#broodingisms

[camellcat]

something about watching this snarky bad-boy angel slowly transform into his usual broodingness is like. angel, buddy. you might as well have started out mysterious in a sad way rather than a mean way. she didn't even LIKE you when you were annoying her. best part is he was barely any good at it either lmfao he never actually seemed confident

[jflower278]

Not style admitting he's scared of fadel but also finds that broodingness hot

😭 definition of horny but scared

[silverskye13]

There is an rns pride and prejudice au. In my head. Not many thoughts for it besides vibes and that I need to see Helsknight as Mr. Darcy. Their dark and broodingness matches. I’ve just been thinking about pride and prejudice a lot lately lol

I have failed you Lin, I've never read or watched Pride and Prejudice, which is a shame because it's one of my best friends' favorite books XD Might have to bump it up a little higher on the reading list now though!

[visualnovelzombie]

Furry Visual Novel Book Club: Echo Week 17 Spoilers

Hi everyone, here is the SPOILER discussion post for “Echo - TJ’s Friday”

Links: Previous - Next - Original - Spoiler Free Version

Feel free to respond in reblogs/replies/or asks :D

A short update today, as the finale is about our usual reading length. And I did not want to do a 3k line update again because it takes WAY too much time. 

Chase wakes up around noon, learning that Tj had left on a hike without him, from Jenna whose been working on her homework. Chase brings up not being sure who set up the scavenger hunt to her, but Jenna says if it helps Tj she doesn’t mind doing it either way. Chase goes to grab lunch from the diner, only for Julian to invite himself next to the otter after his shift is over. Chase isn’t sure why Julian is talking to him, when the only times they’ve ever spoken before was because Julian was with Tj at the time.

Julian reveals he was best friends with Tj after Carl and Chase graduated, which relaxes Chase, whose upset with how much he feels like Julian is trying to ‘get with’ Tj. The two have an agreeable conversation until the music quiets as Julian says…

Chase recalls the account of Sydney’s death as When Your Arms Were Around Me begin to play. In August 2003, the gang went to Lake Emma to cool down, a usual occurrence. The group split off to skip rocks, leaving Tj behind at their usual spot. Sometime later, and even though Sydney had went with them, the larger group returns to the spot after hearing yelling, with Tj standing by the shore and Sydney floating face down in the water. Chase goes to grab him as the rest of the group splits off to get help.

Chase conveniently fails to mention the part where Flynn forced him into the water to help... If events did play out like this, it also means Chase sneaked back to the group after drowning Sydney too, which probably helped a LOT for people not blaming him.

Chase recalls in his head that Tj’s explanation doesn’t make sense, that something ‘pulled’ Sydney into the water... Because deep down, even if he’s suppressing it to himself, he knows what really happened. The diner’s theme begins to play again as the story finishes. Chase remembers he needs to finish his project and Julian offers to drive him to locations to film. The two head out to the mine to film. When they arrive, they find Tj sitting in front of the mineshaft opening. The lynx’s eyes are rolled back in his head and he’s unresponsive for a few moments. Chase eventually gets him back to reality and Tj says he was just napping. Tj realizes Julian is there and goes to hug him, Come Over begins playing as the two make contact.

We definitely get evidence that Tj has some supernatural entity involved with him, and I think it’s very easy to read it as an Echo of Sydney, in some sort. We know AN Echo of Sydney is out wandering the town in Flynn’s route, and that AN Echo of him is still around five years later... Maybe in this isolated hysteria incident, it decided to attach itself to Tj, or that AN entity is attaching itself to Tj to ‘feed’ it, and brought him to the mines to facilitate that.

Chase notices that Tj’s broodingness is gone from the day before, and chooses to embrace it, ignoring the situation he found the lynx in.

Chase’s willingness to overlook the supernatural again and again for Tj’s sake is very interesting. How much of his shattered self is going along because something is wrong in general, and how much is Mirror-Man influencing these decisions as well...

(We’ve played Leo’s route so we know but OOF…)

Chase ignores how ridiculous it is that Tj of all people would go on a several hours long hike in the weather by himself… but ignores it because Tj is happier today. Chase asks why Tj didn’t wake him up to go hiking, and Tj responds saying he didn’t want to drag Chase around anymore. Julian offers to go with Tj next time, and Chase responds with jealously, not wanting Tj to be alone with the buck. Tj and Julian discuss the bible study club Tj ran in highschool, Chase being jealous he didn’t get to share that experience with Tj while Julian did. Julian reveals that Tj would always say that he wished Chase would show up, embarrassing the lynx. Chase gets his shots of the mine and the group head out, picking up Carl and Jenna… though Chase is a bit jealous along the way. 

