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sparxaf · 6 months

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The Inscrutability of Alex

So I might be working on an S7 Alex fic. I mean, I'm probably not working that. But I could be. Maybe. Anyway, for mysterious reasons, I decided to replay the current episodes because I found myself confused by a couple things with Alex. And a second playthrough left me even more confused. I sent @mrsbsmooth a nearly three minute, babbling voice note, asking her if I was missing something, because I cannot figure out how to write him.

This character is described by multiple others as having "golden retriever" energy. Something he absolutely does not have. I'd say he's not even that playful. It's just bizarre for anyone to say that. Nothing about him is overly energetic. Both Raf and Bryson are much better described like that. Alex has the most whistle-whilst-mowing-the-lawn-in jorts-dad energy ever. Golden retriever he is not.

So okay, his energy doesn't match the description. That's not a huge issue on its own. But like...who is he? He says he's not cocky, just confident.

Hmmm. Never is a strong word, innit?

Now, a less cynical person might say that Fusebox is just writing a realistic depiction of someone who is unaware of his own cockiness, but since I am a cynical asshole, I'm saying that Fusebox is not in the business of nuance. They make the same amount of money whether they spend the extra energy to give it depth or not. So they're never gonna bother with that. This is just inconsistent writing. Now, we all know that Alex's most overtly acknowledged trait is his desire to "Take things slow." He says he's looking for the one, and he's not gonna rush that. He knows things move fast there, but he still wants to take his time. He didn't kiss Estelle on the first night. He was uncomfortable with Summer being so forward before he knew anything about her. So how does a guy who takes things slow answer a question from a virtual stranger about what he does for a living?

A dirty joke. Yes, very much setting the tone for his lack of cockiness and his desire to take things slow 🙄 Though I do enjoy MC responding with "Very presumptive, but good to know." 😆😆😆 Not to mention, when he finds out you can snog during the icebreaker, he's not like, "Um too soon." Instead his eyes light up like he can't wait. It's so baffling. So let's say maybe he's just a slow mover who is also really flirty by nature. That feels like he's sending mixed signals at best and manipulating you at the worst. Now this one really threw me for a loop. There's a gem scene where you can ask the boys to tell you something cute about themselves. Alex tells a story about having a crush on a gym bunny and how it led him to weightlifting in order to ask her out. But he kept putting it off and by the time he finally got the nerve, she was already dating someone. So he learned not to hesitate. He learned to just go for it.

Um... what? That's a strange perspective to have for someone whose entire ethos is "Take it slow." Now, I'm aware that he is very straight forward with MC about where his head is at, so perhaps he just meant that he doesn't waste time letting someone know he's interested, but he still wants to take the relationship slow? I don't know. Last, but not least, on night one, you couldn't even kiss Alex (unless I'm misremembering). You could only snuggle. But on night two, Alex says he still wants to take it slow, but he wants to a little something. So the game gives us some options. And the first choice was to do bits. Now, this might be my fault, but I assumed that "bits" in this case would be some kissing and making out. Heavy petting. Maybe some under the clothes touching. But, to my utter shock, no it's not just a heavy make out sesh. Nope. He finger blasts you. He straight up bypasses the face lips and tiddies, and goes straight to rubbing the bean and shoving a digit inside of your person. It's an awfully intimate act for someone like him who's only been alone with you three times, and beyond challenge smooches (if you chose to even take those), has still never really made out with, nor kissed you privately. I would like to clarify that I'm not judging how fast or slow anyone goes in their personal lives. But I am I'm judging this character's pace in relation to the things he's been saying about his pace.

I wrote most of this before the last batch of episodes so I'll only lightly touch on the fact that Alex seems nearly ready to ask you to marry him the day after bringing you to the villa. So "taking it slow" really went out the window altogether.

Long story long, there are aspects to Alex I like. I mean, I'm writing him right now (OR AM I?) so it's not all bad. But it's really hard to attempt any canon reinterpretation, when I can't even sort out what canon is.

It just doesn't make sense. Is he cocky or not? Is he a slow mover or does he believe in not wasting time? Is he an inner city gym rat bro, or is he a home-on-the-range papa who wants to build you a cottage, and make babies? Is his whole "slow burn" thing some kind of manipulation to hide that he's a fuckboy (which would be hilarious) or he's just very badly written?

I love a good, lively conversation, so go ahead and let me know your thoughts. But for those who are rather... overly invested in Alex, feel free to yell at me about his perfection and how wrong and dumb I am. I look forward to deleting your vitriol.

