#kinda a meta except not really I just am thinking a lot of thoughts about D&Dorks tonight and now everyone else gets to hear them

[saintclay]

Fuck it, D&Dorks time. 

Okay so genuinely, The Absence being a kid is so fucked up in the best way possible. Like Sir Superhero said that The Absence was a kid of indeterminate gender, and (correct me if I’m wrong) around 8-ish which like. Okay. 

Imagine you’re this kid. You’re somewhere between the ages of eight and ten, probably. I mean 8-ish could be anywhere from a tall 6-year old to a 12 year old who’s hitting puberty late, but considering that this kid did find one of the god thrones (and because they were described as being ‘around eight’) I’m going to assume eight years as my lower limit, and guesstimate around ten-ish as an upper limit, all things considered. anyway.

Imagine going on some kind of whirlwind adventure in the chaos realm, full of fantastical things, probably, and finding a throne, sitting on it and then suddenly.

Nothing.

Nobody can remember you. Even if you talk to them even if you ask them to remember you, they just can’t. And this would be horrid enough for an adult, but you’re a kid. You’ve probably never been on your own before, you’ve never really had to go for long periods of time without someone around to take care of you. You are at an age where you actually need a lot of socialization with peers in order to not get, y’know, profoundly fucked in the head. 

And this goes on for millennia. It goes on for so long that you forget your own name, you forget who you were before you were the God of Secrets.

This goes on until you find a party of adventures who come to figure out what the fuck is going on with a city that is suffering because someone broke a pact with you except surprise surprise the entire party except this one old blind dude are gods. Fledgeling gods. (Well okay no it goes on until this one dude comes and asks you to take care of the party of fledgeling gods, but lets not split differences)

And then suddenly, one of them remembers you. They give you a name that isn’t just The Absence. One of them, for some fucking reason, is lecturing you about safety and personal space like they’re your mother or something.  

Like god damn no wonder Skeezvol got stolen as soon as Emmy realized that he did, in fact remember them. Isolation does shit to you, and they’ve been isolated in the most concrete sense for a long time.

also it is so fucking on brand that the ‘Kid NPC’ that this party adopted is both technically older than all of them and is also probably more powerful than all of them

[teaboot]

Batman? As in extended batman universe, specifically batman, or movies batman? I'm going to die from the hilarity of /accidentally/ following another batman fan. Generally it's on purpose lol

I was actually absorbed into the Fandom by osmosis before I even touched any of the Canon material

Even now I've only seen the Affleck movies and the Battinson one, plus a couple cartoons and like. Four comics out of order

With next to zero evidence tho I have decided that

Dick Grayson has Eldest Daughter syndrome that, speaking as an Eldest Daughter (tm) really should be addressed in the lore somewhere before he goes on a drunken bender, gets a tramp stamp, kills a man, and has a full-on mental breakdown when the Repression Dam breaks

Stephany Brown radiates "angry teen girl needs a hug" energy imo but I feel like she might break my arms? I don't know anything about her except her dad sucks but honestly same boat, would hang

Timothy Drake cannot be the helpless boohoo I see a lot of, but somehow the cool, collected, hypercompentant, übermensch-tweenybopper look is kinda sadder, like seeing a twelve year old buying groceries at the store by themselves. I want to send his ass to normal kid summer camp

I don't know pretty much anything about Duke Thomas except that he's a meta whose parents might be alive but crazy. I can only conclude that he suffers from Black Character White Fandom syndrome. I headcanon that he had an embarrassing weeb phase in middle school because he feels like the kind of kid Who'd have gone through a phase of saying "ohaio" with peace signs as a baby tween. I have no evidence to support this

Cassandra Cain might be my favourite. I think she deserves to go on an angry, irrational rampage or two, as a treat. Aggretsuko vibes that I cannot explain. I bet her favourite colour is purple

Jason Todd is my guilty comfort character and I refuse to believe he kicked the shit out of a fifteen year old while wearing a legless adult onesie. I refuse. Also yeah as a huge angry-kid-book-nerd there is no way that pride and prejudice was his number one fave, my money is on the Percy Jackson series but that could just be me projecting

Damian Wayne is Autistic, personal subscription. Because I am too and I said so. Reminds me of my baby brother, but crankier. Like a tiny old man who doesn't want to be at bingo with the other folks at the senior center.

I feel like Alfred should be allowed to be wrong about something sometimes but I still love him. Give that grandpa a gun

Bruce Wayne strikes me as a man who should have put a lot more thought and study and personal therapy consults into the idea of adopting multiple highly capable highly traumatized children he's never met before before but fuck pobody's nerfect am I right. Bisexual

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - The Summer Games BLgin.

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top. Those Greeks did have that reputation for naked dudes rolling around together so I'm declaring it...

BL OLYMPICS!

I'll be passing out metals in various sporting events, as part of the weekly updates through mid August, just for funzies.

July 2024 Week 4

Ongoing Series - Thai

The Rebound (Weds Gaga) eps 9-10 of 12 - I guess mass murder is nothing next to having to raise funds for your basketball club. There were a lot of water sports in these eps (no not that kind). I’m not complaining. The street BB playoffs were fun. Frank is GOOD. I didn’t know he played. They aren’t using doubles for this. Meanwhile, it’s a bummer this one can’t be a poly romance. 

Winner!

Gold in Handball

for that shower scene in ep 9 (also... ya know, DUNK TANKS)

Balls in hands of all types.

Briefly must chat about that intro/outro music. It's like Thai autotuned Stray Kids. Which means I kinda adore it.

Century of Love (Weds Gaga) eps 5-6 of 10 - I guess he’s had a long time to learn how to fight really really well. This is a fun show. It does occasionally feel like a bunch of gay boys playing dress up. I LIKE P’Third a lot. I hope he doesn’t turn out to be an actual baddie. I’m finding the music a little intrusive in these episodes. I love the deconstructed suits look, and the velvet blazer. Very 90s. The confessions scene was very cute. It’s a good thing Vee is so easy-going, because the last few months of his life have been truly insane. And now he’s queen of the castle? Still working his convenience store job?

