#the fact that she says her own lines already beats 90% of them lmao

[wanghedi]

I can see why park minyoung is still getting these leading woman parts in romance kdramas 10+ years into her career she is slaying the house down this is not a calibre of acting that is present in any leading actress in cdramas of this genre today

[rapifessor]

Pokéchronology, Volume I: Yellow

Day 14 (FINAL DAY)

It's time.

Today is the day that I beat Pokémon Yellow, marking the end of the first volume of Pokéchronology. It's been a while since the last update. I've been busy and I wanted to make sure I had the time to push all the way through to the end of the game for the final post. I haven't yet completed the Pokédex, in fact I'm decently far away from accomplishing that still. But covering that in Pokéchronology doesn't seem quite right. There wouldn't be much to say about it, it's just running around catching Pokémon that I don't have yet. Maybe I'll talk about it in a generic blog post later on. In any case, I'm done with Pokémon Yellow for now.

For those of you who have been reading this series, what did you think of the first volume? What things do you think could be improved, and how can I make this series more interesting going forward? I have some ideas of my own, but I'd like to get some feedback so that I know what works and what doesn't.

With that out of the way, here's what happened. The final spoilers for Pokémon Yellow that you'll ever hear from me (probably):

Elite Four

Well, this is it. Time to run the gauntlet. I gather all the healing items and Elixirs I can muster up, with some X Specials and X Accuracies for good measure, in case I need them. I also use up all the vitamins I had stored away: two Calciums and three Carbos for Holy, and two Proteins for Mycoboss. I'm as ready as can be, without buying a ton of stuff or leveling up more.

Lorelei

The first challenger is Lorelei, the Ice type specialist. With Holy in front, this battle shouldn't be too difficult. She opens with Dewgong, who I swiftly dispatch with two Thunderbolts. Next, Lorelei sends out Cloyster, who is dealt with similarly. Her third Pokémon is Slowbro, who is not Ice type, but once again falls to two Thunderbolts. Jynx, her fourth Pokémon, proves to be a bit stronger against Holy due to her lack of weakness. I wasn't sure what moves she could use, so I kept in Holy to play defensively. Thankfully, Jynx doesn't have much HP, so three Surfs are enough to take her out.

Finally, Lorelei sounds out her Lapras, who takes three Thunderbolts to defeat, and the battle ends without me ever changing Pokémon. Her Pokémon were surprisingly tanky, but none of them were especially threatening either. It's kind of weird to me that one of the Elite Four is only packing five Pokémon, like come on. Take off the kiddie gloves already, I can handle trainers with full teams at this point.

Bruno

Moving on, the next of the Elite Four is Bruno, who again... has only five Pokémon. He opens the fight with an Onix. Lol. Lmao, even. Hitmonchan also fell to one Surf from Holy. I get that they're Fighting type, but god damn their Special is shit if they can't even survive one non-super-effective move against them. Hitmonlee is the same, although Hi Jump Kick does a lot of damage to Holy and they used Double Team, so Holy missed the first two Surfs before one-shotting them. After that is... Onix again? Really dude?

Bruno finally brings out his Machamp, so I decide it's time to bring out Miles and destroy them. For some reason, Bruno uses an X Defend. He did that on his other Pokémon too. Come on, dude! That's not going to save you from a 90 Base Power Special move with STAB and super effectiveness against your Pokémon! Long story short, I OHKO'd all of Bruno's Pokémon. Damn that was disappointing. But I suppose I should have expected that from the guy who only uses Rock and Fighting types in his team.

Agatha

Maybe Agatha will be more of a challenge. At first she looks like a Ghost type specialist, which should be interesting... except the only Ghost types in Generation I are the Gastly line, which are also all Poison type. Anyway, she sends out ya boi Gengar, who can really take some hits, even from Miles. But all Agatha does is spam potions while I spam Psychic moves and eventually take out her Pokémon. Next is Golbat, so I guess Agatha's more Poison specialist than Ghost, and I switch to BIG RAT but she immediately switches out Golbat for Haunter. Thunder does a good chunk of damage but I quickly switch back to Miles to finish them off. Golbat is back, takes one Psychic to defeat. Then comes Arbok. I could Psychic again, but instead I choose to have Prinzessin take care of them with Earthquake.

Down to her last Pokémon, and guess what? It's ya boi Gengar again, but this time they know Psychic for some reason. Whatever, Miles go brrr. Man, Poison types kinda suck don't they? At least against my team, they do.

