#one of the only games I've liveblogged and oh my god.

[perilegs]

hmm i may have spoiled myself something about the house of fata morgana. no spoilers but

1. i went "oh cool, this game has a points shop on steam?" and decided to check it out. one of the things there is just called [character name]'s death

2. "oh i wonder if this game has multiple endings? i guess i'll click on the community hub to see if there's an ending guide just in case i'll need it at some point!" immediately saw a post with a caption of "what year did [a super spoilery sounding character name] die?"

3. i got trading cards and noticed they had descriptions and read them. thought it seems to be the same stuff as in the "about" section of the game so idk. one of them just seemed a bit. peculiar.

4. i played through the first chapter and looked up the ost bc one of the songs was haunting and had someone speaking on it and i wanted to know what was said. i found it no problem no spoilers but then i googled "the house in fata morgana labirintia" and accidentally hit an actual google search instead of any other search engine and one of the top results was the game's fandom wikia of all places and it just straight up had a picture of one character saying they're "the" antagonist and have the name that sounded spoilery in point number 2 :/

[psyduc]

pasta a la erik karlsson

THE INGREDIENTS: pasta. alfredo. meat sauce. raw (red) onion. hot sauce (cholula, judging by the video). ketchup (heinz, i think?). a little salt and pepper.

THE RECIPE: boil pasta, chop the onion, serve with all sauces. eat and not die.

hi my name is emily and welcome to jackass

instead of liveblogging this process, i'm just going to add my thoughts to one big post to make it cleaner <3

6:48 pm: the pasta is boiling. i keep looking over at the Pile of Sauces and giggling. i have whispered "what the fuck" to myself a few times now. i'm cooking the whole box, because we're all having spaghetti tonight, but i'm the only one brave enough to try... This

6:54 pm: erik did not mention this as part of the meal but i poured myself a glass of rose. the onion has been chopped. i tried to get them chunky to match the video but that's like too much man, at least have your onions DICED why are they in CHUNKS ERIK

7:05 pm: writing these time stamps i'm realizing i'm a slow cooker because i keep getting distracted by my playlist (rn it's rebel rebel by david bowie). i am starting the alfredo sauce and it's sinking in that i'm about to actually. eat this. like a few bites, there's no way i'm eating this whole plate (this is NOT foreshadowing)

7:07 pm: i almost panicked because i didn't think i had enough milk for the alfredo but surprise, i had EXACTLY enough. this is a good omen.

7:15 pm: everything is done, i am just waiting for the meat sauce to warm up. i'm still whispering "what the fuck to myself".

7:21 pm: it's time. to assemble.

i grabbed a small plate, but i'm realizing. maybe i should have grabbed less. this is revolting. and i'm not even done adding things

added and mixed. i'm laughing. erik eats this. before every game? it overwhelmingly smells like cholula which is fine but oh my god. oh my god? no. no. this poor man's stomach. oh my god

7:30 pm: i've put it off. it's time to take a bite

IT'S JUST. IT'S JUST A LOT OKAY. THIS IS A LOT OF FLAVOR AND NONE OF IT REALLY GOES TOGETHER? it's like way too acidic. biting into a red onion is a terrible surprise. it's too saucy and it doesn't feel Good in my stomach, like i have taken two bites and it's settled so heavily already. okay no three bites. it's... it's just upsetting. this is an upsetting experience. what the fuck is wrong with you erik karlsson. you eat this and then you go and play professional hockey?

FOUR BITES IN AND IT DOES NOT GET BETTER. why does he do this to himself like can we send someone to check on him fr i am genuinely concerned about this man like i made this meal for the bit but he willingly does this to himself?????? 82 games a season???????

IN CONCLUSION: i managed five (5) bites. they were all bad. don't make this. someone arrest erik karlsson immediately i am so serious.

[muffinrecord]

Current Plans + Musings

I don't plan on playing Exedra to the degree I did for Magia Record, or playing it at all. Because of that, I won't be taking an active role in the community and archiving anything for it. Of course, if Exedra has like amazing gameplay and stories then this is all subject to change, but for now I think I'm done with phone games.

The two youtube channels will stay up and I'll check em periodically to make sure there aren't copyright strikes against the content. I've saved all my raw files, especially for the battle animations, so I can remake them in the future if the music ever becomes a problem for some reason.

Google Drive will stay up until Google rots away. I haven't recorded footage in a long time (as in stories, I do for the character doppels and such), but I'll upload things if they're sent to me.

Magia Union Translations still plans on translating things and making videos, especially leading up to the end, but also for after the game is over for whatever wasn't made in time. I'm not sure what form this will take in the future-- if it'll be manual captions added to the videos or not, but I know it WILL happen.

As for this blog, I'm not going to delete it or anything. However I'm going to be taking a step back. I'd like to say that I'll do liveblogs but I mean... *gestures at blog* I've been saying that for years and the only one I really did successfully was the Oriko one lmao. Ahhh oh well.

I'll have more words later, but it was really fun to be part of a fandom experience like this. I'm excited to work on my own original story projects though and quiet down a bit.

...

When I started this blog, I never expected it to have people actually read it. Or look at it. I just wanted a place to gush about how much fun I was having. I didn't even want to tag the posts with "Magia Record" at first because I was terrified people would be mean at me, haha.

But I'm glad I did. I made so many good friends through this game. I'm glad it existed. And it made me happy to have a place where people cared about what I had to say. Some folks actually got their news from here, can you imagine that? They had notifications turned on for this blog. My god.

Anyways, I'm going to be here for the next two months, and tomorrow I'll start reblogging fan projects and initiatives, plus general news. Maybe this blog will turn into a dumping site for art and fanfic reblogs, who knows. I might watch the remaining stuff and add various thoughts here and there.

Otherwise, you can find me on my main blog @malignmuffin, which only reblogs stuff (I don't talk much if at all there). I have another tumblr blog for my comic, but I think I'll reshare the name once I actually have content you can look at on it. It's pretty bare bones for the moment.

Actually it'll be funny if the end of this game is what makes me finally work on it again. I was in the process of working on it when NA came out, and it totally derailed me. Stopped writing, drawing, just focused on this silly little phone game. Now it's like those five years have gone by and I'm going back to where I started, except I think my lil comic is going to be a bit better than it was before. If I actually make it, that is.

If I ever do actually make my comic and start posting it, I'll be sure to update y'all here. hah

Anyways, thanks for being on this wild ride with me. The memories have been great, and I'm glad I had this experience, even if it had to end.

[hils79]

Hils Watches The King's Avatar - Ep 40

It doesn't feel like 5 minutes ago that I started this drama. It's so very bingeable.

It's been a real journey. None of this has been what I expected beyond the very basic concept of 'it's a drama about esports'. There have been so many wonderful surprises. There are characters that I hated that I now love, characters that I loved that I now love even more, and more ships than I ever expected to ship.