I honestly thought we'd just get kisses halfway through not a full on sex scene. But it was very sweet and tender. Appreciated, boys, thanks. However it’s never a good sign when the sex scene is it at the halfway point, it just means there’s gonna be a lot of trauma to come.

(I gotta say every time Daou smiles he actually looks his age.) 

This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans (Fri iQIYI) ep 4 of 8 - I like them now. I mean as a pair of characters. I wasn’t really sold on the main couple until this episode, and now I’m interested (yes I am shallow). The boy with the glasses is definitely sus. I’m quite drunk, thus I have to say Sailub is the hottest thing on my screen right now. Metas's taste in interior design sucks. OK, that physical therapy session was sexy. I wasn’t sold at first, but now I love this side couple too.

Argh. SailubPon kiss so well. Also COUNTER LIFT!!!! 

Silver in Weightlifting

Sunset X Vibes (Sat iQIYI) ep 7 of 12 - I’m the one who always says this stuff, but this pair might be the best at relationship heat. Let me try to explain. They are good at putting on screen the kind of NRE, want to bone, just really into each other physically and also connected and loving. It’s the way their bodies always arch towards each other. They’re very comfortable in each other’s space in a way that’s really rare to see out of Any BL country but Taiwan. I think they might be my favorite couple currently active. I don’t know how to put it except that

it looks like they want each other,

it looks like they like each other,

it looks like they’re into each other,

and it looks like they GET each other.

It’s nice to see on screen. The plots/stories/narratives that they're given aren’t doing them any favors, but man they’re a good pair. Meanwhile, was I screaming the whole time don’t rip the sample of the custom piece? Yes I was. But it was still sexy.

Sam getting discovered was fun! Yo is gonna burn his arse good.

My Love Mix-Up Th (Fri YT) ep 8 of 12 - Okay! Officially boyfriends. I almost like the friendship btw Atom and Mudmee better than the romances. But they all so cute. 

The Trainee (Sun YouTube) ep 4 of 12 - I hate the gf intern so much. I think she is past redemption now - time for death. What is it they say about ADs? they do all the work, for none of the credit but all of the blame.

Knock Knock Boys (Thurs Gaga) ep 10 of 12 - I guess Peak’s dad really is that awful. Jane is the beard? Got it. The show got suddenly quite sweet and complex. Where did that come from? Meanwhile ,Almond + Latte + sex education is awesome. Great trope we rarely get in BL. 

Love Sea (Sun iQIYI) ep 7 of 10 - Look, what’s really annoying me is that I am neither upset nor pleased with the show. I like to be driven one way or the other by Meme. Trash watch here. (delayed this week, I can't face it)

I Saw You in My Dream (Weds Gaga) ep 1-2 of 12 - Out the gate I don’t like it. I don’t really like the teasing thing and the acting is poor. That said, neck kisses in the very first episode do make me happy. So I’m gonna keep watching. As for ep 2, I like the sides, and we have gay brothers trope activated. I also like the paranormal element, it adds some much-needed tension, but it is still a little slow (typical of a pulp).

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

I Hear the Sunspot AKA Hidamari ga Kikoeru (Japan Weds Gaga) ep 6 of 10 - I like our poor lost puppy slowly figuring out what’s going on. It’s so elegantly done. Also, the the boy begs his quiet seme to SAY something, you know he’s gonna DO something instead. 

I could have done wihtout the pan around the head kiss. We over that, 8 years ago.

Takara's Treasure AKA Takara No Vidro (Japan Mon Gaga) ep 4 of 10 - Why don’t I like this show? I had to think about it quite a bit. It’s the power differential. I never enjoy it when the character with less power is the one doing the pursuing, it comes off as too desperate or something. In this case he is: from the country, poor, and younger, It just makes Takara’s dismissive attitude and snobbery unpleasant to watch. Also, you know me, =/= obsessive stalker behavior. 

It's airing but...

Bad Guy (Korea YT) - yeah, erm, no thank you.

4 Minutes (Thai Netflix/Grey) ep... - Great, a rich boy studying business at uni, suddenly gains the supernatural power to see four minutes into the future. I try to catch up next week.

I have a source, but I simply didn’t have time to watch it. So sorry. Too much traveling too much BL to keep up with. A perfect conflation of conflicting priorities.

Meet You at the Blossom (China) - it's your funeral (or, more likely, one of the main characters'). You can argue but... statistics. You know my feelings on this matter. MY BLOG, remember?

64.media.tumblr.com

In case you missed it

The Time of Fever AKA Unintentional Love Story 2 (Korea movie) trailer IS COMING IN SEPTEMBER!!!!

Next Week Looks Like This:

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

Coming Up Next!

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

8/4 Sugar Dog Life (Japan Sun ????) 10 eps - OMG a uni student who looks too young and a... COP. GAH. The subversion and kink of it all. Please Gaga pick this one up? They made it for US.

8/7 Cosmetic Playlover (Japan Weds ????) 8 eps - office romance around the makeup counter featuring a younger seme and sex by blackmail. I am intrigued. DFTUJ (don't fuck this up, Japan).

8/8 Monster Next Door (Thai Thurs WeTV ) 12 eps - I am so DAMN excited to see Big finally lead a BL. I can't even with this, one of my most anticipated of this year. He's a great kisser ya'll, he's kissed a lot of boys as second lead. I can't WAIT.

8/12 First Note Of Love (Taiwan Mon Gaga) 12 eps - About a singer with stage fright and his timid fan stars Charles (H4 the puppy one) and Michael Chang (the youngster in My Tooth Your Love), plus side couple featuring a Thai actor Jame (Koh in Gen Y) and Liu Min Ting (of Guardian fame). What a damn tean. I can't wait. With thier powers combined!

8/16 The Last Time (Thai Fri YT) ? eps - Convoluted story of loss and possible reincarnation or something.

8/22 The Paradise of Thorns (Thai movie) theater release - Jeff Satur is back but this does not look like a BL (the gay lover's death is the inciting event). More in Goodbye Mother vein. Looks dark and dramatic. He opposite and extremely well known actor Toey Pongsakorn who has never done gay before.

Addicted Heroin (Thailand adaptation) is also supposed to release this month. GIVE IT TOO MEEEEEE. I don't care about anything else but August back on my screen. It's been almost a decade since he did BL.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

This week's adventures in caption "out of" and "off" are not the same thing. This is an uncomfortable thought.

