#also the skits are fucking terrible

[sleepboysummer]

im gonna literally die if i go on rtc tiktok again i have to stay OFF of there

[andyeddieeee]

What Your Favorite Band of Brothers character says about you (revamped and based on personal experiences)

Winters- You’re either a pretty level headed person or your life is in complete shambles and you find comfort in characters that know how to handle stress.

Nixon- You love a good self destructive character and more than likely see yourself in them. Also, how is your undiagnosed mental illness treating u lately?

Lipton- You just want to be held and cared for so bad it’s not even funny anymore.

Speirs- You most DEFINITELY read wattpad stories as a kid. The mafia kind. You’re also unnecessarily horny on the internet and probably say he’s “Lana-coded.”

Roe- You love a good tragic and tortured character, I’ll give you that. You also listen to boygenius and love religious imagery.

Babe- I’m gonna take a wild guess and say you’re on some type of lgbt or autism spectrum.

Liebgott- You have a really weird self-confidence complex and read a LOT of enemies to lovers. I’m lowkey scared of you even though you’ve probably never hit anyone in your life.

Webster- You’re an artist at heart and view the world in a way that might set you apart from your peers. You can never and will never tell if that’s a good or a bad thing. Also you call grown men “babygirl.”

Guarnere- You have TERRIBLE taste in men and can never tell the difference between being mean or flirting.

Toye- Ditto ^ but also may I add you probably have a thing for people in uniform.

Buck- You are a very simple person. You like everything to just be kind of normal and calm all of the time. Sometimes you dip your toes in the water, but it’s more of a once a year kind of thing. Your favorite superhero as a kid was Captain America.

Luz- You are just cool. Very Ferris Beuller, Bill and Ted, Matthew Lillard kind of cool. You’re also probably transmasc or into guys to some degree.

Shifty- You’re either one of those “omg smol bean” people or you just love a good ray of sunshine kind of character. Your favorite pony as a kid was probably Fluttershy.

Malarkey- I’m so deeply upset just looking into your eyes dawg you need to take a nap and book a therapy session. Not a single one of you guys is completely and totally stable.

Renee- You so desperately wanted this show to pass the bechdel test and wished more women were included in the production. You’re also into women.

Perconte- You’re either really cool or you’re really annoying. No inbetween.

Bull- You really liked the SNL “Big Boy” skit with SZA

Muck- You want to be the funny friend so bad and you’re still not sure if you’ve earned that title yet. Mad respect though bc I know ur ass has seen supernatural in full. More than once.

Welsh, Penkala, Spina, Talbert, Grant, Martin, Penkala, Hoobler, Skinny- Either you’re lying to be different or you genuinely love a good underrated background character.

Blithe- Mm you’re lying lol

Sobel- Hey, girl! What the fuck!

[safarigirlsp]

40 LOOKS DAMN GOOD

I saw this on Twitter and thought it'd be fun to do here as a mini celebration. Interaction has been so dead on here for everyone, it'd be fun to liven it back up! Everyone feel free to play along!

Favorite Movie(s)

The Last Duel! I love that movie. Blackkklansman is the runner up.

I actually don't care for most of his other movies at all in terms of the movie itself. 65, The Report, and Logan Lucky were decent, but definitely second tier.

Favorite Character(s)

Jacques, Flip, and Mills

Favorite Co-Star(s)

Ben Affleck blows absolutely everyone else out of the water! "Come In! Take your pants off!"

Bill Murray and John David Washington are runners up, and I loved Jeremy Irons in Gucci.

Favorite Love Interest(s)

None so far! Rey and Hanna are my absolute least favorites. I hate them, honestly. Jodie Cromer was my favorite female lead in one of his movies. Lady Gaga and Marion Cottilard were alright too. I like Scarlett Johannson the best as a stand alone actress, but I hated her character in Marriage Story. I anticipate liking Aubrey Plaza

Favorite Scene(s)

Jousting and kicking ass are hard to beat!

Favorite Sex Scene(s)

All the scenes from Last Duel! I don't care how offensive that is!

This scene from The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.

Girls seasons 5 and 6 were hard to beat. The couch scene in season 5 is pretty nice.

Favorite SNL Skit(s)

Slow for obvious reasons.

Undercover Boss Part 2

Favorite Line(s)

Dream Role(s)

I got a Knight with Jacques and an Action Hero with Mills, both of which were high on my list. I'd love to see him as a Vampire, a Dark Victorian Gentleman, an Old West Gunfighter, an Adventurer, and a John Wick style Hitman or Action Hero.

Oh, and he needs to be his actual age and not have goddamn face prosthetics, altered hairlines, or terrible fucking haircuts!

Dream Co-Star(s)

Love Interests: Angelina Jolie, Kate Winslet, Margot Robbie, Ana De Armas, and Lily Rose Depp for size kink purposes.

Co-Stars: Another hot guy like Goran Visnjic or Gerard Butler. Keanu Reeves would also be a blast.

Directors: Ridley Scott (again), Clint Eastwood, Tim Burton, Robert Eggars, Quentin Tarantino.

Favorite Photoshoot(s)

Favorite Candid(s)

Favorite Red Carpet Appearance(s)

Venice takes the cake!

Favorite Interview(s)

"Fuck you. I don't know."

"I hated this. Goodbye."

Favorite Moment(s) of Your Choice

[hippolotamus]

Tagged by my love @disasterbuckdiaz (with a super hot snippet) @daffi-990 (with a whole lotta feels) @tizniz (with a super cute new fic 🦖) @buddierights (with a sweet fic of V-day past) thank you lovelies 💖

Today I bring you two snippets because Fuck It, amirite??? The first is because I was rewatching Fellow Travelers last night and a moment in Episode 2 hit me like a freight train.

But then the skit starts.

Caroline and Carlos, dressed in a suit and skirt respectively, playing as a couple having dinner at home. Caroline sits at a small table while Carlos stirs an empty pot of imaginary soup.

Even though it’s all pretend, the whole scene is so terribly, achingly domestic. A reminder of an unattainable dream. Within seconds Tim feels as though he is submerged, drowning in heartache. It fills his lungs, taking up precious space where air should be. Every silently jagged breath burns as he tries to take in oxygen, but only receives more pain. He doesn’t know how he’s not making a spectacle of himself, attracting attention to the way his heart cracks, just short of breaking completely.

It is a relief when Carlos approaches him, holding out the wooden soup spoon. The gesture is silly but provides a much needed reprieve. Tim finds it in himself to be able to laugh again as he’s fed the invisible offering. A bright feeling that bursts forth, genuinely happy as it displaces his gloominess.

When Carlos and Caroline have bickered and teased their way to the ending, they bow and curtsy as the group claps and cheers. Some even call for an encore. Instead Caroline insists Mary put a record on so everyone can dance.

A lesser version of Tim’s earlier distress settles over him like a thick fog. It blankets him in loneliness while he watches Mary and her lover sway to the music, holding each other close with their cheeks pressed together.

Snippet #2 is noticeably more zesty (any guesses from the banner???) but with no fewer feels. Find a bit of honey, when you call my name under the cut 😏 Hoping this one will be posted very soon.

“You okay?” Buck’s face is etched with such concern and care it makes Eddie’s chest tight. A squeezing around his heart that makes him wish he could pull it from behind his ribcage. To clutch it in his palms while he shows off all the places Buck’s mended and healed for him. A way to prove that Eddie is more than okay, and only improving as they continue to intertwine their lives together.

“Yeah, baby. I’m good.” Eddie lifts his head, angling his neck so he can kiss Buck again. He pours all of his gratitude and overwhelm into it, hoping the message is clear. That their unique brand of silent communication applies here as well.

It must because Buck continues to slide in, albeit slowly. He goes inch by inch, periodically checking in with a questioning look that Eddie returns with a small nod until Buck’s fully seated. And it feels… unusual. Not in a bad way, but an altogether different sensation than the times he’s fucked himself with his fingers or a toy. Of course it would be, because it’s Buck. It’s novel and precious and life changing. An event that Eddie would scribble in his diary if he had one. But at the same time — it’s Buck. So it’s also an inevitable homecoming, like being able to finally set down his burdens and breathe a sigh of relief.

