#Elite Singles Reviews

[sweetbans29]

Support - CC

Pairing: Caitlin Clark x Reader

Summary: You are an advocate for Caitlin's W transition (based on THIS request)

Warnings: fluff

Word Count: 5.1k

Sweetban Masterlist

AN: The request was very specific and I am going to be honest, I did not follow it to a T but I hope you enjoy!

"Hey CC, you better hurry up the game is starting," Jada yells from the couch. Caitlin taps the microwave in hopes that will speed up the popcorn. It doesn't.

Cait hurridly puts the chocolate chip cookies on a plate, cursing as she keeps burning her hand on the cookie sheet that she just pulled from the oven. She places the last cookie on the plate, grabs the popcorn bag, and scurries to the living room with the other girls.

The team had just finished a summer training session and booked it back to Caitlin's place to watch the game. It was one they all had been talking about for weeks.

"You know one of you could have helped me," Caitlin says passing the popcorn to Jada and placing the plate of cookies on the table. A swarm of hands comes to grab them, leaving 2 on the plate.

"You didn't ask," Jada says like it was a fact, and Caitlin rolls her eyes.

"Sorry, we'll help next time," Kate says as she finishes her cookie.

"Yeah, whatever," Caitlin says as the game tips off.

"CC, my popcorn is burnt," Jada whines as she tries to pick through the burnt pieces.

Caitlin doesn't respond, her eyes glued to the screen as you make your first appearance in 11 months.

You were the first pick in the 2021 draft, there was no question about it. You had led your team to two championships, back to back. There wasn't much left you felt you needed to do at a college level and declared for the draft. The NY Liberty getting first overall pick made the decision a no-brainer.

When you were drafted, you were in the best physical shape of your life. Tired, yes, but more ready than you have ever been for the jump to the W. Getting to NY and starting in training camp confirmed even more that this was the right decision for you. When games started, you realized that the transition was way more than you had expected. The physicality yes, but the mental transition was even harder. You went from a near-perfect season your senior year to losing what felt like every other game.

You were only 7 games into the season when the worst happened. It was during an away game in Minnesota when you went down and you went down hard. The pop in your left knee was something you were trying hard to ignore but the scream you let out was anything but ignorable. When it happened the whole arena went silent as you made your way off the court - only accepting help when you got to the tunnel. After a few scans, you learned you had torn your ACL, officially taking you out of your rookie season.

Caitlin remembers watching the game when it happened. If Cait were honest, she had been watching your game since you entered college. She watched your freshman year as your game immediately translated into a college setting. She watched as they built a team around you your sophomore year, already anticipating playing you when she becomes a Hawkeye. Then your senior year, her freshman year, when your team knocked out hers in the Sweet Sixteen.

It was in Caitlin's freshman year when you had been posted up against her - playing elite defense and causing Cait to have the single worst game in her college career thus far. She went back and reviewed the tape multiple times to see what had caused her to become so shaken. As she watches it, she realizes several things.

First off, you put your head down and do the work. She rarely sees you arguing with the refs when a call doesn't go your way. She actually finds it comical how your teammates go up questioning the ref or trying to explain how what her team did was a foul and you just jogged to the other end of the court.

Second, she noticed how calm you were while playing. You handled the ball like you were playing a pick-up game with some friends. It was mesmerizing to Caitlin. So often she felt like she played all over the place, and if she were to watch herself it was obvious, but when she watched you - you never once seemed jarred.

Third, your vision is similar to hers. She can only assume you see what she sees. Your vision on the court and IQ for the game is one that she hopes to continue working at. As Cait watches you scout out the floor, you don't always go with what she would expect or do herself. It was almost like a game of chess to you. If you saw the defense react a certain way, you would adjust and get them thinking you were going one way when really you would get everyone to shift, waiting until the last second to show your hand. That is what got under Caitlin's skin during the game. It was almost as if you were baiting her and were playing a head game with her. It was most obvious when you were on defense and were able to pick apart her offensive strategy. It was almost like you knew what Caitlin was going to do before she knew it.

The last thing she noticed had nothing to do with the game, and she almost missed it the first four times she watched the tape, but it was the way she caught herself looking at you. Caitlin throughout the whole game was stealing glances of you. She thinks back to the game and feels herself start to blush. She remembers how your cheeks would tint red and how you stood there with your hands on your hips when something was taking too long. She remembers how your team would gravitate to you because she also wanted to. She remembers how after playing a whole game, when you were giving high-fives, you looked over and smiled at her - your eyes looking directly into hers until she finally broke the contact. She realized that not only was she swayed by your game but she took a particularly deep liking to you.

As Caitlin sits with her team watching your first game back, yes she is watching you because it is your comeback game but also because since she has realized she has taken a particular liking to you, she wants to watch you nonstop.

You take the court and isn't the game you want as your first one back but you are back. You are still figuring out how to move on the court with the adjustment of a weaker knee but know that will come with time. To anyone watching, you looking good as new but you know your game is different - so does Caitlin.

You end the game going 12/4/8 with 2 steals and a block. You aren't super happy but you know you are your biggest critic. You also have to remember this is the first game of the season. After the game, you check your phone to see messages from a handful of people congratulating you, responding to them all with some sort of reaction you open Instagram and scroll. Any time you see anything about you, you scroll right past it.

You stop on a post about the winner of the Dawn Staley Award winner. You see it went, for the second time, to Caitlin Clark - a guard out of Iowa. You wrack your brain and remember playing her in college, she is a solid player. It is tough that she has won the award back to back her freshman and sophomore years. You post the achievement to your story with the caption '1-of-1'. You then click on her profile and give her a follow before locking your phone and heading to the post-presser.

Caitlin gets a notification and immediately stands up. When the game ended, the girls didn't move and kept snacking on whatever was in front of them. Cait is the first one to move.

"Woah, are you okay there?" Kate asks grabbing Caitlin's calf. Kate's sitting right next to Caitlin and lost balance when the girl decided to stand up without any sort of notice.

Caitlin didn't know what to say as she just stared at the notification of you following her. She shows Kate.

"Holy shit, there is no way," Kate says looking at her phone. "That is sick."

The other girls are asking what happened and Kate tells them that you followed Caitlin. Cait sits back down and taps on your story only to see a photo of her. She sits there with a stupid smile on her face. You know who she is. You know who Caitlin is. You posted about her winning an award right after you just took the first dub of the season.

Caitlin tries not to let it get to get head considering you are a pro and she still had two (possibly three) more years in college but that is hard to do when the player she is crushing on now knows who she is.

Time flies when you are having fun. At least that is what Caitlin tells herself as she has just played in her last college game. What a time it has been for her. She brought her team to the championship game twice but fell short both times, never being named with a title. She is now headed to the WNBA draft and will likely go first, making her way to Indiana.

The transition is fast and before she knows it, she is moving in to an apartment in Indianapolis and preparing for training camp. When games begin, she feels like she hasn't received a break in what feels like a year. In reality, it has only been six months but the amount of play she has had both in her senior year and entering the W is overwhelming.

The thing is - Caitlin would never outright say she is overwhelmed, rather just swallow it and keep going. She may not say anything but her body language and eyes tell the story.

You on the other hand have started the season out on fire. Your mindset for this year was redemption. Over the last two years, your game wasn't where you had wanted it to be coming out of college and coming back from a major injury but where you are now is a much better place than you were before. The year you came back from injury, your game was anything but great. You had the worst season you had ever had playing, including the very first year you started with the sport. It was downright embarrassing but that is what drove you to be where you are now. It may have taken longer than anyone had expected but you have arrived.

It is a few games in when you are asked about the rookie guard.

"What are your thoughts on Caitlin Clark? She has been struggling in her transition and many people have been comparing it to your start in the W," one reporter asks. You smile and let out a little chuckle.

"You all love to pick apart a player when they're down, don't you," you begin and your media manager is in the back corner giving you a death stare. When it comes to the media, you have never had a problem calling them out. Unlike you on the court where you just put your head down and play, when it comes to how the media depicts players - well that is something you don't stand for.

"You need to give the girl some space to breathe. I feel like every time I open Twitter it is a huge rookie feast and it's not cool. It is like the world has forgotten they just got done playing their asses off in March and now you expect them to come into a league, freshly adapted to a different game," you say and continue before anyone can cut you off. "It was just a few days ago when I saw something circulating about how these rookies are facing a rude awakening and I laughed. I laugh because people are not looking at the whole picture. Looking at her box score is not a fair assessment of her game. I've been able to catch a few of the Fever games and yes, they have room to grow but all of our teams do. Do you all see the way she is running the floor? Have you looked into how many times she touches the ball? Like, come on, her vision of the game is the same as it was in college - she is now, alongside a team, are both learning how to adapt to play with her. You all may not say she is coming in and dominating but just watch - she will have you all stunned by the Olympic break - use that a headline."

You glance back at your media manager and they have they are rubbing their eyes as their head shakes back and forth. You personally don't think you have said anything out of line but you know you'll get an earful for something. And you do but not as badly as you thought you would.

On the other side of things, Caitlin gets out of a game where she went 8/5/9. She got in her head and stayed there. She gets out of her own post-presser to see a link from Jada.

When Caitlin opens it, she sees you with the headline '[Clark] will have everyone stunned by Olympic break'. Caitlin quickly opens the link and watches you talk. A smile can't help but make its way to her face as you call the media out and speak praises about her.

'Just wait until you see this game, if you see this game', Caitlin thinks as she flinches again at the thought of her efficiency this last game. The link is followed by Jada being Jada.

[Jadaaa: Your girl's got your back, think you can work up the nerve to talk to her when you face off in a few weeks?]

Caitlin knows the younger girl is joking but the feeling that swells in the pit of her stomach thinking about talking to you has her feeling sick.

As much as Caitlin doesn't want to think about you, she does. She can't help it. The last time she faced up against you, you handed her the single worst game she has ever played and in her mind, she wants to show you what she's got.

Little to her knowledge, you were also looking forward to your match-up against the rookie. It has been years since you played against her and look forward to seeing how she has grown. Also, to see how you two match up in the W.

The game finally comes, too slowly in Caitlin's eyes but finally here.

You are the first one on the court. It's not unusual for anyone who knows you but when Caitlin walks out, she stops dead in her tracks. She should have known you would be on the court already but she was so used to being the first one out that it never occurred to her that there would be someone else out there with her.

Caitlin makes her way out and begins to warm up herself. She wants to go over and talk to you but chooses to keep stealing glances. Soon enough, the whole team is out doing a shoot around and the opportunity has passed.

