#like they need to know how their decisions are effecting people but i don't wanna like. piss them off and make them hate all the students

[hurtspideyparker]

In a timeline where Civil War didn't end in divorce and everyone lives in the compound:

Steve, walking into the living room: Don't worry Buck I think you'll really fit in around here. Everyone is super nice

Peter: Oh my god you're living here too?! Can I please look at your arm? Please please please please please-

Bucky: *turns around and leaves*

-

Clint: So... wanna test if your spider-sense defeats my perfect aim?

Peter: Oh my god do I ever

Tony & Steve: NO.

-

Peter: Hi. Big fan. Y'know we're like a spider duo. Crime fighting spiders. Arachnid pals

Natasha, staring blankly:

Peter: Web friends? SPY-ders?

Natasha:

Peter: Spinneret associates?

Natasha: Leave.

Peter: Yes okay sorry ma'am

-

During a meal:

Bucky: *glaring at Sam*

Sam: Ay Rogers come get your dog

Steve: Bucky, leave it

Bucky: *glares down at soup instead*

-

Peter: Mr. Rogers could you help me with my homework?

Tony: What the hell kid, I'm right here

Bruce: I have... so many degrees

Steve: Hey I know a thing or two myself. Sure Queens, what do you got?

Peter: Great! I'm just gonna ask some questions for my essay. What would you say the role of war propaganda was in your decision to enroll in the military? Was being poor a factor? Actually, how was the Great Depression for you?

Steve: Less depressing than this conversation.

-

Steve: Take a jacket, it's chilly

Wanda: Okay thanks dad

Steve:

Wanda:

Peter: Ha! That's so embarrassing, it's like calling your teacher dad

Wanda: Shut up Peter, you call Tony dad all the time

Peter: Yeah but I do it on purpose so it's not embarrassing. I'm very open about my daddy issues

-

Tony: I wanna punch you in your perfect teeth

Steve:

Tony: Looking at me with your angelic blue eyes, like a freak

Steve:

Tony: Stupid Dorito ass build. Making me wanna take a bite

Steve: I feel harassed but I'm not sure what kind

-

Natasha: Hey bird brain!

Clint and Sam both turn:

Natasha: Hm, that's a problem. You have thirty seconds to decide who gets bird brain. The other will be feather head

Clint and Sam: *start arguing*

Tony: I can't believe they're fighting to be called an insult

Steve: She has that effect on people

Peter: Aw man, I wish the Black Widow gave me a nickname :(

-

Peter: Hey old man

Bucky:

Peter: I'M SO SORRY SIR MR. WILSON MADE ME DO IT PLEASE DONT KILL ME

Sam: *cackling in the background*

Bucky: *stands up and turns to Sam*

Sam: Oh shit- kid you're not getting the money if you're gonna snitch!

Peter: That's okay, I'd like to think my life is worth more than twenty bucks

-

Bucky: I need your... help

Tony: Sure, what's up?

Bucky: *glances back at Steve who stands in the doorway and nods approvingly*

Bucky: Arm.

Tony: Ok... this conversation is killing you isn't it?

Bucky:

Tony: Say please

Bucky: Nope can't do it-

Steve: Do I need to get out the get-along shirt?

*Bucky and Tony share a look of alarm*

Bucky: Please fix my arm

Tony: Yep of course no problem buddy

Read Part 2 here

[tastyflowers]

eurgh

[bubbipond]

Character-Driven Stories - We Are and Their "lack of plot"

From a literary and film perspective...It's a long one if you wanna read...(:

I keep seeing people say We Are and stories essentially like it have no plot and as someone who went to school for this, I have realized some people don't know the word's definition. The hate-on-slice-of-life type shows always perplexe me because there is this idea in media that if a show does not have high emotions or high stakes all of a sudden it lacks plot. A plot is just a matter of cause and effect. Something happens in a story that affects how the story is told. Whatever that plot is, affects the characters and provides substance for them to keep the story going.

What I think people mean when they say that a story lacks a plot is that it is more character-driven than plot-driven. Using We Are as an example, the characters drive the plot instead of the plot driving the characters. Take Game of Thrones as an example; the goal in the story is to see who will get to the Iron Throne (yes I know that there is far more to it but that's the general goal). So no matter what the characters do, that will always be where the series ends. The villains and protagonist will eventually rule and then the series is over. It's not character-driven because whether or not a character changes their mind or dies, the central plot is going to stay intact.

Then in media like We Are, the central focus is the characters and their decision making. If Phum decides he does not want to pursue Peem then their storyline ceases to exist because the plot can only move forward with his decision to keep exploring it. This is because there is no central goal for the character once they make a decision to stop. If We Are were to be plot-driven then there would be a conflict that needed to be resolved that drove the characters. Let's take Never Let Me Go as a plot-driven story PondPhuwin have done. In NLMG the plot that drives the characters are murder, attempted murder, and imprisonment. Nuengdiao's father dies then his mother is nearly killed, leading him to need to run away because now he is being hunted. Those things make or break the plot because there is nothing Nuengdiao or Palm can do while that is happening. Nuengdiao cannot live a normal life without finding out who is after him, ie, the major plot point.

In We Are the plot is centered around friends and the lives of their friend group. The plot moves when they do and when they make decisions. Stories like highly character-driven ones do not have a basic goal or obstacle as one in a plot-driven story would. Think of it as the action of a story being where the plot lies. The reason many slice-of-life-type stories get the, "it has no plot" comment is that they do not have specific actions, consequences, or occurrences that fall back onto a central theme. Many love stories that focus mainly on love tend to be character-driven, not all, but many do. The only action in these stories that moves the plot is the relationships progressing. When the relationships stay stagnant we tend to get the time in romcoms and romances where stories get boring because the only thing moving the story along is their evolving relationship.

It is essentially impossible to have a story without a plot unless your characters are in a room looking at a wall. Even then, I am sure someone could find a way to drive a plot in that scenario.

But anyway, just food for thought. Also, disregard any grammar or spelling mistakes, my phone's autocorrect only wants to correct me when I don't need it to, never when I do... Anyway, that is all I wanted to say about it! No hate to anyone that doesn't like this show or any other one I just hate seeing people say that's stuff.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Transcript Below:

John Stewart: "Why would the state of Arkansas step in to override parents, physicians, psychiatrists, endocrinologists who have developed guidelines? Why would you override those guidelines?"

Arkansas AG Leslie Rutledge: "Well, I think it's important that [of] all of those physicians, all of those experts, for every single one of them, there's an expert that says we DON'T need to allow children to be able to take those medications. That there are many instances where—"

JS: "Right, but you know THAT'S not true. You know it's not 'For every one there's one.' There's 'These are the established medical—’”

LR: "Well, I don't know that that's not true. I don't know that YOU know that—"

JS: "Then why did you pass a law, then, if you don't? If you don't know that it's true, wouldn't you have done some—"

LR: "Well, I know that there are doctors and that we had plenty of people come and testify before our legislature who said that, uh, you know, we have 98% of the young people who have gender dysphoria, uh, that they are able to move past that and once they had the help they need, no longer suffer from gender dysphoria. 98% without, uh, that medical treatment that—"

JS: "Mhmm. Right. Wow! That's uh, that's an incredibly made-up figure. That—that doesn't comport with ANY of the studies or documentation that exists from these medical organizations. What—what medical association are you talking about of these doctors?"

