#same with all the other characters i listed tbh. most don't want to be attached to people bc they don't want to be hurt but they *are*.

[merrilark]

i am quietly begging people to stop throwing around the term "sociopath" for any character who holds others at an arm's length or appears emotionally closed off.

nine outta ten times it's trauma and self-preservation, not sociopathy.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Why Kenny is so loved and David is so hated?

This question's been in my inbox forever because I didn't know how to answer it... and I still don't tbh

Kenny's a more established character. We've known him longer, he's has a stronger connection to Lee and Clementine, and the Kenny crowd are ride or die for him. When we first meet him in S1 ep1, we get the impression of a decent family man dedicated to his family, and then he goes through a roller-coaster of tragedy and character development.

David, on the other hand, is only in one game... a game that a lot of fans consider the worst installment in the series. We don't have enough time with him, and even though he has a strong connection to Javi as his older brother, players aren't attached to Javi, they're attached to Clementine. You know how this works- if Clementine no like, then we no like >:[ and Clementine no like David. Therefore, David bad.

And to be fair, she does have legit reasons for not liking him, but that just gives the player all the more reason to dislike him.

So even though I would consider David the "Kenny" of ANF, most people who loved Kenny still labeled David an asshole even though there is an interesting parallel there... which he is an asshole, but he's an interesting asshole... he just wasn't given the proper development like Kenny was.

I've said before that David is a "problematic fave" of mine, and I do hesitate to double down on that just yet. I haven't replayed ANF in forever and who knows, perhaps my opinion on him has changed like it has for a few other characters so I don't want to be like "and I still stand by the fact that David's my favorite, he's a bitch and I love him!" until I'm sure I actually feel that way, y'know?

If I had to give you my best answer, anon, it'd be that Kenny's better established and David's thrown in, the games explore Kenny's issues more thoroughly than David's, and lots of people hate ANF but love S1 and S2.

Though now that we're talking about David, I'm curious if I'll still feel the same way about his and Javi's relationship throughout the game. I was always more interested in the brother relationship over Javi's romance with Kate. I wanted a brothers reconciling storyline from ANF, and I did get that storyline done well in another game [surprise to no one, it's Dragon Age 2, Carver is my bitchy baby brother and I love him so much] and I have a feeling that's going to affect my overall opinion.

Sigh, add it to the to-do list, one day I'll revisit ANF.

[dreamedofyou]

OF Favourites Rankings (Halfway Point)

Got tagged by @thatgirl4815 and thought it'd be fun to do but as usual I'm a bit late, as this was supposed to be done before ep 7 aired. 😅 Ah well, I'm still going to rank the characters only up to the halfway point of the series (aka the end of ep 6) so bear in mind that this was my list before ep 7 (and it did slightly change since).

Ok, let's get into the rankings, from last to first place:

7. Boston

Said this before and I'll say it again: I enjoy having Boston on my screen because he always makes things interesting and entertaining. He's just a character I absolutely love to hate. As a person, though, he is just so rancid that he takes my last spot in the ranking and I base most of that on the way he treats his friends tbh. If this is the shit he does to people he's supposed to be close with and care about, then I dread to think how he treats those that mean absolutely nothing to him. The thing is I'm usually a huge fan of characters who do bad/toxic stuff (as you will see later on in my ranking) but they need to have reasons other than their ego for it and at the halfway point I don't see that in Boston. This might change by the end of the show, of course.

6. Cheum

I have two main reasons why she's so low on this list, the first of which being that she simply doesn't have enough screentime/storylines for me to form a strong attachment to her character, and the other being that she sometimes annoys me with her remarks. I enjoyed the conflict we got between her and April but it was so brief, I wish the female characters got the same treatment as the male ones instead of feeling like an afterthought. This is actually my one major criticism of the show but unfortunately it's a problem most BL shows suffer from.

5. Nick

I sympathise with Nick but at the same time I'm also like "you kind of brought this on yourself, my guy." The way he's either blinded by Boston's sweet-talk or just doesn't mind Boston's assholery frustrates me so much sometimes, which is why he's only nr. 5 for me. That and the fact that we don't know that much about him (yet) either. I need more to fully connect.

4. Top

I feel like this is an unpopular opinion but I think Top gets too much shit from the fandom. Yes, the reason he started pursuing Mew was shitty, but along the way he did genuinely develop feelings for Mew and imo him wanting to change and settle down is sincere. I'm a big believer in second chances if people are genuinely willing to change and better themselves, which I do think Top wants. Obviously, him sleeping with Boston (and lying to Mew) was shitty and it's one of the reasons why the nr. 4 spot is probably as high as he can go for me but I'm way more lenient there than most people because he was heavily manipulated into it by Boston and then regretted it and felt guilty about it. This isn't an excuse on my part, btw, I'm not absolving him of blame, but context makes a difference for me personally. I also think his character has the potential to grow a lot and I'm a hoe for character development (as you'll also see later).

3. Mew

Same as with Top, I feel like my opinion on Mew is somewhat unpopular, especially when it comes to his relationship with Ray. Basically, I don't think he's a bad friend at all and I believe he genuinely wants to help Ray but sometimes goes about it the wrong way (possibly due to previous experience). I think his heart is in the right place when it comes to most things and he's just like... a pretty normal dude, which I appreciate. That doesn't mean he has no flaws and can't be petty or nasty if he wants to be, however. I guess my one problem with him is I sometimes struggle to see why he fell so hard for Top specifically (what was so special about Top) because we weren't really given much of a reason. Unless it's just one of those situations where you fall for someone's looks/vibes and like that they're nice/sweet to you, and it isn't much deeper than that (because that happens to people, but Mew doesn't seem like the type to fall for those reasons). Basically, I like Mew much more when he isn't with/around Top.

2. Sand

I don't even have much to say here because I literally love everything about Sand, flaws and all. The only thing that slightly irritates me sometimes is the fact that he (unintentionally) self-sabotages by not wanting to talk about his feelings, probably because he wants to appear as if he's fine all the time even when he's clearly not. Sand is also the character I relate to most. Honestly, if it wasn't for my tendency to obsess over "broken" characters who do destructive things but are otherwise not bad people (and have a huge character development potential) then Sand would be my nr. 1. But, alas...

1. Ray

Ah, yes, we've arrived to the aforementioned "broken" character. This man has more issues than all the other characters combined and it's exactly what makes him my favourite character, oops. Unlike Boston's shitty behaviour, which is driven by ego, Ray's is driven by loneliness, abandonment issues, a lack of love, the list goes on. I genuinely think he's not a bad person, but he's self-destructive (which ends up endangering others as well) and obsessive/unable to let go (particularly when it comes to Mew), which is a recipe for disaster. He wants to be loved so badly but he wants it from the wrong person (Mew) in the wrong manner (romantic). As I said before, I'm a hoe for character development and Ray's potential on that front is off the charts. I want to see him deal with his numerous issues and grow from it as a person. What can I say, I'm just a sucker for those types of characters.

I want to conclude this by saying that there are two wolves inside me: one is a Sand Protector and the other is a Ray Apologist. They are at constant war with each other. Whichever one wins a battle at any given moment determines which of the two characters is currently my nr. 1 and which my nr. 2. That is all. 🙃

Since I'm late with this, I won't be tagging anyone but if you see this post and want to do your own ranking, feel free to consider yourself tagged.

I wonder if my list will change after the series finale.

[falsegoodnight]

ooh, hello!! since we’re talking about books, and you’ve got the same taste as me apparently, would you mind recommending a few? i’ve been struggling to find new ones to read. thanks if you do!!

hello!! ooo tbh i haven't been reading as much lately but i read roshani chokshi's newest novel "the last tale of the flower bride" recently and ADORED it. it's def not a book i thought i'd love but it's so gorgeously written and the atmosphere (very dark, gothic, fairy-tale vibes idk how to describe it) is exquisite.

also i'll rec my three favs from last year:

a man called ove by fredrik backman – made me sob like a baby, new all-time fav. (also inspired certain aspects of my all too well au which is kind of random but i have a vision!) DO check triggers tho bc there's a very prevalent one that for some reason most people recommending this book never mention???

tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow by gabrielle zevin – literally EVERYTHING i adore in a book: a focus on something i don't care about that quickly becomes something i care about (video games), a timeline that encompasses many years to the point that you feel like you grow up with the characters and are that much attached to them for it, and complex characters that you both love and hate, and complex relationships, especially platonic ones!!!! also made me sob like a baby after one specific scene i will never recover from (read a tw list!)

carrie soto is back by taylor jenkins reid – my first instinct is to assume you've read this already if you've read evelyn hugo & daisy jones but apparently a lot of tjr girlies have either skipped or not gotten to miss carrie soto yet and i think that's a travesty personally!!! this is my favorite tjr book to DATE and i love it so much. it has the making me care about something i didn't care about thing (tennis!) and the complex characters (carrie means everything to me) and complex dynamics (carrie and her dad! carrie and bowie! carrie and nicki!)

rapid round to include some other genres:

project hail mary by andy weir: if you like sci-fi or want to get in to sci-fi

i kissed shara wheeler by casey mcquiston: for coming-of-age vibes and slightly unhinged sapphics

bunny by mona awad: you want something fucked up

persuasion by jane austen: you want a classic and the ~yearning~ <3

anything emily henry but especially "book lovers": you like romance but not *too much* romance (aka me) (i like my romance to teeter more into women's fiction)

hopefully this is a nice selection! let me know if you want recs for a specific genre/~vibe~/etc. i love recommending stuff <3