While I'm at it I want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has popped up in the replies to my posts or in my asks to either answer my questions or just yell about their favourite characters. I can tell this drama (and the novel and donghua) are so well loved and liveblogging this has really felt like a community experience. Thank you for not laughing at all the stuff I got wrong and for not making fun of me for shipping everyone. It's really been so wonderful and I almost don't want to press play on the final episode because I don't want it to be over.

But I need to see what happens so let's go!

Ah, okay. I misunderstood what happened at the end of the last episode. I thought they'd lost the game but no they could still win they just didn't have enough points to win the championship.

Is there going to be some loophole like the whole 'oh the ref's watch broke so actually you won'

HAHA! I fucking knew it! They got an extra two points for beating a league record. Because apparently that is a rule that has never been mentioned until now.

Eh, whatever. There was a nice moment with the fans before the found out they'd won

Ye Xiu finally gets the hug that he's needed since episode 1

Good lord how is there 30 minutes left? What's going to happen now that they've won?

God I hope Sun Xiang punches him

Except of course he won't because he's all grown up now. Also, typically it's the coaches/managers that get fired when a team does badly. I hope he gets booted

Love Shaotian dragging Wenzhou to his feet so he can cheer

Remember when their entire fanbase was just this guy. I'm definitely not crying at all

Look at that little half smile. He's grown so much considering they only lost on a technicality. I do think he's at least a little bit happy for Ye Xiu as the better player (for now)

GDI I can't believe I'm crying over Sun Xiang AGAIN

LOL remember when I thought he was going to be the antagonist of the drama when I watched the first episode. How wrong I was

Haha yes let's have a little joke about the time when I nearly banned you for life in the middle of an important game and caused your team to lose as a result

I have in no way been thinking about writing some King's Avatar fic with one based on the fact that Ye Xiu passes out after one drink

HAHA! Mo Fan pretended to pass out too so he doesn't have to talk to anyone. He is such a mood

Oh shit! I did not see that coming!

Oh no he looks so sad to see his former team like this, and it's understandable. He built that team from the ground up and put so much time and work into making them the legends they were

Yes, good. Baozi is cuddling one of his boyfriends as he should

Ah, yay, I'd forgotten about the team graphic. Time to add one more person right before the end

And finished! That was wonderful! Definitely in my top 5 dramas that I've watched this year. Might even be the number one, actually. I definitely should have watched that years ago when people first told me to give it a try. But, you know, I firmly believe you find things when you were meant to find them. Now was good.

I'll be starting a new drama tomorrow. If you were just here for my King's Avatar posts it's been lovely to have you. If you're sticking around for other liveblogs I'll see you tomorrow for more yelling :D

[kerubimcrepin]

Episode 31 - The Break

It will be so refreshing to liveblog an episode that isn't heavy on characterization or analysis, oh god, I am tired of typing words.

He is so sad and for no reason... I just want to wrap him in a heated blanket.

World's most serious case of Sads, finished off with an evil little glare.

I can imagine adult Joris doing the same thing to Kerubim even by Wakfu times. Just a cunty, unamused little gaze. I can see it so clearly. This will happen in season 4, mark my words.

Also, inside me are two wolves. One of them wants to say "perhaps it's unusual for Joris to not go hook line and sinker for whatever ideas Keke proposes", and the other wants to say "Joris and Kerubim having psychic vibe battles moment #5"

He is so unserious.

Joris loses this round in the game of mutual psychological manipulations.

(Guy who notices landmarks in this show voice) (Also, guy who, for some reason, has developed a parasocial relationship with this setpiece in a kids show voice) THE TOWER. THE FUCKING TOWER

I've already spoken on this topic, but Kerubim already being known to sell stuff and have strong opinions on the ethics of museums makes me so unwell. Especially with implications of the Crepin family being salespeople.

I am not going to elaborate. You've read my other posts. Just... yeah.

Can I get some love for non-Cra archers in this universe? The degree of unemployment must be hellish.

Also Lou has two swords, and Nella has two quivers. They are so normal.

Some may think that Kerubim is out of shape, but I will argue that this is his Farm Boy shape. His "not constantly on the road and fighting monsters while worrying about travelling supplies" shape.

He's still muscular, because Herding Animals is Serious Business, but he's got a bit of a gut going on, because there's no food insecurity, and the food he has is mostly meat and milk.

Considering old Kerubim also has the gut, — and is, notably, still very agile, — I think that this is just, like, Kerubim's natural shape when he's eating well and living like a normal person.

Sorry for overanalysing his body. I just wanted to talk about my "adventuring should be deconstructed as a concept and examined more closely, considering the multiple characters who had been ready to die "to become legends" about it. Like is all the trauma, food insecurity, and violence worth it, when the only way for people to truly respect you in this career, is to die in a cool way?" agenda.

The resemblance between young Keke in this episode and his older self is actually scary.

Say NO to alcohol, say YES to being a calcium-based lifeform.

I've never mentioned this before on this blog, but it's very likely that Kerubim is kind-of-sort-of accidentally implied to have an underbite.

It varies, whether he has his teeth in a normal bite, or an underbite, — and it is an art style choice, it happens to some other characters, albeit nowhere near as often as it does to Kerubim, — but, once you see it, and know what I'm talking about, you can't unsee it. Hell, it's on half the screenshots in this episode already!

Underbites are something that goes in families, which fits really well.

Because, like... yeah. That sure does seem like a family thing.

Together with the "pale-ish brown pigmentation around an eye or both eyes" thing, and the triangle-ish shape of their heads and snouts, Keke and Atch are the Bouba and Kiki of siblinghood.

Anyway, for transparency's sake, despite the underbite being one of Atcham's very notable character features, he is also sometimes drawn with a normal bite. Which might point towards Kerubim's underbite also being a genuine part of his character design, — instead of it being a case of animators liking the look of it a lot.

Personally, I like to think that both of them had been trying to fix his underbite his whole life by simply willing it away, and it's Not working.

If they actually realized they care about one another, and could be chill about it instead of immediately starting a Doomed Toxic Cottagecore Farm, Pangaea would reform.

Oh? You like Kerubim and Lou? Well, then, do you think Lou and Kerubim efficiently utilized girl power when they, Bontarians, went to their oh-so-hated Sidimote Moors and Brakmar, to conduct what they call a "slaughter-safari"?

This is not a Divorce Theory I usually subscribe to, but my funny crack theory is that she left him to go adventure around the world because he wanted to settle down and adopt a kid or whatever.

Truly, the possibilities of kerulou divorce theories are endless.

If they formed a polycule, Pangaea would explode.

I like to think that whatever Julith has going on is a cloak with a similar, but more complex enchantment.

This item is real, but I can't really find the sword mentioned by Lou moments prior.

I need to inject this image inside, intravenously.

...Anyway, you will never guess what my newest addition to the desktop wallpaper rotation is.

[badgerhuan]

Mitsunoko :3c

@saltyfilmmajor NANCY HI I KNOW IT'S YOU

so I've waited until I'm stuck on a bus for about an hour to answer this on my phone bc otherwise it's going to turn into a 10 page propaganda manifesto with screenshots and I do not actually have the spoons for that.

they make me UNWELL.