LR: "Well, we have all of that in our, uh, legislative history and we'll be glad to provide that to you. Uh, I don't have the name of that off the top of my head. I know it's something that—"

JS: "You don't have the name of the organization that—?"

LR: "Off the top of my head.”

JS: "Oh, ok."

LR: "Yes. But we have all of that cited in all of our briefs."

JS: "You're suggesting that protecting children means overriding the recommendations of the American Medical Association, the American Association of Pediatrics, the Endocrine Society..."

LR: "We don't have enough data. We don't have enough to show that these drugs ARE effective and that these children ARE better off and that we should encourage these—"

JS: "'We don't have enough' or there's not enough for YOU? But, let me try and flip it a different way and see if maybe this can help... In Arkansas, if you have pediatric cancer, and obviously we all wanna protect children, I think we established that earlier, whose guidelines do you follow, for pediatric cancer?"

LR: "Well, I think if my child, who's 4, if I was faced with that terrible, uh, decision, then I would be speaking to my doctor. And if my doctor recommended something that I'd disagreed with, then I would get a second opinion and that's what I believe, that these parents need to make sure that they're encouraged to get numerous opinions when they're talking about an irreversible step in their childs—"

JS: "You're not letting them. The state's not saying 'Get another opinion,' what they're saying is, 'YOU CAN'T.' What you're actually saying is the opposite."

LR: "No, that's actually not at all what the state said. The state simply said that you cannot perform these procedures and so parents SHOULD get another opinion that they—and children SHOULD want to have another opinion, because again these are 9, 10, 11, 12 year olds."

JS: "But that's not—So, if your child is suffering from pediatric cancer and the state comes in and says to you, 'They recommend chemotherapy but we're not going to let you do that. You can't. We think you should get a different opinion and here's the organization we think you should get the opinion from. They're not the mainstream, but they're AN organization, so that's how you— that's who you have to be treated by.' Does that sound like something that you would accept?"

LR: "Well, I think that's a very extreme example. That's not at all in line with what we're talking about. We're not saying that at some point, because when you have cancer it literally is—uh, particularly pediatric cancer—and having friends that have lost children to pediatric cancer—"

JS: "Sure."

LR: "Having a 4 year old, I'm sure—"

JS: "I've got some bad news for you. Parents with children who have gender dysphoria have lost children to suicide and depression because it's acute."

LR: "They absolutely have."

JS: "And so these mainstream medical organizations have developed guidelines through peer-reviewed data and studies, and through those guidelines they've improved mental health outcomes. So, I'm confused why you follow AMA guidelines and AAP guidelines for all other health issues in Arkansas, because we checked, but not for this."

LR: "It's simply saying let those young people who are facing gender confusion and dysphoria, allow them to become adults and to make that decision. Allow a child to be a child."

JS: "So, here's where we have our—our crossroads. You've made the determination that protecting these children means not giving them access to the guidelines and care that have been designed by medical and mental health professionals for children expressing gender dysphoria and I'm asking you, again, what are your qualifications to step in and say, 'No, keeping you from that care is protecting you.' You've made that determination."

LR: "Well, these are irreversible decisions that these children at these young ages are making or that their parents are making—"

JS: "They're not making the decision. You're making it sound like a 9 year old walks into a doctor's office and says, 'Give me some testosterone.' And the doctor goes, 'Oh thank God, because we're wanting to create an army of transgenders, because we're crazy!' And they go right in, like—"

LR: "No. We passed a law to protect the children in Arkansas and I think that's what is important."

JS: "Again. The medical community disagrees with you that that's protecting children."

LR: "Well not ALL of the medical community..."

JS: "Who doesn't? Who—?"

LR: "We have had experts testify here in Arkansas."

JS: "Ok, from what medical organizations?"

LR: "Well, we have all of those in our briefs and I apologize that I wasn't prepared to have a Supreme Court argument today in front of you, but I—we are going to have arguments on this case—"

JS: "Right..."

LR: "—when the time comes."

Watch the episode, including the full interview, for free here:

[yugotrash]

i don't think homosexuality is a disability in the way we traditionally think about it, but it is an immutable and innate trait that results in a kind of social disability, in that there is no society in which it doesn't result in some kind of social exclusion, discrimination or punishment. it's not an illness in that it doesn't really impact functioning on the physiological or psychological level on its own, but the what does make life harder is the experience of said social disapproval. and declaring it a choice renders all these problems the fault of the homosexuals themselves, because they could have just made a different choice - and society would be right to condemn them for it.

what could possibly motivate such a choice that, if it doesn't come with so much disapproval that it's outright punished, then certainly forces someone into a very strictly defined social niche (all the "third genders" of the cultural relativist camp)?

you cannot answer this question without either implying that homosexuals are deliberately making their own lives harder/limited for a fetish or passing fancy, so they're either stupid or irrational, or perhaps that homosexuality itself is a deliberate, politically informed decision to challenge social norms. In both cases the prejudices of the traditionalists are confirmed - the homosexuals really are "a phase", intentional degenerates or a political movement that may recruit from any demographic and that aims to radically transform society while ostensibly claiming "minority" status. except then all of this is given a positive spin in the queer narrative: it's good that these people have opted to be degenerates, because degeneracy is good, either because any marginal position is always good, or because all moral norms as such are bad and need to be done away with.

Now, this is obviously not something that you will ever get the majority of any population to agree with, but the fact that probably 90-95% of the general population is heterosexual, much like the fact that homosexuality is innate and immutable, isn't something these people are really worried about. The fact that they know these opinions are condemned to be marginal is what's so appealing about them. They wanna see how far this can be pushed, and feel righteous indignation when someone pushes back. They want to publicly bemoan oppression and revel in it. And they're counting on the fact that what few homosexuals can openly declare themselves as such can either be recruited for their agenda or effectively silenced either through apathy or by force of legal/cultural institutions whose favour the kweers enjoy or control.

