#fan service is only bad when done poorly | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sapphyreopal5 · 2 months

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I’m sorry for being rude in the first ask , you are right maybe I came off hot there and you thought I was attacking your blog.

I’m sorry 😞

My spelling mistakes not only because I don’t know English very well, it’s also because I write fans and angry , I’ll work on that .

Thank you for allowing civil criticism and not blindly follow the actor you favor, like jensen for example, i have no problem calling him out on something that I thought was offensive or tasteless, I don’t see him asa god , but jared’s fans refuse to acknowledge that he is human and does make mistakes and it’s ok .

No they think the best way to defend jared is by going after jensen, like that makes it all right.

Anyway,I’m sorry again and thank you for being class act

Well hello there again Anon, thank you for the apology. As I've said before, I've always been open to discussing criticism and even praise in a civil manner. I am going to have to disagree that Jared stans only go after Jensen to defend him, nor do they all think Jared is a Saint. I don't care for participating in the Jared is better vs Jensen is better social media battle because really, that's an ongoing thing that will just go round and round in a hamster wheel leading no where. I think it's fair like I said Jared felt excluded from TW as it's the so called prequel to the franchise he was a big part of for 15 years along with Jensen. Sure it may have been a business move to do TW but was it a smart one? No, it was poorly executed and also led to a man being struck by lightning who is currently suing Jensen, Danneel and others. Jensen also was rather rude towards those with valid questions about the said prequel. He ended up saying something along the lines of asking people if they were ever fans to begin with when faced with such questions. Plus the whole ignoring the drivers text saying the car was ready at the race track as he talked about at the Charlotte con August 2023, which I actually went to myself. Also, I am gonna say this but Jensen and Misha's YANA in my opinion was 💯 a meek and to ultimately failed attempt to replace Jared's AFK campaign, as it was questionable if Jared was going to leave Supernatural or not. I don't buy the whole "it's clear Jensen didn't want to do it". You're allowed to say no people, you're allowed to say no which Jensen clearly didn't do here....

Jared isn't so innocent either, he too has said and done questionable things. Plenty of people see aware of the public intoxication and assault charges filed against him in October 2019 after he was arrested for such. He had a time in his life where he called out hospitality and customer service departments on social media. One of the waitresses he posted about got death threats. Mind you, I believe she's one of the ones who had her photo included in Jared's post about her "poor service". Now, it's one thing to mention names when making a complaint or bad review. However, to add a photo of the person while doing so is in extremely bad taste. This waitress ended up deleting her online profiles after getting attacked by a lot of Jared fans. He also did this for a man who worked at a Las Vegas casino (included a photo again yes), not sure what exactly happened with him or what the end result is. He also swore to never fly with American Airlines again after a bad experience as well. He even got upset with Verizon Wireless over them requesting to folks a police report for someone making a fraudulent account in his name. He did also insult singer Justin Beiber in the past in multiple posts and Taylor Swift as well, and even wished for Tony Romero to have a career ending injury. I provided some screenshots below that I found throughout various receipts posts. Not gonna lie, this does in a way challenge what his mission with Always Keep Fighting is about. I also am aware of an online bullying video he posted on his Instagram on Oct 10, 2022 I linked to below. I hope this video is a sign he reflected on the errors of his ways from his past behaviors on social media essentially doxxing people.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CjiwgGSLj8A/?igsh=c2VwMWMwMnJhZm8w

I will say on a personal note, I certainly care about this tidbit for multiple reasons, including a personal incident that happened to me in high school. (EDIT: added 30 min after initially posting, personal story): One of the so called "popular girls" in my school answered a series of questions on a Myspace bulletin, one of which was something like "if you were to shoot anyone who would it be and why?" To which she responded my first and last name "because she talks to herself and is annoying", way to spread rumors about me saying false things about me and threatening my life. Needless to say we had an unpleasant confrontation in gym class a few days later and I admittedly told her she's not worth time in prison. She started shaking and said "well geez it was just a joke", "you don't joke about things like killing people D". Interestingly enough, she apparently lost her right leg after falling in her backyard tripping over a rock (multiple surgeries and almost died twice in the process) actually in mid August 2022, the same year Jared got into his car accident back in April 2022. But that can't be a coincidence on her part, they have to be separate things and not karma surely enough right?

Now, I don't hate Jared. In fact, I like Jared overall but I will say he is an impulsive character who has lashed out online at times both BEFORE and AFTER his breakdown in 2015. Rumor has it he went to a facility for a couple weeks to a month or so. I say this did NOT help him in the long run clearly. The people like Gen who probably convinced him to go to said facility have no sense of discernment in determining whether it would actually benefit someone with suicidal ideation and such to go to such a facility. My senses tell me this was greatly detrimental in the long run and clearly had no longer term benefits. To me, the above things I mentioned and other things I mentioned in other posts seems to point to my being right in my assessment here. It seems Jared is still troubled to this day with anxiety and depression 💯

I think he struggles more with anxiety than depression based on what I've read in his chapter in that book Family Don't End with Blood along with how he talks and expresses himself and such. Yes he has symptoms and signs of both but anxiety seems more dominant than depression, which he was initially diagnosed with in 2007. He's often described as a worry wart and cares very much what people think of him. He even used to get anxiety with cons and such when he first started out doing them. Anxiety is characterized more with feelings like fearfulness, paranoia, extreme stress, sense of dead, worry or apprehension, tightness in chest, etc.

I myself was diagnosed with depression in 2006 probably about 14 months before Jared was, as I attempted suicide via overdose at the age of 15 on 9/18/2006, which actually was only a year and 5 days after Supernatural first aired on 9/13/2005. I mention this because Jared described his suicidal ideation during his 2015 breakdown as more or less an intrusive thought and ended up feeling fearful he would do so and didn't want to burden his wife or friend Brian with being the last persons that he spoke to, or his kids being without a dad type of deal. In my case, I was very convinced by my brain that I was better off dead, the world would be better off without me, etc. I still at times am consumed with thoughts about dying and leaving this world behind, this "stupid rock" as I so affectionately call it at times ha ha. Depression is really more or less accompanied by things like disinterest in things, guilt, worthlessness, hopelessness, etc. Both conditions can lead to decrease in energy levels, over- or under- sleeping, irritability or anger, problems concentrating, etc.

They coexist a lot but do you see why I am saying he seems more anxious than depressed? No mental illness, be it anxiety, depression, etc. can excuse his poor behaviors whatsoever, same with Jensen and anyone else. Now Anon, do you see that I have my criticisms of both and also praises of both J2?

Instead of sending me more anonymous asks and risking having more people go after you in reblogs and whatnot, I encourage you to send me a PM. Anything you say to me is between us if that is what you'd like.

#j2 #spn family #jared critical #jensen critical #always keep fighting #you are not alone #anon answered

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icantwithstormandsilence · 1 month

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One thing I'll never get over is how Storm & Silence could've easily been so much better if Rob Their(the author) wasn't afraid to actually write a compelling story.

Don't get me wrong, I adore the whole concept of '19 year old Victorian girl dresses up as a man to get a job'. But it's just so poorly written that I think about all the ways the story could be better when I'm in the bus going home from college.

I mean, that's how it is with books, they will be criticized no matter how good or how bad it may be. But then again, this is a Wattpad book. You can never expect too much from a Wattpad book. Every character feels very two dimensional after the first book that every other book after that is just plain fan-service.

The first book is genuinely good, except for the hyper feminist way Lilly is written to be. The author doesn't even bother to add conflict between any of the characters. The ONLY conflict that we ever get is Lilly arguing with Rikkard how she's capable of anything even if she's a women in every single book. It keeps going on and on like this that it just gets boring.

And the way Lilly's intelligence is suppressed makes me mad too. Like in book 3, she literally deciphers a map to find the treasure, but god forbid she recognizes her fiancé's(whether she likes him or not) initials on the waste disposal file and connect the dots on how he and her previous guy(I forgot his name) might've just disappeared. That right there could've been a good conflict. She recognizes the initials, realizes what Rikkard might've done, get angry and argue about not wanting him to interfere with it, then having to find an escape from her next fiancé and choosing to go out of town with Rikkard against her will instead of telling him why bcs she doesn't want a new waste disposal file.

Not to be mean, but the author is a man. At the end of the day, the way female characters are written by men will never be realistic. I know there might be real people out there like Lilly, but the way her "inner feminist"(I hate when she kept saying 'mY iNneR FemIniSt iS prOtEstiNg' stfu) is written truly makes me want to pull my hair out. It will never be same as writing a story from a women's perspective when you already know what it's like. I'm not saying that men are incapable of understanding the female experience, I'm saying that it's stupid and annoying when a man pretends he does.

Also the lack of historical accuracy boils my blood. Rob claims to have done thorough research on every historical details yet somehow Lilly and Rikkard goes on top of the Statue of Liberty despite the story taking place around 1840 and the statue starting its construction in 1876.

SNS was the last and final original story I've read on Wattpad. I really wish I could go back and keep myself away from that app and read an actual book. But it's the only place I could go to when I lost my sanity. Let me know how you feel about the book. I know there's barely anyone in the fandom, but please tell me your perspective.

P.S. can someone tell me where Rob used the slur. I read about many people talking about it but I cannot remember or recognize where it is.

#storm and silence #sns #lilly linton #rikkard ambrose #storm & silence #thank you for coming to my ted talk

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alarrytale · 8 months

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I think that along with L*ewe, which they've both been wearing a lot, and L*me and other stuff they're promoting, that the stunt is in part to undo the damage O*ivia did to Harry's image. They couldn't do another PR relationship like Holivia because people would turn against Harry completely as he's so overexposed so they had no choice but to make this one low key and unproblematic. They want people to be invested in it, and many are but there's many ignoring it too. It has definitely helped his image with some of the gp, who think the 'relationship' is cute. But I'm angry at him and his team. He made that romantic quote at his show, supposedly giving advice to a fan but no doubt the whole exchange was orchestrated, and it turned out it was something T*ylor also said and it was used to sell their relationship, they used the exact same tactic with Holivia. I ignored it with Holivia because that whole stunt was weird but when they used that tactic again it really made me question how genuine Harry's shows are. Even that 'daddy' exchange at his show it turned out that the guy works for Pleasing. That was a set up. Lol. How are we supposed to believe anything he says when it's used to sell stunts, and even his shows aren't safe from them. I also stupidly thought that he might CO or stop stunting after the queerbaiting backlash. I thought that the backlash was too much for HSHQ to ignore, it was all over the media and social media. Then he literally went into another pr relationship after. They learned nothing, except to make this pr relationship more low key. I hate this need for him to always be publicly in a relationship or if he isn't then he's linked to a different model every week. His success is so manufactured, he has got to where he is by connections only. He hasn't earned his position. He is a very talented musician but they don't lean into his talent to sell him, it's completely overshadowed by his PR stunts. They could have done so much else with him.