Ship It

1. What made you ship it?

my beloved friend @twotwinks was playing through Ace Attorney Investigations and liveblogging it at me. and at one point jhe sent me a screenshot where Itonokogiri swears to follow Mitsurugi through thick and thin. and then was promptly dragged away from him kicking and screaming.

famous last words

jhe then started microdosing me with content about these two in the games, and after I told my treasured friend @maverickcalf about it they also started putting posts about them on my dash. and it took about three weeks before I caved and read through the entire ao3 tag of the ship in one night and. the rest is history, as they might say.

ive always had a passing interest in Gyakuten Saiban but just never got around to getting into it properly. I'd bought and played through a bit of GS6 when it first came out but didn't get very far bc of my limited Japanese then. when MT got really into it I thought it was the perfect chance for me to familiarize myself with the franchise (nothing better than a friend that infodumps) but I. never expected to fall into the franchise as hard as I did, especially not in This Specific Way. this will now be my entire personality for the next three years.

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

god where do I START.

I think what really does strike me is in the first game, how much they clearly trust each other. Itonokogiri is Loud about it so we know clearly where he stands, but while Mitsurugi doesn't say it out loud there are so many scenes where his actions dictate he does trust Itonokogiri. small instances that makes you go HUH. like the fact that he feels bad about keeping things from Itonokogiri in Turnabout Goodbyes!! and the fact that Naruhodou suspected it would hurt him and WEAPONIZED that against him. like. GOD. WHAT THE FUCK. HOW IS THAT CANON.

another thing I love so much about them is that despite fitting the stereotypical roles of a smart character + a not so bright character, Mitsurugi is never condescending to Itonokogiri. it delighted me so much in Gyakuten Kenji 1 where Itonokogiri would have a question about something, and Mitsurugi would just explain it very plainly and straightforwardly to him, without judgement. it means so much to me!!! he never calls him dumb or stupid to his face!! even in his thoughts the most he does is phrase it tactfully in a way that doesn't outright insult Itonokogiri whenever he does something unexpected. I just. oughhh I love them so much.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

oh boy do I.

having only played the games in Japanese and only learned about the changes made in the English version through my friends, I strongly believe the English localization of the franchise is at best a pale comparison to the original and at worst a purposeful character assassination of many of the characters, ESPECIALLY Itonokogiri. to me, Ace Attorney is a completely different franchise from Gyakuten Saiban and the characters in the localization are not and will never be the same characters as the ones in the original. I respect the people in the fandom that love version of the ship and the characters in the localization but I need people to understand. they have a very different vibe from the original version of them. because Itonokogiri, a Japanese man, not understanding what a ceiling fan (katakana) is, and Gumshoe, an American, not understanding what a ceiling fan (English) is, have very different implications, and Mitsurugi's and Edgeworth's reactions differ greatly based on that.

I can never engage with the English-speaking fandom at large bc of that and it saddens me, but at this point I care about Mitsurugi and Itonokogiri's characterization in the original Japanese versions of the games Too Much to compromise on it.

oh and even among jp fans I am camp mitsunoko instead of nokomitsu (it's less about the top and bottom thing and more about the vibes and dynamics bc on GOD Itonokogiri would NEVER be the one to make the first move are you KIDDING ME) and that pigeonholes me into an even MORE niche corner LMAO.

anyway I think that still turned out longer than I meant for it to be sgskhsjs but godddd they plague my every waking thought. ITONOKOGIRI CHECKS UP ON MITSURUGI AFTER AN EARTHQUAKE. MITSURUGI ONLY TOLD ITONOKOGIRI ABOUT HIS TRIP ABROAD AND NO ONE ELSE. THEY CAN'T COMMUNICATE FOR SHIT AND NEVER TALK ABOUT ANYTHING BUT THEY KNOW EACH OTHER SO WELL. WHY ARE THEY LIKE THIS.

[eaglefairy]

A new world is born.

Began with a little world tour to kill some unique monsters and get more experience (and affinity coins)

After the Bana fight Roommate: Huh, I wonder where Bana went after this. Me, gleeful: Oh? You want to see Bana now? ... Roommate: He's on the wheel now! Me: He's on the wheel now!

I'd recommend looking back at the previous post on my blog for a conversation much too long and winding to include in this post. It's worth it. Trust me

We're finally back at Prison Island and we literally walked past the fight that made her ragequit last week. The deinos don't attack us on sight anymore and the rest of the enemies won't spawn if they aren't fought so we just. walked past.

...and we just got the second bolt element so we are once again not fighting Dickson. This is like the third time we've walked away from the main story in the endgame, it's honestly kind of funny at this point

Upon seeing Demon King Dragonia for the first time: "OH. MY. GOD." "Ok but can you imagine like canonically...like people talk about the giants sometimes but no one talks about the dragons. And then finding out they're real??"

So I thought we were mostly keeping up with the collectopaedia, but we're looking at it again and we're missing items in Colony 6, the Ether Mine, Makna Forest, Valak Mountain, two from Galahad Fortress, and the Fallen Arm. What...what happened?!

My roommate is very disappointed that we don't really get any lore about the dragons and honestly, I agree with her. They're so cool and there's only three of them and we don't know anything about them except that they were likely important to the Giants because of their presence in the decor of Prison Island

Oh shit we're going for it. Past the point of no return!

Oh oops, I didn't make it clear that "point of no return" meant that she couldn't save past that point. Well, at least we have the autosave at Gondorl

Dickson...his death really tore her up. This is the only time she's cried throughout the whole game

:Saturn: Roommate: "Saturn, ok." still sniffling Me: "Saturn." Roommate: "...wait, Saturn?!"

"Jupiter?! So I'm actively in the solar system?!"

We're at the Moon now. "So the whole thing...the whole thing happened on Earth?! What the hell happened to Earth?!"

"Oh good, we don't have to fight Alvis. He'd probably beat me" (we are about to fight Zanza, she doesn't know yet)

I forgot how horribly ugly Zanza's second form is, wow. The roommate is not impressed either

Alvis: "I am Monado." Roommate: "I KNEW IT! I said that last week! Tell them I said that last week, Eagle."

Oh interesting, the experiment cutscene in 1 doesn't actually show Galea touching the button. I always thought it had. I'll have to rewatch the version from 2 then to see if my anger at the retcon is as justified as I thought

Time to beating Zanza: 99 hours

Final roommate stats: Game rating: 10/10, 5/5 stars, absolutely perfect game. Worldbuilding, design, characters, perfect Favorite character: Dickson, obviously Top 4: Dickson and Riki are both number one (whole head and whole heart respectively), Sharla and Reyn are number two, everyone else is below those Favorite area: Valak Mountain (and really any area that glows) Least favorite area: Bionis Interior by FAR Favorite town: Frontier Village Favorite party member to play: Fiora Favorite and least favorite story beat: Mechonis Core (because it's complicated) Favorite uncomplicated story beat: When Xord speaks for the first time and when Fiora is discovered to be alive Most heartbreaking moment: Dickson's death

Thank you all so much for joining us on this journey. I never thought I'd be liveblogging the entire game like this when I started, but it's been so fun to chronicle the entire game for the good people of tumblr. I've made new friends through this! Reaching the end of this game is bittersweet (heavy on the sweet), but it's certainly not the end of the liveblog! It's not even the end of this liveblog, honestly. Join us again tomorrow for more sidequests!