Lance

The last member of the Elite Four is Lance, a Dragon specialist, who's poised to be the greatest challenge yet... I'm kidding, he starts with a Gyarados who hits Holy with a Hyper Beam. Really spicy move, but now Holy attacks, and Gyarados has a quad weakness to Electric. Surprisingly, Gyarados TANKS it with a sliver of HP left, but now they're Paralyzed and Holy outspeeds them to finish them off with Surf. Here come the actual Dragon types: Dragonair. Gets one-shot by Ice Beam, oops. Then Lance sends in another Dragonair, and you don't have to wonder what happens to them.

Aerodactyl on the other hand is a little spooky. I don't know what moves they have and they outspeed my entire team. The first move they use is Fly, so Aerodactyl dodges Holy's Ice Beam. I switch to BIG RAT to tank and hopefully deal some damage, but Aerodactyl is still faster, so BIG RAT eats a Hyper Beam and faints. Back to Holy, I manage to land the Ice Beam and it OHKO's Aerodactyl. Lance's ace is Dragonite, which does a fair amount of damage with Fire Blast as I heal up Holy to take them out. Once again, a single Ice Beam is enough to defeat them. Ice may not be a very strong type overall, but when it's strong, it's STRONG. Ice moves are pretty powerful, man.

The Champion

The Elite Four defeated, there's only one trainer standing in my way before I become the Champion myself, and that's Gary.

I knew I was more than capable of handing his team by now. That much was made clear in my last battle with him, so even with his team at their strongest, there's not much they can do to stop my.

The battle begins with Holy versus Sandslash once again, and Sandslash is too slow to do anything before Holy's Surf drops them.

Alakazam is next, and they prove to be somewhat formidable. Mycoboss does good damage still, but it takes three Leech Lifes to fully deplete Alakazam's HP. Unfortunately, Alakazam kept spamming Recover, resulting in a stalemate, before they get a cheeky crit and one-shot Mycoboss with Psychic. Well, time for my backup strategy: physical Mr. Mime. Miles Body Slams his way to victory.

Exeggutor is much more tanky than Alakazam though, so Body Slam spam doesn't work as well against them. I could switch to Holy here and probably one-shot Exeggutor with Ice Beam, but I didn't for fear of potentially dangerous Grass moves. Instead I choose to revive Mycoboss. They duel Exeggutor and eventually emerge victorious, despite Gary's use of healing items and Hypnosis spam.

Oh, hey Cloyster old buddy! They're literally weaker than Lorelei's Cloyster, what the fuck. Can't even survive one Thunderbolt.

Ninetales comes in and Fire Spins Holy. With Holy being unable to move, Ominous is the obvious choice. Ninetales barely survives a Hydro Pump, leaving Ominous to finish them off with ease.

With all but one of his Pokémon soundly defeated, Gary has no choice but to accept his fate. He can't beat my Pokémon. Despite being 15 levels ahead, having a super effective move at his disposal, and a massive speed advantage, Jolteon has no chance against Prinzessin. The fight ends with a single Earthquake.

Ending

And there you have it. Gary is in disbelief at his loss. Professor Oak comes along to tell him how shit he is and that he lost because he didn't love his Pokémon enough. Very supportive! I'm congratulated on my victory and admitted to the Hall of Fame, where my winning team is shown off one by one, in all their glory. I watch the credits, and it's revealed that I beat the game with a total play time of 47 hours and 9 minutes; just under two real-time days.

But this is not where it ends. There is still one thing left to do...

Cerulean Cave

That's right, it's time to beat the postgame dungeon and catch Mewtwo, the true final challenge. I get organized and set out for Cerulean City. There's one trainer that I missed just past the entrance to Cerulean Cave. You need Surf to get to her anyway so it's not like it would have made sense to come here before now. Before entering the cave, I ensure that I have the Master Ball in hand, as I will likely need it to catch Mewtwo.

Now we enter the dungeon. Cerulean Cave appears to be somewhat maze-like, but in reality there's only one path to follow with a plethora of items tucked away in corners and secret spots. Most of them are Ultra Balls, Max Elixirs, or Full Restores, but there are also several PP Ups here. I used one on Holy's Ice Beam, one on BIG RAT's Thunder, and one on Prinzessin's Earthquake.

While progressing I fight a lot of wild battles against powerful level 50+ Pokémon. There are a few that I hadn't caught yet, so I made a point of catching as many as I could. Got a Ditto named Ittledew, a Venomoth named Mothra, Danksta the Gloom, and Bleleleh the Lickitung. Not much else goes on, it's just a straightforward path to the end of the cave.

