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calicobigamy · 8 months

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I can't be only one, right...?

I wanted to finish the game and then write this post but I gave up. I put in 100 plus hours and just could not go on once I got into act three. Maybe no one will hear my pitiful cry from the void, but I must scream for the sake of my sanity.

I was completely and utterly disappointed by Baldur's Gate 3.

It had huge maps like an open world game yet I had no desire to explore the settings despite their beauty. It had hours of dialogue as an RPG would and yet I found myself skipping characters' responses. The game mechanic structure was inspired by DnD, a story-telling game dictated by some rules, lucky rolls and the extent of players' imagination, yet I was strong-armed into fighting impossibly stacked battles. A story-telling game dependent on the players’ attachment to their and their teammates' characters and yet this game lacked any kind of narrative consistency or depth of feeling.

Larian wanted to make an open world RPG, based off of DND mechanics and somehow did the worst version of all three. The studio touts that Baldur’s Gate 3 has 17,000 possible endings and 2 million words, but to what end? What did this game have to say about what happens when people rise to the challenge and become heroes despite their circumstances or fall into the dark and become the monsters they were supposed to fight? What did it suggest might happen when fate deals you a bad hand but in doing so also helps you find true friends or love with the other? Ultimately, nothing.

BG3 is so large that it ends up being incoherent. No writing or game structure decisions were made to keep the narrative tight and on theme. It urges players to choose a moral alignment, but most decisions, good or bad, seem to end up having little effect in the end. To play the game at all you have to resort to save scumming and that in turn deflates the possible impact of so many plot points of the narrative overall.

Forcing players to save scum in order to progress through the game is terrible design in general. Statistically speaking the bosses make impossible critical hits again and again. I was playing in the game’s “casual mode” and found myself struggling to get through confrontations with bosses that were at a lower level than my own. If you are reading and thinking oh well you are probably not using tactics or spells well, etc., let’s do a little experiment…

Take your d20 (https://rolladie.net/roll-a-d20-die if you don’t have one in person). In the third act of BG3 I had an AC of 13 as a sorcerer with 100 plus HP. Roll your d20 ten times or more. How many times out of ten would your character have gotten to hit mine successfully? Unless an enemy is extremely lucky it should be unlikely that an enemy could hit my character every turn they get. And even if they do they would have to roll for damage which is only a single d6, d8, d10 or d12 plus a modifier at lower levels depending on your class. Again an enemy would have to have an extremely lucky roll to hit me every turn AND deal significant damage. During an in person DnD session that is just a bad night for my character. In a video game on casual mode that is significantly suspicious.

So what you might say. You've made and enjoyed the fanart, memes and etc. You got your $61 worth of playtime. So many other people were fine with the game, what is your problem?

I love video games. They blend so many artforms and tell stories in ways never done before. It is a medium unique to our current century and when historians look back they will view video games as an insight to our culture.

It frustrates me to no end that Baldur’s Gate 3 is considered the next gold standard. Too many games have done open world and RPGs in a fantasy setting far better for Larian (Swen Vincke) to have made the design and writing choices they did with BG3. There are so many podcasts and shows that have written better stories through the DnD format. I am embarrassed for the medium as an artist and frustrated as a player. Players and the industry deserve better than to have artists, actors, engineers etc. burn themselves out creating maximalist behemoths like this game. A game that is beautiful but basically unplayable, narratively, nihilistic and incoherent.

#bg3 spoilers #bg3 critical #long reads #long post

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no-see-um-incorrect · 3 months

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Trans Milo Headcanons 🐺🧡

(because I kid you not I thought that it was canon that he was trans when I first started listening until I was told otherwise)

: he came out when he was 13 (a few months before tank came into the pack)

: Man was sweating Bullets when he was coming out to his Ma. She’s the only parent he cared about and was terrified of the thought of losing her like this

: no surprise when he came out to Marie she was perfect. And cemented it in him that there’s nothing he can do that would make her love him any less

“and don’t worry about your father sweetheart. I’ll handle him. and if he has anything to say about my boy well. He can make his bed on the curb”

(Colm had the fear of God instilled in him that day)

: The next week before school Marie saved up every dime she could even going so far as to ask for a small loan from the alpha (which he happily gave and accepted no money in return) took Milo to get a few new outfits, cologne and a haircut

: he specifically took Asher shopping with him and Asher was the best hype man

: on the first day of school, this man was dressed, like Danny Zuko from grease (he Slayed)

: he was the hottie of the school. we’re talking three ask outs a week| the only person HE went to prom/dances with was Bailey

(this is following the saying that confidence makes you attractive and boy did he get Hella confident after coming out)

: One time he was left stranded in the bathroom without a tampon/pad and Asher came in at around the same time analyzed the situation Milo was in and then stole tampons from Amanda‘s locker, leaving a sticky note that says “pay you back later”

: there’s a tradition that every time a new male member enters the pack they get to have a run in wolf form alongside the alpha. And Milo got to run with Gabe after he came out

: after he got top surgery Marie came by every single day during the first month of postop to help take care of him

(the next one is a T4T sweetheart And Milo Headcanon)

: The first time they stayed the night together (milo’s first healing video) the next morning they both wake up early and witnessed each other taking their hormones and just kind of…👁️👄👁️

(commence the Spider-Man meme)

: Milo started testosterone when he was 18 (around the time he started working for Shaw security) and you better best believe Marie filmed every single month on how his voice progressed

————————————————————————

I have more 😈

But for now I hope you enjoyed these

Keep in mind these are my Headcanons based off of my experiences feel free to disagree with them, or leave your own I love seeing them

#redacted audio #redacted asmr #redacted headcanons #redacted milo #redactedverse

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yermes · 9 days

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PAC: inside you there are two wolves; one the comforting nostalgia thats keeps you complacent and the other that yearns for the new and strange which guides you towards expansion 🧸

Disclaimer: please take what I say with a grain of salt and not as the gospel. I just want to share some ideas of practicing and giving advice using the medium as often as I can with school, work, and my own personal studies and practice. My quarter is almost over thinking about doing a magic/ tarot event

Socials: podcast | Follow me!

Pick a meme

1 2 3

The cards

Debauch 💡

Venus in the 3. of Scorpio, Netzach through Water, seven of cups

You are sitting in the standing waters pf delusion. You at the moment are unable to move past the comforts that keep you complacent in your current situation. Your drunk on your idea of yourself and the illusions of your past. You need to leave the swamp of nostalgia before you can progress.

Worry 🕯️

Mercury in the 1. of Taurus, Geburah through Earth, 5 of disks

Things are definitely changing, it an unbalanced change that may have you running back into the clutches of nostalgia. Your relationships are changing they are not what they were before. And now that you’re growing up you’re worried more of the material (which is normal) keep moving even if it’s uncomfortable but be kind.

Princess of Disks 🪞

Venus in the Earth zodiacs, Earth in the Earth of Assiah, Malkuth

You reached your hands into the depths of creations and you are weaving your own world and reality around yourself. You moved passed the discomfort and now you are running with the reality you are weaving at ur fingertips. However, do not fall to the fallacies of others.

Extra:

Thinking about doing doing a magic or tarot event post finals will update later!

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modelbus · 6 months

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YOOOO MODDLEE

yeah I did it again.