The game is about to begin as the teams take the floor. You go over and hug one of Cait's teammates and high-five the others. When you make your way to Caitlin, everything moves in slow motion for the younger girl.

You come up to her, wrapping one of your arms around her waist. You lean in and whisper something only she can hear.

"Have fun today, it's just you and me on the court - forget about everyone else, and let's have some fun." You tell her.

Caitlin smiles and nods as her cheeks heat up from your closeness. You pat her lower back and get positioned.

The game is a battle.

You play like you have been since the beginning of the season. You hit your double-double in the third quarter and are working towards a triple-double, which would be the second one of the season if you get there.

Cait is also playing better than she has yet and you can even see a little smile come out every now and again.

It is in the fourth when the two of you are standing next to each other during one of your team's free throws.

"Having fun?" You ask.

"Actually, I am," she says, surprising herself with her answer.

"It will get more fun, just wait and see. You're getting there C," you say and she smiles.

"I actually want to tha-" Caitlin begins but is cut short when your teammate knocks down both free throws and the ball is back in the Fever's possession.

The fourth quarter finishes and your team had come out on top by just 2 points. The closest game of the season thus far. It was probably the most fun you had in a game since you got to the W.

In the post-presser, you are asked about the rookie guard again.

"Now that you have faced Caitlin firsthand, what are some challenges you see in her game?" a male reporter asks.

You flat-out laugh at the question.

"You're kidding me, right?" You say and you already see your media manager waving her hands in the air to stop whatever it is you are about to say.

"I am tired of you guys hounding her into the ground. She played a tremendous game today - what was it, another double-double for the rookie? What more does she have to do to show you all she is already dominating in the W? This is midway through her first season playing the sport professionally. She is already doing the damn thing. What you all should be asking is how much more capable is she? If she is doing this in her first year, what will she be doing next year? In 2 years? 5? Like come on, she is already playing better than any of you could so I don't know why we are still talking about what she can't do," you say and stand, tired of their stupid questions.

You are on your way out when you add one last thing.

"Caitlin Clark is a force of nature. She is one of one, I said it about her in college and I will say it again with her in the W. She is unlike anyone we have seen before and you should all be more concerned with how high her ceiling is versus how low to the ground she stands."

You walk out and wait for your media manager to rip you another new one. You don't care and just take it.

When you get back to your hotel, you ignore all the things you are tagged in and open Caitlin's profile.

[You: Hey, this may seem out of the blue but I wanted to let you know I am on team Caitlin. You know the media spins things but keep your head down and play your game and they will see. I've been where you are, I know the media is a circus. Feel free to call or text if you need anything]

You follow your first message with a second that contains your number. It was a little bold and your motives are pure, mostly.

No one asked but if they did, you would tell them that you remember playing Caitlin in college. You remember how your one and only match-up was one of the toughest of your college career. You would speak to how you have followed her ever since, catching every game you could when she played. You were just as mesmerized as she was and neither of you had a clue.

Cait gets back to her apartment and falls on her bed. She unlocks her phone for the first time since the game, a rare occasion but she doesn't want anything to do with what the media was saying about her after that game.

Similarly to when you first followed her, she shoots up to a sitting position on her bed. She scans the message a thousand times.

Caitlin, who was just tired is now wide awake and smiling. She cannot believe her favorite player (and crush) has just given her phone number.

Her phone begins to go crazy in an old team group chat.

[Jadaaa: CAITLIN FREAKIN CLARK]

Jada then sends a link to another post-game presser.

[KMoney: Bro, it is your game to lose now. She's pro-Clark]

[Stulke: I'll start planning the wedding!]

[Caitlin: I bet you can't guess who just got her number 🫣]

[Jadaaa: SHUT UP]

[Stulke: Yep, wedding planning in progress]

[KMoney: I call dibs on making a speech]

[Jadaaa: Get in line Kate, I am getting first speech]

[Caitlin: Shut up]

Caitlin debated sending you a message but decided to wait until the morning. When Caitlin wakes up, she shoots you a text.

[C: Hi...I want to say thank you for always defending me. You really don't have to but I appreciate it]

[C: It's Caitlin btw]

[C: Caitlin Clark if that wasn't clear]

Caitlin feels like an idiot after she texts three times in a row. She locks her phone and throws her head into her pillow with a groan when she hears a 'ding'. She pulls her phone up to her face.

[You: I thought you weren't going to message]

[You: It's cute that you felt the need to put your first and last name]

[C: Didn't want to get mixed up with someone else]

[C: I don't know how often you hand out your number]

[You: Not often]

[You: So...who is Caitlin Clark?]

The two of you messaged pretty consistently. Messages turned to phone calls, phone calls turned to Facetimes then before you knew it you both were talking about anything and everything.

Caitlin's season has gotten better as the Fever as a team has grown, winning more games in a stretch than losing.

It is a few games later after a win that Caitlin is sitting in a post-presser with Aliyah. An interviewer asks if Caitlin has seen the clips of you talking about her in her post-pressers.

Caitlin blushes and looks down, trying to hide her rosy cheeks. Aliyah chuckles and nudges the girl who is now covering her uncontrolled smile with a towel.

"Ya...I've seen them," she says as she removes the towel to show her smile. "I think it is pretty cool how she stands up for me. I have been watching her for years now and love her game so it means a lot when she speaks of me with such grace."

"Ya, I've caught CC watching that presser probably five times now," Aliyah says throwing Caitlin to the wolves. Someone's got to do it right?

Caitlin playfully pushes Aliyah.

"Way to out me," Caitlin says and hides her face again.

There aren't many more questions asked and Caitlin feels like she is in the clear. That is until she gets a call from you.

"Hi," she says with a smile. She doesn't know it but you can tell by her tone when she is smiling.

"Five times, five times is a lot C," you tease her.

She is glad you aren't standing in front of her because the blush that had subsided from the presser is fully back. The truth is that she watched it 15+ times now.

"What can I say? I like watching people praise me," she says trying to speak with confidence.

"Isn't that cute," you say.

"And you are the one who is calling me right after I get out of a presser and you are calling me obsessed?" Caitlin asks.

"That's fair, I won't call next time," you say and Caitlin immediately says 'no'. You laugh and she is thankful you can't see how fast her face turned red.

The conversation is light and flirty before she has to go.

"I'll see you at All-Star weekend," you say, and are looking forward to seeing the rookie. It would be another fun match-up with you being on the Olympic team and her being an All-Star.

"I look forward to kicking your ass," she says, the confidence in her voice dominating over the phone.

You laugh and give her some nonsense response. You've learned she wouldn't talk a big game to the public but when it was just the two of you, that's a completely different story. To you, she talks a big game and you let her. You know she has the game to back it up but you also know you have the ability to slow her down and that is exactly what the plan is for your next meeting.

The weekend arrives and the fun begins. You are included in the starting lineup for the Olympic team while Caitlin is in the starting lineup for the All-Stars.

Your eyes meet hers and you smile. She returns it as you walk up to her. You greet her.

"You ready?" You ask as you pinch at her hip. She swats your hand and shakes her head but your hands are persistent.

"Oh I am more than ready," she says trying to hide her smile.

"Why don't we put a little skin in the game," you say as you lean into her.

"I win, I get to take you out," you say and Caitlin feels a heat rise in her.

"And what do I get if I win?" She chokes out.

"Whatever. You. Want," you say. Caitlin smirks.

"You're on," she says as the two of you shake on it.

The two of you go head-to-head in the game. Caitlin plays one of the best games she has in the W so far. You take note of how hard the girl is working but you also put in the work, having quite the game yourself.

In the final minutes, the score is tied. Your teams switch off points as the seconds wind down.

You have control of the ball, trying to set up the play. Caitlin is guarding you - poking her hand in to try to get the ball away from your hands. You turn and use the screen that Stewie sets up for you, stepping back you put up the three. As you come down, Cait gives you a little push causing you to fall to the ground but you just catch sight of the ball bouncing on and then out of the rim.

Caitlin then proceeds to stand over you, in the heat of the moment, showing you and the crowd that she is tough.

You get to your feet and bump her chest - exchanging a few words.

Someone comes and pushes you back from Cait while they grab Caitlin's arm but you don't back down, bumping Caitlin again.

By now both of your teams have gotten involved and the refs are trying to separate the two of you. As you feel yourself being pulled back you blow Caitlin a kiss.

You both receive techs.

In the final few seconds, all you have to do is not foul and play solid defense which you do, making Caitlin pass it for the final shot that doesn't fall. Team USA taking the victory.

As you celebrate with the team on the court, you also go and hug your opponents from the night making a conscious decision to end with Cait.

When you go in to hug her, you can tell she is moody.

"I'm picking you up at 10 tonight, be ready," you say and wink at her.

As much as Caitlin wanted to win, she couldn't help but be excited.

Once everyone clears out and makes their way back to the hotel, you quickly shower and head to pick Cait up.

When you get to her door and knock, she answers within seconds.

"Someone is a little eager," you joke and she blushes.

"Well it's 10:20 so technically you're late," she says.

You laugh.

"Okay C, come on," you say and lead her on a walk. The two of you talk and she opens up about her experience so far, asking you questions left and right. You answer every single one of them.

"Where are you taking me?" She asks, half expecting the two of you to just stay in her room.

"Patience, we are almost there," you say as you make a turn and Caitlin sees it.

You have brought her to an outdoor court. It is dimly lit and there is a single basketball laying on one side.

You jog to pick up the ball and she walks over to you.

"I just had the best game of my career so far and you want me to play more?" She asks trying to sound annoyed but she isn't annoyed at all.

"Thought we could play a little one-on-one," you say bouncing the ball between your legs before passing it to her. You can tell she is a little skeptical but goes along with it. She begins to bounce the ball and your hand immediately finds her hip, giving it a squeeze like you did before the last game. The same blush as before rose in her cheeks. She works her way around you but your arms wrap around her waist not letting her go anywhere.

"Foul," she yells as you pick her up with her still holding the ball.

"This isn't a normal game babe," you say and she gets the hint. You put her down, still standing right behind her with your hands on her hips. "Take a shot," you whisper in her ear as your lips graze her neck.

Caitlin swallows and puts up the shot missing it.

"That's not fair," she says turning around.

"Better luck next time," you say bringing your hand to graze her cheek. Your eyes go from her eyes down to her lips as you lean in painfully slow.

Caitlin grabs your shirt and anticipates your lips on hers. When they never come, she pouts.

You run to grab the ball and pass it to her again.