Mewtwo

Enter Mewtwo, the true final boss of Pokémon Yellow. They're level 70 and EXTREMELY powerful. Now, I could just toss the Master Ball and call it a day, but I decided to try and catch Mewtwo the old-fashioned way, as if I had used the Master Ball on a Pokémon already.

My first thought was to send in Miles to do some tanking and try to Paralyze Mewtwo with Body Slam, but Mewtwo takes out more than half of Miles' HP with a single Psychic, and that's saying a lot. I don't think any of my Pokémon take less damage from Psychic moves than Miles, which is kind of a problem.

I figure Mycoboss can at least do some damage, having a super effective move and a high Attack stat, but Mewtwo uses Barrier and Leech Life barely makes a dent in their HP. Things aren't looking great here. I have to disable Mewtwo because they're just too strong, so Spore time it is. Mewtwo recovers and undoes what little damage I had dealt to them before, but I try to make this a war of attrition with Sleep and Leech Life. It doesn't work, and before I can put Mewtwo back to sleep they one-shot Mycoboss with Psychic.

Being in a tough situation, I figure what I need to do is get Mycoboss revived to put Mewtwo to sleep again, and switch to someone else to deal damage. I had Miles pop back in to take the fall while I used my turn to revive Mycoboss. Miles doesn't get KO'd, so I switch to Mycoboss and they manage to survive long enough to land the Spore. From there I switch to Holy to deal as much damage as I can with Ice Beam.

I manage to drain Mewtwo's HP enough that I can start trying to catch them now, but I need to put them back to sleep. I heal up Mycoboss, tank Mewtwo's attacks again, use Spore, and start spamming balls. It's only a matter of time before the Genetic Pokémon is caught, thus ending the battle, completing Cerulean Cave, and completing Pokémon Yellow.

Some Final Thoughts

As my first experience playing traditional Pokémon, I found Pokémon Yellow to be surprisingly enjoyable. The game is overall very easy, though there were some moments where I felt the difficulty was decently balanced. I was worried I'd find the game barebones and archaic, but instead I was surprised by the amount of depth and intrigue that this little Gameboy game had. Satoru Iwata really was the GOAT for making this game possible. RIP legend.

Pokémon as a series really rewards you for good thinking and knowledge of its mechanics and intricacies. Adapting to its challenges and figuring out how to overcome unexpected difficulties, turning the tide of a battle is very satisfying. It's a very cerebral game at times, and I was thoroughly entertained by its problem solving aspects. I was never really bored at any point during my time playing.

Like I mentioned in previous updates to Volume I of Pokéchronology, there were plenty of things that irked me about Pokémon Yellow. Most of them are technical limitations, but there's nothing that can be done about them. From a game design standpoint, Pokémon types are pretty unbalanced and some the Pokémon themselves just get completely shafted by this.

Psychic types specifically are way too strong thanks to the Special stat determining both damage taken and received from Special moves, and their sheer effectiveness against a huge percentage of Pokémon in Generation I. This isn't helped by the relative weakness and small move selection of the Bug type, the only real counter to Psychic. The only reason Bug still performs decently against Psychic is that most Psychic types have garbage Defense and HP.

But ultimately, none of Pokémon Yellow's faults really soured my experience, as it's very possible to work around them and build a team that's prepared to deal with anything. I'm very much looking forward to the next game, Pokémon Crystal, and my journey through the Johto region. I imagine it will be even more entertaining as it ramps up the complexity with a host of new Pokémon, new types, and new mechanics.

Expect the debut of the next volume of Pokéchronology soon. It will be much longer and hopefully more interesting than the first.

[kerra-and-company]

51, 62, and 90 for Kerra? :3

Oooh sure, sounds great @mystery-salad! :D (Some PoF and Icebrood spoilers below in case anyone is avoiding those, as well as vague and not particularly graphic injury description in question 51!)

51. Have they ever been seriously injured?

I can feel Kerra side-eyeing me in my brain for saying these sounded great and then talking about her serious injuries xD but yes, most definitely, and quite a few times, in fact. The worst one was hands-down the time she actually died after being sliced with a giant flaming sword, with the two that tie for second place being the injury she sustained in my fic spiral (whacked in the side by a bear and a mild concussion on top of it) and that time she got shot very close to/basically IN the heart by a particular asshole imperator with a stolen bow. Injuries that Kerra herself wouldn't put on this list but that I, someone who has never been stabbed and thus perhaps has a lower threshold, definitely WOULD, include a decent-sized burn on her right leg from the Knight of Embers way back in the personal story and a poke directly through her forearm by a very persistent and angry Mordrem.