(Help I have a problem of disappearing into thin air)

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR PART THREE OF CUT CHAOS SHEBSJNSUH

you said you would write 500 chapters.. but like obviously exaggerating..? (Kiddinggg)

tho a few more couldn’t hurt..

juuuust saying if you ever feel like it I will eventually see it and it will eventually make my week. <3333

BUT THATS NOT WHY WE ARE HERE! (I’m sorry my requests are always so long and dramatic bro I just brain like that)

Actual request:

ok so like I knowww cut chaos started from rumours but like rumours are an easy way to start plot lines k? (Also I use she pronouns out of habit but they is pog too)

the friends in question: Tommyinnit (duh), Wilbur (moosic boi), Ranboo (generation loss trauma guy), Possibly Slimecicle?? I know he’s not someone you do requests for normally buttt if you’re okay with it that would be POG, or if slime is a no, tubbo!

SO a few months ago Y/N started working on an SMP with some minimal custom mods, some fancy texture packs, maybe some data packs, and its like this BIGGG project, BUT its not public and its taking a lot of her time, so she can only really do a few streams and most of the time because her schedule is so full its hard to work out streams with friends so, she is alone. with the internet being the internet people started to think something was up, some annoyed viewers made a few rumours and people kept making things up and escalating things until people were saying she did all sorts of horrible things to “lose all her friends” but one of the most popular theories was that she was emotionally abusing them (??? Internet wildin ig) she ignored them while mostly finishing the stuff for the smp, but decided to address it in a very- y/n way. Getting four friends to come to her house and hide slightly off camera while she made a purposefully bad apology video only for them to jump out at the end and her to stand up and be like “YALL REALLY THOUGHT I WAS SOME MASTER MANIPULATOR?! I’M JUST A FUNKY LITTLE CHAOTIC MINECRAFT GOBLIN N’ I’VE BEEN WORKING ON AN SMP THIS WHOLE TIME!! ITS GONNA BE SUPER COOL AND THESE FOUR PLUS ALOOOOT MORE PEOPLE ARE GONNA BE THERE I’M POSTING THE CREATORS SOON AND ITS LAUNCHING IN A MONTH!, SO STOP ASSUMING I’M A BAD PERSON AND GET PUMPED BITCHES!” something along those lines, maybe at the end a little peek at what people are responding with. (Obviously no pressure, but like id be cool) (thanks for considering deity of the busses and models.)

HOW WE LIKING THE SILLIES?!?

P.S I’m not always an angst gremlin (just most of the time..) - ✨🌌🌙 Annon

I DO BE LIKING THE SILLIES (and thank you for elevating me to the level of deity, my ego has been inflated)

Pairing: Cc! Wilbur, Tommy, Ranboo, Charlie Slimecicle x Gn!Reader (platonic)

Roaring Rumors

Life was all about sacrifices.

Or, that’s what you keep telling yourself when you’re up at 1AM working on your server. Putting together an SMP is harder than it sounds; texture packs, data packs, comparability, world-building, even the (seemingly) simply act of contacting people to play on it. For the amount of time you spent on your computer, your hands might as well be part of your keyboard.

Sleep wasn’t the only thing you sacrificed. Streaming, even just fun ones with your friends, had quickly became rare. Although you loved to hop on a call while coding still, your online presence had severely receded.

You just keep telling yourself that sacrifices are necessary. That the payoff would be worth it.

And it really would be, but you just had to get there first. Which was proving harder than you had thought.

At the very least, you still had your friends. Wilbur sitting silently on call with you while you work, Tommy dragging you out of your room, Ranboo always willing to get excited over your progress. Every day you woke up with a text from your groupchat—typically Charlie—just filling you in on the latest internet trend by a meme.

Today, your news comes from Wilbur and Tommy.

“I think they’re canceling you.” Wilbur says casually while you’re in the midst of detailing the hunger bar for a texture pack.

“Ooh, you’re a wrong’un!” Tommy yells in the background of Wilbur’s side of the call.

The three of you had been idly chatting while each doing your own thing. Wilbur and Tommy were engaged in some Twitter competition, as far as you know.

“Canceling me for what?” You ask, deciding to ignore Tommy’s shouting.

“Existing, I think.” Wilbur answers.

“So the normal.”

“The normal.”

Although the conversation stops there, you can’t help yourself. Later, during one of the few hours you dedicate to getting sleep to stay alive, you pull open Twitter on your phone. Your last tweet was nearly two weeks ago, so it’s been a minute.

But you just want to make sure nothing horrible happened while you were busy. You’re a content creator, this is normal. Definitely. You definitely aren’t just justifying this so you can do it.

You swipe through tweets, heading to trending and searching your name. Tweets load, making your mouth run dry. Wilbur wasn’t joking.

All you can do is scroll, reading as the messages get wilder and wilder. From people saying they were missing you to theories on why nobody was streaming you. Each one seemed considerably more implausible, and before you know it you’re glaring at your screen like it’s to fault.

Some thought you had grown apart.

Some thought you had a falling out.

And, apparently, a lot thought you were emotionally abusing them. Or, depending on the tweet, manipulating them.

Quite honestly, you didn’t even know how they got the idea. The long threads of explanations did nothing but send you into a spiral, biting your bottom lip so hard that it bleeds.

You were so close to finishing the SMP. It needed just a few things, then you'd be able to start scheduling to get it up and running. You didn't have the time nor mental capacity to deal with whatever the fuck is going on right now.

Is it a good choice? Maybe not. But do you still ignore the accusations? Hell yes.

By the time you get even closer to finishing the preparations for your SMP, you've come up with the perfect plan to address the (quite stupid) rumors. It'll be a two-in-one; you address the rumors and announce the SMP at the same time.

"How long do I have to lay on this floor?" Tommy asks, stretched out behind your chair.

"Nobody asked you to lay on the floor." Wilbur points out, standing next to your computer. Charlie, on the other side, laughs.

"Yeah man, you wanted to be down there."

"Besides, I'm doing great down here!" Ranboo chimes in.

You roll your eyes, grinning. "I'm about to start stream, so it won't be for much longer. Just wait for my cue, yeah?"

Tommy grumbles, but shuts up. You take that as your chance to start the stream, switching it off your waiting screen and waving to the camera. Your chosen stream title has brought in a bit more than your usual casual steam view number, "Talking about some serious stuff," leading people to believe there will be drama. And if it's drama they want, it's drama you'll give.

"Hello, hello!" You smile, leaning back. "So I've decided to talk about some things. Namely, the Twitter shit. I am so sorry for everything, and I mean that. A lot. Sincerely. There's meaning in it."

Tommy snorts, and from the corner of your eye you catch Wilbur kick him to shut him up.

"What am I sorry about?" You ask rhetorically, acting like you read it off of chat. "Oh, you know. People have been saying all types of stuff. The things about me manipulating my friends?" There's a pause while you let that sink in. "So, I'm sorry."

It's a purposefully shitty apology, but you sigh and act like its heartfelt for a few moments, nodding towards chat. Their messages are mostly confused, especially because it isn't one emote-only.

"Sorry you guys are so gullible!" You shout, and Tommy practically tackles you.

Wilbur's the one to fix your chair, Ranboo and Charlie appearing next to you within moments.

"You guys really thought this one could manipulate me? The master?" Charlie asks the stream, pointing at you.

"Yeah!" Tommy shouts, way too energetic for someone who complained five minutes ago about being on the floor. "We're the master manipulators! Get fooled!"

"I, for one, haven't manipulated anyone-" Ranboo starts, but Tommy slaps a hand over his mouth and nods empathetically.

