by Zhao Yunlan. He meets Shen Wei and then proceeds to *keep meeting him* at various crime scenes because Shen Wei sucks at this whole low-key deal.

On a similar note, Couple of Mirrors (cdrama) is a republican era GL. The two leads are well-written, but it's basically like two different shows mushed together (a soap and an assassin/cat-and-mouse chase). It has Yan Wei though! It's about a popular writer meeting a photographer (who is also an assassin) and them both discovering that the writer's husband really and truly sucks.

[mapleshaiku]

In Speak No Evil, Tori survives a car crash that kills both her parents, Matt and Amber, which leads to her being claimed by Squall Orphanage. But what if a different combo survived? Here's some scenarios I thought up at work:

Only Matt survives: After suffering so much loss during his young life, Amber and Tori dying at the same time would be the straw that broke the camel's back. He'd become his worst enemy and lose himself in drugs and alcohol, drifting further and further away from any connections he has. Vic would try to contact him, only to fail, causing them to drift apart.

Only Amber survives: She would contemplate suicide, unable to handle the sudden deaths of her husband and child. Vic is more likely than not to dissuade her from killing herself, but the event in which she kills herself would probably be the worst timeline overall. Amber and Vic's dynamic would be similar to before they met Matt, but age and maturity would allow them to work out the events of their youth more properly.

Matt and Tori survive: Vic is nowhere near as close to Matt as she is to Amber, but she still tries to see him and Tori (mainly Tori) whenever she can. Matt would eventually remarry in this scenario, but Tori would have some complex feelings towards whoever he does marry, feeling as if they would be replacing her mom.

Amber and Tori survive: Amber and Vic raise Tori together, only leading them to become more dependent on each other. Amber might eventually remarry once she gets over her grief from Matt's death, but it would take longer than Matt would, and therefore Tori would have less feelings over her remarriage. They would be pretty overprotective, too, resulting in Tori becoming much more rebellious than she normally is. In a mirror of Lady Squall, they may not listen to Tori if she tries to call them out on their behavior.

Matt and Amber survive: The death of their child would force the couple to reexamine their relationship after moving past their grief. They eventually decide it would be better for them to be just friends, allowing them to grow as people. Amber would be the one to start Vic's character growth in this scenario. This would be the best scenario for the adults...but Tori's dead, and that's a travesty in of itself.

All three survive/the car crash never happens: Tori gets two more siblings, at the cost of her parents eventually divorcing. Sometimes, she likes to be at Vic and Adrian's place more than her own home to get away from their constant arguing. She still loves them, but it's unbearable to be with them when they're together.

Tori is still the only one to survive, but her parents don't die immediately: Because Vic is given time to process the accident, she adopts Tori. Vic and Adrian would be pretty good parents that also had the growth from Matt and Amber's deaths, so Tori gets to live a pretty normal life.

All three do not survive: This one is pretty similar to the main timeline, actually, but Tori's absence brings about some small differences. I think elaborating on them would be a spoiler, but just know that they're there. Oh, and my future Splatoon 3 story's epilogue does not happen because Tori is not Agent 3. I'll let you speculate on what that could be.

Now, you may be reading this and think, "don't Matt and Amber have a pretty good relationship?" Well, it may that seem that way for now, but I do implore you to pay attention in the next chapter (chapter 25, aka Interlude II) when it comes out.

When will Chapter 25 come out? I promise I'm working on it, but it's shaping up to be twice the length of the first interlude and therefore the longest chapter by far. I can't say for certain right now, but I do hope to get it and Chapter 26 done in June. No promises, though.

[senespera-ffxiv]

also this is the only time I'm gonna post twice in a row but I finished up my thoughts about dawntrail in my media list so I'm posting them here completely unedited

//spoilers for like all of dawntrail

a more detailed rating is that this is like a 4.7/5. It’s a solid story, if a bit boring and cliche for some of the first half. I do enjoy how clear-cut the story is in terms of thematic content, though, and how through and through it is an exploration of differing cultures and the ways in which you can understand them

The second half was also an interesting continuation of said exploration as it gives you a culture that is in direct opposition to you with ways that are so alien, and yet continues to ask that you understand them while also criticizing the more inhumane effects of those cultural practices

making it about me again but it’s basically just my stance about criticizing China. A lot of the criticism becomes extremely sinophobic because it simply rejects the culture without first trying to understand it. It’s a bit easier for me since I’m deeply steeped in said culture, but I do think it’s possible for someone who isn’t Chinese to criticize China in a non-sinophobic way