I'm so tired I'm seeing double. This is all you get.

(Last week)

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

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

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

Sports in Play (the jokes write themselves) )

Boxing

Breaking

(That's Not) Cricket

Diving (yes, for that)

Fencing (yes, with those)

Handball (exactly what it says, no, read the word.. again)

Rhythmic Gymnastics (obvs)

Squash (snicker)

Surfing

Swimming

Trampoline

Weightlifting

Wrestling

[quinn-pop]

yet another oc that only exists because i wanted to write something very specific

(middle is a little older, hence her scar healing. i like to think she gets a glass eye at some point)

anyway this is mira! (they/she) since that wip is almost 20k words and counting i won’t give away too much but long story short she’s the result of meta going “one last time, i promise” and adopting yet another kid

also galaxia kinda indirectly picked the name :)

i’ve mentioned before that i headcanon that pretty much all astrals are autistic and this is just kinda an extension of that. whereas meta tends to suppress his emotions and conform to others, mira…doesn’t. she gets uncomfortable and upset and lashes out at people easily, and working through their emotions is no small task.

the main reason i chose to write them that way was for the sake of narrative but i’ve grown attached to it because there’s a lot of ideas there i’d like to explore. stuff about navigating emotions and relationships when existing is so suffocatingly uncomfortable. it’s not something i could center around Kirby himself, but i think it makes sense with a post character development meta knight.

they are very loved (omg oldee cameo???)

kirby was definitely very excited to have younger siblings after being used to being the youngest in the room for so long!! (with the like. one and only exception being gooey.) he’s super affectionate with both of them and wants to have a close relationship one day, but for now mira is pretty unappreciative of that fact lol. they don’t like being pestered for hugs

everyone else is okay tho

(i know that’s hard to read. oops. “obvious bite marks”. siblings being siblings.)

mira also has a very love/hate relationship with the egg kid, being so close in age they kinda Have to get along but in typical sibling nature they also fight a lot. sure it’s probably rough for a while but i think in the end they’d be good buddies. maybe not as close as Kirby and Bandee but still.

anyway i have a lot of thoughts and am very busy but. i’m really enjoying writing about all this lately it’s been fun ^^

[shuttershocky]

So I've seen a lot of people going nuts about Yato Alter, but I was wondering if you had any thoughts about Noir Alter? And if you had any about the new hunter subclass as well?

I'm more excited for Rathalos Noir Corne than I am for Kirin Yato actually.

While Musha are not really valued as meta units (and Noir Corne himself is not about to change that), Noir Corne has my single favorite thing in video games: a parry button.

His S1M3 makes him stop attacking and block the next instance of damage, then hits back 4 times for 150% ATK each. If it kills the enemy, his S1 resets and he parries the next attack too.

Most people have been using his S1 for meme videos as a mini Chongyue, since the MH event also fixes Chongyue's voicelines from spamming eternally with S3.

You should probably be raising his S2 though. It's the stronger skill, even if not as unique since it's just a burst damage skill of 7x hits at 180% damage.

Now, about that new Hunter subclass

It looks like Hunters are meant to act as the in-between of Liberators and Mystics, but with an ammo mechanic. They're about attacking slower but hitting harder, with a really weird attack range. it kinda looks like a...

A...

A tank.

Anyway, Coldshot hits really fucking hard, like 4000 damage per hit on her S2 since it slows down her ATK interval to be above 2 seconds, meaning it constantly procs her Talent 2.

Since they can't attack without ammo (if an enemy comes into range and they're empty, they have to reload first and immediately fire a shot after reloading just 1 bullet, which is going to make you really sad if that enemy is a slug), I don't see Hunters properly replacing Heavyshooters like Pozy and Schwarz when it comes to heavy short ranged physical damage, but I DO see the potential for a physical Ebenholz in the inevitable 6* Hunter.

It's Lemuen by the way. The 6* Hunter is going to be Lemuen, I can feel it. Coldshot would have been a Deadeye if HG weren't struggling to think of a new Deadeye that isn't just another Fartooth (Lunacub with her permanent invis but lack of an ATK buff sure was interesting). If they're making a new subclass, they definitely have a 6* in mind.

Except maybe Crushers, they look pretty stumped about how to make an actually good Crusher.

[thegeminisage]

tos ep rewrites/stid rewrite for the wip meme!!!

HIIII ty for asking

this isn't technically a fic per se, it's almost like a half-fic half-meta kind of deal - essentially it's an outline of what could be a fic if i had more time and patience. i did this for the first tos movie here and had a lot of fun doing it, and then i also did a small rewrite of "tholian web" here, and i had SO MUCH FUN DOING THEM but then i got side tracked and haven't done anymore. my plans for other episodes/stid are vaguely as follows:

the enemy within - loved this one conceptually but the crass rape jokes left a real sour taste in my mouth. i'd have less of that (or, if i had it, take it seriously) and more shenanigans where someone can't tell the two kirks apart because. they're both the real kirk!! that's the real point of the episode, right?

the conscience of the king - frankly, there was too much shakespeare here, even though it will always be my fav trek episode of all time. i also thought the lenore thing, while a great twist, could have been a little less "but kirk really secretly loved this woman 20 years younger than him!" and more "man this is crazy fucked up that is trying to honeypot this very young woman and surprise she is doing it back to him." more foreshadowing and drama, you know? the tos version wouldn't have to be gambler's knife but it could be something more than what it was considering the huge effect it had on fandom - i always kinda wished it had the vibes that obsession did.

the galileo seven - i thought this episode treated spock like he was kind of stupid. "why is my first command failing when i've been an asshole to everybody?" he has a human mother! he knows how emotions work! he is not stupid! i also thought there was a missed opportunity: they all talked about how callous it was for him to be picking a man to leave behind to lighten the ship, and he was so obviously going to choose himself, but it never went anywhere. let's do him more justice!

metamorphosis - let's chill with the horrific misogyny and have more fun with the accidental parallel kirk made in his really cool speech. like fuck it this is my edit let's just do spirk

mirror, mirror - this one is actually perfect as it is but i wish we'd had more time to se what the mirror kirk & co were doing in the prime universe.