#litg fanfic #love island the game #litg s7 #litg stick or twist #litg alex #litg alex makes no sense #does he take it slow or not?#finger-gate

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otome-mondays · 2 months

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Amnesia Memories Review 💭

So going into playing this game I was very excited. I have heard this game’s praises being sung for years, so I was so excited to play what seems like a classic to the community. As always, trigger warnings first. Please look up the full list for any I might have missed. Amnesia, hospitals, manipulation, abusive behaviors, murder, blood, cyber-stalking, kidnapping, and bullying.

Amnesia’s prologue is very short. Probably the shortest to any otome I’ve played so far. We start with this little guy named Orion being like oh my god I’m so sorry but I somehow crashed into you and am accidentally causing you amnesia. Unfortunately, he is attached to us and can’t leave until we regain our memories. Our player character here doesn’t have a default name which I am not a fan of, so I’m going to be referring to her as MC or main character, or I will be using we/us/etc. Our big issue with Orion being stuck to us and having no memories is that there are multiple world or universes and we don’t know which one we’re from. Now we have to take a guess, which leads us to the route split. Yeah very short common route. As always, I’m listing the love interests out in route order.

Spoilers Ahead

Shin ♥️

Well this was a rough start. Shin’s route drops us off in a world where we’re already in a hospital. Well that’s just great. At least we’re discharged pretty quickly and can start pretending like we don’t have amnesia because how are you gonna explain having a dude in your head causing amnesia without getting concerned responses. I’m going to be honest, I had good hopes for this game and Shin’s route. Unlike last week’s game, I was unfortunately disappointed. Shin is very harsh and abrasive, and while I enjoyed Sasazuka for some reason I hated Shin. I think it might have been the execution of this game, but I honestly am not sure as it’s been so long since I played his route. Shin’s route is solving a mystery about how the MC was injured, which makes everybody think she got amnesia from the incident. I only really remember the good ending for the route where the conflict was resolved, and then a weird bad end partway through the route. After this route, I was worried for the rest of the game. This is because I had only really been close to this level of disappointment with Henri’s route, who is still admittedly worse to me. 3/10.

Ikki ♠️

Spoiler alert, this route was not much better. Ok so this is where I discovered that each route is a fully separated universe. Ikki’s route was a weird one. Ikki here is some random dude that is apparently so attractive he has a crazy fanclub. He’s already dating the MC by the time she gets amnesia, meaning she’s really gotta sell the fact she doesn’t have amnesia. This route explores why Ikki has a fanclub that’s so aggressive. I genuinely only remember the good ending, which they obviously end up together. I started joking about the game being torturous to play at this point. 3.5/10.

Kent ♣️

I was running out of hope and hating this game by the time I got to Kent’s route, so I was just dragging my feet about completing it. I was so uninterested I didn’t pick this game up for over 6 months. That is the only thing I regret about this game. Kent and the MC are also already dating, but they have a very rocky relationship. His route is about trying to understand why they’re dating in the first place and why he is the way he is. Honestly, this was the only enjoyable route in this game for me. I genuinely enjoyed Kent and his route. He’s the best character. 7.5/10.

Toma ♦️

With how good Kent’s route went, I was actually starting to have hope for Toma’s route! I wish I could warn past me. Ok before I get too negative, let me start by saying I was already the most interested in his route because of how much I liked him as a side character. He was a bit sketchy in Shin’s route, but besides that I was excited. That was once again wrong and Toma’s route is awful, I hate it. The MC is the target of severe and intense bullying at the start of this route, and we’re exploring why during this route. Toma, our MC’s best friend, is trying his best to protect her from it. Quick spoiler, there are 2 parameters in each route. Except for Toma’s. Toma has an extra third one as the protagonist’s doubt. Clearly, red flags and I was scared! I’m not going to get into details about how wild this route gets, but it is wildly messed up. I hated this route fully. He made it lower than Henri. 0/10.

Ukyo 🃏

So Ukyo unfortunately had a rough start with me personally because I was already putting him on my “dude what is wrong with you list” right next to Henri and Toma. That’s not where you want to be by the end of a playthrough, and definitely not where you want to be at the start of one! Ukyo’s route is where we try and understand why Ukyo is so weird. And I would go into more detail, but it’s lots of spoilers. Another absolutely disgusting route. The endings are wild. I hate it too. Still not as bad as Toma’s. 0.5/10.

Overall Thoughts 💭

Oh my god it’s finally over. If you’re unsure whether you should buy this game or not, don’t. I got it for like $2 on steam before it was even announced to get and English switch release. Still not worth it. Save your money. As for route order, this one doesn’t really matter. Go for whoever you want whenever. Ukyo is only unlocked after all the other routes have been played. 2/10

Time for rankings, this one is hard for the opposite reasons as some other games because I hated the majority of it! But thankfully by the time I made this review, my mind has been set on who I hate the most.