"No bucket, no kiss," you say and you can see her demeanor change.

Caitlin locks in.

"Oh it's on," she says as she is ready for the one-on-one action.

AN: Here you go! Let me know what you think! And as always, thank you for your love and support 🤍

[elite-connectionss]

The elite matchmakers at Elite Connections review each client, and you can see why fabulous singles have signed up with them for almost 30 years.

[silviakundera]

How's duke Su different in the books from the show?

Short answer: perhaps we can consider novel!ML as the person drama!ML has liked to imagine he is

Long answer:

original flavor novel Duke Su is not gonna be caught crying a single perfect poignant tear for NOBODY

the man is cold as a chinese celebrity's career who hasn't paid taxes in 10 years

infamously gave a lukewarm review on novel FL's original self, the city's Most Beautiful (3 1/2 stars: attractive enough but no X factor)

(note: novel!FL was a calamitous beauty in Life 1, not the Most Talented. She was super talented but was conforming to convention and hiding her brilliance to fit the role of a proper official's wife)

(this bland review is not actually a point of resentment for FL, whose POV is, 'yeah fair enough, you could call me overrated')

(the Jiang Li's body is not Shockingly Most Beautiful like in Life 1; she doesn't miss being outrageously hot, as it was mostly a nuisance)

Duke Su is still dramatic af and lives for theatre

Still loves fans & gorgeous clothes (the man wears butterflies on his cloak) (he loves beauty so much he only staffs exceptionally attractive servants and has elite gardeners to ensure THE MOST GLORIOUS FLOWERS IN THE DUKE SU MANSION ONLY THE BEST FOR THIS LORD)

(like I really must emphasize how little chill novel!ML has: at one point FL notes that a new resident rented down the street from the Ye family, with hot ass servants and blaring opera non-stop, it's clearly Duke Su for some godforsaken reason)(and she's right)

Still suspecting FL's identity and amused at her bravado

But has zero inclination to ease her pains or preserve her life

Before FL gets to the mines subplot to come rescue her dad, he has been just sipping tea and enjoying the show (despite her fucking up a couple of his plans - he loves a good public play and tbh he is confident enough not to be pressed about some minor deviations)

he doesn't reach out to lend a hand until she FORCES him to act

By loudly exposing to a group of assassins that Duke Su has obviously been plotting a long game in the shadows for years to destabilize and split the court, raising Wang Chang, the Princess, Li family, Jiang family et al to gain power & fight each other and trouble the throne - so Duke Su becomes the 1 most powerful & trusted councilor to the emperor.

(Yes we have a Story of Kunning Palace situation here, where the drama adaption tweaks the ML's motives and aims so he's going in the same direction but is pro-emperor instead of scheming & manipulating for his own personal interests)

Duke Su was ready to literally watch FL be horribly violated & murdered, but then she spilled the tea and he had to drop bodies to destroy the evidence

He's gonna kill her too but like in a quick & polite manner, he's a gentleman

But she was super understanding about the whole situation and so he ended up hearing her out: how about just let me get my revenge first? Very convenient to you, here's a suicide voucher, could we come back to this at a later date? 2 to 3 good plays included. xoxo

Now he's got a voucher for 1 (one) strange teenage girl

Who doesn't appear to be a teenage girl.

She's also completely won over his sidekicks.

This is gonna take a lot of fans.

[yurimother]

'I'm in Love with the Villainess' Anime - Episode 1 Review

An astounding and hilarious first outing for the series with the power to revolutionize Yuri

We are finally here, the long-awaited and much anticipated first episode of Platinum Vision’s I’m in Love with the Villainess anime aired on Tokyo MX and is streaming everywhere outside of Asia with a plethora of dubbing options, including English, on day one on Crunchyroll.

The first outing covers most of the events of the light novel’s first chapter, or the first three chapters of the manga, at a rapid but steady and not overwhelming pace. At this rate, the anime should be able to cover much of the series’ first arc, or the first two out of five books, in a single cour. Perhaps a bit less, depending on which of the story’s various adventures it elects to include. This is an exciting possibility, to be sure, as the story is a character-driven, socially mindful, and expertly written and, despite its fantasy setting, an exceptionally relevant tale of romance, socio-economic inequality, and of course, queerness.

While the first arc of Villainess is a triumph, it would be a shame not to see at least some of the developments from the extra chapters that lead into the second story, like (spoilers for the end of volume 2) Rae and Claire’s wedding and their adopted twin daughters May and Aleah. If we are lucky, perhaps they will appear in the final episode or, dare to dream, a second season (end of spoilers).

Now, onto the show itself. For those who, for whatever reason, have not read Inori’s masterpiece, I’m in Love with the Villainess follows Rae Taylor. A salary worker who dies and is reincarnated as the protagonist of her favorite otome game, Revolution. However, Rae has no interest in any of the game world’s three eligible royal bachelors and has eyes only for the game villainess Claire François. Armed with exceptionally magical ability, Rae sets out determined to secure a happy ending for her beloved Claire against the coming revolution and perhaps win her heart in the process.

Now, the opening of I’m in Love with the Villainess is the series' weakest moment in all mediums, which, considering episode one’s outstanding quality, only highlights just how superb the Yuri masterpiece is as a whole. Even with its need to establish the setting, characters, and premise of the series, the premiere managed to be an excellent introduction and set the bar high with lots of laughs, entertainment, and service between our two leads.

I watched the Japanese audio, and Yu Serizawa and Karin Nanami are fantastic in these roles, with Serizawa playing up Rae’s teasing adoration and borderline masochism at full blast, and Nanami explicitly giving voice to Claire’s arrogance and frustration. She even manages to deliver a perfect Ojou-style laugh to seal the character’s elite status and lean into the show’s use of otome tropes. And having the leads sing the excellent opening and ending themes is just icing on the cake.

Speaking of tropes, while Ironi’s original work is a genre-defying masterpiece that broke the Yuri mold, it is never afraid to play with the genre’s iconography and its otome game setting. Every other scene had another allusion, including to the book’s cover. As always, I am likely overeager to see connections, however intentional they may be, but the academy’s halls harken to otome staples, the bells and strings of the first scene's soundtrack conjured blistering memories of Strawberry Panic (perhaps a sacrilegious comparison to make but I digress), and even an areal shot of the campus was another check mark on my “Scenic Yuri” theory.

Now, as mentioned, I’m in Love with the Villainess has to establish the groundwork here, and narratively, these are the weakest moments, often direct exposition, with a few exceptions like Rae’s conversation with her roommate Mash about maintaining Claire’s attention. The narration is at least accompanied by relevant and creative, if perhaps limited, animation. But to their credit, these moments are succinct, existing only as long as they have to in order to provide the necessary information and get out of the way for what matters most: the characters.

Rae and Claire are front and center from the very get-go, and there is little time wasted in showcasing Rae’s intense bottom energy or establishing Claire’s elitism and bewildered anger towards Rae’s excitement in the face of Claire’s carefully calculated cruelty. It is a montage of silly and fun competitions between the two that had me laughing and smiling all the way through, as the Yuri was present in full force, and gives glimpses at the mutual obsession the women have for each other that will soon blossom into a wonderful romance.

These early story beats have a light tone and focus on the bullying, teasing, and rivalry between Rae and Claire, a dynamic that previously and understandably made a subset of readers somewhat uncomfortable. However, assuming the anime unfolds in a similar manner to the manga and light novels, the narrative will explore meatier, heavier subject matter and a far deeper lesbian romance, all without losing its sense of fun and adventure. The next episode or two will be incredibly telling - as the source material is perhaps the most profound and forthright depictions of LGBTQ identity in Yuri, and that all starts with a pivotal conversation that, if it is included, will be coming up shortly.

Overall, I am incredibly excited for this series. The first episode is everything I had hoped for out of an adaptation of one of my favorite works of all time, save the animation, which is average at best. While there is a lot more to see, and we will have to wait to know if I’m in Love with the Villainess lives up to its incredible potential and source material, I am extremely hopeful. We have one of the funniest, most thoughtful, and queerest works of Yuri transformed into a stunning anime project unlike anything that has come before and offers the chance at not just a new Yuri “gateway” but to continue the work of its source material in revolutionizing the genre.

Ratings: Story – 8 Characters – 10 Art – 5 LGBTQ – We shall see… Sexual Content – 3 Final – 8

I'm in Love with the Villainess is streaming on Crunchyroll with English sub/dub.

Review made possible by Avery Riehl and the rest of the YuriMother Patrons. Support YuriMother on Patreon for early access, exclusive article, and more: patreon.com/yurimother

[sasaranurude]

Okay. I've been playing Tokyo Debunker today, since the release happened to catch me on a day when all I'd planned to do was write fanfiction. I just finished reading the game story prologue (it was longer than expected!), so here's a review type post. If you're reading this post not having seen a single thing about this game: it's a story-based joseimuke gacha mobile game that just released globally today. It's about a girl who suddenly finds herself attending a magic school and mingling with elite, superhuman students known as ghouls. If you look in the tumblr tag for the game you'll see what appears to be a completely different game from 2019 or so: they retooled it completely midway through development, changing just about everything about it due to "escalating competition within the gaming industry."

I'll talk about how this looks like a blatant twst clone at the end.

Starting with the positive: The story is charming. I enjoyed it thoroughly the entire time and am excited to read more. The mix between visual novel segments and motion comics was really nice--it broke things up and added a lot of oomph to the action or atmospheric scenes that visual novels generally lack. I like the art in the comic parts a lot. the live2d in the visual novel parts is... passable. Tone-wise, I think the story was a little bit all over the place and would like to see more of the horror that it opened on, but I didn't mind the comedic direction it went in either. The translation is completely seamless. The characters so far all have unique voices and are just super fun and cute. Of the ones who've had larger roles in the story so far, there's not a single one I dislike. It's all fully voiced in Japanese and the acting is solid. (I don't recognize any voices, and can't seem to find any seiyuu credits, so it seems they're not big names, but they deliver nonetheless.) Kaito in particular I found I was laughing at his lines a ton, both the voicing and the writing.

He's looking for a girlfriend btw. Spreading the word.

The problem is like. The gameplay is the worst dark-pattern microtransaction-riddled bullshit I've ever seen. Hundred passive timers going at all times. Fifty different item-currencies. Trying to get you to spend absurd amounts of real world money at every turn. There's like five different indicators that take you to various real-money shop items that I don't know how to dismiss the indicator, I guess you just have to spend money, wtaf. Bajillion different interlocking systems mean you have zero sense of relative value of all the different item-currencies. I did over the course of the day get enough diamonds for one ten-pull, which I haven't used yet. Buying enough diamonds for a ten-pull costs a bit under $60 (presumably USD, but there's a chance the interface is automatically making that CAD for me--not gonna spend the money to check lmfao), with an SSR rate of 1%. BULLSHIIIIIT.