"Yeah, I don't know what you guys were thinking, but I've just been playing fucking Minecraft for the past few months nonstop." You laugh.

"Nonstop. It's a problem." Wilbur nods.

"It is not a problem!" Pause. "Anyways, I made an SMP! And that's where I've been! Not because I've been manipulating my friends or some shit, stop being dumbasses."

"It'll be super cool!" Ranboo adds in helpfully.

"These four-"

"That's us!" Charlie points around at himself, Wilbur, Tommy, and Ranboo.

"-will be on it, plus a lot more. It'll be posting those people soon! As in, check your Twitter obsessively guys! The SMP will be in about a month, too, so get fucking excited! I want to see some hype!"

"WOO!" Tommy screams, making everyone cringe at having their eardrums ruptured.

"So that's all I wanted to talk about I think. Anything to add, guys?" You glance around at the four surrounding you with a grin.

"One thing." Charlie nods, leaning in really close. "I have a secret. This SMP, it's actually-" He hits your end stream button mid-sentence. "And that's how you keep 'em interested."

Ycgmaenthusist NEW SMP NEW SMP NEW SMP NEW SMP

Mammalianeighingreflecenthusiest We are dumb as fuck aren’t we

Poabsenthusiest i will RIOT IN THE STREETS if any of yall be mean to MY STREAMER -> Cmwylenthusist FR I GOT TWO FISTS AND A CAUSE

#dsmp #mcyt #mcyt imagine #tommyinnit x reader #tommyinnit x you #wilbur soot x reader #tommyinnit #wilbur soot x you #wilbur soot #ranboo x reader #ranboo imagine #ranboo mcyt #ranboo #ranboolive #charlie slimecicle #charlie slimesicle x reader

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notyourmajesty · 9 months

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Alex and Henry's Texts: A Progression in Proximity

youtube

I've been thinking on and off about how the film chronicles subtle changes in Alex and Henry's bond in the time between the end of the "damage control" and the New Year's party, finally leading into the kiss. Not so much about the texts and calls themselves, which I already found adorable on my first watch. More on how Henry becomes more and more prominent, more and more visible and tangible, in Alex's thoughts each time they talk. More on how the film worked out the transitions for each sequence.

The early texts ("having a wank", "inbreeding", "we were ever so careful, dear") are featured prominently on the screen, no sound besides that of a text notification. You see cute, fun gifs, memes and the occasional (mpreg!) article link, but at this point they're just tiptoeing into this tentative friendship, and learning about each other.

Henry's texts start out as a mere part of Alex's day at this point; he reacts, texts him back and moves on with his day. And even that changes quite quickly - he's amused enough by Henry's "we were so careful" joke that he forgets where he is and laughs out loud in a classroom full of people.

The transition then moves onto voice. Not only do we see the texts on the screen, but this time we hear them in their own voices.

Boring Tie

We hear Henry heighten his voice a little when he says "grey is a colour, thank you". We hear Henry's amusement when he asks about Alex "pranking" him with campaign t-shirts.

The "boring tie" exchange also marks the first time we see Henry (not the image, but the person) during the texting exchange. He is static, unmoving, in the periphery of Alex's vision, disappearing as his security detail runs past the bench Henry is sitting on.

Henry may not be the center of attention in this sequence, but Alex is familiar enough, and comfortable enough that he can easily visualize Henry. The way he sits, the way he talks, the way he peruses a book.

We hear their voices overlap as they discuss favourite authors and books, while a classmate shows Alex a meme about their "bromance" (I have some ideas about those literary references in particular, but maybe I'll keep that for another post*).

Byron

You also have the "Byron" sequence, which is a continuation of the favourite authors one, and highlights a marked shift from the "Boring Tie" one. Boring Tie shows movement from Alex, with Henry sitting stationary, in one place, on the bench.

Byron has Henry moving around in Alex's space. Still at the periphery of Alex's vision, but ever-present and slowly taking up more and more space in his head.

(I'm not saying anything about the poet being Byron and the movie Nora and Alex are watching being "Some Like It Hot" right now. I'm still in the middle of my second read of the book and I want to note down all the references I saw there too. The dialogue "well, nobody's perfect!" from SLIH's last scene is currently ringing in my head).

Parenthesis

In a lot of ways the Parenthesis sequence is the perfect segue to the New Year's party, because it strongly implies a level of intimacy that was only hinted at in the previous texts (the book itself has Alex envision him and Henry as lying on the opposite sides of their own beds, like brackets, in this scene).

Henry first features in this sequence as a tinny, distant voice 3700 miles away, but his voice and his presence now comes so easily to him (with a butterfly transition!! Butterflies in the stomach anyone?) that it is almost as if he is in the room, comfortably settled in Alex's private space, so close that Alex can almost touch him. And they really do look like parantheses at the end of that scene!

Henry's presence is intimate and tangible (we even see the jaffa cakes he's snacking on while watching Bake Off), and his voice comes to Alex as if they were in the same room together.

Only when they playfully argue over who should cut the call first, does Henry's voice change back to the tinny quality of a voice over cellphone...reminding them both of the distance between them.

And that last, super-soft look Alex gives as he switches off the phone with a "goodnight"! My heart!!

In a lot of ways, I think that while Alex himself is clueless about his own feelings, it's pretty obvious to us, the viewer, the "rope" that is pulling him towards Henry is already making an appearance here.

* Henry's Book Recommendations:

Zadie Smith (probably her entire bibliography)

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

Alex's Book Recommendations:

Another Country by James Baldwin

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

(My (tentative) theory for now is that the books explore themes that are important to both of them and that get touched on in the movie. I know the book goes into more detail with literature and history, esp during the email exchanges, but I've only read the book twice)

#Youtube #rwrb #red white and royal blue #rwrb movie #alex x henry #alex claremont diaz #henry fox #henry george edward james hanover stuart fox #hrh prince dickhead #this sequence among others lives rent free in my head

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blueteller · 1 year

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So, Let's Talk Themes in TCF!

"Themes" is such a weird topic for me, not gonna lie... I always feel like it's something you're just supposed to know and feel instinctually – like rhythm in dancing. Which, btw, I'm not really good at. So it's difficult to talk about without that background anxiety that I'll totally flop and miss the point, despite my best intentions.

Still, I decided to give it my best shot anyway, and try to decide what "themes" there are in "Trash/Lout of the Count's Family", and why I like them, because that part is subjective and thankfully, I can decide without freaking out over the "correct" answer.

First, let me make one thing clear: I don't believe TCF was written to convey a single theme or idea. It's an adventure story, and it's supposed to be pure fun. Which it is!! But nevertheless, there is a lot of effort and thought behind it, and I believe that thoughtfulness from the author manifests itself clearly in the overall work, so it's definitely worth talking about.

Now, with that lengthy explanation of what I'm going for out of the way: what are the themes in TCF that I noticed (and like)?

Found Family

Beloved Hypocritical Hero

Overcoming Prejudice

Victory in Working Together

What makes Humanity, what makes a Monster

Healing and Moving Forward

Misunderstandings

Found Family is the most obvious theme, overall, so I don't think it requires much explanation. Cale doesn't "find" his new family on purpose as much and trips all over them, on total accident – then proceeds to adopt them all, despite his inner monologue telling the readers over and over that he intends no such thing. It's pure comedy, but it's also incredibly wholesome and heartwarming. Cale has the biggest, softest heart of them all, and he's the only one who doesn't see it. I wanna squish his cheeks and coo over how cute he is most of the time.

