just for the record, related to the tags of that last post, i am extremely uncomfortable with the concept of people making archives of any of my art that isn't my comic. while i currently have no intentions to do so, if i ever decide i want to destroy my art off the internet, then it is probably because i do not want my art in stranger's hands. i would not ask you to remove my art from your personal files on your computer if it's just some piece of mine you liked cause i don't really care about that, but if i ever remove my art off the face of the earth, if you share it with anyone i'm hunting you down for sport. if you meticulously save every piece of art i have ever made and shared, if you "archive" my art, you need to stop and you need to delete it. my comic is the only exception to the archival rule because it's an entire story that goes together it's basically one big art piece in my head, so it doesn't count for that

@fluffythecthulhu said they wanted a fic in a comment under my Mother’s Day Megop art. I’m not sure how serious you were, but I still made one! It’s short for once, but it got embarrassing fast.

Thank you for the sweet comment, btw 💕🦑

TFA Carrier Optimus Megop

Warning in the tags✨

-/——————-

Optimus hadn’t touched his rations all cycle- more concerning still, he hadn’t fueled properly in a deca-cycle. He complained more about feeling nauseous or on the constant brink of downright purging than he ever did use that snarky mouth of his to consume his Energon.

Megatron had grown used to him neglecting himself in ways he formerly thought him too sensible to make the mistake of. Choosing to ignore fueling in lieu of finishing a communication relay at least a thousand lightyears out of range to reconnect a straying ship- which could take hours, where every precious minute counted.

Strika had ordered him not to work so hard to salvage the fodder that either purposely veered off their course, or were too stupid to read a set of coordinates correctly. She would insist that it was what they deserved for acting so foolishly.

And every time, Optimus would argue that that was no reason to leave them there to suffer both the chilling isolation of lost space or such a flippant branding from their superior. There was always some reason, he insisted, for their severed connection. There was always some argument he would make that Strika and the other high command -or any average Decepticon in close range willing to insert their opinion upon hearing the conversation- were being too harsh.

She’d leave in a huff, Optimus would resume working himself to death, and his rations would go untouched for another hour straight.

Megatron regretted assigning a brat with such an unprejudiced, smart little mouth a position in communications.

Unfortunately, Optimus’ abhorrent lack of charisma was unexplainably magnetizing…somehow. And he was by the book and strict in regulations, making him a fantastic -brainwashed- soldier to trust to carry out an order. His dedication to everything he was tasked with, as well as that odd charm, assured Megatron near immediately that he was the best choice for the job.

Optimus would always do what he was told and do it to a fault, so long as no one else suffered unfairly for it. It was perfect for Megatron who was looking for a mech willing to communicate with both halves of the reunited factions. Especially since no one else could be convinced to take the job. Those that were willing were sorely lacking the skills to delegate, and so it went to Optimus not a mere three cycles after his reassignment to the Nemesis exploration crew.

That meant having to deal with the sassy bot more than Megatron would have liked to- at least once a cycle, in fact.

Things…. Only developed from there.

It wasn’t Megatron’s fault- contrary to what Starscream insisted otherwise regarding fragile little civil frames, and their easily overwhelmed, shy nature. Never daring to make the first move and take up so much space in the affairs of their large counterparts.

As Decepticons, thus far, hadn’t the single most qualm with inserting themselves into the matters of their new, tiny crew mates.

But truly, it wasn’t Megatron’s fault. He was not the instigator.

It was the fault of limited worthwhile conversation for so many millennia and the equally refreshing opportunity to have an unbiased presence in his life once more. One, unlike Strika, who wasn’t adverse to talking about subjects unrelated to warfare and maneuvers. One that was keen to show Megatron respect as his newly appointed commander, though not to defer to his every whim and judgement and roll over for him in niceties.

It made their time together less like the chore of keeping basic communication with his personnel, and more a thing of thrill and fancy.

Megatron was having fun again.

More fun than he’d ever had attempting to destroy the mud ball planet his new officer so loved. Who knew?

Of course, it…. Quickly turned into something else….

Which was more or less ignorable for a time, since both parties knew best that they would benefit from an aloofness and detachment while resuming their duties. Keeping to formalities anyplace outside the berth.

It helped that Megatron had deluded himself into thinking he actually meant it.

But their coupling had admittedly lead to this new current issue Megatron was having. The matter of his once dependable -brainwashed- soldier refusing to feed himself, and Megatron caring a lot about it…

None of that was to say how unsettling Optimus’ sudden bouts of stasis were.

Whether the mech was walking peacefully on his way to deliver his reports, or merely sitting in on a barely mandatory -but damned if Optimus wasn’t going to be there with bells on- conference Shockwave routinely made Civil bots sit through on cross-build interactivity regulations, the little mech was always seen falling into recharge. Cheekplate propped up in one palm or with pedes propped against the table.

It was horribly unsettling… Horribly. Had Megatron mentioned that?

Strika said he was paying too much attention to the colorful thing (and chalking it up to that). Somehow oblivious to the scents still faintly permeating Megatron’s armor where little servos had held on to him tight the night prior.

He knew it was true all the same, that something was wrong with his former Prime.

Megatron blamed it on his extended workload, combined with the appalling lack of Energon he was consuming. But that theory only lasted for so long.

When even Ratchet was petitioning him on Optimus’ behalf to allow the firetruck to take a temporary leave, Megatron was certain this strange new behavior was something far more sinister than an overworked Officer.

This was… stressful. Worrying.

The space between them had grown much smaller over the vorns. Their relationship had significantly changed- whether Optimus shared that opinion with him or not.

Staying over in Megatron’s berth had become a much more frequent occurrence. As of a few cycles ago, a proper nest -normally a construction reserved for two settled mechs- had appeared, and was drenched in their combined scents to the point they left Megatron’s quarters each morning practically wearing the other out.

That was comforting, smelling the irritating aft everywhere he went throughout the day. Megatron didn’t want to lose that.

Was Optimus’ condition dire?

Was their time soon to be limited?

Would their bond nest come to unravel with the eventual loss of its imperative second occupant? Their time, was it to be cut so short so soon, fated by Primus as punishment for all his wrong doings?

They’d only just started sitting together in the command center when Megatron ushered him forward to give his report- finding him a place by his throne. On the armrest…

Was there to be no more late night rendezvous where Megatron graced him rare glimpses of his poetry and Optimus laughed at the absurdity of the writings?

Was he doomed to spend his entire functioning a solemn, bondless mech, now that he’d had a surprising and unforeseen taste of a partner worth sharing one with?

Was he to give up his dignity and dilute all their ship’s resources into traversing the galaxy for some impossible cure to safe his sickly lover?

Was he going to have to replace his only willing Communications Officer?

Optimus approached him in the middle of another one of these fantastical spirals on the bridge one evening, while Blitzwing stood awkwardly at his side, waiting patiently to be given his dismissal post debriefing.

To Megatron’s surprise, he looked more alert and awake, frankly, than he had in nearly two Earth months.

When he looked down at wide, frightened optics peering up at him with so much uncertainty and fear, Megatron dropped to one knee in an instant. Uncaring who was seeing such a display, when insanity had muddled his processor so throughly into thinking the worst of his last moments with this precious mech.

“Optimus, what ails you?” He crooned, trying to pacify the quivering thing. Barely able to resist grabbing ahold of him.

Optimus said nothing- could say nothing, as his throat tubing began to tighten.

Megatron looked at him so earnestly, so despairingly…. When had this change occurred? When had they begun to care so deeply for one another? So openly.

Optimus assumed the answer to that was sometime around the creation of the tiny passenger he was carrying that they had both been oblivious to- or else the little one couldn’t have ever come to be…

Megatron blinked worried, narrowed optics at him, just as that thought seemed to fully integrate itself into Optimus’ logic unit.

He…began to smile up at the towering mech. Though it vanished in the next instant with the realization that Optimus would need to explain his… ‘ailment’.

“Megatron, sir. I need to discuss… This isn’t about my reports…. Actually, I… It’s….”

“What is it?” His new commander urged him on. No longer able to keep large palms from encompassing his shoulders in a caress for every pair of curious optics on the bridge to see.

“No need for formalities, even here, Optimus. Just tell me what’s wrong- you haven’t been fueling.”

Optimus lost his courage -or ability- to speak then. As his mouth clamped shut again and his optics grew wet, pointed finials began to droop down his helm. Clearly still frightened by something.

But whatever it was, he could always tell Megatron.

They were lovers now, destined to share a nest and a sparkbeat- Megatron would have it no other way. Regardless of what it was going to cost him to lead the excursion for Optimus’ sickness’s cure.

“You can tell me anything, beloved. Anything at all. Speak to your spark’s content, I shall listen-“

“Should I leave for zhis?” Blitzwing murmured cautiously from behind, still waiting to be released after the last time he’d been punished for breaking formation early.

“No matter what it is, speak it to me now, Optimus, and I shall tend to the matter however is necessary.” Megatron continued to soothe his little Sweetspark.

“I will not fail you- I will not leave you behind-“

“Even if it’s really bad…?” Optimus burst out.

“…And pretty permanent?”

Megatron blinked. Optimus swallowed, maintaining optic contact through sheer force of will and…. Hope?

There was a strange glimmer in his eye, and Megatron, no matter how keenly he tried to chase it as it bounced around the other mech’s shimmering optics, he couldn’t discern its meaning.

The smaller mech’s question, however, was easily answerable.

“Nothing at all could stand in the way of my devotion to you, Optimus.” Clawed digits carefully curled around strong, scarlet servos.

“Now that I have you, I shall not release you to any unkind fate or the malevolent will of gods.”

Besides an ever present amusement for his mate’s dramatics, Optimus looked much more settled and ready to spill everything then and there. His optics losing a great deal of the uncertain edge to them.

But still….

“Can’t stress enough how bad this is…”

“I should leave, right? I von’t be thrown in ze sparring room vith Sixshot again for failure to be properly discharged if I do, ja?”

“You encompass my entire being, little Autobot. You fill me with meaning and faith, dare I say it! Faith that there is a life far better than one fighting for a meager home on Cybertron once more… You promise me a home with spirit and life. You are my home, Optimus.”

Optimus, for his part, had lost much of the color to his derma that made it blue. Shades of searing red painted high above the arch of each cheek, filling out his round face nicely with a sweet dusting that faded seamlessly where it began to spread.

Megatron was enraptured. In love.

Optimus was enraptured, too, with the severity of his words. Megatron’s promises to him.

No mech had ever promised themselves to Optimus like this- he hadn’t even bothered to entertain the thought he’d see such a thing in his lifetime. And if that was how Megatron felt, it made much more sense how their extra passenger had came to be.

“Ratchet told me to triple my fuel rations… He put me on mineral additives and a stasis increase.”

Megatron blinked slowly. Thinking that didn’t sound anything like a debilitating disease he was about to have to fight god for. That sounded like he was treating Optimus for something else, actually… but….

“Why would he do that?” Megatron asked with his barely functional glossa.