There's like a goddamn thousand-word essay explaining the dozen different types of character upgrades and equippables and equippables for the equippables!! Bad! Bad game design! That's just overcomplicating bullshit to trick people into thinking they're doing something other than clicking button to make number go up! That is not gameplay!

In terms of the actual gameplay, there is none. The battle system is full auto. There might be teambuilding, but from what I've seen so far, most of that consists of hoping you pull good cards from gacha and then clicking button to make number go up. There's occasional rhythm segments but there's no original music, it's just remixes of public domain classical music lmao. I'd describe the rhythm gameplay as "at least more engaging than twisted wonderland's," which is not a high bar

At least there's a cat in the rhythm bit.

And like, ok, I gotta remark on how derivative it is. Like I mentioned in my post earlier, this game is unabashedly aping twisted wonderland's setting and aesthetic. (That said, most of the stuff it steals from twst is magic school stuff that twst also basically stole from Harry Potter, so...?) However, it isn't exactly like twst: in this one, the characters say fuck a lot and bleed all over the place and do violence. Basically, the tone is a fair bit more adult than twst's kid-friendly vibe. (Not, like, adult adult, and I probably wouldn't even call it dark--it's still rated Teen lol. Just more adult than twst.)

Rather than just being students at magic school, the ghouls also go out into the mundane world to go on missions where they fight and investigate monsters and cryptids. Honestly, the magic school setting feels pretty tacked-on. The things that are enjoyable about this would've been just as enjoyable in about any other setting--you can tell this whole aspect was a late trend-chasing addition, lmao. So, yeah, it's blatantly copying twst to try to steal some players, but... Eh, I found myself not caring that much. Someone more (or less) into twst than me may find it grating.

Character-wise, eh, sure, yeah, they're a bit derivative in that aspect too, but it's a joseimuke game, the characters are always derivative. Thus far the writing & execution has been solid enough that I didn't care if they were tropey. If I were to compare it to something else, I'd say the relationship between the protagonist and the ghouls feels more like that of the sage and wizards in mahoyaku than anything from twst. There's some mystery in exactly what "ghouls" are and their place in this world that has me intrigued and wanting to know more about this setting and how each of the characters feels about it. I have a bad habit of getting my hopes up for stories that put big ideas on the table and then being disappointed when they don't follow through in a way that lives up to my expectations, though.

So, my final verdict: I kind of just hope someone uploads all the story segments right onto youtube so nobody has to deal with the dogshit predatory game to get the genuinely decent story lol. Give it a play just for the story if you have faith in your ability to resist dark patterns. Avoid at all costs if you know you're vulnerable to gacha, microtransactions, or timesinks.

[kittensartswriting]

I watched a book review video, where there was a broader argument that political fantasy is inherently hard to end in a satisfying way and it got me thinking. Because I'm writing a political fantasy myself, I have a lot of thoughts.

I do agree with the argument in some ways. I think many fantasy genre conventions work against political plotlines, so ending it in a satisfying way requires breaking those conventions. So, the argument was that there's broadly three ways for a political fantasy to end and none of them is very satisfying. First, it can end to the protagonists losing. Second, it can end to a protagonist becoming the monarch. And third it can end to the protagonists abolishing monarchy. First is kinda obviously unsatisfying. Second is unsatisfying because it doesn't address the underlying systematic problem about the previous regime, monarchy being inherently unjust, that in a political fantasy should be one of the core themes explored. Third is unsatisfying because establishing democracy after monarchy is in reality a process that takes generations of political struggle, not last act of a book.

There is of course couple of assumptions already in these arguments, which are typical genre conventions. Fantasy governments are usually feudal monarchies and the protagonists are very often royalty or have potential in becoming one, and this is doubly true with political fantasy. I agree with the argument that all those three options are unsatisfying, but I don't think they are the only possible endings, just what usually happens in political fantasies. Specifically I think they are the options when following genre conventions. The genre conventions I'm talking about are not necessarily the assumptions I already mentioned (monarchy and royal protagonist) though changing them can open more possibilities, but rather protagonist with strong character agency, closed endings and story structure with rising action and decisive battle at the climax. Basically I'm talking about the story where saving the world/country rests upon the hero and they defeat the villain which fixes everything.

There's nothing wrong with these genre conventions on their own and they do work very well in a lot of fantasy, but I would argue that they clash with a political story. In reality real political change doesn't come to the scheming or battle between couple of people, it's collective work done for generations. Every person under a political structure has agency (though often power to use that agency is not evenly distributed), which means that politics is in mathematical terms a chaotic system - unpredictable and complex. That's why it's impossible to predict in the moment the political outcomes, but later, when looking at history, the patterns are easy to see. The agency of one person doesn't mean much in grand scheme of things, not even a very powerful person. Their power comes from something, so if they wish to wield that power, they have to uphold it. So if you give the protagonist in a political story a lot of agency, suddenly they are the one single-handedly making the politics and the people of that world become a mass of drones without agency, who don't have ideology, material interests or even opinions. This completely flattens politics and imo any ending will be unsatisfying.

One thing that I find is very much lacking in most political fantasies, is ideology. I think because we are not often taught about the ideological debates and disagreements that led to every political change in history, we often think of ideology as a very modern thing, but it's just inherent part of politics. Every political change starts with ideology, which comes usually long, generations even, before any large political action. It can start with intellectual elites or on grassroots level, but there will always be some thought leaders that define the emerging ideology, which allows it to spread. For ideology to spread the ground needs to be fertile for it. For example instability, economic or otherwise, is very fertile ground for anti-authoritarian ideologies, even more so than injustice and lack of personal freedom. Different classes are also more fertile for different ideologies. Those in power are obviously more open to ideologies that justify their power, while those not in power are more open to ideologies that question the power structures. After ideology has become popular, it still needs power to actually enact change. If it's popular among those with high relative power, that's easy, but if the opposite is true, to gather enough power, they need a popular uprising with power in numbers. That requires much more resolve from each individual, because while they have collective power individually they are still vulnerable, so uprising is personally extremely risky. Which is why a popular uprising needs in addition wide spread desperation.

Still, popular idea and power to enact it is just the beginning. Then starts the long and hard process of actually doing it, which is basically never linear. There were peasant uprisings thorough Middle Ages trying upturn feudal system, but it took centuries for it to actually collapse, in some places in Europe and around the world there were still feudal structures in 1800s. For a major change to really take root, it has to become generally accepted, and when you have just overturned a previous regime, there's obviously still a lot of people who do not accept the new system. There's couple of options, you can go the guillotine route, where you can try to forcibly strip them of their power and/or kill them and their supporters, which most certainly leads to a civil war with uncertain outcomes. Or you can try to work with the old powers, which most certainly leads to them resisting change as much as possible and diluting the changes. It's not really possible to get a clean change from one system to another at one go. It can even get reversed quite quickly. Usually large systemic changes require at least couple of attempts before they stick.

The point of this tangent is to illustrate that if a political story ends neatly tied up, it feels untrue to reality. A revolution, a coup or a reformation is just the beginning of a structural change. The structure of rising action and decisive climax also doesn't fit to how politics work. Winning an army or dethroning a monarch is just a step to the direction of a new regime. The ideological opponents won't just abandon their deeply held beliefs the moment they lose power. It also ties to the character agency, if the protagonist is part of a regime change, they definitely shouldn't be the one coming up with the new regime or it's ideology. There should be already existing popular movement for it before the MC comes into the picture. (Looking at you game of thrones with the last episode going "what if we come up with a new system out of nowhere without any prior ideological discourse on the spot and everyone just agrees?")

But usually strong character agency, closed endings and decisive climax are thought of as basis for a satisfying fantasy story, so how would a political fantasy be more satisfying without them? Firstly I would argue they are not always necessary for a satisfying story, but I will say it's harder to make a story satisfying without them. My solution to this is to have different primary plot than the political plot. By that I mean for the protagonists to have different primary goal from the political struggle and it's pursuit being the primary plot, while the political struggle is the secondary plot. The primary goal should of course be connected to the political goal. I think the best way to handle it is to have that primary goal be the reason why the character has their political goal, so the political struggle is an obstacle in their primary goal. The primary goal should be something personal, more intimate in scale and tied to their character arc. This allows the character to have more agency over the outcome of their primary goal and for their primary plot to have a closed ending even if the political struggle doesn't, and has the added benefit of making the political struggle more personal and concrete. The primary plot could be revenge against a monarch or freeing from a political marriage or a lot of other options that forces the character to enter the political arena.

With a dark political fantasy, the ending also doesn't need to be perfectly happy to be satisfying, in fact in dark fantasy the ending is usually more satisfying as a tragedy or bittersweet ending. It could even have a corruption arc, where we watch the hero turn into a power hungry villain, or the protagonist could be antihero from the beginning. In a story like that it can be a perfectly satisfying tragic ending for them to lose or to get to the throne and be just as terrible as the previous monarch. Related to this, I have seen couple of popular posts that express annoyance at people who complain about fantasy having overwhelmingly monarchies as settings. The argument is often that part of fantasy is exploring a completely different mindset from us and to people who lived under monarchy it was just expected fact of life. I think this is generally compelling argument. For a fantasy adventure to have monarchy that goes without questioning is not some secret monarchist messaging. Same goes for a dark fantasy where there's oppressive monarchy that's not changed by the end. But I think with political fantasy it's different, because the main theme should by definition be about politics and power. So if monarchy (or a different political structure) goes without questioning in a story like that, I think the story is lacking in depth. Or maybe it is secret monarchist propaganda.

Also just to add to what I alluded in beginning, I think there's a lot of potential for interesting and satisfying political fantasy with different political system from monarchy and/or protagonists with lower class status, but I wanted to mainly make the point that I think the issues with political fantasy are mainly in the story structure. I don't think there's anything wrong with monarchies in fantasy, I have written monarchies in fantasy, and will in future too, but I do think that beyond political fantasy too sticking to monarchies by default is a little limiting.

To be clear, these are just my thoughts on this, not any rules that would apply to every story that could be described as political fantasy, definitely not. And a lot of this is about preferences. I would love to hear other toughts too!