[ma-lark-ey]

Lark Liveblogs Literature Part ???: All For The Game Series - Nora Sakavic

I'm doing something a little bit different with this one! In the business of full disclosure, I read TFC (and about a chapter of TRK) in April this year, decided "I can't mcfucking do this" and then gave up. And then didn't stop thinking about Neil Josten for the next eight months and now we're BACK. So, instead of properly 'liveblogging,' unlike most first-reads I do, I'm actually annotating this one because it's too good to NOT.

That means I have a customized (so totally legal mhm) word doc, highlight/unline privileges, and audacity.

Here's what I knew before I read back in April (stolen from my beta version of this post);

Andrew Minyard: Gay(?), funniest bitch alive if Tumblr brackets are to be trusted. Murderer? Has Boyfriend???

Sports. Maybe. Yes? sports.

Drugs are involved. Somehow.

Now, here's where I am going in now;

Ranking the Foxes goes; Neil, Aaron, Dan, Kevin, Andrew, Renee, Matt, Nicky

I have no idea how exy works, I do don't plan on figuring it out.

Do not remember if I read TRK but what I remember happening is far too much to be just the 230 page doc that is TFC so I MUST HAVE right?

Do know his real name's Nathaniel because I did read that scene reveal and get JUMPSCARED by my brother's name.

How this is going to work is that I'm going to put in my annotations for each chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 1:

"You can't be serious." "Very serious, and very out of time,"

"were a team of talented rejects and junkies because Wymack only recruited athletes from broken homes...nice in theory, but it meant his players were fractured isolationists who couldn't get along long enough to get through a game."

"God damn it, Minyard. This is why we can't have nice things."[1] "Oh, Coach," someone said over Neil's head. "If he was nice, he wouldn't be any use to us, would he?" "He's no use to us if you break him." "You'd rather I let him go? Put a band-aid on him and he'll be good as new."[2]

[1] This is why we can’t have nice things, darling. Because you break them. I have to take them away

[2] Andrew I’ll kiss you

"blond and five feet even"[1]

blond? wrong. five foot even? correct.

"They were champions, and Neil was a jumble of lies and dead-ends."[1]

[1] Neil your self-loathing is showing

"It's not a good idea." "Your opinion has been duly noted and dismissed,"

"It was proof he existed, same as this game they both played. Kevin was proof Neil was real."

"It's about second chances, Neil. Second, third, fourth, whatever, as long as you get at least one more than what anyone else wanted to give you." Neil had heard Wymack referred to as an idealistic idiot by more than one person, but it was hard to listen to him and not believe that he was sincere

"It sounded like a dream; it tasted like damnation"

notes:

nothing much to say on chapter one--- it's a standard introductory chapter to a contemporary(ish) novel.

Wymack sets up the series' key theme with his line, "It's about second chances, Neil. Second, third, fourth, whatever, as long as you get at least one more than what anyone else wanted to give you."

Kevin's demeanor in this chapter is very similar to the Kevin we see up until Raven's come into play--- He's very good at acting very standoffish and tough.

The shift in Kevin when Riko comes into play was actually so dramatic I didn't recognize him here, I was afeared

some of the quotes I've added here are obviously because I thought they were funny exchanges--- others are me English Majoring(tm), and others are just me marking plot, characterization, facts, etc.

admittedly what i've put here is about half of what is actually highlighted/underlined in my doc.

I want to study the dynamic between Neil & Wymack under a microscpe

[thessalian]

Thess vs Devs' Intentions

I read an article yesterday (I think it was GameRant) about a whole bunch of stuff that was cut out of Baldur's Gate 3 before official release. I don't remember all of them, but that's probably because they weren't very important to me one way or the other. However, there were a few that, for better or for worse, caught my attention. And ... well, I'm me. Before I start liveblogging the ridiculous cuteness that is the start of the Shadowheart romance (because whatever multiverse she lives in, Alisaie apparently goes for the dark-haired, mostly-serious, adorkable-when-allowing-herself-to-be-vulnerable godly ones), I wanted to talk about a few of them.

Exhaustion Mechanic: Oh dear sweet fucking gods, I'm glad they scrapped that one. Apparently that whole bit where the companions remark how tired they are is a holdover from that, but it used to come with a decrease to stats, just like the exhaustion mechanic in the PHB. Except ... I'm not sure they could have implemented that without it being ridiculously punishing. Encumberance is bad enough; don't hit my stats because I want to keep playing without taking a long rest, okay?

More Crafting Than Just Potions: Apparently at one point they were looking at allowing people to make and enchant their own weapons and armour. This is why you tend to find gems and metal ingots all over the place. While I'm a little sad about the lack of a crafting mechanic, I can see why they left it out - having a herbalism kit in the TTRPG version is one thing, but carrying around a fucking forge is something else again. And at least now I know this, so I can actually sell off the stupid metal ingots (except the infernal iron, obviously) because I don't actually need them.

Minsc: Apparently he should have been introduced earlier in the game, with a much more comprehensive character arc. I'm not sure why they went with the "rushed in Act 3" introduction to him in party, mostly because I haven't got that far yet, but I would imagine it has something to do with party management.

The Entire Upper Level of Baldur's Gate: Apparently there's an entire section of Baldur's Gate the city that was just ... excised from the game. Maybe they didn't have enough time to finish it, or maybe it just made the game too unwieldy, but apparently data mining indicates that there were a few things tied to the upper city that ... well, were really, really important to varoius characters' endgame states. So if you're dissatisfied with some characters' endings? It's probably to do with that. (And I won't go any further because spoilers.)

The Dark Urge: Now, here's the one I look at and really think, "Larian learned some lessons from Divinity: Original Sin 2" as regards player agency and going too far on the grimdark. Because apparently? Originally, the only way you could have an original character was to take the Dark Urge. There was no Tav / Dark Urge divide; if you wanted your own character instead of playing one of the origin characters? You were stuck with the Dark Urge, whether you wanted it or not. Now, don't get me wrong; if someone wants to play that, more power to them. Just, from what I've read about it, it does involve a certain loss of agency dependent on your stats. If you have to resist that Dark Urge, you're going to need saving throws, and if that's your dump stat because you wanted to play a strength-based character, that's just ... yeah. I don't mind the option being there; it's interesting on the conceptual level. I just wouldn't want that to be my only option. So I'm glad that Larian pried themselves out of Grimdark Valley long enough to go, "Okay, some people might not want to spend all their time fighting blind murderfrenzy just to play a good character", and make a separate, non-Dark Urge Tav. I also figure it has something to do with the issues in Divinity: Original Sin 2 where you'd want to take a specific course of action only to have one of your companions slaughter the quest objective before you could talk to them. (Still never forgiving them for that.)