“So good, Buck,” Eddie tells him before the question can be asked, because he knows it will be. He can see it in the infinite blue staring back at him, sparkling with affection and love.

Buck dips his head down, brushing their noses together, and Eddie doesn’t miss how bright, sunny blue turns darker, like dusky twilight.

“Gonna move as soon as you say so,” Buck murmurs against his lips. “‘ve wanted to fuck you for so long.”

Eddie’s belly swoops and his muscles clench in anticipation. Because it’s a two way street and this has been years in the making for both of them.

“Oh, yeah?” Before Buck can answer he tacks on, “Do it then. You’re not the only one waiting here, y’know.”

He’s rewarded with a mischievous smirk just before he feels Buck pull back. A moan — closer to a growl — rips out of him when Buck thrusts forward again, making him feel so, so full and whole. Complete.

no pressure tagging @wildlife4life @spotsandsocks @wikiangela @jesuisici33 @diazsdimples (I know you have something to share by now!) @stereopticons @shortsighted-owl @eddiebabygirldiaz @theotherbuckley @monsterrae1 @buckaroosheart @indestructibleheart @thewolvesof1998 @loserdiaz @fortheloveofbuddie @steadfastsaturnsrings @elvensorceress @honestlydarkprincess @spaceprincessem @apothecarose @barbiediaz @chaosandwolves @eowon @giddyupbuck @heartshapedvows @hoodie-buck @ladydorian05 @lemonzestywrites @statueinthestone @singlethread @the-likesofus @theplaceyoustillrememberdreaming @watchyourbuck @your-catfish-friend @vanillahigh00 and anyone else who wants to share

[esc-is-holding-me-hostage]

Semi-final 2 thoughts:

all those talks about Marina's long take with a steadicam only for Slimane to do the same thing but better

yeah, Nemo can still (and probably will) win

my boyfriend said that he would've liked We Will Rave if Saba was the one singing it, because her vocals are better. and honestly i agree

look, i'm a San Marino apologist and Megara enjoyer, but that was a total mess

if i had a nickel every time Belgium sent a dramatic bond-like pop song, that was considered a top-5 contender but then NQd because of weak vocals and messy staging then i'd have two nickels. which isn't a lot but it's weird that they did not learn the fucking lesson after 2018

also Mustii reminds me of Astarion Baldur's Gate 3

speaking of total messes. Estonia. horrible live, but i'm still happy they've qualified

Italy's staging is too busy. i don't mind maximalism but Angelina and her dancers just blended together with the graphics

so Joost was kinda disappointing tonight. not only promises of some "moon landing moment" turned out to be empty hype, but he also sounded terrible. oh well, more televote points to Croatia in the final, i guess

was anyone gonna tell me that my nemesis - German band Scooter tried for Eurovision in the 2004 or was I supposed to learn it from a skit?

congrats to Latvia and Georgia on ending their NQ streaks even though i would trade either of them for Czechia in a heartbeat

[dtupdates-archive]

♡—DREAM replied to a post and a comment on Reddit! A transcript of the long comment is under the cut.

"So many people in this thread are just being ridiculous or saying things that are completely factually wrong. Like you are so pessimistic and hate twitter so much that you feel the need to disagree on everything. Like you can hate twitter and still recognize when a twitter take is right or not criticize everything I do on twitter.

Me asking the fandom to not comment about “body doubles” wearing the mask for required promotional content while I’m literally recovering for surgery, because it takes away from the content, is totally ridiculously okay. Especially given the fact I told them that would be the case in the first place, and far less people would comment on it in the first place. I’m not “policing” anyone, I’m asking and explaining why, as I have done tons in the past because it works because my fans respect me and I respect them (very generally lol). People say it all the time when it’s me under the mask that it’s not because of X or Y or Z and sometimes even those reasonings make me a little uncomfortable, especially in times when it is me.

Or speculating that George or Nick or Ken or whoever is under the mask.

People saying stuff about TikTok stats being terrible and that it’s trash content and not because of fans. First of all, no one’s blaming fans for anything, and it wasn’t even about past content it was seeing everyone comment “Ken” (when it’s not even Ken) on my TikTok and me realizing that would be confusing and could impact views, that’s just how I am, I analyze everything.

And anyone saying “TikTok views are trash because trash content” are just morons. My TikTok views are high, and I’ve uploaded more in the past months than I have like times 30 in the past years. Yea I’ve posted shit ones as well, that comes with trying to post more and more frequently. I’ve gained more followers recently than in years. Some of what I’ve uploaded is high effort skit content, others low quality memes or whatever. But I’m uploading what is fun and unique to me and that’s it and you can not watch it if you don’t like it.

For those complaining so much about the mask, literally just step back and realize how ridiculous you’re being?? Of my last 12 TikTok’s, 6 of them featured the mask. a few of them my face, a few of them Minecraft/normal content I’d make. Most the mask ones were just making fun of me wearing it in public lol. I post snaps in the mask, and also not in the mask. For those saying it makes my music impersonal, I’ve promoted on different platforms in the mask and out of the mask, for that reason lots of the UIEUD music video wasn’t in the mask since that was such an emotional piece. For my tour I plan to have plenty of show elements where I’m wearing the mask, and lots of singing and stuff where I’m not. At TwitchCon Paris I was in and out of the mask, at the boxing event I was in and out of the mask, I take fan photos without the mask. Like you’re far over exaggerating, and you’re forgetting I WAS A FACELESS CREATOR, I made 100% of my content without showing my face, AND I said I didn’t plan on showing my face all the time after, said I wouldn’t do face-cam streams, etc. If your complaint is that you’d rather see no person than me in the mask, then you’re just trying to look for something to complain about.

You could say “well now that we’ve seen your face we just realize that we’re missing out on seeing your face in that TikTok or post or whatever and it’s annoying” that’s totally valid, but have you ever thought that maybe you wouldn’t see that post at all if it wasn’t for the mask? I’m fairly confident, but I’m still very conscious of my looks and being judged by hundreds of millions of people makes me double take about putting just anything out on to the internet. “Oh I have a bad hair day, usually wouldn’t record, oh fuck it throw on the mask”

I’m not obligated to make content with my face in it, and I ALWAYS SAID I WASNT GOING TO, but I’ve actually grown a healthier relationship with how I look and the internet, so I do plan on showing myself more than I originally said. That being said, I love the mask, it’s great for me, and it’s always been my brand so get off your high horse about “dreams an idiot everyone hates it!”, when that’s just YOU being parasocial and not even recognizing it. I am enjoying what I’m doing and amplifying things that make me enjoy it, and I like the mask. I don’t owe anyone content of my face, but there will be plenty. I plan on making public appearances showing my face, making TikTok’s showing my face (as I have), posting pictures showing my face (as I have), and lots more. But only when and where I want to, and not because you think it’s stupid to wear the mask, but because I want to.

It’s fine to not like the fact that I wear the mask and express that you’d rather see that TikTok or post as my face, but just try and remember that I was faceless, and hardly planned on posting my face after the face reveal. There was years were I never showed myself, months where I was caught up in everything and showed myself so much, months where I JUST wore the mask, and now we’re slowly moving to a middle ground. Coming to terms with what I enjoy the most and is the best for me overall. Jesus reading this thread was exhausting so many just patently false things out of anger. I get it I haven’t communicated here much with this side, here’s a comment rip me apart"

[dani-sdiary]

Vagina Insecurities!

This, like any story worth telling, is all about a an adult woman with the sex drive of a 13-year-old boy (Did you catch the Spiderman reference?). It is also one that no one asked for. This is an extreme overshare about my self-esteem, body, and sex life (sex death?), and why I'm still a virgin despite being hornier than a teenage methhead rabbit. Yeah, I want to have sex. Fucking sue me. I want to date, I want to fall in love, and I want to be railed. There it is. Let's talk about it!