Hi, anon!

I still don't understand how a pr/bearding relationship is going to rehab the damage of another pr/bearding relationship. The only thing holivia did was make people sick and tired of his pr relationships. We are stunt fatigued. This is yet another one, but with added shit aka poorly disguised repetitive brand promo. The obvious brand promo is actually making the whole thing look more fake. I see more and more people calling H out on his bs.

Yes, they use the same tricks every stunt. They start seeding a relationship with small things like that, that makes sense in hindsight. And yes, so much H does that seems organic is preplanned, set up or contrived. Even at his shows. We see less and less of the real Harry. Everything he does or shows us is controlled and is connected to an agenda. Things that might seem innocent on surface level always seems to be tied to a stunt or commercial gain. He's a walking billboard, always selling us something. We don’t get any fan service to make up for it either anymore, that's were the issue lies. There is nothing good to make up for the bad (or the things we tolerate for his sake).

I do wish they'd have more faith in him as a talented artist. I wish he had more faith in himself too. I think everyone makes more money this way, but i don't understand how he's not embarrased and ashamed. He does look annoyed and pissed off in all the photos from the last month. Is a cranky H good promo for the citrus fruit brand or the german lion brand? Is the fandom making fun of it's ridiculousness good promo? I think we're all counting the days until this phase is over. He doesn’t need to stunt like this to rehab his image after O. As you say, there's loads of other things he could do that give him pr that everyone would love, including him.

#hussell for ts #stunting #holivia for ts #harry image

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awesomelybadjmusicvideos · 1 year

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Hey Awesomely Bad fans! We’re prepping for our show at Ret-Con coming up on the 24th, but we’d like to also take a moment to answer some of our most asked questions and give a small peek before the Awesomely Bad curtain with answering in way too long detail these three questions:

“Can you upload the music videos you show to youtube?”

“Where can I find these music videos?”

“How do you find this stuff!?”

“Can you come to [x] convention?”

Here’s the short answers:

First: No, we will not be uploading any videos ourselves, copyright bots would flag nearly everything if we even attempted to try.

Second: We provide the playlists as a means to try and help people find the artists and songs we share and many can be found officially or unofficially online.

Third: Years of deep diving into the Japanese music scene and recommendations from others.

Fourth: You can usually find us at our home convention of Animazement, but we will always share on our social media pages which events we will be hosting Awesomely Bad at.

Now for the much long involved answer to all of this:

Not much to add to the first point, but copyright strikes on songs are a nuisance to deal with and Japanese entertainment companies are very big on their bots flagging their content when it appears in videos on places like Youtube.

Luckily a lot of labels have been doing better about making their artists' music and even music videos available for streaming online, Sony Music Japan no longer geolocking content a few years ago made a lot of videos available in high quality uploads on youtube. Some suggestions that may help you find certain videos may involve using an online translator and searching for the artists or the song title by its Japanese name. Another helpful thing for finding Japanese music videos is to include “PV” in the search. “PV” is short for “Promotional Video” and is the moniker used in Japan for music videos. Unfortunately this doesn’t mean that every music label has made their artists available and some older music labels, like EMI Japan, got absorbed into another company leaving a lot of older videos in possible rights limbo. Most older official uploads from before 2013 may only be available in lower quality uploads. Also plenty of music artists end up switching to a different music label over their careers as well. This is why you can’t find good uploads of most of the popular Kishidan or DJ Ozma’s videos we show officially online.Plenty of other videos have been uploaded by fans as well, but the video quality of these uploads varies a lot and more than not, the videos are usually poorly encoded video files that aren’t usable for the show. Other times you will find videos in decent quality, but they’ll also be hard encoded with karaoke style subtitles in a variety of languages on the video; this is also unusable for the show.

Believe it or not, there’s a lot more to Awesomely Bad than just downloading videos online and putting them on a screen for you all to enjoy. We also strive to try and find the best quality version of videos to show. Trust us, you would not enjoy 240p potato quality video blown up onto an HD Projector screen. This has led to your Awesomely Bad hosts over the years to acquire official home video releases of various music videos, usually issued on DVD with a CD single or put together with other music videos on DVD. These also can range in price from $20 to $60 before import shipping costs to obtain. And the older the release, the harder it can be to get ahold of, leading to having to use third party service to help obtain auctions or purchases on Japan only markets like Yahoo Auctions Japan. We mention all of this, because we’ve done all of this to bring you the videos you love! The photo here is your main host Kurt’s collection of official releases of various music videos featured in Awesomely Bad over the years. Your other hosts have also helped obtain official videos, and sometimes we have been lucky to have other people who have harder to find DVD quality releases provide us with the videos. In fact, an old Awesomely Bad favorite will now have a new higher quality video for future presentations after it was provided to us recently, so look forward to that!

As for finding Awesomely Bad content, it’s also tougher than you think, your hosts go through deep drives into the Japanese music scene looking for videos, and for every great video we find, there’s easily a half dozen or more videos that aren’t very funny in the way that works for the panel or they only have a short moment or two that’s worth showing; which is what lead us to creating the Badulator for some of those moments. We also do take suggestions as well now and then, but there is a good chance we probably know about it; but sometimes even we get surprised, so you never know.

Lastly, we do get asked about presenting at various conventions, especially ones we presented at in the past, if we’ll be at them or come back to. Believe us, we had fun in the past at events like Dragoncon, Sakuracon, and Katsucon; but traveling to so many events throughout the year on your own dime can get pretty expensive and at most we get a discounted or free badge for our work hosting an event. That still leaves hotel, travel, and meal expenses and an increase in the costs of all of these things over the years, plus your hosts are not young 20 somethings anymore either; so we’ve slowed down on many events we appear at. At this point we’re normally guaranteed to be at both Animazement in Raleigh, NC and Otakon in Washington DC. These are the two conventions your main host prioritizes attending and we appreciate both conventions wanting to have Awesomely Bad as an event every year. But we are appearing at a new convention in a few weeks, so there’s always a chance for us to pop up at other shows again too!

Time to wrap this up, and if you’re still reading this far, I hope this helped you have a better understanding of what we do here with this panel and what we strive to achieve with it. Hope to see some Awesomely Bad fans at Ret-Con and whatever other events we go to! Be safe and may Daigo Stardust always shine down glitter on you.

#Awesomely Bad #FAQ #JRock #JPop

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weatherman667 · 1 month

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Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World

This is an extremely frustrating show, as they do some things exceptionally well, some things half-well, and other things done terribly.

First of all, I have to state that Playtech-Asia is, in fact, a scam site. The footage is obviously ripped from Funimation's original play through, which means it has the censored subtitles, variable resolution video, and obvious watermarks. It also has no subtitles other than for voice.

Because, with simuldubs, the overall quality of all Funimation CrunchyRoll RightStuf Sony masters has fallen sharply.

This show uses clumsy RPG mechanics that is quite text-heavy. He will look across a room, and use his identify, which will helpfully label everything.

In Japanese, obviously.

Along with all of the menu screens.

There are two types of people:

Those who want an Elf slave girl (well kept)

Those who want an Elf slave girl (poorly kept)

This is for the former, with the whole world is quite designed around the prospect of the protagonist buying a harem of eager fantasy slave girls. But, that said, the world is very well designed, from geography to social structures to laws, to everything.

Slavery exists, and what we see of it, it is typically a punishment for law breaking. We don't see any laws designed to make slaves out of the average person, or any overarching lawful evil in that regard. Instead, the knights are having very realistic problems enforcing the law. They instead have to rely on bounty hunters.

Luckily, everyone has a status card in their left hand. It can be summoned with a spell, or just naturally appears after death. If the status card says "Bandit", you will face no punishments whatsoever, regardless of the context.

The story goes out of the way to explain outlawry, which means they don't understand it's a thing. Basically if you are accused of committing a crime and summoned to court, and do not appear, you can be declared Outlaw. It takes some extreme violations to warrant this, but once declared Outlaw, people will face no punishment for killing them. They are expected to declare this immediately. In fact, if the person has their outlawry revoked, waiting could mean you are now guilty of murder.

As for slaves, if they flee, they will be declared Bandit.

All of the slaves seem largely well kept, without out any reason given for this, other than they don't want to make you feel bad about sleeping with a less than consensual sex slave. But, it would be safe to infer that there are minimum standards required to keep slaves, which are laws that did exist.

Now, onto this world building they add an uninteresting protagonist. He's moral enough to stop this from going in a dark direction, and morally fraught over the issue of killing bandits, even surreptitiously, and he does develop over the course of the story. That said, he's not especially clever or dim, he's not especially skilled or creative.

The show is fantastic about lining up single shots of combat. What it has trouble with is doing more with it, but, quite frankly, it works.

As for fan service, I sentence every - single - person who makes fan service anime to watch Cat Planet Cuties to learn to do it properly. Makken-ki S2, Heaven's Lost Property, High School DxD, To Love Ru, or even Freezing if you cannot get your hands on the others. Or, if you want to keep their clothes (barely) on, I will recommend Arifureta and Mushoku Tensei.

It follows High School of the Dead in that it doesn't just show girls in provocative poses, it zooms in on their breasts and asses. It uses dramatic perspective shots when you don't want dramatic perspective, you want to see boobs. You want to see a girl with boobs. South Park proved the important theorem that boobs are only boobs when attached to girls.

At the end of the day, it also resorts to occasionally just not rendering nipples or... you know, that which cannot be shown in Japan. This is something that could have easily been solved if the original author/mangaka had simply decided how much they want to show.

Which is something every story of every sort has to decide. How provocative do you want to be?

#harem in a labyrinth of another world #anime

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blogtaculous · 4 months

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Well, I did it. I went back and played Skyrim’s big DLC campaigns, and thankfully I finished it before 2024. I’ve got some thoughts, and many of them are negative.

But first, some background.

I got Skyrim around launch after getting an XBOX 360 for Christmas when my college roommate shocked the world by dropping out. A friend of mind recommended Skyrim, and it was my first Elder Scrolls game and first big RPG (aside from Two Worlds, which barely ran on the family PC and therefore doesn’t count). I loved it, as many did in those days, because it was a pretty big deal in 2011.

I would later get Hearthfire (it was the cheapest) and I liked that a lot, too. I miss that character, actually, and his home in Falkreath (RIP Gunnar, I wish I could export your save). I wanted to try Dawnguard and Dragonborne, but it wasn’t to be. I ended up with a copy on PC in 2016 or so and I tried to play through it again, but once I played Witcher 3 I just couldn’t tolerate Skyrim anymore. The reasons are numerous and they’ll come up later.

Recently, I moved my PS4 to my wife and I’s bedroom to facilitate our transition from streaming services to physical media. When we met I had her try Skyrim, her first video game experience like that ever, and it was very funny, so when I bought the PS4 I got handful of games for her to try if she wanted to get better (she would latch on to ESO, by the way), and Skyrim was one. This seemed like a good time to finally get through the DLC that I hadn’t had a chance at.