“Ah- I really zhink I should leave for zhis!”

Optimus cheeks managed to burn brighter as, finally, he lost the battle to keep Megatron’s gaze. Blushing faceplate turning into the hollow between Megatron’s shoulder and collar.

The bigger mech didn’t fight him, finding himself in something of a daze as well.

“Um…. Well…. Ah….” Optimus attempted to explain. Poorly.

Megatron tried to focus back on the blushing bot when he lifted watchful…. glittering optics back up at him.

“Sorry, I’m still here!?”

“I’m carrying.” Optimus murmured. Cheeks pleasantly warming for reasons other than horrific embarrassment under Megatron’s powerful gaze.

“Carrying?” Megatron echoed back in something less like a whisper, and more like a string of broken syllables being carried off by the nonexistent wind.

“Wow…” said Blitzwing.

And also,

~Whirr~

“Straight shootin’, Tex!”

Optimus watched the emotions morph across his new Sire’s faceplate. Watched his utter confusion change into absolute delight, then pride. A pride himself to have been able to provide, a pride to have found himself such a perfect mate- with whom he had made such a perfect sparkling with.

And finally awe- no… Reverence. Like Optimus was a god amongst mortals, complete with a glow and this holy essence about him, as Megatron stared in blissful silence at the place in Optimus’ gestation tank where it would soon fill with a sizable bitlet, likely to take after his or her’s sire.

Now Megatron understood. That ‘hope’ he’d seen in his love before, it was an instinctual faith in his new carrier that Megatron would be proud. That he would be loyal and strong and provide.

Well, his hope was not misplaced- Megatron would surpass all others as sire!

Megatron reached down and settled a hand over the ridges of Optimus’ otherwise perfectly flattened grill. Soon, his body would change, quite drastically, in fact.

Hard edges would soften, the heavy duty armor making up most of his abdominal plating would part and reconstruct to allow for room for the protoform to grow. Strong, healthy pleats in his armor below his eventual ‘bump’ would aid in the support of his growing frame.

And inside, the sparkling would turn about happily at the thrum of their Sire’s sparkbeat close by- as there was no doubt in Optimus’ mind after Megatron’s words that they would never be parted again.

Which would only become an issue anytime his doctor attempted to check on the sparkling’s progress and Megatron’s (more than adequate) donations of raw materials.

The ex-warlord, and frankly feral gladiator, would not stand for another to touch his expectant mate.

Which made Blitzwing’s right as the new Sire’s witness -some strange, apparently credible Decepticon law- to survive a hand to the carrier’s belly to feel for the sparkling’s pulse every now and again all the more surprising.

Optimus couldn’t even be angry with the big brute when he condemned his lover with child to their nest for the foreseeable future- not even on Ratchet’s order.

It was the first time any bot had felt so passionately about him before… and primitive coding in Optimus’ core couldn’t help but encourage him to defer to the Sire. Orbit, kicking and bouncing away the cycle inside his gestation tank, didn’t seem to mind either.

——————

I could not proof read this the way you deserved me to- every day is like a rush to survive, now that summer’s here.

You’re always so kind when you comment, though, @fluffythecthulhu 💕✨thank you!!

the same person who asked this

Hi there. Can I request a Anthony Bridgeton x ftm reader slightly set in modern era where they have twins and Anthony's family loves the reader and is okay with there relationship. I just want fluff with a (little too big of a) dash of angst. Something domestic where they go on a vacation and them all running around the garden and at the end of the night after the twins go to sleep y/n and Anthony spend time alone just talking, cuddling and swaying to music while looking in each other's eyes...im just a simp for fluff and angst.

Sorry if this is too specific or non-specific and if you don't feel like writing it then it's cool. Thank you ❤️

Just Shut Up and Kiss Me

FTM Reader

Pronouns- He/Him

Word Count- 523

Summary- After a long day at the ocean with the twins, you and Anthony finally get some quality time together.

A/N- MODERN TIME PERIOD! It's not exactly like the request I hope you still like it :)

Sorry for the lateness I've said in another post but it is due to the Flu and I have many chronic illnesses so it took me a while to get back to baseline.

The twins were more rambunctious than they were at the estate which I did not even know was possible. I guess vacations bring out the energy in all of us. We spent the day together at the ocean and they could not contain their excitement.

To be honest, though any public body of water raises my anxiety. Even after top surgery, I feel like I should be wearing a shirt but Anthony eases my nerves. He has been with me through it all even if he was a bit uneducated about the subject at first. Eloise helped him research everything about top surgery and we played board games all throughout my recovery. Anthony acts as quite the buffer as well, his handsomeness certainly distracts from me. Anthony still encourages me to feel good in my skin with the salacious comments he whispers in my ear. Even with his encouragement, it is still very tiring to fight those feelings all day.

I am grateful that the kids poured all their energy into creating intricate sand castles and destroying them. By the time we got to the summer home, the kids were so exhausted they passed out the minute their head hit their pillows. I felt exhausted myself from the sun, the crazy twins, and many emotions of the day. After tucking the children in I planned on going to sleep but Anthony had other ideas.

"Come on darling I have something to show you," Anthony says dragging me away from the twin's room practically giving me no choice.

"Anthony what has you in such a tizzy," I laugh at his usual antics.

"I just want to show you something as mesmerizing as your eyes," He says with a goofy grin.

I blush and try to hide my face, "Stop you're going to make me gag."

"You know you love my romantic words," he laughs deeply.

I roll my eyes, "Don't get too full of yourself."

"You already know I am full of myself that's why you married me handsome." He smirks

"Yeah, sure that's why," I laugh.

"Enough of denying how perfect my personality is look up," he says gesturing to the sky.

I go to make some stupid witty remark when I look to the sky.

"There are so many stars here you never see this many in London!" I gasp in awe.

"I have always wanted to take you here ever since I met you Y/N. The moment I saw your eyes they always sparkle when you are talking about something you are passionate about just like these stars."

I feel my whole face start to turn red which in turn makes my face even redder because now I am embarrassed about being embarrassed what a vicious cycle. I try to turn away to sass Anthony about being too gooey again but he pulls my face towards his.

"Don't you ever hide your feelings my love because you make every emotion a work of art." He says suavely making me want to smack him.

I roll my eyes, "Just shut up and kiss me."

"That I can do," he smirks wickedly.

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My Misery Vex redesign

May I present for the Phandom’s consideration: my redesign of Misery Vex, the Weaver

For her physical appearance, I kept the spider theme (that Fartman vomited all over his own horrible design) and made her Egyptian for backstory reasons listed below.  I also decided to make her form a solid black shadow like Spectra, but rather than looking like flame like Spectra or Shadow, I wanted her form to be something flowing and ever changing, a form made of incense smoke and shadow.  Think Eris from the animated Sinbad movie.

The really hard part was trying to some up with something that would be acceptable for TV because Ancient Egypt was A LOT more comfortable with nudity than early 2000’s Nickelodeon. 

Backstory and more art under the cut

In life, she was an Egyptian (or Nubian*) woman from Waset (aka Thebes) during the New Kingdom and daughter of the High Priest in the temple of Amun.  She’d been betrothed to the Pharoah’s son since childhood as part of a political marriage, meant to eventually be queen and named as the God’s Wife of Amun.

To prepare her for her role, she was well educated in history, politics, literature, language, and more.  And as a priestess, she was taught about medicine, the gods, and of course, magic, becoming a powerful sorceress in her own right.

She is his Cleopatra before Cleopatra: well-educated, witty, charming, and politically brilliant.

But before she could marry, she was assassinated, poisoned by a rival.

Even in death, she can’t let go of her desire for power, and after about 50 years, she met a young, but powerful, ghost of a recently slain Sherden Warrior (Pariah Dark).  Seeing an opportunity to seize the power she was denied in life, she approached and formed an alliance with him.

Misery Vex uses her magics and convinces Pariah Dark to sacrifice his eye in ritual, mirroring the gods, in exchange for power.  Pariah steals the eyes of his most powerful opponents as well to absorb their wisdom, power, and most importantly, to create a protective charm against them, leaving many powerful Ancients unable to act directly against him.

Over the next few centuries, they skyrocket in power.  He, through his physical power and military might, becomes the new Ghost King, ruler of the Infinite Realms.  She, through her political savvy and cunning, becomes his queen and confidant, his advisor, influencing his decisions and policies as a literal and metaphorical shadow ruler.

And for the first millennium, it’s good.  She is the Isis to his Osiris and have a love for the ages that puts even Cleopatra and Mark Antony to shame.  Their power continues to grow, and she creates the Crown of Fire and Ring of Rage from the power of fallen enemies.  But as centuries pass, Pariah becomes violent and cruel, corrupted by his power, as he fights to keep his throne.  

He becomes paranoid, never knowing where the next usurper or uprising will come from, and Misery Vex comes under suspicion.  He’s known of her lust for power since the beginning.  Who’s to say that she’ll stay satisfied with her current position.  When will she decide that she wants to rule directly?  Without his “interference?”

And so, he casts her out.

How dare he?!  All those years by his side.  Always loyal.  Always supporting him, calming his rage and his worries, and this is how he repays her?!

Heartbroken and furious, she begins planning her vengeance and approaches the Ancients.  She’s no fool; she can see what his growing madness is doing to the Realms.  The Ancients don’t trust her, but they have little choice.  Even if they all worked together, he’s still too powerful for them to destroy, and her own magic prevents many of them from attacking him.

She creates the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep, using all the magic she’s gained over the millennia, and finally, she inscribes the sarcophagus with Pariah Dark’s secret name, his true name that he carried in life.  A name only she remembers. 

With Misery’s assistance, the Ancients manage to overthrow Pariah and seal him away. 

However, Misery Vex is too dangerous to leave loose, and the Ancients lock her away while she’s too weak to fight back.  It’s nothing as complete as the Sarcophagus, but it limits her power and influence over the Realm.

Still, she is patient, and she is endless, so she waits.

And waits.

And waits, until news reaches her of a young boy who managed to defeat Pariah is single combat.  He former husband is not destroyed, only contained, but the Realms are abuzz with talk of this new heir presumptive.

And so, she begins to stir again, making plans within plans within plans, as she moves the pieces of her senet board into place.  She’s waited centuries; what’s a few more years?

After all, what’s a young king without his Queen Mother?

* I modeled her appearance after Nyakim Gatwech who is Sudanese, so Nubian might be more appropriate or accurate.  But she was definitely a black woman who lived in Egypt.

Personality:

She’s extremely intelligent and cunning.  She’s unafraid to use any tool at her disposal to her advantage, whether that be her wit, knowledge, magic or sexuality and is extremely manipulative.  There are very few times she acts directly, preferring to operate through subterfuge or a cat’s paw.

What makes her truly dangerous isn’t that she’s evil, but that she’s self-serving.  She’ll work with whatever side best serves her own ambitions best at the moment, so there’s never a surefire way to know who’s side she’d truly on since she left Pariah.