[evilneo]

Mal, you have quite the name hoard! If you don't mind me asking, how did you find them? Do you have any tips or sources for other people trying to figure out their own names?

my name list if anyones wondering! :)

RIGHT SO. i have an easier time getting attached to names that arent traditionally names, yknow? like phrases from songs, concepts etc. also character names. my top tip is if something resonates with you, whether it be a phrase or a song, look for something you can call yourself. you can name yourself an entire phrase if you want fuck it we ball ! also if you think MY name hoard is impressive you should see some of my friends and partners <3 one of them has 80+ names and its SO SWAGFUL (HI BINGO! SHOUT OUT!)

how I found my names:

Neo: the funny guy! his autism resonated with me. i wanted to feel as free to express myself as they do :)

Artificial Intelligence: in headspace, I'm a robot alter and i thought id be funny :) what solidified it as My Name was one of my friends said that i could shorten it to Artie and itd be cute so i do <3 AIs resonate with me anyway bc of like. autism and my schizo-spec swag :p

Evil + Antagonist + Malice + Vice: all of these names mean like. the same thing. The Evil.... I was having a rough time with it at the time of picking these names and thats how i coped 👍 and im still like. really attached to them :3c

Malware: mashup of the above 2 reasons ALSO an autism moment. I love you y2kvr <3

Spam: i will be real with you. Smapton. our autism and psychosis icon <3

Video: OOOOHHHH YEAH BABY. THE SONG! I have a lot of personal attachments to the song Video Killed The Radio Star and like. its a good fucking song.... i need more song names TBH

honourary mentions of names i dont use anymore n why:

Gordon: OH YEA BABY! AUTISM! started using it bc i do have an attachment to the guy. stopped using it bc theres 11 Gordon Freeman fictives in my system and most of them still use it as a name to SOME extent. also i know 1000000 Gordon fictives.... it got too confusing KSGSJSKSK

Tommy: similar reasons to Gordon except it wasnt in my system JSSJSK

Moth: this was like my second chosen name and ppl irl still call me this JSBSHSVSHSVSJS i picked this bc i thought it was kinda cool and also i wanted a 4 letter long name. sorry for being a hs fan when i was 14 </3

Ash: FIRST CHOSEN NAME when i was like 11 AOAUG. named myself this to match an ex FP/boyfriend. DONT DO THIS 👍 BAD IDEA!

[multi-lefaiye]

hi multi, i hope u feel better soon! is there any symbolism in fragile things or modern ghost story?

thank you, bat, i really appreciate that ❤

alright, i wanna talk about fictional people, so i'm gonna ramble a bit!! and i'm gonna talk about fragile things first <3 my sad little gay people make me so so happy <3 then i wanna talk a bit about a modern ghost story as well. both!!!

Fragile Things:

so at the moment there's not too much in the way of direct or obvious symbolism for Fragile Things that isn't Massive Spoilers, but there's one thing i've thought about that's like... really been rotating in my head rent so fast. so i'll try to talk about it as vaguely as possible to avoid giving away too much.

so the supernatural elements in fragile things, which haven't come up yet in what i've shared, might seem kinda arbitrary at first but they're very much meant to mirror the troubles in arthur and noah's relationship, especially as they get worse. i don't know how to explain the details without just outlining exactly how arthur dies, but i'll go ahead and just say the realization i came to without explaining it too deeply (cw suicide mention):

i realized recently that the entire story of fragile things, and then bleeding over eden (which takes place four years later), reads as a metaphor for the guilt and devastation that comes with someone you love taking their own life.

like that's not what happens, but it's not a difficult interpretation and honestly i think i might... lean into that, a bit? it's definitely dark and sad but that's what this whole thing is, babey!!!

even though the supernatural elements of fragile things/bleeding over eden aren't as important as the relationships between the characters, they serve a very important symbolic purpose for those relationships.

alright i'm making myself a little sad here, but anyway here's a list of other little symbolic touches:

a few months after arthur and noah finally do get together romantically, they adopt a cat together (i'm still deciding on a name for her, but i've got some ideas), and the cat is a very not-subtle symbol of the good in their relationship. the cat's health starts declining around the same time that the cracks in the foundations of their relationship start to show.

this might be a little silly but i'm attaching some symbolic value to noah's hair as well--at first, he hates his hair so much and wants nothing more than to cut it all off, but as he becomes more comfortable with himself he grows it out more and takes better care of it. like... noah's hair length correlates roughly with his self esteem as the story progresses.

a big theme in the story is the idea of the expectations placed on you by your parents, and this is most obvious with arthur. there's a lot of little things that arthur does as the story progresses to go against his parents' expectations, and essentially that's like. his whole thing for a while. i can't think of a specific example off the top of my head but trust me on this.

okay i'm getting in my feelings about these two so i'm gonna try and write about them, but first! a little about A Modern Ghost Story as well <3

A Modern Ghost Story:

okay so most of the symbolism i have in mind for a modern ghost story centers around roach tbh- roach is just my favorite <3 but my favorite thing i've done with roach is that i'm like... trying to very much associate them with wings imagery, and i have a Couple Of Reasons for this.

the obvious choice is the association with freedom, because so much of roach's personality is their desire to be free from others' expectations and judgments of them. kind of an obvious reach but yeah <3

without going into why too much just yet. i think there could be some icarus parallels here. don't worry about it.

also the wings imagery ties back to their ex, vulture, and how much he shaped their life and outlook. they downplay it a bit whenever they talk about him, but he had a huge impact on them that hasn't gone away. i'm thinking that as they move on more from vulture, the less and less wings will be associated with them.

also this is a little sidenote but uhhh fun fact roach has tattoos of wings on their back <3 i'm not subtle <3

[charbunnies]

top 5 final fantasy xiv characters and why. go 🎤

okay some of this is hard and some of this is really easy. i'm sorry that most of these won't be super detailed but to be fair my memory is rusty on xiv and my favoritism in xiv tends to be based on vibes and how they relate to vett so 👍 i'm also gonna slap gposes in here if i have relevant ones. for funsies :)

ENDWALKER SPOILER WARNING

1. elidibus

EASY CHOICE. extremely easy choice. i normally don't pick favorites based on how i relate to them, but he's kind of an exception. i started paying attention to him at around the same time that i was really struggling with losing my memory, and i got SO attached to him that it helped me work through/come to terms with that. so he's really important to me. but, aside from that, i want to put him under a microscope, and i think he's funny, and the TRAGEDY of it all makes me insane, and my own headcanon stuff about him (plus the stuff i've done with him and vett and/or anteros) just makes it worse. he's just so interesting, there's so much going on and every bit of it makes me feel sick in the head. i will think about him holding those crystals in his little hands for the rest of my life i think. changed me permanently. i miss pandaemonium. i love you themis my scrinkly. that's my baby. have a gpose

2. alphinaud and alisaie (do not separate them.)

MY KIDS!!! MY LITTLE GUYS!!! they were the reason i actually started taking xiv seriously, so, also easy choice. izzy showed me the twins before i started playing and i got invested. i am very easily moved by teenage protagonists and also twin characters so alphinaud and alisaie were like catnip to me. i was waiting through all of ARR with bated breath for every moment that i could get of those little freaks and got attached to alphy so fucking fast. i've never understood the people who didn't like alphinaud through ARR because i always thought his spoiled-brat-ness was so fucking endearing. i was worried that i wouldn't like alisaie as much because she properly joins the party late, and alphinaud was my Favorite Favorite up until that point, but GOD i was proven so wrong. i love her so so much. that scene with her and ga bu on the cliff in post-heavensward is so vivid in my mind. like, branded there forever. both of the twins are just so so good, so determined to help people, so differently headstrong but they love each other SO MUCH... i have so many feelings about the twins. and don't get me started on their relationships with vett. alphivett makes me crazy but honestly alisaie and vett may make me even crazier (though how do you even quantify that?). THEY'RE FOILS!!! THEY'RE BEST FRIENDS!!! THEY CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT EACH OTHER!!! AUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!! THROWING MYSELF ON THE FLOOR!!! have some gposes :)

3. meteion

hard for me to put her third tbh, but i can't tie all of them LOL. oh meteion, my dearest little bird. i cried so so much over her. the fact that she was an endwalker original character and yet she's up here at 3rd is crazy. there's so much i could say about her, but i don't even know where to start. she and vett are just so much alike, it was impossible for her not to get a death grip on me. the instant i saw her i knew she was going to wreck me and i was so, so right. admittedly a lot of the reason why i love her has to do with vett (because everything in xiv is colored by him to me) but that doesn't mean i don't love her just as she is. she's just so little, and she meant so well, and she suffered so much for a cause she didn't even understand. i love her dynamic with hermes so much (AND I LOVE HERMES!!! SO SO MUCH!!!!) and i love her kindness and i love her curiosity. my itty bitty sweetheart 🥺💙 AND she's vett's best friend!!! i will be talking about her a lot in one of the other asks i got for my birthday so i will end this here but look at these anyway :')