Beloved Hypocritical Hero is the second theme, which isn't apparent at the start. Cale's biased inner monologue does his best to convince us that he's totally selfish, and doesn't intend to be a paragon protagonists who selflessly helps others in the slightest! ...However, over the course of the story it becomes clear that Cale is one, big, fat, liar. He is exactly the sort of hero he constantly denies he is. His whole spitting-blood-from-power-overuse act practically became a meme at this point. Still, despite how frustrating Cale's blatant hypocrisy is, we can't help but love him all the more for it. I'd like to say that he gets better overtime, but.... yeah, personally, I don't see much progress on that front. He did promise Raon he won't get hurt one time, and he managed to keep that promise, but then he (spoiler alert) went ahead and stabbed himself right after, so. Yeah. Cale is a hero and a hypocrite and we all love him. That's definitely a major theme in the story.

Overcoming Prejudice is the best way I found to describe the whole plot of "anti-darkness attribute" propaganda in TCF. What I love about it is that the author found a much more interesting way to convey the theme than just make it about "fantasy racism". It isn't just about the Dark Elves, it's about Necromancers too, and all people using dead mana. The best part is that dead mana is, in fact, used by the very higher-ups who spread the prejudice in the first place, proving without a doubt that it's all 100% hypocrisy and there is nothing wrong with dead mana in the first place. It's all propaganda, and it serves a purpose. The true beauty of this plot unfolds when the Sun Twins show up, and Cale brings in Mary to help Hannah with her dead mana poisoning. Jack goes through an entire arc of realizing what "true light" is, and that despite the "voice of the Sun God" constantly ringing in his ears to eradicate all darkness, he comes to his own conclusion that it isn't what the power is, it's about what ones does with the power. It's just, beautiful. I feel like that part of the story doesn't get enough credit. Mary is one of my favorite characters, and Jack and Hannah combo is amazing as well. Definitely one of my favorite plotlines in TCF.

Victory in Working Together is another obvious theme throughout the story. It isn't just reserved for the good guys, either: the bad guys have a ton of alliances, too. The difference is that the good side is based on genuine intent, without stabbing each other in the backs, while the bad guys only pretend as long as they need to, then throw away their "allies" to the wolves when it's convenient. It's portrayed less as a "message" and more of a purely pragmatic fact: to get anywhere, you need to have support. Cale knows this from the start, which is why he manages to make so many allies in such a short time. This theme is simply about being able to overcome the biggest of obstacles, as long as you honestly work together with others and put all your effort into it. It is the simplicity of it makes it so effective, in my opinion.

What makes Humanity, what makes a Monster is an interesting one for sure. In a world full of so many interesting races, the final boss is – always – human. Be it Venion Stan, Redika, Prince Adin, Queen Elisneh, the White Star, or even the Sealed God – all of the main villains are either purely human or started off that way. I think it's very much deliberate, in order to show how what makes these people evil isn't some in-born characteristic; but only their choices. Not to say that non-human characters aren't ever bad, of course not – there is a bunch of evil non-human characters all over the story. But evil, true evil, is always a choice. And thus, non-human characters who choose good are more "human" than the "monsters wearing human skins". I won't call it an allegory, because it isn't even as indirect as that: it's a fundamental truth of life that the only real monsters are people who are rotten on the inside. And since the author put so much effort to make all the fantasy races in TCF feel very much human-like, it only makes sense that their choices is the thing that makes them evil, not their race. Even actual Monsters aren't all pure evil in TCF! I truly appreciate it. It's such a simple concept, but it works extremely well.

Healing and Moving Forward is one of the themes which honestly melts my heart. It doesn't simply apply to Cale; it applies to everyone in the cast. Everyone in Cale's group comes in damaged, scarred, hurt or threatened in some way, and comes out better in the end. From the children, to the adults, the entire group heals through their "Found Family" and their quest to defeat the evil forces threatening their world, in order to achieve a peaceful, happy future. Every time we see the evidence of it – like Cale admitting his life is precious, Eruhaben agreeing to extend his life, Choi Han attribute changing, and so on – it feels like an amazing triumph, and yet completely natural and earned. One could simply call it "good character development" and move on, but I see a commond trend and it deserves to make itself a theme of its own. It's not just about everybody finding their place in the family: it's about them growing as family. And doing so, despite their traumatic pasts. And since I once called Cale a "poster child of trauma", it's no wonder he's the one who has the most of "healing" and "moving forward" to do of them all. I hope it continues all throughout book 2!

And of course, I saved Misunderstandings for last. I think the name speaks for itself. TCF is practically a comedy built upon misunderstandings; except misunderstandings of the BEST kind. The misunderstandings where people look upon Cale – tired, in-denial, clueless Cale – and see whatever they need to see the most in the moment: a saviour, an inspiration, a leader, a friend, a parent, and so on. Many misunderstandings result in people seeing Cale in too-good-to-be-true light, which is always funny (Clopeh instantly comes to mind). The thing is: Cale deserves most of it, even if he doesn't believe so. Because it's not about what Cale actually is that matters in those situations: it's about what others need. Cale inspires just by being, well, himself. And that inspiration is what changes people. It's Cale doing his best and affecting others, that makes all the huge waves of change. In my opinion, there is no better misunderstanding than one which results in inspiration: because even if "truth" was revealed later on, the effects of it were 100% real, and something to be grateful for. Imagine if you had a terrible day, and you suddenly saw someone smile at you, and you felt better. Even if the person wasn't actually looking at you in that moment – that doesn't matter!! What matters to you is that your day DID get better, and that person was to thank for! That's the beauty of TCF's misunderstandings. Cale will never truly comprehend the gratefulness of others, without understanding how he can affect them without even trying. ...Then again, his obliviousness and hypocrisy is one of the many reasons why we love him 😊

Let me know if there are other themes in TCF you like!

#tcf #trash of the count's family #lcf #lout of the count’s family #tcf meta #themes #story themes #analysis #character analysis #misunderstandings #cale henituse #tcf mary #the sun twins #tcf jack #tcf hannah

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cetacian · 4 months

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The Fall and Rise of Orca: Orca Joins a Furry Gang Part 2

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Batman & Robin Vol 3 Issue #5 "School Daze."

Note: I missed a bit of info in Issue #4 that Damian suspected his school principal to be Shush, formerly Mistress Harsh, one of the trainers for him when he was being raised by his mother with the League of Assassins.

And now, back to our story already in progress:

Batman and Damian caught up with Orca, hoping to gain more information regarding Man-Bat's plans, though she was anything but cooperative, fearing Man-Bat's wrath should she give anything away:

Okay, so apparently Orca being able to breathe and speak underwater is still a thing. I'll chalk it up to a parting gift from the late Lord Chondrakha/Kamo for helping out his son over in the King Shark miniseries until and unless another explanation is given. Her leaping and smashing abilities however are much more in line with what we've seen before.

Interestingly, this the first time Batman has used a variation on the famous "Let Me Help You!" line on Orca. Which I thought would've happened much sooner in either the New Earth or Rebirth continuities, but still. XD I personally think a fight between Orca and Man-Bat would be much more evenly matched than she realizes, though it would depend on the given terrain and other circumstances.