She’s also more fluid in her appearance than most ghosts, changing her wardrobe every decade or so to keep up with the latest fashion, and then going back to her original look for a while.  She also has a fondness for wigs and has amassed an impressive collection of them throughout the years.

I received this message last night, but as I blocked the anon who sent it, I don't have the original ask. I didn't think that I was going to respond at all, but there are some lingering thoughts about it that I'd like to speak to.

I'm appalled by the assumption that I don't leave feedback on Ao3 or Wattpad. Of course I do. I leave comments on fics on every platform I consume them on. I am also imperfect - I don't have the time or energy to leave an effusive comment on every fic - but I leave a one sentence comment. I leave kudos. I let them know that I enjoyed.

I do consume free content on other sites without engaging with it. The difference is that on Youtube or TikTok, the content I'm consuming is compensated. My viewing of it feeds an algorithm that then promotes it to other users. My viewing of it allows the creators to become members of their respective platforms' creator fund. My viewing of it enables these creators to get sponsorship deals that can then literally pay for things. When I consume free content on other sites without interacting the creator is getting paid. Their labor is being compensated.

It is illegal to monetize fanfiction. To attempt to make money off of it would bring about lawsuits from the corporations that own the characters and universes we write about. It would destroy sites where fanfiction is hosted, as it has in the past. We attempt sometimes to get something in little ways, like a patreon or a ko-fi, but these operate as systems of donation because any other method of payment is illegal. (You can go to the ko-fi link in my bio and see that nobody has donated to it. I'm not asking anyone to.) So you see, my content isn't like other free content you access on the internet. The only way I get anything out of my work is through interaction.

Of course I write for myself. But do not be so naive as to believe that I post it on the internet for my own validation. I could very well write my pieces and keep them to myself, or only share them in a discord server of friends who I know will appreciate it. I post them online to share them with a wider fan community who also love the characters. I post them online to get feedback. Yes, I am deliberately baiting reactions. I am creating art; its purpose is to make people feel things, and I'd like to know if it's effective. I am no more entitled to feedback than you are to an endless stream of free content that you, admittedly, have the option of not engaging with. But to assert that I am somehow being greedy or obtuse speaks to your lack of understanding of how this works. Or perhaps it is indicative of your callous disregard for the art that you so readily consume.

Imagine a painter friend of yours shows you their new work that they are excited about. They present it to you, all excited and hopeful. You stare at the painting impassively. You don't smile, you don't react.

Your painter friend's face falls. "Do you like it?" they ask.

"You showed it to me for free," you reply. "I don't owe you anything."

No, reading my work is not a debt to be paid in forced reaction. I did not say that I was owed feedback, nor did I "demand" it. It is absurd to assume that this was my intention. It is equally absurd to act as though fan creators are benevolent art martyrs who should expect nothing in return for their work but the supposed satisfaction of a job well done. It is absurd to think that readers play no role, that this is not a symbiotic relationship between artist and art consumer.

If you do not want to accept responsibility in this relationship, that is your choice. You are right in that regard; I can not control your behavior. But do not expect me to continue on as though nothing is amiss. Do not act as though I should be grateful for every little scrap I am given and never speak up for myself. And do not tell me that I have no right to my feelings ever, but specifically in regards to the diminishing returns of the labor I am doing.

We are not here to die on the swords of your indifference in perpetuity. Press the fucking reblog button.

Batfam Fancast Part 13: The Al Ghuls

Oh baby my first request! @callmekohaii asked and they shall recieve.

The eternal Al Ghuls. Ra's,Talia,Dusan,Nyssa and Damian. For centuries this family has affected the world in more ways then we will ever know. Integral to the League of Assassins this family are known to be pompous and pretentious aristocrats. So who will be these immortal individuals?

Before we go any further we do have a major conflict to resolve. That problem is the ethnicity of the family. When potrayed before they had rather problematic castings, however the very concept of these characters are problematic in of themselves. Being Middle Eastern aristocratic type people that create conflict based on personal extremist ideals. Similar to the Drake family I have to be careful with how I elaborate and edit on these characters stories and must be thoughtful with how I want to portray these characters without stepping on anyone's toes.

I also have to remember to cast people that aren't completely Americanized, unlike most of the Batfamily who are all east coast American besides Alfred. Actors who are of Middle Eastern or Asian descent seem to be my best bet and have some actors be mixed as well.

Ra's Al Ghul

The leader of the League of Assassins, the Demon's Head, Grandpappy Stabby Stab. The figurehead of the family, Ra's Al Ghul is a legendary DC character, a well-known Batman villain that can keep up with the likes of Batman. Obsessed with destroying the world to remake in his own image he will do anything and everything for his goals, but still hold himself to degree of honor. However he is hypocritical holding onto old ideals that won't have him accept more liberal ideas. He still respects people of similar status though. Even seeing the like Bruce Wayne and Tim Drake as potential successors. Yet still forgoes someone like his Son or Daughters as successors no matter their enthusiasm for it.

There is only one actor that can covers all the things needed for this character and has been with him for over a decade. Oded Fehr has been voicing Ra's Al Ghul for Young Justice since 2011. He is 52 years old, has experience with action thanks to the Mummy movies and is Israeli. He is by far the best choice for this mastermind.

Nyssa Raatko

Nyssa Raatko also known as Nyssa al Ghul is the oldest known daughter of Ra's and half-sister to Talia. She was born early 18th and disassociates herself from her father sometime in the early 20th century. She has lived through WW2, her family she had were victims of the Nazis concentration camps. Even when she begged for help her father did nothing leaving her there. This left her spiteful and out for revenge.

Unlike canon a major change I'm going to make is the WW2 backstory, instead of a Nazi Concentration Camp, It's a Japanese prison in the Philippines. They tried to escape to the Philippines till the war spread there, her husband and sons dying after the "Bataan Death March" and Nyssa becoming one of the many women who are victims of the Japanese, becoming a Comfort Woman. Her evolution post WW2 however is to have her path of vengeance though violence changed into kindness... with violence. Using the generations of wealth she had acquired she becomes an icon of peace to the public, helping third world countries develop, using her sect of League Assassins to kill whoever stops her development, no matter their morals or even compassionate actions. She accidently becomes the very thing she wished to not associate with.

For Nyssa I need an actress who is most likely more mixed compared to Ra's, living in Southeast Asia. She doesn't have to be white and has to be active enough to do some to little fighting.

Elodie Yung is the only actress I thought of. She's the only half asian actress with martial arts training and enough experience in both action and acting. You might remember her as Elektra in Daredevil and as the main character in The Cleaning Lady.

Dusan Al Ghul

The tragic Dusan Al Ghul son of Ra's Al Ghul. A disappointment to his father's eyes he would do anything for his respect, even rising through the ranks under the guise of the White Ghost. He also albino for some reason. I think instead of him being Albino I want to emphasize him being an unintended child. Using those old ideals the Al Ghul's follow he is a bastard in his eyes, it's not just Ra's Al Ghul but the whole family that shuns him.Think Jon Snow or Gendry from Game of Thrones. Decades of longing lead to Dusan's obsessive drive for his family's love.

Joe Taslim has been nothing but delight finding international stardom thanks to The Raid:Redemption and later the HBO/Cinemax show Warrior. Staring in one of the best contemporary action films and martial arts drama, he is perfect to play this bastard son.

Talia Al Ghul

Daughter of the Demon and Mother to Damian, she is a main stay when it come to the Al Ghuls, a master manipulator like her father she later commanded the organization known as Leviathan. From villain to ally, then back to villain it's hard to say where her true loyalty will stand. She sees her methods as absolute and only the most stubborn of personalities could ever change her mind. Not even her own son persuade her, even willing to kill her own son for her own ambitions.

Many of the castings are rather difficult, yet this was a rather easy character to make. Known for her work in the show The Boys and as the character Farah Karim in Call of Duty Claudia Doumit is a Austrailian actress of Lebenese descent. Her prolific filmography has shown she is more than capable of playing this popular anti villain.

Damian Wayne

The newest Robin and biological son of Batman Damian Wayne is DC current wannabe shonen protaganist. He's a great character when writers remember that League of Assassin training means nothing when you fight beside the people who beat them constantly.

Brutal, short-tempered, and looking to be accepted, his assassin upbringing has left many holes in his ability to socialize in modern society. Unable to relate to anybody besides the more upscale aristocratic part of the world. He wishes to grow up so fast only to forget that growing up is part of the process. A major change I want to address is his upbringing, I want to emphasize the brutally conservative nature of the League of Assassins and the cycle of abuse his family continues to use. By embracing his father's side of the family he learns to forge his own identity and unlike many writers right now, learns that he does not want to be Batman and luckily has Brothers willing to carry that weight for him.

Another major character dynamic I want to switch is between Tim Drake and Dick Grayson. I want the antagonistic nature between him and Tim to go from rivals to family, with Tim filling in as the Big Brother role. Dick being the oldest needs to fill the mentor role, especially since he is the Batman to his Robin. By Dick having the more begrudging frenemy nature allows for them to grow as master and student. Think of Damian as Ahsoka Tano with Tim and Dick as Anakin and Obi-Wan during the Clone Wars. Damian grows on you as a character while the other two are more established and likable.You can even fit Drake and Josh on here with Damian as Megan.

Boy have I seen some terrible fancast for this boi. Like I hate all of them, why you casting 20 something you heathens? IMDB, Google, the damn Disney Channel. Can you not find 1 non white child actor? Gordon Cormier is a 13 year old Filipino Canadian actor who is going to play Aang in the Avatar The Last Airbender live action adaption. He is the only actor who can fit all the criteria that I have put for this character. I have scoured the globe and no one in his age bracket will work besides him. If this young man can play Aang, he can play Damian Wayne.

OMG RENNIVERSAY???? HAPPY ANNIVERSARY AGAIN YAYYYY GUSH PASS IF U WANT HEHE 🎫🎫🎫

😭💕💕💕 THANK YOU NIIICK!!!!!!! for both the oushiversary and the renniversary (and honestly all of the time), your tags on rbs make me so giddy and emotional and i'm always so thankful ;w; wah.

i have a hard time expressing just how much ren has done for me this past year so... it's rambling time ksjdnfjk...