So, I’ve done it. I did the main quest, the civil war, then Dawnguard and Dragonborne.

The early hours were fun as a nostalgia trip. It had been years, and the rose colored glasses were in full force. But, that didn’t take long to wear off, and I can safely say that Skyrim, while it was revolutionary in 2011, absolutely does not hold up.

It’s ugly, the gameplay is bad, every system is completely mediocre, and the voice acting is poorly directed. The writing is just awful, the quests are forgettable, and it’s mismanaged.

Skyrim has been released on every console since launch and yet some bugs remain. Others have been fixed by modders (for free). There have been no improvements at any level since 2011, with some huge and even game breaking bugs untouched.

This part of the experience frustrates me the most. I hate that I have to rely on unpaid community labor to make this game playable. And, speaking of the community, let’s talk about paid mods and the creation club.

It sucks.

More specifically, it sucks to charge for mods (whose creators were likely not fairly compensated for their work), and it sucks that Sony doesn’t allow custom assets, but it ALSO sucks to bundle mods with the game. Why? Well, because a lot of modded content is only good because it’s a freely available labor of love, but once it becomes an inseparable part of the game it has problems. This is most evident with Saints and Seducers, a mod that’s outrageous and stupid.

In short, Saints and Seducers adds new bandit enemies, items, and pets. But it was clearly made by fans, not professionals, because it commits the cardinal sin of ignoring gameplay restrictions. The pets, for example, cannot be harmed. They are completely untouchable, which becomes a problem when they have bugged dialogue and cannot be dismissed (a bug that has persisted for three years). The items are ugly and out of place with the other weapon and armor sets. Also, it’s extremely stupid for the bandits to be invincible until the player goes across the exact right spot in the bandit camp. All things I expect from a silly mod that never ever should have been bundled with the base game.

And this stuff can’t be removed or disabled. Capital B Bad.

Anyway, I played a sword and board character this time because I’ve always wanted to. It is as unsatisfying as every build, because the combat system is shallow and bad. It wasn’t even good in 2011, really, and it definitely isn’t good now. Not much else to say.

Like all Bethesda games, there’s a thousand different systems but they’re all average. The world design and environments are really solid (except the colors, which are ugly), but everything else is so blah.

The DLCs are fine. The bad writing is back, of course. Dragonborne has some cool Cthulhu ideas and imagery, but the final boss fight is frustrating since the combat system is such a chore already, then it tries to be a multi-stage boss fight and they’re all the same. I always wondered why everyone loved Serana and it turns out it’s really because she’s basically the only NPC in the entire game who gets even a little character building.

Now that I’m finally through this last little chunk I can put Skyrim down for good, though this time without the nostalgia goggles. Considering the proceeding work (Fallout 4, Starfield, etc) I expect the next Elder Scrolls game to similarly be poorly written, badly designed, ugly, and safe. I’m sure it’ll also include the worst base building mechanics ever designed, excessive loading screens, and wooden characters as only Bethesda’s aging and decrepit game engine can provide.

The magic is gone, the ability is gone, and all that’s left is Todd “It Just Works” Howard’s poor design philosophy and Emil “I Can’t Do Branching Quests” completely worthless writing. Starfield was made for 12 year olds and the anodyne tastes of their parents, and ESVI will be the same. I have no faith in the future of Bethesda “RPG” development.

Like I said, mostly negative thoughts. I wish I could say the 31 hours I put into this last foray into Skyrim was worth it, but I’m not really sure it was.

#Skyrim #bethesda

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wrenthemoralfander · 9 months

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I cannot believe I have to say this:

Pay your goddamn writers. Writing can make or break a story.

It doesn’t matter who you have acting, if the writing isn’t good. Good writing will often save a movie, Plus, if you are not going to compensate the writers, you do not deserve to stream it. No one will want to watch something with shitty writing. So, if the writing is shitty and half done, and doesn’t follow or makes sense, people will stop watching.

Pay your goddamn actors. Acting can make a break story as well.

Actors have such a realism to them that AI cannot even attempt to potray. They have emotions that add to their performance. Actors are humans, and we have opinions. Do not fire the actors because they express their opinion.

By Refusing to compensate the writers/actors who put their heart and soul into their work, the movie just becomes bland.

My dad, who was two classes short, but had a stroke and didn’t get to finish his degree in cyber security, thinks it’s bullshit that the companies are not paying the writers or the actors. Does he know shit about writing? Possibly. Does he know jack shit about acting? No. Does he think it is bs that the streaming services won’t pay those on strike? Absolutely.

Multi-million/multi-billion dollar companies can afford to pay the actors and writers. Sure we have the technology but just because we could doesn’t mean we should. Besides, we don’t want to be screwed over. We want to see actors, not robots. We want a good story.

I will sum it up here:

If you will not pay your actors, and your writers, three things may have to happen:

We will use DVD’s instead, or watch it in theaters.

We stop using streaming services. We will not use your shit, if we learn it has bad writing and the actors aren’t writers are paid.

We will begin watching Fan-Made shit, because sometimes that shit is better than anything.

As someone who aspires to be a voice actor, and in the process of writing a book, I will not tolerate this disrespect. Ai cannot be your answer for not wanting to pay people for their work.

Writers are the reason we have good movies. They are the backbone, and if you’re going to try to remove it, you’re going to find it’s harder to stand without them.

You EITHER pay your writers FAIRLY or lose your customers and watch as everything you have worked towards crumbles to the ground.

Your choice.

To anyone reading this, these three quotes really help get the point across.

“Creativity is the greatest rebellion in existence.” -OSHO

“The only thing worse than rebellion is the thing that causes rebellion.” -Frederick Douglass

“When the sword of rebellion is drawn, the sheath should be thrown away.” -English Proverbs

To the writers and the actors, work together, and keep fighting. You all must never give up, never stop fighting. if the companies aren’t going to pay you, if they’re going to push you around, push back.

Do not let them treat you poorly.

#writerscommunity #writers and actors strike #pay the writers #pay the actors #we will not be silenced #fuck ai writing #Ai is not always A good idea when it comes to writing and to movies #to actors:#to writers:#rebelling is a sign of necessary change and honestly? This NEEDS to stop.#we will get through this #Dad doesn’t approve of the ppl screwing writers over #Dad also doesn’t approve of people screwing actors over.#to the ppl screwing writers and actors over:#Writers and actors DESERVE to be paid!#You need to gain some empathy and some humility.#fuck around and find out #i want people to see this

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marathoncoder · 2 years

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Back to Westeros

As the premiere of a new television series based on A Song of Ice and Fire arrives I find myself questioning whether or not to commit myself to a watching it, given how poorly the initial series ended. I consider this fully acknowledging that unlike later year Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon presumably has showrunners that actually desire to be in their positions. Detailing all my complaints regarding the final two seasons, particularly the final one would take an enormous amount of space, and has been done to death elsewhere. Instead I'd like to focus on the final scene, an act of fan service deserving of a spot on the Mount Rushmore of fan service. Let's talk about the composition of the small council.

Grand Maester - This is a political position, and need not be filled by either the most talented or the most senior maester in the kingdom, but it generally is filled by an actual maester. Samwell Tarly left Oldtown without forging a single chain. Not only is he not a maester, but he never even advanced from novice to acolyte.

Lord Commander of the Kingsguard - Brienne of Tarth swore an oath to enter the service of Lady Sansa. Sansa has now been crowned as the sovereign of an independent nation and needs loyal and competent people more than ever. Brienne ditched her for a better job.

Kingsguard - Podrick Payne came a long way over the course of the series, but the idea that he was now one of the finest knights in the kingdom is laughable. The new hands-off king likely delegated responsibiliy for Kingsguard composition to his Hand or the Lord Commander, both Podric advocates, and Kingsguard membership stopped being about quality a long time ago, so why reform it now?

Master of Coin - Still on the subject of delegated powers, presumably Tyrion Lannister was given it to fill the council, and chose his friend. But why? Competence has always mattered to Tyrion going back to his youth when he successfully managed the plumbing across the Westerlands. There's no reason to believe Bronn is up to this task, and Tyrion already fulfilled the terms of their agreement by assigning Bronn the lordship of Highgarden.

Hand of the King - Tyrion isn't necessarily a bad choice here, even with the Bronn selection, and the inexplicably bad decisions he made at the end of Daenerys Targaryen's reign, but let's talk about the selection of Bran as the new king.

Tyrion was shown being very concerned about the concept of succession in Daenerys' kingdom, given that she believed she was incapable of having additional children and was the last of the Targaryen line. So he chose someone incapable of siring a child, and the subject of succession is not addressed. Yes, I know, that would have taken time, and Benioff and Weiss had more important demands of their time than competently finishing their megahit show.

A lot of time was given to the topic of the North deserving independence, because of its cultural and economic detachment from the rest of the kingdom, in addition to it having borne the brunt of the damage of the war with the White Walkers. Sansa is now Queen of the North.

Who is Bran's heir? Yes, Sansa. If Bran were plugged into a tree he would outlive several generations of Starks, but that is not the case. He will either pass while his sister is still alive or while her children are, so when he passes the kingdoms will merge, and the North's independence will be short-lived indeed. Well, that's unless Sansa's second child is assigned the role of heir to Uncle Bran, in which case you have the odd situation where the second child is set to inherit a larger and far richer kingdom than the eldest. That seems a recipe for success.

So let's say Sansa and her brood are removed from the line of succession. In that case, the heir is Arya, who will not accept it, and is unlikely to bear any legitimate children, leaving the throne open.

Surely, these potential difficulties are acceptable risks given the absolute necessity of the selection of this new king, right? Well, that's except for the fact that the new king shows no interest in the day-to-day running of the kingdom, and even if he did, obtaining all the knowledge in the world does not necessarily come bundled with a single iota of wisdom.

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love-takes-work · 5 years

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When someone toxic needs a friend

I just wanna add a little personal reflection to the discussion of Spinel’s treatment in Steven Universe: The Movie.

A few signposts so you know where I’m starting with this:

A criticism I’ve seen:

Steven was not particularly warm to Spinel. He did not hug her. He did not offer to be her friend. He spoke carelessly and triggered her toward becoming murderous again. He only cared about what she could do for him.

A perspective I’ve seen:

LOTS of people with borderline personality disorder or strong feelings about abandonment personally relate to Spinel and are critical of Steven from this perspective.

Rebecca Sugar’s commentary on Spinel:

The thing about Spinel is that she’s a really toxic person.

She’s so toxic that she’s literally trying to poison people.

In my interactions with friends who have had a history difficult enough to make it hard for them to trust other people and sometimes even actively want to hurt others, it’s just a very difficult situation to navigate. In the case of Spinel and all of these characters, that’s extremely exaggerated because cartoons have the ability to be extreme exaggerations. I wanted to explore what it’s like when you’re trying to help someone who really doesn’t want to help themselves, who wants to embody the negative feelings that they have about themselves. I think that’s something really real. I hadn’t seen that in a cartoon before.