...MMhh, i wonder who else we’ve seen do stuff like that after an encounter with something in a mirror...

Flynn texts something mean to Tj again, Chase getting a glimpse of the message. He decides to to have Leo handle Flynn for Tj…

The group arrive at Sydney’s old home, where is Carl apprehensive about bothering the current resident to go inside, with Tj insistent that they do.

He know’s because he almost certainly planted it the night or two before, which Injy  brings up a bit later. The dark edge to Tj’s voice is back and everyone else is uncomfortable and unsure of the plan as Tj rings the doorbell anyways. Tj is… extremely blunt about what they’re currently there for.

Injy, the Red Panda and current resident, is understandably extremely creeped out by the requests and goes to shut the door. Tj offers to just go in himself, with Injy still being apprehensive. Injy offers to look for it himself if Tj tells him where it is and Tj agrees. Injy returns with an old shoebox, the very item the group was looking for. Chase is incredulous that they’re finding clues somehow still. Injy is sympathetic towards the group but tells them…

The group open the box and read the note, the paper old and identical to the others. It reads:

"I hope that you're all having fun,

"Soon you'll know what Chase has done,

"Figure it out, it's a piece of cake

"If you can't, look by Carl's drawing at the lake.

Carl throws up, and the group return to the motel room while they wait for him to recover. Chase is convinced that Sydney didn’t set up the hunt and that someone ‘has it out for [him]’. Chase is upset and tries to call the scavenger hunt off. Jenna comments that Chase is acting like his OLD self again. Chase then blames Carl and Flynn for setting it up. Tj is sure it isn’t Flynn... because again he is almost certainly the one who set it up... (Along with his ghost boyfriend whose possessing him ~)

I think Chase acting like his old self at times is a very interesting line. Maybe it represents just how he was brash and rude, and Mirror-Man is causing him to be so obsessed AND hide his secret, he’s being brash and rude again. Maybe it’s because Sam is so repressed, a bit of Chase is able to shine through? I think there’s a lot of little stuff to gleam from this line.

Chase sneaks out of the motel room at 3am. Reckoning begins to play as Chase drives towards the lake. He creeps out to the shore at night by himself, the sense of being watched by the lake itself enveloping him. After some … choice words about Carl

A tarantula sits on the rock, staring Chase down, and one twink moment later and it’s gone. Chase digs up the final note, an old lunch box. He destroys the note inside after reading it, the audience unaware of what it says.

More evidence that tarantula’s/spiders are manifestations of guilt and not ACTUALLY there. Would explain why they’re ‘hanging around’ Janice’s house, and why Tj and Chase are the only ones to see them...

Chase leaves a fake note inside the box and takes the scraps of the ripped up note. 

Oh honey... it IS the stars... but also the extreme manifestation of guilt that feeds a cosmic entity that makes faces of spiders in the stars. It’s multiple things <3

Chase returns to the motel, and stands over Tj, watching him sleep…

-------

That’s all for this week. Next week (assuming I don’t forget again...), we’ll be finishing Tj’s route, so keep playing till your kicked off to the main menu. There’s only one ending this time around...

Till next week everyone ~

[thessalian]

Astrid vs the Nautiloid Vessel

First, meet Astrid:

Bard extraordinaire, and the closest I've ever been able to come to the original Astrid when I was playing WoD lo these many years ago. Astrid was my way of exploring the WoD's dark grittiness on very different terms than the usual; most people lean into the dark broodingness of it all, so I made the most cheerful and optimistic person alive, partly to see how much she could take. I did not expect the response I got to her - nearly everybody absolutely adored her, and got a little bit surprised by how subtly nasty she could get to actual threats. She's the one who had the time-delayed rote that would have any vampire who tasted her blood feel like their blood was on fire ... and would feel like their blood was on fire when they tasted any blood for three months. Her take on it: "I warned them..."

Anyway. On with the liveblog.

Scene: a burning Nautiloid ship:

Lae'zel: RAAA KILL YOU, THRALL!

Astrid: Um ... no thank you?

Mind-Sharing Thing: *happens*

Lae'zel: It is ... abominably cheerful, in your head. And what is that?!?

Astrid: You ... know what they are. I mean, technically an intellect devourer, but I helped them, so they're nice to me. Then again, that might have something to do with having treated the haematoma that had them too swollen for the skull they were in, and since I couldn't fix the whole ... being an intellect devourer now thing, I settled for a little bit of medical treatment. I think I might have made them a little more docile during the procedure but I didn't mean to...