62. Fav type of music? Why?

Kerra enjoys music with multiple instruments and/or particularly excellent harmonies, which is a ridiculously broad description, I know, but her taste is pretty broad, too. Both of those bits are about what just...sounds pleasing to her ear, I guess is the best way to put it? Ones that hit emotional beats with the music. (No idea if that makes any sense, lmao, and if not I'm so sorry!) She also enjoys things with a bounce and inspirational lyrics; those ones keep her motivated and make her smile/laugh. She is not a fan of Metal-Legion-style music, for the record--too much banging for her, and the lyrics are hard to understand.

90. Any unusual/unique skills? (I.e, special powers compared to others)

Kerra's got her empathy! As in literal empathy, where she can feel what other people are feeling, and it extends to pretty much everyone, not just other sylvari. Let me go find the post where I broke down how it works, hold on...found it! But in case you want to read about it in detail here without jumping to another post, I copied and pasted the relevant portion under the cut :)

She feels the emotions like they’re her own, but at the same time, she can tell that they’re not and whose they actually are. (This can be something of a fine line.) She’s not sure where the ability comes from, aside from (most likely) the Dream, and as of the Icebrood Saga she’s had neither the time nor the motivation to figure that out, though she has a guess. Even without empath powers, she’d be good at reading people, so this moves that skill up a notch too. It also allows her to tell how many beings are in a room before she enters it (helpful for avoiding traps and makes it hard to fool her with illusions in some cases).

There are a few drawbacks. The main one is perhaps the most obvious: not all emotions are positive. She can shut out others’ emotions when she chooses*, but that’s a skill she has to learn, not one she innately possesses. It’s especially hard for her to maintain her “shields” when she herself is emotionally overwhelmed or distraught, which makes several already traumatic experiences worse. A secondary drawback is that her power frightens some people, mostly non-sylvari, who don’t like that she can, at least partially, see into their heads**. (It should be noted that she CANNOT read their minds, only sense emotions. People frightened of her usually don’t bother to learn the difference, and sometimes the emotions side is the more scary one to them anyway.)

As a bonus, a couple exceptions to the general ways her ability works:

Felix: The only being whose thoughts she can sense, through a blending of her soulbeast magic and empath powers.

Aurene***: Aurene is the hardest for Kerra to shut out emotionally because of the bond they share, to the point that at first she thinks it’s not possible. She  figures it out, though. She’d describe shutting out her emotions from Aurene as flipping off only a single switch on an electrical power box.

*She also can shut out specific people’s emotions or try to focus on the emotions of a single person, but that’s a lot more difficult and takes increased concentration.

**It is possible to “close your mind” in such a way that Kerra can’t read it at all, but it’s not particularly healthy long-term: most of the people Kerra can’t read easily are hiding their emotions from themselves, too.

***In one of the prompt fics I wrote, Kerra talks to Aurene in her head. This is only possible after Aurene’s “resurrection”, when the scion is able to speak on her own, and isn’t related to Kerra’s empath ability.

[timedriving]

rip/ donna

send me a ship and i’ll tell you… ( accepting )

who hogs the duvet i think it’s a fair bit of struggling that eventually ends in donna’s favour because... rip can’t win even if he tries. LMAO. he gives up after waking up for the third time that evening but donna looks so comfy he’s like... all right. this is fine. i’m content with this

who texts/rings to check how their day is going rip does check-ins more often, but donna’s more likely to text when she’s got something on her mind, random or otherwise. rip doesn’t really understand the concept of “random texting when you’re bored” and doesn’t want to suffocate her or anything

who’s the most creative when it comes to gifts donna is better at intentional gifts, and rip does things that don’t SEEM like gifts to him, but totally are. an explanation of the latter is something along the lines of “rip taking donna on a surprise trip to go camping in arizona where they can look up at the stars and map out constellations together and also he made food and ALSO he’s got proper camping gear and he’s been thinking about this for weeks... what do you mean this is a date?”

who gets up first in the morning donna is probably one of the few people in the world who can wake up at the same hour as rip and not feel tired or grouchy at the godawful hour. this means rip gets to draw her in cotton candy sunrises and donna gets to show him the world she lives in before it all properly wakes up, and it makes the whole thing kind of ridiculously magic also, neither of them have to wait for the other to have breakfast together.