[xanyiaz]

vincent, william & sam audio spoilers:

ok in short:

i think sam is leaving the house of solaire, vincent and lovely will leave (although i kinda don't want them to for some reason ??) and I FUCKING HOPE PORTER LEAVES BUT I DONT THINK HE WILL >:((

my full thoughts:

firstly, ERIK PULLED OFF THE ACCENT SO WELL OMFJGKGJDJDJ AND THE THUMBNAIL ??? I KEPT GETTING SO DISTRACTED BC THE THUMBNAIL IS SO SEXY LIKE GOD DAMMNGJGM SO TASTY

i'm surprised vincent managed to stay so calm like considering everything, i thought he would snap honestly 💀 but yeah i'm still so shocked like DAMN- WAS NOT EXPECTING WILLIAM TO DROP THE BOMB OF LEAVING THE HOUSE OF SOLAIRE BUT OK 😭

to me, sam saying "that tells me what i need to know. goodbye william" is kind of him leaving ?? idk if i'm reading that right or not but that seems like a start at least, why else would he say goodbye if he didn't mean it yk 😭

for vincent and lovely it's a lot more complicated- i think they'll both make the same decision but we just don't know what that is yet- i feel like they'll leave bc they just can't trust will anymore and also they don't wanna be involved in his future semantics without a full rundown and being upfront about it- which he hasn't been in the past so 😭 yeah- although i sort of don't want them to leave bc like they've been in this clan a while yk, i'm sort of attached 😭😭 but i think they will in the end

idk if it's just me but the whole time i kept thinking of three things: the thumbnail, the ticking in the background and porter. he was mentioned a few times but i kept thinking like- was he also offered the option of leaving or not ?

porter rant bc i have free will lol:

we still barely know porter, but from his (sort of) sleep aid, we know that he regrets/is having trouble dealing with the assassination he carried out. he also is having many of the same thoughts as vincent, although he did a better job at hiding them - that he also struggles to trust william, that he doesn't know whether what he did was morally corrupt or not, that he doesn't know whether what he did was out of obligation, fear or cowardice. he also feels used, much like how he did in the past with his maker, though we still don't know the full story about that yet.

what i'm saying is- we know vincent and sam have been given the option (without judgment) of leaving the house of solaire, but we don't know if porter was graced with the same choice. was he also given the option? or did william just assume that he would stay in line and continue carrying out his favours/orders without question. even if he was given the option, would he take it? or would he hesitate/turn it down out of feeling an obligation to be loyal to his powerful king, and out of fear and cowardice that he doesn't want to "betray" or go against william.

if he did turn it down, where would he go? who would he go to? vincent and sam would be fine, they have support systems and other people to rely on, but who else can porter trust? his king, who has used power to order him around and do morally questionable acts, for the "greater good" of the house of solaire? his maker, who also used him to commit horrible acts that he hasn't dared to speak about to anyone? or treasure, a mere stranger that he sort of used, in a way, for a distraction and pleasure? if porter left, where else would he go?

anyway thanks for coming to my ted talk- the ticking in the background scared me for a second bc i was like- MORGAN ??? POOKIE IS THAT YOU ?? but i think (hope) that it was just for ✨️dramatic effect✨️ i hope we get more answers/conversations soon (vincent & lovely, sam & darlin' and porter). tata for now 💀‼️

[chuffycharles]

Twin Size Mattress C!Tommy Addition

I need someone to make a ctommy animatic/fanfic with the song 'Twin Size Mattress', here me out on this, the song fits him SO well!! Like heres some random lines from said song and how it could work:

EX 1;

"Make sure you kiss your knuckles before you punch me in the face"-Pandoras Vault, aka him getting beaten with a potato

"There are lessons to be learned, consequences for all the stupid things I say"- Before he was beaten to y'know death he was yelling profanities and purposefully trying to make Dream mad, that is not to say he deserved it, but that Dream was quote-on-quote "trying to teach him a lesson"

EX 2;

"For the friends I've made, for the sleepless nights"- exile. Thinking about his friends(?) whilst trying to sleep in an uncomfortable, cold, cramped, and borderline crappy tent.

"For the warning signs I've completely ignored"- This line has potential for multiple things like maybe pre-exile with Tubbo and how Tubbo seemed more distant to Tommy, or maybe in exile when being told to throw his stuff in a hole he ignores the warning signs that are basically telling him if he doesn't listen he will regret it some way or another and eventually he immediately complies to the request so as to not get hurt.

EX 3;

"I wanna contribute to the chaos I don't wanna watch and then complain"- Post-exile with Technoblade, he starts to heal a bit, and his chaotic personality slowly begins coming back with Technoblade complaining about it which causes Tommy to visibly deflate as he's still in a vulnerable state where everything he is told, everything that happens, every way he's treated has an effect on him. (I live for the angst tbfr)

"Cause I am through finding blame That is the decision that I have made"-Post-Pandoras Vault, after his revival in the prison he feels lifeless in a way. After what was 2 months for Tommy in Limbo he finds it unreal to be back and alive, but he wants to stay like that, so he grows incredibly cautious and self-isolated, staying out of big events just trying to stay more on the down low, never letting his health go down, always wearing armor and staying inside and away from mobs as much as he could. Of course there are exceptions to this, like with the hotel and such.

EX 4;

"It's no big surprise you turned out this way When they close their eyes and prayed you would change"- Tommys just a traumatized child soldier whose seen and experienced way more than he should've, at this point he's just trying his hardest to get by and fly under the radar. Unfortunately for him very few people realize he's still a child, everything he has done was influenced by someone who he could trust or who he thought he could trust. People, mostly adults blame him for things he has no control over, multiple people blame him for wars that aren't his fault, blaming him for small and big problems he was forced into. And then when he's traumatized and has multiple mental health issues (PTSD, Psychosis, Eating Disorders, Minor Schizophrenia etc..) they're surprised, even though its 100% their fault. Leaving him under the care of mentally unstable people (Wilbur, Technoblade, Dream) then praying he would get over this "phase"?? (This made me so mad to type oh my lord)

"And they cut your hair, and sent you away You stopped by my house the night you escaped"-Being exiled from L'manberg, and eventually 6-9 months later escaping to Technoblades house malnourished and frostbitten.

EX 5;

"She hopes I'm cursed forever"- Niki trying to kill him with Jack not realizing (or perhaps knowing but in denial) that its misdirected anger towards Tommy. "And my nightmares will have nightmares every night"-After dreams escape, he becomes more paranoid his every thought on where Dream is when he'll come hurt him. Until eventually Dream haunted his Dreams as well.

Alright I'm done with my rant now!!:D

[salarta]

I Saw The TV Glow Thoughts

So I saw the movie, and I wanna talk about several things within it. I'm gonna put it under a cut because spoilers are involved.

I thought it was a great movie, though I don't think it'll have the same impact on streaming.

The whole scene of Mr Melancholy speaking to Owen is a prime example. It feels very encompassing when it's on a huge screen taking up your attention, vs on a smaller screen when you can easily just look at your phone or get distracted. I LOVED the effect on his face. But yeah, "you won't even know you're dying" hits hard.

By the end, it very much feels like one of those popular 90s episodes where the main characters are tormented by a monster of the week that tries to convince them their actual reality is pure fiction and they're just "crazy." Except, in this case the movie all takes place from the perspective of the characters inside the fake reality.