Lae'zel: Please. Stop.

Astrid: Oh. Sorry. Anyway, this is Us. Us, meet ... Lae'zel? Am I pronouncing that right?

Lae'zel: *glares*

Astrid: Manners are a thing!

Lae'zel: Ugh. No matter how ... insufferably nice you are, you might at least be of some use to get to the helm. I don't need to run faster than the abominations; I just need to run faster than you. Now help me deal with the imps.

Astrid: ...Okay. *turns to imps; voice goes Vicious Mockery resonance* A PLAGUE RAT FUCKED YOUR MOM!

Imp: *straight up dies*

Lae'zel: ......................

Astrid: This is why I'm nice to people. If I'm not ... that can sometimes happen.

Lae'zel: ...noted.

Later:

Lae'zel: Why are you rooting around this place like some kind of deranged pack rat?

Astrid: I don't know how it works where you're from, but most of the places we're probably going to escape to tend to want money for important things like ... you know, food. Anyway, there's that one lady banging on the pod over there and I want to find a rune that fits that machine...

Lae'zel: What did I tell you about touching things?!?

Astrid: She's trapped! You saw what happened to the last one! This one's at least responding! ...Plus she has an awful lot of really great curse words I'm looking forward to fitting into my repertoire...

Lae'zel: We have no time for this, you--

Astrid: ...and if you let me finish, look at her armour! Her circlet! She is a cleric! Tell me that a cleric wouldn't come in handy right now!

Lae'zel: ...Ugh, fine.

Astrid: *finds rune; frees Shadowheart*

Shadowheart: You keep dangerous company.

Astrid: *raises eyebrows, gestures at the absolute carnage all over the place*

Shadowheart: Fair point. We stand a better chance together.

Lae'zel: You will follow my orders!

Astrid; Shadowheart: How about no?

Lae'zel: ...Hate you both.

Later still, at the helm

Lae'zel: Get to the helm! I'll hold these creatures!

Shadowheart: How about we listen to the suicidal warrior-gith, hmm?

Astrid: Ummmmm ... nope. *Vicious Mockery Voice* HEY! YOU! I'M TALKING TO YOU, YOU STRAWBERRY-COLOURED MOCKERY OF A HELLSPAWN!

Imp: *straight-up dies like the last one*

Shadowheart: ........Or you can keep yelling insults until everything around us is dead. That works too.

Several dead imps later

Lae'zel: I won't reach that in time; it's too far!

Astrid: Nyoom! *dashes over and connects a thing*

Lae'zel: ...what the--?

Astrid: That one imp's father was a plague-rat; mine was a wood elf. Now let's-- Oop.

Dragon: *breathes fire at basically everything*

Astrid: Oh nuts... Okay, maybe it works like lute strings... *twangs single connected bit of tentacle weird*

Nautiloid Vessel: *blinks into existence over some beachy area or other, dropping parasite infectees like confetti*

Astrid: Oh nuts-- *is hit on head with rock and knocked out of ship* shouldvelearnedfeatherfallshouldvelearnedfeatherfall yeeeeek!

[stars-and-branches]

Okay I took a break to bake cookies BUT this movie was so good and is now my favorite superhero movie (sorry Thor Ragnarok). The scene composition and portrayal of Gotham was fantastic. The Gothic architecture and warm color palette has me frothing at the mouth. The way so many dark scenes get lit up by gunfire, especially near the climax, is so cool. The way the director worked symbolism into the movie, like having it end on a sunrise and having scenes parallel eachother, was fantastic. There are so many shots that I want to photograph and hang up on my wall.

I really hope the sequel introduces Robin, this film was a great way to introduce the new Batman but he desperately needs a balance to his edgy broodingness. Also I just want to see Dick Grayson on screen again man, it's been too long.

I'm going to be watching the new Penguin series next though idk if I'll liveblog it like I did this movie.

I'm watching The Batman (2022) and Bruce Wayne CANNOT be giving me gender envy right now fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you

[lovely-oh-so-lovelyyui]

I'm the only one who feel so many Shuu vibes?!)Hair,tired eyes, face in general!

Oh yeah!

I can definitely see it, the effortlessly tousled hair but it still looks so soft and bouncy the more you look at it the more you can see the resemblance within his face. I like the straightness of his brows and the broodingness of his gaze but it softens up with the delicate eye bags. I’ve always thought even with the amount of sleep he gets his nightmares would definitely cause eyebags but his face structure is still very regal with the brows and cheekbones. Also love the idea of him having moles and maybe sharing them with his ma but they’re so discreet compared to Laito; like one’s hidden under chin, another on his forehead hidden under his hair and one at the end of his temple hidden by his eyebrows. They follow onto his body just moles here and there and the eerily straight line of three moles down the curve of his spine.