[pet death mention] my baby boy cyrus had lost his battle with cancer just a week prior to The Dream. i won't ramble about him here, but he was my biggest support when home life got fuck-y; losing him was like losing a part of myself. [/pet death mention end]

unfortunately i didn't have much to focus on afterward... i was trying to keep busy, but the art parties i'd been attending went on a long hiatus shortly after this, and while i TRIED vrc for a bit i found The Social Anxiety meant it wasn't the best choice for me ;;

and then i had this long, cinematic dream, about befriending and getting flirty with a dorky, fruity scientist from the c.dc (lol. lmao. i would NEVER!!!!! that's the very first thing i changed about him KJASNDKJN) who was fun and goofy and was so so loving to his niece who followed him around everywhere ;w;

and then he did a little villain heel-turn after being infected by a sentient parasite (also lol. lmao. my brain trying to bully me and make me feel bad... but it does it in the form of a cute bisexual man? 🥴). and of COURSE when his niece and i acted afraid of him he did the whole "i'll destroy everyone powerful in this city. and i won't let anyone or anything harm you." thing and i just OOUGHHHH. there's more to it than that, and i don't want to ramble TOO much, but he was so clearly twisted-justice-but-loves-people-so-hard core. that's the good shit ughhh.

and so! according to the document timestamp, i woke up at 5:45am, opened my ipad, went into procreate, and went to town scribbling down a vague idea of his face and mannerisms before passing out again. i KNEW i didn't want to forget this guy; i immediately felt he was special. most of my ocs come from dreams in some form, but he was already almost fully formed. The Ideal. To Me...

and when i woke up for real, i spent the day nailing down his design. and i was Officially Doomed from then on u_u

he's changed SO MUCH in the past year (just the fact that i had to revive his supernatural villain form as a separate AU a few months ago is proof of that KJANSDKJN)... as have i. he gave me someone to focus on as i healed, a reason to continue drawing in spite of the aforementioned art party hiatus, pushed me to join the selfship community For Real, lead to me meeting so many people and making so many friends outside of my teeny tiny a-couple of-friends-from-college circle, helped me appreciate the oc creation process and AUs so much more, pushed me to do monthly art challenges that i haven't done since before i fell ill...

and just... made me love myself more. made me appreciate the things i didn't like about myself. helped me realize the potential of selfshipping in general, to be a tool to see oneself as deserving of love, even if it takes making a fictional character play messenger between the self-doubt and self-acceptance bits of your brain.

i likely would have just stayed in my own little corner -- my quiet little oushirou blog that i didn't have linked anywhere, chatting in stream chats but not talking to any chatters outside of that -- if not for ren. i've met so many people who have similar struggles! different struggles! similar and completely different interests! gone completely outside of my comfort zone and found such a good circle of people who uplift each other!! HELL, my art blog has multiple times the followers as i have here, but they only ever interacted with my umi.neko art LMAO -- here it feels like we all want to support each others' art and writing and other creations and rambles and and and.

and it's because ren gave me a reason to make that step. start tagging things, start following people and reaching out, chatting with people who reached out to me... he's genuinely changed my life for the better. ;w; i don't think i'll ever be able to express just how thankful i am that he came to me at the exact moment i needed him most. i love him so so much rghhhrgh. gripping him in my fist and kissing him all over his face forever and ever. 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

"Here," No happy birthday, no nothing. Just Sasori extending a piece of paper to Sakura. On it, is written: fuck off pass. It was exactly what it said. "I'mma be honest, I may've spent my fun money on the twins again so I couldn't get you a gift," Not that Sasori knew what to give her besides alcohol and he didn't want to encourage her drinking, especially around the children. He tried getting her a card but they didn't make happy birthday cards for people you didn't like. "If ya ever want me to fuck off, just use that pass." He shrugged.

Sakura was honestly so surprised Sasori even acknowledged her birthday at all. She was just expecting the usual. Him acting like he was on his period 24/7. With some attempts at being nicer to her after she pointed out it wouldn’t be good for the twins in the long run if they openly hated each other all the time. It still crushed her that it pushed Sarada to attack him.

She took the paper and frowned a bit, “Ya know, you could’a sketched me something, or painted me something. I would have hung it in the twins room. You may be an asshole, but I admire your work. Even your puppets when they aren’t killin’ anyone…” Even though sometimes the sight of the blades on them bright up some ptsd flashbacks that she was too prideful to acknowledge,

“I’m actually hoping one of the twins turns out to be an artist like you. Not the whole murder weapon thing… I don’t know. Have a peaceful life making art for people. I’m hoping you teach them art… I can’t. I’m not built to create.” Only to destroy and break things. Like her life. And her daughter’s life. God, she’s just trying so hard not to fuck over the twins too. Sakura often just wanted to blame him for everything but really, it was all her fault for sleeping with him. It was her choices that brought him into her family. Now she suffers the consequences of it. The consequences being the ones she loved the most suffering and it killed her. At the very least, he loved the twins. For how long, who knows. She’s surprised he head out this long with their crying but they’re mostly past that stage,

“While I have you here and you’re not ignoring me or treating me like the worst person on the planet… I’m having the back of the house renovated to be your room to do with as you wish. I can’t expect you to just live on my couch until the twins are adults. So I will have the room built and get you a bed and other things you might need. From there you can paint, do whatever you want with it.” He might be less bitchy if he had his own space to storm off to. They both benefited from this. She gets her living room back and he gets his own space to do whatever he does in his free time. Probably secretly hoping for her death. He’s probably waiting for the day she never comes home again. So he can celebrate her death,

“If you can put up with me long enough, I’ll even let you pick out your own bed and things you might want for your room. Consider it a thank you gift for being so good with the twins, and spoiling them, and attempting to be civil with me for the sake of the kids. I’m really not as awful as you seem to think I am.”

Let's talk about how tumblr is acting amidst the current issues with Twitter. Specifically this:

this ^^^ makes me so unbelievably angry, as almost every comment under that post is as well.

Tumblr does NOT get to joke around with us like they weren't the ones that drove us out to begin with. This is potentially one of the most tone deaf posts I have ever seen from them, and they've been BAD recently. YOU were the ones that banned NSFW content despite the fact that's what most users were here for, proven by the platform basically dying once the ban was implemented. YOU were the ones that disbanded entire communities. YOU were the ones that turned hostile to people who found work through posting their art/content here. YOU were the ones that through the policy changes kicked out SFW queer users. Not only that, but also silenced conversations surrounding sexuality as a whole, SA, and resources for victims. People didn't /want/ to leave. You kicked them out. And now you're acting like WE made that choice? You were spineless and didn't stand with the community when we needed you to, you destroyed thousands upon thousands of people's safe spaces and people are never going to forget that. You are not the Twitter 'replacement' you've been pushing yourself as since Elon acquired it. People have been coming back as a safety measure because we do not have any other choice. Don't get confident. Especially if you aren't going to implement policy changes that people have been asking for for years. And no, the recent 'sexual content' policy update does not count and you know it. Even now, I'm only here because there are a lot of artists here that I love and want to support (that managed to survive your ruthless culling.) If I could do it on a different platform, I would.

(Sorry if this sounds aggressive to anyone who sees it. I'm usually a lot more chill but oh my god I hate tumblr's attitude sm rn)

I'd like to hear the opinions on obscure rpgs!

Okay so here's the thing

I really do think Tales of Legendia actually had a lot going for it, but there was also just so much they completely fucked up? Just like. Entirely fucked up. And I'm not just talking about the weird borderline incest stuff which yes I get it they're not actually siblings but you made this choice video game they didn't have to call each other siblings for the first twenty hours they really didn't please why the fuck did

Sorry I'm getting off track. Time to rant about a topic no one cares about.

Like. I still think it's worth playing for the novelty of it, but Tales games kind of stand on three main things: the characters, the story, and the worldbuilding. And I think these were all absolutely fucked by the world's WEIRDEST pacing issue.

(quick spoiler warning I guess, if anyone is worried about Legendia spoilers)

So like. This story is broken into 3 very distinct sections. And to be fair, plenty of other Tales games get this distinct 3 act structure. Vesperia does it, Vesperia has the clearest separation between it's three main acts. BUT Legendia's breaks go: 1) save Shirley from being kidnapped (which is also just so deeply boring fr fr), 2) stop Shirley from destroying the world with her mermaid powers, 3) OOPS WE FORGOT TO WRAP EVERYONE ELSE'S CHARACTER ARCS UP LET'S DO THAT REAL QUICK.

Like???? What the fuck????????

It's at least kind of like my gripes with the Persona social links where a lot of their best character building is not woven naturally into the story, but unlike Persona, this entire section feels like epilogue up until the very end when randomly you're stopping a god from destroying the world, which by the way has NOTHING to do with the rest of the plot like what the fuck?????

Why save all of the character building for AFTER the main plot???? Why not weave it in naturally? Like every other Tales game?? Hello??? Like, truly and sincerely, the weird 20 hour epilogue section is my favorite part of this game, because it's the first time I started actually caring about these characters.

The first twenty hours of the game end up feeling like an absolute slog. Nothing feels like it's happening, and they are not putting in the legwork to make the characters interesting, and the world feels empty, and the story kind of has fuck all to do with anyone at this point. Like yes, Shirley has been kidnapped, oh no, but I don't care about some war happening on the mainland that has fuckall to do with anyone or anything we ever see. At least Tales of Rebirth has other things happening when you're on your rescue mission. I don't know Shirley that well by this point, and everything I do know about Senel just serves to annoy me. Maybe some of it is his voice acting, I dunno.

OH also, quick detour, I hate the art direction, voice acting and gameplay of ToL. It came out after Symphonia but somehow all of these feel like a step backwards? The character models look janky as hell, you don't get costumes until ng+ and you can't even take those off, the voice acting is kind of mid, the gameplay decided to go back to 2D plains for fighting for some reason, the overworld walking feels SO UNBEARABLY SLOW. Like most of the time I'm not going to comment on gameplay since that's not what y'all are here for and I haven't actually played a few of these games, but man, come on ToL.

Just as a note: I think they could've made the setting interesting. I really do. Because conceptually, it is really fascinating. You're on a giant mystery ship perpetually sailing around the world, that has only recently begun getting settlers (which I guess ignore the weird colonialism to that plot). There are rumors there's a secret weapon on board, and the warring nations of the world want to steal it for their war that we the players never really get any info about? At all? And feel no investment in tbh.

In most Tales games the setting and the politics of the world your in are usually pretty important, and by the end of a lot of them you usually get a plane or something to travel the whole world, but you really don't get that in Legendia. Which is fine, but the world of Legendia is just so vastly empty, and also, kind of boring. Like, imagine if this landmass actually resembled a ship? Like there were distinct structures you could explore that just scream "we are in a unique setting" come on!!! But no, it's just land, and some caves, and some plains, and some mountains. Nothing feels like an overgrown ancient structure at all. And you never get to pilot that ship around the world. That would've been so cool.

Also, again, there's nothing there. I like the idea of a hub city in theory. You have the one town that keeps getting new residents as you get new party members. Other than that town and the port, there are some bandit camps and two secret cities. But neither of the cities are all that interesting, and you're only there for a short amount of time. You really could make that work, but 90% of the game is walking slowly from one empty place to another. I dunno, maybe it would've worked better if more things happened in the town? Or if exploring the wilderness felt more fun? Like they try to do that, but it really doesn't work with the way this game is now. I wonder if a remake could make that more fun, but I can't imagine them remaking this game.

There are parts of this game I like. Honestly, it's some of the best music in any RPG! It's so cool and jazzy. It sounds nothing like any other Tales game and that's so fun. I do like most of the characters well enough, and I actually got really invested in Jay and Will's stories. And, honestly, after that slog of an opening, once we get to the Shirley plot, I actually found it really interesting. Because it goes from weird outside politics I don't feel invested in to "Oh this girl we've grown to care about is now on the opposite side of a complicated power struggle" and that's really interesting! It is! That stuff is great! But whooooo boy.