journey to babel - this one is great but i don't think it takes either of spock's parents to task enough for him turning out like that. also, they tricked us into thinking amanda was the good cop in aos and then have her slap him in tos but then acted like that was just fine? girl, let's get into it

the paradise syndrome - i just want this episode without the heinous racism. please please please. easily easily EASILY my biggest trek disappointment ever

requiem for methuselah/the enterprise incident - these two go together as part of a more complex story based partially on the fact that they originally wanted kirk's breakdown in the latter episode to be a real result of the various um things that happened to him in season 3 and partially by the fact that requiem for methuselah WAS my november 5th and i am being completely serious. i didn't think i would ever feel that way again but i did at the end of that episode. you can read about the general idea here at the end of @maulthots close encounters powerpoint which i helped a little bit with.

honorable mention to episode premises i would have loved in a different context - lights of zetar where spock is the possessed one and an episode totally unrelated to wolf in the fold, the funniest tos ep after tribbles, where an enemy who feeds on fear jumps around the ship possessing people. that could have been great had it been in a serious episode and not been played by piglet's voice actor

and finally, star trek into darkness...everything about this movie was bad, except the warp core thing which was accidentally very very VERY good. so i'd rewrite it from the ground up, starting with recasting khan, because that was just a hateful thing to do. i don't have very many concrete ideas on this yet except you'd HAVE to get assad zaman for khan, right? because he can do that thing where he makes his eyes shake? he would have rocked it.

let people send you an ask with the WIP title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it!

[mtbluecat]

DAY 3 (favourite clans/archetypes)

today's prompt is just a long textpost + my competitive decklists lmaoooooo since somewhere down the line, i accidentally became a sweaty tryhard vanguard player

warning: this post is really long but i would appreciate if even one person reads my ramblings about projecting onto characters really hard and my descent into coping the tcg full-time

tl;dr i like luard and shiranui a very normal amount

shadow paladin - luard

i definitely can't go without first mentioning my eternal main, shadow paladin luard. and there is a story behind this except it's like half just me being unhinged and projecting really hard but what is that but the spirit of vanguard itself. so i sat down to learn the actual tcg a while back and i was like "okay i need an avatar card. whomst will do" and eventually settled on luard since i liked his card art/aesthetic and his premise being "a member of this group of wizard researchers who study how to shapeshift into dragons". as a researcher and as a fan of shadow paladin from ever since i started watching this show, i was sold. oh yeah i also read the luard lore sometime after this (forgor how long after) but yeah i was definitely committed after that lmaooo yall should go read his lore you will not regret it hslkdfjklsdjlsk

at some point i also rewatched g next and for some reason, i noticed kazuma a lot more that time and the projection became real. like. man. we're a lot alike and at some points it was honestly kinda uncomfortable to watch but i think that also changed my perspective a bit lmao. anyway i'll be cringe i'll own it: my avatar card is luard.

if yall are interested in my v-prem list here it is: https://decklog-en.bushiroad.com/view/LKRM

nubatama - shiranui

so like when i watched g next for the first time, the character i did the most projecting on was actually kazumi, not kazuma. nowadays it's a pretty good mix of both + luard, but i am also very much attached to kazumi and his deck.

tbf the main reason why i picked it up was because i thought dominate was a really funny mechanic and also i first built it in vgzero (rip that game btw) because it was meta and also can be pulled from one set. but like. i really liked playing it in zero and it was the only deck i mained from that point forth. flash forward to when they announced history collection (histcolle) in en and all my competitive player friends were talking about nui making its way back into the meta and i was like "wait this is perfect actually zero is dying but i can finally learn premium with a deck i like".

anyway the deck is really fun except when rinne just rips out your opponent's shield tickets smodge. my only "complaint" is that when people lose to nui they are unreasonably saltier than if they lose to any other deck. it's the villain deck curse i think but at the same time it's pretty funny to watch people mald over mizukaze.

uhh the decklist is honestly probably gonna change but i'm pretty happy with it rn: https://decklog-en.bushiroad.com/view/9CWP

[manifestmerlin]

Okay so. I've completed all of the IS4 medals, unlocked nearly every collectible (30 lp loss and investment 325 are the only ones I don't have) and am at the point where I'm clearing endings at BN9 just for the little foil marker on the squads (at least for the good ones, dunno if I'll try that with the worse ones :/) and I have more intricate thoughts.

1. I said before that is2 had the best bosses and I feel wronggg about that now. Mouthpiece was the best is2 boss but they all had some real damn strict requirements for them in general and phantom is a way more static fight by comparison. Deer man is the first good second ending boss, and ending 3 boss is actually really interesting. Relying on your skill at managing healing, burst skill cycling, and dealing with consistently tricky enemies over time which is fun. I compared boss 1 to BSL but honestly he's not as bad tbh. Not damaging EVERY operator but only two columns at a time, and not having the fucking SHIELD or hp regen is much more manageable and lets the standard enemies be tougher. Available tiles also offer a lot more room with where you can damage him from. And the less said about is3 bosses the better. Highmore remains the one good boss if you don't try to burst isharmla in the first 2 seconds and Mortica and Izumik are some of the worst fights in the game.

2. God Fodortals are SUCHHHH an improvement over plays and keys and dice and shit it's not even funny. Such an interesting system to play around with. I think I could be a bit more skilled in how I use them, I typically save all my red ones for whatever boss which means I'm probably losing a lot of runs where I could've used them to help me on a harder stage I got locked into.

3. Relics are really nice, although some of them still feel like game changers that completely win you the run while others are like "who cares?" If you don't have specific synergy operators. Like the ones that don't reduce all enemies weight but just... increase the strength of the weightless effect. Yknow. Which is basically exclusive to Angelina.

4. Collapse effects are still ehhhhh for demerits. They're more manageable than I first thought although that's relic dependent, but they can also be kind of RNG swingy. The dominion and double HP ones in particular are really dependent on where they land, they can either be totally unimportant or completely run ending if you get some bad locations/enemies. The shop one is just really annoying and sucks. It's never run ending but it always feels bad whenever you roll it too which is frustrating design since it means you just have less fun.