[siderealxmelody]

He grinned at her leaning toward her, her brother and his broodingness forgotten.

"You could mate me properly and we could keep it in the family. Valentina already adores you like I do so it shouldn't be too difficult for our people to get in line too."

Something like relief flashed through his eyes before it vanished. Romulus watched him shrug and focus on the papers in front of them.

"Don't be, he wasn't the man that my mother or I loved. He spiralred after she left or died. No one could tell me for sure. He had a harem at one point, the brats weren't -"

He exhaled and flashed her a charming smile, how much like him.

"It's fine, they're dead and you have a kingdom! So any other questions?"

[kilignosis]

we get backstory upon backstory between them bc this is a kdrama, but they don’t need it bc in present time it’s already v clear why he likes her, and it’s that he sees in her qualities he wants for himself.

soo hyeong was told to live a normal life but he doesn’t know how to do that, and here is hyeong jin inserting herself into his life, asking questions, dragging him places and calling him out on his dark broodingness. and she’s so empathetic and goes out of her way to connect with people, and we get to see him see that and want to be like her. she goes so far as to say she’s disappointed that they don’t share the same desire to help underdogs, but they do. and she’s like that but she’s no MPDG, she’s not quirky, she’s not a sunshine to his darkness or whatever, she’s just very human.

[aces-reviews]

Oh God here we go

What a way to renew the old blog, eh friends? That’s right, it’s Ace’s Reviews, coming to you from our secret mountaintop fortress!

This time ‘round, we’re taking a harsh look at “Dracula in Love”, by John Shirley. That’s the cover, right up there!!

Let’s start with that cover. The tag line, the one above the title, the one that’s supposed to entice you to buy this book right goddamn now, states that this yarn is “more shocking than Interview with the Vampire and Dracula!”

Maury knows you lyin’

The only shocking thing about this book is how bad it is. How about some historical context?

See in the 70’s and 80’s, there was a boom for mass market horror paperbacks, and there were a LOT of them. One little sub genre was vampires. 1976 brought us Anne Rice’s ‘Interview with the Vampire’, a ferociously wonderful novel that gave us moody, soulful vampires who ruminated on their dark and lonely existences.

Enough about Louis, get to me.

It also gave us Lestat, and if you don’t know who he is, then welcome to the modern day, unfrozen caveman!

Anyway, Ms Rice’s lovely little novel touched off an explosion of vampire novels, all of them turning up the dials on handsomeness, broodingness, and sex.

‘Dracula in Love’ was, unfortunately, one of those novels.

Our main character is Vladimir Horescu, a computer design guy who gets a letter one day, from his dad. Guess who his dad is. Go on, guess!

Hint.

So this dude is Dracula’s son! This is shocking news!! Drac Daddy commands his son to meet him at a house that our protagonist grew up in for reasons that I don’t remember, because my brain is refusing and trying to resist. So our guy goes home to his Asian manservant and discovers his heroin-addict ex-wife is there. Later, he gets a visit from a mysterious dude in a yellow suit. Who could this be? Why none other than Lucifer himself!!

“You wish. Don’t drag me into this garbage fire!” —Lucifer, probably

Now this Lucifer isn’t the Devil. Oh, he’s A devil, but not THE Devil. Totally different guy. Also this one looks kinda like Santa Claus.

So Santa Banana tells our hero “I’m trynna kill Dracula, and my lady servant will be here tomorrow with some proof.” That proof is a letter from our hero’s old secret society colleague who, in an effort to become a real vampire—and I swear I’m not making any of this up—uses kung-fu and stage magic to become a vampire themed serial killer before being beset by REAL vampires and becoming one of them. The problem is that they’re all rotting zombie type vampires and not the sexy Lestat kind.

“It sucks to be someone. Guess what? It’s that guy.”—Lestat, probably

So more bullshit happens, and I don’t remember it because again, my brain is trying to save me, and then—HALFWAY THROUGH THE BOOK—we finally meet Dracula.

Now, I’d like you to picture Dracula. You pictured someone sexy, didn’t you? Was it Gary Oldman? Mm, I bet it was. Go ahead and soak that up a second. Yeah, that’s nice. You probably picked one of these dudes:

Yes, I’m aware that it’s old butt-hair Drac. No, I don’t care. Still sexy.