[z-nogyrop]

i wrote a review of rosemary a johns' elite, aka one of the single worst books i've ever read, up there with rosemary a johns' one secret rule and rosemary a johns' darling madness. booktok is a plague

[co-mixed]

Magneto was...

X-Men ‘97 has already become sort of a cultural phenomenon. I think it’s fair to say even outside of our cozy comics bubble. But the show has given so much to so many. Not for a single second it shies away from what the X-men are truly about and its social commentary avoids ambiguity. 

But the thought that’s been bugging me for years now is of course “Magneto was right” or rather, the question of whether he indeed was. 

Bear with me, because I’m completely throwing away all plans or structure for this text, it’s not a clever article, it’s just my interpreting process in which I’m dissecting my thoughts on the concept. 

The phrase itself has been reimagined in the show. Val Cooper says this phrase about the fear and hate that humans will never stop experiencing and expressing toward mutants. It’s about them never changing their ways to accommodate others, it’s about human nature. And while we clearly see that it’s not entirely true and some are actively working to change that, at its core, it remains a true and sad reflection of what we see from the most powerful elites that control public opinion and ultimately, the world. 

It’s funny to me that Val, the same person who got in bed with Bastion and Sinister, was the one to spell it out. Both she and Trask state that they never expected a genocidal catastrophe of Genoshan level and frankly, I find it unbelievable. You knew you were dealing with a fanatical maniac. You knew that this is a possibility and you certainly had the same goal. You wanted to do it with clean hands and you didn’t want to see the result. You wanted mutants to be killed in alleys one by one. It’s all the same thing. 

And this actually conveniently brings me to Remender’s X-Force and Dark Beast’s homeworld where the war had been won by mutants and humans were the ones hunted and killed. As soon as the opportunity presented itself, humans made a call to replay the three most famous words uttered by Wanda.

Meanwhile, the most prominent example of how this phrase has been interpreted before is  Quentin Quire. In his young and radicalized view, Magneto was right about both the ends and the means. All he saw was violence and he chose to respond in kind (but not in kindness.) 

The show stepped away from the storyline that played out in the comics (and I absolutely love that btw). But Magneto in that story was not sympathetic. The things we know about him by now are not all flattering, especially the way he turns on his own if they stand in his way and ask him to rethink and reevaluate his position. 

Magneto is often portrayed as a dictator, like most villains. And like most well-written villains, he has a cause that he believes in fanatically which, let’s be honest, after him receiving a backstory, made all the more sense and drove compassion. But he will always go too far. 

But let’s again go back to X-Men ‘97. What happened when Magneto turned off… everything. Everything from life support - off, nuclear plants - off, trains, planes, and ships, all have to travel blindly if at all. Chaos, obviously. But while that brings in casualties, was that his intention? Because simultaneously, he saved thousands if not more of mutants. They were hunted by prime sentinels right that moment and remember, not all mutants are X-men or even have an active fighting power. So while he took away something humans needed desperately, but he saved every mutant in mortal danger. So should he have done that? 

I don’t know how to answer that. If I hadn’t thought about that before (and I’m ashamed to admit that) now, after Ep.9 it’s clear that the Earth can’t handle the blackout, so Magneto simply decided to pick up mutants he likes and sod off on his newly (and I’m pretty sure poorly) built asteroid into his Utopia. All while everyone else is left to rot. 

Not that heroic, huh?

And then there is Charles. Magneto’s way is impossible to review without Charles’s on the other scale pan. And damn, nothing shakes up Charles’s idealism like time and age. We do actually live in an era where his view has become outdated. I recently called Charles a pick-me mutant, I stand by that statement. He wants to be liked and there are so many things he overlooks and ignores. His goal is to have mutants serve for approval. This isn’t equality and this isn’t being proud of who you are. He can live knowing that some of them live in sewers, he accepts that as their choice. Again, I say that a lot, but Charles was very well depicted in X-Men The Dark Phoenix. Regardless of what you think about the movie, they showed Charles in all his glory, risking the lives of his students who hang on his every word, to score some points with humans. 

My only regret is that writers never take it far enough and make it final. Yeah, no I know he died and came back, who hasn’t (what’s up, Jean?) But let’s be real, Charles could easily fully retire and stop attempting to bring his vision to life. It doesn’t work. 

When we look at the comics, the hybrid version Magneto+Charles didn’t exactly work either. And that’s in part due to Moira’s betrayal, some writers’ magic, and the fundamentally incorrect political approach. I already wrote sheets and sheets about that. But it would’ve failed either way because we can’t have nice things i.e. a successful mutant nation won’t go well with bigots. And given clever public opinion manipulation, almost anyone can become a bigot. It won’t be allowed to exist, because they would still be expected to step back and play nice and limit themselves to avoid upsetting anyone. 

Now that I mentioned Moira, I remember the “race traitor” thrown by Magneto at Charles. Honestly, both are guilty of that. Charles for the reasons I stated above and Magneto, for continuously representing mutants as a danger to everyone. 

That’s a lot of words and thoughts that I had to dig through to finally ask the question, was Magneto right? And if he was, what was he right about? Right is really an idealistic concept in and of its own. So I’d say his actions in that moment were justifiable. As much as I want to stand with heroes and condemn him, in a post-Genosha world, I can’t. He asked them to “not make him let them down”  and that’s exactly what they did. Exactly, because some of them knew what they were getting into, I also mentioned that above. 

Is his view of humans right? Yes, without a question. It's awful but it's true. They'd do it again and again. And they will hide their eyes and claim they didn't know.

I will gladly talk about the whole season after the season ends but right now I’m honestly just happy to come to some personal conclusion. I’m not sure I can take this opinion and apply it to the real world because that would require a whole other conversation with myself.

[literary-illuminati]

2024 Book Review #11 – The Maya (10th Edition) by Michael D. Coe and Stephen Houston

My second proper history book of the year, and significantly better than the first! This existed on the happy intersection of ‘the r/AskHistorian’s big list of recommenced works on Goodreads’ and ‘stuff my public library inexplicably has a copy of’. It’s dense and more than a bit dry reading, enough that I read it over the course of a week as a side-dish to more digestible fiction. Still, fascinating read, and a book that left more far better informed about the subject than when I started it.

The book is more or less what it says on the tin – a survey of the history of the Maya (or at least the current state of what’s known about it). The book opens with an explanation of the Maya language family, the relevant geography, the characteristics of the high- and lowlands, and the division into northern, central and southern area the field seems to use generally. The better part of it is then arranged chronologically, beginning with the Archaic Period, through the Pre-Classic and Classic, then then Collapse and the Post-Classic. The Spanish Conquest and history since gets a very abbreviated epilogue, ending with a few micro-anthropologies of different contemporary villages and then a five-page travellers’ guide to the most important sites and how to access them.

It’s all, as I said, quite dense – the sort of book where every paragraph adds at least one new important fact and very little time is spent on repetition or review. Combined with the usually very dry, expository tone, it feels much more like a textbook to be read with a lecturer or group to break down and dig into each section than something that was really written to be read alone and for pleasure. Which you know, makes sense, given that this is the tenth edition of a book originally written several decades before I was born.

Now, I say this is a history book, but that’s honestly a bit of a kludge – better to say it’s an archaeology book or, failing that, about anthropology and historiography. There is very little narativizing, and it is very much told from the point of view of the present. That is, the sections are organized chronologically, but within them the unit of analysis is the archaeological site, with every supposition explained as emerging from the analysis of some ruin or artifact or fragment of text. Far more time is spent on the architecture and layout of Mayan cities than the people who actually lived within them, simply because the author’s have so much more to say about them.

It’s only really in the chapters on the Classic (and, to a much lesser extent, post-classic) periods that the book goes from theorizing about building and pottery styles to speaking more confidently about royal courts and high politics and dynastic grandeur, and above all the attempts to give specific particular people a sense of personality and personal biographies that you generally expect out of a pop history book. Which does make sense, given that those are the only periods where we really have enough textual evidence to confidently name and ascribe significance to any particular people – overwhelmingly dynasts and war-leaders, because of course those are the (almost invariably) men who constructed stelae and covered the walls of temples with testaments of their own greatness.

This means that you do get more of a look into nuts and bolts of knowledge production that you do in most histories – a passage about the development of chocolate drinks as elite consumption is framed with the discovery of cocoa residue on preclassic ceramic vessels, one about human sacrifice by the discovery of skeletal remains in cenotes near major architectural sites, that sort of thing. Similarly, just about every single discovery or theory is credited to one or a few specific academics who initially made it. Which will be either incredibly interesting or the dullest thing in the world, depending on one’s tastes.

The text is mostly incredibly dry and expository in tone, which makes the points where a real sense of personality and subjective opinion leaks through interesting. And endearing, at least to me, but I just find there to be something instantly likeable about the sort of academic myopia which considers human sacrifice and mass famine from the point of view of the universe but is roused to passionate rage by suburban sprawl building over unexamined archaeological sites.

I knew little enough about the specifics of Maya civilization going into this that just relaying everything that struck me reading this would turn this review into a novella. But the way that lowland urbanization and agriculture were based around, not rivers like just about every other culture I’ve read on, but cenotes (and artificially constructed simulacra thereof) in the limestone to capture enough rainwater to last through the dry season was just fascinating. The fact that, the region’s reputation for inexhaustible lushness notwithstanding, the soil the Maya relied upon was very thin and in most cases totally degraded after just a few years of agriculture as well. (Speaking of, the theorizing about how diet changed over the ages and how this related to population movements and density was just fascinating).

The book really wasn’t that interested in the specifics of mythology or divine pantheons beyond how they showed up on engravings and ornamentation – there’s no bestiary of gods or anything – but there’s enough of that ornamentation for it to be a recurring topic anyway. I admit I still find the fact that there’s this great primordial pre-classic god-monster which in the modern era is just called ‘Principle Bird Deity’ deeply amusing.

The book is deeply interested in the Maya calendar and time-keeping. Along with the monumental architecture it’s pretty clearly the thing that the authors find most impressive and awe-inspiring about Classical Mayan culture. There’s enough time dedicated to explaining it that I even pretty much understood how the different counts and levels of timekeeping interacted by the end of the book.

One beat the book kept coming back to (which I admit suits my biases quite well) is that there’s just no sense in the Maya were ever isolated or pristine. Cultural influence coming down from the Valley of Mexico waxed and waned, but on some level it was constant – Mesoamerica was a coherent cultural unit, and the similarities in philosophy and culture (not to mention material goods) between cultures within it are too blatant to ignore. The book theorizes that the population levels reached in the Yucatan before the Spanish Conquest really couldn’t have been supported by local maize agriculture, and instead cities were probably sustained by harvesting and exporting from the salt flats (among the best in the Americas) they controlled access to.