5. Caster/Specialist might be the best squad, but honestly other than the non class ones that have been in every IS, they're all pretty good (except defender/supporter is kinda meh. Medic sniper is slightly worse than guard vanguard too) Although I haven't been using the ones unique to this mode as much as I did in is3, but that might be down to is3's frustrating design choices.

Overall I likely and I'm curious to see how the recently announced is5 will compare, how upcoming en ops will shift the meta (virtuosa is a nice starting op actually) and how I'll feel about the deep explorations and expansion later down the line. Boss 4 looks like a nightmare on paper but I thought that about boss 3 too so who knows!

[monstersinthecosmos]

🤲💋✨️💝💌

(writing asks!)

🤲what do YOU get out of writing?

OMG I DONT KNOW! Like why do creative people feel the need to make stuff, I can't explain it. I just know that it's what I want to do as a creative outlet. And like usually (NOT LATELY BECAUSE THE LAST COUPLE MONTHS MY LIFE HAS BEEN A DISASTER) I reserve 9-10pm every night as WRITING TIME and like, it's not a chore for me! It's like a reward at the end of the day. So I spend all day thinking about what I'll write at 9pm when it's writing time. :D So there's like the half of it that's creative & spiritual to do, and also the half that's just like, my little Me Time that I allow myself that helps me unwind. :D

💋when you leave comments on a fic, do you want to hear back from the writer?

I DO but I don't get offended if they don't reply lol. But like ngl, if I notice a fic author doesn't reply to comments, I am less likely to leave a huge comment. Like one time I left a BOOK REPORT on a fic and the author replied to like, everyone EXCEPT me who was leaving emojis and stuff? And I felt really bad like I made them uncomfortable or something. So like. I tend to comment as I read and I like to copy & paste lines in and stuff, but if the author never replies I'm less likely to take the extra time to do this because I don't know if it's well received. 😅

✨What's a fic you've posted you wish you could breathe life into again and have people talking about it? (or simply a fic you wish got more credit)

jkgald wording it like that makes me squeamish but I felt like the gangbang fic I wrote for the BDSM zine kinda flopped 😬 like it has some comments and people who did comment were really excited but like, proportionally to my other Sheith fics it didn't do well. And I wasn't sure if it was like TOO MUCH or something, bc it got a lot of hits but not so many comments, like it made me wonder if people opened the link out of curiosity but then noped out. Like I have Sheith fics with less hits that have 2 or 3x the comments. Whoops! And I wonder if I overcomplicated it. IDK!!!!!!!!!! But I was happy with how it came out so it's not necessarily that I would want to like fix or anything. I just felt sad that no one liked it. 😂

💝what is a fic that got a different response than you were expecting?

I think maybe The Front ? I was a little overwhelmed by the response bc I thought I was being like extremely self indulgent and niche about my own kinks and people wound up being like SO excited and kind and generous with comments it just really surprised me. 😳 LIKE YOU DONT EVEN LEARN KEITH'S NAME FOR 21K, I was calling him "the creature" LMAOOOOOOOOOOO it just was like so extremely catered to my own individual needs I was surprised. 😂

💌share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited!

For Sheith right now I'm back to working on my fic Tonight the Stars Revolt! which is like a retelling of canon if they were friends with benefits who kept fooling around after near death missions to relieve stress and like I WROTE THE FIRST 50K IN A MONTH on my break after my first ship contract and I didn't intend for it to get so complicated and plotty and I also absolutely did not intend for the last few chapters to be like A YEAR APART FROM EACH OTHER but I kept getting distracted doing exchanges and stuff, and I kinda try to like alternate Sheith and VC so I'd write a chapter, then write a VC fic, then it was time to go back to Sheith but I had an exchange, then VC, then a zine, then VC, etc. It just really got away from me but like it's my baby and it's where I pour all my meta and headcanons and I think about it constantly so every time I return to it I'm very exciting! The upcoming chapter includes a flashback about BABY KEITH and his DAD and a SNAKE and I'm really excited about it. :)

FOR VC IM FOAMING AT THE MOUTH OBSESSING OVER WRITING A FIC ABOUT THE YEAR MARIUS WAS HELD CAPTIVE AND THE SEXUAL TENSION BETWEEN HIM AND HIS CAPTOR AND THE STAGES OF GRIEF FOR HIS FREEDOM, I hope to start writing it maybe in the new year hdkjslgasgdjal I can't stop thinking about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[butchybats]

hey i'm answering later but here I am! I agree that it would be super interesting to change everyone's gender in the chronicles. Except for reasons Gabrielle ajahaha.

I want lesbian Loumand with femme Louis (now Louisa/Louise) as much as i need Lesbian Devil's minion with butch Daniel (Dani?). (Louis(e) and Armand as women are just the two opposite stereotype of girls who graduated from catholics schools btw.)

I have also lots of headcanon/brainrot about Lesbian Armand's and gender presentation through the centuries and how this subject may overlap with Armand's canon story of changing identities and adapting to different environments etc

I agree with you that keeping Marius a man with girl!Armand is very eww. I mean I find their relationship disturbing and creepy (even if psychologically fascinating) even in canon when they are two men or in au when they are both women tho. But it also gets more interesting to explore if they are both men or women imho even if imho it doesn't get less predatory.

Sorry if my headcanon are kinda random and not as deep and well-build as yours ahahah

Oh I totally agree with you keeping Gabrielle the same!!! (Although transfemme gabrielle would be really cool I just don’t know if it would work the same story wise y’know?)

YOU ARE SO RIGHT FOR FEMME LOUIS!!!! I desperately need weird sad theatre des vampires era r63 loumand

I would love to hear your thoughts on lesbian Armand’s presentation because really there’s so much to work with there especially as you said how canon Armand is constantly adapting so I can see her changing stuff up depending on what’s going on at the time

Okay I’m not a fan of Marius/Armand (unless it’s in a meta way like I think it’s fun to analyze their weird ass relationship) THAT BEING SAID. Fem!marius. Umm i can get behind that :] I think it’s hot when women are fucked up and I’ve lost the plot HGHG but yeah lesbians in venice I would love to see how things change or stay the same with both Armand and Marius being women

And lastly never apologize for your stuff!!! Your hcs are lovely and I was excited to see them!!!