who suggests new things in bed donna! it’s not that rip’s not as enthusiastic, but more that physical intimacy in general is an adventure to him already. also, i imagine donna’s experience with society means that she gets a lot more inspiration for this sort of thing than rip would get at the vanishing point? the most kink he has is liking to blindfold his partners or bind them with simple ties. it’s donna who ends up suggesting her lasso, for one thing

who cries at movies do..nna...?? between the two of them her empathy’s developed a lot more than rip’s has. but his interactions with her and the films they end up watching together do help him build his own empathy! i like to think the first movie he properly cries at the end at is the matrix revolutions. i don’t know why i imagined them watching the matrix revolutions. anyway it astounds him to think neo could love machines so much he gives his life to save them just as he saves humanity (rip related more to the machines in this case, too.........)

who gives unprompted massages i keep answering donna for these things, but rip doesn’t really know that this is a thing! he’ll comes back from an assignment tense because it’d been a close call, and then she’ll kiss the back of his neck whilst he sits down and work his shoulders and rip kind of just melts under her touch (but, let’s be real, he melts around her all the time because he’s so smitten-- this is just his body finally matching up with his mind)

who fusses over the other when they’re sick i don’t think donna gets sick very often? and while she takes care of rip it’s not necessarily fussing either, but a bit more-- she knows what she’s doing, having come from a place where caring for each other is the common mantra, and he feels kind of ridiculous having someone be so tender and kind with him, but he really does feel like he’s cared for (a rare sensation overall)

who gets jealous easiest FINALLY i am answering rip. but rip’s got a big of possessive canine instinct going on, all fang-bearing and whatever if donna’s ever being threatened. he doesn’t care about playful flirting with, like, friends or anything, but strangers out in the open better WATCH OUT... not that rip’s the type to beat up strangers but. he’ll think about it. he’ll think about it hard until donna’s the one who shoots them down. and then seeing her shoot them down will make rip want to pull her aside and kiss her because he uh. he sucks

who has the most embarrassing taste in music rip doesn’t have a taste in music? but i can’t imagine donna’s to be EMBARRASSING to him... if anything he’ll be awed with whatever her music tastes are because. you listen to these things for pleasure? you enjoy them? i enjoy them because you enjoy them. these lyrics sure are something. it’s funny how i know what instruments are playing individually but i never thought they’d sound like this altogether the idea that donna introduces him to the music of the 90′s/00′s is really fucking sweet actually........... he only ever listened to music for stock knowledge, but it’d be wild to lie down with her and listen to something just for the sake of listening to music together

who collects something unusual rip isn’t allowed to own things at the vanishing point, so the fact he finds a home in donna means her room probably houses his postal stamp collection... and, okay, postal stamp collecting isn’t the SEXIEST hobby, but 1) it doesn’t take up much space; and 2) it’s rip’s gateway drug to collection/hoarding, anyway. she’s got the scrapbook he uses kept away in a drawer and sometimes rip makes his own stamps out of souvenirs he takes from his missions

who takes the longest to get ready donna, who really makes an effort! and rip with his minute attention to detail always notices when she has a new shade of eyeshadow or lipstick or something. he finds it genius how she can make her look change so much... on his own end, rip doesn’t know how to change his look. i figure in this stage of his life, he mostly defaults to shirts and jeans, so he’s pretty useless and basic. on the rare occasions that he wants to dress up nice for her, however, he will take forever... because he doesn’t know how to be handsome enough to deserve her, whyyyyyy

who is the most tidy and organised donna! but then, donna actually has stuff TO organise. rip, who owns nothing, wouldn’t have a clue if he did have something. all he knows is how to keep his living space at the vanishing point clean, but that’s like... the most basic of the basic things

who gets most excited about the holidays donna is really excited to share her traditions, and rip is excited to partake in them with her. he sheepishly tells her that he doesn’t have his own holidays; he doesn’t even know when his nameday is, so. (but she’ll insist they choose a date just so they can celebrate it, and he’s horrifically shy about it because... you want a day... just to celebrate him?)