It’s quite something then, when Dracula shows up in this novel and is described as short and squat, cruel and brutal.

“Like me!”—Gimli, probably

He’s also dressed in the height of late 70’s fashion: it’s either a blue power-suit OR military fatigues with a leather trench coat. Look, just picture Gimli cosplaying as Rutger Hauer from ‘Blade Runner’ and you’re all set.

Now here’s where the novel really starts to suck, pun not intended. This mockery of written words doesn’t deserve puns.

It turns out that Dracula likes to force himself on women, and it makes other people do the same. Also, Dracula doesn’t have a regular dong, but a demon.

It turns out that Lucifer’s lady servant is actually Lucifer and after Dracula falls in love with her in the last fifth of the book there’s a weird sex-ish scene where Dracula...gets...he...

He crawls up inside her after she grows giant and then gets deported to another realm.

“BRUH.”—Riker, definitely

There’s an ending kind of, and it turns out the Asian manservant has God living in his head or something, but do you care? I don’t care. I don’t care, and neither should you.

Guys. I hate this book. I hate it so fucking much. It’s the worst book I’ve ever read. It’s worse than ‘Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein’, and that book is a war crime. It’s scientifically impossible to be worse than ‘Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein’, and yet somehow it happened. I crapped blood for four hours after I finished this book.

I’m asking you, on behalf of the Council of Sexy Draculas, to never read this book. I read it because I had to, for you, the people. But if someone ever says, “Hey man! I have here a novel that’s more shocking than Interview with the Vampire and Dracula!”, you need to duck, because they’re secretly behind you with an axe. That person outright hates you, and you should hate them back, because they’re trying to get you to read “Dracula in Love”.

“We are the Council of Sexy Draculas, and we approve this message.”—the Council of Sexy Draculas, probably

I came across this book in Grady Hendrix’s (no relation) book, “Paperbacks from Hell”, a fantastic read all about that paperback boom.

Tune in next time, where we’ll review one of the worst movies of all time!!

[peachfyzzy]

★self ship weekday 1: how did you first meet? ★

 Ah! So, your local angel @pinkandbizarre requested me to do this! If you haven’t checked out her stuff, do it! She’s a sweetheart <3. I’ve never really done this kind of stuff- so bear with me LMAOO. A reminder to be perfectly indulgent, it’s fun!

bruabba x my dumbass under the cut

     I knew there was absolutely no way that I would get out of the punk concert alive and with my ability to hear- but I went anyway. My body ached with sweat and the slightest bit of regret as I ran to keep up with the raging moshpit. There was nothing like dodging the occasional punch and jumping to chaotic, borderline eardrum breaking music to calm you down and express all your rage. I wore out my throat screaming along to the lyrics, pushing my tight curls from around my face. The leather I decide to wear stuck to my arms and stomach, and honestly- I wouldn’t have it any other way. Sometime around the Sex Pistols’ Problem, I spotted them. Two oddly dressed men (even for an underground concert), standing next to each other. I adjusted my glasses once, then twice, hoping I could get a better view. The taller one looked more apt to this sort of thing- all dark makeup and broodingness. The slightly smaller one was suave, way too pristine for the rust and dust of the mill where the concert was being held. Their faces were stony and determined, and I figured I shouldn’t go looking for any more trouble than I was already in.

     Closer to the end of the riot of a concert and in the middle of me destroying my vocal cords some more, an unexpected tap on the shoulder graced my shoulder. I whipped around, ready to be decked in the face. Instead, I was met eye to eye, (or rather eye to chest) with the taller goth male. I raised my eyebrow, analyzing his face. His sunset eyes were clouded with intoxication, and his words slurred. His face told me he thought I was someone completely different than I was. The man he came in with had a similar bob- and I had to wonder if that had anything to do with it. 

     “Bru-” His words were halted by the shorted man grabbing his shoulders and confirming that I was indeed, a random person. 

     “My apologies. You can call me Bruno. This is Abbacchio.” 

[itisallindarknessnow]

Idfk who the guy is but the broodingness is chefs kiss

I need more of this, yes please

Ikepri Instagram Stories

Part 8: Chevalier Michel

Disclaimer! Let's be honest, there's 0 chance he'd use instagram or even have an account

So this is Chevalier's gf story feed

[visualnovelzombie]

Furry Visual Novel Book Club: Echo Week 17

Hi everyone, here is the SPOILER FREE discussion post for “Echo - TJ’s Friday”

Links: Previous - Next - Original - Spoiler Version

Feel free to respond in reblogs/replies/or asks :D

A short update today, as the finale is about our usual reading length. And I did not want to do a 3k line update again because it takes WAY too much time. 