The fight ended shortly due to Daman's quick thinking and Orca was left to be arrested:

I know last time she got fried by sound waves, but insert your "two nickels, weird that it happened twice" meme here. Also, thank you, Batman, for saying that about Orca being better than this, because it sure seems like the writer didn't. Ugh, more self pitying backsliding. I get so tired of seeing it because it's very shallow: it doesn't go into the real roots of her poor self esteem and it feels like whatever progress she makes falls by the wayside as a result in order to keep her in the position of sniveling goon. It's fine if they want her to remain a villain, but there has to be more going on then "poor me" for Orca to feel like an actual developed character. Also is this how she ended up in jail during the Punchline backup over in the Joker book? I don't know and it seems like the writers don't care to give any conclusion to that plot thread.

I'm really hoping this isn't the end of Orca's involvement in this storyline because it would just be another example of the writer not planning ahead, getting bored and rushing things. If you as the writer don't give care about you've set up, you can't expect your readers to either.

If Orca shows up again in this book, I'll make a part three. If not, I have a certain clip waiting to be used.

Bonus: Variant cover art for Issue #5 by artist Nikola Cizmesija:

#landlubber (ooc)#orca #grace balin #batman & robin vol 3 #batman #bruce wayne #robin #damian wayne #shush #mistress harsh #victor zsasz #dc comics #comic retrospective #the fall and rise of orca #dawn of dc #man-bat

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theawkwardterrier · 7 months

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WIP Wednesday

Thanks to @walkinginland and @flyinghome-againstthewind for the tags last week! I've been making some progress lately, so here's a longer excerpt than usual.

In some ways, it is easier to keep her head down, not only because it keeps her from being overwhelmed by the amount of work ahead of her, but because if she spent too much time considering all of those here that she cannot help, she might not be able to continue trying to help the others. The most maddening thing is that so much of the care that they need is so terribly simple: more and better food, air which is fresh and uncontaminated by the drift of coal and dust which covers so much here, water which is safe and drinkable. That is the hardest thing, breaking the news over and over that too many of these people will not get better -- cannot get better -- in this place as it is now, knowing that for nearly everyone there is no option to go elsewhere. These people were recruited to come here from other countries, preyed upon by Jack Randall, and brought somewhere which did not offer them the life they deserved but instead trapped them in a place where they might not speak the language, where their bodies and spirits could not thrive but where they had to remain to work off their ever-growing debts regardless. Dwelling on that for too long makes Claire have to clench back a scream, especially knowing that she will have to return to the house where Randall lives tonight and for so many nights in the future. So she does what she can instead: bandages a wound, pulls an abscessed tooth, offers the volumes and pamphlets from her stock to those who have the energy and interest to want something to read. She doesn't truly recognize her own exhaustion until a hand comes down on her shoulder and a familiar voice says in her ear, "This might no' be served on fine china, but it's hot and it'll keep ye going while you travel home. 'Specially because, unless I miss my guess, ye havena exactly been focused on keepin' yerself fed today." Claire accepts the bowl that he holds out to her, almost blurting that she hadn’t thought he’d be back until it was dark before she realizes that it is already dark outside indeed. Mrs. FitzGibbons -- Mrs. Fitz; she had told Claire around noon that everyone referred to her that way -- must have lit the lamps while she was absorbed in her work. Even with the late hour, she sits down and savors the warm stew instead of racing to finish. Frank has honestly seemed relieved by her late and changeable hours, taking advantage of the new schedule to work later himself. Even if he has made it back earlier tonight, he can manage without her well enough and she knows that it will only be harder to share a meal with Randall and pretend courtesy after seeing the conditions here. "How can you stand it?" she asks quietly, then, as if the emotions are fully hitting her after hours of packing them away so she could keep her focus: "How can you fucking stand it, Jamie? A whole town, generations of families, who he's killed slowly through neglect that he pretends is protection -- and that's if he's not endangering them outright!" She doesn't realize that her hands have pressed so tightly against the bowl until Jamie gently loosens her grip. At the feeling of his fingers smoothing away the tension in hers, she takes in a deep breath -- more startled than relaxed at first, but her breathing soon falls into rhythm of his and of his careful movement. He stops just after, setting down her hand and standing.

Tagging my eternal meme bud @lavellenchanted! I'm not sure who else might be writing something, but if you are and want to share, consider yourself tagged too 😊😊😊

#fic memes #fyi the soundtrack of the Great Depression fic is just different versions of You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive

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bipp-bopp-time-to-stop · 3 months

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Wow Legend this time was just…😭 Something tells me that reader won’t be sharing a room or even a tent with Legend for a LONG time (I ever assuming they get a choice). Also I find it kind of funny how Legend was so ashamed of his actions in the beginning and just progressively became bolder towards the end. Like the shame just decided to take an impromptu vacation.

Yeah, the reader is definitely taking a break from rooming with him for some time.

BUT, they do get to choose who they room with/ share a tent with. I actually have the reader in my yandere stories of LU have more autonomy that I think most do. That's not to say their choices aren't guided, but I've never liked reader-inserts that have the reader being without a say in their situation (unless they've been kidnapped, aren't viewed as a sentient person, or actively held hostage which makes more sense). It may take a lot of effort to get certain things through the heads of the boys, but they are willing to back off. After all, they've begun to see the reader as something of a saving grace/ divine being, so they don't exactly want to have them mad or disappointed in them. They'd also never bring harm to them unless it was absolutely necessary (such as drugging food to get the reader to sleep or, in a much more intense scenario and as intense as they'd likely get, cutting their Achilles tendon so they can't run). And if they did hurt the reader, they'd be a wreck for weeks if not months on end whilst trying to make it up to them and pleading for forgiveness. Honestly, the reader could jokingly or only partially mean it when they say "I hate you" and then a majority of the boys would just dissolve into some variation of a crying cat meme.

Legend just got done with holding back, honestly. He's a man who's been put through WAY too much and his moral code was probably honestly already a bit skewed before LU happened with the amount of shit he's been through. Legend, out of all of the boys, is by far the bluntest so he doesn't really care to keep up appearances unless there's good reason to. I also see him as being a rather impatient guy when it comes to things and he just couldn't hold back how he felt for much longer. The only thing that helped him to hold back was the Hero's Spirit but Legend is just a man. Beyond all the experience and adventuring, Legend is just a broken man who can only do so much.

~Bipp-Bopp

#bippboppanswers #asks #anon ask

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acosmicdisappointment · 1 month

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the burn book.