4. estinien

yknow i was thinking about this list really hard. because after 3rd it starts getting muddy because i love so many of these characters so much. but estinien was a standout i think, so he gets 4th. i am enthralled by his autistic nature. i love him i think he's silly but also i started bawling over him in garlemald when he showed up to save the twins and he made me cry the hardest in ultima thule (aside from the twins but that's Different that was a whole different thing). he's comforting to me. he's vett's big brother. i love the ways he expresses his love + care for things (awkwardly). i love thinking about how he's changed since ARR. i give him identity issues and chronic pain and dragon traits because it's correct. i just love estinien so much. my stinky dragon. also one of my favorite gposes i've ever done was this one of him and vett so like Yeag. no one gets them like i do (sobbing into my hands)

5. g'raha

i agonized over this spot for so long you have no idea. however! grandpa tia won out in the end. he makes me feel the agonies extremely badly. yet another character with weird identity issues and chronic pain YAYYYYYY. also funny thing, g'raha is the only one here without a huge amount of baggage with vett! lol. (count yourself lucky that i didn't put hades 5th because then there'd be a whole ramble about THAT unusual baggage) instead i smush him and vincent together like barbie dolls and put them in the long-lost-childhood-friends-to-lovers blender and torment them. but yeah. i love g'raha very much. i think about the crystal exarch for a little too long and feel like crumbling into nothingness. also, fun fact, he's my mom's favorite character :) so that's fun. anyway look at my vinraha boy

but the TRUTH is. my favorite xiv characters. are my wols <3

i love you y'vett bhell. i love you vincent fowler. you will always be famous to me

[direwombat]

That anon again. Thank you for listening to my rambling. And if it matters any, Joseph gets plenty of chances to Suffer during my dep's canon. Because we're (plural because this is all from an RP verse my best friend and I have where she plays Joseph and a 'John fucker' GFH while I play my dep and John) bitches like that and can't let the Seed boys get away with being the worst without suffering for it. (1/?)

A major theme of Joe and Dep's relationship is 'be careful what you wish for' since he spends a good early portion of things wanting to change her to fit his whims (for her 'own good' of course), but oops, he gets attached to who she is but by the time he realizes it, his actions are already responsible for her having begun to change for the worse. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes, Joseph. Now suffer. And I'm rambling again, but I had another question to ask. Two actually.

First: how did you first get comfortable with sharing Syb with the rest of tumblr? I ask because part of me is tempted to do this with my Dep, but the other part of me is scared of being perceived and judged for my dep, my interpretations of characters, etc. Two: With Augustine becoming Faith, did Joseph specifically pull this to punish Syb? Because I'm getting big 'you took my family member, now I take yours' vibes. And it sounds about right and petty and fucked up enough for Joe. (3/3)

f;lakdjfaldfkj that's TOTALLY FAIR i sure as hell don't let jacob off easy either fal;dfjkadf

and OOF well...to answer question 1: i've been shouting about my ocs into the void of the internet for the past several years (got started in the dragon age fandom, moved to the general dnd fandom, and ended up here) having friends already on tumblr/in the fandom space to share ideas and bounce off of certainly helps. it's for sure scary!, but tbh? the more you talk about them the more curious people will get. at least that's been my experience. and then of course, engaging with other people who have their own ocs, rb-ing their art/fic/sending asks for ask games and prompt lists are a great way to kind of find your place in the fandom/community and make friends! And to address your fear of being judged for your dep/interpretations of characters, i'll just say this: fandom would be boring if everyone had the exact same interpretation of the characters and it's ok to disagree with an interpretation as long as you're not a dick about it, yk? And, just like people irl, everyone's deputy is different and adds to the fandom!

my advice: do whatever you feel most comfortable doing. make your characters in picrews and do those uquizes! I normally open tag, so if you see one from me that you like! tag me! this includes wip wednesdays/whenevers too if you ever feel brave enough to share any writing you have! BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, you are your oc's number one fan! if (god forbid, and i've never seen this happen personally) someone doesn't like them and has the gall, the sheer audacity to say that to your face? block them. have fun with your oc is what i'm getting at. they're your little barbie/bratz/whatever doll that inspires the most nostalgia for you. we're all just playing little games, telling little stories and dressing up our personal blorbos however we want. :)

as for question 2:

ahh.. poor sweet Augustine. So, Augustine is a park ranger who was on duty at the Whitetails Ranger Station the night of the Reaping and was injured in a pretty nasty fall. One of his coworkers (another oc, Shaw) is one of Jacob's Chosen (who spent a lot of time undercover as a civilian), and after hearing that the Deputy escaped, he essentially lets Jacob know that they have a piece of leverage against her. He's sent to Joseph to heal, where he's very subtley and slowly indoctrinated into the cult. He keeps Augustine hidden from Syb and he also keeps it secret that Syb is the one causing misery to the Cult/newfound family Augustine has found himself welcomed into (as much as he and syb love each other, they're not perfect and uh...there are some abandonment issues there). anyway, i'm still kind of ironing out the details of it all, but essentially, after john and faith are neutralized (john dead and faith/rachel safe and getting clean) jacob and joseph are like, "alright, time to use our secret weapon." Syb knows they have Augustine at this point, but she's under the impression that he's a prisoner, not a member of the cult.

So they meet up on neutral ground (i'm thinking tanami island) only instead of a loving and wholesome reunion, Syb finds out that her brother drank the kool-aid and Augustine finds out that his sister is the one causing the "unnecessary" violence plaguing the Project (which also, Joseph is very careful to shield Augustine from the actual violence, and paints the Project as a much more peaceful organization than it actually is). Anyway, cult tactics win over in Augustine's head and he turns against Syb, and given the power vacuum in the Henbane and his *ahem* closeness to Joseph, he's offered the mantle of Herald/Brother Faith. And. Yeah. It's definitely a method to punish/break Syb, and it's also a way to reward Augustine for his loyalty. Even she wouldn't kill or arrest her own brother. That reunion with her brother is the beginning of Syb's breaking point, and everything after that is just her slipping into misery, helplessness, and despair. everything about this is exploitative as hell :)

[venteamocha]

Hello! Sometimes I see you post stuff from IF blogs and I've recently started playing some IF games, which I've enjoyed so far. Do you have any IF stories you'd recommend in particular? I'm not attached to any particular genre and I don't need romance or a self-insert main character, (though I'm not opposed to either). Though, it's a definite plus if it's LGBTQ+ inclusive! I'm not really sure what the "cornerstones" are of IF so I'll take any and all recommendations haha

Oh god, I play so many IFs. So many. And it’s not even close to all of them, but I’m trying!!

Tbh IFs without romance seems to be very rare, I think because when I think IF I think Choice of Games, and those pretty much always have romance in them. At least, the most well known ones do. But a well done one without romance would be nice too!

Okay, this is a list of my favourites! They’re all LGBT+ inclusive, and most have gender selectable love interests, or at least ones that change gender depending on the gender and sexuality combination you pick. In no particular order, of course.  Behind a cut because I’m gonna give them each a mini review. Because I haven’t done that yet.

(There are so many.)

Mind Blind: I absolutely love our big brother Nick, I love how witty and sharp so much of the dialogue is, I love how the MC clearly has a rather large handicap, but is still such an important person to so many people and not looked down on in the slightest. And when they are, we all know it’s because that person is a jerk! They’re not defined by what they aren’t, but what they are, and that’s a great message.

Shepherds of Haven: Part of why I love this one so much is I just love fantasy settings and this one just pulls it off so well. The cast is full of amazing characters, and I gotta say I die inside pretty regularly for not being able to afford the patreon content, lol. The author puts so much amazing stuff on there, and gives us so much great content in the game and through answers on tumblr, and you can tell this whole thing is just the best thing ever to them, and that makes it the best ever for us readers too!

The Wayhaven Chronicles: I’d be shot if I didn’t mention this one, the series that literally killed dashingdon when the book 3 demo dropped!! Again, another author that cares a lot and does their best to do right by their fans. We’ve been given drip after drip of these amazing characters backstories, and I just cannot wait for more! It’s definitely very romance centered, but the overall plotlines are also very good, and I have to say that no matter who I romance, I just feel like the group as a whole is a family. And that’s wonderful.

Speaker: I really like the lore. I really like the lore. I can’t wait until we get more of the overall plotline. Mostly I want my Speaker to get in deep trouble so Seb, Li and Seer (best sister ever) go off and beat the shit out of whatever is causing it. This probably says something about me, but what can I say, I thrive on angst and inflicting near death injuries on my OCs. Sometimes I even kill them, although all of this is offtopic. Or is it? I guess we’ll find out, although I doubt we’ll actually be able to kill off Speaker. And yes, I am definitely playing the Seb & Li poly route. I love them both so much. 

Wilhelmina: I love vampires, ok? Ok? And this one is based off Dracula!! The OG!! And you can choose Drac’s gender!! Shit, sign me up forever!! Yeah, she might be literally killing my bff, torturing my fiancé and low key fucking with my mind, but vampires are hot!! Let me live! Or not. But yeah, this is a really well done retelling of the Dracula novel and I like how well it works as an IF. Did I mention I like vampires?? Especially when they get all monstery?? (This one has an MC with a set gender, as it’s based on an already existing literary figure. Mina can have a same sex relationship with dracula, if you make drac a female, or with Lucy, a female love interest.)