Route: Kent > Ikki > Shin > Ukyo > Toma

LI: Kent > Ikki > Shin > Ukyo > Toma

Resources 📝

I used Otome Kitten’s walkthroughs to help me get through this game.

#otome mondays #amnesia memories #minor spoilers #cg spoilers

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neerons · 1 year

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Masquerade Kiss 💋

Overanalyzed thoughts and analysis on the Boss’ love for the MC

The Boss’ real name will be used at times to refer to him, so be careful if you don’t want it to be spoiled. Other spoilers such as some moments from Kei’s Season 3 and the Boss’ own route will be used as well. This post has been written a long time ago and has been edited recently before the posting date. It could be edited again in the future. I’m only putting my own thoughts and interpretations on things about the Boss as a character here. I didn’t want to post this for a long time, but decided to put it out there to finally get it out of my drafts. English is not my first language, therefore any odd phrasing could be due to that

The day he and MC met

The Boss and MC’s relationship relies on their history together. The day they met was a turning point in their life, for both of them. MC has always described their meeting as what pushed her to change her path and become an agent despite finishing her studies, while Seiichi told her himself that him meeting her reminded him of how it felt like to save someone/that it made his work seem meaningful again somehow. So they’re both special for each other in a way, and it’s obvious for multiple reasons that he thinks of her as different compared to his other agents.

Due to him being an agent, it’s possible to think he’s only lying if he tells her she’s special to him, because he could say that just to manipulate her. However, it has also been shown multiple times that he also treats her differently.

How he usually acts with the MC can be described with these two screenshots ↓

What he pays attention to

I love whenever a MC is recognized as “beautiful”. Otome games are about dating fictional hot men, so describing the female as also beautiful doesn’t feel one-sided anymore. I really enjoyed seeing The Boss’ reaction to MC’s appearance in his first Season. It was subtle but we could see at least twice that he began seeing her as a woman. He watched over her for 6 years as her boss and most of the time, he wasn’t physically present with her. Him becoming interested in her in that aspect showed that he started reevaluating her ↓

His gifts and praises to the MC

He gifts her perfumes and jewelry (spy earrings) as her boss

He has an ambiguous behavior with her, he’s not just her “boss” all the time. Their banter and sometimes the way he flirts with her in the special stories show (but this is not tied to the Main Stories) that he sees her romantically as well

He also refers to her as his favorite and best agent and I live for it

He compliments her skills as an agent all the time, and not only out of mere flattery (he also recognizes her skills in his PoVs) ↓

Here, he’s talking about her but he’s subtle because that’s the Boss for you ↓

His agent side and manipulation techniques

He has known that the MC has a crush on him for a long time, and used it to his advantage in his own route ↓ (and also particularly in Kei’s)

It’s possible that he is also unconsciously trying to keep her near him by manipulating her so she doesn’t go team up with the 3S’s, since she’s the best agent he has and losing her would not be beneficial to the EAC (or to him, if he does have feelings for her in the other routes as well, at least in Kei’s)

However, he could act in a sweet way with her in every route not out of affection but to have her listen to him more. After all, making people think you can trust them makes them open up and easier to control in some cases ↓

Possessiveness

He once refers to the MC as his agent very clearly. This is also noticed by the 3S’s as they said that he emphasizes some words such as “my agent”, or “she’s one of us” to talk about her. Kazuomi and the others often make fun of the Boss and MC by calling him her “handler” while calling the MC the Boss’ “pet”

Seiichi (The Boss) often interrupts the MC and the guys when they’re approaching a sexual development in the 3S’s routes. As in they’re going to make love and BAM, here he calls. We don’t know for sure that this is done on purpose, because if it is, it’d mean that the Boss can observe them whenever he wants to. Which is not entirely surprising if that’s the case, the man’s an agent and has his way of getting intel. It has also been shown before that Seiichi knew the MC and Theo (MC’s previous coworker) almost dated and there were recorded videos of the two kissing. Seiichi knew about this development in their relationship, so it’s not unlikely that he also knows about the MC being intimate with the 3S’s at exact times. That, or he simply has amazing instincts like the MC does

Some facts

Kei’s S3 showed how shaken Seiichi was by MC leaving the EAC, even though Kei’s route is where he could appear as very despicable to some readers and to the characters themselves because of how he treats her and Kei

Seiichi is someone who has lost himself, through the many masks he put on to embrace a new persona during missions. Relationships, even with women, were means to an end for him for a long time. He has lived in appartments that were giving off a feeling of being “unlived in” by MC. He is only attached to one furniture that he keeps with him, his croton plant (omg it sounds dumb putting it like that)