[charmikarma]

pesterquest route tierlist

assorted thoughts under the cut:

you can read my thoughts on dirk's route in the image obviously but to reiterate ... the meta move here just doesn't... work. also having ult dirk show up at all kind of sidelined any interesting development for him as a character i feel like. idk

another meta move that Doesn't Work: retcon powers as something that "change the alpha timeline" or whatever because that is literally not how that works out in our material reality. you can say whatever you want about the events of pesterquest erasing the reality of homestuck but homestuck is still gonna exist regardless of whether you choose to retcon it out or not. it just does not work for me and i think it's dumb <3 not to mention the epilogues seem to make this work in a very different way for no fucken reason (except i argue this way of working makes a lot more sense). classic homestuck contradicting itself for funsies

i don't really like eridan but his route was so fun. sollux was epic in it that's the main thing i liked. and i appreciated that it didn't just redeem him for no reason

jake i also don't really like but his route was REALLY GOOD? like good to the point where i'm starting to come around on him. like damn. i mean i was already kinda coming around on him bc of thinking abt writing him but still. i think this solidified it for me. esp seeing him talk to jade was just so... :)

re: dave's route. i am so fucking glad james roach is directing hsbc.

NEPETA DAVE AND JADE HANGING OUT WAS SO CUTE.

i also love the beta kids slumber party but i have always loved that moment, as you can see in my header. one of the few things i actually remembered from the first time i tried to play this game. honestly jade's pq route informs my reading of her a lot too and it has for a long time. it ties everything we see of her together so nicely for me

jane's route was kind of... bad. or well there were some ok parts. but her believing you instantly about most of the things you claim feels So not her. jane is skeptical to a fault why would she trust you instantly like that.

roxy with abandonment issues, while not totally out of character, just didn't align with my personal reading of her i guess and kind of just took me out of it

uhhhh yep that's all i got. good night tumblr

[crisscross-inksauce]

First thoughts on BATDR as a long-time BATIM fan...

Okay, first of all it was not what I was expecting at all! Almost everything I had thought previously was completely wrong. I expected that because we didn’t really know THAT much about the game all things considered. Even then, it went places I never thought Bendy would go.

For example, Ink Bendy and Toon Bendy being the same entity. I mentioned it as a half-joke to my friend after Bendy had shown up. I recognized it as a possibility but didn’t think it would happen because it had been such a huge meta in the fandom (especially the early days) that it seemed too easy. I literally said, “You know, we’ve never seen them in the same room, so...” But, whaddya know, I was unitentionally correct.

Also, I expected either the Ink Demon OR Wilson to be the villain not both of them. The subversion of expectation I expected came in a way I didn’t expect (lol).

Another example, there were NEVER souls in the ink machine???? How much of the first game was real??? What information should we keep and what information should we discard as being no longer canon??? This game clears up as much as it confuses. It’s so frustrating. (I feel like I might be missing something but I’m not sure, feel free to explain it to me lol)

Also, (in my opinion) both BATIM and BATDR are less impactful if there aren’t any real world consequences (Well, I suppose there will be in the future). I guess no-souls explains a lot but it leaves me dissatisfied. Maybe I’ll come around to the idea, but idk.

Also, Henry did NOT look how I thought he would (mostly thanks to Doberart lol.) I also wish he had a more important role in the story, being the protagonist of the first game. But I suppose it’s better that he isn’t for the story they’re trying to tell. Idk though, I feel like they could’ve given the og characters more of a limelight (besides alice, she got everything.)

Final thoughts: At this moment, I recognize that BATDR is a technically better game. But, I JUST watched it and it doesn’t stick in my mind nearly as much as the first game did. The old characters were barely present (except for Alice.) The new characters didn’t make up for it, since they’re not that memorable (except maybe Porter). The environments all look very similar to me and the cluttered art style doesn’t help. Most of the new levels don’t stick out in my mind as visually interesting. This game was touted to be SO much scarier than BATIM, but it really isn’t, like at all. There were a few moments, but not enough for the level of reiteration the devs were giving XD. I’m not sure I like how this game handled the first one, but I’m not crossing my arms just yet. I’m keeping my heart open, hopefully the next game will be better.

TL;DR: I feel very conflicted about this game. It feels like a setup and not a payoff. I found myself thinking “That’s it?” instead of, “That was awesome!!!” when the end screen came up (kinda like the first game hmm). I’m not sure I like where things are headed, but am still open to it. To be fair, I didn’t know what to think about the ending of BATIM when it first came out either but grew to love it more than anything I had originally theorized. Maybe that’ll happen here too once some theories come out (looking at you SuperHorrorBro.)

But, for the moment, BATDR is just okay. Certainly not bad, but not that great either. I feel like we didn’t really NEED it, y’know.

At this point, I'm not sure whether or not my expectations affected my enjoyment of the game. I didn't expect something better, I just expected something different. Something a little more fulfilling, I guess. Maybe that's gonna be the next game, idk. All I know is I left feeling confused(normal) and unsatisfied(abnormal)

P.S. I am not hating on this game, I think it is a good game. But I also think it has issues. I love BATIM, and am very easily pleased. So me having negative feelings about it is very surprising to me. And again, I may come around to it in the future these are just my feelings straight off the game.

This was not in an orderly fashion at all but it’s 3 in the AM and I’m tired so whatever

I'll post a more coherent version l8tr

[thewiddershinsme]

Finished Daughter of the Siren Queen (Daughter of the Pirate King #2) by Tricia Levenseller a few days ago!

-I was not expecting the reveal that the pirate king had Alosa’s mother held prisoner in his study for the past 17 years, trying to force her to give him more half-siren daughters. That was dark. And it was probably one of the only things that would’ve broken Alosa’s loyalty to her father so immediately and completely.

-I liked Alosa’s crew, and was glad we spent this book on her ship. I smiled at all the Sorinda and Kearan little moments, their book is going to be interesting.

-Lotiya’s death was hands down the worst. Being eaten alive by cannibals.