More Things in Heaven and Earth: Hi Nell!! First off, I gotta uncover a deep shame of mine. My family literally has a Shakespeare heirloom collection. As in, my greatgrandfather passed down through the family a collection of Shakespeare that was published in 1911. In ye olde englishe. I tried to read it when I was like 10 and was like what language is this?? What the fuck? What the fuck??? And ended up reading As You Like It, a bit of Romeo and Juliet, and a little of Hamlet. Didn’t touch the rest of it. I only got into the other stories through trashy ya reimaginings. That said, this retelling of Hamlet inspired me to go read the whole of the original and now I have a lot of fears for these characters that I’m so much more attached to, oh god I hope my Ophelia has a happy ending. I hope Hamlet himself has a happy ending. The dialogue is so well done, everyone is engaging, and yeah it made me finish an old af book when nothing else did. (This one also has an MC with a set gender, female, for the same reason. However, there are two gender variable love interests, so you can very much play a bi or gay Ophelia if you so choose.)

Guenevere: I love King Arthur. All the myths. I have so many books based on the King Arthur mythos, oh dear god. I love pretty much every version of it. All the movie and tv shows too! I just can’t get enough of those knights. I could go on for paragraphs about how courtly love worked and how all the different social castes were, but I’ll try not to. This series lets you customize Guen as a character to an amazing degree, considering that she’s also based on an actual literary figure like the other two I mentioned above. It really feels like she becomes your own character, and yet she still exists within this world very very well. I worry quite a bit that the author might have bit off more than they can chew with the current book they’re working on, what I’ve seen of it looks absolutely massive in scale. What is out so far is a wonderful read though, full of drama and laughter and lots of chances to make the story your own.

Bastard of Camelot: Yep! Another King Arthur series! Sue me! This one lets you set Mordred’s gender though, so it’s more inclusive in that way. It is very interesting to play as one of the “bad guys” of the King Arthur mythos. You can play them as straight up evil, as good, or you know, a bit of column a and a bit of column b. Or they can just be a rude little shit. It’s got dragons too! You get a dragon pet! Dragons are cool. It can be a bit tough to play sometimes, since a lot of people dislike Mordred quite a lot because of prejudices. Hopefully this will change a bit later in the series if you’ve been a fairly good person up to that point. Gotta say though, as a warning, that Mordred is a product of incest. It’s not glossed over, and it does cause a lot of problems for them in the story.

God of the Red Mountain: I just love that this inspired me to read more chinese mythology tbh. There is just so much here! And it’s just such a good read. I wish I was better at describing things. The MC being a spirit that you can define, the whole setting, most of the love interests also being spirits, the massive amount of history and culture and lore, how it all fits together. It is such a well done story. I really wish it got more attention than it does. I still miss Big Sister. I still can’t wait to find out more about the foxes, and how we can heal our MC.

The Nameless: Another one that lets you play as something otherworldly. I love the lore behind this one, and I love all of the cast I’ve met. I kind of like that our MC isn’t loved right off the bat, that we’ll have to win over all of our love interests and even the other npcs. I’m up for the challenge! Everything I’ve read on the tumblr for these characters just makes me love them all more tbh. I love how much they’ve written for all of them! Most of all though, I love Oisein. All the art of them is just *chef kiss* and their personality is magical.

A Mage Reborn: This is a really recent one but!! Wow, it’s really well done! That cliffhanger!! Oof!! Not many books literally start with killing your MC off! That takes guts! I told the author this already, but I love the way they formatted this, the way it starts with the end, so to speak, and then fills it all out. It just made everything feel so poignant, how MC is literally looking back at all these moments in time in the last minutes they have before they die. Shit. That’s powerful. And there’s gonna be more??? Can’t wait for that angst. Give me that drama. Of course I picked the one who had me killed, that’s just how I am!

These are all just the COG type games, there are a few twine games with graphics I’d throw on here, but the list is long enough as it is and they feel like they’re in a different category to me. Maybe it’s just me?

[hyperfixatinglove]

Ygo 5ds for the ask meme 💖💖💖 ily

💖💖💖

@sunshine-ships

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

Tetsu Ushio duh.

But also Yusei! I get so attached to protagonists of almost everything I watch, but I love the guy, he's just some guy who build motorcycle and lives in slums but got wrapped up in supernatural shit, he doesn't give a fuck to give you answer unless he wants and takes time to open up to people but he loves his friends very dearly. Just Yusei Fudo man.

Carly too! She's this reporter with love for divination as someone with hobby for divination how can I not love her? She's hilarious and bubbly but also kind of inconsiderate of others at first.

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

Rally, Rua and Ruka!! They¨re the "babies" of the group but I also love how they look grown up (speaking of which where was my grown up!Rally animation team??)

I love how real Rua & Ruka's bond is shown, they feel like actual twins (outside some missteps), they both feel distinguished from each other by their wants, needs, motivations & I just love that. Love how Rua's brat at first but grows out of it (still having some arrogance into adulthood) and Ruka's the more ""mature"" one. Loved how Ruka seemed to have this supernatural connection with monsters from cards, it was shame it wasn't explored more!

Rally just, she deserved far more screen time than what she had (I know in canon Rally's boy, but they're trans girl to me don't @ me), her first appearance showed her as bit cunning as she stole a part for Yusei's bike & it's clear they have strong sibling bond!

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

Mikage Sagiri!!

She deserved so much better! Reduced to comedic fangirl from competent and level-headed individual? Yikes. I did love how she was promoted from secretary to chief of special investigations but the anime just didn't want her to be even better. They could've made her duel too, or make her useful more or more around but nope.

All she got was her identity almost completely wrapped around some jerkass celebrity.

She's queen and deserved everything. No wonder I've fallen out of Yugioh too since it treats it's women like shit.

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

Stephanie!! She's just cute waitress in some cafe in universe and makes like grand total of 4 appearances lasting less than 20 seconds in 154 episodes but I love her! She's my friend in my AU canon!! She loves gossip because I say so, she gives that energy who would love to hear the newest tea.

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

I guess Ushio, Mikage & Kazama since they're thinly veiled cops??

Also Early canon!Ushio is just pathetic. Just screaming insults at 18 yo for losing to him in card game, gets owned 2 more times by the same 18 yo, no one liked him, gets yelled at by his superiors, sucks at stealth, has some superiority complex, the list goes on. Just pre-episode 45 Ushio is pathetic, scumbag mess.

I still love him but my god the whiplash canon vs my own canon has..

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

I can't think of anyone. I used to torment Ushio, like having multiply AUs where he went to Silent Hill, musing and twisting his canonical crush marrying someone else to make him suffer.. Those days are gone tbh I don't want harm come to him now.

The most I torment him with are these scenarios where I get hurt and he gets Mad.

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

Divine. He's some psychic duelist (meaning they can make pain real in card game duel smh) that experiments on children and has killed some, manipulated Aki into hurting countless people and just gloats evilly whenever he can. Getting eaten by supernatural frog clearly wasn't enough.

[autopotion]

saw this floating around tumblr and thought i would fill it out myself for funsies. specifically challenged myself not to repeat anything from the same game (same series / remakes are okay) 'cause otherwise half the answers to this would be something from FFT and that's just not fair lol. if any of my mutuals do this tag me in your post i want to see your answers!

full list & descriptions under the cut

favorite game of all time: final fantasy tactics, obvs. picked the psx one to represent because i do prefer it to wotl. don't take that as me hating on wotl though, i think it's still good and brought some good stuff to the table, i just like the original a little bit better.

favorite series: yeah it's dragon age. once upon a time i would've said final fantasy, but while there are a great deal of final fantasy games i love, i'm not really compelled to seek out the ones i haven't played before and i'm not really following new releases much (except to make fun of them ghsdfnds). meanwhile i like every single DA game and have replayed each one mind-boggling amounts, and i actively seek out news for DA4. it's clear which series i'm more into, even if there are individual FF games i like more than DA as a whole

best soundtrack: final fantasy vii (original). this one's kind of a normie answer because i think there are other OSTs within FF itself that are objectively better than FFVII's, but if i'm going to listen to any video game music for funsies and outside of actually playing the game itself, it's pretty much always going to be FFVII. zoe and i were marveling about how FFVII is basically just one huge prog rock album. it's fantastic. hang on i'm gonna go listen to the boss fight music again

favorite protagonist: velvet crowe from tales of berseria. i actually answered this one last because i had the hardest time deciding, somewhat because of the "no repeats" rule, but also partially because i am often more compelled by side characters than player characters. anyway ToB is a mixed bag where i don't like the combat, hate the fanservice, and find the world to be kind of uninspired, but the characters are absolutely incredible and might be one of my favorite RPG casts. velvet herself stands out, i find her story incredibly emotional, and while i think her writing suffers from some usual video game misogyny she's easily the most attached i've been to a player character from the outset instead of needing to get to know her (save for maybe luke fon fabre, also from the tales series lol)

favorite villain: kuja from final fantasy ix. i almost put chaos vyce (of tactics ogre), but that is absolutely 100% recency bias, especially if i compare my month-long phase of being really into chaos vyce to the years of thinking about and writing about kuja. i like kuja a lot and find him to be really emotional, and i like FFIX's conclusions about him, i.e. if a sympathetic character is worthy of redemption if he commits absolutely heinous and evil atrocities and is also generally a narcissistic asshole. ultimately the game's conclusion was "no," IMO, because "redemption" is a complicated concept and eventually you hit a point where no good actions can make up for a lifetime of evil ones, but it still gave kuja the opportunity to do one good action that saved the player characters, and his existence gave the rest of the genomes and the black mages something to ponder WRT their own individuality. also i just think he's neat

best story: outer wilds. this might seem like a weird one because it's not like "lore"-heavy, which i think a lot of people associate with "story," but a story is just as much about in the way it is told as its basic content. the way outer wilds tells its story is unparalleled tbh. every mechanic exists to support its concepts & themes, and it's some of the strongest video game storytelling i've encountered for that reason. also the story it tells is extremely emotional IMO

have not played but want to: hollow knight & disco elysium. i picked two games: one that i own but haven't started (HK) and one that i haven't bought yet (DE). of the two, i'm most excited to try DE, but i'm waiting until zoe and i can play it together.