MC is the one to make Seiichi go back to “himself”, as in to who he was before becoming this "cold" agent who would do anything possible to get positive outcomes for the EAC (in his own story). In Kei’s S3, when the MC leaves the agency and follows Kei, the Boss seems sad. MC thinks to herself that she’s seeing the real him behind that “perfect facade”. (If MC’s love makes the Boss go back to “himself” (to Seiichi Setoyanagi) in his own route, as mentioned by the Boss himself, would that mean that he is also in love with her in other routes, if she is able to crack that facade there, too? I think this could be true)

Right now, the most relevant story that showed him having potential feelings for the MC (romantic ones or a deep attachment to her), in other routes than his own is, surprisingly, Kei’s route. Especially Kei’s S3. Despite what Seiichi did to the MC in Kei’s earlier seasons, as in threatening to shoot her and use her as a trading object along with the rosary that Kei craved all his life, there’s this moment that shows just how complicated and deep he can be as a character. The fact that I can’t understand him is what makes me want to know more, to know everything. What Seiichi delivers as a character are double meanings, subtlety, and we’re never sure of where we’re going with him. I absolutely love how most of what he does and says is up for interpretation in a lot of cases. He’s a mystery and that’s part of his charm. What is true though, is that he’s very attached to the MC in every route, whether he’s conscious of it or not, whether he manipulates her or not

#personal #mk spoilers #masquerade kiss #mk #mk boss #seiichi setoyanagi #voltage inc #otome game #love 365 #voltage #voltage otome #love 365 find your story

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bookaddict24-7 · 11 months

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REVIEWS OF THE WEEK!

Books I’ve read so far in 2023!

Friend me on Goodreads here to follow my more up to date reading journey for the year!

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34. Never Too Far by Abbi Glines--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Re-read March 2023 Hi, it's me re-reading one of my favourite problematic series! I love seeing my past reviews and how my mindset changes and evolves over time. As I write this, I am already craving re-reading this again LOL. But if I try reading past this series, I can't do it. This is just a messy gem that I will for sure re-read many many more times.

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35. Forever Too Far by Abbi Glines--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Re-read March 2023 I'm always sad to finish this trilogy and the drama it brings. Delicious as always. ___

36. The Summer of Broken Rules by K.L. Walther--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I heard about this one a bit ago and was excited to read it because of all of the positive reviews. I was always worried because we all know what happens when we go into a book with expectations. I'm happy to say that I can understand why this book has so much hype behind it. It's a great exploration of family and the complexities of grief. It was interesting to see how everyone dealt with the grief they were all feeling as yet another summer started and one family member was missing. I think the concept of the game the family played before the wedding was genius and I wish I had a big enough family to play it. I also loved how it was the perfect opportunity for the MC to both connect with the memory of her sister and with a part of herself she never thought she would experience (especially coming off a toxic and long relationship.) Speaking of which, I loved the love interest. He had some pretty cool moments and was the perfect balm for the MC. I think this is a great summer read, especially since we're now starting to get into the summer vibes. Great for those who are going away to meet up with family, or those who are staying behind to chill by the pool, beach, or their garden.

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37. Promise Boys by Nick Brooks--⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I think I went into this expecting something slightly different than what I got. It was a very powerful read, but I think the pacing felt a little off--at least, if we're going by the synopsis. I enjoyed reading this from multiple perspectives because I think it rounded out the story really well. I love when authors do this because it gives me perspectives to a story that I might have otherwise been wanting to see. Each character was dealing with their own issues and while said issues (like relationship troubles) weighed the story down a bit, I can also appreciate that these are teenagers. Overall, I thought this was a good mystery and it has some seriously important topics--like corruption in schools, the treatment of Black boys in American schools, and the way society sees Black boys--but I think if some of the situations were flushed out a little more; if the pacing was a little better, this would have been a higher rating for me. Don't get me wrong: this book is incredibly readable and I recommend it, if not for the mystery then for the moments where you might get angry at the discrimination and racism, but I do think that something about this book felt missing. This is actually a very short book--I think it would have benefitted if it was just a tad bit longer.

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38. Set On You by Amy Lea--⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed this one! I loved the representation of a fat FMC and the hot, big and tough love interest (MMC). I always love reading stories like that because I've heard that muscle gym bros love bigger girls. I loved seeing the FMC actively share her journey and have some pretty good character growth by the end of the story. I loved that final message she shared and I think it could be an especially healthy message to share with readers who may also be stuck in that web of toxic positivity. I'm not going to lie, the MMC was a bit forgettable--mainly because I'm writing this a month or so after reading the book and I don't really remember any of his traits....oops. What I DO remember, however, is him kind of messing up a bit somewhere in there. This isn't to say that it's all on him. The FMC, in my opinion, handled everything in probably the least healthy way possible--which, tbh, is understandable because anxiety and depression is a bitch that takes zero days off. But I think the biggest downfall of this couple is their problem with communication. When it comes to my romances, besides the smut and the enemies to lovers sexual tension, I want a healthy level of communication. When miscommunication or a lack of communication leads to the main climactic point of a book (the main conflict), then you've lost me. Imagine all of the pain that could have been avoided? Overall, I would recommend this one because of the amazing representation and the spicy tension during this couple's enemies to lovers initial bond. I'd read more books by this author, but that communication issues has got to go.