I don't hear songs with lyrics like "pussy so good, I say my own name during sex" or "kitty on fleek" and think "yeah, me too. I totally get where you're coming from. This song really resonates with me because my kitty is, in fact, also on fleek."

I hate every part of my body, but especially those parts. My pussy is all lopsided. (There's a sentence that's never been typed before). My right labia minora (my right, not someone who was facing me) is more than twice as long as my left. It's too dark and while I'm all for bell bottoms and Fleetwood Mac, I could do without my thick, PCOS pubic hair (that extends to my stomach and thighs) being '70's style. I'm perfectly healthy and luckily I've never had any kind of infection, but my natural smell is just awful, and whole-body deodorant only seems to irritate my skin and make it worse. I follow all the rules religiously: just soap and warm water, "breathable" cotton underwear, yogurt and cranberry juice, but that's just the way I am. I smell terrible. Not unhealthy, just bad. Absolutely unbearable.

I hate my breasts because they're too small and look like they've already withstood 90 years of gravity instead of just 18. I'm a 34B, which is fairly average and would make sense if I were thinner, but is really unproportional at my weight. I feel like, being my size, I should be a C at least, but I carry all my weight in my stomach and not in my curves. My areolas are too dark, too big, and have these weird bumps on them, almost like acne. My entire chest is covered in dark hair, not just a few pluckable strays around my nipples, but my whole breasts and my sternum, along with every other square inch of my body.

My breasts act like cranky old neighbors in a vicious feud that started as mild annoyance over Left's dachshund always getting into Right's backyard, but escalated into flat-out suburban warfare, complete with brutal rhododendron sabotage. I'm the granddaughter trying to coax them into talking out their differences, but I just can't convince them no matter what I do. They stick out (barely) the wrong way- away from each other and down rather than up and straight ahead like they're supposed to. They're called headlights for a reason, but with these, I'd crash right into the car in front of me and end up totaling both of us.

I'd overshare on the internet about my 2-dimensional ass, too, except there's nothing to say. If you only saw me from the back, you would think I had gone through a car compacter. I am the "before" picture in the commercial for BBLs. I don't have a feminine shape. There is zero difference between my waist and hips.

I would feel so ridiculous in lingerie, like I was an actor in a silly skit. I bought some nice underwear just for me, hoping it would make me feel a little more confident even if no one else was going to see it, but it's just putting lipstick on a pig. Even wearing a nice dress feels so strange and pointless to me, because nothing I do could ever make me look on the outside like the woman I feel like on the inside. I feel like I don't deserve nice clothes and that I can't justify spending time or money on my appearance. I'm trying to move away from that, but it's an uphill battle when everything I've ever heard about bodies that look like mine are that they should be hidden, that they're something to be ashamed of, and that they're completely undesirable. I would like to think of myself as beautiful, and maybe I'll get there someday, but thinking of myself as sexy just feels impossible. I wish my body were my own. I wish my opinion about my body was mine. I wish that I belonged to myself. If you can relate to any part of this in any way, I'm so, so sorry.

I'm a total pussy when it comes to sex (ha. ha. ha.). The thing that's holding me back is fear. I am so, so scared. I'm scared I would get hurt. I'm scared adding physical intimacy into the mix would make a bad breakup a thousand times worse. I'm scared he would tell horror stories about the ugliest girl and the worst lay of his life to his friends, his future girlfriends, for their entertainment and sympathy. I'm scared he would compare me to his past girlfriends and regret breaking up with them. Most of all, I'm scared he would laugh. I'm scared he would see my body and be disgusted but amused. I'm scared he would think of me as a car crash: so horrible you can't look away. I'm scared he would find me morbidly fascinating.

I don't have sagely advice on this one. I'm insecure, and I know I shouldn't be, and I don't want to be, but I am. And it's holding me back from doing something I really (really) want to do. I guess I just wanted to be honest. I may be a crock pot, but if you're patient, I can burn just as hot as a microwave.

[julesnichols]

Bestie I wanna know what's the worst decision you've ever made and what's the best

Oh boy. I'll start with best because worst is Difficult lmao

Best: unironically, watching Snowpiercer. It got me out of a bit of a creative slump, but more importantly it introduced me to some very important people in my life who I'm glad to know now, so no matter what the show does it's about the friends we made along the way etc etc y'know? So, worth it.

Worst: hoo boy lmao there are So Many. I don't even know where to start honestly. I've made a lot of terrible decisions but there's very few that I wish I had a time machine to go back and fix because as much as where I've ended up kinda sucks and I've made a lot of mistakes, I don't wanna think about my life without the good things in it that I've now found. I also don't really wanna copout of this though. So. Let's go with a funny one then, I guess:

So circa the end of April 2017, I had to do a silly little group project for one of my classes where we made a skit etc anyways my group project buddy was a very cute, but very straight, girl. We couldn't manage to find a time that worked except after class one night, and we'd decided to work in the library till we got it done. Now keep in mind I was 21 and had zero self preservation at that time in my life.

It was raining heavily that night and the library was across campus, but also she wanted coffee so we stopped in the cafeteria first because there was (allegedly) a tunnel to a building closer to the library. In fact, dear reader, there were actually several tunnels, and we accidentally chose the wrong one. This led us out into what can only be described as a concrete ravine, one building we came out of, one across from us, and a long winding road back up to the top of main campus. Neither of us particularly wanted to turn back, but it was pouring. And so, she turned to me and asked if I didn't mind climbing up the building across from us to get there faster.

Now, two things:

1. It was not a straight up angle. It was at a very steep angle, but not straight up, and there were bumps for aesthetics that could be used as handholds; it was clearly, however, not meant to be climbed either because you kinda had to hop onto it and there was a rail at the top. I do have a photo actually, albeit it it doesn't do it justice:

Unfortunately I didn't take any photos at the bottom, which would've probably given a better idea of the angle; I'd been at the top before, where the angle is deceptive. Anyways, my lack of forethought to take photos at the bottom brings us to point number 2

2. In finding this girl cute, I could not say no to her when she wanted to avoid the rain as much as possible

So anyways, I follow her up. We're both soaking wet and have giant backpacks and she's got a hot cup of coffee in one hand while she climbs in front of me. About halfway up, my brain finally clicks, and looks down as I realize how fucking stupid we're being. Alas, I refuse to bitch out.

And make it safely to the top.

One of the worst things I've done, and low on that list, but it's also the funniest.

[butmakeitgayblog]

You can't say something like that about Vampire!AU.

I'm one of those people that left a part of their heart on those two chapters.

You can't spark my curiosity like that. 😞😭

Honestly this made me so happy cuz I really never think anyone cares for that story much. Which I get it was just a little 2 chapter fun thing to do for clexa Halloween but still, they're a couple of soft babies.

I say before delving into their hunt and blood kink 🥴

But yes it's not something they indulge in often, gotta be in the mood for it. Usually they're content to just bite and feed on each other during sex for the connection and intimacy. But sometimes... sometimes their demons get the better of them. Sometimes they just want that thrill of roleplaying, especially when they're still warmed up from a fresh kill. They still want to push that adrenaline rush. The stalking and seducing. The chase and the capture. The ridiculousness of feigning being a poor soul up for slaughter so their lover's inner darkness can get their rocks off. It's a fucking rush to be played with so roughly, or at least rougher than they usually allow themselves to be with each other.

But it's also such a funny thing, because they've been doing some variation of this for centuries. Since they were just two girls who would hide away in the orchids, wasting afternoons thinking up fanciful and overly dramatic skits and games to play. When they were still all blushing pre-teens who could barely work up the courage to hold the other's hand, so they'd hide behind the veil of some terribly acted tragedy that just so happened to require one of them to play a prince who simply had to give his fair maiden true love's kiss.