you love everyone hates: octopath traveler is not greatly liked among the audience it intended to cater to, i.e. people who love old pixel rpgs in the vein of FFVI. it deserves every bit of criticism leveled at it, from its shallow narratives to the disconnected and poorly written arcs of the travelers, but i also really enjoyed playing it and found it charming.

you hate everyone loves: crisis core (from the compilation of FFVII). god i hate CC. it is undeniably a fun game, and the first time i played it (as a teen) i sobbed during the ending, but the older i get the more this game sours on me. i consider it the biggest affront to the themes of og FFVII. what if shinra was "morally gray" and had lots of good people working for it! what if zack fair was actually responsible for key character traits of female characters, like aerith's ribbon or the name of tifa's bar! what if tseng was a creep who took pictures of aerith! what if it's actually really sad and difficult to be a cop for a megacorporation! )': what if i bashed genesis's head in with a rock. at least CC introduced cissnei.

best art style: hades. not even the gorgeously detailed (and highly sensual) character portraits, but the sprite work is really beautiful, the little icons for the boons & items are very cute, and the environments are gorgeous. all the movements are incredibly fluid and pleasing to look at.

favorite ending: tales of the abyss. there is so much to love about TotA, but the ending sequence is one of my favorites in any game. the final dungeon is extraordinarily bright, and if you have the right party combination for the final battle it turns into this amazing invincibility mode while tear sings in the background. also i love my personal interpretation of what happens with "luke fon fabre" at the end.

favorite boss fight: i cheated and picked two again lol. the main boss of arbiter's grounds in the legend of zelda: twilight princess was the first boss to introduce me to the concept that maybe... boss fights... could be fun?? riding around the spinny wheel while you're attacking the big skeletal dragon head was really cinematic and tense, to the point that i was almost kind of sad when it was over.

my other answer for this is the first boss fight against reno in FFVII remake. oh my god i loved that one. not even necessarily because of the mechanics, but the sheer adrenaline of finally getting to aerith, to the church scene, and then all the banter during the fight while you're trying to parry that weaselly asshole... i wanted to do it again the minute i beat him lol.

childhood game: also two here. rhapsody: a musical adventure and the first kingdom hearts i consider to be my quintessential childhood games (outside of FFT). they informed my taste in video games pretty early on. rhapsody's really cute, if not especially deep, and i want to replay it someday; when i was little, my sister told me to start with rhapsody before FFT because its very basic tactical battles would teach me how to play FFT, which is much harder lol. and of all the KH games, i'm most likely to come back to the first one, for nostalgia's sake. even though that game is incredibly linear, i cite it as the game that got me into "open world" games as a concept, since what i loved about it was its seemingly endless expanse to explore, when in reality it's pretty tightly confined.

relaxing game: stardew valley. i was gonna do this one and animal crossing: new horizons, but i came to the conclusion i find SV more relaxing than ACNH. time doesn't pass in SV unless you actually play the game, unlike AC, and the gameplay loop in SV is very relaxing and gentle to me; since days are so short, i can only complete a few tasks per day, and that's kind of freeing. ACNH is also relaxing but i can get more quickly stressed out if i'm trying to plan some big landscaping project.

stressful game: vagrant story. i don't think i've started and stopped a game as many times as i have this one. it requires so much detail-oriented attention that i only have it in me to play for an hour or two at a time before i get tired. (i was also considering putting tactics ogre for this one, but i'm actually about to beat TO pretty soon and have grown accustomed to its style, so VS is definitely more stressful.)

game you always come back to: this one was also really hard, in part 'cause of that "no repeats" clause, otherwise FFT or skyrim would be the obvious answer here. but ultimately i picked undertale. like a lot of people, i was really emotionally moved when i first played it; the massively expanding fandom kept me from engaging with it as much as i wanted to (i like my fandoms pretty small, or, if it's big, i like to curate my blog so i don't see a whole lot of it all the time), but i honestly think UT changed the game for video game storytelling. it's difficult not to compare other games to it, in part because it's in conversation with games as a whole.

guilty pleasure: i don't really feel "guilty" about any games i like, but i selected 999 for this spot because like, as i was playing it i had a ton of problems with it. i complained about the music, the misogyny, some of the puzzles, the dull environments... but it's also one of the most interesting games i've ever played. the story has stuck with me. what it does with its medium, its characters, and its narrative is kind of unique for video games TBH. so, despite all of my complaints about it, i kind of like it a lot.

tons of hours played: skyrim, no contest. i have easily over 1000 hours in that bad boy, across my various saves on various systems, soundly beating any other game i've played in terms of hours sunk into it. it's kind of embarrassing ghsdnfshg.

[bigskydreaming]

Hey, any comic recs to ensure that I get Dick Grayson character right? Other batfam included, if you're willing. I'm trying to make sure I don't write a character completely ooc, because that drives me up the WALL when I read that. However, since I dubbed you the #1 Dick Grayson person, I thought I'd ask you to make sure I do him justice rather than a smear campaign or something lol! Thanks! ALSO TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE TITANS SHOW! That's all xD

LOL thanks I appreciate it, but while I’m good for the rants, for actual comics recs I would go to the likes of @northoftheroad, @hood-ex, and @nightwingmyboi because they’re a lot better than I am at knowing where to find specific stuff and comprehensive reading lists! I tend to jump all over the place in terms of my go-to comics for Dick.....I’m always on about Robin: Year One but I’m like eh Nightwing: Year One is pretty trash tbh. I prefer pre-Flashpoint continuity overall but I did enjoy some of the early Nightwing Rebirth stuff and before that the pre-Forever Evil New 52 stuff had some good beats. But for the most part, my favorite Dick Grayson tends to be him as a member of teams like the Titans....he shines most in ensembles, I think, because his strengths ultimately are that like...he gets people, he knows how people work, and he knows how to get the most out of the people he’s with, how to make people gel and get in sync and become more than just the sum of their parts.

(Speaking of nightwingmyboi, haven’t seen them posting in awhile, anyone know what they’re up to? Hope everything’s okay!)

Which brings me to the problems with the Titans show. There’s a lot I like about it - Anna Diop and Ryan Potter in particular - and a lot I was never gonna like about it - I’m heavy on the Ugh why must Dick Grayson be a cop ever why is that a thing make it stop. And so while I don’t think Brenton Thwaites does like, a bad job with the role or anything, there was always kinda a ceiling on how attached to or invested in his take on the character I was ever gonna reach.

But Season 2. Oof. Let’s talk about Season 2, and how so many of the problems with it are identical to the problems that surround Dick in the comics, but also aren’t limited to just his character or DC and just as equally show up in all kinds of media. Like, I could have (and probably did) offer an identical rant about the role of Scott McCall in TW’s S5.

The problem is one I’ve kinda taken to calling in my head “The Ensemble Lone Wolf Effect.”

This is when writers have a character they nominally want to be part of an ensemble....but that they repeatedly go back to the well of “this character should however spend most of their time on their own, or are more natural on their own, or just wants to be on their own, or also sometimes they just deserve to be on their own cuz they suck for Reasons we decline to specify.”

But its that thing of wanting it both ways....believing a character honestly NEEDS to be a loner or off on their own for the sake of their story, but also still wanting to utilize them as part of an ensemble, not willing to actually MAKE them a solo character, and so it kinda creates this never-ending feedback loop wherein they pay lip service to the character being part of an ensemble, but that’s never really on display, which creates a lot of unnecessary conflict among characters that’s to NONE of their benefits.

(And honestly in the comics, you could apply this to pretty much all the Batfam at times...not just Dick. They do it with Bruce ALL the time, they’re doing it with Damian right now, did it with Tim with Red Robin, Jason most of the time he’s not with the Outlaws and Cass most of the time she’s not with Babs or Steph or the Outsiders. As well as Babs herself at times).

Basically what I’m talking about here is like....so much of the drama in S2....and specifically the parts that most every fan I saw had issues with....came about not organically, because it made sense for the characters to behave that way, but solely in order to launch a specific plot, that the writers clearly wanted for S2:

And that was Dick Grayson off on his own, at his lowest, facing his demons on a solo journey of self-discovery the writers clearly deemed necessary before he could find himself as Nightwing and rise to his most heroic self.

Now the thing is....this isn’t inherently a bad plot or a problem. The problem lies in how they went about it.

Because rather than looking at the overall story and saying okay, that’s what we want to do with Dick Grayson, that’s what we want for HIS story, now how do we get that and where do we take it from there, rather than looking at that as just a STARTING point, and engineering a plot that grows OUT of that.....

The writers just started out by viewing that as an ENDPOINT, and reverse engineered a way to get Dick TO that point first and foremost....at the expense of so many characters who then basically turned on him and held him solely responsible for the things many of them also had a hand in....purely to get him off on his own and isolated.

But that was never necessary!