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39. Virgin River by Robyn Carr--⭐️

I'm going to be very honest here: I made it 76% before I DNF'ed this. I normally don't write reviews for books I've DNF'ed but a) I think I made it far enough and b) I have things to say. I read this book back in March and I still remember the parts that made me want to throw the whole book away. It started alright with the premise of a city woman moving to a small town. I loved that concept because then she meets the gruff but willing man who will show her the beauty of her new home. To start easy: This book draaaaaaaags. It honestly felt like it would go on forever and never end. It would get to certain parts where I would actively check how much I had left because there is no way that more still needed to happen. But other than the slow pacing, this wasn't my main concern. I admit that I try to not read reviews before I pick up a book. I tried to follow the hype behind the tv show and the series (it has a million books), but I honestly....don't get it? But my main point is that I don't know if others have talked about my next complaint about this book. My main concern with this book is a particular scene that happens between a fourteen year old and a sixteen or seventeen year old--I don't remember his age, but it was one of those two. The girl is described as this obvious sexual being when she is a CHILD. Even the boy is wary of her age. Then we get a chapter from his perspective where they are having sex. Very descriptive sex. Two teenagers. Two children. I don't want to go into detail, unlike the book, but it made me so incredibly uncomfortable. Then, later in the book, the male character thinks about being *inside* of her and missing the warmth. Wtf. A child. I've read a ton of YA and I think it's perfectly fine to have sex positivity in those novels because a) they're usually not descriptive (and if they are, they're not to that level because the authors know their audience), and b) it's usually aimed towards other teenagers who can relate. Even still, sex positivity in a YA novel is different than a very descriptive sex scene between two children in an adult novel that has spicy scenes between adults. Don't get me wrong, I love smutty novels but not this. That was not right and I'm surprised that this book has such high ratings. It's so creepy! Reminds me of how creeped out I was about the Princess Diaries having a 14 year old MC dating an 18 year old teenager. Anyway, this wasn't for me. Even if there wasn't a creepy af scene, the pacing would still have made this a DNF for me.

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Have you read any of these books? Let me know your thoughts!

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Happy reading!

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amarriageoftrueminds · 2 years

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The thing about Peggy, she's a very boring character. Upper class British woman is a very boring archetype. It also just doesn't work with a man who is the son of poor Irish immigrants.

If Peggy were and Irish girl? A girl from France or Poland? A woman of color? A disabled woman? She'd have been far more interesting and I'd probably be in to their relationship.

As it is, its the most basic boring romance. Peggy has no friends that are women, or at least we never see them. She's wealthy so she had a big advantage over other woman. She could easily get a boyfriend. She wasn't interested in Steve until he got the serum. Like, when it comes to Steve, she's seriously that meme with the first people being the guy shielding his eyes and then the second one of him liking whatever he sees, and put preserum and post serum Steve in it.

Its the fault of the writers for writing a woman that they'd want and not an actual character. And then making the story about their MC having to earn her. But we now have better female and more interesting characters in the MCU. No need to keep bringing Peggy back, who they still didn't bother to give her own character and just made her a female version of Steve and still managed to give her a bland personality. There's no saving the character at that point.

All they had to do is just... leave her canon comics characterisation alone.

She was based on real life American heroine Virginia Hall! (Ignoring that is sickeningly disrespectful.) She was undercover in the French Resistance! She was actually doing the things they had to retcon MCUPggy doing! Her being co-head of (American) SHIELD would've made sense!

Instead of which we're stuck with this... repellant Stormfront character who seeps in everywhere like oil.

They're bending over backwards to retcon/write their Cynthia-Glass-in-all-but-name (a cesspit by any other name still stinks!) into relevancy in the comics now (horrifying; again, pretending they didn't adapt a Nazi, pretending she was once friendly to Bucky... they wish!) and back up every bullshit claim they ever made about her MCU skillset (most of which are stolen from Bucky anyway.)

They've got writers that are dimwitted enough to swallow whatever Feige feeds them without question (which was why they were hired, after all), and think they've written feminism when they've written either radfeminism (the woman is just better than the man!) or misogyny (...and yet her whole life still revolves around him??)

Pggy is the perfect conservative woman, though, so you know Disney are never going to stop. Especially not now HA has dated Tom Cruise.