Spinel, unlike many other characters, actually has the goal of hurting people, which is new territory for the show. She really wants to hurt Steven, and there’s a reason that she does—because she’s in so much pain. I just wanted to explore all the dimensions of that.

I also think Steven has his way of trying to handle and dissolve conflict. It’s not necessarily a good way for him to handle this situation. It really leaves him in a difficult state, and I think what I wanted to show in the way that they interact is that at a certain point, when you can’t help someone, you have to be able to protect yourself.

Ultimately, he can’t really convince her to change. It’s something she’ll have to want for herself. But what he can do is protect himself from her, making it impossible for her to hurt him.

It’s sort of up to you if you would like to love her. If you watch this movie and she, you know, frustrates you, that is totally fair. I want that to be a big part of who she is.

[From the AV Club interview]

So here are a few things I want to shed light on.

It’s very interesting that Rebecca intended Spinel to be read as “a toxic person” because so many fans fell in love with her, said they’d be her friend, hated intensely on Pink Diamond because of what she did to abandon the poor Gem, and sympathized with her directly. But Rebecca was looking at Spinel from Steven’s perspective. And that’s also what I did.

I’ve been Steven. I have VERY much been Steven.

When you meet someone who was done dirty, when you recognize the horror they’ve been through, when you see how much pain they are in and agree they have the right to be angry, it’s natural for empathetic people to offer themselves as comfort.

But when you’re Steven, you also know it isn’t YOUR fault either. Before you have the ability and experience to set boundaries, you can get sucked into other people’s stormy waters and think you’re helping if you drown in solidarity with them. What’s really important to preserving yourself is learning that you can stand on the boat and toss a life preserver. That it doesn’t ACTUALLY HELP to jump in the water and sink with them.

Some folks are angry that Steven didn’t jump right into sacrifice himself on the altar of friendship in the service of an intense, literally murderous stranger who tried to poison him and his planet and lash out at his friends, robbing them of their rich pasts and their relationships because all of it hurt HER so much. It is SO easy to understand WHY SPINEL WAS ANGRY. But nothing she was doing to Steven, his friends, or the Earth was going to fix her problems, and furthermore, she FULLY UNDERSTOOD that it was NOT THE FAULT of any of the people she took her anger out on. It was irrational, yes, and that is part of her dysfunction. But also, in these situations, what helps explain it still does not excuse it.

Some have railed at Steven saying he somehow forgave genocidal tyrants like the Diamonds but couldn’t be friends with a damaged Gem like Spinel who just wanted friendship. The big difference there is that Steven got involved with the Diamonds when both parties believed he was a different person. The Diamonds believed he was the lost Pink Diamond, and Steven has also spent much of his superhero life believing he WAS his mother and was therefore obligated to accept punishment for her crimes or to clean up the messes she made. Now that he knows he is not her and that she did some pretty horrible stuff, he also wants the right to stop feeling responsible for every person Pink hurt in the entire region of space.

Steven gave Spinel basically compassionate treatment. He did not abuse her. He did not insult her. He occasionally coddled her when it seemed important (and though some said he was too businesslike while he pursued his mission, he was literally looking at the world ending within two days if he didn’t solve the problem). And most importantly . . . .

He let her leave the garden.

Spinel stayed in the garden all those millennia because Pink Diamond told her they were playing a game. All that time, she had visions of Pink returning so she could see her smile, hear her laughter. We see a sequence where she tried to follow Pink out of the garden and Pink manipulated her into staying willingly. We watch those feet leaving and one pair of feet staying behind. We see Pink disappear.

When Steven goes to leave the garden, Spinel follows in the same manner. Some have criticized him for letting go of her hands.

But he invited her out of the garden. He didn’t say stay. He said come with me.

As he sang about her deserving someone better, he was sincere. But he did not say the person to make her feel found should be him. He did not want to take on another person with thousands of years of baggage who would require a specific brand of attention and so much tenderness to avoid snapping. He did not allow her to be held by the hand and led out. He recognized that she needed encouragement to leave this place because of what was done to her, but he wanted her to take the steps.

Compassionate people are crushed all the time under the weight of needy people who make it hurt to love. People like Steven can acknowledge that Spinel deserves love and deserves to be happy without accepting that it’s heartless to stop short of personally doing it. Especially when you literally have to take physical, mental, and emotional damage as a general consequence of offering support and counseling. It is sometimes just beyond what you can do.

I made the mistake several times of getting very close to someone who treated me poorly while taking comfort in my presence. I cared that they were hurt and I didn’t know how to say “You deserve love” without stepping in and loving them. In EVERY case I was involved with, the person went from initially grateful to “why don’t you help me more?” shockingly quickly, and two of them deliberately tried to create situations where I would be trapped with them and isolated from others.

I could get very personal here but I don’t think I need to. Those of us who relate all too well to Steven wanting to help others will have been in this situation. Your heart hurts for people who live with pain that has never touched you, but when they’ve made it clear with one of their first actions that they feel satisfied at the idea of ruining your life, trusting them could mean the end of you. Especially if they demand that you risk life and limb to fix and save them before you’d dare to call it love, and especially if they want to be fixed without feeling responsible for initiating any of it. Some people mistake suffering for working hard toward a goal. Both can hurt but only one is constructive. If I’m expected to spend extensive resources on someone, I need some partnership in the goal, and I can’t accomplish that with someone whose wish for companionship manifests as “I want you to feel as bad as I do, and will take steps to hurt you so I have someone to cry with.”

Steven risked his actual life while he didn’t have powers so he could go talk to Spinel, and he wouldn’t fight her when she wanted to fight. He protected himself while she spent her anger. He STILL put himself in the line of fire far more than a less compassionate person would. He took time and tenderness to listen to her story and sympathize with her, tell her she deserved better, bear witness to what she’d become after being treated like a discarded plaything, and bring her hope with promises of a new future and a way to feel found.

Sadly, Spinel flipped back to being murderous at the first sign that Steven might be about to prioritize someone other than her, reframing his reasonable needs as if he was planning to abandon her, isolate her, discard her. This was a trauma reaction, yes, and she isn’t entirely to blame for being upset because she was worried she was just being used and none of her actions were logically thought through.

But does someone ever “deserve” the friendship of a specific person who can’t feel warm toward them because of their OWN bad experiences?

No!

Steven has a big heart but he has his very own huge storehouse of trauma, and being physically attacked with his family and planet put in danger over the actions of his mother is at the top of the list. Instead of assuming that the person who has trauma the loudest is the most hurt, can’t we just acknowledge that Spinel’s and Steven’s respective traumas make them NOT the best match for friendship?

The ending of the movie, with Spinel going off with the Diamonds, might seem a little disturbing with all the codepencency floating around there, but if you want to talk about compassion, I think this is a good place for Spinel to start.

She just wanted to make Pink Diamond laugh and enjoy her life. She longed to do that for so long and then it all ended when she found out she would NEVER GET TO DO IT. I think bonding with the other Diamonds and having a familiar, safe place to experience the kind of love she’s used to will be a good FOUNDATION for building herself into a person beyond that. For now, she needs comfort. I hope they treat her well.

#steven universe #steven universe the movie #gif #long post #spinel #su analysis #my su analysis #myblog

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allzelemonz · 3 years

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Mr. Mayor: Vlad Masters X NSG Reader

Decided to make it gender neutral despite the request because I love Vlad and I know other boys and enbys do too. Also made the reader Jack Fenton’s sibling because I think there’s a slap in the face situation part 2 later on.

Visiting your brother’s family was always great. Jack rambled on about something ghost related while Jazz caught you up on her academic successes and Maddie told you about the big new events you’d missed since visiting last. Your favorite part of the visit was taking Danny to hang out. Your nephew was your favorite, not that you’d ever say it out loud.

So taking Danny to the Nasty Burger to meet with his friends was right in your wheelhouse. Sam and Tucker seemed like really nice kids. You admired Sam’s taste in the weird things and Tucker’s understandable love for technology. In talking to the kids you remembered what Maddie had told you.

“So, the new mayor, not your favorite person?” You looked around at the high schooler's faces.

“He tried to make us wear school uniforms, started a curfew at four o’clock, and we almost lost the Nasty Burger.” Danny explained.

“Does he have some sort of vendetta against you or something?” You asked as you went to take a bite of a fry.

The teens looked at you skeptically. As if you knew something you weren’t supposed to.

“What?” You looked around. “Am I missing something?”

“He’s just a bad guy, that’s all.” Sam clarified.

“He’s the guy that’s been chasing after Danny’s mom since they were in college, other than that he never seemed that bad.” You set down the fry you were never going to get the chance to eat. “He and Jack always spent summers between semester doing stupid ghost expermments in th attic.”

“So you knew him before…” Danny stopped himself from finishing.

“Before?”

“Before college?” Tucker filled questioningly.

“Yeah, yeah, you knew him from when my dad went to college?”

“Not really.” You answered. “Just caught glimpses of him. I was in high school so I didn’t really pay attention to what Jack did.” You shrugged. “He seemed nice, but he stopped coming over so often for some reason.”

Once again the teens looked at each other as if they knew something special.

“All right, who wants to tell me?” You broke their little staring contest.

“Tell you what?” Tucker spoke in more of a series of squeaks rather than words.

“Yeah, there’s nothing to tell.” Sam covered.

You turned to Danny. “Nephew.”

He gulped and let out a nervous laugh. “It’s like Sam said, he’s just a really bad guy now.”

“Explain.”

The look of a disappointed (Aunt/Uncle/Auncle-This is the most common gender neutral term I’ve found) was something that could move mountains. Danny shifted in his seat clearly trying to come up with a convincing lie.

“Daniel, tell me.” You narrowed your brows and the kid looked white as a ghost.

Hold on, no. His hand was gone. The one that was resting on the table. Gone.

“Is this a ghost thing?” You asked.

Danny looked down at his hand and tried to play it off as if it was just a weird angle. It didn’t work. With all the nervous muttering and poorly formed excuses it was obvious they were lying.

“You’re half ghost?” It was hard to believe, but it was the only thing that the kids didn’t sound like they were lying about.

“Yes, just keep your voice down.” Danny warned. “Vlad is half ghost too, that’s how he became mayor and got all of his money.”

“So he’s bad because he played to his strengths?” You muttered to yourself.

You gathered up the trash around the table.

“Why don’t you introduce me to him, Danny. I’m sure he’s not that bad of a guy.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Sam chimed in.

“I may be related to Jack Fenton, but that doesn’t mean I’m an idiot.” You looked at Danny who seemed to forget that he could do ghostly things and was trying to hide in his shirt. “Come on, Danny.”