Because Dick’s character contains multitudes when it comes to guilt and self-blame, everyone knows that. He never needed anyone else to blame him for what happened to Joey because he blamed himself. So the second they conceived of the plot “Slade wants revenge for something Dick at least blames himself for”.....they had all the ingredients needed for Dick to decide proactively that the best way to protect everyone was to put distance between him and them, that he should try and hunt down Slade on his own, solve this between just the two of them.

And that should have been the STARTING point, for that narrative journey of self-exploration, not that journey resulting as an ENDPOINT in and of itself from Dick being FORCED into a kind of isolation by the others all blaming him.

Because now see what ripple effects result:

Now, the other characters are just as able to focus on their own individual storylines as they were in the show, with the additional concern of wanting to ACTUALLY find Dick and figure out what’s going on with him or tell him they still want to help....without this in any way needing to distract them from their own storylines, practically speaking, or cut into Dick’s narrative alone-time, because as part of the equation you ALSO have Slade, who has his own wants and agendas, not to mention tactics. And Slade’s perfectly capable of and willing to work with others, or utilize the long game, or engage in a game of cat and mouse as a distraction...there are numerous ways that you could engineer a plot FROM these motivations that allows him to keep the rest of the Titans distracted and even targeted individually, without allowing them to group back up with Dick or Dick to even know that they’re in danger and that his attempts to avoid that backfired.

You want the characters isolated and divided? The PLOT can do that for you. You don’t need the characters to do that to themselves.

IMO, most if not all stories are meant to advance characters, first and foremost. Take Characters A-Z and leave them different from how you found them. Move them to a different position in their lives as much as anything else, from where they began. The goal is character DEVELOPMENT.

What this means, in my book, is that the plot should serve the characters, NOT the other way around. The plot should grow FROM the characters and what they would or would not do....the characters should never have to be forced to FIT INTO a plot.

That’s backwards.

There shouldn’t be any need to reverse engineer a certain starting point, characterwise.

Just like....start the plot, plotwise....and from the moment you first introduce a single plot element, prioritize how would the characters react and BUILD from there.

The only engineering you should need to do is how to get to an eventual END point....which is still all about the forward momentum, not backing your way into anything.

Its one thing to have an endgoal for your plot, a point in character or narrative development that you want characters to reach. But its all about perspective. About keeping that what you’re working towards rather than something that you like, have to reach before you can even really BEGIN.

Which is what Titans S2 did. The real GOAL of the season in terms of Dick’s storyline, was his solo journey of self-discovery. But there’s a million different ways they could have LAUNCHED that journey, without it having to be the forced and contrived outcome of events and character decisions that literally only existed to initiate a journey that never required a forced initiation.

And so all this narrative energy gets utterly wasted and expended on stuff that it just flat out doesn’t need to be spent on in the first place....instead of just putting that same energy to use building forward-facing storylines for ALL the characters, that don’t require contrived spats of disharmony when the goal of such moments isn’t even the disharmony but rather just that they’re kept apart, the end RESULT of the disharmony.

Imagine what S2 could have built if instead of wasting time, characterization and energy on getting to a point they could have simply started from if they’d simply looked at it that way and chosen to just....start. If they’d applied all that to building across the board, everyone’s story in service to their own character first and foremost, no tangled feedback loops making characters regress or cycle through the same behavior or narrative positionings over and over again in order to not get in each other’s way or cross paths at a time when the show didn’t want them to cross paths....because rather than make all these characters work at cross purposes, they’re all on the same page, they still want the same things....you’re simply engineering from their own natural characterizations and organic decisions and reactions, ways the PLOT can be utilized as a TOOL, to keep them moving forward in their own respective chapters, WITHOUT their characters having to be bent out of their natural shapes or forced into niches that don’t really suit them, just to keep them, PREVENT them, from more naturally or organically making a choice or action that would ‘get in the way’ of the plot.

Bottom line......the plot is supposed to be there to advance the characters, because the characters are what we come to stories for. The characters are who we invest in, relate to, ROOT for.

The characters aren’t there to advance the plot. We’re not here to yell yeah, I really hope the writers do whatever it takes with characters, no matter how backwards or unnatural it seems, just to get that sweet sweet and oh so specific ending we want that is in no way dependent on how invested or not we ACTUALLY are in the characters by the time it arrives, in order for it to actually be effective or not!

Lol. Y’know?

So yeah, that’s my biggest gripe with Titans so far. I’m still eager to see what happens between Kory and her sister, and although I’m not thrilled it seems to be becoming Batfam Straight Outta Gotham rather than like, Titans: The Show, I admit I am curious about what take they’ll go with for Babs. As I still pretty vividly recall that weird as hell Birds of Prey show the CW or UPN or WB or whatever it was at the time did for one season, where Babs was honestly not terribly adapted despite the show otherwise bearing like, zero in common with any existing DC property or character (do not even get me STARTED on their takes on Dinah and Helena, no, blehrrible, those were bad, those were like super bad)....anyway, I’m kinda curious even if it wouldn’t have been my choice for what direction the show should take. Not that I have a specific one in mind, just, yeah. And I also kinda would not hate if we got a new Roy Harper now, to replace the not!Roy of Arrow, because I don’t know him, no seriously, who is that, its not Roy Harper.

[cyber-wakame]

Okazaki Kei

THERE WILL 100% BE SPOILERS FOR HIS ROUTE SO PLS READ WITH CAUTION !!!

(These will all be based off of the good end routes- I havent played most of the bad ends as of yet- I will not go over every single detail despite spoilers just so others that want to play it get a little fun out of the route)

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

Okazaki's route was the fourth route I played the first time and initially I didnt particularly care for it. It was a very biased reason because I played his route right after Sasazuka's so because I loved that route so much; but when I went into Okazaki's right after I felt kinda mehh about it? It didnt give me the same feelings.

So this time around I played his route first- and honestly I have a lot more appreciation for his route than I did the first time.

He shows up very sporadically in the other routes and seems so carefree yet mysterious and serious, and when you actually get into his route he is exactly that. He is always in the right place at the right time it seems; he's there when you need him and when you dont need him.

I like that he gives our heroine solid advice and keeps a level head- and it's nice to have someone else reliable within the force for Ichika to converse with to a point yet it also detaches you to the rest of the force to a point because you're trying to solve these cases while also trying not to seem suspicious to the other investigators/not ignore the help of Yanagi's group.

The voice acting is great too- there is so much emotion in Okazaki's voice when he is emotional and it does pull on some of those heart strings. That being said- there is still a fair amount in this route that I wasnt a big fan of.

The biggest thing for me personally was his quest to die for someone. Don't get me wrong, they do a great job in deceiving you and making you think he has chosen to protect you because he cares for you so deeply, when in reality it's for his own self-satisfaction so he feels that his death is not in vain.

I am in the same mindset as our heroine in that just choosing to die in some "spectacular" way will still be in vain, and that she doesnt want someone who will throw his life away on a whim protecting her. Whether or not he is your favourite character there is still some emotion attached to their routes (which is what makes these games so dang addicting).

Sanjou is probably my favourite "executioner" out of the x-day villains because he is so different than the others. He was in their position as a former police officer and deep down I think he knew too that you can paint everyone with the same brush-but after such a terrible experience can you blame him for resenting the force he was once part of? I think he saw something not only in Okazaki but in Ichika as well which is why he gave so many hints to find the main Adonis hideout and lead her to eventually removing the collar.

The ending almost killed me tbh when Ichika got shot and Okazaki is screaming and crying it honestly hit me with so many feels.

This is honestly so minor but I couldn't get over his hands in most of the cgs. WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS POOR HANDS in some frames they were good and in others wtf happened.

All in all, I have a much better appreciation for his route than I did before- not enough to move him up from his spot on my list- his route wasn't overly plot heavy compared to some- but all in all an enjoyable route :)

[janiedean]

What do you think of this tumblr trend saying Anne Frank was bisexual? I don't remember anything like this from her diaries.

.... with the premise that I DON’T PRESUME TO SPEAK OVER ANYONE AND ANNE FRANK’S DIARY WAS MY FAVORITE BOOK WHEN I WAS TEN so make of that what you will:

in the version I read there wasn’t anything openly suggesting it

it’s based on the fact that her father censored some parts of the diary before publishing it

I haven’t really followed the debate because like she was twelve it seems fairly dumb to me to focus on that when she’s important for a whole lot of other reasons

now, tbh I mostly agree with this piece on the topic here at least for the part that don’t concern me specifically (I mean I’m not jewish nor bi like the author so I can’t go like I FEEL THE SAME ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE AND I ABSOLUTELY AM NOT SAYING I CAN BECAUSE I CAN’T) - like the point is that we read her diary (something meant to be private) so we can see how life was for people in her situation, because we can relate to her because we all have been twelve and she’s no different from any other 12yo kid with all her hopes and dreams and expectations which is why ppl should read that book because you see that the people who died in that atrocity weren’t any different from you.

now I can’t really blame her father for cutting those parts because I mean he was publishing his daughter’s thoughts for all the world to read to make the above point but I can believe he might not have wanted to share the sexual-related parts with everyone else never mind that they published in 1947 as in Not Exactly The Most Open Minded Year Ever, tbh I’d have been surprised if they decided to publish them. (I mean guys in the italian version of it ie a freaking fantasy horror book aimed at adults the translation cut a part about the only girl in the group having her period/where menstruation was discussed and It was published in the eighties and it’s fictional characters let’s be real there’s been a general problem with publishing anything pertaining to how teenage girls approach sexuality in the twentieth century period without even touching anne frank’s diary.) I agree that today we should be able to read all of it if it’s available since we’re reading something not meant to be shared anyway.

but that said, saying that ‘someone is bisexual for sure’ at twelve so going for the entire thing is... iffy I mean some people know from before and others figure it out later but from what I gathered (idk I didn’t read the cut bits I only have the old version) it was curiosity and like you can be curious and then decide you’re straight. (or realize you have exceptions and still define yourself as straight.) like, you can’t know if she was bi because she never told you she was and she most likely didn’t even figure it out because she didn’t live that long and tbqh I find it kind of not really tasteful to discuss the sexuality of a girl who died in a concentration camp at fifteen. she could have decided she was one or not, but tbh I really wish all people discussing it would let that drop and read the entire diary in the first place instead because given that it’s tumblr I doubt they actually read it. like idk seems to me like the less fruitful discussion about the topic you can have because sure af she didn’t get deported because of her sexuality and that’s not why you know who she is.

ps: if people from we know what wank are still around, I’d like to put my hands forward as we say here and inform you that in at least three instances I slammed people for thinking anne frank was overrated:

one

have a two though it was just a list of compiled crimes of antisemitism attached to that discourse post

that was my personal take on that same OP

sorry but at this point I’m slamming receipts at the end of every post I make on wwii just in case.