Pggy is much more comfortable for them than leftwing Steve ever was.

She is also perfect villain material, but that would require them to be actually leftwing for once, and/or admit they fucked up and based a main character on a Nazi because they're into that shit. Which they never will. 🙄

*point: in her show (which cannot be canon since all the events are undermined by CATWS, but as usual even if it was canon it doesn't show her in the positive light they think it does, because they’re idiots), they think they retcon her complete lack of any interaction with women in CATFA by giving her three-ish female friends... but only if they're inferior in rank or class to her.

(Because they don't want equals who would show up how boring and unremarkable she is; they want to give her subordinates. Two of her friends are servants, one is a waitress, and the last is a receptionist.)

The irony is: that they are showing, multiple times, that women with all Pggy’s character traits and aesthetic are villains.

They’re saying it’s untypical for someone with all Pggy’s qualities to not be a villain. 🤦‍♀️

#long post #antipeggy #antisteggy #p*ggy meta #mcu meta #mcu critical #steggy is hydra trash party #meta #mcu #toAyourQ #hey nonny #dat's me #god can you believe The Good Place used to be satire #yet each man queues the thing he loves #cynthia glass

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hopeshoodie · 2 years

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How come you don't like lottie and graham

It’s probably mostly the whole ‘the worst sin a fictional character can commit is being annoying’ thing. I personally don’t vibe with the ‘petty with very little introspection woman’ and ‘brusque standoffish arrogant man’ personality types.

But more than that-

Lottie

Lottie in the first couple weeks of the game is absolutely intolerable. She's catty, rude, childish, and just generally mean to people around her. The girl code fixation is just an excuse to demand all the girls treat her like the main character without being critical of her own actions

She's incredibly selfish. She uses other people's things, makes messes, but then gets mad if people try to borrow her things.

She gets upset when people don't come to her with gossip, but is incredibly condescending to other people (rolling her eyes, making comments to Gary in group settings). I hate how she makes Operation Nope about 'poor me no one likes me'.

Even in late game?? She's still rolling her eyes and making sarcastic comments about Hope and Marisol, girls who at this point might be her friends.

Multiple characters TELL us in late game how much Lottie has changed, but like can someone give me a demonstrable example of her being changed? Like yes she saved Noah, but she had no other options that personally benefitted her. Yes she’s in less screaming matches, but tell me that isn’t just because she has the guy she wants. Graham Is rude/uninterested in MC during the speed dating and only asks after Marisol, then through the rest of CA he makes it clear that he has no interest in making friends/acquaintances with women he’s not sexually attracted to.

Him being testy about boat puns makes sense, but he's overly aggressive about stating in and enforcing other people not make them (and then later makes them himself??). Like he assumes people should already know that and snaps at them when telling them for the first time. I'm all for setting boundaries, but he just doesn't go about it in a considerate way.

Is the most aggressive about bullying Felix. Kassam has more of a reason to dislike Felix, but Graham’s always the one making comments, rolling his eyes, and yelling at Felix.

Hates the sound of morning doves (sin)

His rivalry with Gary is dumb. I dislike Gary for it too, but the 'thing I like is better than thing you like!' and being condescending towards Gary sucks. He also is the first one to try to instigate physical violence, telling Gary to hit him.

The sex dungeon in the pillow fort thing /really/ bothers me. I totally get that it’s funny to flirt/make jokes by alluding to BDSM and I’m fine with that. But the way Graham talks about it makes me SO uncomfortable. First, him consistently saying it to people he doesn't know well makes me think he uses it as a personality trait, which RED FLAG. Where it's more about being 'the guy who's a dom' instead of just... Enjoying BDSM for its own sake. Second, I’m sorry but if you’re conventionally attractive you’re not good at BDSM. Only people who look like absolute nerds/dweebs are good at BDSM. Third, and most importantly, he disregards consent. He doesn’t just joke about making a sex dungeon in the communal blanket fort, he grabs rope and is genuinely disappointed/annoyed that people tell him to knock it off. People react with discomfort, and that in and of itself isn't enough to get him to stop. This man was what? Going to rig up Marisol? In front of god and everybody?

When MC is on a Marisol route, Graham is shitty. Not just shitty in a 'this girl I like is being stolen away from me' way, but in a misogynistic homophobic way. He says that Marisol needs a "man like him" and then seems to undermine the legitimacy of MC and Marisol's relationship. He gets really nasty towards MC once Marisol chooses to switch, and it's just... Yuck.