But they're not children anymore, not even human, evidenced by how their games are all fangs, eyes gleaming with murder, and the sharp sting of bloodlust. Each drinking as though it's not her wife pinned down and "helpless" beneath her, but prey at her mercy who also just so happens to come prettily around her fingers as she's being drained 💕

[xaviernottheprofessor]

Phone Call w/ Clayton Mitchell 3.12.2024

Xavier: [laughing as he continues typing. His phone is propped beside him so that Clayton can watch him] Those nieces of mine are going to be trouble! I'm telling you. Got it from you, mate.

Clayton: [snorts] Please. We all know they got your genes. Athena is about ready to quit and just homeschool them! [grins] Have twins they said, it'll be fun they said.

Xavier: [chuckles] oh come on, man. It's kinder. Wait until they become teenagers then you'll be crying on the phone. Tell Athena that the kids need the social interactions and they'll be fine. They're just happy lil ones.

Clayton: [smirks] you say that because they aren't yours. You can give them back at the end of the day. Which reminds me, they keep asking for you. When is uncle X coming back? He promised me a tea party, we miss Henry. Winter needs to come back to my tea party. Mate, how many tea parties did you lot promise?

Xavier: [laughs again and stops his writing momentarily to face the camera] Not quite sure. Possibly an unlimited amount. I'm thinking of doing another trip in the summer when the kids are out school but not in summer camp yet. They're dying to go back too and see the kids. They also miss Athena. You too, I guess.

Clayton: [smiles] please. they adore me.

Xavier: that they do. How's mum doing with all this extra time she has now?

Clayton: Well, I know she won't tell ya but she's started another hobby. She's driving dad crazy pulling out everything from the upstairs closet. Wants to make it a fancy walk-in with a jewelry corner and all. She thinks she's the Queen.

Xavier: She is though! I'm so glad to hear her energy is restored and that's why I ask you even though I just spoke with her earlier. I know you won't keep anything from me.

Clayton: I won't. You know, dad keeps talking about you to his students. They had all tuned in on Sunday. We're so proud of you, X.

Xavier: [smiles warmly] Well, thanks. It was a great award show.

Clayton: yeah, well you made it great. No offense to everyone else. You're the best thing to happen to them and to SNL but i think you know that.

Xavier: Marcello is also a great addition. He pulls in a lot of younger folks and it's nice to see a lot of latino skits.

Clayton: aye. He's a funny guy. Athena and I are thinking of coming over there but if you come here first, we'll come in the fall. That way it seems like less of gap for when we see one another.

Xavier: I like the sound of that. I miss you all terribly.

Clayton: Mmm and maybe we can meet your beau?

Xavier: [rolls his eyes] maybe, yes. if you behave.

Clayton: It's mum, dad, and Athena you have to worry about. They're gonna vet him.

Xavier: Uh they better not. I'm a grown-ass man.

Clayton: [laughs] you sound so American. But I'm happy for you. I saw the photos. Everyone's convinced it's some famous chap. Bill, Ben something or other.

Xavier: Yeah, well, it's all new and all but I'm also happy and I think you'd like him a lot. I'd rather it be kept that way. He doesn't need any limelight on him right now. It'll die down in a few weeks. Good thing I'm not super famous.

Clayton: Yeah but with Jeremy's program coming, they're gonna want to keep prying. It's stupid, I know. But I'm glad you respect his privacy and are demanding people to respect yours. Like I said, I'm just glad you're happy.

Xavier: Thanks, mate. Me too. I've never quite felt this way about anyone so privacy is rather important to me.

Clayton: Good. Don't fuck it up, Mitchell!

Xavier: shut up! [smiles] You know I won't.

Clayton: [chuckles] listen, I have to get going. It's almost bedtime around here and if I'm not getting those kids in the tub, Athena is screaming at the top of her lungs. Love you. My love to the kids and say hi to Celeste, Juniper, Khamani all of em for us! Tell Thomas we need to talk hockey when we go back to the states!

Xavier: I'll tell them! go, go. love you! i'll call mum in the morning as always. [he blew a kiss and hung up]

[lokiinmediasideblog]

"I Remember it so you don't have to": MCU Loki in the 2010s: Rape Culture, Villain Queer-coding, and Homophobia

-----------------------

I know Loki is Tumblr’s sweetheart since 2011 (and that subsets of Loki fans are insufferable, fuck those that harassed and singled out Kate Herron and Sophia Di Martino because Sylvie). But a part of me will always be protective of the character outside of Tumblr despite his popularity. I hate seeing bad takes about how Odin was a wonderful father and king, and Loki was just an ungrateful bastard.

Although Tumblr (and many AO3 fics) seem to excuse Loki of all wrongdoings (letting the Frost Giants in and the attempted genocide), I see the opposite outside of it, where he even gets blamed for Hela getting out of her imprisonment. And I have seen a horrible take saying that he should have been left to die as a baby because “he ruined Thor’s life” by some Odin apologist that clearly lied about liking Loki. So he seems to be quite polarizing in that respect based on social media of choice and demographic of users. And some people get a little weird about the Loki hate because how dare you like the sympathetic villain that isn't as masculine as the heroes (I will go more in detail and show some examples).

My hot take on Loki's moral fibre: I just see MCU!Loki as not particularly morally worse (or better) than MCU!Thor, but he just had worse luck in timing and who he ended up with during those badly-timed breakdowns.

I joke around that I defend Loki from Redditors and dudebros because I especially dislike the takes of cishet men that get offended when a girl said she preferred Loki over Thor, and pretend to be “concerned” over “impressionable young women and girls that will get into abusive relationships”. And if you haven’t seen those, well I did while growing up, and I took them personally.

The Nostalgia Critic, one of the men behind the death of media literacy and criticism, even made a video complaining about the phenomenon of Loki thirst. It made me spitefully not care about any other Avengers (2012) character. It’s still up on YouTube, and it was a bit patronizing. Also, he thinks Thor 1 Thor looks like a girl (joke?), make of that what you will...

There was also a propensity to make homophobic jokes about Loki in parody skits. Loki was not canonically queer yet in either the movies or the comics, but he was queer-coded and people could tell, based on the jokes and quips directed at him. There’s one parody skit where Thor and Loki go to court-appointed therapy and one of the jokes is that Loki likes to fuck himself with bananas or “plantains because they’re bigger.” One of the worst parody skits was The Key of Awesome’s Thor:TDW parody.

Loki is put into a “normal” prison instead of the “glowy” kind he kept escaping from. The main joke was Loki getting raped in prison. And that now he can’t act all “haughty” about Thor’s request for help, and is instead the "desperate" one. And you’ll see some old comments over how hilarious that is. And people arguing about how weak or powerful Loki is and bringing the Norse myth about him being raped by a horse into it as proof that the terrible “joke” makes sense and could happen in cannon.

An example that almost made it into the screen is a deleted scene in Thor Ragnarok that I refer to as “the director’s barely disguised fetish”, where instead of falling for 30 minutes, Loki gets locked in a portable restroom while men continuously enter to piss. Loki’s trying his best not to get pissed on. Thor opens the stall giggling, and of course Loki is rightfully angry about being trapped there. It seems to veer into the “bad guys deserve sexual assault as punishment” to an uncomfortable degree.

I often just keep quiet on MCU Loki defense discourse because:

1. Loki is a popular character with many defenders.

2. Subsets of Loki fans are ridiculous and use false pretenses to harass writers and actors. And the discourse that arises from this is mind-numbing and pointless.

But I remember all this crap from the early 2010s, and I am not fond of Loki being deemed "Just evil, whiny, and ungrateful". There’s also the very questionable tropes from earlier Thor comics (hell some of these should ellicit WAY more backlash than Sylki if you really care that much about rep). I also don’t like being told what characters I should and shouldn’t like, and I have taken that personally ever since.

A part of me feels a bit unintentionally gaslighted when people act like there was no backlash to Loki being popular. It has the same vibes as the increduloulity of Gen Z regarding how BAD homophobia in the 2000s and early 2010s was.