Also uh. The incest stuff. Again. They're not actually siblings. There was no reason to make that a plot twist. Let Shirley and Chloe be lesbians. It's the correct choice.

The Ever-Changing Story (Part 2b): Retcon Asunas destroying each other, a reboot could save them!

Over the course of writing the previous article and after I've come to the following conclusion: Sword Art Online Progressive (SAOP) destroys the continuity of Sword Art Online (SAO). I've talked about this at length, including in that discussion the Hopeful Chant bonus side story that retcons the Yuuna and Nautilus/Seiji into the Aincrad "timeline."

In my mind, this makes the combination of both series into a meta time travel conundrum, worthy of a better Doctor Who episode or Stein's Gate. By transposing Asuna back in time, the paradoxa involved unravel Asuna's character and future. Her core is threatened, her actions change meaning while outwardly looking the same, and none of the retcons have patched this up so far. The Asuna of Hopeful Chant is a wave of change expanding from Progressive into the mainline canon, subverting it more and more into a continuation of Progressive, and this "Asunami" has already rolled over the Sachi story and changed her role in the mind of a good part of the audience, but it hasn't reached the events of the original books yet. As I said, in order to finish that process, Kawahara essentially "owes us" a rewrite of how Asuna decides to pursue Kirito, if not the whole story of SAO Vol. 1 - Aincrad outright.

The inverse is also becoming more apparent: The SAO main series will destroy the core of SAO Progressive if both are forced into the same timeline. It just hasn't happened yet. But the dynamics unleashed by Kawahara have been set in motion, and he will have to resolve them one way or the other. (I'm not implying a binary choice here, though there are two major options that occur.)

Doom from above

There are two ways in which these stories are written:

Top-down: Kawahara takes the overall story outline that he has decided on and places a story in it. This requires reconciling the details with the general outline, so the story is driven by prioritizing the outline over the characters. This style often creates gaps in character arcs, plot holes or, more accurately, "character arc holes." These come into existence because the character marches from plot point to point and is fit into a mold. Plot takes priority over character if both clash.

Bottom-up: In this case, the author places the characters in a situation and lets them act from the established drives, motivations, goals, and behaviors. Ideally, the characters take on their own life and drive the story. This style creates a seamless continuity, but you may not end up where you "want to be." In order to arrive at a certain point you have to seed that endpoint into the characters to begin with.

Kirito in a hall of mirrors

I've been going on how Progressive, for all its greatness, breaks Sword Art Online. Now I will try to demonstrate how SAO (main series) will make Progressive worse.

If both of them should fit into the same continuity, the basic dynamic of Progressive can't persist. Asuna and Kirito need to be ripped apart so that they can come together again.

Please note that this has never been made necessary by the original intent behind Progressive. It was meant to be the story of beating Aincrad, floor by floor. But there is an immediate problem with that - that is how Kawahara writes and how Kirito is written.

Kirito works best when he has a foil. Kirito presents a different self to different characters.

He's a big protective brother to Silica/Keiko when her immaturity traps her into overextending herself, allowing her to not be killed by the consequences of her own choices.

To Sachi he's someone who makes her fear bearable through kindness.

With Liz/Rika he has a game of escalation going. Just look at how he drives her towards committing to making her best sword ever for him. He side-steps her and her thrust basically carries her past him.

To Asuna he becomes the force that invites her into life, love, and becoming herself instead of being defined by duty.

To Sinon/Shino he is the one who can understand her trauma best, faulting himself over the same or a similar thing - the act of having killed in a life-and-death situation. A fellow soul. Somebody who can see her.

To Alice he becomes such an outright example of standing up for his own principles so that she can successfully develop her own in spite of the spell she is under.

People make fun of Sword Art Online's unwanted harem surrounding Kirito. But each of these girls has a good reason to love Kirito and want to be friends with him. Each of them - maybe not Silica (sorry, girl) - could just as validly become a full romantic partner with him were it not for Asuna. It's unclear whether Shino wanted to or how she truly feels about Kyouji, but Kirito and her are definitely more than "just friends." War of the Underworld confirms this. And I left Suguha out because she is actually hard to understand. But she doesn't have to make that much sense - maybe that makes her the most realistic teenage girl of them all.

(By the way, Klein is part of this harem, too. He wears his heart on his sleeve and would follow Kirito anywhere, cry over him and admires him endlessly. Total bromance.)

What I want to express is that Kirito needs another person next to him to be his co-protagonist so that we know who Kirito is! That's why the main series timeline for Kirito is:

Kirito & Klein (SAO 1)

Kirito & Coper (SAO 22)

Kirito & Sachi (SAO 2)

Kirito & Silica (SAO 2)

Kirito & Liz (SAO 2)

Kirito & Asuna (SAO 1, SAO 8, SAO 22)

Kirito & Leafa (SAO 3-4)

Kirito & Sinon (SAO 5-6)

Kirito & Eugeo (SAO 9-14)

Kirito & Alice (SAO 13-18?)

No idea about Moon Cradle.

Kirito & everyone (SAO 21, SAO 23 onward)

Each story featuring Kirito almost only shows him "on screen" while he has a foil of some form. This is even true of the villains - including for example Morte or Kuradeel. We are told about what Kirito does off screen (level, hunt monsters, delve into dungeons) but it isn't shown for long if no other person is present - because it would be boring, uninteresting, and provide none of the exchanges between Kirito and others that "define" his character. If Kirito sneaks off at night to do his own thing, he will inevitably run into another character, be it a player killer or an NPC.

The other people entering his life break or heal his heart, or force him to find out what he believes in and act on it. In some cases like with Coper these characters exist to bend Kirito's arc away from displaying some qualities too early. But Kirito is largely a passive character, at least when he meets a person, unless circumstances are already dire. He is being pulled in by (main series) Asuna because she wants to. He follows along in Sinon's wake because it's at first convenient. He plays this game of escalation with Liz probably because he likes it and also likes to tease her into completely overcommitting herself. Kirito often ends up spending major time with a person he just encountered. And he has inertia. He will carry feelings forward until somebody helps him release them.

That's because he's a free electron suddenly being caught by somebody else's nucleus. He fills other characters' needs. And they become the story and fills his needs in turn, at least the nice ones.

Shino is desperate for a friend, assuming ideally that would be a girl like her.

Asuna needs joy in her life.

Klein needs a tutorial because who reads the damn manual, anyway?

Eugeo needs a swift kick in his ass to do anything. (Okay okay, he needs an understanding and encouraging sensei that keeps him going against his deep conditioning.)

Liz needs the very human contact her personality tends to isolate her from.

Silica needs a protector and friend in need so she can learn her lesson about consequences without dying first.

Sachi needs somebody who can make her feel safe.

Suguha needs the connection back she had with him as a child and that she misses sorely. (And a boyfriend that impresses her. Confusion ensues.)

Alice needs somebody who can help her start becoming her own person, free of the manipulation she's under. (This is different from Eugeo in that nobody needs to kick Alice's ass to get into action. She needs somebody who makes her change the course of action she's already on. Eugeo is inertia. Alice is initially inertia in motion. Both need an outside force.)

All the good dialogue, all the emotions, all the caring and suffering and healing only works if there is a counter-foil for it, and in Kawahara's case this is always one other person Kirito gets entangled with.

How "fixing the future" spells D-O-O-M for Progressive

As Progressive unfolded, it created rifts that Hopeful Chant was the band-aid for. And stories written in the mainline tend to announce events that haven't happened yet in Progressive as if to say "But they have to!"

This kind of arc fixing takes the form of inferences:

If Asuna and Kirito are to resume their original arc in SAO, then they first need to be split apart. Asuna joining the Knights of Blood after the (expanded) disaster of Floor 25 is established in The Day Before (SAO 22). The story was written for a release of the anime, therefore it fixes some facts in place after Aria of the Starless Night (SAOP 1) had already been shoved into canon. Else we can't have Sachi at all or Asuna going after Kirito.

If Asuna and Kirito are meant to split apart, this likely needs some additional leverage. There's some foreshadowing, I forgot where, that some tragic events will happen towards the end of the Elf War quest, either on floor 8 or 9. Possibly also altering Asuna's attitude towards NPCs - as if the stupid 56th floor duel between Kirito and Asuna (at her instigation) needed to be preserved in canon...

If Asuna and Kirito still run into each other, then they need to be forcefully kept apart. Cue the Hopeful Chant side story which introduces Asuna's sense of guilt why she can't act on her feelings for Kirito and go after him.

And this isn't exclusive to Asuna and Kirito: If the Aincrad Liberation Squad (ALS) is meant to turn into the ultimately corrupted Aincrad Liberation Force (ALF)/the Army, then also Kibaou's arc has to be heavily disrupted. But the Kibaou of Progressive cares. So we get this story about his heartbroken, grieving cries for his dead guildmates. This seems to change his arc in the story, but not his character arc. He is a forthright, direct, honorable, fair person, who prioritizes things like beating the game and helping the masses of trapped players through leading by example. In the story, Kibaou's ALS guild is most heavily targeted to be manipulated by Laughing Coffin (SAOP 3 and 4, especially). So Kawahara seems to indeed plot their downfall in some way. BUT. He also shows Kibaou as the honorable guy whose hand is forced. Because he reimagined him as a good guy. By SAOP 8 he's better than he has ever been. While you can force him out of the frontline by killing his closest friends - you can break a person - it's still entirely unclear how a person defined by the traits he displays becomes somebody who willingly does a Player Kill by Monster (MPK) to gain/preserve power. These are entirely different characters so far that only share a name. Just like Asuna's shifted character arc negates future Asuna's inner workings, Kibaou's characterization clashes to an extreme degree. And a few throw-away lines in a side story do not fix this.

The thing is - this whole thing isn't convincing in the first place. If you split Asuna and Kirito apart you somehow need to do it hard enough that they stay apart for almost 50 floors until they are almost as strangers to each other. Then we still need an as-of-yet unwritten event or process that reverses this trajectory for Asuna, and that one hasn't even been revealed yet.

But this creates a host of problems for Progressive. Kawahara has been busy hacking the arc of Sword Art Online to fit Progressive in, but this hems in the story he can write for Progressive for the sake of a story that does not connect. Neither Asuna, Kirito, nor Kibaou do connect with their future selves. And they never really will. But Progressive is shoe-horned in by "events" defined in SAO main series - without any of them having been written. They create a pseudo-continuity.

When the iceberg is supposed to be good for the Titanic

Kawahara has essentially put story icebergs into the waters that Progressive will sail through. While it's ultimately my metaphor, I use it to show the folly of this: You need to sink the character arcs of Progressive to preserve the pseudo-continuity with the main series.

Yes, a character arc means a character changes. So Kawahara could invoke a series of events that lead Asuna to decide she needs to prioritize beating the game over being with Kirito. And he could introduce a series of events that disrupt Kibaou's will to beat the game. But this creates two different kinds of problems.