#final queue #litg

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wastoidwill · 2 years

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mike is the mc of the willelmike love triangle, not will or el

note: this is strictly about the love triangle between will, mike, and el. as for the show itself, will and el are obviously the main characters, as we've been shown that time and time again throughout the series.

often times as I'm scrolling through twitter I'll come across a tweet that mentions mike being the love interest, which, in terms of will and el being the mcs of the show, this is true. however, when looking at the three of them in terms of a love triangle (which they are), he is not the love interest.

in a love triangle, you have characters A, B, and C. while character is typically the main character of the movie or program that the love triangle takes place, characters A and C are the love interests– the ones who are show to have feelings for character A.

in the show, will and el both have feelings for mike, making them characters B and C (it's also worth noting that, in a love triangle, you're shown character A become conflicted between characters B and C early on after meeting character C. in st, we're first introduced to mike and will's friendship, this making mike character A and will character B. then when mike meets el and becomes friends with her after will going missing, that makes her character C. by the end of episode 4, "the body", we're shown that conflict for the first time, and we see it fan out a bit more in e5 each of the times he yells at el for not finding will alive).

this makes sense as to why we've seen their feelings more than mike's. in a love triangle, we often see character A being conflicted between the feelings that characters B and C have for them. they tend to (as it is implied and never explicitly stated) ask themselves questions such as "why one loves me more?" "who's love is better for me?" "who do I love more?" "does X character actually love me, or are they just jealous?" "what happens when I choose?" etc., etc.

if mike is asking himself any of these questions (the most likely being "who do I love more?" or, a better alternative, "I know I love X character, but do I love them in that way?"), then we're not going to be shown that. often times we're not shown the internal conflicts that character A faces, but rather there's a specific moment that sets the course for the rest of the series or movie (an example of this would be in the notebook when allie kisses noah in the rain while she's engaged to lon. this would be the moment that secures their endgame– a rain kiss).

now, in terms of st, those inciting moments tend to be a lot less climatic than what you'd usually see in a romance arc between two characters. for nancy and jonathan it's the wounds and scars on their hands that they made to attract the demogorgon in s1. for lucas and max it's the holding hands on the bus. for joyce and hopper it's the date at enzo's.

and while a person could argue that in s3/4 we do get that inciting moment between mike and el, will's feelings for mike being shown in a more blunt/explicit way than before at such a late point in the show changes every possible outcome that there is for mike. up until this point, it hasn't been widely shown that "el isn't the only love interest for mike".

you could also argue that we've gotten multiple inciting incidents between mike and el, and you could also say the same thing about mike and will. there being multiple possibilities of what could be considered the inciting incident that secures either relationship as being endgame proves that there has not been a specific moment to solidify either one.

and that being said, mike doesn't need to end up with either el or will in order for there to be a completed arc within the love triangle. in fact, that goes for all romantic arcs in the show, because that's not the central plot. all I'm saying is that in season 5 there is going to be a point where mike is going to have to make a decision, because he has not done that yet. every love triangle has a moment where character A talks with either character B or C and either character A tells them it's not going to work or character B/C says that they know what character A wants to say and pushes them to go be with the other love interest (and before anyone mentions the van scene, I'm talking about low stakes, not life or death, a calm conversation where it is explicitly stated that character B or C is okay with having unrequited feelings and that the other love interest and character A should be together).

thank you all for indulging in my interpretation of all that is the willelmike love triangle, and I hope that you stop calling mike the love interest and start referring to will and el as the love interests when talking about the love triangle between will, mike, and el. good day.

#i'm actually so tired i did not think this would take as much explanation as it has #not the point though #will byers #mike wheeler #el hopper #stranger things #willelmike #you could quite literally debate which will be endgame all day #but you will never be able to come to a conclusion #and all because there's no damn inciting incident

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alj4890 · 3 months

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Would it be a deal breaker for your pairings if one part suggested or talked about the idea of open up their relationship? (Either 3some or poly). Like, of course they wouldn't do anything if their partner doesn't agree. But would the suggestion damaged the trust their partner has in them, or make them uneasy enough to become an issue? Or would they be able to hear them out, say no and move on?

Oof. Hitting with the hard questions here, LOL! I'll try to answer this the best I can with some of my pairings. I also got this question from @choicesasknonnie

Personally, I'm monogamous. I have no experience in poly or threesomes. I was never the type to even date multiple men at the same time. I found a lot of relationships to be exhausting with men I dated before my husband and couldn't fathom trying to have one with someone else at the same time 😂 Having said that though, I think my pairings would have different responses.

So for Thomas Hunt and my OC, this would permanently damage them. I base this particular OC on myself. Not only does Amanda have my first name, she has all the insecurities and such I've suffered with in my life. If Thomas were to even hint he would be interested in bringing someone else into their relationship, even for a one night stand type thing, Amanda would believe he doesn't really desire her anymore. Her doubt would take over and cause her to end things, no matter how much Thomas reassures her that he loves her and wants to be with her.