[spiralingguitarist]

some random ass headcanons i have of the TADC characters

JAX:

-favorite video is this (warning: mature and uncensored lyrics). he holds the woodstock 1999 performance of Everybody Rize (and the song itself) deep inside his heart, enough for his physical record of the video to appear along with him, on his room. due to the special treatment he gives to the song, he will ONLY (and i mean O N L Y) show this record to his closest friends (when Caine is not recording any episode), so please don't expect him to show you right away his softer juggalo side.

-is asexual and aromantic (i need to project on the characters somehow /hj)

-also holds ICP's What is A Juggalo? song deep inside his heart. in fact, when he's bored and Caine's not around he will quietly sing the song and also hum it. he will probably get highly pissy if you tell him his cover sucks.

-knew Zooble before they got inside the circus. they used to make song covers of ICP and Twiztid because Zooble was a huge rock fan and Jax is a rap fan in denial, and that's why Zooble doesn't really mind it when Jax starts singing What Is A Juggalo? out of nowhere.

-still does song covers, but by himself. the reason is because he doesn't want to let the rest of the gang know he's personal friends with Zooble, as he kinda just assimilated into the "I'm a prankster jokester who bullies his friends every darn day" role

ZOOBLE:

-loves Maretu and Twiztid... its incredible. in fact, if they had a DNI/ATI/OTI criteria they'd probably add non-twiztid fans and non-maretu fans on their ATI list.

-on MS Paint memes about their life they nicknamed Jax "Jack Russell" or "Jack Jeckel" because JUGGALOS

-claims to sing terribly when their singing is genuinely amazing

-also aroace (again, p r o j e c t i n g /hj)

-used to be an animator who made ICP and OMORI skits, and their username/nickname was zooable because they were kind-of like a furry (they fucking love zootopia)

-doesn't want to let the gang know they're friends with Jax because they assimilated into the "i get pranked/bullied by the prankster jokester every day and I'm sick of it so i make his pranks/bullying backfire"role

POMNI:

-is familiar with the concept of an evil circus with a nice facade but a dark truth, but doesn't know how to live on a place like that

-HATES circus music. like. a lot. it drives her nuts. that's why she can't get used to the theme of the amazing digital circus

-grew up with Vocaloid, and that's why she is familiar with the whole evil circus thing (she has self-recorded a Dark Wood Circus CD, though she skipped the circus' theme song: Dark Wood Circus)

-speaking of evil circuses (circi?), she relates A LOT to The Deformed Diva from Dark Wood Circus

-despises, loathes, and hates Jax's singing because it makes her anxious, as if the gruesome lyrics were directed at her (Kinger suffers from the same thing)

-used to openly play the violin because Sunny from Omori insipired her but after she left r/omori, stopped following OMOCAT herself and Fede/AG/AubyGaming, and in general general stopped being an OMORI fan she rather does it in secret and only to close friends (she's still fond of violins and Sunny themself though)

CAINE:

-doesn't understand innuendos/sexual metaphors because he's an AI and is ok with Jax singing that "instead of your tone, they'll hate your size" part on Everybody Rize (he takes it as in "instead of your tone, they'll hate your height")

-the reason why he doesn't let the gang enter the exit door is because 1. it's glitched as FUCK and 2. he feels like on their old lives they suffered a lot so he wants them to live on a deemed cute cartoon world than on the real world

-if he was human and played instruments, he'd probably be good at violin (he would make the violin sound like it's crying and trembling though, it's a quirk of his), but horrible at viola (Kinger is also like that)

RAGATHA:

-can speak french but doesn't want to let the gang know because she knows jax makes "french is bad 😤😤" jokes (Gangle told her and she trusts Gangle, also Gangle is of roman descent themself)

-dislikes grotesque music and goes on "no, not again..." mode when Jax starts singing What is A Juggalo? or Everybody Rize

-knows a tiny bit of japanese and sings PoPiPo with Pomni to cheer her up

-innocent enough to think Gokiburi No Aji by Maretu (Zooble told her about maretu) is about cheering other students up and being the class clown, not bullying them

-knows what cake fondant is but has a hard time explaining what it exactly is or how it acts like

-has a gamer niece who LOVES Five Nights At Freddy's, in fact she loves the game so much she gave her (Ragatha) a Toreador March music box for her birthday

KINGER:

-used to get called "kingest kinger of all kingers" by Kaufmo

-wholeheartedly thinks he SUCKS at violin (he doesn't, he just makes the violin sound sad like Caine)

-also got called "Longer" or "Konger" by Kaufmo as a lighthearted joke to mess with him and, along with being called the Kingest Kinger of All Kingers™, that's one of the things he most misses about Kaufmo

-that's it kinger is kinger

also sorry for the super long post it's just that I'm yk weird at headcanons 😭😭

[gojurt]

alternatively this is how well i think the protagonists of each kamen rider season ive watched so far would survive as members of the mafia:

Ryoutaro den-o: Yes he can survive anything, and he would have gotten involved on accident and would be terrible at it and everyone around him would be trying to put a hit on him and failing like a cartoon skit

Eiji ooo: Could not at all but literally every other ooo character other than him could

Emu ex-aid: Could not at all not in any situation not even if he tried to

Kouta gaim: No but he would somehow make enemies with them

Aruto zero one: Yes, and he would get into it the same way he got to be a CEO and would probably perform the same way

Shinji ryuki: Could not but for some reason all his friends have mafia ties or are in the mafia so he might as well be so he's constantly in danger

Ace geats: Yes definitely, in fact if they revealed he had ties right now I would believe them

Shoutaro and Philip: To be quite honest The Museum is basically a family-run gang anyway so we already know where they stand, but otherwise I think Philip could do it reluctantly but Shoutaro couldn't I think he would fuck up and they would kill him

Godai kuuga: I can't imagine it and I don't think he would be very good at it, also this would probably upset his and Ichijou's marriage quite a bit

Sento build: Yes hes clever enough and banjou is his arms

[casliveblog]

Custom Toonami Block Week 149 Rundown

Spy X Family: So yeah Anya’s got midterms and if she does really well she gets a gym badge but if she fails she gets an anti-gym badge for every subject she flunked so wiping out means she’d be halfway to failing entirely. The family gets Yuri to tutor her and makes some feigns towards plot progression from the dog arc but honestly I kinda really like the Yuri/Anya dynamic, like they’re both completely unhinged in the exact opposite ways so one of them is always saying something crazy as soon as the other comes back to sense. Though even though he manages to give her some motivation, Anya’s basically the opposite of a Mary Sue and is terrible at everything and can never improve so it doesn’t really work. They also mention that she loses her powers during a New Moon like she’s fucking Inuyasha or something but she hasn’t really been reading minds during tests in the first place, like initially she said she just didn’t know who was good at what subject yet so she wasn’t sure whose mind to read but it’s MID-TERMS I feel like she should probably have a good idea by now but even on other tests where she has her powers she’s doing crappily. Also there’s this weird little skit where Loid’s following this guy that’s a terrible spy trying to break in and change the grades while he’s ALSO trying to break in and change the grades and it just kinda makes everything more difficult. This guy strikes me as the kind of guy that thinks he’s a Rogue in a D&D campaign and he can just bluff and duck his way into top level shit completely ignoring the reality of how tight real security is. The guy’s ego’s so big he just lets Loid go as a witness and Loid just undoes the work he was doing to make the Desmond kids fail (which Loid theorizes was done by a political rival but I’mma say it was Desmond himself kicking his kids in the teeth because he’s an asshole and is like ‘failure will make you stronger, try sucking less’ because it would be more dramatic) Loid’s about to change Anya’s grades but he finds out she just barely passed everything so he lets her keep the mediocre score she earned because if he suddenly made her good enough to get a gym badge it’d be hella suspicious and not getting any anti-gym badges is best case scenario really. Though they show her grades and they’re in… the 30s? Like they show they’re still on a 100 point scale so like, how is a 30 passing? Everywhere I’ve been under a 60 is an F and some are more strict than even that so what kind of education system for this snobby prep school lets kids get away with 30s?