As I mentioned, if Asuna prioritizes beating the game over being with Kirito, she needs something that will explain to us how this ultimately reverses again. While Hopeful Chant reminds us what her heart really wants, it also tells us why she doesn't pursue it. And even if another side story provides it, it will not fix the continuity problems of "Oh, I don't know you" and "Oh, I have sudden feelings for you" and "Oh, this moment in time started to fix my problems." The Asuna of Progressive has already absorbed basically all of the original main series Asuna's inner arc into her. I'm reading SAOP 5 at the moment, and it is heavily implied in the opening scene that Asuna thinks Kirito will confess his love for her, and she's not ready for that. She's overwhelmed. But she's not saying that she doesn't want that. She is basically saying that something needs to happen first - and that something is likely some resolving of inner conflicts that she so far refused to tackle. But she knows. She increasingly morphs into her final stage. This is floor six. This is an Asuna that probably wondered already what kissing Kirito would be like and then panics at scenarios that have happened in her mind already. (But not in Kirito's oblivious mind. We can always count on Kirito being oblivious.) This matches with the fact that after SAOP 4 there's a rapid decrease of seeing things from Asuna's point of view. Because it would become too revealing to keep this convincingly up.

Kibaou's problem is different. His plot arc would be disrupted but that does nothing to establish a route from A to B, A being that the ALS is an upright force for beating the game, and B is having the ALF as a minor side story villain. By the end of the game, the logout happening a bit more than a week after events he's involved in, Kibaou and his gang are shunned, having been removed from the original MMO Today (now: "the Army") guild. Kirito and Asuna essentially fixed a problem that only would have mattered if the game would have persisted longer. But in doing so, they again established facts that create problems in Kibaou's arc. But only because Kawahara decided to reuse him - and then give him a more likable personality. If this is meant to produce an ultimate Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader moment then I'm not convinced it will work.

The problem with both these events is that they are destined to end Progressive for good. There are two dynamics that they disrupt.

The main dynamics of Progressive

One is the emotional one of the Asuna/Kirito interplay. It's the juicy, heartwarming, funny core that makes the story adorable, and that's also the reason Kawahara included Asuna in the first place. He must have understood what he was doing on some level, because even in SAOP 1 he stated he couldn't imagine another woman/girl at Kirito's side. If it was not Asuna, then the girl would become emotionally so important, it would shove Asuna off her throne at the center of Kirito's heart. And if he killed that girl - and it would have to be a girl - that would topple Sachi's impact. He had "no choice" but to make it Asuna if he wanted to preserve the presence of Asuna. Consider Sinon - the thing keeping Kirito and Shino apart is partially his preexisting deep commitment to Asuna. But had that not existed, the whole story could also start there. Progressive is, like Phantom Bullet, a strong story of companionship. And the act of suffering together, of discovering deep commonalities, of relying on each other for their lives - that creates love. This love could be expressed in different ways, but the story could start in Phantom Bullet and still be convincing. This must have made it clear to Kawahara that if he didn't chose Asuna as Kirito's companion, that Progressive would disrupt SAO even more. Whoever would be by Kirito's side would become a major point character. (Not that there are any good choices here. Retcontinuity has a massive problem here because the gaps in SAO are so massive to begin with.)

The other dynamic is the interplay of the guilds and their designated protagonists. This is the second dynamic - and it tends to contribute a lot to the plot side, mostly. Kawahara also uses it to establish Kirito as the solo "beater," but this became quickly secondary, and the grudging acceptance becomes very apparent throughout Progressive all the time. Kirito is not called "beater." Everybody calls him "Blackie" - showing a mix of acceptance and annoyed distance. You can't owe a person your life that many times and not change your mind about them. So even this attempt at painting Kirito's role in the game is changing. Kirito is not a solo beater. He's ultimately a respected person that becomes the linchpin of holding the frontrunners together. He just doesn't realize this.

The other two dynamics shaping SAO Progressive are the increasing role of high-functioning AI and the attempts by the precursor of Laughing Coffin to disrupt any progress. Together these four dynamics form the core of the series and generate stories and draw the reader in. You could say the story is woven from these threads and sprinkled with a sense of wonder at the fantastc surroundings. And one thread can provide opportunities for another.

But the main thread the others weave around is the thread of Asuna and Kirito growing close to each other. It doesn't drive the story often but defines the emotional attachment of the reader to the story. All the other threads provide drama and action and move the plot. But the dance of Asuna and Kirito, as they orbit each other, sells Progressive to us. Sever this thread and Progressive collapses. By focusing so much of the series on this thread it also depends on it. If Kawahara realizes "the master plan" to shove "canon" into Progressive as he continues writing it, this will end Progressive. And in that sense Sword Art Online altogether. Because at this rate it is likely that Progressive will outlive the main series which concludes after Unital Ring.

Just make it an official reboot already

Everything inside Progressive makes it a de-facto but unadmitted reboot. Had Kawahara presented it as such from the beginning, not much would have changed. It never lived up to the idea of telling the story of beating Aincrad within its existing continuity. And the reason is clear - in order to create his typical foil for Kirito and create reader interest and emotional attachment, Kawahara had to do something about companionship. And that did him in very quickly, but to my personal delight it crafted the best possible story.

Consider Kizmel. Not for her impact on the story, but the conundrum she poses for Kirito and Asuna. She is such a high-functioning AI, she's nigh-indistinguishable from a player. She comes alive and leaves her predefined mold, becomes a character with her own history (that can't have actually occurred, unless SAO deep-generated its story instead of it being planted as level design), and changes course. The quest, however, largely takes place as it should.

Consider this as a (completely meta) metaphor for the whole of Progressive as we have experienced it so far. Then Kizmel becomes the protagonists who take on a life of their own, quickly develop their own dynamic, and rush forward their character arcs. And the quest becomes the relationship between the main plot that binds Kirito and Asuna and their own independent agency. Kirito and Asuna's "future" is as fake as Kizmel's past - depending on how you see it. They can not become these persons anymore, falling in love for the first time, just as Kizmel can become anymore the NPC that dies at the beginning of the quest. Kizmel surviving at the beginning of Elf War diverges the quest from the official template and the beta. Asuna being matched up with Kirito on floor 1 diverges from the SAO 1 and its plot outline. This could even make SAO 1 stand in as "the beta" and Progressive becomes the "real story" of beating Aincrad. Just as there are changes from the beta (that cause the characters lots of excitement and problems), the changes from SAO are what makes Progressive good.

It also shows the massive potential that was wasted by not rewriting SAO as a continuous series to begin with. The original story in SAO 1, for all its weaknesses, created a sort of hagiography - if only in the minds of parts of the fanbase - that the Progressive characters are now forced to evolve into.

I say: Don't do it. Continue the story as it is best for this story. Allow it to be a reboot. Let these characters tell their own story - a story that could be better than the original. In many ways it already is. There's no need to run it into an iceberg for the sake of another story. I believe Kawahara has grown as a writer. Progressive is great like The Isolator is. The characters are better than they have ever been. They deserve their own story for good. All it takes is removing the chains that bind them to the original SAO 1, chains already weak and rusty.

I believe you could tell the story of all floors of Aincrad and still allow SAO 3 - Fairy Dance and all subsequent stories to happen.

Cultivation Analysis- Disco Elysium

I was not someone who considered themselves a “gamer” as a child. I asked for a Nintendo DS, because I wanted to play Nintendogs. We got a Wii for my sister's birthday, and together we loved to play Mario Galaxy (1 and 2). After getting the Nintendo DSi, I fell out of video games for a while, until I met a very special person. My husband and I met in our senior year of high school, and the first time we met he was wearing a Portal 2 t-shirt. He had grown up playing games, and has an extensive knowledge of their history, development, and mechanics. One day, I went over to his house and he was playing a new game he thought I would like based on The Walking Dead franchise. Telltale Game’s The Walking Dead, a game where your choices impact the story and characters. The game was released in “Episodes” and the last had just been released. We had been together for just over a month, and he was not planning on finishing the ending when I got there. However, I was curious after watching him finish the 4th episode. He did not want to stop either, so I watched the ending. That was the first time I was emotionally destroyed by a video game.

Fast forward ten years. My husband and I play games almost daily. I generally watch more than I play, (marrying my own personal Let’s Player has its perks). However, I enjoy playing more story driven games on my own. Usually at the recommendation of my husband. I play a few action games, usually with friends, but Role Playing Games (RPGs) are my game style of choice. RPGs vary in tone, style, and mechanics, but the heart of a good RPG is an interesting and compelling story with dynamic characters whose lives are impacted by my choices as the player. One of the best games I’ve played (and re-played) in recent years is Disco Elysium.

In this game, you play as Harry DuBois, a strug-out police detective in the seaside town of Ravachol. You start the game, not even knowing your own name, as different parts of your psyche comment on "your" choices and the environment. Playing video games is different from consuming other forms of media, in that it expects the media consumer, the player, to be actively involved in the process. It is not like a movie or T.V. Show that you can sit idly and watch. “With the development of increasingly complex musical scores and the advent of machinima, the boundaries between video games and other forms of media are slowly blurring…video games have contributed significantly to modern artistic culture.” (Media Studies 101, 2014, 10.4). Players have to invest in the process in order to continue the complex story and uncover the mysteries of the murder, the town, the people who live there, Harry’s past, and even mythical creatures. The nature of the game makes it so that you can re-play it and experience completely different moments based on different choices.

My favorite moment doesn’t happen until the very end of the game. In the town, there are rumors of a mythical creature, the Insulindian Phasmid. I don’t want to spoil the moment for people who have yet to play this wonderful game (seriously, play it if you can), but it is hands down, one of the most beautiful moments I have ever experienced from any form of media. I remember turning to my husband, who was watching me play for once, and seeing the wonder on his face as well. Even though it was his third time experiencing that moment (yes we really like this game). He even bought some art inspired by that moment for me for Christmas, from artist Luís Melo. I can see it from where I type this post. 

Disco Elysium has impacted me and many other players. The art, writing, acting, complex choices, music, and animation all come together in a truly beautiful experience. Games like this, make video games an art and go against every “games ruin your mind” naysayer on the planet. Revochol is not a real place, Harry, Kim and the Phasmid are not real beings, but the impact they have left on the players can not be understated. ZA/UM, the developer and publisher, seems to be in limbo, and I doubt a game of this caliber will be released again for a long time. I hope that more people are inspired to create games to make the players think and challenge the medium in new, creative ways. 

Thank you for reading, see you next thought.

References:

Media Studies 101: A Creative Commons Textbook. Media Text Hack Group, 2014.   open.lib.umn.edu,https://open.lib.umn.edu/mediaandculture/chapter/4-4-how-newspapers-control-the-publics-access-to-information-and-impact-american-pop-culture/.

Ether Chapter 3. Part 2. "A Minute in a Box."