Reluctantly Danny left his friends to introduce you to his arch nemesis. A fourteen year old with an arch nemesis and it had to be your nephew. Town hall was busy, but that’s what town halls are like. Danny helped you walk through a few walls until you were outside of Vlad’s office. The fact that your nephew could just walk through walls was going to take some getting used to. Danny opened the door to see a rather handsome man sitting at a large desk with a fluffy white cat in his lap. He looked up at the sound of the door clicking open.

“Why Daniel, to what do I owe the pleasure?” His voice had a calming effect.

“My (Aunt/Uncle/Auncle) wanted to meet you.” Danny seemed tense in the way he spoke. “I’ll be at home.’ He muttered to you before leaving the room.

You closed the door as he left.

“Good to meet you Mr. Masters, I’m (Y/n), Jack’s (Brother/Sister/Sibling).”

“Oh, yes, I remember seeing you around.” Vlad recalled. “Please sit.”

You did so, taking the seat across from him.

“I wanted to meet you because I’d always been a fan of your work.”

“Oh, thank you, it's always nice to meet a fan.”

“And because I never got the chance to really meet you when you and Jack were friends.”

“I must say, I do regret not meeting you sooner.” Vlad leaned forward and rested his chin in his hands. The cat scurried away to a small tower by the window.

“Why did you and Jack stop talking?” You asked.

“Oh, college passed and we went separate ways.” He waved off the issues.

“That’s it?”

“Well, I used to have a bit of jealousy toward he and Maddie, but I feel it passing more and more with each word.”

“Each what?”

“Each day.” Vlad corrected himself.

“Right…” Your eyes wandered to the framed Packers jersey on his wall. “You’re a Packers fan?”

“Why yes.” Vlad smiled fondly at the jersey. “I’ve tried to buy the team itself, but no luck.”

“I’ve always been a bit of a fan, and I love the jersey.” You complemented.

“Say, would you like to accompany me to a game this season?”

You blushed red. A very attractive man just asked you to go to your favorite team's game.

“I, uh, I’d love to.”

“I have my own box, bottle service and all of the perks.” He bragged. “Afterall someone with your looks deserves nothing less.”

You let out a nervous half laugh. “Thank you, Mr. Masters.”

“Oh, please, Vlad.” He insisted.

“Right, Vlad.”

The name rolled off your tongue in such a pleasant way. Jack might kill you for this, but come on.

“If you’d like we go for dinner tonight as well.” Vlad offered.

“Sure.” You answered right away.

After having to interrogate Danny and his friends you realized you never really got to eat.

“Shall we then?” Vlad waited by you with his arm out to take.

You walked with him to a limo reserved just for the mayor. He sat next to you and gave great conversation. You discussed the Packers, politics of Amity Park, and personal preferences. Dinner was much of the same, but with more food. Vlad wasn’t like Danny had said. He was a gentleman. He may have acquired his money by not-so-legal means, but he was a nice guy.

The ride home was more conversation. Vlad bought the ticket to the game he’d promised and inquired about why you were in Amity Park.

“It was just time to visit, catch up with Jazz and Danny.” You explained. “I try to tune out Jack, he calls every week or so anyway.”

“And how long will you be staying in our fair city?”

“Around a week.”

“And I couldn’t persuade you to stay any longer?” Vlad offered.

“I, uh, I don’t know.” You thought. “Maybe.”

“There is a position open at city hall if it interests you.” He met your eyes. “I’d be happy to pull some string to keep you around.”

“I wouldn’t mind that.” You nodded along.

You hadn’t noticed how close the two of you were. Until Vlad’s hand was already cupping your cheek. He gave you a moment to react before he leaned in and pressed your lips together. It was a sweet kiss, timid. As if he hadn’t done it in a long time.

You scooted closer to him on the seat and wrapped your arms around him, one of your hands finding his pony tail to play with. Vlad rested his other hand on your side and pulled you a bit closer. You pressed further and intensified the kiss. Vlad obliged and kept the pace, kissing you with as much passion.

The car came to a stop and made you both separate. Time was cut short.

“I suppose I’ll see you soon?”

“Of course.”

“Lunch tomorrow?”

“I’d love to.”

Vlad opened the door for you to step out and gave you one last smile before the car drove away. You were definitely going to see him again.

#Danny Phantom #vlad plasmius #Vlad Masters #vlad masters x reader #vlad masters x male reader #vlad masters x female reader #x reader #x male reader #x gender neutral reader #vlad masters x gender neutral reader

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zet-sway · 3 years

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@the-wip-project day 23:

Have you ever read a thing in a book or seen in a show/movie where you thought: "Oh, this is bad, I can do this so much better!" What was it?

YEAH it's called Thane's Death in Mass Effect 3.

The most fucking ruthless thing about Thane's Death is that no one acknowledges it. Like if you're going to kill a character, at least let the people close to them mourn. It's profoundly fucked up.

I've posted about this before but I can't express how betrayed I felt to see Garrus' standing by the memorial wall afterwards, fully expecting to hear him say anything at all about Thane. And then he says nothing. He talks about your Virmire survivor and whatever else. Idk what popular fanon of Garrus is like but I really don't believe he would be that oblivious. Garrus has endured enough loss to understand how exhausting it is. But all you get is a name on a wall.

It's bad, folks.

Like what the fuck. I wasn't expecting some mushy scene of heartfelt condolences, but since he's staring at the fucking memorial after a character dies, I expected some form of acknowledgement.

When Mordin dies, it's all anyone talks about. When Legion dies, everyone acknowledges his sacrifice. When Thane dies it's just silence. It hurts. Maybe they swept him under the rug because we already knew he was going to bite it, which is a piss poor excuse.

All it would have taken is for someone to stay, "I'm sorry about Thane, Commander."

The citadel memorial service is a nice touch but it's abundantly clear it's a reactionary addition, after the backlash from fans. I don't need to elaborate on why locking grief behind paid DLC is a problem. And when you choose the "I loved him" dialogue, your character actually says nothing of the fucking sort. Although I will admit it was a nice touch that the salarian counselor showed up. There's a lot to unpack there.

It's not Thane's fault that Kai Leng is a poorly written villain. The writers gave enough of a shit to give him a dignified death, saving the life of another, even if he absolutely kicked Leng's ass six ways to Sunday and then jumped on his sword like an idiot. The prayer by his bedside was beautiful even if I wish Shepard had the option of holding his hand. I actually think the animators struggled with gestures like hand holding, at least that's the impression I get when I watch the rigging throughout the game. There's a strong difference between motion captured scenes and everything else. Mocap is expensive, I get it, and the models don't have collision which makes it challenging to rig them in a believable way. But I still wish they'd made the effort. Like Thane's arms clipping into Shepards back during their kiss, likely due to technical limitations. It's imperfect but still has the desired impact. And now that I think about it, Thane's animation got a lot more budgetary attention in ME2.

Let me stop myself before I take this tangent off the fucking rails. ME3 is breathtaking in it's scope and care despite it's shortcomings, and now that I'm older and know more about how games are made I can better appreciate how much time and money went into it. I mean it when I say I fully believe the developers were not lazy when they made this game. They made some bad choices, but that's not the same as being lazy.

But if I had to ask for one thing to be done over, it would be the crew's reaction when Thane dies. Even if all that amounts to is "I heard Krios didn't make it."

EDIT: I'm actually shocked you don't get to keep Thane's memorial picture. For years I assumed you did. I was gutted when I learned it's only for the memorial ಠ_ಠ

#zet vs 100days #thane krios #yeah im going to casually pop this into the thane tag #i acknowledge that im not asking for enough #but im a person who deliberately asks for small things because i dont want to be a burden #even if i know the devs arent fucking reading my blog lmao

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its-miichan · 3 years

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TGCF criticisms

Spoilers and unpopular/critical opinions ahead! Beware! I tried to like this, I really did, but this novel really makes me frustrated. It clearly has so much potential, but so much of that potential was wasted on pandering romance and shallow caricatures of main characters. Overall 1.5-2 stars because it gets worse the more you think about it. CHARACTERS: 1. The main character, Xie Lian was wildly bland and boring. He is presented as the kindest, purest, most selfless person in the world, but really he was just a bland white lotus. With Xie Lian, his personality can be described in just a sentence or so, while the author's other two MC's (Wei Wuxian and Shen Qingqiu) are both charming, funny, and deep with their own motivations. Xie Lian just walks around in the story with no purpose and he says that he wants to help the common people, but he really hasn't done that! He's barely helped anyone at all, and those times he did help people are quickly followed by flirting with the ML and forgetting all about the people he was supposed to help. Honestly, in the past, Xie Lian was also the biggest jerk ever. He gave up his own friends and family's well being for his own sense of justice and was stubborn to a fault and refused to listen. What's worse is that none of these flaws are actually addressed, and the story just lets him roll with it and never actually calls him out on it. If you want to see all the reasons why he's a poorly written character, check out this reddit post: https://www. reddit. com/r/MXTX/comments/j2l9ye/why_xl_is_a_poorly_written_character_in_my_opinion/

2. The ML, Hua Cheng, is equally as bad. He is extremely shallow and such a static character, with his development in the present times being nonexistent and his development from the past to the present being wholly nonsensical. His personality is very cliche and his motivations and thoughts are left entirely up to the reader's imagination, which significantly reduces character depth. He could've been such a great character, a ghost king who rules over hell and is morally grey, but instead he is dumbed down to a Xie Lian fanboy. Everything about him not related to Xie Lian is thrown at us in a few paragraphs if at all, and what little motivation and thoughts about him we do get always fall flat. [Like apparently this guy saved him once, and he fell in love with him and became devoted to him for 800 years? Like people get saved all the time and we don't see them going 800 years and 3 deaths for a guy they've barely talked to] Also, he is wildly unlikable. Of course, this is purely subjective, but he is irritatingly smug and lords over literally everyone he meets. It doesn't help that he's an insufferable Mary Sue with an endless array of powers, intelligent as hell and knows literally everything, really good at painting, sculpting, woodworking, and on top of that the richest, most powerful, most handsome, and most charismatic man in the book. His biggest flaw is supposed to be his insecurity and inferiority complex, but that barely ever comes up and 90% of the time he is arrogant and smug. More information on why he's badly written here: https://www. reddit. com/r/MXTX/comments/iskkp5/why_hc_is_a_bad_character_in_my_opinion/

3. The side characters in my opinion are written far better, but obviously quite underdeveloped. They are all three dimensional and have their own thoughts, emotions, and feelings as well as a believable backstory, but so many of them are quickly offed to make way for the main couple, some of them not only not becoming better, but actually getting quite a whole lot worse. Qi Rong, who was supposed to be super strong demon that is one of the 4 great evils becomes a comedic relief gremlin who just shows up for some comedy and then leaves. Feng Xin and Mu Qing, the MC's childhood caretakers disappear for like 100 chapters after we're given their backstories and then once they reappear, they don't do anything either. Shi Qingxuan, who in my opinion is by far the best character in the book, has his arc left open with no ending at all, only to be forgotten about for 80+ chapters only to reappear completely the same with no character growth at all. All of this is because the main couple take up so much of the book, and the rest of the side characters and their character growth is sabotaged for the author's ego so that the main couple can look better and get more screen time.