who is the big spoon/little spoon OOOHHHH AN ANSWER WHERE I CAN SAY THEY’RE HAPPY BEING EITHER... rip has a bigger tendency to big spoon though because he likes the feeling of having his arms wrapped around her, but at this point in his life he’s not jaded or traumatised enough to be extremely touch averse, especially with the first love of his life i think donna has an innate sense of knowing when rip’s feeling especially drained and will tell him to lie down when she does, at which point she’ll come up behind him and hold him and rip will just sigh because donna thinks of everything... what a genius

who gets most competitive when playing games and/or sports oh god this is destructive shit. people get bored of watching them play ping-pong because it lasts FOREVER. and the thing is they’re both like, killer focused on it, so they’re not even hurling insults at each other or teasing or anything-- they’re both in it to win it and it’s a wonder donna hasn’t obliterated the ping-pong ball yet with her strength

who starts the most arguments i like to think that rip’s more likely to get angry about things, but not necessarily about them as a couple? it’s more like he’ll be more confrontational when they’re disrespected in public or something-- he’s got the temper of a leashed dog, again, and it’s not like his canines are weirdly pointed because he shouldn’t bite for all their youth i think they’re both old souls who know too well about understanding to start any stupid arguments. imagine having a healthy honest relationship wow

who suggests that they buy a pet i think rip mentions it kind of off-handedly and donna laughs like “why?” and rip’s reasoning is just, like, he’ll see other couples walk a dog together... maybe it’d be nice if they walked a dog together, too and it’s the softest thing on the planet, but they aren’t together enough to warrant owning a dog together, so they don’t end up getting one it’s nice to imagine, though

what couple traditions they have they seem the type to have a secret handshake from when they were still just friends? which was actually a secret handshake that adult!rip had taught kid!donna when they first met years ago, in a sort of time loop sort of thing because young adult!donna ends up teaching it to young adult!rip... you know, one of those “perfect circle” things. the only difference now is that the handshake ends with a kiss

what tv shows they watch together i think donna makes an effort to find shows that rip would find genuine interest in, since he so rarely has time to be around and she wants to make the most of it? but they have a nice mix of humour and romcom and action/adventure... she’ll discover that rip really, really likes westerns, too, and rip will be surprised that that’s a whole GENRE, holy shit?? where can they see MORE of that????? i want them to watch the nanny though.........

what other couple they hang out with god the thought of a dickkory + ripdonna double date is actually really cool to me? kori’ll take him flying and rip’s going to be like ACK and dick’s all jokingly like “you’re dating a serious nerd, donna” and she’s just. she knows. she knows... but he’s the sweetest man she’s ever met and yes, grayson, that means he’s sweeter than you! rip’s going to be just as good at darts as dick though and dick’s going to be like DUDE... FOR REAL?

how they spend time together as a couple it’s suuuuuper gross, but they! like! touching! and not even, like, dirty touching, but holding hands is pretty usual for them, and so is dropping kisses here and there, even if it’s not going to start anything. it’s a serious cliche puppy love sort of thing?? like rip will like keeping his arm around her, too, and donna will like having her head in his lap, and for indoor hobbies especially, they can do separate things (e.g. donna watching a movie and rip reading a book) but still be connected in this way if rip had his way he would be able to be around her all the time, too

who made the first move rip does, but it’s not like... outwardly flirtatious or anything (he’s useless!). he just, y’know, drops compliments here and there... looks a bit shy when he does it... and donna’s no idiot, she knows he likes her, and eventually grins and calls him out on it and rip’s like “I DON’T-- yeah okay i do want very much to take you out to dinner, can i?” and donna’s laughing at how sheepish he is and kissing him on the cheek like “yes, rip” and rip’s like “REALLY? i mean, erm-- outstanding! that’s outstanding, yeah”

who brings flowers home rip will come home from long assignments with gifts, ok! and sometimes those gifts include flowers. he studies flower language in his free time so he can do it properly for her, but i think with them real flowers aren’t so important... so rip will give origami bouquets

who is the best cook rip knows how to cook more things with expertise because of his job, but i think overall he prefers donna’s cooking. there’s something so kind and warm about eating food made by someone who cares for you... that being said, he likes to cook for her, too, and for all his gourmet knowledge he still just makes simple things, because i imagine donna the type to see the value of comfort food and for rip to have the same sentiments

[blookmallow]

so i met the prince of madness, discovered some Weird Shit, and made another character despite never using the second one i already made 

---

i was minding my own business walking down an abandoned corridor and suddenly im in this mad tea party in the middle of some spooky woods

OH !!! FUCK

what a LOOK

i had to help a guy dealing with his tiny, tiny personification of courage getting beat up by Self Doubt and Anger i could NOT make this up if i tried 

sheogorath also gave me these clothes apparently bc i had them for some reason. this is incredibly silly 