The being we call God is a Friendly Spirit. He is body, mind, spirit, Heaven, He is here is beyond. All the creation abides in Him and He in it. Yet we struggle with ways to explain and accept Him. We say "God is hither, but not thither" as if He is needs us to do this. We pretend we do.

We want God and all explanations of Him to be ancient and old, because we have faith all revelations about Him are true. For them to be true, God can't be one way in the past and another in the present. The prophet asserts below, no matter what, God, the Christ, the Father, the Son, the individual soul are all as one God, the God of Israel, and this is Additional Testament is a first-hand account of what this means to the modern world.

The other important point he makes regards the importance of repentance. Repentance is not very well misunderstood. Civilization does not work if we do not repent. Without repentance and atonement as I have said, man can become intelligent but he will never be all that good.

So when we study religion and pray, we seek the Grace of God because our way of life depends on it. Just look at all the unrepentant but intelligent and sophisticated persons in the world. They are destroying this place at a rapid pace. A repentant country would never let Donald Trump or his party suvive. They would all be dead after the crap they pulled.

A repentant human race would not be acting in the defense of Ukraine now of all times, they would have acted when the Russians started staging. The same with climate change, human rights, all the poverty and pain we are breeding all around this world.

Human rights, basic necessities, and security about the future are necesssary for peace and sustainable levels of prosperity. When a government allows any of these to lapse, the basic premise for peace on earth falters. Governors must maintain these secure principals at all times. We treat enforcement as if it were a possibility rather than an inevitability and thus are constantly reconstructing the vision for our lives. The nation can't have Pro-Life one day and Pro-Choice the next when the law says the government cannot intrude on this issue. There must be stability, the kind that favors equality and equity if a nation is to experience prolonged success.

We think repentance is performed to placate God but it is done to help us survive, to be able to express how we feel towards others and towards the Self without guilt or the potential for future guilt. The best way to repent is to act with dignity, humanity, humor and humiltiy towards one's fellow man and never, ever sin again:

11 And the Lord said unto him: Believest thou the words which I shall speak?

12 And he answered: Yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the truth, for thou art a God of truth, and canst not lie.

13 And when he had said these words, behold, the Lord showed himself unto him, and said: Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you.

14 Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters.

15 And never have I showed myself unto man whom I have created, for never has man believed in me as thou hast. Seest thou that ye are created after mine own image? Yea, even all men were created in the beginning after mine own image.

16 Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh.

17 And now, as I, Moroni, said I could not make a full account of these things which are written, therefore it sufficeth me to say that Jesus showed himself unto this man in the spirit, even after the manner and in the likeness of the same body even as he showed himself unto the Nephites.

God has shown the way to the Hem of His Sleeve over and over. There are no reasons to pretend we don't see, understand, or comprehend His Nature or Mysteries or Instructions, and now I have said with greater detail why we must do it.

The Values in Gematria are:

v. 11: Do you believe? The Value in Gematria is 4626, דובו‎ ‎dobo, "His bear."

A bear is a hairy dude who asserts his masculinity in a way that is overbearing. When the cause is just and right, man is supposed to become like a bear and protect our sanctuary. Believe like a bear and things will be fine.

If mankind had done this when the Evangelicals starting threatening to overrun the world with their stupid bullshit we would all be living on a different planet.

v. 12: I know God speaketh the truth. The Value in Gematria is 6065, ו‎אֶפֶסו‎ה‎, "and Ephesus," "reality back, middle, and front."

"The universe begins in truth, in truth it abides and into truth it dissolves." If we follow the Law and all laws and procreate a reality in which all are free to find the Self, the utmost in truth is born all around us.

v. 13: Behold the Lord. The Value in Gematria is 10213, יבאג‎ ‎‎, yabag, "through God's food."

v. 14: I am prepared from the Foundation. The Value in Gematria is 10174, אאֶפֶסזד‎ ‎apsezd, "about the size of one's nose."

What happens beyond one's schnoz is a product of the intermixing of the self and the Self called Ha Shem, "the all-knowing."

In this verse God consolidates this experience into one word, "Me." Me, unless it is used properly is the most dangerous word in the English language. The Self of God is the safest reference for the word Me.

v. 15: But man has never believed. The Value in Gematria is 13682, יגו‎חב‎, "echocardiography". "What is in your heart?"

v. 16: Now behold this body. The Value in Gematria is 11809, יאחאֶפֶסט‎‎, jachafest, "a minute in a box."

v. 17: In the manner and the likeness of the same body. The Value in Gematria is 11664, יאווד‎, "This is My Destiny."

So to God we are a box with a tiny present inside of it. The sooner we decide to apprehend the utmost meaning of this, the essence of life will become clear. I would read and re-read this frame over and over until that happens.

Bioshock 1 isn’t the worst game I’ve ever played, but it is without even a shadow of a doubt the least fun game I have ever played. The way in which bioshock 1 is bad is astounding. It proves that fun factor and goodness are not necessarily the same in video games. It’s so dumbfoundingly unenjoyable that it advances video gaming as an art form. I’ve played Hunt Down the Freeman twice in full, and I had exponentially more fun playing that than I did playing bioshock 1. The only enjoyable part of bioshock 1 was the thirty seconds in Hephaestus Core where the music hits. At no other point in bioshock 1 did I have fun. I kept playing through thinking “oh okay, well maybe the start is rough but the rest of the game gets better. Half-life 1 is really good but On a Rail and Xen aren’t the best so maybe the start is just rough” but NO. Not even CLOSE. Bioshock 1 so very clearly wanted to play with the player’s feeling of agency, but its reveal falls so incredibly flat because the false veil of “oh well maybe jack is just trying to succeed” is so paper fucking thin for the majority of the start of the game. Then when Atlas’ “Family” dies whatever semblance of agency the game might have had before is just gone with no chance of coming back. Only at one point did I feel like Jack had any reason to be doing what he did before the big twist. bioshock infinite, the third and final bioshock game manages to at least make your character feel rational. Booker is clearly adjusted to violence judging by his reaction to the dead body in the lighthouse and how pissed he is about losing his gun. It’s not shocking when he goes on a killing spree because it’s very clear he’s not a stranger to violence. At the very least, we can understand his attitude behind fighting in self defense. I’m not asking to be fucking spoonfed Jack’s character, because bioshock 1’s design philosophy is obviously to let Jack grow into the character the player wants him to be, but you Jack can’t grow if there’s not soil to fucking grow into. Imagine if, in the hobbit, Bilbo and Gandalf had never met before the adventure started. Gandalf just shows up to some random hobbit’s door and says “hey do you wanna go reclaim an entire castle and also go head to head with a fucking dragon and then Trillbo of the Ball-Sag family is like “yeah whatever”. But THEN imagine once they got to Smaug the book was like “hey why DID Trillbo of Ball-Sag go with the dwarves?” That’s what bioshock 1 is. That’s how it feels to play through. Your actions make zero fucking sense because it wants you to have control, but the writers were so painfully inept they couldn’t let you feel like you were control without literally giving you complete control. It’s so fucking bad. I cannot get my mind around how beautifully, and more importantly, EFFECTIVELY bioshock infinite plays with player agency than bioshock 1 does. Booker’s choices feel like his own, even when they’re yours, because they’re plausible for his character. The way bioshock 1 tries and fails to establish player agency are worse than amateur. They’re worse than inept. Bethesda’s fallout games are written so poorly that there are some non-hostile characters that you can attack, KO, and then let them get up and act like nothing happened. In fallout 3 you can destroy literally an entire town with a nuclear bomb (something that in a more competent game could be put to good thematic use rather than as something you can do essentially just for the hell of it), and then your father will act like you broke a window and lied about it, saying “You’re my son and I still love you, but I can’t even begin to tell you how disappointed I am in you”, then just.. move on. Even the people who did that hack writing could do so much better than the room full of brain injured monkeys on typewriters that wrote bioshock 1. At one point you “meet” a prop character disguised as a scientist and it’s so painfully obvious that the character is just a prop even before she’s inexplicably killed. You need her to make a bullshit macguffin cure chemical, so you do yet another fetch quest. Did I mention most of this game is fetch quests? Because the writers are too afraid to let you have even a sliver of agency, they put her behind a locked door and bulletproof glass. It was already so obvious she was going to die at first meeting her, then the door and glass made it painfully obvious. Then Andrew Ryan pumps poison gas into her room and it fogs up the glass, so as she chokes to death on the gas she writes the code to her safe on the fog on the glass. Then the locked door inexplicably opens. I am not fucking joking. I want to be joking. I so badly want to be joking. The door opens, but the gas stays in the room because ???. What do you do next? Do you need to do a fetch quest for a gas mask? Nope, you just walk right into the poison gas. You don’t lose any health or get any debuff. You go into the poison gas like it’s regular fucking oxygen. Bioshock’s 1 writing is so much worse than amateur. Amateur writers could do better with both hands tied behind their dicks. I cannot get my mind around how they can write such an amazing dunk on Ayn Rand, and then shit the bed on literally every other part of the game. Bioshock 1 bewilders me. I wanted to like it, because I’ve heard amazing things about it, and I loved infinite, but I couldn’t. I tried to be optimistic about the game the entire time I played it. I wanted to play it and say “wow, a new favorite game”, but I didn’t have an experience even remotely close to anything resembling that experience. Bioshock 1 is so incredibly terrible, but it’s not even the worst game I’ve ever played. There are a lot of at least somewhat competent parts about it. The map design is pretty decent. The art is really good. The splicers’ voicelines are great. The Big Daddies and Little Sisters are awesome, their voicelines, sound design, and even regular design are great. I love the concept of Rapture, and if it had been the setting for a game made by writers who weren’t asleep at the wheel, it would be amazing. Bioshock infinite’s very short glimpse of Rapture solidifies it. We don’t talk about Burial At Sea Episode 1. It’s so bad I haven’t wanted to touch Episode 2. I could write a rant twice as long about the ways in which Burial At Sea Episode 1 felt like someone ripping a wet fart in my face. The gunplay is definitely not good, but it’s not outright bad. It’s unpleasant at the absolute worst, and okay at the absolute best. There are parts of bioshock 1 that are competent, and there are some parts that are really good. As a complete product, bioshock 1 is the second worst game I’ve ever played, but it’s absolutely the least enjoyable game I have ever played. I’ve played through Papers, Please, an experimental game that manages to make checking passports very fun, and I had a lot of fun with it. I could write an essay about the ways in which Papers, Please is good. Because Papers, Please is so good, I can honestly say that I’ve had significantly more fun checking passports than I ever had playing Bioshock 1. I said much earlier on that I’ve played Hunt Down the Freeman twice, and I had more fun doing that than I did playing Bioshock 1. At least Hunt Down the Freeman has Half-Life 2′s amazing gunplay at its base. Even when everything about Hunt Down the Freeman fails, the combat can be kind of fun. Plus, Hunt Down the Freeman is one of those pieces of media that are so bad it’s fun. It’s the “The Room” of video games. So bad it’s good. Bioshock 1 isn’t so bad it’s good. It’s just bad. I might argue that Bioshock 1 shouldn’t be compared to Hunt Down the Freeman because it’s not a similar category. You had a game that by all accounts was going to be a disaster. It’s more of a shitpost or punchline than it is a game. You could say it doesn’t make a lot of sense to compare a game that never had a chance of being good to a game that at least had a fighting chance. If you think that, then yes, I would confidently say that Bioshock 1 is the worst game  I have ever played. In that respect, Bioshock 1 is by far the worst game I’ve ever played, and no game has even come close. Still, at least Bioshock 1 has some redeeming traits, plus it dunks on Ayn Rand, and it tries to say something, which is something a lot of games don’t try to do. Knowing that, I don’t want to say it’s the worst game I’ve ever played. It is the least fun I have ever had playing a game, though.