So ... yeah, some things I'm really glad they stripped out. Others I wonder why? And some, while I enjoy them as mechanics (look, I am a crafting fiend, okay?), I can accept that they wouldn't have added much. I guess I wonder the thought processes that were going on in dev meetings where they came to those conclusions. I imagine the Dark Urge thing and the exhaustion mechanic thing both got, "Look, we can't stick them with this; they will riot", but ... what happened to that whole section of Baldur's Gate?

Maybe I've been dealing with too much bullshit from various AAA game companies*, but if they sell that shit as DLC I am going to set something on fire.

* - YES I AM LOOKING AT YOU, BIOWARE, WITH YOUR SELLING OFF THE ACTUAL ENDING AND/OR KEY ELEMENTS REQUIRED TO UNDERSTAND THE NEXT GAME IN THE SERIES AS DLC. I AM NOT FORGIVING YOU FOR LEGACY, AND I AM CERTAINLY NOT FORGIVING YOU FOR TRESPASSER. DLC IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUN ADDED EXTRAS, LIKE SOLDIER'S PEAK! YOU USED TO UNDERSTAND THIS, EVEN IF YOU DID STICK A FUCKING AD FOR IT IN CAMP.

[farfromdaylight]

i usually make my ff14 liveblog posts on dreamwidth, but since there are cuts here i'll post this one here as well. mind the warning.

i usually write these posts as i play, but today i've opted to write it afterwards.

spoilers through the first chunk of msq through MOST of the first two starting zones (i haven't finished the second zone yet, but i think i'm close).

firstly: GOD TULIYOLLAL IS HUUUUUUUGE. the music is SO fuckin good, holy shit. i love the whole area! it's immediately new and different which i like a lot.

every time erenville tells us a piece of his backstory i am so. tell me all your secrets, mr. viera.

did not expect to see estinien fighting gulool ja ja but lmao. what a fucking entrance. i love that he showed up just for that scene and promptly fucked off. love him.

also i fully expect thancred and urianger were hired by koana and we get to go up against them later. V EXCITED.

i liked wuk lamat fine in 6.55, but i'm relieved that i'm enjoying her storyline so far. she's clearly the underdog in this contest and it's fun to see her slowly growing into the role she wants so badly to win.

i went with the pelupelu first bc i really wanted to know more about those funky lil guys and having now finished the first half of urqopacha: WHAT FUNKY LIL GUYS. i had such a good time with these quests! unlike endwalker, in which i ignored *literally everything* but msq, i took my time and did all the sidequests along the way, along with 6 fates so i could get my riding map. and it was such a delight! there's lots of interesting little nooks and crannies and the zone in general is really well put together.

the other zone, kozama'uka, i haven't finished yet, though i think i'm nearing the end of that section. i'm also really enjoying it!

so far a lot of the story feels very... basic? but like, not in a bad way. having spent as much time as i have with this game, i can tell when they're playing it safe. that said, i fully expect some wild twists along the line, so i'm looking forward to it.

some small non-msq thoughts:

TWO DYES TWO DYES *TWO DYES*. oh my god I CAN DYE MY RED MAGE SETS WITH TWO DYES. it looks like ALL of the artifact sets have two dye channels now and im just. AAAAAAAA IM SO HYPE

that said i didn't change my glam at all before setting out LMAOOOO

the very subtle change in leaning on mounts is SO GOOD.

cálei catboy does look different, but it's really just the eyes that look off to me. other than that, my boy looks good.

i took the time to cap all my currencies before DT. i did not realize how few poetics i actually needed. i have 660 ilvl on every job already. oops. thanks for being useful again for ONE DAY, poetics...

queues aren't as bad. i logged out of cálei to log into reis so i can play with my friends and only had a 850 queue. it could be much worse, lmao.

[borreloadsavagedragon]

8 and 12 for the ask meme 👀

oh my god I reblogged that ask game knowing I am not a mean person AT ALL, so this is gonna push me to my LIMITS

(if you stand by anything in here, you’re cool as hell and I'm glad you interact with media, I am simply over sharing about fictional card game nerds like always!!!)

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

I had to sit and stare at this one forever to come up with one because I am just so in my own little corner that I never really notice other people's interpretations of characters, like I have my bachelors and ph.d. in the ones that matter and I write my silly little fanfics using my deranged thinking, that's it, roll credits

BUT there is one thing I've seen a few times now across a couple of months in random liveblogs or opinion pieces that I kind of wanna touch on it

And that's that Kaito wasn't held accountable in Zexal.

I think a topic like accountability and atonement in fiction is going to differ very strongly between person to person and what they feel is the proper amount of justice to someone given their crimes, I understand that, but I just want to throw my own hat in the ring for why I disagree respectfully but wholeheartedly

Here's where I write about it in my analysis(WHICH IS 8K+ RN AND STILL GOING, GOD HELP ME)

"This is one I’ve seen a few times and I wanted to make an entire separate point for it because I do think it's a very interesting conversation to have in regards to the moral playground that a lot of the YuGiOh rivals in general have(with Ryoken Kogami from YuGiOh Vrains sitting as the reigning king in the topic of questionable ethics by some fans, but he’s another character study for another day), but the focus isn’t where I think it should be. I think it’s more fascinating that Kaito’s the character I see called out the most for his work as a Number Hunter compared to other fan favorites in the cast, especially when all we saw from Kaito since his actions in "The Seized Emperor's Key! Showdown, Kaito vs Shark" was his own form of accountability. We’ve known since the very scene following his introduction as the primary antagonist for the first half of Zexal I, Kaito despises the job and his employers based on how he can’t even look Mr. Heartland in the eye when he reports his progress and how his eyes drop to the floor when the premise of taking souls is brought up. He has a special distaste for those with Numbers because of what he was led to believe since we also learn later on he’s been fed almost nothing but lies about the Numbers so the times Kaito might have become far more conflicted with his circumstances sooner were always ripped away from him. In his mind, he's trapped and following orders is his best option right now, but if it means the only thing that matters most to him, his little brother, is ok, then he'll be the worst person in the world. And that's just the explanation for why he did it all. Because even with the truth, he doesn't excuse it.