4. I lost interest in the story pretty quickly due to the bland characters and their out of place romance and how unlikable they were. A lot of this novel was very surface level, and it's pretty on paper, but when you think about the characters a bit longer, the more bland and shallow they become.

PLOT: 1. The plot was... There was no plot. It was just a collection of monster of the day arcs that aimlessly meander about and then everything returns to the status quo once they return to Xie Lian's temple/home. Obviously books 4 and 5 were a lot more to my taste because the writing was a lot more concise and the pacing was less slow and pointless, as well as actually incorporating fantasy elements and shaking up the status quo. However, the other 3 books, especially books 1 and 2 had way too much fan service, pointless romance, and plot lines that don't go anywhere and don't contribute to the story.

2. The past plot line, or the flashbacks were pretty interesting, except for how b*tchy the MC was. Book 2 has a lot of important information and some action, but a lot of it was boring fluff that didn't really contribute to the story other than introducing the villain and showing how XL and HC met. The rest, we're literally told already and there's no new information. Book 4 was supposed to be suffering heavy, and I agree that the character development was alright, but it was too brooding and oppressive. In the end, I just stopped feeling bad for Xie Lian because of how bad the story was trying to make you feel for him. I was not invested in him, and although he was significantly more deep in this book than in the other 4, the bad logic is still there. [you wanna kill people but then someone gives you a bamboo hat and you're all sunshine and rainbows again?] The suffering is excessive in my opinion, and although it's supposed to provide contrast to the romance, it just feels done in poor taste. seriously, 20 chapters straight of suffering is not necessary, and the pacing and tone suffers because of this. The flashbacks really don't contribute too much to XL or HC's character development, but is just there to be angsty and cryp*rn.

3. The final battle was the most unbelievable thing I've ever read. All the gods got together and the first part seemed pretty epic as we got to see all the side characters finally showcase their powers.... Until the MC and ML show up. The MC and ML show up, and instantly the background extras—excuse me I mean side characters, go back into hibernation as the main couple show off how cool and powerful they are. And then we get to the final confrontation, which has our MC, ML, and MC's two friends face off against literally the most powerful being in the freaking universe. I thought it would be a tense fight scene with lots of close calls, but I was so disappointed. Instead the ML is so OP that he breaks the spells binding MC's powers, and MC becomes so overpowered and slams the big boss into the wall with the power of love while his two friends just stand there doing nothing.

4. A lot of what happens in the flashback is directly Xie Lian's fault, but the book never seems to register it? I won't go into detail on this point since it's already covered in the first Reddit thread, but basically because of XL's s*upidity and refusal to listen to anyone else, the people around him suffer.

WRITING: 1. The writing wasn't great. It was very choppy and as I said previously, very monotonous and monster-of-the-day. Yes there were great scenes which got to me, but most of it was really boring and descriptions and dialogue dragged on and on with no end, and with the bland MC, it wasn't even interesting such as the dialogue in MDZS was. Side arcs were introduced with no warning and ended with no warning, leaving the reader wondering "Why was that even there in the first place if it was just going to be forgotten about?"

2. The water demon/wind god arc. The opening and most of the middle of this arc was extremely good, the logic and mystery was written well, and Shi Qingxuan's (the wind god) antics were funny. But after the big reveal and the tense climax, the story just... stops. Like it's literally forgotten about. [The MC gets dragged out by his all powerful lover, they romance some more, and forget all about Shi Qingxuan who is literally left in the hands of the second or third most powerful demon ever who is also his mortal enemy]

3. The incessant flirting really got on my nerves. The tension and tone of the entire story got completely ruined because of the MC and ML flirting and the MC blushing and giggling while the ML teases him and everyone else is literally fighting for their lives. This felt very fan-service like, and it felt like the author stopped trying and just fed us dog food after an emotionally taxing arc so that she wouldn't have to close out the arc properly, completely destroying the tone. Speaking of the tone, the tone whiplash was just... wow. You're fed fluff and romance during or after a high tensity and highly emotional scene with no connection at all, and you're just supposed to accept it instead of wondering what's happening to the characters you actually care about.

4. Romance and side arcs quite disconnected from the story. Quite frankly, most of this book is just romance with the plot and characters put in second place because "lOOk hOw CuTe the COuPLe iS!" You could literally take out all the side arcs and the story would literally be no different. The romance overtakes the entire plot and becomes the main point of the story. With her other two books, the romance is like the icing on the cake. With this book, the icing overtakes the cake and becomes the cake.

5. Perhaps one of the biggest reasons I was uninterested through most of the book was due to the lack of tension and suspense. The flashbacks were better in the sense that Xie Lian was helpless and couldn't figure anything out, which was why he was just as likely to get hurt as anyone, making the stakes significantly higher. But in the present, with the existence of Hua Cheng, that tension is completely gone. This is because HC knows basically all there is to know, and what he doesn't know he can figure out in seconds. Additionally, he is super powerful to the point that anything that can harm XL can be one shot K.O'ed by him. At this point the conflict becomes trivial to the point where I'm just asking "why are we solving this mystery anyways when HC can just blast it into oblivion?"

6. The fact that HC does the bare minimum in arcs frustrates me. If you're going to include a character with powers that will basically deem any threat against them null, then actually use them at least! HC's apathy does not feel like a coherent part of his character, but an excuse for MXTX to drag out plot lines and make things unnecessarily long and winded. Additionally, his apathy is contradictory. On one hand, he is super overprotective of XL and wants to make sure he won't get hurt a single bit, but on the other hand, he has this advanced ideology of the 21st century that he believes XL is capable so won't constrain him as much. If anything, they should start out with HC as this overprotective follower and have a dysfunctional relationship, and end up with XL teaching HC that he is able to do things and doesn't mind doing them, and that HC can live a life outside of him as well. That would've introduced some narrative stakes and romantic tension, but no, MXTX just had to make these characters perfect in every way.

ROMANCE: 1. The logic is so flawed here. The reason that HC started loving XL is literally because Xie Lian saved him once as a child and therefore he will devote his entire life to XL, not caring about literally anything else. The reason that XL started loving HC is even more so. The thing is someone like say Shi Qingxuan has done every bit as much for XL as HC has, but we don't see XL fall in love with SQX, do we? HC literally listens to him talk and XL falls in love with him, and although it does make sense due to XL being lonely for 800 years, how low the bar is set really bothers me.

2. The constant blue-balling was annoying. At some point, the ignorant MC became annoying and self indulgent instead of cute, and having it be drawn out over nearly 200 chapters makes it even worse. The MC is supposed to be super intelligent, but he literally misses all of the super obvious hints the ML drops at him, which is so weird.

3. It felt like MXTX (the author) went overboard on the romance here. Like she tried way too hard to the point where it was obvious she wanted to make this "the most romantic CP ever". The aesthetics went so overboard with butterflies and flowers as romantic themes, thousands of lanterns, the red string of fate (which didn't even do anything in the actual story), poetry, etc.

4. The romance could almost be described as kind of creepy. Like the ML obsesses over the MC for 800 years, isolating himself from the world and not taking any side of the story besides MC's is supposed to be romantic, but it really isn't. The ML carves thousands of statues of the MC, which is sweet in a way, but also really, really creepy. To quote someone from NovelUpdates who put it 100x better than I could: " They don't feel like equal lovers, HC obviously worships XL to an unbelievably amazing degree while XL only knew he existed from only a while ago (Is this obsession? Stalker-ish? I know his stalker-ish tendencies are usually played for laughs, but realistically?) HC very very very rarely calls XL by his given name but with GeGe or CrownPrince, dude has a name you know. I know you feel lower than XL, but seriously man, the guy's your life partner. HC would destroy the world if XL said to. He'd probably try to talk to XL first, confirm things, but if at the end XL really does want it, HC would do it. He lives for XL, he has no other reason to do something aside for XL. No reason to say NO for himself. They're not equals in which one wanna do something bad, the other would stop him because they have their own convictions. You can't tell me one only lives for one person's sake, will do anything for that guy, and has no attachments in the world aside from that guy, is a healthy person. It may seem romantic, but when you actually think about it, it becomes uncomfortable."

5. The romance was really cheesy. There were some powerful moments, but it was mostly flirting and "he fell on top of me" or "he needs mouth to mouth". Most of it was just the ML flirting with the MC, which you may like if you like this kind of stuff, but I really didn't enjoy it. Overall, I was desperate to love this novel, but I couldn't because of the shallow characters, unlikable main pair, and the constant abandonment of great plot lines in favor of the shallow romance. It felt like MXTX was constantly trying to one-up MDZS in angst, drama, and romance, but at the same time it felt like she didn't know what to do with the characters and world, and therefore fed us fan service and took the easy way out. This review is purely subjective, and if you want to read this go ahead, but I'll be seeing myself out.

#tgcf criticism #tianguancifu #tgcf #mxtx critical #xie lan #hua cheng #ok but this kinda sucks

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muzzleroars · 3 years

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Honestly, my biggest problem with the rest of the thieves in general is not the Maruki thing (that's Maruki's toxicity, not theirs). It's the fact that they don't even put in half of the physical, mental, and emotional effort into Joker that Joker puts into them. I'm not saying they're bad people, but they are emotionally neglecting Joker, and if this continues he'll be in a very bad state. And the worst part is they wouldn't have even consciously put him there. I honest-to-god believe that Joker and the thieves should cut ties in order to keep their relationship from turning into something truly awful and emotionally damaging for both parties

oh man...oh boy....i’ve had to think about how to tackle this one because i don’t agree with this point of view At All and you can’t change my mind, but it’s also a take i’ve seen floating around so i might as well get my feelings out about it here. so ig let’s get into it

this is an idea that afaik is based entirely around how the confidant system works and so is automatically rendered flimsy right off the bat imo - each character’s personal arc is generally based around akira helping them with some kind of issue which, when coupled with akira’s role as a silent protagonist, means there is very little reciprocation for them helping out akira. this is a game mechanic, pure and simple, and i don’t believe it reflects at ALL the general give and take their relationships would actually have. like i’m sorry if i come off as kind of rude in response, but it’s such a cheap way to try to make akira’s life miserable and rip his friends away from him when this isn’t supported by the text in any way, shape, or form. like first, i would argue that we have no evidence that akira is unduly burdened or troubled by what his friends put on him, and it would be unfair to assume that since we’re going with only exactly what the game gives us. he doesn’t complain, no one comments that he seems run down due to it, and he continuously engages with and hangs out with these friends outside of their confidants. second, even if they are putting too much on him, how are they supposed to know if he doesn’t say as much? there is no WAY the confidants know akira is doing this for literally EVERYONE in his life and akira seems to generally keep his pain/stress to himself. like i said before, all of these kids are traumatized, meaning they have been victims and no one has ever cared about the pain they’ve experienced, and so it could be believable that the first chance they get when someone offers support, they take it and run too far with it. i agree this doesn’t make them bad people, but why suggest akira should cut them out like they’re some horrible toxic assholes then?? wouldn’t the first thing be him TELLING them how stressed out he is?? these are traumatized teenagers!! they’re most likely not good at reading people and they can’t figure out all on their own that THEY may be the source of akira’s stress. truthfully, i think p5r did us a great service by including the post hang-out phone calls and the apology scenes in maruki’s reality because these moments show how deeply akira is appreciated and how much the thieves love him. and through those, i feel it would be safe to assume that if akira is stressed out by the way they engage with him that he could honestly tell them what they’re doing and they would IMMEDIATELY rectify what they’ve done.

again, this is another thing i’m fine with fan works exploring, but generally with the idea of akira forcing himself to take on way more than he can handle and attempting to shoulder that burden because he’s the leader. yes, if the friendships were exactly as presented in the confidants, then they really don’t reciprocate what akira does but idk why anyone would take it that way. it’s just the way the game is. akira seems to love them quite a bit and they seem very appreciative imo...like there’s only a couple points that i feel they handle poorly (mostly post-interrogation), but it feels like poor writing or these characters being naive rather than anything in character that condemns them as abusive friends. so. this is just a take i don’t get and i think akira loves all his friends and they love him and if he ever said he needed help, they would be with him in a heartbeat offering all the support he needs.