I've seen mostly comparisons between Pink Opaque and BtVS. I can see that, both due to the director's comments and certain elements. But honestly, I feel Charmed is a better comparison point. The Pink Opaque focuses on two young girls who use the astral plane to communicate, and involves fighting demons, both of which do apply to both shows. But it's the implied sisterhood aspect, paired with the astral plane, that feels very Charmed in nature. The power of the pink opaque feels very much like it fits power of three.

More importantly, Owen's dad refers to Pink Opaque as a "show for girls." That attitude more closely mirrors Charmed because of its protagonists all being female, and very strong girl power emphasis of the show.

Then there's the fact Pink Opaque comes on during a "young adult" block even though it's talked about as being "for kids," yet the show comes on too late for kids to actually watch. And somehow lasts 5 seasons like that. That was the first indication to me something wasn't quite right.

I think just how different Pink Opaque is on streaming makes very clear that Owen's in the midnight realm. Aside from simply how cheesy it is by that point, if it was really that cheesy originally, why would it be on at 10:30 PM instead of during the day like with Power Rangers. The Mr Melancholy game at the arcade goes further into this matter by suddenly making it more "childish."

Now, within this whole framework, with Pink Opaque being the real world and Owen being one of its characters, Owen's midnight realm circumstances work perfectly both to keep the character trapped in the realm and to show division with Maddy. Maddy's two years older and a white lesbian, while Owen's trapped in the realm presenting as a black man. You get the effect of this on their relationship when Maddy starts out calling him a "baby" for being two years younger than her, and later with Maddy feeling she needed to make clear she's a lesbian.

Along with this, it helps get across to the audience how difficult it can be to "escape" the pressures of masculinity. How Owen feels the need to sneak around with "girly" interests and connections. Never considers asking to stay over at Maddy's. Also Owen cleaning off the pink ghost drawn on his neck. We know he loves the show, so that decision must come from fear of public stigma if people saw it on him. It's very much a "I'm wiping away this power of mine, this thing that gives me life, from public view so I can fit in" case.

Fred Durst is also someone I would not have expected starring in this. Yet he was a perfect choice for the character he played. He's one of several people who had a pop culture masculine image out there in the 90s, so it fits for Owen to have that affecting him.

Oh, and I very much saw the AYAOTD reference for what it was.

Wrapping up, I can understand the point of the ending after seeing commentary by the director. It's a very valuable ending and I certainly wouldn't say it should "change" in any way from the director's vision. However, I will say that I didn't get the impression the director intended while viewing. "This is gonna be a process Owen needs to go through, it's gonna take time" is something that makes sense once explained. Taken as-is, it ended up feeling like Owen saw the truth but then decided to run away from it again, like Owen has no hope of breaking free of the midnight realm. It felt like a very "if that's not enough for Owen to change, nothing will make it happen" situation.

That's all I have at the moment. Again, good movie!

[implausiblyjosh]

Cohost Criticism

The thing about cohost is that you have to walk on eggshells if you wanna talk about cohost, let alone criticize cohost. Here are two bits of criticism about cohost from me, one posted on cohost another posted on Twitter.

Criticism of cohost, on cohost

Transparency is not bad, I don’t think. But it’s incredibly clear that it’s been used to frame ASSC and cohost as some plucky little co-op that could, so that when criticism of cohost happens it’s immediately framed as a personal attack on Staff. Almost every single time criticism of cohost has happened on here, big posts go around talking about how they’re just 4 people and how could you ever suggest improvements, don’t you know you’ll KILL the site, criticizing the site is like yelling at the McDonald’s cashier, etc etc etc. I’ve said this all before, and like… idk, sucks that it took two different incredibly vitriolic discourses around accessibility to finally get people on staff to be like “please don’t fight on our behalf.” It’s also pick and choose, right? When criticism comes up, it’s the realities and transparency of financials and how it’s just 4 people and on and on, but like… hey, do we know how they got the money? What’s the relationship there? How were they able to just have what seems to be a friend loan for a few years with no delivered product/service? What happened to all the site ideas before cohost? It feels incredibly selective, and the selection is geared towards a parasocial relationship. I mean… people on bluesky are opening up about fallout from they criticizing cohost in private, so it’s not like this culture comes from nowhere.

I’ll quote something I read earlier that I agree with. No links, don’t wanna blow up the spot.

I think they were being deliberately dishonest about being a for profit LLC. I think they know that makes them sound corporate and that's why they call themselves a co-op and a non-profit/not-for-profit (both legal designations they do not meet). I think this is fully an image thing, they want to be the cool leftist co-op and not the company run by former Big Tech employees.

I think they have cultivated a parasocial relationship with their members. I am undecided on whether this was deliberate or if they just don't see the problem with it. They are far too personal about what they post and they explicitly want people to see them as friends, going so far as to saying you need to trust that they're doing things in good faith because they're your friends. Your users don't need to hear about which members of staff are in a polycule together. Your users don't need to hear that bug reports make you feel like a failure. When you make policy choices that cause the site to get into massive fights over them, you shouldn't be posting little jokes about the discourse. Trying to shame users for criticizing a moderation decision you made for not trusting you is absurd, they AREN'T your friends and can only trust you based on the actions they see from you, and if they don't trust you based on that you don't get to chastise them for it. Your hundreds of thousands of users are not your friends. But it was effective, because anyone with any criticism is shouted down by people who seriously think the staff are their friends.

Also, this bit:

To come in and say "we have no idea what we're doing but WE'LL always support you", while sites like Switter had to close down due to various government and corporate pressures, is just...fuck you honestly. If you want the techbro mindset here it is. "Nobody else is doing this because their Morals are bad and our Morals are good!" People who actually have done the hard work of trying to make safe spaces for sex workers failed, but no, I'm sure you all will do great. If they ever ship tipping (at this point I can't see it happening before they fold but let's pretend) they're going to eventually get cut off from their payment processors when it's being used for mostly porn and they're going to learn why everyone else had to quit and then they'll have to pull an excuse out of their ass for why all their grandstanding in the past just fell apart. It disgusts me to pretend like some big ally to sex workers then do this little research into what it actually takes to support them.

This bit gets me the most because, like… they’re remaking Project Wonderful and people are calling it revolutionary. We had creative/user-supported ads for years on sites like Questionable Content. This isn’t new! We’re getting the thing that the old internet had! It’s like calling neocities or SpaceHey or wikidot revolutionary.

Idk how to end this. I’ve been yelling about the culture here for what feels like ages now. It feels like I’m yelling into a void.

---

Criticism of cohost, on Twitter

Cohost post about cohost that’s too spicy for cohost: I don’t know that I’d call the LLC that is marketing itself as a non-profit that only keeps up with its promised monthly financial updates when they want more cash from users “transparent”, but that’s just me.

When the whole of the financial history is laid out and there are some big, glaring questions (who did you get this money from? Why can you not reach them? What happened to the promised features? why are user ads now, suddenly, a good thing?) it doesn’t feel transparent.