[akane171]

A non-Clark-y Kara would have been so badass 😂 In the comics and e.g. Young Justice she did always come across as the "tougher" of the two...🤔 Ohh, imagine what those Karamel dynamics could have been like🤣🤣 (Tho their idiotic-arguing-puppy-love is just heartwarming 😂) 

Oh, I'm not even gonna argue. I love Kara, but this is one argument on which iI will NEVER even slightly agree with her. I mean, you already pionted out more than enough points for why, but the fact she didn't bother any other alien (e.g. from the alien bar) about how they're selfish for not superheroing or that she didn't consider she herself spent all but what? A year? on earth without superheroing and even Kal/Clark didn't always just makes her whole point pathetic... Same with the Jeremiah situation when once again Mon was made out as wrong and bad for what? Being right? Being cautious? Just no. And nobody ever apologized!!!😑

I don't get what they have against Kara being in therapy anyway, like Young Justice spent a whole episode giving the Heroes therapy sessions to deal with their trauma/traumatic experience...  

Ohhh, but what could warrant her staying forever?🤔

Ohhh 😱😍😭 I'm not sure whether to be happy of having a karamel godkid (you do realize you just sent me into a terrible downward spiral of "What does he look like? What is he like? Is he more like Kara or more like Mon or their perfect like mix? HOW DID HE DIE? I MUST PROTECT LITTLE PRECIOUS KARAMEL CHILD!", right?😅😂 I NEED ANSWERS!!) or to go sit in the corner and bitterly cry over his death...

And no, I definitely DO want to hear about Mon and Lan's deaths and how Maya reacted! I NEED to know 😭😭😭  

NOOO, write theeeeeemmm😭 You can't just drop all this heartbreak and not write and fix it!😭😭 (Just to clear up: I'd never wanna force you into anything at all ofc, so when I say sth like this, I'm just whining, don't feel forced to do anything🙈)

 Haha, nah, it's fine anyway😁 Always good to have a bunch of book recommendations lying around for whenever I finally have time for it again☺ 

I'll give you a million tragic high-fives😂 And Yup, we're pretty much screwed by definition😅 (Tho, to be fair, in "The Mortal Instruments" I got attached to kinda two side characters(one a badass immortal warlock and one a cool shadowhunter) who did end up together, and even have their own spin-off which inlucdes them adopting two Kids! So that was a non-screwed over (homosexual) couple😁💃🏻) 

Ohh, wait, which ones do you mean in Naruto?🤔 

Yeah, esp. the absorption thing was sooooo awesome, poor Lydia finally got a break from announcing death😅 And yes, Parrish was so underrated and underused anyway... It's like they just literally forgot about him and the fact that they know a hellhound...🙈 Would have been awesome to see him save the day instead of Scott winning against everyone and everything cause freaking plotarmor...😩 (It's ridiculous he defeated people like Deucalion or Peter...)

HAHAHA, Greenberg calling him Bobby would have been the BEST SCENE EVER!!!😍😂🤣

I already put Lightbringer on the list😂 Ohhh, nice rule, but I doubt I'd manage that without abandoning everything else in life😂 Just reading a little is not possible for me, if I start the book, you can be sure I'll be done with it in 3 days at most😂 (Tho at least I get my Daily dose of fanfics, which does usually derail many of my to-do-plans or sleep schedule too, but hey, "less" than normal bookd🤷🏻‍♀️😅)

Haha, Thanks, not even sure how many exactly I'm still waiting for... There's stuff that hasn't updates since 2013 or so, so... Let's really not talk about this😅😭😂

Yeah, it's probably an unspoken anime fan rule😂 Tho hey, at least you're not my level of stupid about it and try to draw realistic stuff too😅 I'm pretty sure I owe Chris Wood at least 5 apologies for the terrible attempts I made at drawing him😅🙈🙈

HAHAHAHA, yess, that's a good way of going about it😂 Tho, tbh, while I love ranting about articles, they do very much so have their purpose and using the wrong one does indeed make a big difference at times🤔 But they're still terrible😉😂

Ah yes, the good ol' days of RTL2 and Pokito 🤔😍😊 Back when they spent at least 12 hours a day with animes etc😂 And well, I mean, animes do tend to be rather obvious about what's going on even if you don't understand anything🤔 

Yup, side character fics are so freaking hard to get by... Just saaaaaaadddd😭😭😭

Ohhh, sounds like more than just dissapointment😅 I mean, I didn't exactly like the end or the way they made the later half of Naruto either, but what exactly was your major point of dissapointment? (Still my biggest problem was how they just nerved Naruto and Sasuke and the villains to god level and made everyone else pathetic, useless bystanders😅🤷🏻‍♀️🙈)

Haha, yess, weirdos for winners💃🏻

PS: ☺🙈🙈

XXXXXXX

Yeah, maybe we are getting that version in the movie. Still, probably not going to watch.

Hmm, interesting how their interaftions would look like. For sure she would quite quickly threw Lena's ass into the sun and feel zero remorese about it. But with Mon-El? Hmm.

Annoyed but intrigued or interested? Finally someone who remembered her planet and people and I don't think she would have been as butthurt about him being the prince. But... interesting idea for a fic, lol

And you know the BEST thing? She became a superhero when she was liek what, 24? ONLY becasue Alex was in danger. But well, hypocrisy was one of her character flaws.

I think Mon suffered from the "oh, no, Kara can;t apologize or admit she was wrong, especially to him". Anotehr funny thing is that's the SAME thing they had done to Alex and Kara. How many times Kara was right, but Alex screamed and didn't apologize?

Because oh she is oh so strong woman and doesn't need it. What is funny again, because thye have spent wasting time on some super dumb so called important eye-opening stuff and couldn't have spared one ep about mental health. Interesting, right?

That depends on my mood xD Because you know, as much as I like Danvers sisters I see their bond as problematic and it was never really approached. So, for example Kara deciding she needs to stay by Alex's side becasue uwu, life is brutal, she needs to three-wheeling her and her family for entire life and blah blah. What would BE CANON.

No. Becasue in the end I will want to write whole fic, so no ==' As I said, I'm the queen of unwritten angst, not written. But I can assure you, all my ideas are heartbreaking. For example mxy showing her all the scenes from her future life and all what happened, because she can't believe she just left her family etc. MUHAHAHAH

Errrm, is this malec ship? Becasue it sounds like them and I kind of know some of the stuff from Shafowhunters from the gifs on tumblr XD HAPPY FOR YOU!

Naruto, sigh. Funny stroy, in the begining i liked SasuxSaku but with time and how the story unfold, i started hated them. I really liked Sasuke and imo, he should have or died honorable death or stayed asexual and with no fam. Last Uchiha, no more curse and more people hunting for them. End of story. And seriosuly, I hate the "big breasted fangirl gets the dude and becomes the perfect waifu aka wet dream of every dude in Japan" (a big generalization, but you get my point). That's why I hate IchiHime ==' tbh, the same goes for NaruHina, but whatever.

Maybe they will fix things in the movie..... MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I don't mind Scott, maybe he was not my fave character but was not bad... as for a typical teen kinda-superhero.

We would finally see Greenberg! And the conspiracy theory aka Greenberg being Bobby's halluciation or imaginery student would be clear xD

Hey, fics are in a lot of cases better than published books! I wouold ask you to go to sleep at a normal hour, but I do the same shit iwth books so xD

I like to swallow books like that... unless I get to a problematic part and I suspecty next things are going to destroy me xD so then sometimes I leave it for a few days... or months... sometimes years xD

Gurl TT All of my fave Gundam SEED fics are not finished TT ... oh wait, there is one mine that is not finished, oops

It's not stupid, it's how we learn, right? For example I stopped drawning alsmot in 100% but I like coloring books with pencils.

SO GO AND DRAW CHRIS!

Articles (in any language) will never make sense to me, so I bow to the queen *bows*

RTL2 was my wormhole to anime world xD with bad internet connection and almost no anime in Polish tv, it felt like heaven. Still my dad was always pissed off when he caught me watching, but well, typical anime fan's life xD

Sad high five. We are doomed *satres into the void*

You kow, the typical shounen stuff - from zero to god level, saving the world from apocalypsis, power of friendship, sometimes I really want the good guys losing. And well, the ships at the end - geeeeeeeeeez. Minus ShikaTema all were dissapoiting. Or maybe I'm salty after what they have done to Jiraya and Tsunade, who knows. And as I said, everything about Sasuke. Just. No.