#like this fr is one i'm not changing my mind on #akira's been through ENOUGH he doesn't need this!!#i've also seen this argument brought up again to make goro's confidant look 'better'#like goro doesn't ask him for any help so it's superior #but uhhhhh no not buying it #goro can't really ask for help + never would #and he doesn't really support akira in any way either in his confidant #and i love goro and shuake #but if this is about that...it ain't it #if not i'm still not into it at all #p5 #p5r #p5r spoilers #akira kurusu #cake answers #Anonymous

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thiswasinevitableid · 3 years

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71. you’re famous and you want to hide out in my bookstore which is fine except the stupid paparazzi won’t leave and now there’s a photo of us in the tabloids and they’re printing misinformation and why the fuck won’t you clear this up on your twitter account

Sternclay, NSFW, please!

Here you go! Let's end this round of meet uglies with a bang

The post-holiday slump is always the worst; everyone maxed out their credit cards last month and doesn’t want to buy anything, and the tourists won’t be back until the spring. It’s not that he’s concerned about keeping the lights on; Bookworms is popular and has a prime spot downton. It’s that he’s bored out of his mind.

All his orders for the day are in, everything’s been received and shelved, and he’s running out of things to tidy. If he’s lucky, the clouds that have been threatening a snowstorm since this morning will burst and drive some people to shelter among the stacks.

Dingdong

Thank the lord.

“Welcome to Bookworms, can I help you?”

The man stays by the door, peering through the glass onto the street while pulling off his beanie, “Huh? Oh, uh, nope, just coming in to, uh, get out of the cold.” He turns, and two realizations slap Joseph in the face.

One: this is the hottest man he has ever had the pleasure of seeing.

Two: He’s seen this man dozens of times, just never in person.

Barclay Cobb is a Food Network darling who got his start on Youtube, sharing recipes from vintage cookbooks he found at garage sales. That’s not why he’s starstruck, but it is probably why the taller man is hiding in the craft books alcove and keeps nervously looking his way.

“I won’t tell anyone you’re here, Mr. Cobb.”

“Phew” the man sighs, unzips his jacket, “thanks man. Thought I’d be bundled up enough that no one would spot me while I was out, but I didn’t get my hat on in time coming out of the Chinese place down the block.”

“I love that spot, they have the best beer-braised duck.”

“Yeah, I always stop by when I’m in town, they’re food is worth getting photographed for.”

It’s odd, everything he’s read suggests chef Cobb is friendly and warm when approached by fans in public.

“It’s not that I don’t appreciate that people like my shows but, I, uh, sometimes I just want to eat or walk down the street without someone taking pictures of me.”

“Do you want to head into the back sections? There’s no windows in that half of the store.”

“Sweet, thanks. Uh, would it be cool if I autographed any books of mine you have? I like doing that, means I can send a little business towards smaller stores.”

“Of course. Here, the cookbooks are on this wall.” He slips into his office to grab a sharpie while Barclay pulls a stack of books and sits down on the floor. As the scratching of the pen fills the air, Joseph takes a trip to the paranormal and occult section, coming back with three copies of The Case for Bigfoot.”

“Y’know, not everyone stocks these.” Barclay smiles as he adds the paperbacks to the pile.

“Which is terrible business; you’re just as famous in the cryptozoology community as you are in the foodie one. This is the best book on bigfoot ever written, and I should know; I run a, um, a blog where I review books on paranormal topics.”

“You a true believer?” The cook blows on his signature in the copy of Desserts for All Seasons

“More an optimistic skeptic; your book is perfect because you make your case using actual evidence instead of reporting the same ten, poorly verified stories that everyone includes in their books. And I appreciated that you included recipes from the places you visited; that was a very nice touch.”

“Funny story about that” Barclay freezes as the front door opens. There’s definitely more than one person coming in, and when Joseph pokes his head around the corner he sees fifteen people, all with cameras or phones.

“Shit. You might want to hide in my office for a few minutes.”

By the time the crowd reaches him, Joseph is almost done re-shelving the signed books.

“Good afternoon, let me know if you need help finding anything.”

“Uh, yeah, we do, someone saw Barclay Cobb in your store-”

“Strange, we’ve only had one customer” he winces as someone’s shoulder knocks a hardcover off its display, “I didn’t get a good look at them before they went downstairs.” He tips his head at the staircase to the YA and Graphic Novel sections and is promptly knocked into the shelf as the throng hurries away.

“Come on, I can get you out through the back door” Joseph whispers to the Red Dust on his Soul poster on his office door. Barclay is remarkably quiet for a man his size as they sneak across the floor and let frigid, January air rush into the store.

“Thanks man” Barclay whispers, “I owe you one.” He sets a big hand on Joseph’s shoulder, squeezes it with a wink, then pulls on his hat and disappears into a crowd coming off at the bus stop.

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

Joseph always comes in through the back, flipping on lights as he goes, so the sea of bodies pressed to the front windows like a zombie horde surprises him. He knows Barclay tweeted about the signed copies, but this seems like excessive excitement even for a celebrity chef.

“Morning, Joseph--whoa, what the heck?” Aubrey clocks in without taking her eyes off the crowd, “why is everyone here this early.”

“Fan culture. I think.” The registers finish waking up, “I’ll pay holiday rates if you open that door for me.”

Aubrey gives a thumbs up, unlocks the double doors, and is swallowed up so quickly he worries she might have been trampled until she emerges near the greeting cards. Some people swarm the cookbooks, but an alarming number cluster around the counter, all shouting for his attention.

“How long have you been seeing Chef Cobb?”

“What?, I, I’m not-”

“Does he often visit your store?”

“No! He just came by yesterday!” There’s a horrible clatter of all the books on display near the door taking each other out like dominoes.

“Do you fuck in the backroom all the time?”

“Oh come on” He pushes past the man who asked that, deals with shouting all the way to his office and slams the door. A quick Google search for “Barclay Cobb” brings up a blurry photo of them in the alley, Barclays hand on his shoulder, and multiple headlines speculating on why the reclusive chef and author has chosen a nobody bookstore employee (he’s the owner, damn it) as his lover.

Okay, there’s a logical, easy fix to this.

He opens the door enough to speak, whistles so everyone will be quiet and listen to him, “I’m sorry, there’s been a misunderstanding. Mr. Cobb isn’t in any kind of relationship with me; he just came into the store yesterday for some peace and quiet. So, if you’re looking for information about him, this is not the place for it. If you’re looking for the signed books, the cookbooks are there, and the paranormal section is just around that corner.” He gives his best customer service smile as the paparazzi exchange perplexed glances.

“...Is it true he bought you this store?”

“Wh--no! We rent this space.”

“From him?”

“Arggh!” He closes the door, slumps against it and cards his fingers through his hair. As he contemplates closing for the day, he spots a little, copper card on his desk. It’s Barclay’s, which is what he expected, but when he flips it over there’s a message scribbled in pen.

Main St Hotel, room 503, here until Monday.

He pulls out his phone, tells Aubrey she’s allowed to get the crowd out by any means necessary except for fire, and elbows his way out into the winter air.

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

Barclay almost purrs when he peers through the peephole in the hotel door; Joseph, as his nametag read, is standing on the carpet, looking twice as handsome as he did yesterday. His cheeks are even a little pink, and Barclay has some thoughts on how to make that blush deepen.

“Hey, glad you found-”

Joseph holds up his phone, screen in Barclays face, “please fix this.”

“Oh fuck.” He ushers him in, “I’m so sorry, I thought they’d stopped doing this shit.”

“No, and they’re fucking up my inventory as a result.”

“On it, lemme text my assistant, she’s good at drafting these kind of messages.”

“Thank the lord. Right, thank you for that, I’ll go now.”

“Wait” Barclay reminds his instincts that blocking the door is rude, “do you wanna stay a few minutes? You look kinda stressed.”

“Because my store is being overrun!” Joseph snaps, then takes a deep breath and straightens his sleeves, “I’m sorry, that wasn’t called for, this morning has just been a mess. And it, um, it’s a little bittersweet to have people thinking I could land a hot chef when I can’t get past a first date with most people. Um, sorry. Too much information. That’s a bad habit of mine.”

Barclay tucks his hands into his pants pockets, “About that. Y’know how I left my card?”

Blue eyes blink, then brighten, “I thought that might be the reason but I dismissed it as wishful thinking.”

“Nope. A guy who's hot, nerdy, and competent enough to sneak me away from the paparazzi? Sign me the fuck up.”

“I’m not opposed to a, um, tryst, but I really, really need to get back to the store, I can’t abandon Aubrey to deal with this mess on her own, that’s not fair, and now we’ll have to reorder things too....” He laughs, a tense sound, “good lord, I get a chance to fuck a celebrity crush and I’m turning it down for work.”

“Hey” Barclay sets his hands on Joseph’s shoulders, “it’s okay. You’re not the first guy to be married to his job. But, uh, out of curiosity, you got any vacation days to spare?”

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

“This is all yours?” Joseph takes in the sprawling farm as Barclay unlocks the front door of a charmingly rustic house.

“Yep, all the way to the creek and all the way to the road. Might surprise you, but I like my privacy.”

“I’d never have guessed.” He replies with faux shock.

“Smartass.” Barclay kisses his cheek, holds the door open with his shoulder so Joseph can pull his bags inside. He packed as light and efficiently as he could for two weeks away (he’d initially planned on one until Aubrey and Moira ganged up on him and told him he hadn’t taken a real vacation in years so he was taking one now, damn it) but his suitcase is still heavy as he rolls it to the stairs.