Even beyond trade, there’s several points where ruling dynasties were toppled or installed by armies ranging down from Mexico. The Olmecs and Toltecs make repeated appearances. Even the conquistadors conquest of the Highlands was really only possible because the few hundred Spaniards who got all the credit were marching alongside several thousand indigenous allies.

Speaking of – it’s really only an aside to an epilogue, but given I mostly know the Anglo-American history here, it did kind of strike me how...traditionally imperialist the Spanish were, compared to the more-or-less explicitly genocidal rhetoric I’m used to. If you were an indigenous potentate or ruler enthusiastically selling out to the Spanish Crown was significantly more likely to actually work out for you than trusting a treaty with the US of A, anyway (well, for a while. Smallpox comes for everyone),

Then again, the book does mention that the newly independent Mexican and Central American states in the 19th century were actually significantly worse for the Maya than the Bourbons had been (with things reaching their nadir with the genocidal violence of the 1980s in Guatemala), so maybe that’s it.

Anyway, the book is illustrated, and absolutely chock full of truly beautiful photography and prints on just about every other page. Even if you never actually read it, it would be a great coffee table book.

[ecargmura]

The Mochi Mayhem Epilogue Was Hilarious (Review)

Here it is. The finale of the DLC. The ending to an era. How should we celebrate this milestone? Excuse me? Could you repeat that again? The Chicken Dance? What?

Anyways, this epilogue is bringing in the main story and DLC together by making the Paldea trio meet up with Kieran and Carmine, the DLC characters in one last misadventure to stop the land of Kitakami from doing the chicken—er, Mochi dance by a mysterious Pokemon that looks like a Pecha Berry.

The overall epilogue was very hilarious, but it also got me having a lot of questions. I know that the event starts in Kitakami when you examine the peach plush in Peachy’s. After the little scene that happens, Arven calls because he wants to come over to the player’s house, meaning you have to travel all the way back to Paldea where Nemona and Penny tagged along and then Kieran gives the player a letter, which then makes the Paldean group go back to Kitakami, which is when the event starts happening. I don’t know why the game makes it so that we have to jump through different regions. I know it’s for plot as the Paldean trio didn’t get offers to study abroad. It made me wonder what would’ve happened if they had come along during Teal Mask.

Despite that, Kieran meshes well with the Paldean trio. It sucks that Carmine was possessed throughout the whole story, but it makes sense as she had her fair share of spotlight in the Teal Mask. This is Kieran’s time to shine! I find it hilarious how he was theorized to have been possessed, but when Pecharunt showed up with the evil mochi, Kieran is the only other person aside from the player to not eat the mochi as it hit his forehead and flew off. Ha, take that, theorizers! I wonder what would’ve happened if Nemona had been involved in the Teal Mask DLC—maybe that was why they took the Paldea trio out of the story for the DLC because the story’s issues would’ve resolved fast.

Pecharunt is a weird Pokemon. While it has a connection with the Kitakami lore, it was never really explored. It just showed up and wrecking havoc. While it did give the Loyal Three their toxic chain, it never really had an involvement in Teal Mask until this DLC. The Loyal Three are its retainers, but there were slight hints of its existence sprinkled here and there. I’m also confused on why it decided to wake up and decided to possess everyone with toxic mochi. Is it angry? Chaotic? I’m not sure. Despite that, Pecharunt is no slouch in battle.

What I liked about the DLC is the fact that Kieran joins the player as a Multi Battle partner which is a definite redemption from his behavior in the Indigo Disk DLC. It was nice being able to battle together with him. I was actually surprised that Kieran’s grandparents were trainers too. They were pretty tough. Arven and Penny were challenging too. I do like that in the midst of the double battles, the last match is against Nemona, who is challenged as a single battle. I loved the mix-match of battling styles.

Once you complete the DLC, Nemona, Arven, Penny, Kieran and Carmine can be interacted with in the League Club with the former three being special coaches. I do like that they give you such a bonus afterwards. I feel like it’s a good way to end everything as you are reunited with the three most important characters in the main story followed by the two most important characters in the DLC. What makes Paldea special is the unique varieties of characters that makes it a worthwhile experience.

Argh, it’s going to be hard to say good-bye to these characters because they’re all so good. All the Gym Leaders, Elite Four, teachers, Team Star, students and DLC characters were just so GOOD! Scarlet and Violet legit shot up to my third favorite mainline Pokemon game because of how good the game and DLCs were. What will Pokemon do now after the masterpiece that was SV? If Unova remakes are true, will it live up to SV’s hype? Will it be better than BDSP? Only time will tell. What are your thoughts on this epilogue and the DLCs as a whole?

[pottermeow22]

Sooooo, I just managed to watch the whole of Kalki-2898AD in one sitting today.

And what a masterpiece!!!!!

I know that reviews about the movie have been mixed, (Arshad Warsi, eyes on you, man👀👀👀) but amongst the abundant comedic relief, were to me atleast, many buried little Easter eggs and clues that only someone with a knowledge of the Mahabharata, and someone willing to look with a more thoughtful eye will catch!

Bhairava's whole characterisation is the single most largest example of this! After Ashwathama's first little flashback, the suspicion of Bhairava being Karna began to itch at me, because who else could be a greater warrior than Arjuna on the field of the Kurukshetra battle?

The first similarity I found was this.... The way Bhairava has spent a large portion of his life trying to enter an elite society simply because he believes that the circumstances he was born to are not the determiners of his capacity. The way he almost KNOWS in his heart, that he has a fate larger than this coming for him, yet blinds himself into believing that it is life at the Complex! The first mistake that Karna committed in his life is the same. His first step into adharma, was brought about by his desire to be considered equal amongst the Kshatriya warriors of the Kuru clan. To not be limited by the circumstances of his birth or upbringing as the son of a sarathi....

The second clue to me, was his attachment to Bujji!!! This one is less of a parallel, and more of an indirect clue as to the background Bhairava might have, though. Karna was the son of a charioteer, who was expected to be one too, and strongly disliked the idea of being forced to be one when his interests lay in becoming a warrior that people spoke of even eons later. And at the end of the epic war, it is his chariot again, and the kshatriya king Shalya as his charioteer that pave the way to his death! The first time Ashwathama hurls Bujji and Bhairava loses yet again, this was straight where my mind went.

Then, there are the more subtle character nuances. Karna in his time, was considered a warrior second to none, and yet people often only acknowledged him as an equal to Arjuna. And in one modern iteration of the Mahabharata that I'm not sure where I read it, Krishna says that while Arjuna competes with himself, looking only to better himself, Karna strives to be better than Arjuna. And in that, he holds himself back to Arjuna's level. A clear sign of a hyper competitive person, is that not? And the first time we see any sort of a serious don't mess with me attitude from Bhairava, is when he is losing. When he has lost. And so goes his patience with the wind, his need to be undefeated, to WIN leading him to his following chaotic course of action...

And finally, the centrepoint of Karna's story, his Identity.... Karna's whole story, his cause and consequence, his curse and his many boons, are the result of his birth, and the way it was hidden from him. Bhairava too, seems to have an origin story that he either does not know, or does not remember, instead covering it up with comedic relief sob stories (according to Bujji, not me!!!) of adoption and a Captain father, which Dulquer was sooooooooo cute in his 10 minutes of screentime! Does Bhairava have a Radha too, who brought him up as a bosom son and he refuses to give up her memory to anyone? Why at the end of the movie did he lose recollection of the climactic fight? Has he been cursed with forgetfulness and therefore does not remember the legends of his own story?

Overall Kalki 2898 AD, to those watching with an open mind and a thoughtful eye, is a minefield of curious parallels, and a reversed good vs evil that with more detail from part 2, could make for a blockbuster winning combination!!!!

PS The way he looks at Sumathi/Deepika before picking her up in his arms was so 🤯🥵🤤... And is the baby somehow his and not a result of Project K? Because I do remember Sum-80 saying she was negative after the last attempt at seeding. Curiously endless possibilities!!!!!

[elite-connectionss]

The best dating service always suggests their clients remain cheerful on their first date and not discuss their problems on a first date.

[lemonluvgirl]

The Miner's Wife by MockingJayFlyingFree (Review)

Hello Hunger Games fanfic readers, this week I am reviewing the wonderful and compelling tale of The Miner's Wife written by MockingJayFlyingFree. (Trigger warnings for  Drug abuse, alcohol abuse, forced prostitution, non-con, and mention of abortion.)

I picked this story first to review because it's at the top of Everlark Fic Questions Top Ten Fics by Statistics and because I've read it before so I figured reviewing it would be easier since I was familiar with the story. So with that reasoning explained let's get down to the review.

The story is set in Single Victor AU where Prim was never reaped but Peeta Mellark was. Peeta went on to win the 74th Hunger Games by himself and Katniss stayed in the Seam and married Gale at age 18. She had two children with him before a mine accident killed Gale and left her financially ruined and starving. In a last-ditch effort to feed her children, she turns to prostitution and finds some unlikely help in the form of the two District 12 victors.

One thing I really liked about this story was the setting felt a lot like the original trilogy. There's a certain grimness and desperation that makes it feel very authentic but the stakes are more adult in nature. There is also some extra world-building. We get to see the before-unseen shady dealings of the Capitol Elite who were not as prominent as in the original trilogy, as well as more of the Vicors/Mentors (from the Quarter Quell) who were previously one-dimensional characters in the original trilogy. By changing the timeline when the story takes place, 12 years after the 74th Hunger Games we get a different view of some very familiar characters, and different perspectives on some characters who were never fleshed out in Suzanne's Catching Fire.

Like the original books, the story starts in District 12 which is a microcosm of what is happening to Panem at large.

Peeta Mellark is back home after weeks of mandatory attendance at festivities in the Capitol. The district is dirty and grey, the people struggling even more than usual. There has been another large mine accident and many families have been affected. Including one familiar protagonist.

Katniss is all grown up with a family. She is once again thrust into the role of sole provider and head of her household. Except this time going beyond the fence to hunt won't save her family in time. She is forced to make the hard decision between her family's survival, staying true to her own values, and holding onto her dignity. Once again she chooses to do whatever is necessary to ensure her loved ones can live another day, which echoes back to the part of Katniss' character we saw in the original trilogy on the night before the start of the Hunger Games where Katniss said she couldn't afford to think about the moral quandies of killing other children because she had her sister to consider. The meaning implied is that Katniss' mindset going into the Games was doing whatever it took to win to get back home to her family because they were counting on her.