SO I WENT ON A MISSION WITH FARKAS AND UH

APPARENTLY MY FRIENDS HAVE BEEN WEREWOLVES ALL ALONG. THE MORE YOU FUCKIN KNOW

i legit did not see this coming at ALL but im a lil annoyed that i got tricked into joining the werewolves but seem to not be allowed to join vampires (i know if you get attacked by a vampire you have a chance of catching vampirism from them but like. vampires are mostly just Enemies like bandits or w/e) 

farkas says the. silver hand or whatever they’re called are “bad people who don’t like werewolves” but arent they doing the same thing the dawnguard are doing. i dont understand the werewolf/vampire lore in this at all like

vampires are mostly just enemies, there’s a league dedicated to hunting them who seem to be mostly considered heroes, the guards mention these hunters positively, they recruit openly in whiterun

vampires seem to be pretty universally hated and considered evil

but the companions, a pretty highly respected guild, are all werewolves (it’s probably not totally common knowledge, but they are, ) the werewolf hunters are depicted as the bad guys, every werewolf ive met so far has been a friendly npc / at least someone you can hold a conversation with, while every vampire has been just an Enemy

the companions seem to be able to control their werewolf powers and transform at will rather than randomly, but the guy in falkreath cant control it and murdered a child/is outcast by society 

so i guess “its ok to be a werewolf If you can control it” seems to be the verdict here but then i havent seen anyone claiming its ok to be a vampire if you can control it?? i dont know skyrim’s vampire rules but usually they’re able to survive on animal blood or by like, consensual feeding that doesnt take enough to kill the host. werewolves and vampires both can’t necessarily help what they are but it seems like way more of a choice to become a werewolf. i guess vampires Have to drink blood and werewolves dont Have to hurt people but they cant. help that 

idk theres some weird double standards going on here and as a person who loves vampires and doesnt care for werewolves im just :/ 

farkas might also be in love with me now 

(ive read you Can marry him but he hasnt noticed my amulet of mara despite. saying shit like That :’) im not rly interested in him tho. i like him but i dont Like him like him. hes maybe second on the list of ‘If I Had To Pick A Dude’) 

i found two of the same guy out in the wilderness

like. its hard to see here but it was, im pretty sure, the same model, twice. the same voice. the same lines. it was very strange :’) im guessing theres probably a pool of random hunters/travelers/bandits/whatever you can run into that just sort of get generated into the world and. something went wrong 

i dont remember what we were talking about but i suggested Why Not Simply Eat The Soul Gem and she was delighted by my innovative ideas. im on a quest to retrieve a spoon for her that she somehow lost halfway across the country. i love her

i just figured out who she reminds me of she is absolutely tannis,

then i also made another character despite the fact that i already never use my khajiit but shh

this is amaranth shes horrible and shes on a mission to Wreck Everyone’s Shit 

she has very faint swirl tattoos on her face and i wish id made them brighter, i liked the subtleness of it but you effectively just cant see it ever 

not that it Really matters so much what my characters look like since u cant see them 90% of the time but Listen

i can fix it when i get her to riften i guess though

anyways she wants to be a powerful mage, has No morals, wants to kill every last imperial for what they (almost) did to her, but doesnt really support the stormcloaks either, just supports Herself and Chaos 

shes not trying to just Murder Literally Everyone In Her Path but like. is basically looking for Any excuse to kill someone. doesnt want either side to win. just wants to watch the world burn. probably going to join and betray Both sides

i dont remember why i murdered a guard (i remember it was in belethor’s shop so i probably tried to steal something and failed) but anyway, i murdered a guard, and can just like. walk around town wearing the clothes i stole off his corpse and nobody minds 

they minded very much that i killed him lmao but i gave up trying to fight the guards bc more kept coming so i just took the jail time and now im forgiven, I Guess, 

seems like owning a full set of guard armor, which includes a helmet that obscures your face completely, would be a great way to disguise yourself to do crimes but i dont seem to be recognized as a guard wearing this/people still know who you are somehow 

im not sure how much awareness npcs have of what you’re wearing like i get comments about my stuff sometimes (’lightly armored means light on your feet! smart!’ ‘favor the bow, eh? im a sword man myself’) but then no one seems to care if im walking around wearing vampire armor and a weird cultist mask, so

[serenagaywaterford]

Is it me or does June have serious plot armor? I mean, she has done so much shit and nobody has even touched her, when other handmaids have been maimed for way less. It is getting very annoying paired with her arrogance.