-I really grew to like Riden and Alosa’s relationship even more this book. I was wondering how the power imbalance “work-relationship” would work out with her being his Captain now, but it was refreshing how unconcerned Riden was with her being in charge (which was nicely set up last book with him being a first mate and not really having any ambitions of his own except furthering the ambitions of his brother, which has now shifted to furthering the ambitions of the love of his life). And it was nicely balanced in that it is made clear Riden is Alosa’s soul mate. He is the only person that can keep her siren nature from taking over, he is essential to her.

-so about halfway though the book I was headcanoning their future. I was picturing Alosa as pirate queen and Riden as her permanent lover (never getting married cause pirates don’t do marriage). And I was thinking they would never have kids (kinda like horses and donkeys. Humans and sirens can have kids together, but half-sirens can’t have kids) just because of the dangers of having kids living on pirate ships (as shown by Roslyn). But then Riden started asking Wallov about what it’s like having a daughter, cause he wanted to start preparing for having his own daughters with Alosa (cause he assumes Alosa can only have girls) and it was just so cute. It was revealed though that Alosa would have a normal human life span but never really age…which is eh (I never really like it when only one half of a couple ages and the other is forever young). But I also headcanon Riden getting killed before he gets old too so shrug (pirate queen lover has got to be a dangerous job)

-got a lot of siren lore in this book. It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that sirens have two legs. Every time Alosa was in the water I kept picturing her turning into a mermaid and then back when she was no longer in the water. However, I eventually realized this was not the case.

-on a meta sense I appreciate this series was kept as a duology, as it reflected Alosa’s own nature being caught between human pirate and siren. But can’t say she was ever really torn between her two natures; she may have come to peace with her siren half (thanks to Riden’s influence) but even after learning she had a place with the sirens (as their princess and possible future queen!), she was never tempted to join the siren world. She always wanted to remain a human, and more importantly the pirate queen.

-I am actually almost halfway through the next book (yeah I put off writing these thoughts up) and am enjoying Sorinda’s pov on things.

[friendlybatteringram]

Waddle Dee (on camera): Hello! Uh, is my face on the camera? Oh. O-okay. *ahem* In honor of Kirby's upcoming birthday (I think...?), I am going around Dream Land and asking everyone what it is they like most about Kirby! Hope you enjoy, little guy!

*cuts to each character one-by-one*

Meta Knight: I firmly admire his unwavering resolve, especially in the face of some of the greatest threats to this galaxy I have ever seen. Sure, he may nap a lot... and consume entire mountains of rations in between naps... and just generally frolic around in a happy-go-lucky manner, while I had to endure a strict regimen of brutal combat training and dedicated studies in order to reach my own current status…

King Dedede: Oh, Kirby? Eh, what can I say, the kid is tough. He doesn’t take no nonsense from no one, even yours truly. And believe me, I’ve gone whole hog tryin’ to give that pink hooligan a good clobberin’. Heh heh. …I mean, uh, y’know, in a not-child-abuse kinda way. Can we cut th-

Bandana Waddle Dee: Kirby’s the best! He’s a mean fighter, but he’s also SUCH a good friend! Man, the laughs we’ve shared… …Okay fine, I don’t really know what he’s saying. Like, ever. But he smiles at me and likes it when I go adventuring with him! And he doesn’t call me “Banana Dee” like His Majesty does…

Meta Knight: And I mean it’s not like he ever had to measure up to anyone else’s standards. Everybody just automatically calls him the hero because he basically falls tuckus-backwards into acts of heroism while giggling and being adorable. He has NO IDEA what it’s like trying to prove yourself year after year of being worthy to carry a blade. Kirby? No, he just swallows some schmuck with a kitchen knife and instantly becomes THE CHOSEN ONE.

Magolor: Kirby is so selfless. Not only did he and his friends help repair my ancient starship when it crash landed on his planet, but he also forgave me even after I betrayed him and nearly took over the universe. I… I don’t think I deserved that. I’m lucky to still be friends with him… Or anyone, really...

*ten-second silence*

I think I need therapy.

Taranza: Kirby? Oh, simple. I just like that he treats his friends so well. Y'know, instead of, say, blasting them into oblivion after they toil endlessly to follow his extremely vague orders. He wouldn't do that. You could buy Kirby a single ice cream sandwich and he'd treat you like royalty. Except not the stupid kind of royalty. The kind of royalty that blasts you into oblivion for- wait, I already said that, didn't I.

Gooey: Who's Kirby?

Meta Knight: Like, come on. "Maximum pink?" What the heck does that even mean??? Why does that make Kirby so flipping special? I've eaten bubble gum more pink than that grandstanding-

Susie: He's super cute, and he's a boss-ass-bitch. What more could you ask for?

The Three Mage Sisters: Quite frankly, he's adorable! AND SQUISHY!! A fierce combatant, to be sure. Oh yes, a very worthy opponent! JUST A BORB!!! Very courteous for a child. Very honorable, too. CHONK!!!!

Chef Kawasaki: He goes great with cilantro. :3

Some butterfly: The Day of Judgment shall come. The Fated Child shall reveal his true nature, and in doing so he shall bring forth either an age of salvation or the end of all things.

Elfilin: There's... Y'know, it's hard to say exactly what makes Kirby Kirby… But whatever it is, it's the best thing in the universe. Happiness and courage and fun and laughter and strength and comfort all in one pink ball. I think... I think the ancients were wrong. There is an ultimate life-form, but it's not who they thought it was.

---

Everyone: Happy birthday, Kirby!!!!

Everyone: …

Waddle Dee: Kirby? You okay?