Following Zexal I, Kaito continues to involve himself with the struggle against the Barians, and while most of it is with the understanding he's avenging the damage done to his family, it’s also in part avenging the damage he did to Yuma, Ryouga, and the many other people he’s laid a hand on. The idea that a character or a person needs to wear their guilt and redemption on their sleeve at every second is unreasonable. I also think it’s important to recognize that atonement isn’t just justice or forgiveness; Kaito, for example, never once asks for forgiveness, nor apologizes verbally. Instead, he shows up. He's there when he has to be and does exactly what he needs to do, because his actions are going to be worth more than his words are going to be. Kaito has always been and is always going to be someone who is going to act, not speak. Zexal I Kaito isn’t showing up to help handle the gang in the first few episodes of Zexal II. Zexal I Kaito isn’t taking Yuma’s place against Mizael in the duel in the sphere field. While Kaito continues to have alternate and additional motivation for his own newfound focus, he does not do these things for his ambition’s sake only.  Anytime accountability and Kaito’s treatment of his allies is brought up, I think it’s also very telling when some things are excluded, like how he pivots the entire project with Chris in the Arctic into getting Yuma sent to Astral World instead of them in order to reunite with Astral is largely overlooked. Another example is his complete turnaround behavior towards Gauche and Droite both in Spartan City, going as far to recognize how strong of a duelist and person Droite is when Gauche is possessed by Alito and that Droite is the only person suited for that duel despite him being seemingly such an asshole towards her in Zexal I. Hell, Kaito’s treatment of Ryouga is far different in one half to another, he goes from reducing Ryouga down to a waste of his time and just another punk who wants a piece of him to respecting him in his own weird little way where he has to pick a fight with him. We've all seen Zexal I, we've seen how Kaito truly treats people he doesn't like. --- I like to look at Kaito through the lens of rejection because loneliness is such a key portion of his character. I feel like focusing on those wrongs doubles down on the theme that’s in place. Kaito has hurt people. But he recognizes that, verbalizes it when he calls himself hell bound even, so he will continue to do better by those people."

THIS IS WHY IM HIS BIGGEST APOLOGIST

I just think he's so interesting, I wanna talk about him being a piece of shit because he IS, how mean he was to Yuma in I says a lot, but he's not THAT much of a piece of shit by the end, his development isn't overwhelmingly apparent, much like most rivals in the franchise, but it's VERY there

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

SPECTRE!!!!! I LITERALLY HAVE PIECES FOR HIS WIG AND HAVE HAD THEM FOR A YEAR NOW!!!!!!!!!!!

I was AMAZED once to find out that people didn’t like Spectre because Spectre is so standout and fascinating. I HATE how he's boiled down to being creepy or "what happened to Aoi in their duel"-

Before it plummeted to hell, I got a tweet on my Twitter fyp from an rp acct that was like “like this if you hate spectre” and it had ~35 likes so I had to be cheeky and tweeted "what's it like to have bad taste" gjdsakldgskajg My one time with a mean streak..........

Genuinely though, what’s it like to not have taste, he's a freak, it's on purpose, I'd die for Spec

[dude1818]

Back to my Call of the Night liveblog. When I left off, the Mahiru/Kiku arc had finished with the two of them committing suicide together, which seemed pretty out of place in this story. That arc was about 50% longer than each of the first two, so either we finish with a mini arc or a really long dénouement. In either case, the pacing has been a little wack

Oh right, this d-bag. Particularly bad timing after all that

Appropriate response

Why is "dinner at a fancy restaurant" the most gremlin he's ever been?

Yeah, okay, closure arc

A blood bag will not stay good for ten years. Red Cross says whole blood has a shelf life of 42 days. Even though the point isn't for it to remain viable, you're still looking at months until it breaks down and isn't blood anymore, just dirty water

Oh dang, gremlin mode is diegetic?

Keeping this one XD

Incredible. No better way to ruin the mood than to realize the reason the date is going surprisingly well is because you're technically related

God damn it, Nazuna, I thought you learned this lesson at the end of season 1. Seeing you is how to make Ko feel better

"No way he's actually going to be at the vending machine this time, right? Rule of threes, gotta subvert it on the third time"

Double baited, amazing!

She's so cute 🥺

Ko, you're a menace

Oh no, poor baby 🥺

Huh. I thought her thralls were still human. I guess that wouldn't work since they're glamoured to love her. Actually, are they not glamoured in the first place? They're just freaks?

I remember seeing this panel in the tag when the chapter came out. I thought they were being domestic and having a board game night, not house hunting

Oxymoron of the century. I bet the issue is that as someone who was never human, she's actually more human than all the normal vampires

Nazuna doesn't drink ... wine. (I think she only drinks beer. Maybe she had sake once? I'm not sure if you put sake in a wine cellar)

All vampire live in the non-Euclidean Seinfeld apartment, apparently

QPR! QPR!

Yeah, I caught her catching Nazuna blushing last chapter. This is another point in favor of the double-human ending. I know that was in my predictions for the finale post, but I'll have to check what I said about it

Jeez, Nazuna, that's harsh. I can't think of a worse thing for a vampire to say when you offer them your blood

Oh, well then. I wasn't expecting her to just come out and say it already. ("Already," it's chapter 171)

At least I'm not the only one surprised XD Although I've been saying she's fallen in love with him since the end of season 1, she just didn't realize it yet

[4ggravation]

4GGRAVATE UNO STREAM LIVEBLOG ft. lots of out of context quotes

(warning: extremely long post!! also i get who's saying/doing what wrong several times lmao)

PRE-GAMES

REACH FOR THE STARS IS PLAYING !!!!

I KEEP ON RUNNIGGGNG

god i am. too hype rn.

btw i'm team nazeeh and alejandro. i hope they kick everyone's asses tonight

WE'RE STARTINGGGG

alejandro: "christmas treat"

zach...

CY FY!!! BABYGIRL

btw, i'm only watching cy yu's perspective because multitwitch is glitchy for me rn. sadge

"'they hate cynari' HEY I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING" alejandro you are so dear to me

alejandro saying "zach" like a confused mother i'm crying

NAZEEEEHH

nazeeh's voice is so pretty omg

ZACH?!?!?

HE SPEAKS

I'M THE BOY

"zachary???" ben sounds like he's bleating i love it

"messed up as heck" ~ zachary gordon, grown ass man (lighthearted)

zach: "and my mother is calling me!"

zach: "twitch needs to be user friendly for grandpas"

alejandro, in reply: "you're younger than all of us"

alejandro, to nazeeh: "YOU'RE DATING MY COUSIN YOU BEAT MY ASS IN SMASH BROS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL"

alejandro: "the discord? that we have???"

zach: "i am cooking steak rn"

ben, about zach: "as soon as you go live we're gonna hear an explosion and then you're gonna go offline"

zach is so sweet omg

zach in his doxxer era

"windows might have done a thing" story of my life

ZACH

...why did zach just like. moan

alejandro has 141 unique jokes...

alejandro: "get it? ᶜᵘᶻ ᶦᵗ'ˢ ᵃ ᵖʳᶦˢᵒⁿ ᶜᵉˡˡ"

i love how 90% of my liveblogging is just about alejandro and zach

nice plug

FINALLY GETTING INTO THE UNO LESGOOOOO

THE GAMES

UNO BEGINSSS

(i'm probably gonna get less talkative now bc i'll be watching the game)

alejandro: "that's how microphones work, my guy"

everyone playing their wild cards PLEASE

....this is not how i play uno

nazeeh getting uno first??

alejandro: "it's a MyStErY OOOOO"

ALEJANDRO DOING A SWITCHUP OOOOUH

NAZEEH SCREAMING??

alejandro: "that's crazy. nazeeh go again"

ben: "I DON'T HAVE BLUE DUDE"

alejandro: "that. might be racist"

BEN SDHJFHS

god i forgot how funny cy yu streams are

alejandro why did you do that...

alejandro, in the most american accent possible: "¡vamanos!"