It’s not just you. I’d say about 90% of online fandom and TV critics are saying that, and the other 10% are the folks telling everyone else to shut up if they don’t like it and stop watching. Cos, it’s so deep, you see. We, the majority, just don’t understand.

At this point it is nothing but plot armour and people can scream about how it makes sense for but when it comes down to it, even June’s own excuse doesn’t work. 

Basically, the whole idea is that “The Waterfords/Gilead need June in tip-top shape to blatantly sulk and be petulant on international Nazi-esque television promos, in order to get Nichole back”. Which is crap. I’m sorry. It is. Firstly, June is not an asset to have on TV. She is outright pouting and clenching her fists and glaring. No. That’s not good copy.

Aunt Lydia broke June rather quickly in 2x04/2x05 without the use of mutilating violence. She broke her emotionally and psychologically. Sure, this June is somehow more immune (doesn’t care) about all that psychological torture stuff, but she’s not impervious surely. Lock her up. Isolate her, like before. Ram her head with all sorts of shit that would break her. Guilt, shame, etc. Those stupid shame circles clearly don’t work anymore. And hell, I do not WANT to see anymore torture or violence on this show, but let’s be totally real here. If they wanted to maim June, they could. I could come up with like 50 different ways to beat the shit out of her that wouldn’t be visible on TV. Basically, ANYTHING but the face. To imply that GILEAD of all places doesn’t have this ability is moronic.

(But when’s the last time she was in a propo video anyway? Like, been there, done that. Not even in DC or around the Waterfords anymore. Why the fuck do they even need June at all anymore? I’m sure Serena is gonna “explain” it next episode cos she’s gotta check on her trophy Handmaid, or whatever the fuck June is to her now and whatever fucking rando excuse she has for visiting her in hospital. (WHY ARE YOU EVEN THERE, SERENA? I thought you wanted to be free, not get stabbed?!? Fuck this show, man. Toying with my incredibly frayed nerves like this.) We’ve all seen the promo, right? I hope I’m not spoiling anybody.)

The fact that June specifically mentioned Alma’s arm burning and Lillie’s tongue removal was stupid. Like, duh. Aunt Lydia could do either of those things to June no problem and it would not affect her ability to be on TV at all. Her arms are covered, for one thing. And why does she even need to speak? She doesn’t in any of the propos they already did. Hell, in one of them she was gagged! And lbr, Serena went all bonkers and claimed she wanted June to have rings in her mouth to shut her up anyway. (She clearly doesn’t anymore or else she could likely easily order it. Or Fred could. Or Gay Detective Stabler. He’s top dog, above Lawrence. And it seems like even Aunts have the power to just yank Handmaids out of their houses, anyway.) Wouldn’t it be better for Gilead as whole if June couldn’t talk? She couldn’t plot, insult, mouth off, communicate, etc. with anybody. Problem solved. But nooooooo. Not June.

So, this idea that June must remain completely unharmed in any way cos TV, is a batshit insane bullshit excuse made up on the spot to justify the 5-mile thick plot armour she wears. I mean, all these characters have some degree of it. (Serena, Fred, Nick, Lydia). Well, except black people other than Luke and Moira, who instead just get like 10 lines a season instead. Apparently. Like, June has ALWAYS had incredible plot armour; has always been pretty unscathed compared to Janine, Emily, Lillie, Alma, etc. All of whom have been maimed, for MUCH less. (Although lbr, both Janine and Emily have crazy plot armour too. Both should be dead.) And Lillie? Got her tongue cut out for... following June’s lead. (I mean, I agree and June was doing the right thing, and it was brave of Lillie to follow, but still June magically escapes cos she’s pregnant and Lillie gets THAT? Which also brings me to the hypocrisy of “We can’t harm a pregnant Handmaid!! OH NOES!” And then one gets shot. Like? No. In other words, they can’t harm a pregnant Handmaid if she’s white and the protagonist of the story. But if she’s black, and a minor character, why not? Disposable characters anyway.)

Miller recently said that June must stay alive cos she’s narrating the story. The voice-overs apparently are from the future. (Don’t even get me started...) So, ta da, June can never die or lose her voice, or anything cos there goes his whole premise lmao. 

I think June’s plot armour and her arrogance are like a chicken and egg situation. Which comes first? Which caused the other? She’s arrogant cos she has plot armour but she needs plot armour cos she’s so arrogant. (And stubborn and selfish.)