Chase wakes up around noon, learning that Tj had left on a hike without him, from Jenna whose been working on her homework. Chase brings up not being sure who set up the scavenger hunt to her, but Jenna says if it helps Tj she doesn’t mind doing it either way. Chase goes to grab lunch from the diner, only for Julian to invite himself next to the otter after his shift is over. Chase isn’t sure why Julian is talking to him, when the only times they’ve ever spoken before was because Julian was with Tj at the time.

Julian reveals he was best friends with Tj after Carl and Chase graduated, which relaxes Chase, whose upset with how much he feels like Julian is trying to ‘get with’ Tj. The two have an agreeable conversation until the music quiets as Julian says…

Chase recalls the account of Sydney’s death as When Your Arms Were Around Me begin to play. In August 2003, the gang went to Lake Emma to cool down, a usual occurrence. The group split off to skip rocks, leaving Tj behind at their usual spot. Sometime later, and even though Sydney had went with them, the larger group returns to the spot after hearing yelling, with Tj standing by the shore and Sydney floating face down in the water. Chase goes to grab him as the rest of the group splits off to get help.

Chase recalls in his head that Tj’s explanation doesn’t make sense, that something ‘pulled’ Sydney into the water… The diner’s theme begins to play again as the story finishes. Chase remembers he needs to finish his project and Julian offers to drive him to locations to film. The two head out to the mine to film. When they arrive, they find Tj sitting in front of the mineshaft opening. The lynx’s eyes are rolled back in his head and he’s unresponsive for a few moments. Chase eventually gets him back to reality and Tj says he was just napping. Tj realizes Julian is there and goes to hug him, Come Over begins playing as the two make contact. 

Chase notices that Tj’s broodingness is gone from the day before, and chooses to embrace it, ignoring the situation he found the lynx in.

(We’ve played Leo’s route so we know... OOF)

Chase ignores how ridiculous it is that Tj of all people would go on a several hours long hike in the weather by himself… but ignores it because Tj is happier today. Chase asks why Tj didn’t wake him up to go hiking, and Tj responds saying he didn’t want to drag Chase around anymore. Julian offers to go with Tj next time, and Chase responds with jealously, not wanting Tj to be alone with the buck. Tj and Julian discuss the bible study club Tj ran in highschool, Chase being jealous he didn’t get to share that experience with Tj while Julian did. Julian reveals that Tj would always say that he wished Chase would show up, embarrassing the lynx. Chase gets his shots of the mine and the group head out, picking up Carl and Jenna… though Chase is a bit jealous along the way. 

Flynn texts something mean to Tj again, Chase getting a glimpse of the message. He decides to to have Leo handle Flynn for Tj…

The group arrive at Sydney’s old home, where is Carl apprehensive about bothering the current resident to go inside, with Tj insistent that they do.

The dark edge to Tj’s voice is back and everyone else is uncomfortable and unsure of the plan as Tj rings the doorbell anyways. Tj is… extremely blunt about what they’re currently there for.

Injy, the Red Panda and current resident, is understandably extremely creeped out by the requests and goes to shut the door. Tj offers to just go in himself, with Injy still being apprehensive. Injy offers to look for it himself if Tj tells him where it is and Tj agrees. Injy returns with an old shoebox, the very item the group was looking for. Chase is incredulous that they’re finding clues somehow still. Injy is sympathetic towards the group but tells them…

The group open the box and read the note, the paper old and identical to the others. It reads:

"I hope that you're all having fun,

"Soon you'll know what Chase has done,

"Figure it out, it's a piece of cake

"If you can't, look by Carl's drawing at the lake.

Carl throws up, and the group return to the motel room while they wait for him to recover. Chase is convinced that Sydney didn’t set up the hunt and that someone ‘has it out for [him]’. Chase is upset and tries to call the scavenger hunt off. Jenna comments that Chase is acting like his OLD self again. Chase then blames Carl and Flynn for setting it up. Tj is sure it isn’t Flynn.

…

Chase sneaks out of the motel room at 3am. Reckoning begins to play as Chase drives towards the lake. He creeps out to the shore at night by himself, the sense of being watched by the lake itself enveloping him. After some … choice words about Carl...

... Chase sees a tarantula on the rock, staring Chase down, and one twink moment later and it’s gone. Chase digs up the final note, an old lunch box. He destroys the note inside after reading it, the audience unaware of what it says.