If yall haven’t been delivering features, or hitting targets, and acting like making a usable dark mode for your site was some impossible task, why did you give yourselves raises?

It feels like the “transparency” only exists to further a parasocial relationships in your favor. The important questions are left alone, but just enough is given to cultivate an active userbase that wants to fight any and all criticism on your behalf.

It happens in the comments of their posts. I saw someone ask completely sensible questions about the finances, on the finances post, and were immediately called a middle manager.

It happens on the site. People got real mad that someone would dare give links and document discourse on cohost. It wasn’t about the rancid vibes of the post*, it was about the act of linking to cohost from off-site period.

It happens off-site. People made pillowfort accounts to attack the person mentioned before. On bluesky someone is getting attacked for explaining their horrible experience with the founders.

This doesn’t feel like transparency, because the end goal here isn’t a “not-for-profit” that finally made a good site and made it last. It’s about a LLC asking you for your money when times are tough and discouraging criticism anywhere.

Another post about cohost that’s too spicy for cohost: Just because your friends run an LLC doesn’t mean your friend’s LLC shouldn’t be criticized as a business. Actively discouraging criticism cause your friends run the LLC has actively made cohost’s vibes rancid.

[sleepyhouzuki]

( this is not made to hate on anyone and isn’t directed at anyone !!! no matter how you interpret it , i promise this is just something i have had on my mind for EVER that i need to get out )

not to rant on main but as mother’s day was yesterday and i do have a REN kiddo , i’d like to talk about something that really just should not irk my nerves as much as it does : emma getting pregnant 😭

before you click off of this post , i of course respect other’s headcanons and choices with their aus and such but this still makes me a bit ‘oh’ /RESPECTFULLY in an ‘it’s-not-you-it’s-me’ way !! do what makes you happy :D

( i think we all have this for certain things 😭 )

while i am heavily set on the hc of her being a transgender female ( because look at her and tell me she is cis /j i'm not one of those people i promise ) in mostly everything i make of her , i do understand that she’s most definitely 99.9% if not 100% cis in canon . no doubt honestly ( the 0.01% is my delusional ass hoping i get a trans confirmation from one of my favorite pieces of media of all time )

don't get me wrong though because i know sooo many people would take a short look at my headcanons and go ‘what the fuck is this…?’ , so i just scroll and go on with my day instead of doing what a good majority of the internet loves to do and leave hate comments etc. . no matter how much you don’t like something , nobody deserves or wants a hate comment on something they love and or are proud of . especially if it's harmless !!

i do think a large large large part of the reason i still have some tiny problems with NE exclusively on their own ( they HAVE to be NE [ R ] implied for me to really like them together ) is how they’re portrayed at times , such as the way some people can make them such an insufferable and basic , generic mlw ship or their rude fans ( TWITTER… not everyone on there of course , some NE shippers are really nice esp on here yes nikki i am looking at you but also i haven’t had any bad encounters with an NE shipper on here thank god )

one of these ways is how they portray emma , but even before discovering some things i didn’t like NE , i still don’t think i would particularly go for a scenario where emma carries a child in the future

it just does not seem like her getting pregnant fits her character at all , no matter her sex . i will get a little hypocritical right here , no bad ways i don't think , because while i do think emma wouldn't want to be in a romantic relationship with anyone , i am such an obvious sucker for REN 😞 but i do love aroace emma and considering her character i think it fits her well

ANYWAY—

i'm not going to pull this sequence from the manga out of my ass and say ‘she wouldn’t wanna have a baby because of isabella etc etc blah blah blah’

while that COULD be a big plausible reason , i think if she really wanted to , she wouldn’t let that effect her decisions in the end . emma isn't like that ; she does what the fuck she wants and that's the emma we know and love 🔥🔥

now i’m just going to flat out say it : i don't have a big ass reason as to why i don’t think she’d get pregnant , should she able to 🤷‍♀️ i'm not going to lie and try and act like i do either

even though i don’t care for the ways some NE artists have portrayed emma , especially in the future , that’s not what i’m putting on here . in my opinion , that’s not really a valid reason and it’s more of an ‘oh i don’t like the way they did it so it’s wrong and not true to canon because i say so’ type of excuse in my opinion , which i don’t like

in truth i just genuinely don’t think emma would try and aim for that . while she would definitely go through with it for whatever reason ( except to become a mama at gracefield , of course ) , unless it was necessary to give up due to a risk to her own health or the baby’s , it’s just NotmyEmma™️ to me .

that just does not feel like emma in my opinion . i think that if she wanted a kid , she’d much rather prefer to adopt than to bring in a child on her own accord when there’s plenty out there in an orphanage or foster care wanting to be loved . that’s all , sorry for the yap session 😭

thanks for coming to my sheldon talk guys remember this is just my opinion please don't put me on the stake 💔💔

don't let this affect your opinions or hcs either ; if your shit truly makes you happy and or brings you comfort , don’t let other ppl ruin that :]

[frostythefrostedfox]

Time for that Williams analysis I promised earlier.

To sum things up: Sargeant Sucks, Albon doesn't deserves to be here

But before y'all come with your pitchforks out, allow me to explain

This sport has a weird tendency of underdogging certain people and teams, and I get it, rooting for the little guy (mandatory Yuki joke) is always the most fun, those tears that came from Zhou in China were very real, I felt those, and I loved it, those 5 seconds of Lando not knowing what to do on the podium in Miami, I felt that bro, and I am happy for him, today's pole for Leclerc felt like it matters more than any other he has every acheived, and I am happy for him, not only as a Tifosi, but as an F1 fan in general.

We all were pointing at the screen like thar DiCaprio meme in Miami when the Haas pulled that point finish despite that ad infinitum string of penalties for one of them, unsportsmanship behaviour? My dude, that team play at its finest!

I don't ever think we will be able to agree what the fuck happened in that SC release, and if it was fair or not to Lewis and Verstappen alike

But sadly, that usually blinds peeps and makes them forget, or at least makes them unaware of why the little guy is the little guy, and that is the case for Williams in general, so obviously seeing something like Albon did today, P9 on the (objectively) worst car and worst team in the grid in 2024 put a smile in my face, that's the Monaco magic I am here to see, it's all you broski, YOU did this, you deserve it.

But at the same time, is Monaco, the odd one out, the circuit where car and team matter little, talent and balls matter lots, this race is some sort of equalizer, where everyone has to fight with the same tools and the same weapons, everyone loses their advantages or at least their effect are reduced to a minimum, Monaco aint a place where you win the race, is a place where you win the Weekend, you win this by properly setting up your car, by properly understanding its flow, by getting a good quali session and by managing your race, other races Begin at (roughly) 2PM local time, Sunday and ends, at worst, 2 hours later; but not Monaco, Monaco's race begins at 1PM local time, Friday and ends at 4PM local time, Sunday when too much.