JUST GIVE HIM A YELLOW

ben you dumbass

nazeeh's getting his ass beat bro stop he's already dead

BEN

nazeeh's increasingly loud "FUCK"s

cy yu's being just as much of a liar to himself as i am on a daily basis, love to see it

"if i believe hard enough" and then he immediately fails oh we are one and the same

ben: "i've had it"

nazeeh, in reply: "yeah i think we've all had uno at one point"

alejandro having the worst uno he could have

ben, to alejandro: "YOU FUCKGIN. IDIOT"

also ben: "YOU ARE THE STUPIDEST MOTHERFUCKER I HAVE EVER MET"

I'LL KILL MYSELF??? BEN??

in true kaveh fashion, ben is losing the game and his mind

ben: "it ain't easy being cheesy ok"

my faith in nazeeh is wavering greatly

nazeeh +4ing alejandro fuckin harsh

alejandro: "you might've just given nazeeh the game"

ben: "what do i do? what am i supposed to do? WHO AM I"

i feel so bad for ben bro hsjkhfd

OK NVM NAZEEH WILL SWEEP AFTER ALL

ALEJANDRO PULLING LIKE 100 CARDS BAHAHA

ben after pulling the strangest fucking moves and still losing

no bc why did he swap hands with nazeeh when he had a +2

NOT THE +6 TO ZACH

HOW DID BENJAMIN FUCKING WIN THAT

ben after pulling the strangest fucking moves and still winning

MY FUCKING INTERNET WENT OUT NOOOOO

SHIT

WAIT. WE BACK

I THINK

ben: "it's not baby blue IT'S TEAL"

THAT IS NOT FUCKING MAROON WHAT IS ALEJANDRO WAFFLING ABOUT

them reciting the alphabet i'm crying

the triple uno..

YEAHHH ALEJANDRO WON

that's ben and alejandro at 1, nazeeh and zach at 0

the chat keeps on talking abt cynari. we really are a hivemind huh

ALEJANDRO'S SCREECH WHEN ZACH GOT UNO

alejandro: "do i play a normal red or do i fuck him"

BEN WON WOOO

wait no, that was nazeeh. my bad

this chat is kinda cringe ngl

i'm getting so much ram.exe because cy yu knows i'm his number 1 fan

ZACH WON WOOOO

wait alejandro won 2 rounds? huh?

or is he lying

zach: "the wimpy kid has,, woken up!!"

zach??

i've tried playing dos before. i hated it

i feel like something really funny is about to happen

ben i don't think any of y'all were normal to begin with, uno or otherwise

alejandro: "that wasn't red!"

ben, in reply: "i didn't ask!"

this is such chaos i love it

alejandro just missed out on a mean ass play i'm so mad at him (/hj)

the alejandro/nazeeh friendship is so nice

ALEJANRO BACKSTABBING NAZEEH LMAO

cy yu: "STACK IT STACK IT- awwwuh :'("

RUN THAT BITCH

ben: "i'm gonna play the biggest 7 you've ever seen"

damn. alejandro backstabbing everyone but zach

everyone pulling these nasty ass moves on each other except for zach. he's in his own lane. i admire that

alejandro WHY ARE YOU ANNOUNCING WHAT COLORS YOU HAVE

i can't even tell who tf is gonna win this

actually. idc if he has a billion cards, alejandro sweep

HE'S DOWN TO 4, ALEJANDRO SWEEP

cy fy is back bitches!! hashtag feminism

ok we're back in cy yu's flop era. but i still believe he can sweep

even when ben has 3 cards

god this really is anyone's game huh

SKIPPING ZACH NOOOO

zach: "actually broke my heart a little bit :("

"i'm just playing the game" badly /j

NAZEEH'S HAND??

the "wait a fucking second" in (what sounded like) alhaitham's voice LMAOOO

i was once in an uno game that lasted like an hour and a half because we were missing some cards and it made it so nobody could win for some reason, true story

ZACH WON WOOOO

common tighnari fan W

oh zach is fucking stupid i see /j

ben: "you fucked me, buddy. you REALLY fucked me"

"can you make it yellow?" "no" literally them irl

they censor the word "nerd" in twitch chat??? huh

they really are just the sumeru boys if they could swear huh

the joey slander lmao

bro was ben taking a shit just then? wtf was that groan

ben balmaceda would do numbers on tumblr

zach continuing to make the worst possible decisions

zach: "(uno) brings people together and it brings forgiveness and,, i don't want my hand anymore"

these coin flips are tearing them apart i love it

ZACH WON AGAIN GODDAMN

teams are alejandro and ben vs nazeeh and zach

let's get it

ALEJANDRO CAN'T TAKE DUBS FOR SHIT LMAOOOO

zach: "y'all are yoinked"

goddamn. ben and zach won so much

ben: "alejandro why did you just write 'penis penis penis penis penis'??"

zach and nazeeh vs alejandro and ben (??)

cy yu's just doing everyone dirty here. i thought zach was safe but ig not

THAT SKIP WAS DIRTYYY

alejandro please take the dub

ok he is never taking a dub holy shit

ALEJANDRO WHAT ARE YOU DOING

YOU GOT THE WILD CARD BUT AT WHAT COST

AAAAND CY YU GETS THE DUB LET'S FUCKING GOOOOO

I SAID CY YU AND NAZEEH WOULD SWEEP AND DID I LIE???

it only took like. 10 rounds or some shit

BUT IT STILL HAPPENED

that was so much fun. i loved it

4ggravate supremacy, my final message. gootb ye

[fayesdiary]

Happy New Year everybody! Hope you had a wonderful celebration :D

Since it's the start of a new year I wanted to tell you about some updates and future plans and creative projects of mine.

First things first:

I'm preparing to open a Redbubble shop! It's partially as a joke and partially so that I can share my designs around, particularly the Team Grima and Team Sombron ones I had in mind for a while. (and by god I'm gonna take the opportunity to make Echoes fan merch since it's sorely missing) I do need to make five designs to open a shop and I want to do them right, but as soon it's ready I'm gonna post the link. When that day comes, feel free to just look around or buy something if you really wanna give me money that badly. If you don't, you can always come over at my art blog @fayessketchbook and tell me you like my art. It's free and I will love you forever.