Chase leaves a fake note inside the box and takes the scraps of the ripped up note. 

Chase returns to the motel, and stands over Tj, watching him sleep…

-------

That’s all for this week. Next week (assuming I don’t forget again...), we’ll be finishing Tj’s route, so keep playing till your kicked off to the main menu. There’s only one ending this time around...

Till next week everyone ~

[thessalian]

Thess vs The Witcher

Finally finished The Witcher. I have to admit that I enjoyed that way, way more than I expected to. So, some points:

Yeah, okay, some of the timeline stuff was a little tricky to figure out, but honestly? I read The Handmaid’s Tale when I was 12 or so - my mother insisted that I do so because she wanted to take me to the movie version when it first came out and she wanted to make sure I had the book for a reference point. Note for those who haven’t read the book and mostly know it from the TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale skips around in time a lot. Let’s just say I got used to unconventional timelines in fiction early, to the point where I actually used the device in one of the better fics I’ve written. Didn’t cause me any problems.

I didn’t agree with Yennefer’s actions all the time, and I was never entirely sure whether I liked her, but that’s actually good. I always feel better when I have a complex emotional response to a character because I’m like that with people all the time. Better than liking her, I understood her. That feels rarer for women in fiction than I generally like. She was offered a lot of choices, and none of them in and of themselves were going to make her happy; the ones that were sold to her as the only way out weren’t but a shunned and abused small-town girl wouldn’t be able to see that, and the ones that she discovered later wouldn’t have been open to her unless she took the steps that shut at least one of those doors (read: a child) for good. And given the number of times ‘happiness’ or at least ‘contentment’ have turned out to have been lies at the root, it’s small wonder she flinches at it now. So it’ll be interesting to see where that goes, assuming her survival and a second season.

Jaskier ... yeah, okay, he was funny. Not entirely sure I saw the point of him beyond a foil to humanise Geralt, though. I wanted to see more from him than what we got - him as a person, not him as a legend or a MacGuffin. But the one thing we really saw of Jaskier was ... well, the last; the reaction to the final ‘fuck off’. Sorry, dude - you’re a sweetie to a point, but you really need to learn when to shut the fuck up. I did like that, I have to admit, though I could see where it was framed as Geralt’s mistake; a lot of media teaches us to either laugh at people who can’t see where they’re stepping over boundaries or to endure them without saying anything because they can’t necessarily help being unable to read social cues. Just ... Jaskier never examined his behaviour, never apologised for clearly going too far at times, never tried because his needs were more important in his mind than Geralt’s comfort. So in the end he finally sees that his actions, no matter how much he didn’t mean them that way, have consequences. Ideally I’d like to see that built upon in a second season, because I have no doubt he’s going to come back.

Ciri ... I don’t know what to make of Ciri yet. Up until now she’s been largely reactive - which is entirely understandable given the nature of the plot. Now, though ... well, it’ll be interesting to see what becomes of the dropped hints and obvious hooks.

Geralt, though ... a lot has been said about Geralt, and most of it’s positive, and I agree with most of it. He is Dark Man of Broodingness but without the obvious framing it as a matter of sex appeal - not that he doesn’t have sex appeal, but it’s not framed as that being something he takes advantage of the way a lot of male protagonists do. Most Dark Men of Broodingness will avail themselves of the willing women who throw themselves at him as a matter of course; Geralt just kind of ignores most of it, honestly preferring to get what sexual R&R he desires by paying for it than having a girl in every town, so to speak. This makes his moments with Renfri and Yennefer more powerful, because it adds weight to his genuine concern about someone getting under his armour in the metaphorical sense as well as the literal. Cavill gives wonderful Reluctant Hero; he really truly wants it to be all about the coin, and is generally angry with himself when he lets his conscience get the better of him ... and finding out where that particular bit of conscience comes from is all the more of a gut-punch as a result.

I won’t say I entirely understand the politics, but I like how they’re presented. It’s clear that Nilfgaard is being framed as the Big Bad here, but Cintra doesn’t honestly present as much better. Nor Temeria, nor ... well, frankly, anywhere else. The big difference is scale; it’s pretty clear that Nilfgaard wants to take over everything, whereas most of the smaller nations are more than happy to have mutually beneficial business arrangements with other nations so long as they appear to have the upper hand. It’s a good, nuanced view that keeps an audience guessing right up until Nilfgaard’s intentions become clearer; good a way as any to maintain multiple levels of cliffhanger.