YEEEHAAAAAAAAAAW!

[tayegi]

I feel like all those misogyny anons are young girls or if not they shouldn't even blame everything on the OC????? Literally. All. Of. Them. Are. Doing . The. Same. Thing. It's a whole messy relationship. Don't blame one character when the others are doing the exact same shit!!!!

All the beautiful messages I received are under the cut ^^

But I just really REALLY wanted to thank everyone for sending me such wonderful asks. Right when I was about to lose faith in humanity, you guys came out of nowhere to restore my faith. I really REALLY appreciate it. I was srsly even considering deleting Equilibrium because I refuse to let this disgusting misogyny spread, but now I realize those misogynists are thankfully just the vocal minority. 

I really REALLY appreciate this, guys. You always know what to say to make me feel better when I’m at the cusp of giving up. I LOVE YOU

Anonymous said:BRUUHHHH shit just got real in equilibrium. Seeing the development of the story, I knew it was gonna come crashing down soon but damn. This story is so interesting and I really enjoy reading stories with very flawed characters. JK was really pissing me off like he's so damn controlling and it's amazing how people don't see equal fault in all three of them and point fingers at the girl???? Like wtf what story are y'all reading cause last time I checked they were all using each other lmao

Anonymous said:wtf??? how is oc manipulative and a bitch??? can't they that jk is the bitch here?? like he's so selfish and conniving and omg I'm just so angry after that update. not at you because damn girl you can write but like ahhh why wont he just let her touch jm like I just wanna Hug her tbh. I hope she finds the right man. u go girl!!Anonymous said:Omg I come back to this nonsense? I hope you don't let this affect you too much. I don't get why women are always blamed. If anything as I was reading I felt bad for the OC the most honestly. Shes insecure because she got bullied when she was younger and then this angel Jimin comes and he's nice to her and she gets attached. Jungkook takes advantage of the situation so it works out in his favor. For 6 months he was the only one who knew what was really going on.

Anonymous said:Wow I was so surprised to see that people were angry with the OC She is so pitiful and desperate Plus Jungkook's actions are so sick he knows she doesn't love him but he knows she won't leave him because of Jimin so even in this situation he is still using Jimin to manipulate the OC They are all so fucked up

Anonymous said:Really hope all the shitty misogyny doesn't put you off after how hard you've worked! please remember theres shitloads of us who really do appreciate your work and as much as people don't openly voice it, we're still all here in the background, internally voicing our opposition to the minority that obviously don't see the wealth in your work x so fuck them and do your shit because you want to! it's annoying that some aren't understanding it in the way they should but just know the rest of us dox

Anonymous said:I think the problem is not that the OC is women. The problem is that the readers are narrow-minded fans that blindly favor there idols.. U kno, when the bias also clearly did smth wrong but they only blame the other side... Tsk tsk. But the thing that I'm worried is that the story probably won't have an happy ending :c I know it's not ok but I want to OC has a new start with Jungkook (I am sorry Jimin!) or she would be sick of this relationship& too hurt& move out and be a roommate with Tae

Anonymous said:Hey, please don't regret the story cause of some of these mysogynistic idiots. I mean ofc if it makes you uncomfortable to write it then do whats best for you. But i love this story because of the complex nature of this messed up relationship, and your amazing writing. I love how you present selfishness in all three of them. The good and bad in them. You write in shades of grey instead of black and white and its truly amazing. Anyway i hope i didnt say something wrong i just love your work.

Anonymous said:Thank you for standing up in what you believe in. It's one thing for males to be misogynists (which is still HORRIBLY WRONG, fuck them) but for females to behave like one too? It's just disappointing. Us women get enough shit everyday as it is. We should be empowering each other instead of looking at each other as threats BLEEGH! Anyway I loved the latest chapter of equilibrium and pretty much everything you've written.... 🤗

aloneandlovingit said:I appreciate you so much for always calling out these misogynistic people for their shit. Whenever something goes wrong in a relationship it's always the woman who is blamed and the man is made to be a victim even if they're both in the wrong. The worst part is that these anons are probably young girls who were brought up to think this way and this just perpetuates the culture of women being against women and it needs to stop! Anyway I loved the new chapter as always and I love you 😘

Anonymous said:Why and how are people talking shit about the oc???? Wtf.. Equilibrium's so well thought and well structured, people in love do stupid shit, get over it. Jk is being fucking selfish and emotionally using them both, and if people wanna blame someone, blame the right guy. I really rope that the oc get out of this mess, cause girl u don't deserve all this bull shit. and fuck all this misogynist people +

Anonymous said:I'm so shook. I'm leaving this ask to let you know that the majority of the female population all over the world is still NOT on the mysogynous side! Girls, read carefully before you speak! Lu has written everything not only beautifully/intriguingly but also in a crystal clear manner (come on, you don't actually need to interpret things, make a list of who's done what and you'll see that each character is just as manipulative and opportunistic as the other)! Cheers Lu, this is a masterpiece.

Anonymous said:I can't believe people are saying the OC is a bitch?? what about jungkook who proposed this relationship for "fun" and had motives??? and jimin who only likes jungkook and shuts the OC out??? i've been wanting to rip jimin's throat out since he entered the fic

Anonymous said:I could be missing something, but I don't understand the outrage towards the OC when she is just desperate to hold on to the first person who treated her like a real person. That is why I think she is 'attached' to Jimin. The same goes for Jungkook being 'in love' with the OC since she is the first person to ask him a 'meaningful' question that wasn't superficial (coffee shop convo). My heart hurts for the OC because she has to fight so hard for Jimin's attention when she deserves better.

Anonymous said:I seriously can't see how these people are so blind. It was obvious that they were all using each other before and in the latest update Jungkook basically said he never cared about Jimin. How did they miss that? And Jimin rejected the OC until Jungkook proposed they all date. Wow. P.S. I had a feeling Jungkook would be the first one to break. Love your writing and don't let these people ruin Equilibrium for you.

Anonymous said:I almost feel bad for the anons who feel the need to antagonize the OC so much... But it actually fucking hurts. To think that every time that both men and women are in the wrong the woman is the one punished 110% of the time... Ugh I'm so sorry that this had to open our eyes to all the brainwashed idiots out there still perpetuating such hard-lined misogyny. But keep in mind that there are still lots of people who don't stand for this shit and never will, stay strong and love you!!!! 💖💖💖

Anonymous said:Equilibrium is one of my favs and it so upsetting to see people turn the story into something else because they are too blind to see their precious oppas do anything wrong.

Anonymous said:Are people serious? Its so obvious that jungkook and jimin are doing the exact same thing as the oc. Jungkook is only in the relationship for the oc. Jimin is only in it for jungkook. How can you blame the oc for being manipulative but not fault them

Anonymous said:but notice how no one is going "aw poor jimin jungkook tried to abandon him thank god the oc is caring and didn't run away with him" 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔 ppl are unbelievable. I'm so sorry this is the reaction ch 10 is receiving lu. pls don't let it discourage you. use your voice and the fact that a lot of ppl read the fic to EDUCATE AND TEACH YOUNG WOMEN. stopping now won't accomplish anything. I think you have enough influence with your writing to get something across to these young women and help them

Anonymous said:I want to tell you that equilibrium is honestly so beautiful & your writing is really amazing. I've only recently discovered you but I am upset I didn't find you before! As for the main character & the boys: HELLO THEY ALL PLAYED EACH OTHER FOR THEIR OWN REASONS!!!! Like why is everyone mad at the OC when each character was in the relationship just to be with the one they liked? Anyways the last part with Jungkook & the OC in the hallway is so nicely written! I hope you have a nice day! 💙😄

Anonymous said:I can't believe the amount of ppl mad at the oc rn when jungkook was literally doing the same thing??? so was jimin???? they were ALL playing each other, dont ppl understand that?! that's the whole point of this fic, y/n is in love with jimin, jimin is in love with jungkook, jungkook is in love with y/n. It's all just one big love triangle and they're all lying to each other by being in this relationship. I'm sorry ppl aren't getting that, but pls don't let that discourage you from writing it :(

Anonymous said:*reads the asks saying rude things about the Equilibrium OC* :/ *sighs* Why are people only focusing on the OC??? Jungkook is just as bad, and really no one wants to be with everyone in that relationship. :/ The OC wants Jimin, Jimin wants Jungkook, Jungkook wants to OC. Putting all the blame on the OC is just stupid. :/ I'm sorry you're having to deal with those anons. I wasn't around for what you were saying about In Bloom, but I can see how similar stuff to this would put you off of it. :/

Anonymous said:reads other anon messages - sighs - guys... look below the surface before you immediately judge the narrator. JK doesn't deserve sympathy--he's using Jimin to get to Y/N, Jimin is using Y/N to get to JK, and Y/N is using JK to get to Jimin. No one's innocent of this. In addition, the way he just roped Y/N into giving him exclusivity wasn't exactly fair or unproblematic... So they're all guilty, and the drama's so gooooodddd

Anonymous said:Thank you for the update. I haven't read it yet but in really excited about it!!! I'm really sorry about all of these random rude misogynist ppl who just came out of the blue tho.