On the other side of the equation, we have Peeta Mellark. The story actually starts with his point of view and right off the bat we see that this story's version of Peeta Mellark is more in line with the hijacked version we became familiar with in the Mockingjay novel. Peeta is worn out and barely hanging on. It's been over a decade since he won his games. He's been mentoring children and watching them die for years and he's been sold as a prostitute in the Capitol for almost as long. The story delves into his depression and his alcoholism, as well as his dependence on drugs. It also touches on his past suicide attempts and his suicidal ideation. Yet through all of that, his desire to protect the people that are important to him is still there.

We see from the get-go that even though Katniss never had to go into the arena and Peeta made it out alive, they are still fighting a battle for survival mentally and physically every day. They have both been exploited in different ways and are dealing with the lingering effects of trauma. Katniss with the trauma and grief of losing both her father and the father of her children to the same mine that has killed so many Seam people, and Peeta with having to endure the horrors of being a young and desirable victor sought after by the Capitol elite, as well as mentoring a new crop of tributes every year.

The human tragedies playing out in District 12 set the stage for Katniss and Peeta's paths to cross again merge in new ways and evolve from what we saw in Collins' books. The struggles they face may be slightly different from their teenage counterparts in the original trilogy but one thing I think MockingJayFlyingFree does well is stay true to the inner core of these characters. Katniss is still a consummate survivor who in the right circumstances with the right people is won over by compassion and empathy. While Peeta goes through a horrible ordeal of having his humanity stripped away and becoming a ghost of himself, he is brought back by those who understand his pain, and his mission of trying to save the girl he threw bread to when he was eleven.

Their struggle to stay true to themselves, and find freedom and peace under an oppressive totalitarian regime is very inspiring and at moments heartbreaking. While this story does not have a clear-cut happily ever after it does end on a hopeful note and readers walk away with a very authentic and thought-provoking experience.

I enjoyed reading this story immensely and I can completely see why it's on the list of top ten Huger Games fanfiction stories. I highly recommend this fic to readers who enjoy the grittiness and high stakes of the Hunger Games.

[indepthpokemonheadcanons]

Rika Headcanons

Rika was born in Paldea, but her father is Unovan and her mother is Hoennese. She has spent a great deal of her life training in different regions around the world, and the result is that - no matter which language she is speaking - her accent is rather unusual and hard to place. 

Because she is so personable and down to earth, challengers are often surprised to discover what a bad loser Rika is. Since becoming an Elite, she has had to learn to be more gracious, but she is still infamous for turning sullen and petulant when beaten. Despite this, when reflecting on prior battles, her favourites are almost always the ones where she was bested.

Rika uses any pronouns. They have no preference for how they are addressed, but most of their colleagues tend to stick with feminine or neutral terms - aside from Poppy, who has always called Rika ‘uncle’.

Rika is exceedingly unimaginative when naming pokémon. Their beloved clodsire is called ‘Clod’. 

As a teenager, Rika took on the Hoenn League and successfully attained all eight Gym badges, but didn’t make it beyond the first Elite - Sidney, at the time. She lost to him twice, but he took a shine to her and kept in touch to offer some coaching. Even though their type specialisations are very different, Rika’s battle style resembles his in many ways -  blunt, slow paced, and occasionally brutal. While Sidney is evasive and Rika more defensive, they both allow opponents to wear themselves out before striking back, and striking hard. 

Rika swears constantly, and is not very good at curtailing their language even in professional contexts. They make a poor guest on pre-watershed shows. Geeta has had firm words with them about this more than once.

Most of Rika’s pokémon have battled alongside her since childhood - she caught her camerupt and whiscash in Hoenn over ten years ago, and her clodsire is even older. In her annual reviews, the League has pressed her to take on and train a greater variety of pokémon, to give her more flexibility in teambuilding and cover some of the gaps in her offense. She is complying, but half-heartedly. She’d rather just battle with her old buddies.  

Her cooking is atrocious. She often forgets to eat full meals, subsisting on cup noodles and coffee.

Rika loves rotation battles more than any other style, largely due to how unpredictable they can be, but they see very little play outside of Unova. She runs occasional classes at Naranja Academy to introduce students to the basics, but it’s a tough sell for most - rotation battles have a very different rhythm to regular ones, and the initial learning curve is steep. There are particular rules pertaining to how and when you are allowed to rotate and attack, and a whole host of fouls and penalities to memorise. But it trains people in how to change strategies at incredibly short notice, and Rika credits it as the reason she is so adaptable in single battles.  

Rika thinks Larry is the bee’s knees, even if he finds her exhausting. Whenever she goes abroad for tournaments she brings back a funky-looking tie for him as a gift, which he inevitably does not wear.  

[firedragon1321]

Welcome back to Kieran hours! This is Part 2 to a ramble on the DLC (part 1- Teal Mask focus- is here). This is readmored because it spoils all of Teal Mask and Indigo Disk. In which the real villain is actually the player, and Kieran shouldn't have apologized to them. This is a long read so get comfy.

Prelude- The Player and You

So first, I want to define "the player", because the distinction is more important here than in Teal Mask. I also call them some not so nice names, so I don't want to hurt people's feelings by accident. So-

You- the person reading this

The player- the canonical in-game character.

Your interpretation or an OC in that role is not the player

This post kinda sums it up best. Pokemon is a very linear, and your choices and feelings don't match the player's. Which if they don't, you are a good person. Because the player is kind of a dick in this DLC.

I Thought This Was Kieran Hours?

Yes it is. Honestly, he's no angel in this situation. I can't ignore his obsession with beating the player at the exclusion of other people's feelings. The way he treats the rando in his first appearance isn't very kind. But he's a monster the player created, and continues to build upon as the DLC continues.

At the end of the DLC, Kieran apologizes for his actions. The player is not given the choice to apologize for the legions of wrongdoings I am about to describe. There's not even a one-sided dialogue option. Carmine- who verbally abused him throughout Teal Mask- also gets away scot free.

Now let's rack up some crimes.

Teal Mask Review

I covered Teal Mask in part 1, but I'll do a speedrun here.

Carmine spends the entire DLC (and before it) verbally abusing and putting down her brother.

Kieran is the only one at the beginning with sympathy for the ogre/Ogerpon, likely because he feels like an outcast himself.

The player comes on a school trip and befriends him.

At the time Teal Mask was released, it seemed the player was his first real friend (BB Elite Four were not revealed to have previously known him until Indigo Disk- this is important for interpreting the story and character)

The player gets wrapped up in the mystery of Ogerpon. They learn the truth about her from Kieran's grandpa, who tells them- and Carmine- not to tell Kieran.

Despite this, Kieran overhears everything.

The player spends the second half of the DLC with Carmine. Kieran feels he's lost them as a friend.

The player whoops Kieran's ass in every single battle up to the climax. He challenges them once more to see who gets Ogerpon (notably, she wants to go with the player).

The player wins and snatches Ogerpon away right in front of him.

At no point does the player have a chance to properly apologize for any of this, including via giving Kieran Ogerpon (I will discuss "giving him a legendary" in more depth with Terapagos, who is a less defined character and more acceptable imo to "give away").

Feeling abandoned and disgraced, Kieran vows to become "stronger and stronger".

This is- at heart- a misunderstanding. But let's get into Indigo Disk and the player's laundry list of badwrongs.

Indigo Disk Part 1- BB Elite Four

Indigo Disk is split roughly into two halves. Part 1 occurs at Blueberry Academy and involves facing its league. It ends after the championship battle. Part 2 is the return to Area Zero, Terapagos, and the worst of the player's crimes.

Kieran pops in and out throughout Part 1. He's not after Ogerpon anymore. The player is his only concern. He's collected a powerful team to near completely replace his old one. The only returning member is Hydrapple. Recall it used to be Dipplin- a candy apple like the ones shared with the player at the festival in Teal Mask. Now- like the player's friendship- it's festered into a multi headed monster.

After beating the BB Elite Four, the player can challenge Kieran. He's become the Champion after dethroning Drayton. The champion doubles as the head of the league's club. This gives him the power to evict members, which he's seen using upon his reintroduction.

The other members worry about Kieran, who is tearing the club apart. Crispin notes he can't handle the complicated drama, while Lacey used the school's rules as a cover to keep the player out of things. Amarys puts the right to confront Kieran on the line in her battle. It's also implied that Drayton took the player under his wing to force Kieran out of power and to face reality. Even Carmine- the root cause of Kieran's insecurities- has concerns about him. Yet, she never apologizes, and will even go right back to her old ways in Part 2.

All of this comes to a head in the championship battle. The battle is public, and students flock to see it. This means when the player inevitably wins, Kieran is publicly humiliated, shamed, and abandoned. Is it karma? Perhaps a little. But given all the Teal Mask BS, it feels like overkill.

(An aside- it is possible to send Ogerpon against him, and he freaks the fuck out. You can see it in action here.)

This final failure drives Kieran to new heights of madness. He needs more power. A certain crystal turtle might be able to provide.

Indigo Disk Part 2- Area Zero

I'm not going to cover the lead up to Terapagos as it's not really important. But if you talk to Kieran on the way down, all you get is ellipses, urges to hurry, and rambles about catching the legendary Pokemon. All of these point towards the climax- meeting Terapagos.

Upon approaching the crystal, Kieran rushes ahead of the player. He condemns the player for their sins against him. If he can just defeat them, he can finally be at peace.

To me, this isn't about being the stronger Trainer anymore. That ship sailed- if it ever existed- when the player became champion. This is about control in a life where Kieran has none. His sister bullies him, the player offers "friendship" while lying to and humiliating him, and even Ogrepon- who he admired- left him in the dust. In his own mind, he may see the BB League as against him, since his obsession is all-consuming and they want to put a stop to it. He's completely alone by this point. Terapagos doesn't just promise power. It promises control and- with it- hope.

So he's totally justified in yoinking it from the player. They took a legendary before. An eye for an eye.

Another way to look at this scene is that Terapagos doesn't give a shit about the player like Ogerpon did. Yes the camera focuses on them as Terapagos walks towards them. But it just woke up. It could be investigating, or wandering in a random direction. This is my personal headcanon, though the canon is probably that it's drawn to the player.

But it doesn't matter. Whether you agree with my headcanon or not, Kieran only sees Ogerpon 2.0, and by Arceus he's not letting that happen. But when he brings Terapagos into its Stellar Form, the Pokemon loses control, destroys the Master Ball binding it to him, and goes berserk.