A few interesting bits of trivia relating to the actors involved:

Star Wars fans who have watched this (waving at @hyperewok1 in particular here but also @true0neutral in at least one case) will recognise Stregobor’s voice, possibly - that would be Lars Mikkelsen, or Thrawn from Star Wars: Rebels. Also, Mimi Ndiweni, who played Fringilla, was one of the resistance officers in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

One of the main cast actually did a voice for one of the Witcher games: MyAnna Buring, or Tissaia de Vries, did the voice of Anna Henrietta in The Witcher 3: Blood Hunt - Blood and Wine.

I knew Queen Calanthe looked familiar - Jodhi May played Mag the Frog in that Cersei flashback in Game of Thrones S5, ep 1.

Anna Shaffer - Triss Merigold - was also Romilda Vane in the last three Harry Potter movies (the ones I didn’t see, and having missed her is about the only reason I regret that, I admit).

I have never seen this many Europeans in a show that’s marketed so heavily to Americans in my life - not outside of BBC productions that have hit ‘mainstream popularity’, anyway, at which point it’s mostly British. Most of the actors I’ve seen in the main cast who aren’t English are Icelandic, Danish, Polish and Swedish; outside of Europe, there’s like ... two from Australia and one from New Zealand. The sole identified American (Jordan Renzo, who was in like one episode and died first) is British-born. This gives me the warm fuzzies.

Most of the British actors have either been in Doctor Who or one of its spin-offs. Better than most of the British voice actors I’ve seen (whose careers tend to involve brief stint on the BBC lunchtime soap opera Doctors ... ironically enough).

Also, a lot of the British actors have had the predominance of their careers on the London stage. Which is nice; I like to think that people can actually make the jump to different media if they want to, instead of the usual Hollywood “Wait until the next Big Name comes along and then beat them into the ground” bullshit.

So there you go; that’s me on The Witcher. I have some consideration to do regarding what next - I have recommendations from a very trusted source but there’s three of them and they’re of very different genres so now I have to decide between Jessica Jones, Wynonna Earp, or Altered Carbon.

Also the show has kind of inspired me to actually try the game, which has been sitting in my Steam library for a very long time now

...AAAAAA.

[lovepollution]

He seemed to offer all the things I was missing in Michael. All the...danger, all the broodingness, all the enigma...and he quoted Tennyson to me in the shop. [...] He looked me in the eye and he said, "I am half sick of shadows."

[thesinglesjukebox]

JASON ALDEAN - REARVIEW TOWN

[5.43]

Not, as you (your editor) may have feared (absolutely did fear), a butt pun...

Katherine St Asaph: Country continues to sound like alternative rock, and Jason Aldean now sounds like Staind, yarl replaced with twang. Savor the following sentence: Staind is an improvement. [7]

Thomas Inskeep: I love the conceit of a "rearview town," especially having grown up outside of a not-many-stoplights town of 5,000 in the Midwest. And this has a different tenor to it than most Aldean singles: it's kinda angry, kinda sad, definitely bitter, and altogether unhappy. It gets in, does its job, and is done within a bracing three minutes. I'm stunned this made it to #1 on the country airplay chart, but glad as well. The best single Aldean's released in years. [8]

Edward Okulicz: The guitars are nice, dense and foreboding, suggesting some serious country brooding and fury. Jason Aldean's lyrics, though, suggest weakness -- the second verse makes it clear that it's not really his choice to leave. The performance sides with the lyrics over the guitars. [4]

Isabel Cole: Something about the affect here isn't working for me. I like well enough the self-indulgent broodingness of the guitar, churning and wailing throughout, and the concept of a dual fuck-you farewell to a home too small and a heart too cold is solid enough; the pointless spite of flipping off a sign resonates. But all the drama feels high on intensity and low on meaning; it doesn't lean far enough into spite or heartbreak (or go anywhere near the nuance of spite covering heartbreak) to make either of them register. [4]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: The repetitious vocal melodies and the self-imposed, confined vocal range makes Aldean sound like he has a lot of pent-up anger. The final chorus isn't cathartic enough, though. That's perhaps the point--to express a seething bitterness that hasn't fully resolved--but "Rearview Town" ends up sounding more tedious than visceral. [4]

Joshua Lu: Jason Aldean's emotionless delivery guts "Rearview Town," and he forces its potentially somber depiction of the death of a small town into the backdrop of a vague torch song. Did he only realize this town sucked after he got dumped? [4]

Alfred Soto: The lyrics depicting the detritus of small-town life are nothing special. I'm here for the guitars: a steady rhythm lick and a riff as rueful and pissed as Jason Aldean's vocal. [7]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]