“I got that.” Barclay shoulders his own travel bag and hoists Joseph’s in the other hand, carrying them to the second floor like they’re nothing more than pillows.

The week the chef was in Madison, Joseph went to his hotel almost every night. Fell asleep in his bed more than once, when discussions of fusion cuisine or the Fresno Nightcrawler turned into frantic, heated kisses under the covers. It’s only when the cook drops all luggage into the master bedroom that the truth of why he’s on this trip sets in.

“You really invited me all the way here because you think I’m hot.”

“Yeah but no.” Barclay drapes his arms over his shoulders, lips still a little chilly as he kisses them, “brought you here because you’re smart” another kiss, this one on his jaw, “and funny” another, on his nose, “and you’re the biggest bigfoot fan I know.”

“You wrote a book on it!”

“Point stands. And yeah” he pushes Joseph back so he lands on the bed, crawling atop him as he growls, “I invited you here because you’re so hot I wanna pour sugar on you and see if it melts. Now get your pants off; I’ve been thinking about sucking your dick since we left the city.”

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

“How did the whole bigfoot thing start?” Joseph sips his Irish Coffee as Barclay puts his feet into his lap.

“Guess the same way any famous person ends up with two gigs; I was doing the thing I love, then was dicking around on cryptid hunter forums and found out I was also hella good at researching bigfoot. By the time I got really into it, I had enough cash that I could write my book without worrying about going broke. Helps that I’d handed off The Arch and The Lodge and was just the exec chef on them, since then I could travel if I needed to.”

Joseph nods, moves one hand down to rub Barclays foot; in spite of no longer working the kitchens of his five restaurants or having to test recipes for the books right now, he spent most of today on his feet making elaborate meals for two. Joseph teases him that he’s trying to stuff him to the point he can’t leave. Barclay always chuckles and says he doesn’t know how right he is. The last two days, Joseph then wraps his arms around his boyfriend and tells him he’d stay forever if he could.

He’s never thought of himself as romantic; he’s pragmatic, knows that relationships are things built out of time, trial, and error. But god help him, he’s fallen for Barclay like they’re rom-com leads with only ninety minutes to reach their happy ending.

They’re out near the creek--really more of a small river--the next morning, talking about books and speculating on the existence of life on other planets, when a storm sweeps through the trees. As trunks groan and roots pull loose from the snow, Barclay calls, “we better head back.”

He gives a thumbs up. Then the ice under him cracks.

He doesn’t correct course quickly enough, the rest dropping from under him and dunking him in freezing water. It’s deep, too deep to stand, but he’s a decent swimmer and kicks towards the surface. When the shadow covers the opening with a boom, panic threatens to push the rest of his precious breath away.

The tree that fell across the ice is heavy, and no matter how he pushes it won’t give. He bangs on the ice on either side, trying to get it to crack, but his lungs scream and his limbs alert him that the cold will soon shut them down.

He closes his eyes, trying to think, not ready to give up, not with Barclay so close. There’s a groan of wood and frozen water. His mouth opens without permission, desperate for air, and chokes him on frost instead.

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

“...be dead, please don’t be dead, please please please don’t be fucking dead.”

“Nnff.” That’s not what he meant to say, but it seems to calm the voice above him.

“Thank fuck. I’m so sorry, I got to you as fast as I could, do, do you need anything?” Barclay sounds exhausted.

“Cold.” He mutters.

“I’m trying to warm you up gradually, that’s what the first aid book said but, uh, here.” Warm, fuzzy arms draw him into a hug.

Wait.

The first thing he sees when his eyes flutter open are arms covered in reddish-brown fur. When Barclay rubs their cheeks together, it tickles more than his beard usually does.

“Barclay? What the hell is going on?”

“Uh. So.” He’s rolled with ease to face a creature he’s never seen and eyes that he’d know anywhere, “I’m bigfoot. Or, uh, a bigfoot. Maybe that’s kinda obvious now.”

His brain crackles to life, “What better way to stay undiscovered than get famous by giving people the wrong information about you.”

“Some of it’s true. Just not anything people could use to actually find me.”

“Smart, big guy” Joseph pets his face.

“You’re taking this pretty well.”

“I think my system is too shocked to experience more shock.” He shudders, “relatedly, how’d I get out of the river?”

“I lifted the tree off and pulled you free. Took my disguise off to do that and, uh, the fucking thing fell into the water when I got you. So I’m gonna be stuck like this until a friend of mine can get me a new one.”

“No complaints here. You look incredible.” He runs his hands up and down Barclay’s side and chest, warmth seeping into his fingers as he does, “But I’m a little surprised you were willing to risk someone seeing you or me blabbing to someone and trashing your whole life in the process.”

A low rumble as Barclay kisses his forehead, “It’s worth it. I, this is gonna sound so fucking cheesy, but I haven’t felt this way about someone in a long time, and there was no way I was gonna lose you.”

“Oh.” Affection and surprise well up in his throat, pressing down his words so all he can do is nestle closer to the cryptid and let himself be loved.

His mind rebounds quickly from his misadventure. His body would like him to remember it for a while so he doesn’t put it in such jeopardy again any time soon. Instead of helping Barclay with cooking and chores, he lays under the covers while the storm rattles the roof and the cook clangs pots on the lower floor.

Barclay, attentive to a fault, is downright doting now that he’s stuck in bed. He’s never without a hot drink or something to read, and the cryptid is happy to answer the majority of his questions about the finer points of being bigfoot. When it’s bedtime, his boyfriend pulls him atop his massive frame and cuddles him, whispering over and over that he’s glad he’s okay, until they fall asleep.

Today followed much the same pattern, though when dinner time rolls around he gets a fantastic surprise.

“Chocolate fondue?” He peers hopefully at the bed tray in Barclays hands.

“Only the best for you, babe.” The cook sets the burnished wood down on the bedside table, “we lucked out, the berries I bought last week are ripe.”

Joseph reaches for the fork, but Barclay beats him to it.

“You should save your energy. Since you’re, uh, still recovering.”

He shrugs, sets his hands in his lap and opens his mouth for a chocolate dipped raspberry. It doesn’t take long to spy Barclay’s ulterior motive. The cook has a whole wardrobe designed to fit his cryptid form, but it’s having trouble concealing certain things.

“You’re getting off on this.”

“I, uh, I, maybe a little” Barclay blushes under his fur.

Joseph raises an eyebrow, tilts his head at the bulge in Barclay’s pants, “You call that ‘little’?”

A rumbly whine, the fork paused halfway to Joseph’s mouth, “I can’t help it. I’ve got a thing for taking care of partners, especially ones who are all competent and put-together the rest of the time, and you look so good when you eat and, ohfuck.”

Joseph inhales sharply as chocolate hits his exposed upper chest. It’s not hot enough to burn, and he moans as the sensation seeps across his skin. Barclays eyes, wide and ravenous, keep flicking between the splatter and his face.

“Looks like you made a mess, big guy.” Joseph begins undoing the remaining buttons on his pajamas, “you should clean it up.”

“Fuck yeah.” Barclay lunges, mouth first, lapping and sucking at the marked skin as Joseph laughs. Their shirts hit the floor together as he digs his nails into auburn fur. Barclay grunts at the pressure, sits up with a grin, and drips a line of chocolate down the right side of Joseph’s ribs.

“Oops. Better fix that too.”

“Cleanliness is importantAH, ahhnn.” He squirms a bit as Barclay nuzzles his stomach before dragging his tongue up his skin. There’ve been times he mourned the fact T didn’t make him as hairy as some other guys, but right now he’s grateful for the clear canvas Barclay can mark however he pleases.

“A mess can be more fun.” The cook licks his lips, sucks a hickey above his belly button, “and by the time I’m done with you, babe, won’t be a single part of you that isn’t one.”

“Then get to it.” He shoves his pants down, lets Barclay pull them the rest of the way off and fold them. He lays back, resting his arms behind his head, and moans as the cook drizzles chocolate on each hip. Joseph feels like a gourmet dessert and, from the growls between his thighs, Barclay intends to treat him like one.

His boyfriend is always enthusiastic when sucking him off, but tonight he throws finesse out the window in favor of burying his face at the crease of each thigh in turn, licking his hips clean while clawing at his calves and sides. He lifts his head, wipes his mouth with a satisfied grin that shows the points of his teeth, and dives down again.

Joseph yelps with pleasure, the hint of fangs hitting all his buttons, lighting him up like downtown on a dark night. It’s intense, the scratch of fur on skin just different enough from the usual beard to remind him of who’s down there, and his legs try to kick closed. Barclay growls again, holding them open with ease.

“Not until I’m done with you, babe.”

He surrenders to flood of feelings from both outside and within him, Barclay’s sheer delight at his body rendering all his doubts and worries toothless and small, quieting them until all he can think about is incredible creature holding and all he can say is some variation on-

“Barclay, please, right there, lordalmighty that’s good, that’s so good big guy, please.” He squeezes his eyes shut, craving the impending orgasm more than he has words for. Barclay sucks determinedly and huffs, pleased, as Joseph's thighs tense in his hold and his climax chases away the remnants of yesterday's aches.

As his brain insists that really, body, opening our eyes isn’t that hard, there’s a metallic zip and strong legs bracketing his thighs.

“Here I thought you couldn’t look any better.” He murmurs as Barclay gleefully strokes his cock, “as soon as my brain works again, I’m coming up with so many ways to use that gorgeous thing.”

“Can’t, fuck, can't wait to hear ‘em, but I only got one for tonight; I’m gonna use it to cum alllll over that fucking perfect body, fuck, Joseph, you look so good when you’re ruined, fuck.” An impressive amount of cum spatters up his stomach, chest, and neck as Barclay howlgrowlpurrs and then sets his hands carefully on the bed.

Joseph’s whole body is sticky with chocolate, sweat, and cum, and Barclay definitely has at least two of those things mussed into his fur.

“You’re right, big guy, a mess can be fucking amazing.”

That being said, being sticky gets old quick, and soon they’re in the tub, Joseph whistling as he shampoos Barclay’s chest. The cryptid hasn’t stopped purring, and every time he looks Joseph’s way the sound deepens.

“When are you next in the city?”

The cook yawns, “Was gonna check on how the new chef de cuisine is getting on at Kepler in about two week.”

“Would you like to stay with me? It’s not fancy, but it’s close to the Ismuth, so you can get to Kepler on foot without trouble, and there are fewer crowds there this time of year. I suspect paparazzi are also less likely to track you down at some random house than at a hotel. That might make up for my lack of, um, high class amenities.”

“Good point. But I gotta be honest babe; as long as you’re there, that’s all I need to be happy.”

#sternclay #agent stern/ barclay #meet ugly #taz amnesty #terato #monster boyfriend #trans agent stern

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