So why is Logan Sargeant dead last once again?

We saw Checho on P16, Alonso P15, Max P6, Albon P9, Gasly P10, so having cars off-placed is not the exception, is the norm, so why is he, again, at the back again?

The decision of sitting him out in favour of Albon sounded cruel and everyone rose up in discontent, but think about it this way, you're a team principal, what would you do? Would you want to give the team the biggest chances of finally doing something worth of praise or do you wanna be fair even tho you know where that road ends, and be honest with yourselves, and be realistic too, because we all known damn well how this sport is, fairness is rarely the rule anyone plays by here.

And since I know how y'all are, I am not saying the dude is a flunk, a dud and that we should kick him to the curb like a sick horse, not even remotely, the dude has talent, that is why he is sitting where he is sitting, that's why he is "One of the 20" (Yes, I preordered the game, champions edition, leave me alone), he wouldn't have gotten here any other way, but, to put it bluntly, his talent aint as big as the talent the other ones in the grid seem to have, he would do better in a less stakes series, maybe a more forgiving series, or perhaps he just needs more experience, after all we are all different and we all learn at different speeds, so maybe he could benefit from a couple years as development and simulation driver before getting into that seat again.

Time after time Sargeant has been stuck at the back of the grid, and the only time he wasn't, in Suzuka, he put himself there with a solo mistake in the underpass turn.

His time to shine was today, getting into Q2 would have certainly proven that all he needed was time, that he is all that, he is him, he just need us to be patient with him and maybe give him a car that aint the 2024 Williams, after all that is what happened to Stroll, after banging the wall the first he went on the track in Australia, everyone ruled him as a paid seat, get him out and blah blah blah, now he is a solid driver that more often than not pulls in consistent results, not his fault Alonso is the main character of F1 and has plot armour.

But he didn't, he was at the back of the grid, as usual, so what else am I supposed to make out of this? He should totally finish the season, he has earned that much, but he certainly hasn't won the seat, and if the rumors about Sainz going to Williams are true, what can I tell you mate? Can't blame Williams for trying to scrape the barrel and get out of that pit they've been in since the last regulation change.

I know he is the favourite pookie of the grid, look at the little guy! But we have to be real here, and we all have to acknowledge there is a difference between Fanon and Canon, from what I know Logan is an amazing person and a very charismatic young lad, but that shouldn't deter the judgement of anyone when we talk about his numbers and performance, these are two different subjects and they are not intertwined in any way, after all we all know how Alonso can be, specially at his sassy worst (McL/H era) yet his achievements are what they are.

The dude just aint performing, and that's the truth, is not about points, is about how consistently he has been stuck in the last place, I would love to see an american driver actually be good at this sport, the last one we had before him was Rossi with Haas and we all remember the Singapore SC incident when he almost bricked the race for everyone because he didn't knew the rules.

But ont he flipside, Albon... Oh boy, he really showed us today didn't he? I think that being signed by RB is the worst mistake a driver could ever make, because their standard is not a bar, is a whole sculpture, pose included, that you must match to perfection or else you're worthless, once their found Vettel, they wanted every other driver to be just like him, and gave them Vettel's car to measure up isntead of letting them drive their own car, until they found up someone who stepped up, Verstappen, and now is more of the same, anyone who aint him is expendable, and that was the case for Albon, but time after time he has put that paperweight of a car he drives now in places where it shouldn't be, so there has to be something in there right? RIGHT?

Albon would certainly benefit a lot from going to a team where he aint hitting the ceiling since day 1, something with room to grow, every other time when it has been in his hands (except for the australia incident) he has delivered, and he certainly did today, this boy has something, he aint HAM, VES, he certainly aint a VET and totally not an ALO, but he is something, and that something should be given at least the chance, and I hope he gets the chance to go up instead of keep going down, because from what it seems, there aint much down left from here to go to.

Maybe the new regulation change will be kind to him if he stays at Williams, maybe we'll see some phoenix rising type story right here, and I really hope that's the case, because Williams is a Legacy team like Ferrari for a reason, and it is just so painful to see their name associated with such atrocious performances and lackluster appeareance, Pastor Maldonado won with a Willians FFS, it wasnt like the last time Williams was good the years began with a 19

For me, personally, I just don't think I have it in me to sit in my chair for another race and keep hoping Seargeant will improve, that a miracle will happen, that things will get better, I just don't have it anymore, specially not when the season seems to be favouring the little guys, First non dutch anthem weekend by Sainz, Lando's maiden win, cut streak with today's P6.... But I do find myself rooting for the big guy at Williams more and more, I want to see Albon do things, let him cook, boy's a chef if you give him some room.

[bamboobrat]

succession s4 e7 recap: 🍆🍆🇺🇸

this week's recap is nothing short of a trauma dump from this here political operative.

never in my life did i think i would relate to nate, but there truly is nothing scarier than election eve....

we start the episode off the disguisting brothers, preparing for a long night at ATN.

tom has seemingly still not slept and greggory peggory is still recovering from his night on the town with one lukas mattson.

a few levels up, team shiv and team roman are also gearing up for a long night.

other than the distinct lack of booze, i'd say the vibes are pretty realistic.

roman with mencken was always my least favorite version of roman. this episode is no exception.

in fact, i think i'm demonstratively anti-roman in this episode.

and gerri is nowhere to be seen:((

shiv is worried about mattson letting greg in on their little plans.

as she should. rule number 1: don't talk to greg.

rava has to deal with kendall yet again.

this woman is a saint. someone save her.

ken is still on his "everything i do, i do for my children"-shit. you know, everything except ensure that a fascist doesn't make it to the white house.

honestly, this episode is really, very good.

i never wanna watch it again.

mencken bonds with roman over the fact that they both hate the word 'narrative'.

he is prepared to lose and for a millisecond i was hopeful.

tom and greg do coke behind a whiteboard.

this is the right wing politics that i know. 10/10 great representation.

however, we all know how tom is with drugs. he does them all wrong and feels wrong and immediately begins spiraling.

my body is very bad at many things, such as producing enough serotonin, but years of campaigning means my stomach has superpowers.

gas station sushi? no problem. leftover pizza from the night before? don't feel a thing.

i'm stronger than tom, is what i'm saying. activists just do it better, i guess.

connor represents all politicians, all the time:

now, i respect all the politicians i work for loads, but there is just something inherently narcisstic about having six people cater to your needs constantly.

and most of them are unfortunately not as funny as connor.

tom is being a little shit.

with no moves left, shiv tells him she's pregnant.

it's not entirely unreasonable of tom to ask if it's even true, or if it's a tactic telling him that, but he's still a little shit for doing it.

i hate hate hate that we only got like four minutes of shiv girlbossing before she was back to doing everything wrong again... i support women's wrongs, but c'mon:(((

connor is by far my favorite part of this episode.