Kirby: *tears welling in his eyes*

Kirby: *smiles*

[deafeninggardenerpanda]

The Kirby series as a whole for the fandom ask?

this is a good one! i was hoping someone would ask me it >///>

001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my:

Favorite character:

tough one, i like a lot of characters for different reasons. if you really force me to choose though it's dedede and meta. this makes me look biased towards metadede however LOL so if you really really make me choose between those two it's dedede

Least Favorite character:

i don't have any least favorites, mostly it's just people i know nothing about. in which case its all of the animal friends and actually, just generally everyone from the dreamland games and 64. pyribbit is an exception to this however fuck that dude

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon):

- metadede >_> andd that's the only thing i really brainrot over but other stuff i like: - morphogala 🥺 - magoranza :) - chilly/burning leo. listen i blame my server and the starlight theatre novel for making me feel this way - meta knight/sir arthur from the anime. this is my crackship that i never talk about and never will talk about LOL. also ive seen more than several people hc arthur as meta's dad so im just gonna. hide in this corner by myself. its okay i dont mind - this is 6 but also on the topic of the anime, meta/knuckle joes dad is also good. mmmmmmmm angst who doesnt love angst

Character I find most attractive:

hahahahahahaha that’s classified

Character I would marry:

BUT. dedede. i would also take zan, those two are tied

Character I would be best friends with:

kinda hard to answer this. maybe also dedede? honestly anyone who i could just walk into their house and crash and dump stupid questions and convos on

a random thought:

i think kirby would feel like raw bread dough after the first prove. very specific, but its always what crosses my mind when i make bread 🤔

An unpopular opinion:

in this fandom... uh, i like the anime. fun to watch to take up time and if you’re not coming in expecting what you get from the games, lore and character development wise. it has its own charm

My Canon OTP:

no ones together in this series djkfdhg. rick and pick i guess? i think theyre cute

My Non-canon OTP:

this was already covered in the 5 favorite ships section so boom this is a metadede free space now. dedede likes to call meta pet names that are the names of pastries and desserts, but they get so ridiculous and specific that neither of them can take it seriously anymore. in fact, now its a challenge to make them as ridiculous as possible

Most Badass Character:

exact same answer as the favorite character question for this one. different characters are badass in their own ways for different reasons. but also meta and dedede again 🤦‍♂️ 

Most Epic Villain:

STAR DREAM. i went into robobot already knowing about the game and the plot twist for star dream but the reveal and the lead up is still so damn good.

Pairing I am not a fan of:

i dont super like saying, so turning this into another unpopular opinion question. i just remembered i had one that might actually be a hot take now. sometimes seeing all character dynamics reduced to traditional family relationships is tiring. like no i genuinely like it still but ah everyone being turned into straight parent/child relationships feels very strange to me. i dont really get it myself

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another):

taranza. i went into triple deluxe from already being in the fandom for a bit, so only going off his fanon interpretation, and i was surprised at how little taranza really did anything and that he didnt even have much dialogue. underwhelming, though thats prob my own fault, but i still feel like they couldve done more with him in that game. also in general hal, hal please let him move on oh my gosh

Favourite Friendship:

say it with me guys. fifth time. its meta and dedede. i am so sorry i am brainrotting over them so hard lmao BUT. despite my shipping bias i like their base friendship more than anything else. frankly, their relationship in general just feels more satisfying to me cause you know they had to go through so much bullshit and hating each others guts to get to that point. having to work to get to know someone you hate and get along with them cause the universe keeps putting you in situations that force you into it, then finding out you have more in common than you think >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> MMMMMMMMM

Character I most identify with:

prob my interp of dark meta. chill but likes to mess with people and be a minor asshole cause its funny. not saying that i try to be an ass but also i would be the type of person to say hey. come here. lean in a bit. bitch. and then laugh myself to tears over it

Character I wish I could be:

........zan. for reasons stated in the last zan ask. i care her 🥺

[amysubmits]

I like other advice you've given people so I thought maybe you'd have good advice for me. I'm seeing a new Dom and it feels like whenever I try and talk about something that isn't working for me or concerns I have I'm told I'm selfish and complaining and there isn't anything to discuss and if I can't accept his rules I shouldn't be his sub. This feels a little red flaggy to me but I also have some past trauma that makes me especially anxious. It's hard for me to tell if he's right that it's just my anxiety and I shouldn't be complaining or if he's not the right Dom for me. I don't think I can change his mind. There's a lot about him that is amazing. I really want to be with him. But whenever I get upset I feel like I can't discuss my feelings or get clarification because he'll accuse me of being whiny. Any suggestions?

Oh, thank you. :)

My instinct is that your gut feeling that this is a red flag is probably correct.

I have trauma and anxiety myself and I feel that there is sometimes a pretty big difference between agreeing with my reaction to something, vs dismissing my feelings.

I am aware that I am sometimes afraid of things that are not logical to be afraid of. I am aware that sometimes my instincts are to avoid doing things that scare me even tough it would be better to push through and do them anyway. So when handled with love and respect, I am sometimes open to CD letting me know that he hears my feelings, but still thinks I should do the thing that scares me. The respect part is really critical, though. If I felt at all like he was telling me to 'just do it' because he didn't care about my feelings and didn't want to deal with them, then my submission would basically shrivel up and die on the spot.

But also? Part of respecting me and my feelings means that if I express a concern, and he explains that he thinks I should push through, but I say I really don't think I should? Then he respects that and accepts that. Also, this should all happen without any name calling or accusations. Perhaps the most clear 'red flag' part of your ask to me was how you said you get called selfish when you express that something isn't working for you.

Overall my instinct is that your dom isn't confident in his own dominance. It sounds like he's feeling triggered or attacked anytime you give input, and is accusing you in response to that reaction he's having. It's like he feels like you're resisting his dominance anytime you try to give input. Or he may also just have a bad idea of what dominance is. Dominance isn't getting a partner who does whatever you say without question and without regard for the subs needs or feelings. Dominance is getting to lead but leading with the needs of your sub in mind always...and that requires that subs share their needs in detail. Where it kinda sounds like he doesn't really want to hear your needs, at least not your emotional needs, and emotional needs are just as important as other needs.

CD has said before that D/s basically IS emotional labor, yet some "doms" go into D/s thinking it's a way to avoid emotional labor. It sounds to me like your dom is looking to avoid it.

All that being said...another possibility could be that he assumes you are bratting when you're just trying to communicate. Have you two discussed how to go about having 'meta-talks' or how to have negotiations for your dynamic? If you don't have an agreed upon way for you to share your input, he may be thinking you are just bratting. Personally, I think if you haven't agreed to something like "We'll request a meta-talk before I give input about changing our dynamic' then it should just be a given that you can just have those conversations casually, and as equals. In my view, things should be vanilla or 'normal' in all areas except those where you've made explicit agreements that are D/s. But if you haven't discussed it, he may be expecting you to request a meta-talk or something like that if you are trying to seriously give input on your D/s rather than 'brat'.