Idk just a lot of the way Wuk Lamat and the others handled their reactions to Alexandria felt like a good way to do that to me

Like it’s nowhere close to being as insanely character-driven as shadowbringers and endwalker, nor is it as interestingly politically technical as heavensward, stormblood, and certain parts of endwalker, but it’s still definitely Good. Just not as good in comparison to the rest (and even then I’d rank it above Stormblood lmao I didn’t have any moments where I was actively annoyed at the characters for losing brain cells and shit jksdlfhskldjf)

My ranking for the expacs would be something like this

Shadowbringers > Endwalker > Heavensward ≥ Dawntrail > Stormblood > ARR

Gameplay-wise, though, oh my God this Fucks. This Fucks So Hard. Way better than Endwalker.

I imagine this is kind of what it felt like to play this game back in Stormblood and early Shadowbringers where things were much more complex and messy on the player side, except this time the complex and messy stuff has bled into the normal content boss design and I am enjoying it so goddamn much

(disclaimer: I started playing at the very tail end of shadowbringers so while I still remember some shit like old monk back when it had positionals on all of its buttons, I am mostly A Young'un. I did not have to experience the dreaded TP management, nor have I gone through all the stages of grief with Summoner getting reworked every fucking expansion lmao)

Part of the reason why I love doing EX trials is because at that difficulty level they aren’t afraid to do some just batshit things that would cause you to lose it in normal content

and now it’s bled into normal content hell yes

For reference my two favorite EX mechanics so far are the Biting Halberd combo from Zurvan EX (death puddle under boss → giant cone → baited aoes → tank cleave) and the add phase from Hydaelyn EX (both tanks get an add and have to pull them away from the glowing crystals while party dps’s them, rotate once the glowing crystals are dead)

Like obviously I’m biased cuz I’m a tank and those are largely tank mechanics (cuz yes if you forget to move properly in the Zurvan one as MT you just kill your entire party so I kinda count that as a tank mechanic) but more importantly I like them because of how dynamic the movement is.

And they’re dynamic in different ways, like Zurvan’s is extremely rigid. You will dance in this specific manner (back → tank right, everyone else left) or else you die. Hydaelyn on the other hand can be a bit looser and you have at least a bit of room to do different strategies (ideally it’s a “everyone focus down one crystal at a time” situation but the like three-five times I’ve done the fight the positioning has always been very loose as long as none of the glowing crystals are getting tethered).

And a bunch of fights in Dawntrail are doing stuff like this that feels like a dance

Like the first example I can think of is Ar1/R1/whatever we’re calling it when the boss flings out a sequence of like 8 aoes across tiles before hitting you with an uppercut that sends you flying into the air and in order to not die from said uppercut you need to position yourself so that you land on an uncracked tile

The second iteration of this where it’s the clone that does the uppercut and the main boss is hitting you with line stacks is my favorite because that’s where the amount of stuff you do starts to offset how slow the actual mechanic is to make it feel like you’re in a time-sensitive dance and if you step wrong you’ll fuck things up

Another good example is the final boss The Queen Eternal which just. aughhhh I love that boss. There’s so many fun ideas being thrown around in there lol. You can really tell that Zeromus from the Endwalker patches was intended to be a test run for some of the mechanics in this fight because both occasionally devolve into randomized Chaos as you try your best to just Not Get Hit by aoes can you tell I loved the mechanic when she deploys her drones lmao

LIke okay last thing to yell about but Absolute Authority is literally just a mini Relativity mechanic from E12S/Big Bang from Zeromus but more chaotic and I absolutely loved it

Plus the more chaotic nature of the mechanics in this fight serve a bit of a narrative purpose, especially when you consider how desperate Sphene is at this point in time

Like she doesn’t give a shit about keeping up appearances she will kill you as best as she can, “random bullshit go” included

And both of those mechanics also force you to do more dynamic movement, only now it's typically erratic and panicked compared to the more methodical and freeform dances of Zurvan and Hydaelyn EX respectively

We need more insane shit in the gameplay of the normal mode stuff keep doing it Yoshi-P