𝐌𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐘𝐀 𝐋𝐔𝐍𝐀 𝐃𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐔𝐄𝐙-𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐑𝐀, 𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐆𝐄

𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭.

during the ask meme week, i had the opportunity to answer if enzo was a sentimental person and he is. he collects the little things during the duration of the relationship/situationship or whatever ship he's in. this boy keeps mementos and yet can't even put a label on things? c'mon enzo be fr.

photobooth strip. i tried editing them together okay? not really a photoshop pro but whatever. as per link, luna is and i quote a 'photo taking bitch'. so in my head, during their time together they dragged him to a photobooth to take pictures. notice how he's smiling in the 2nd pic but gets progressively bored/distracted on the 3rd and 4th photo. at this point enzo's kinda getting tired of whatever he has with luna. he's definitely becoming uninterested and this was proof of it. flower. enzo did give luna flowers before (once? twice?). it was under the guise of a sweet gesture (definitely not because he was messing around with someone the day before) somehow this one fell from the bouquet which he found it on the car floor. because he's sick in the head, he decided to keep it. gum. enzo smokes but not a lot. he does it whenever he's stressed, angry or nervous. he wanted to kiss luna for the first time but he remembered he had just smoked so he decided to chew a piece of gum before doing so. this was way before he knew luna thought smoking is very attractive. well let's just say that was the first and last time enzo chewed gum before making out with luna. bandaid. enzo loves to get in to physical fights. he'd start it most of the time and obvious win every single time. he gets into more fights way back then than now. one night, he took luna out for a drive and lo and behold there's a cut on his face. luna gives him a bandaid (maybe a kiss too?) according to link, luna would keep bandaids just in case he hurt himself somehow. receipt. according to link, luna wanted enzo to like them so bad she'd eat whatever he wanted. there was a time where enzo was craving chinese and well luna being the kind person she is kept that in mind to bring back up later when they messaged him to go out. he thought she really loved his favorite food when she actually hated it though he found that out later on. polaroid. i'd like to think that this photo was taken in the beginning where things were 'happy'. it's them together in bed doing whatever cutesy things couples do. laughing and giggling and whatever. enzo liked the way luna smiled and well wanted to immortalize the moment. ticket. i think they watched a movie of luna's choice. enzo isn't a big horror guy but he'd sit through it with his arm around luna and his hand on her thigh the whole time. the fool in reverse. he knows about luna's interest in tarot so i think he got a reading somewhere and well that was one of the cards. how he got the card i don't know. i have no knowledge about tarot cards whatsoever so interpret that in anyway you want.

𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.

sometimes when working out or driving, isn't enough, enzo writes as a way to let out his feelings. wrote how he and luna met up til the present day. he wrote over them in frustration. the red and black ink are him going back and forth about how he feels. one minute he's upset and wants to ruin luna and drew's relationship, then the next he's relapsing and wanting her to take him back.

𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 '𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤'?

for enzo, it started as a joke. like a book where he can look back on the people he's been with. like proof he's been with this girl and that girl. it was supposed to be a one time thing but he kind of liked it...

𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚 '𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤'?

it started as an accident. one of the pages from his past got burnt when he was playing with his lighter. but there was something that kind of clicked in him as he watched the flames eat up the paper. when it was time to move on he'd burn part of the page as a metaphoric thing "burning bridges" or whatever. him burning luna's page is a sign that he's moving on. that he's over her...but is it really over now?

so there you have it, enzo's burn book. this has been on my mind ever since angel sent that 'freak note' pinterest photo and sam calling it a 'burn book' (shoutout to you two baddies for this!) i originally wanted to make several pages (who knows maybe i will and future wcs for enzo perhaps?) but let's be honest luna's page is the most important, am i right?

will there be a new page added to the burn book? well...we'll just have to wait and see now would we?

#➷ — enzo: the burn book #valpoinspo #am i sick for this? maybe #this was so fun to make istg #if you see mistakes no you did not #i might come back and fix this later idk

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formulaorange · 5 months

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2024 Winter Anime

It's here! It's finally here!!! Solo Leveling comes out this season! There's definitely a few others to keep an eye out for but this is the star of the winter season:

Solo Leveling One of my most anticipated series. I'm caught up on the english light novels (8 volumes) and I'm honestly so invested in this story. In a way it gives the same impact as One Punch Man but if the story progressed a little faster toward fame and growth in his power. Easily the best of the season. Noteworthy On Going Shows: Frieren - Episodes 17-28 One of the most mesmerizing and well paced fantasies I've seen. Also one of my 10/10s of all time. Worth looking into if you remotely like fantasy. Shangri La Frontier - Episodes 14-25 Another fantasy game series that honestly just looks like it's a fun game. Explores a lot of game mechanics within this full-dive VR type game that almost puts SAO to shame. Fun action, fantasy and fun for game lovers. Apothecary Diaries - Episodes 13-24 My current favourite drama/romance/medical mystery series. The characters are simple but the show highlights the different dynamics and almost feels like an enemies to lovers plot. New Seasons:

Blue Exorcist - Season 3 This is one of the og shows I watched growing up. It's a mythology school themed show that I loved. It's been 13 years since season 1 aired and I'm stoked to see it come back. It's being done by a different studio since A-1 is busy with solo leveling, so I'm not sure if it'll hit the same but I'll still check it out at least for the nostalgia.

Mashle - Season 2 The funniest anime I've seen in a while. Man muscle brains his way through magic school and the whole show is a meme of harry potter and other magic series. Truly entertaining. Can't wait for this season

Delicious In Dungeon This is a series I've wanted to pick up the manga for for a while. It's about dealing with food and hunger when these adventurers are deep in a dungeon and learn to start cooking and eating what they can find down there. Funny concept but honestly looks like a lot of fun.

The Unwanted Undead Adventurer I read this manga and light novel so long ago. (Literal years - link to my manga thoughts and summary). I'm looking forward to the adaptation. I think nowadays this kind of story doesn't catch nearly as much attention as it did a few years ago. An adventurer dies in a dungeon and is reborn as an undead who can evolve as he kills other monsters and he deals with trying to fit in with the human realm again and evolving. I'm still looking forward to it after keeping an ear our for so long!

Mr. Villain's Day Off I recently heard about this series and thought it was such a cute concept. Us with all our villain complexes with enjoy this one. Will likely be a background show for me as there won't be a huge plot, regardless, still fun to watch. Burn the Witch - #0.8 - 30 min Special I think this won't be as exciting now that Bleach has come back and we aren't as depraved of Tite Kubo's work but I really enjoyed the original short series. Hoping for more of this world in the future. Sequels: Classroom of the Elite - Season 3 Tsukimichi - Season 2 (Link to review of season 1) The Dangers in My Heart - Season 2 More Continuations: Undead Unluck Ragna Crimson After going through 20+ shows every season, many with sub-par animations and the same fantasy twists, I've become real picky about which series are even worth trying to watch these days. Here are the ones that deserve at least 2 episodes in order: A Sign of Affection - Gets a special spot since it's incredibly rare to see disability representation in anime and it looks like it's done quite well- A romance between a guy and a deaf girl. Looks super sweet Bucchigiri?! - I honestly can't say this looks appealing to me personally but I've hear the name before and well it's MAPPA. (Give em a break) 'Tis Time for "Torture," Princess - looks well animated and just a fun watch Metallic Rouge - The sci-fi series for this season. I'm not sure I have it in me to watch something heavy like this this season but it looks decent. The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic The Witch and the Beast - Here for manga readers - lowkey looks like the manga will be much better and this might be a skip for me. Hokkaido Gyaru's are super Adorable (Ecchi) ALSO - Big reminder: Haikyu!! and Demon Slayer have their movies coming out this season as well (both theatrical releases so keep an eye out!!!) Demon Slayer: To the Hashira Training - Feb 2nd 2024 Haikyu!! - The Dumpster Battle - Feb 16th 2024

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bakasara · 5 months

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just saw a humorous drawing of a character from a well-known queer gory horror cult tv show of the last decade; he's in a t-shirt reading "I fuck sexy and deranged men" except it's written as "f*ck".

and I HAVE to ask-- you are willing to lightheartedly depict a tv character who makes corpse art for fun saying he likes to have sex with someone who's "sexy and deranged"... but then you're unwilling to write out the Bad Bad Word "fuck"?