i just think they are neat<3

ken has his sister's back and i could rewatch those few seconds over and over and over.

fuck tom and his stupid touch screens.

and fuck roman too.

basically, there's a fire in wisconsin and ballots have been lost. historically, those votes have been overwhelmingly democrat, but roman wants them to call wisconsin for mencken, disregarding the burnt up ballots altogether.

he sends his talking points to ravenhead, who goes on an on-air rant, and the rest of the sibs take to the floor at ATN as well, much to greg's dismay.

shiv tries to threaten greg so that he doesn't tell her brothers about her plans with mattson.

as much as i love shiv threatening to pull greg's organs out his asshole, it isn't very effective.

there's an incident with wasabi.

i question a lot of decisions made in this episode, but perhaps most curious of all is the choice of lemon flavored la croix??????

i would laugh more at this if i wasn't so ridden with anxiety.

connor lands an embassadorship in the new mencken administration.

willa is skeptical of the fascism etc but still....

connor makes a speech. i love it when he does that.

we get a brief moment with the old guard, gerri not included.

we get basically no karl:/

instead we get roman being an asshole scene after scene after scene.

pls stop i can't take it anymore!!!

kendall is torn between team shiv and team roman, presumably because he can't decide what outcome will be most helpful to his own ambitions.

oh and there's the whole "my daughter might be in danger if mencken wins", but that seems to be secondary.

because he was vulnerable with shiv for a minute, he feels even more betrayed when he learns about her plans with mattson.

from greg of course. fucking greg.

the hugging era is truly a thing of the past.

i wish i had more jokes, but honestly this episode just made me very, very sad.

roman, ken and tom decide to call the election for mencken, despite shiv's desperate attempts.

and i just have to say, i know shiv isn't altruistic. i know she thinks a jimenez win will benefit her more than mencken will. i knooooow.

it's still very sad.

they call it for mencken.

me every single election night.

roman is very much in the camp of nothing fucking matters, and i guess he is right in a way.

it won't really matter to him or kendall.

it will for sophie, though. it will for jess.

ouffff....

roman now has a direct line into the west wing.

that being said, i don't think he's a very reliable partner for them.

in the end, mencken will do what is good for mencken. the same goes for roman.

i think ken might end up regretting this whole endeavor very, very soon.

tom becomes the face of this political scandal.

can't wait for it to bite him in the arse.

shiv makes a final rallying cry to mattson, but it somehow feels hollow to me.

this shiv girlie is starting to lose hope.

anyway, rava doesn't want ken to come over to see the kids because he prioritized his own project of becoming his dad over keeping them safe.

i guess i agree with him that the poison does, perhaps, drip down.

what a depressing episode!

i'm glad we are getting something to celebrate next week - logan's funeral wiii !!

[jet-bradley]

decided to bite the bullet and remake

new blog: @lambda-core

follows from: @wheres-all-the-data (effectively a continuation of my current main, @legacycode)

This has been in the making since at least last october.

If you guys followed me on a different sideblog (like my space blog, @x-15), it's probably been transferred over to the new account. This is the one I'm leaving behind. I won't be deleting it because I don't want to erase what's effectively a log of my personality, interests, etc. through the end of high school, college, and university.

As for @tron20emails, I deliberately left it on this account to cut ties with the Tron fandom, but it's not getting deleted or anything. Whenever I want to return to the fandom, I'll probably transfer ownership of it to the new account to maintain it. I could be convinced to share ownership with someone who's been in the 2.0 fandom for a while, if anybody has an interest in maintaining it. But I won't be handing it to just anyone, only people I know have an interest in maintaining an asset for that community. Message me on my new blog if you're interested.

I have a lot to say about this decision, and yet, nothing at all. I just need a fresh start. It feels weird to cut off an old part of myself like this, but it's just how it is. I need to get out of here, and changing my url and icon isn't gonna cut it this time. I need out.

Thanks for a good... seven !? (2017?) years everyone. I had a lot of fun on this account. If you wanna keep contact, don't be a stranger, hmu over there.

[hersweetrevenge]

rohan is so cute as frank. and not enough people talk about it!! just wanna hold him and tell him everything will be okay 😭

he is !! anon, you are so right !! 💗 i could talk all day about how pretty rohan is and his boyish good looks, but i could spend just as long talking about how much i love frank and how interesting i find his character so i really wish there were more frank fans out there too (i guess we just have to stick together lol) !! season three is not available for me yet so this is based on s1&2, but my agenda remains the same: protect frank hardy at all costs.

i think what i love most about frank is he is so earnestly genuine. i love how when he first meets callie and chet and isn't sure how to respond to callie's playful scrutiny. i love when he can't take the rosegrave tour seriously. i love how he understands the need to hone his detecting skills through fenton's books, rather than joe's intuitive approach. i love when his voice goes all soft when he realises he was wrong about tom ellroy (and also how it signals the first inkling that he is getting too reliant on the eye). i love how when fenton comes back from finding rupert, his reuniting with frank is so different to his one with joe; he tells frank "it's okay", over and over because frank's reactions are so much more internal than joe's (for the most part).

frank is honestly just very well-written. he's athletic but not a jock. he's studious but not an academic. he's romantic but he isn't particularly flirtatious (i'm not sure it even registers to him that he is handsome, beyond the "clearly biased" opinions of his mom/grandma/aunt). he's level-headed and has a check on his external displays of emotion, but his internal emotional experiences runs very deep. he is rational and measured, but he can also be one-track minded.

i love how there are so many facets of his character but none of them are ever really contradictory, and when they are it just highlights how he is a teenager who is struggling with this huge trauma and sometimes makes irrational decisions because of it. he's a skeptic, he's level-headed, but he's also not had the support he needs in order to grieve his mom properly so all of his skepticism goes out of the window for a chance to see laura again. he's selfish in his grief because even though he knows joe is hurting too, it's difficult to see past his own hurt because (as everyone points out) he was laura's counterpart, and joe is fenton's. the fact that he really is a perfect fit to be gloria's heir but he's so deeply compassionate that he could never be ruthless enough for that sort of business.

where was i going with this? i don't know, but i agree with you, anon. i really want to tell him it'll all be okay. frank really has the weight of the world on his shoulders, and he is struggling so much but it's revealed in much more subtle ways than with joe. in the first season, he's lost his mom, he's in a new place and his dad has left. i think part of him feels like he has to stay grounded and reasonable, for joe and fenton and trudy. i just want him to be supported and happy. in the second season, he's still struggling, and now has to try even harder to keep himself grounded even with unimaginable influences working again him in his very own brain. he's trying so, so hard to remember that it is the eye that manipulating him, he tries so hard to ignore george even when he's starting to see him everywhere. he can feel himself going mad and there's nothing he can do about it.

by the end of season two, before the sleep room, frank feels like he needs to save himself because no one else will. he feels like he needs to save his mom, because no one else wants too.

the show is really about, amongst other things, how grief can effect people. and even more so, it's about grief effecting people in different and unexpected ways. joe clearly channels his grief into solving mysteries and helping people. sure, he's a little bit gung-ho about it but it makes sense for his character -- optimistic and impulsive. frank, on the other hand, who is shown time and time again to be skeptical and level-headed, is the one who becomes irrational and unstable and emotionally volatile. of course the eye has some influence, but i also think frank's more reserved nature is being strained by the grief that he isn't given a chance to deal with and ultimately it makes him desperate and scared.

what i'm trying to say is: frank is so very cute and caring and earnest and i love him very dearly.