Inuyasha: So this episode is basically the fallout of everyone being like ‘wait was that fucking Kikyo?’ last episode, Not!Kikyo wipes out all of Abi’s birds and just kinda runs off and we get the usual ‘oh gosh Kikyo was mentioned so Inuyasha’s gonna be wistful for three episodes and Kagome’s gonna be mildly annoyed at everything because neither of them can make up their damn minds’ which to be fair they kind of curtail the period of it at this point in the series but after seeing it so often it’s really getting old, especially since her supposed death at Mt. Hakurei had its own little mini-arc, like we keep giving Kikyo closure and she keeps just coming back. But yeah they head off to meet her and Inuyasha’s kinda wishy-washy about wanting to go so he separates from the others to down some mook demons that only take him like five seconds anyway and he meets Kikyo’s avatar and her new attendants and turns out they’re all just Shikikami and Kagura’s happy to see Kikyo’s probably still alive because that pisses Naraku off but she gives up because she’s definitely not ten feet away in a Minority Report pool. Kagome gets through a barrier to see the REAL Kikyo who’s in a Minority Report pool trying to sleep off the poison and… death I guess.

Yu Yu Hakusho: This one’s a super exposition-heavy episode and spoilers but at the end we learn that part or all of it might be bullshit so it feels like one of those Attack on Titan episodes where they spend the whole episode planning a thing and then it just goes tits up at the very end of the episode and they have to wing it anyway. Essentially the three bald men that visit Yusuke are guys basically as strong as him and Hiei/Kurama but they’re using demonic pacemakers to put them on mook level so the barrier lets them through. In Demon World there’s three kings, the ‘let’s not eat humans’ guy, the ‘let’s maybe eat humans in moderation’ guy and the ‘let’s eat all the humans’ guy, and luckily Yusuke’s ancestor is the first one and not the last one but that also means he’s dying because he’s essentially been on a GOOP diet of bullshit for the past thousand years and that means war’s about to break out thanks to the power vacuum in Demon World. Now basically most of what Yusuke heard of all that is these bald-headed freaks think they’re stronger than him so he demands a fight. Turns out the leader’s ability is basically Luffy if he was in Parasyte the Maxim and he does some bullshit to tie Yusuke up and stab him in a despite still wearing his demon pacemaker and neither me or Yusuke buy that shit and he just fucking breaks the guy’s neck and asks if they love their king so much how come they still eat humans against his wishes. It’s a pretty good moment of Yusuke putting on his Phoenix Wright hat and actually outsmarting the bad guys while they’re still in the ‘we’re the new arc villains and we’re stronger than you’ phase so yeah he calls out them lying to him and puts them on the spot for how much of the story is exactly true.

Jujutsu Kaisen: Megumi and blind archer guy are having their fight and there’s more clan rich people eugenics bullshit and blind guy has the power of Gear Second and Deadman Wonderland and just wants his slutty mom to be a slutty happy mom Megumi’s just like ‘fuck you and your slutty mom you’re not killing my friend’ but uhh yeah I’ve been comparing this arc to the Chunin Exams and we’re officially at the Sand Village attacking part because the big boss spirit and all the other spirits they were supposed to be hunting get wiped out by the one-armed spirit’s Wood Style and they erect a specifically anti-Gojo barrier to keep his overpowered ass out of this fight. So yeah Scar-sensei and old dude go in to help and apparently old dude wields the power of Goofy Goober Rock which makes that one scene in the opening make a lot more sense in retrospect. Megumi, Blind Dude and Sushi Boy get swept up by the one armed cursed spirit and turns out they’re basically the reverse of a Captain Planet villain and just want people to stop polluting and shit and they’ll kill them all and more surprisingly a GIRL, I mean this is why cartoons give everything female long eyelashes because I couldn’t fucking tell and I guess she’s just got her tits out all the time but she’s got enough muscle that it doesn’t matter. So yeah we’ve got one of the main boss henchmen dropping in to say hello and judging by the preview and the opening she’s gonna head to Yuji next time, weird since I thought their plan was to trap Gojo in a Hyper Cube and you’d figure literally isolating him from everyone else would make a great time to try that but we’ll see I guess.

Zom 100: So this one’s kind of a rough one, like I’ll probably get to it at the end but there’s a lot of good points for this episode but also some stuff that bugs me a bit. Akira and Kencho have made a little mancave on top of the roof from last episode and inexplicably the power STILL works, like my god whoever’s keeping the electricity on during the zombie apocalypse deserves a raise. Kencho finds Akira’s bucket list and starts adding his own stuff to it, saying he’s going to see Akira’s journey through to the end now. They talk about the list a bit and how Akira has dating a flight attendant on the list because I guess that’s a fetish? But turns out Akira has never had a girlfriend at all and stupidly tells Kencho he’ll have one by the end of the day. So shelving that they decide to go shopping for a big-screen tv and end up trapped in a department store with one shady guy and three ladies who happen to be… flight attendants! Like I joked at the beginning of this show that Akira’s just had a mental break and there are no zombies and he’s just insane but if this world is real it really does seem to be bending to fit his crazy ideas. So yeah, the oldest and objectively coolest flight attendant gets drunk and bitten by the shady guy when he turns into a zombie and Kencho just straight up bangs the other one in the mattress department while Akira has a tender moment with the moe-est of them right after she makes it super clear there’s no romantic connection. Still they talk and Akira gives his usual deal about not letting your dreams be dreams and gets this girl excited to continue living her dream… just in time for her to die by getting bitten by the shady guy. Now notably they don’t make Akira mercy kill her, this is still mostly a comedy series and we’re not trying to heap Carl Grimes levels of trauma on our genki protagonist bur yeah she admits she’s content with the fun date they had and got to make people feel better during her job so she’s okay with Akira and Kencho getting the hell out of dodge, with Akira wanting to find out what his childhood dream was since Kencho has one and the moe attendant girl gave a pretty good speech about her own motivations and Akira admits to himself that his advertizing dream was just him getting caught up in a drive for success rather than something he really wanted to do. So yeah, cool story but like it’s hard to ignore this whole episode is just a long drawn out way to fridge these three girls, like straight up SAO Saki traumadumping by making these girls as moe as possible without giving them too much character development so we feel just bad enough when they die and it feels a little manipulative for a series that zig-zags how serious the zombies actually are so it leaves a slight sour taste in my mouth, like I can see the cogs of manipulation turning but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still effective cause damn it was sad to watch those girls die.

Ranking of Kings: Daida!Bosse is telling Snake Guy about how Miranjo’s family is from a kingdom that is the origin of magic and as such they were like ‘man fuck the gods’ and went to the Asshole Kingdom to recruit assholes to help them fight the gods but the Assholes of Asshole Kingdom were, shocker, asssholes, and turned on them and killed Miranjo’s mom as soon as things looked bad. Also all the gods are giant dudes that wear masks similar to Ouken’s, not sure if that’s relevant.Hilling meets back up with Spear Guy, Sword Guy, and Kirito and gets hyped for Bojji’s new powers while healing Spear Guy and sending the three of them off to help Bojji who is meanwhile still fighting Ouken. Despa and the Guard Captain show up because Bojji’s got this but he’s basically fighting that one round of the Seath the Scaleless fight where he just heals infinitely and it sucks. Though it turns out Despa has no practical power of his own and was calling in an airdrop from Desha this whole time so I guess he related to Bojji a lot more than we thought. Ouken’s figured out how to get around the lightning spam and stabs both Despa and the captain to let them bleed out because that’s his favorite thing to do despite killing anyone in this series already being hard enough without your main technique being ‘death monologue sword’ like I get it’s basically a pacifist series that promots Bojji’s kind-heartedness as the way of the future but people keep dodging these bullets so often I don’t have any confidence anyone’s actually going to die. Anyway Ouken goes after Kage next and manages to stab Bojji in the leg when he goes to protect him so now Bojji can’t dodge which is like his whole thing, but Kage turns into a giant shadow creature and eats Ouken so there’s that I guess.