I keep seeing so many pictures circulating in presumably progressive spaces with words like kill, fuck or shit censored - and furiously enough a lot of the times the CONCEPTS expressed by these pictures are at least as ~scandalous, or as provocative, brazen, rebellious, "vulgar", unconventional, risqué, sensitive, and so forth, as the censored word itself, if not more. it's that moralistic principle by which appearances are far more important than substance. the actual content of the message doesn't matter. the values or beliefs or worldview expressed are not the point. the important bit is that the message does not appear ugly to the eye by living up to a superficial standard of acceptable mental or idea hygiene.

what are you doing expressing these messages, if you then turn around and fear a word, pearl-clutch around it, as if the word as an object were itself far more powerful than the concepts you are using it to express, or the concepts that surround it? do these people think if they put a little asterisk over "fuck", some kind of world problem is solved? or that now that they've put a patch to the Ugliness of that Dirty Word, the violence, the complexity, or the sexuality of their message has turned suitably sanitary?

and more importantly, aren't they TIRED of this bullshit. aren't these people tired of being unable to create/savor any kind of meme or art or message that exhibits the tiniest bit of messiness or provocation or complexity, without putting a little censoring bar over the most superficially, quickest-to-catch-the-public's-eye destabilizing part of it just in case we offend the fragile victorian sensibilities of *checks notes* ah. social conservatives and christian fundamentalists? because I sure as fuck am

#i am so so SO fucking tired #i will take any flame war over this i am serious #bro they're passing bills to kill trans people and you're censoring the swear word on your serial killer cannibal fanart?#are you sure that accurately reflects your values?

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not-poignant · 6 months

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I hope you have a lovely day with lots of snacks

Tl;dr the day was not lovely but there might be snacks

I actually didn't have many snacks today but I'm about to make up with it with a couple of churros and dark chocolate dipped strawberries.

Today I...woke up and showered and replied to comments on AO3 for a while, and then I spent about 4 hours formatting documents into PDFs of varying sizes for Patreon and Ream and uploading chapter commentaries into compilations. And then I did more formatting stuff behind the scenes while I stared at all the other behind the scenes stuff I need to do and thought 'writing is a hard job' quietly and intensely.

I ate lunch while I was working. I also made some memes about how overwhelmed I felt, and then made some for my readers too, lol.

And then I laid down for about 4 hours because I also have chronic illness (whee) and I am constantly in pain and varying degrees of fatigue and I literally must lie down every afternoon so I don't collapse in the evening (literally) - and I did a tiny bit of reading (webtoon: Shutline (which I immediately realised I'd read before and didn't fondly remember), webtoon: December (didn't mind this)) and then dozed restlessly because it was 40C/104F today. I also edited a Tiktok art video in Adobe Premier Rush, but I haven't put it up yet, and I should really do that.

Got up and made ham and cucumber sandwiches for dinner, and watched Girl with the Dogs on YouTube while I ate, and a Smosh video.

Then did some more work and helped a friend with her work stuff, and then I watered the garden for 1.5 hours because *points tiredly to the heatwave* and stared balefully at the dark sky (you can't water during the day - it's literally a heatwave but also it's illegal here to water during the day) with its few stars because they'd set up a severe weather warning due to extreme winds in our specific area and it was dead AF and oppressive out there and it was just hot instead.

I watched a few Tiktoks while I watered.

When I hung the hose up back on the holder thingo, I sang to my plants: 'I hope you make the best out of the water I just gave you, you little fucks' like a sweet lullaby, and a person who I didn't know was outside next door because it was like 9pm and pitch black laughed softly and sweetly, like they didn't expect it, and felt kind of fond. I didn't know I had any nice neighbours on that side of the house, so I mostly just thought 'WHOOPS SHIT' and then felt too embarrassed to say anything.

And then I came back inside and replied to some asks (hi!) and am hopefully going to eat churro's soon and it's 10pm and so I'm probably going to do some more work and then I'm going to go to bed while I feel stressed about the work I haven't done (currently Palmarosa is the heart beating beneath my floorboards). I will probably keep reading December. It's okayish.

I don't know if I'd call today lovely, because I'm burnt out and I want to put up the Christmas decorations but it's 10pm and idk if I should start that because it tends to make me severely ill to do it for a few days.

I'm a little sad, a lot lonely, a little melancholic, a little grumpy, and a little very excited about churros and chocolate dipped strawberries. I resent days that are 'work and sleep' sometimes, especially during November. That's my fault. That's on me. I'm a mean and shitty boss to myself.

Gotta do something about this burnout at some point, because December is the worst month for my PTSD, but I also need to keep getting paid, because medical bills and food and stuff. So like...finding the balance there is a constant work in progress.

There were some lovely moments today:

That little laugh from the neighbour in the dark

The first yellow peach of the season

Doing tricks with my cat (who is trained) for treats

Making silly little memes

Helping a friend with work stuff

Replying to some amazing comments

Watching cute dogs

Feeling pretty accomplished at putting up those compilations on Patreon/Ream even if I'm not done yet.

I hope you're having a lovely day too, anon, with many snacks.

#asks and answers #personal #i have not had a lovely day in a while #a member of my family died suddenly this week #suddenly and unexpectedly #and within 12 hours #two other members of my family directly impacted by this death #had to evacuate due to the fires #and idk if they can go home yet #i don't think they can but the fire has at least been downgraded #i am burnt out and sad #yesterday between working on writing stuff #i photoshopped photos of my uncle for my mum #for the funeral home #to make them nicer alkfjsa so that she doesn't have to pay someone to do this #i might delete this later y'all this might be a little too real #but sometimes it doesn't hurt maybe for people to know i'm human #hell sometimes it doesn't hurt for *me* to remember i'm human dslkfjasd

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fandombird123 · 8 months

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My Opinion On Mortal Kombat 12

The good, the bad, and the salty.

Quick disclaimer, I am not at all a professional reviewer, this will not be formatted or written with any sense of professionalism. If you can not handle, openly simping, stupid meme references and jokes, cussing, very strong feminine opinions, or general NRS criticism maybe pass on this one.

First- Spoiler free game play advise:

Kitana's AI in story mode is brain dead, she'll be the easiest fight in the game.

Shao is pretty easy to beat as long as you don't let him hit you.

Hit boxes are wild and (maybe) broken. Basically you're gonna 'miss' a lot of shots you could have sworn you actually hit. Don't be surprised. Just keep attacking and eventually you'll land a hit.

NOW I will be spoiling the story. Sooooo SPOILDERS FROM THIS POINT ON.

The Good:

Kronika wasn't actually part of the story. Not gonna lie, they had me in the first half (I have more to say on this but those belong in the Bad and the Salty list).

Baraka, Bi Han, Reptile, Sareena, and Nitara can get it. Yes I'm being shameless right now. It's my blog.

FEMALE REPTILE! FEMALE REPTILE! (This skin better be available or I will have words)

I don't know if this was intentional, but having Sareena share a voice actress with Sindel was a cute call back to the two being originally played by the same actress during their OG games.

Baraka was really interesting and I hope he come back. He wasn't just some savage monster, he actually had a real personality and goals. It was a great evolution of his MK11 version (but I'll still miss MK11 Baraka). I want to see him progress more and get his own proper story line.

I have opinions about Hanzo in MK12, but I will compliment one thing. His new suit is bad ass. That's the only nice thing I will be saying about this topic.

Bi Han didn't die, I was quite pleasantly surprised.

With the Mortal Kombat competition never happening I believe this means Hydro is canonically alive. So Maybe Hydro in MK13?