LGBTQ Manga Review — I'm in Love with the Villainess Vol. 1 (Manga)

A New Look on a Compelling and Innovative Series

A manga adaptation of one of the best and queerest Yuri light novels I have ever seen, what is not to love! As a massive proponent of the light novels, I eagerly followed I'm in Love with the Villainess began serialization in Comic Yuri Hime last year. I am thrilled to get my hands on the first English volume, and now that it is finally out (digitally at the time of writing), I am equally delighted to read over the start of Rae and Claire's journey once again. Getting to see my favorite isekai protagonist and her bratty noble crush in full illustrations is terrific. However, it does not make for a completely flawless work.

I'm in Love with the Villainess follows Rei Ohashi, an avid otome gamer who dies and is reincarnated as Rae Taylor in her favorite game, "Revolution." Rather than chase any of the game's handsome bachelors, all students at the Royal Academy in the European-inspired fantasy world, Rae heads straight for her favorite character, the game's villainess! Rae begins to relentlessly tease the bratty and elitist Claire, much to the latter's frustration. Soon a rivalry forms between the two girls, but despite Claire's taunts and coldness, Rae is determined to stay by her side and protect her.

The increased focus provided to Claire and Rae's early relationship will be noticeable to light novel readers. While Inori's writing focuses mainly on world-building in the first several chapters, the manga makes the wise choice to condense much of this information for the sake of reading. Blocks of exposition work poorly in the manga compared to prose. However, establishing a setting is not completely thrown out the window. There are several small conversations and explanations of key aspects of the world. After quickly setting the story, the characters are left with room to explore.

Claire and Rae are the most enjoyable part of this manga. Rae is eager and doting, with a touch of masochistic. On the other hand, Claire is more arrogant, often looking down on peasants like Rae, and is continuously infuriated by her affection. A hilarious rivalry starts to spring up between the two, with Claire pranking or mocking Rae and then getting outraged when she revels in the attention and teases Claire by expressing her undying affection.

These interactions also further the story. They establish the dynamic between our two heroines and add more detail to the political situation and tensions between the commoners and nobility, the series’ main plotline. Interestingly, while Claire may believe commoners inferior, she also sees it as her responsibility to protect and instruct them in her very elitist way. Noticeably none of the torments she subjects Rea could ever cause permanent harm or damage. It is a fascinating insight into this character's mental state, and even in the first volume seeing her start to change and become more aware slowly is fascinating.

Much of the rivalry is comedy and often plays out as such. However, some readers may find it slightly off-putting and understandably see the dynamic as Rae sexually harassing Claire. I strongly encourage you to give this series a chance. This book will undoubtedly be the worst volume of an incredible series. Once I'm in Love with the Villainess breaks into its stride of exploring queer and socioeconomic issues, some point in the next volume based on reading the serialized chapters, I promise it will become a quick favorite. If you know you may not be able to overlook its immediate faults during the wait, consider holding off on the mage until after the second book is out and get them together.

Much of the previously mentioned content is the same or strongly similar to the light novels, perhaps a touch more emphasis on Claire's early hostilities; however, there are some significant points unique to the manga to consider. For one, Aonoshimo's artwork is fantastic! The characters and backgrounds are distinct, with only slight adjustments for the more comedic or dramatic stylistic choices. No matter the panel's tone, though, it is always easy to read without oversimplification. Aonoshimo also relies on very standard square or rectangle panels during most of the manga, but occasionally produces more dynamic boundaries and layouts for action and service scenes. Lastly, all the characters are on full display. It suddenly becomes a lot easier for light novel readers to picture their favorite moments. It is a lovely treat for returning readers as the visuals aid the characters, allowing us to clearly see Rod as the strong-willed if slightly aloof prince and understand how Maximillion Pegasus-cosplayer Thane is the most unpopular character in the fictional otome game when they are displayed visually.

There are some other vital factors to consider when reading the manga. For one, every character's personality was dialed up a few points, with Rae being a touch more physically affectionate and masochistic and Claire more easily exacerbated. However, the manga and the English translation takes many quirks and exaggerates them further, reducing the series’ performance. For example, while Claire's actions show the complicated relationship to commoners described above, her dialogue contains a surprising amount of vitriol and vulgarity that stands out notably.

Additionally, while Rod is usually the perfect if slightly detached prince acting as the occasional voice of reason in early chapters, his dialogue here appears laughable indifferent and meanspirited. As I'm in Love with the Villainess is one of a very few series that I follow the monthly serializations of in magazines, I was surprised to see this dialogue, as it did not stand out to me in the Japanese version (admittedly, the manga did overblow everyone's personality to some extent for comedic effect). I feel it changes the characters for the worse — do not get me wrong here, calls for "literal translation" are as unfavorable as they are uninformed. Still, the work feels careless at times.

Finally, there is the service. While the first volume contains virtually no romantic caresses or sweeping panels of scenery we associate with Yuri, there is a fair amount of salacious content. Of course, there are Rae's desperate and overblown expressions of admiration for Claire and her slight case of masochism. However, towards the end of the volume, Aonoshimo shows some skin. In one scene, Rae helps Claire get dressed and very openly admires her body, accompanied by some close-up panels of her back, stomach, and butt. There is also a very exposed bathing scene, although light covers the most explicate bits. It is obviously garish, though it tonally fits with Inori and Aonoshimo's more comedic manga interpritation and even includes some wholesome interactions with Claire and Rae alongside the sexualized comedy. Reader's millage will vary here, but I enjoyed it.

This first outing of Aonoshimo's I'm in Love with the Villainess manga adaptation is very likely to be the weakest entry in a phenomenal series to follow. The manga does a fantastic job of bringing the original light novels to life in a new visual format. The artwork is excellent, and the story condensed with a slightly different focus that maintains the feel of the original while providing manga audiences with entertainment that does not feel constrained or lacking. However, the gradual pacing of the plot and the main characters' relationship means that the volume leaves off before showcasing the meat of the series and most of its best features. There is a little bit of the stumble out of the gate, and both the publisher and the manga will likely have to course correct in future volumes or else risk destroying the development and voice of the series remarkable characters. I still recommend the series, but unless you are a diehard fan of the original like you, you might wait a year or so until we have the second volume and can enjoy a more complete vision of Inori's intricate and groundbreaking story.

Ratings: Story – 8 Characters – 7 Art – 9 LGBTQ – 9 Sexual Content – 6 Final – 8

Check out I'm in Love with the Villainess (Manga) Vol. 1 today: https://amzn.to/3wTSJ9R

Thanks to Joshua Hardy, Courtney Williams, Peter Adrian Behravesh, and the rest of the team at Seven Seas for their hard work.

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top!Hux/bottom!Kylo

me： I'd like to know what Kylo feels and thinks when there's someone way older and more powerful than him is watching over him... ... in the meanwhile, exploiting him as well. I'd like to see Hux observing and learning: "the art of controlling Kylo Ren" I'd like to see Kylo yelling about his deepest fear and pain 'cause he thought Hux would care. And, yes, Hux "cares" and would like to know more about it. - pal： Well, in the last film, Kylo learned that Palpatine had been “every voice he had ever heard inside his head” and after that line, Kylo was like, very quiet? On the topic. he didn't seem to be able to process it and the effect it had on his life. Then, he threw away his weapon, and went to a fight, and (in my opinion,) planned to die in it. Kylo had been manipulated from birth. I think hux would be able to see that. Kylo just needs to be shown 1 bit of affection, and then he will do anything for Hux, and I think Hux could exploit him easily.” -   me： ... ... then he can put a mental dog collar on Kylo's neck. Kylo ：“ So that's it? This is what you want?" Hux ：“ No, I prefer you lying in the grave, but this, ‘you being chained’, is not bad. I can take it as the second-best option." Kylo would yell and shout and get off the chain and go destroy some valuable equipment in the SKB and chock some troopers as he sees them. Then he would go back to his little room and be angry and pissed. Eventually he will sense the "dissatisfaction" he has. He will find Hux and passively ask for more. Hux ：“ I don't know what you're asking for." Kylo, again, will yell and shout and destroy things until he figure it out that this kind of actions won't get him what he wants. He will endure the pain of "controlling himself". Kylo ：“ I, uh, I think I know what you want now. You’d like to see my self-control ability. Then, uh, you know, you can work and lead the First Order... ... I dunno. Right?” Hux：“ I prefer to see you dead. How many times should I repeat myself?” Kylo ：“ Say the second-best option!You f_ _ker!!!” Hux takes out the collar from the drawer of his desk. Kylo puts it on. Hux：“I didn’t say it’s yours.” Kylo：“Doesn’t matter.” Hux ：“ It suits you well.”   -   pal： Hux will train Kylo like a dog. He won't reward the bad behaviors. He will treat the puppy like it is stupid. He will use Kylo to run the first order for him. And Kylo loves it 'cause that collar is a sign that Hux loves him. Maybe? That Hux cares for him that Kylo is owned. Kylo doesn't realize that Hux is just manipulating him.   -     me： It’s been a long time that Kylo hasn’t felt sth "really suits him". Everything is so chaotic, and men, women, the troopers, his family, people have been asking him to do all the shit he hates Kylo ：“ It’s just a collar. You're not getting me restrained.” Hux ：“ Do you like the color of it?” Kylo ：“ I think it’s… ... fine.” It’s a red one. Hux ：“ Would you like to try the black one?” Kylo hasn’t got “a choice” for a long time so he says “… …yes.” “What a moron,” Hux thinks. There's always a choice. However, Kylo Ren, since he was in his mom’s womb, has been deliberately deprived of the ability of “making choices”. His path and fate seem to be “determined” but it’s a scam, 'cause "the voice" lied to him. It’s all the same. Kylo knows there’s some deceptions going on in Hux’s plan, but it’s all the same. Kylo：“I know you just pretend to care about my feelings… … you… I mean, you are just, acting... ...” Hux：“I don’t care about your feelings.” Kylo tries to find some words to say but fails. The force puppy touches his collar, murmuring, then sits on the floor, rests his head on Hux’s thighs. Hux is working in front of the desk, viewing the minutes of all the conferences this week. Kylo rests his head on Hux, cries a bit, out of no reasons, then falls into sleep.