Vinland Saga: So Thorfinn fights Thorkell in earnest and I think they just straight-up reuse some of the stuff from the opening but it’s pretty cool so it’s okay. Thorkell’s armored and huge so even though Thorfinn can dance around him all day he can’t really do more than give him papercuts. Thorkell makes fun of Thorfinn’s skill with a blade since he’s fast and strong but he basically just punches shit with daggers in his hands and Thorfinn calls him out on lecturing someone that’s fighting evenly with him and Thorkell tells him he wants to find his missing link too and hopes to find it through battle so he asks Thorfinn what it means to be a True Warrior which reminds Thorfinn of his dad’s death and how he’s currently in the process of fucking up his dad’s dying wish royally so he gets pissed but manages to not throw the whole fight like when Askeladd did it but still gets launched through the fucking air by one of Thorkell’s foot. Now as cool as all that shit is, it’s a lot to say that the most interesting stuff in this episode happens with Canute. Canute has a death dream about Ragnar and they get to say their goodbyes despite Ragnar saying ‘this is in your head bro but go ahead and let it out’. He wakes up and Bjorn is still fighting like ten dudes while hopped up on mushrooms so Canute and the Priest have a little chat while they wait for that to play out. He tells the Priest about his cool Ragnar dream and the Priest is like ‘that’s cool bro but that’s not real love’ and they have a big long speech about how loving a specific person precludes compassion for all people like how Ragnar would let people die to protect Canute and that the only things truly capable of love are those that can’t hurt anyone, ie nobody who’s alive, that’s probably a little bit of a minimalization nitpick to narrow down all compassion as simply favoring one person or group of people over others but I get what they’re going for. So the fact that Canute comes to the realization that people are incapable of loving each other unconditionally and universally yet it’s clearly the meaning of life to try fucking awakens his Conqueror’s Haki and he’s able to stop Berserker Bjorn with a hug and it may be the coolest damn thing in this series thus far. Bjorn gets stabbed by the other brother dude but Canute tells them to heal up because they’re going back to Thorkell so he can stop all this fighting and that he’s going to fucking start doing King shit and put an end to the pointless wars, so that’s pretty dope.

[dany36]

SIGH…so I finally finished Xillia 2. Man, what an AMAZING game. Like, I already loved the Xillia 1 characters to bits and this game just exponentiated my love for them. Even made me like and appreciate characters that in Xillia 1 I either disliked or didn’t give much thought to, like Muzet and Alvin. And Elle and Ludger? just pure love everywhere. There aren’t that many direct sequels in the Tales series that I’ve played, since the only other I had played was dawn of the new world and…well, we all know it just wasn’t what most fans expected coming from the all-time beloved Symphonia. But Xillia 2? Showed me that Namco can do sequels right in terms of story, new characters, and treating the returning cast just right. ANYWAYS, more junk thoughts below!

let's start with the good things!!

the returning cast. as mentioned above, the amount of love i have for the original xillia cast is just indescribable. milla maxwell became one of my all-time favorite characters and the fact that the xillia 2 did such a good job at portraying them in this sequel was such a delight. they got new outfits and new skit portraits to go along with them, unlike the treatment that the beloved symphonia OG cast got in dotnw :( (how do 2 years pass and you still have genis with the same kiddy outfit like...c'mon) AND everyone's original voice actors were back for this game as well!!! EVEN DRISELLE!!! gaaahh as i was playing i just kept wishing that symphonia's cast had gotten half the love and care that the xillia 1 cast got in this game, but well, it is what it is.

and the side chapters that you'd get with the original cast? fucking fantastic way to get ludger actually grow closer to milla and the gang and have it feel natural, you know? like it didn't feel forced or anything like how it felt at some parts in dotnw (sorry for constantly comparing it to it but that's the only direct sequel i have to go off of). so not only do you actually get to grow your affection with the original cast, you get to learn even more about them and watch them grow! it was just so great to see elize more grown up and confident, leiah working through having more self-esteem in what she does as a reporter, learning more about muzét and how she actually wishes to get closer to milla's friends, and even gaius!! who i didn't even care for at the beginning, i loved how he realized that the chimeriad were actually his real friends and not just like warriors that were following his orders!!! AAAAA these bonus chapters were EVERYTHING!

the fractured dimensions were also soooo fucking good and so interesting to see how one single thing could make that dimension so different, but honestly all of them were so fucking heartbreaking! the one with elize and jiao was just SO brutal like...i can't even imagine how that must have been like for poor elize. OH and the one with victor where EVERYONE from the og cast is dead?? and you find the "dead" teepo!!! terrible terrible terrible terrible terrible especially when you try to go see driselle in that dimension and some lady at the mansion is like "please understand that lady driselle doesn't want to see anyone right now. she has lost every person that she considered family" like....DAMN this game is just devastating with its fractured dimensions!! but so juicy lmao. but yeah, i just really liked how the fractured dimensions brought back old characters you thought you'd never see again and even made you appreciate them in a new light (like presa and agria). who doesn't love a good AU?

fractured milla. i won't go too much into this here since i already had another post where i talked about how fucking great and a breath of fresh air fractured milla was, but i just had to mention her here as well since i have to say it: before fractured milla showed up, i was having a "meh" time with xillia 2, but once she joined the party and started growing closer with the rest of the team including elle, like...my enjoyment and love for the game increased immediately. what a damn good character.

elle. you amazing beautiful innocent brave child. i didn't care much for elle and found her...somewhat...annoying at the beginning of the game, but considering she is introduced by framing you for kidnapping her, i mean what else is there to expect lol. but my god, the way this game made me go from "who tf is this kid and why do i have to babysit her" to "if anything bad happens to elle i will kill everyone and then myself" was just fantastic. the scene where elle tries to save fractured milla by hitting rideaux with her sword and then like pretty much the follow-up scenes after fractured milla's death like....pure heartbreaking angst that just makes you want to go in and give elle a hug yourself (good thing the game gives you this option as ludger!). like i mentioned in another post, i'm not even the slightest bit interested in seeing the other endings where it looks like you can't save elle, like FUCK that noise and i don't trust anyone that doesn't choose to save elle lol. seeing teenager elle alive and happy WEARING CLOTHES STYLED LIKE HER DAD'S made me smile so fucking hard and made the sadness of ludger's sacrifice worth it just to see the kiddo living her life with the OG cast as her newfound family. LOVE WINS!!!!!!!!!!!!! And also sequel with adult Elle when????????

the gameplay. the gameplay from xillia 2 is similar to xillia 1 so there is nothing much to say that is new here. i would usually stick with my party of ludger-milla-elize-leiah as much as i could. the linked attacks were as fun as ever and being able to switch ludger's types of attacks was interesting, but honestly i don't think i was very good at switching weapons lol.

the english voice acting. i also mentioned this when i talked about fractured milla in a previous post, but man the voice acting for this game is soooo much better than xillia 1. i think i even commented it in my xillia 1 post that i just felt like the VAs just...didn't do it for me (except teepo my beloved!!!!): the voices just felt flat and uninspiring and the skits suffered a bit because of that i think. i think the only one i liked was milla (oh and driselle!! but i mean who doesn't love driselle!!!!) but that's because the non-emotional voice acting fit her character and personality. HOWEVER, xillia 2?? i don't know why but everyone just sounded so much better! like the difference between fractured milla and prime milla was soooo noticeable in the acting, so props to the VA for that. and of course hearing older elize was such a treat!! just ahhhh phenomenal work all around, even for elle's!!

other miscellaneous good things: the skits were fun and even moreso with the choice options added in. i also liked ludger himself as a protagonist and thought going the silent-protagonist route was interesting, i just wish we would have gotten more voiced lines from him, especially at the end where he says goodbye to elle. i was also so glad to see driselle back in xillia 2, and although she doesn't play a major role in the main story, it was good to see her in some sidequests and side chapters. like, the love that elize has for driselle just fills my heart with so much joy and even more when elize called driselle her best friend. augh!!!! i need to play xillia 1 again aldsjkflasjflaksjdf.