Johnny and Kenshi's friendship was wholesome and I loved it. It was really the highlight of the game for me and I'm looking forward to another Johnny/Sonya/Kenshi team up.

The writers actually remembered Johnny's divorce. I'm shook.

Smoke is adorable and got to live through the story. I'm so proud of him and he deserves the world.

Evil Sindel's outfit was 11/10... if only there was a way to unlock it (I'll get to that later)

I like the Special Forces characters, but it was nice to get a short break from them. Gave us some time with other characters. That said I want them in the next game. I'm missing Sonya, Jax, and Kano already.

While I'm not a huge fan of the base skins (they're not bad, just not great) I loved a lot of the alternative skins shown off in the storymode look amazing and I'm hoping they're unlockable.

I was incredibly happy Raiden's old voice actor came back for this game. I'm not sure when he'll get to play Raiden again so it was nice to see him take up the roll one more time.

I liked that you could pick which character you played in the ending.

The Bad:

First thing is first: there are microtransactions. WHY DID I PAY 60 DOLLARS FOR A GAME IF THERE WERE GOING TO BE GOD DAMN MICROTRANSACTIONS?????????? Boon???? Why??? It'd day 1 and there's already god dang microtransactions. Like I guess it's nice that the invasion is available, but charging me 60$ and then asking for more is stupid.

The AI really puts the i in idiot. Basically it's bad. I know I originally mentioned Kitana's AI (since that's who it's the worst with in my opinion) but I also had an issue with Ashrah and Baby Raiden. They will literally walk backwards until they hit the end of the stage, of if they can fly they'll just jump in the air and stay there. Even on the harder difficulties the game felt too easy. I have lost a total of two fights between both the story mode and invasion.

It feels a bit manipulative that the whole 'tournament' that was heavily featured in the trailers only lasted maybe about 1/3 of the actual plot. It was such a nothing plot point, you could probably cut it out and it wouldn't be missed. Yet that was the only real plot point we saw in the trailer.

Jerrod's death is never explained. He was just killed, but apparently by no one of relevance. He just fell and couldn't even get back up.

They REALLY went with Evil Bi Han, which doesn't even make sense. Let me explain, as far as we know Bi Han has no reason to hold the opinions he does. Human opinions don't exist in an echo chamber. His father was against his ideas, his brothers were against his ideas, everyone around him was against his ideas. Where in the hell did this come from???? I would have understood if maybe if Shang Tsung had been slowly manipulating him throughout the game, but Bi Han was already on that 'f#ck them gods' juice since the beginning of the game (which is a mindset I very much indorse). (Okay I just thought about it but what if instead Quan Chi had used Sareena to try and tempt Bi Han over to their side. As in he sends her in infiltrate the Lin Kuei and get close to Bi Han so she can talk him into turning on Liu Kang, but has she spends more time in the Lin Kuei and with Kuai Liang and Bi Han she starts to have a change of heart and kind of has a sort of Mythologies arc where she begins to understand human feelings and gets attached to them. Having her then join the good guys and tries to undo her manipulation on Bi Han. Sorry idea rant. Back to the review.) MY POINT is that as far as we know there is no one who could have influenced Bi Han in this way. It just doesn't make sense why he thinks this. At least with Shang Tsung and Quan Chi it made sense since 1. They were manipulated and 2. Liu Kang actually f#cked them over and they had a valid reason to be mad. Bi Han had no given reason to hate Liu Kang other then he didn't like his clan being under the god's boot (WHICH I MEAN IS KIND OF VALID).

They didn't even have the balls to let Bi Han murder his his own father. "I didn't help save him!" WTF does that mean???? Did Bi Han just wait to long to call 911??? Did Bi Han watch him fall off a cliff? What does that mean?

NRS Writers have yet again created a situation that made me have to sit there and wonder if we were really on the good guys side. There were a few points where the "bad guys" said something that made me pause and be like "wait, let's hear them out". Often times that makes Liu Kang look like kind of a d!ck since he did design this timeline. See this post here for more of my feelings on this. Examples:

Ashrah confronted Nitara and Nitara explained she just wanted to save her people but apparently we're siding with Ashrah, the woman who's magic sword told her to commit murder to "cleanse her soul". Not Nitara, the woman who's people are incredibly ill and at risk of dying (ALSO WHO ASHRAH ADMITTED TO KILLING).

After Sindel tells Rain that he was like a son to her (a relationship we never get to see) Rain made a comment about how Sindel limited him. I actually what to know what he's talking about. He could just be being a salty bitch, but we don't know since this comment is never explained. Plus Sindel in intros has been shown to be rather cruel if she viewed it to be in her benefit, so what Rain was referring to might have happened. She might have nerfed the demi-god if she viewed his as a threat, but we'll never know since this is never explained.

I think Mileena's outfit is too pink. Her color has always kind of been this purplish pink color and I think the color they picked was just too pink and not purple enough. X had this issue too but we're not talking about that one right now.

The whole 2nd half of the plot was honestly a whole mess. It just completely went all bonkers. I don't even have words. It's like they had two different writing teams and switched mid way through the plot with no communication back and fourth. While I'm glad Kronika wasn't back the actual plot twist was somehow worse. It just felt like to much and felt very unsatisfying in the end.

Mileena and Tanya's relationship feels more like Kitana x Jade then Mileena x Tanya. It feel like the writers wanted to do Kitana x Jade but got told no and just wrote Mileena and Tanya in the roles instead.

Hanzo... Now this. I'm not going to repeat myself so to see how I feel about this in context of how it effect Hanzo as a character go here. I will go over some other issues I don't talk about in that post. The fact Kuai Liang's first canonical love interest is Hanzo's dead wife is something so rage inducing I'm not sure how to put it into words. Kuai Liang has never had his own thing, he has his brother's title, his father's powers, he remade his old clan, and now even his wife was another's before she was his. As a long time fan of Kuai Liang the only reasonable response to this I can have is disappointed. I'm just disappointed in NRS's handling of this character and their clumsy recreation of Hanzo rather then just including Hanzo in the game. Even in a new timeline NRS is to scared to try something too new. It's different but not different enough to mean anything. Just an endless circle of the same story they told two timelines ago. I really don't have the words to properly express the storm of unpleasant emotions this plot point causes me. It just sucks.

Sub Zero vs Scorpion has gotten old. This is all.

The Salty:

(This is just things that annoy me personally and I don't really view as actual criticism. Ignore this part if you don't care about mindless ranting)

I don't like this Mileena. She feels nothing like her previous self and I'm just not a fan. There's none of her fun loving, but creepy, personality she had before. I kind of get why but as a hardcore Mileena simp I just don't like the change.

I didn't unlock a single new outfit during storymode and that's very frustrating given the amount of unlockables we got in MK11.

Since when has Bi Han been a blood purest??? That seemed stupid.

I don't like Sindel's story mode outfit. Hers in particular I'm not a fan of.

I hate this version of Ashrah. She seems to self righteous for my liking. Plus her blaming Quan Chi for her sister's deaths when SHE was the one who killed them kind of annoyed me.

Honestly overall 4/10 story wise and maybe I'll post about the invasion later, but I don't know.

#mortal kombat #mortal kombat 1 #non fic post #bi han #sub zero #kuai liang #rain #mk rain #mortal kombat 1 spoilers #review post #opinion post #scorpion #sareena #mk sareena

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