I want to play more Fire Emblem, be the games I still haven't played, ROM hacks or emblemlikes. And I want to stream them if I can! I made a Twitch channel last year but I barely ever streamed last year, just played a little of Gaiden. But since I want to play more of Fire Emblem, it would be fun sharing it with you! I have no intention of becoming a Twitch streamer for now (mainly because it sounds like a pain and I really don't care enough to learn how everything works, also I'm a socially anxious introvert), but playing chill FE from time to time together does sound fun. No schedules or anything, just a couple of hours whenever I have nothing else to do in the evening. As for which games I want to play, well I am absolutely gonna stream all of Sacred Echoes ( :D), but other than that we'll see. Probably Walk with the Living, if only because I feel really bad for the anon who recommended it to me since I never got around to actually playing it.

I am still without a Switch and a job, so the Three Houses liveblog is still very much on hold for the time being. While I do find the project daunting and more ambitious than I can probably handle (since it's very much intended to be both a blind playthrough and a critical deep dive), I do hope I can start it this year, if only to test the water and because I think it would be a really cool long-term project. (also, regarding the above point: even if I get a Switch and a capture card, I will not stream Three Houses until I've completed all the routes to avoid jackasses coming in chat to spoil me or start shit about the house leaders for the upteenth time thus spoiling me. I somehow managed to stay almost spoiler-free through all these years and I want to keep it that way.)

I want to write more and finish at least one of my WiPs. I don't know if I actually will.

Oh also, a friend gifted me a PS1, which means among other things that I can play TearRing Saga on legitimate hardware, so that's pretty cool!

Anyways, that's it for now. If I forgot something I'll edit the post or reblog it, otherwise I don't think I'll make any huge blog updates until my blog anniversary next month.

Again, hope you all have a wonderful 2023! Love you! <3

[hils79]

Hils Watches The King's Avatar - Ep 34

I'm trying not to think about how few episodes I have left

Wait, I thought that WAS the official verdict. I'm assuming that because this dude has been sitting here gloating for like an hour that it's going to be overturned somehow.

I love that this is a gathering all all the team captains plus Wenzhou's husband

Still unclear what he did to warrant a lifetime ban.

Okay now I want Shaotian to lead a revolution where no one will play because there's no point if their most worthy competitor has been banned.

Yes! Lead them into a strike! Also, this is my 700th screenshot of this drama. Nothing else I have liveblogged (or livetweeted as I used to do) has come anywhere near this amount and I've watched stuff WAY longer than this. Well, maybe my Lost Tomb Reboot rewatch but nothing else!

Wenqing is like 'I'm not sure 'friends' is the word I'd use for what we are'

Are you sure about that?

See, this is why I love them. Shaotian is loud and passionate, Wenzhou is quiet and rational. They balance each other perfectly and they love each other so much

I love that during his whole speech Wenzhou has his hand on Shaotian's shoulder. Probably to stop Shaotian from launching himself across the table and fighting the chairman of the league

It's a good thing Shiqin is there as the Excellent Era vice captain because Sun Xiang would never admit this even if he knows it's true

Not me crying because, for the first time, Shaotian decided to be tactful and stay quiet but his husband is there to encourage him to speak

So this dude said 'I can only overturn the ban if you give me a good reason', the captains gave him several good reasons, and the response was just 'cool but you have to respect the decision to ban him'. Well, that was a waste of 5 minutes (apart from letting me see the Blue Rain husbands who I have missed)

Okay, next we need the fans to protest I guess? If the pros and the fans all protest you don't have a league anymore

It seems weird to me that the captains of the other teams know Ye Xiu has been banned but his own team doesn't. Anyway, they've made him a sub which I hope means he's going to get unbanned in time to show up and help them win

That is not a good tactic. What if he doesn't show up? Also, you told Mo Fan to stall for time and he got a yellow card

Oh I hope she ends up having to fight three of them by herself and wipes them all out like she said she was going to do. Fighting!

Nope she got killed again. So much for getting to redeem herself.

Okay, I'm glad they rescinded the ban. But how do you even enforce this? Didn't he win them the championship a bunch of times? Are they going to take that back and give it to another team?

Sucks to be this guy though. And hi Blue Rain husbands in the background. I can't believe they've decided all of this in less time than it takes for Team Happy to finish a tournament. If this was real life there would be months, maybe even years of meeting with lawyers and league board members etc

I choose to believe Shaotian and Wenzhou are holding hands just out of frame

They could at least have given him a ride back to the game that they pulled him out of instead of making him try and find a taxi

He has friends who were in that meeting even if the league weren't prepared to drive him back to the game. Does no one in this universe own a car?

YAY! I have no idea how he got there so fast given he was hailing a cab like a minute ago but let's just go with it

I love her! Plays for another team but just walks on stage and sits with Team Happy in front of everyone after dropping off Ye Xiu

Aww you must be new here

Okay, it's not very clear in the screenshot but Baozi just punched the ground so hard he collapsed the cliff everyone was standing on and It Was Awesome

OH SHIT HIS UMBRELLA BROKE

And they lost. Devastating. What happens now? Are they out of running to win the league?

God I can't stand it when he's sad. It was bad enough when his dad made him cry. This is way worse

Well, that was a real downer to end on. More tomorrow I guess.

[starrynight0612]

I've never made a formal announcement but I think it's been obvious due to lack of content. I'm not much of a stars fan anymore. I became a fan at the start of 2020 because my school schedule was pretty light and I didn't have a job so it became pretty easy to follow two teams and I managed to keep that going so much so that I added the Wild as my third team. Then I did my service year and my schedule became so tight I could only dedicate myself to pens games (which wasn't easy) and the wild tended to play late games so it was easy with them. Then the Jamie Benn transphobia stuff happened, I hated so many of the coaching staff's decisions, and all around the fire I felt for them in 2020 basically started simmering out. I don't mind seeing stars content and I still really like many players on the team. I'll never forget that year. Who becomes a fan of a team that wasn't doing so hot and then they somehow make their way to being in the finals for the cup? And the whole bubble stuff? One of the most memorable and unreal years of hockey I've ever experienced. That time with the stars lbs crew will always bring me fond memories. I literally named my cat after Kiviranta!

But I won't be liveblogging for them anymore. For now, I'm placing them on a shelf that I can pick up again when I either a) don't have access to my pens or wild or b)just feel like checking in.

I'll miss razor's weird commentary (one of the best commentators I've ever had the pleasure of listening to). I'll miss Guri, Miro, and Roope's playing. Miss all the otter memes when he made a save. Miss reading everyone thirst after Seguin and seeing how pretty he is on the ice. And oh God I'll miss Robo. Seeing him break out as a rookie was amazing! I haven't felt such heart for a player since Jake Guentzel and Beau Bennett (Karpizov doesn't count because I consider him a seasoned player in terms of playing tho in vibes he's a total rookie). I'll miss so many little things. (Not the monster energy jerseys lol).

Good luck my stars 💚🤍💚🤍 I wish all my stars lb crew mutuals a fond 2022-23 season. I don't think I'd have enjoyed my stars fan experience had it not been for the amazing people I met during that time. Hopefully, the stars aren't a complete dumpster fire again (I say this with a fond smirk).