and now....for the bad, or not-as-good.

the overworlds. my god i think i already talked about this when i finished xillia 1 but GEEZ these overworlds and dungeon levels are ATROCIOUS!! for the overworlds it's literally the same type of design for every single one of them except re-skinned to fit the theme (snowy, desert, swamp, etc.) so once you see one, you've seen them all. same for the dungeons: just cave-like systems that are re-skinned with no puzzles or anything interesting to them. honestly the way that the fractured dimensions forced you to go back to the old xillia 1 locations was clever but also ANNOYING because it's like...there was rarely anything worth getting in these dungeons, so exploring the same exact-looking caves got so fucking tedious after the third or so. the overworld and the dungeons are i think the worst part of this game, but luckily the characters, story, and gameplay were good enough that i can overlook this part a little bit... i understand that they only had a little bit of time to develop this game after xillia 1, but unlike dotnw, all the locations and dungeons stayed exactly the same and honestly is a disgrace. NEXT.

the music. nothing new here. i mean, considering 85% of the locations are borrowed from xillia 1 and thus the music is borrowed as well, there were i think only 1 or 2 songs that i'll need to add to my collection, one of them being the theme for when you are fighting one of the fractured dimension catalysts. other than that...? yet another tales entry with disappointing music. symphonia stays winning.

the ending. look i'm not saying the GOOD ending is BAD, but like...enough with the bittersweet endings! it's not enough that fractured milla and victor and julius are dead, let's kill ludger as well in order for elle to live. like....c'mon!!! i knew it wasn't gonna be possible to save both given what i had heard about the game, and also at least it wasn't fucking terrible where elle dies no matter what. i guess i was hoping for something like dotnw where we get to have our cake and eat it too: ratatosk saves the world but lets emil live out his human life with marta. i know xillia 2 is an old game but considering some of the tales games after this were zestiria (sorey sacrificing himself) and berseria (velvet sacrificing herself), it's like....c'mon can these protagonists STOP having to sacrifice themselves during the endings, please????

other miscellaneous not-so-good things: ok when prime milla appears she says to elle something like "i'll go to the land of canaan and show you what it is that i do so that you won't have to hate me for having made fractured milla go away" but like...once you get to the land of canaan and see elle, idk if it was just me forgetting things cus i DID finish it at 4 in the morning, but did milla do anything?? lol like i felt it was all ludger and that's it. elle DOES say to milla "i'm glad you're here too" or w/e but it's like...i never really felt like prime milla actually got to close that gap with elle, ESPECIALLY because there's a skit beforehand where milla is sad/worried about what she could give to elle once she sees her again. and then after the final battle she (understandably) leaves with muzet so it's like...oh ok, thanks.....??? just me being annoyed with that just because of how close fractured milla and elle were so i thought we would see more interactions between prime milla and elle. oh well elle has elize and uncle alvin and the rest of the gang so it's all good but seriously what was that lol

i was expecting the final dungeon to be super long like it usually is with tales games but this one was only like...two sections long? i mean sure it's sort of a maze but honestly it wasn't so bad, and the enemies weren't even that annoying. just kind of disappointing in terms of a final Tales of level.

oh and origin. like, not only his design was kind of weird and uninspiring (the only other Origin from Tales of is the one i saw from Symphonia lol) but it's like c'mon little dude, ludger and elle passed the trial, let them both live!!! just felt like there was a lot of build up to origin and he was just some little kid at the end who made a trial for humanity just 'cus he could. oh well.

anyway!!! i guess my biggest gripes were just the overworld and the dungeons. the story, characters, and gameplay were just so fun and enjoyable, so i would definitely replay this if i had the time (and cry 1000 tears from the ch11 ending UGH). xillia 2 made me love the world from xillia even more, and i DO have a replay of xillia 1 pending since i only played it from jude's perspective, but maybe i will leave that for next year because who can get enough milla maxwell???

with xillia 2 done, i honestly wouldn't be able to say if i prefer 1 over 2 or the other way around. i think they complement each other perfectly, so i'm gonna cheat and say that my ranking for tales games played would stay the same so far lol: symphonia, berseria, abyss, xillia 1/2, symphonia 2, zestiria, arise, vesperia. thank you berseria my beloved for reigniting my love for tales games, otherwise i would have never had the thought of playing through all of these games!!! and now on to phantasia! :)

[tvxqdbsk]

also there was never a mention of taemin having to transfer because he was facing harassment in the army in any news source , it was only due to his worsening mental health which could have worsened for a multitude of reasons , there were even anonymous soldier ops who vouched for him and defended him from people saying it was an excuse to get out of military service, saying nice things about him. So Idk where that came from. Also that post seemed really culturally insensitive like, in my country abolishing the military n forced military service might be a good thing, in Op's country it might be a good thing, but in a country who's next door neighbor is North Fucking Korea ? A country who had a re-unification war in very recent history that wrecked the country and that never really ended ? It's much more complicated. I've always hated the violence, homophobia and abuse that goes on in the Korean military from hearing about it in documentaries, but that all seemed to be a non-issues that people didn't think affect idols until BTS 'turn came. Also LITERALLY today there was a video of several male idols dancing to Hypeboy on a military talent showcase, military men do girl group covers n skits, so it doesn't seem like the awful aspects of the military system are universal and there is no space where famous guys who dance and sing for a living can be respected and live in peace. 

okay so as far as what exactly op said about taemin i cant remember anymore because i blocked them and im not going to go back and check their exact wording but iirc there were rumors of taemin getting bullied and harassed but we dont know if any of that was true. what we do know is he was transferred because his mental health was suffering and it was determined after some evaluations that it wasnt suitable for him to remain in his original position so they transferred him. claims that it was to get out of service is ridiculous because as i said it was determined by the military themselves that he wasnt fit to continue and also because switching to public service means a longer enlistment period. regardless of taemin's situation, it is totally inappropriate to use his personal problems as a gotcha especially when 1- it was only announced because it HAD to be announced otherwise people would have found out from somewhere else and taemin/sm would have had no control over even more rumors being spread about him. it's not like he wanted his personal business being publicized but they had no choice but to get ahead by making the announcement first with the correct information. 2- the troops (obviously not all, but a very loud group of them) view their meow meows as above kpop (thus why they should be exempt and other idols shouldnt be) so why are they using a kpop idol AND this idol in particular when some of those fans mocked him for the very reason theyre now using him? 3- there's a history of them exploiting the trauma shinee has been through to show how the kpop industry is terrible and evil and now they've found a new hardship of shinee's to exploit for their baby beetleeboops 4- its none of their business

as for cultural insensitivity, i think its complicated. south korea needs defense against their neighbor yes but forcing unwilling participants to join the military is still wrong. two things can be true at once. it's also important to acknowledge that it's due to us imperialism (my and lots of armchair's country) that got everything to the point where the conflict is so prolonged that the sk government even needs to maintain the draft to this day.

the violence/homophobia/abuse is not exclusive to the military and is a much larger societal issue that needs to be fixed. but its so true that many of their fans didnt give a shit about other idols having to enlist or any other korean enlisting for that matter. like they literally made fun of minseok for getting stationed in the dmz. but now that their darling tannies are enlisting its suddenly a problem. in fact up until now it seems the main narrative was that all other idols are flops and will never reach the level of the boops so they deserve getting drafted but their boy scouts are special and different so they shouldn't have to go through what every other man in the country goes through.

i saw that video of the soldiers dancing and thats pretty commonplace. as for individual idols and how theyre treated it defintiely depends who's in their unit with them, but just because the military has concerts with male idols getting to perform and bringing in girl groups to sing and dance it doesnt mean its always like that every day and so it isnt so bad in there. like those concerts are literally morale boosters..