I have played these games since 2006. In any other situation, I would say it's a karmic punishment for his previous behavior. I'd say that's the intent here, too. Kieran's intentions weren't pure, so he can't keep Terapagos.

Except he's done nothing to Terapagos except command it in a single battle. He was never abusive towards it, nor any of his other Pokemon. His wrath is 150% on the player, who has wronged him time and time again.

This isn't a punishment for a bad Trainer or evil person. This is the universe kicking Kieran while he's already down. It's no wonder he reverts to beating himself up. Eventually, he musters up the ability to help the player. I can't say "strength" for a boy so defeated.

When Kieran did join my player, I stalled and let his Hydrapple and Dragonite finish the job. I had a Lv. 100 perfect Garchomp with x6 Attack from Swords Dance. The energy shields were down. I could have easily destroyed Terapagos in one hit. But I didn't. I gave Kieran a victory in the only way I could.

There is actually a choice not to catch Terapagos. Out of guilt and curiosity, I chose "don't catch". But doing that makes Kieran admit he can't have Terapagos. It has to be the player. The PokeBall menu appears immediately afterwards. This sickened me to the point I can't even look at my prize.

For that's all Terapagos is. Another trophy. Another bauble. Another thing to take away.

That last cutscene where Kieran owns up to his behavior and apologizes? Pre-rendered. No dialogue options. No "I'm sorry, too". The player just smiles and nods like an idiot. I wanted to smack her.

This is as far as I got in Indigo Disk. There's still something Briar wants to give me. I will likely never see what it is.

It's Been Going On All Along

I spent a lot of time thinking about why Kieran's story has hurt me so much. A Pokemon game has never made me feel so angry and sad before. Ultimately, I decided it's the inability to change the story. I wanted to be a good person, but the game would not allow it. I just took what I could, as in the stall during the Terapagos battle.

Kieran's case is not unique. It just comes with consequences. Player characters have been merrily stealing Pokemon, power, and dreams from NPCs since day one.

Blue doesn't get to be a champion for more than fifteen minutes. Wally's dreams are ruined by the same person who enabled them (I discussed this in-depth in Part 1). Rivals like Calem/Serena, Hau and Barry keep laughing every time you beat them. The closest the player has ever gotten to consequences with a rival is with Hop, but even he forgives them. Even Nemona in the main game is the player's cheerleader, who they quickly surpass.

It's not just rivals, either. Champions fall at the player's whim. This is the worst for Leon, whose entire identity was built around being the champion. N may have been manipulated by Ghetsis, but there was some truth to his ideals. The player ignores it, keeping the status quo of living creatures as trophies.

Then, there's what the player can't do. I've written an entire essay on Gladion, and how he deserves love and support. The player cannot give it to him. Nor can they offer support to the likes of Silver. These are enemies to be defeated. Yes, they're fictional. But they have complex stories of their own. These stories often include pain. Why should they be ignored?

The player is the rising star, the golden child. Nothing bad will ever happen to them. It's characters like Kieran who fall into their shadow. Who are pushed to the sidelines. Who are treated like the villain while the real villain has everything they could ever want.

And I get it. This is a kid's game, and we don't want kids to feel hurt while playing it. But Kieran takes the selfishness that's been there all along and exposes it like raw nerves. His pain reflects the pain of all the stepping stones in all the games before him and slams it in your face. He's not going to roll over and let the player walk on him until the bitter end.

And by the time he does? Who's really the villain?

[armoredisopod]

Arknights CN Thank You Celebration 2023 PVs

New Operators

Bassline, 5* Guardian Defender

In the meantime, i'll follow your baton.

Lessing, 6* Welfare Dreadnought Guard

The only thing that can restrain a sword is the cowardice of its wielder.

Viviana, 6* Arts Fighter Guard

Viviana Droste, with my candle and my sword, i will grasp victory for you.

Virtuosa, 6* Limited Ritualist Supporter

Whenever i touch the strings, emotions in the air flow to me, through my fingertips, to the sky and earth.

To your heart's content, feel yourselves.

Also added new operators to the voucher shop

Diamante, 5* (unknown new branch) Caster

Caper, 4* (unknown new branch) Sniper

Operator Skins Update

Total of 6 new skins, 5 new additions for the Epoque brand and 1 new addition for the new Iteration Provident brand

Epoque

Meteor's Gwiazdcytron - Login Event skin

Absinthe's Noon Twilight

Ashlock's 卡利斯卡群枪 (Lances of ???)

Bagpipe's Royal Guardswoman

Młynar's W Dali - L2D + Special Voicelines skin

"Fear neither hardship nor darkness"... Hmph. A bygone era not worth remembering. Too much daydreaming.

Iteration Provident

Texas the Omertosa's Wingbreaker - L2D skin

Announced skins reruns

Bloodline of Combat skins of Skadi the Corrupting Heart, Specter the Unchained and Gladiia

Epoque skins of W, Rosa, Pallas, Andreana, Sora, Honeyberry, Rosmontis, Nearl the Radiant Knight and Passenger

~98 other skins as part of Thank You Celebration edition of Rhodes Fashion Review

Operator Modules Update

Lessing and Bassline being part of branches with modules immediately get their modules

DRE-X module base effect increases Lessing's ATK to 115% when attacking blocked enemies

GUA-Y module base effect reduces all damage Bassline takes by 15%

Juggernaut Defender branch gets 1 module type

Nearl the Radiant Knight and Bagpipe gets their second modules

DRE-Y module base effect allows Nearl the Radiant Knight to survive a single fatal blow, healing back to full and gaining +30 ASPD at the cost of -60% Max HP, this effect only activates once per deployment

CHG-Y module base effect increases Bagpipe's ATK to 115% when attacking enemies below 40% HP

Events and Stories

Zwillingstürme im Herbst, a Leithania side story event

Experimental Operation (more widely known as Pinch-Out) will be returning in the form of Contingency Contract Battle Plan #1 Operation Pyrolysis

Operator Archives update for Rosa, Virtuosa, Diamante, Czerny, Santalla, Shalem

Misc Stuff

Eunectes, Flint and Aciddrop added to recruitment

Added the ability to queue auto-deploys (up to 6 times per queue)

Livestream Stuff

Showcased Virtuosa as a 6* Ritualist Supporter with a powerful and versatile kit

First talent inflicts Slow and some amount of Necrosis damage every second to enemies in her range

Second talent increases the amount of Necrosis damage dealt to enemies in her range

Skill 1 stops her from attacking unless she has skill charges but each attack will deal Necrosis damage and she prioritizes enemies not under elemental burst status

Skill 2 increases her ASPD and allows her to attack an additional target and one ally in her range with the highest ATK gains the ability to inflict Necrosis damage

Skill 3 makes her stop attacking, expands her range, increases her ATK and strengthens her second talent, additionally allies with the highest Max HP/ATK/DEF in her range gains increased Max HP/ATK/DEF respectively

Showcased Viviana as a 6* Arts Fighter Guard that specializes in dealing with elite/leader enemies

First talent increases the amount of Arts damage she deals and decreases the amount of Physical and Arts damage she takes, this talent is strengthened when there is an elite/leader enemy within her attack range

Second talent grants her a chance to gain a damage block shield (tanks one melee hit and cannot be stacked) when attacking an elite/leader enemy

Skill 1 makes her next attack deal more damage and hit twice, if the skill is allowed to charge, her next attack has a longer attack range and hits thrice

Skill 2 increases her ATK, DEF and Block Count and allows her to hit enemies equal to her block count, additionally each of her attacks has a chance to hit twice and each attack steals a certain amount of ASPD from the hit enemies (stacks up to a limit and lasts until the skill ends or she is retreated)

Skill 3 increases her ATK, DEF, RES, Attack Interval and second talent activation chance, additionally her attacks become double hits and prioritizes elite/leader enemies; upon the second activation of this skill and afterwards, her attack range increases, attacks become triple hits and this skill has an increased duration

Showcased Lessing as a 6* Dreadnought Guard

First talent reduces all incoming Physical and Arts damage from enemies he isn't blocking if he is blocking an enemy

Second talent increases his ATK for a certain amount of time after taking damage (this buff cannot stack)

Skill 1 makes his next attack deal more damage

Skill 2 is an on-deploy skill that strengthens his first talent, increases his ATK and makes his attacks hit twice

Skill 3 makes him immune to status effects (like Stun or Freeze), increases his Max HP and makes him deal more damage to blocked enemies, this skill has a unique property that allows it to be activated even if he is under a debilitating status effect and purge him of the effect at the cost of taking a certain amount of Arts damage upon activation

Showcased the event mechanic, a symphony that plays throughout the stage and grants global buffs to enemies depending on the type (the color of the bar at the top of the screen and the aura at the edges of the stage denotes which type of symphony is active) and some enemies gain specific buffs during their prefered symphonies (indicated by an icon above their heads), there are stations that can be charged to switch the symphony and grant temporary buffs to your operators when activated

Another mechanic where arts turrets will appear on the field and players can deploy a charge point for operators to attack so the turret can fire

Revealed the rebranding of Experimental Operation under the Contingency Contract name, showed some contracts involving stage elements from What the Firelight Casts event and an enemy from Ep12 and showed the reward for the season being a new Flamebringer skin

Teased the next Kjerag event with an animated promotional video of Kjerag's modern tourism industry

German voice dubs for Viviana, Lessing, Ebenholz and Czerny

Russian voice dubs for the USSG girls, Absinthe and Hellagur

Showed a teaser image for a Rim Billiton event involving Amiya and the Doctor

Teased Reclamation Algorithm 2 with a lore video telling the story of the Aslanian Conquest and the King of Kings, followed with a showcase of the QoL improvements done to the gamemode (such as the ability to save and reload a run) and various new additions

Showed a background CG of a location in Yan, a teaser for the next Spring Festival event

Announced Originium Dust rerun and a new Rainbow Six collab event with Fuze as the welfare unit

Showed another teaser trailer for the Ceobe animated mini-series

Announced new art books will be available, Vol. 3 of the Arknights art book and Vol. 1 of the Arknights anime art book

Showed various merch including Terra: A Journey (Arknights world encyclopedia), Nomad City: The Founders (Arknights board game), 4koma physical copy, manhua, figurines and more

Ended the stream with an MV of Ashen by My First Story ft. Amiya, Kal'tsit and W

Retraced Terra lore video covering the history of the world of Terra starting from The First Catastrophe narrated by Kal'tsit