[mrawkweird]

A quick rundown of the previewed shows Adult Swim gave

Common Side Effects: The fuckin stand out of the bunch. Distinct style, great cinematography, quirky humor it's like Scavengers Reign meets, uh I dunno Fargo? Breaking Bad? I don't really know what other thing to compare it to. I'd wanna say animation is healing but I dont wanna jinx it.

Women Wearing Shoulder Pads: Was....defiantly uh...something

I guess AS is branching out into having more drama's because I could not tell if this was a comedy at all.

Invincible Fight Girl: CN's 2nd dedicated action series in forever once again graces Adult Swim because of their own inane business decisions.

I've seen people compare it to OK KO but I see the difference instantly. KO was a pastiche of anime and super toony animation, but this really is just really trying it's damndist to be it's own anime. With a moment that feels ripped right outta MHA complete with You Say Run sounding music. I don't think it's bad or anything but I'm far from saying it's stand out. Animation is great though.

And hey, if you want another hyper anime specific project to follow you can check out the game Wander Stars

Rick and Morty The Anime: was also there

Some bits of it feel just like the original show but by the second half it does what all the other Japanese Rick and Morty shorts by the same team have done and sorta revel in the sci fi existentialism it brings up

I think one of Adult Swim's strengths, maybe even their greatest strength, when putting out or buying onto a number of their projects is seeing the variety of styles and mediums utilized. When you can go from shows like 12 oz. Mouse to Metalocalypse to Moral Orel to Gemusetto to The Shivering Truth there is a lot to choose from.

Also, to have something like a Common Side Effects where it's a very hybrid looking sort of show. Best way I could think to describe them are fever dreams captured on camera. Not to an extreme case but in the sense of that it's existence shouldn't be possible. I remember when it wouldn't have been possible but now here we are.

Between Common Side Effects and Women Wearing Shoulder Pads alone it feels like Adult Swim is expanding on what they always were which is a place where you can find just a little bit of everything and we're continuing to see how far it can go.

When it comes to Invincible Fight Girl I can see where people would get the OK KO vibes probably thinking back to certain episodes but from the looks of it I think it will be more next-gen Mucha Lucha now complete with the obligatory anime influence at its core.

Plus if it's going to be wrestling centric I need to see what it's about by default so for me that's a stand out and I like what they got so far. It also feels like a very throwback'ish sort of concept. They already got me hooked and I hope the powers that be can also see the potential but when it comes to shows that feel niche in a way like this one I'm always prepared for some fuck-ass exec to go "I ain't racist or hate women or anything but cancelled".

[shatcey]

02/06 (Kagetoki)

First of all, I cannot say I like him. I have very vague feelings for this guy, and I can't even figure out what they are. Sometimes it's better not to dig in, and I'm sure this is exactly the case.

But… I was planning to say a few words about his route, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone. Technically, I'm talking about him, right?

I was very cautious at first. I didn't know what to expect, given the previous impression, but definitely not this. Thanks to @dear-mrs-otome advice, I continued reading, and to my surprise, after these two chapters, the route changed significantly.

At some point, an idea came to my mind. He's smart and makes decisions based on logic. It's very similar to Kicho… So maybe… I don't wanna spoil it… But my logic actually led me to the right conclusion.

I was shocked to learn about it at the very beginning of his route.

I'm utterly confused. Taira is the Shigehira's clan and has nothing to do with Yoshitsune… In fact, they are on opposite sides of the war (funny fact: they are always on opposite sides). So these are just baseless rumors…

Kagetoki actually worked with Yoshitsune, but switched sides, and now he's with Yoritomo. The fact that he switched sides actually played a huge part in his route. When he did it a second time, no one had any doubts about it. No one asks why he did it. They are upset, for sure, but not surprised. As if they had expected this to begin with.

It just proves how much he has distanced himself from other people. Even his allies don't fully know him, don't fully understand him. And this is not surprising… He's a genius. His brain works fast and efficiently. He doesn't allow anything to interfere with his strategies and plans. Nothing at all. I respect him for this determination, but it feels like he's not a human being, but a robot.

But the most surprising thing for me was that he doesn't really like anything. He eats sweets because it helps his brain work better. If he finds another way with the same result, he can easily switch to it. He's not interested in intimate relationships. It just needs to be done… for… effective body work. At least that's how it used to be with maids and maybe other women… I wouldn't be surprised.

He just cuts off all emotions because they are not efficient and unnecessary. And it reminds me of Chevalier. In fact, they have a lot in common. The genius, devoid of emotions, very efficient, a man without a heart… but… I've always considered Chev to be the perfect person. A person who cannot exist in our world. And Kagetoki doesn't have such vibe.

There are a few things that make him more real. He likes to command, to the point that it's very reminiscent of sadism. He likes to tease MC and make fun of her. And he's one of those idiots who makes sacrifices… Very annoying part. So… he's not Chev.

And there is one thing that I really like about this route. It's how much MC has grown. At the beginning she's very insecure, she doesn't make any decisions, she just goes with the flow.

But she did it anyway...

And in the end…. she is absolutely sure of her opinion. He trusts her judgment and never hesitates. She begins to think, analyze and find ways to solve problems in such unexpected ways that I constantly in awe of her. There was a letter from him in which he explained my point very beautifully.

One more thing that I really like about this route… We have the opportunity to spend a lot of time with the Emperor and his boys (how dare I call Ibuki a boy? Ha! It's funny to imagine his reaction to this). I still think it was too early for me, I hadn't finished even half of the main boys, but it was incredibly interesting to watch them interact. To learn small details about their characters and their past… It was incredibly interesting. I'm even looking forward to Akihito's route now. His backstory is intriguing, and I'm very interested to see how it plays out on his route.

So… The route itself was very interesting. Developing of MC's character, small warming of Kagetoki himself, interaction inside of different groups of people. Where there were many unexpected plot twists… Yeah, I very much enjoyed it.

But the main boy, I don't know, he has a lot of traits that I like in the characters, but… For some reason, their combination, in my opinion, doesn't quite fit each other. Or maybe I just cannot forget another character for some strange reason (every emotion is odd if you try to analyze it rationally) I cannot find anyone better than him.

Just a friend? You broke my heart, nasty boy! (smile teasingly)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

🔝 Start page 🔝

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~