I honestly would react like this if my husband were to suggest this. Here again though, it is because I have only experienced monogamy and it is the type of relationship I've wanted. I have a few family members who have made poly relationships and such work and others who haven't. I just never wanted it.

With Tobias and Chris, I think they'd be okay if one suggested they give this a shot. I wrote them though as seeing each other as the only one they want, but I don't think their trust or relationship itself would suffer any damage. I can see them earnestly discussing this and making sure the other is okay while they reach a decision if it is right for them.

With Liam and Riley, I don't know. I always played the MC as sticking to one LI instead of romancing others at the same time with each replay. I know Liam would be fine since the whole "Cordonian Arrangement" suggestion if you say no to his marriage proposal in canon. With Riley, I think she would be fine if she was the one to suggest it. I don't think she would if Liam did so.

Ethan x OC would be a no. Sophie and Ethan's work schedules make it hard enough for them to find enough time for the other. The last thing they need is someone else to demand attention 😂 I think it might cause an argument if one were to suggest it

Maxwell x his different LI I've written for him 🤣 Here again, if he's with my OC, Amanda it's a big fat no and will permanently damage their relationship. If he's with my OC, Sherry, I think they're too content with the other to feel the need to add anyone to the mix. If one were to suggest it, I think they'd be able to move on and be fine. With Olivia, I don't know. With both having been raised in an environment where taking a lover is quite normal, they might be fine. Threesomes, I guess it depends on the person they decide to possibly add to the mix. I can't see Olivia allowing just anyone 😂

I know I've written for a lot more pairings, but I stuck to the ones I've written the most for 😉 Thanks for the ask ♥️

#choices asks #thomas hunt x oc #tobias x chris #ethan ramsey x oc #maxwell x oc #maxwell x olivia #liam x mc

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kokokabana · 2 years

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𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐤𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐦 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞

Are you also sick and tired of following guides on how to get Kassam but still failing at the end? Is he still not bringing you breakfast on the second day, doesn’t show any interest in you during speed dating, and absolutely did not say your name? Me too bro, me too.

But I think I cracked the code.

How you might ask. I got Kassam by being the most glamourous, most extra, loudest, and “you’re so out there and I don’t think I can keep up with this” MC. Yeah, you’ve read correctly. I didn’t even plan on getting him. I was trying to finish the Gary route at least once, but DJ got us fallin’ in love, twice.

And this got me thinking. Except for those guides who suggest acting as bland and neutral as possible, there are other players who also say that they got Kassam while acting the complete opposite of what the guides tell you.

So, how do you get Kassam to say your name?

Short answer: be consistent, don’t be a hypocrite, stick to one personality, don’t start drama but stand up for yourself if necessary without fearing of hurting other people’s feelings

Long answer: buckle up.

Shoutouts to @ravenadottir for encouraging me to post this on my own blog ❤︎

Here’s a freaking index because this post will be that long.

Kassam’s Personality

The Ideal MC

Busting Myths

Casa Amor

Checkpoints to Confirm MC’s Personality

Summary

1. Kassam’s Personality

I think we have a good idea of how Kassam is. But there are some hidden things behind his first reserved nature.

Depending on when and if you decide to spend gems on his scenes, no matter if he said your name or not, he tells you that he needs some time to open up when meeting new people. He likes getting to know new folks – that’s what he likes about being a DJ – but he first needs some time to break out of his shell.

However, he is not shy, he’s just an introvert. He’s confident with who he is. And with the right person, he will reveal some sides of him that certainly, I did not expect him to have.

I will soon have a post with screenshots with the following scenes:

runs up and jumps on the swing chair in CA

heart eyes when you say that you don’t care what your Villa-LI thinks about you flirting with Kassam

admits and laughs about the fact that it’s not hard for him to kick out a couple when the Villa has to decide who should leave

says on prom night that he misses the drama. when you say “it’s not over yet”, he responds with “trying to steal the spotlight, are we 😏?”

rambles on for several screens about getting multiple pets when you answer that you would spend the money on a house for you two to grow old (free scene)

happily agrees with you when you say that you’d spend the money on expensive hotels and vacations (gem scene on the balcony on the baby day)

jealous when you dance with someone else first during the heart race challenge

wants children (not important, just wanted to put it out there hehe)

Well, how can we describe Kassam in a few words?

confident with who he is

knows what he wants and doesn’t let anything stop him from pursuing it, no matter if he makes enemies along the way

doesn’t care about loyalty while being single

calm, quiet but enjoys everything from the sidelines

jealous when in a relationship

Why is it important to know how he really is? Because he wants a partner who is just like him.

2. The Ideal MC

Kassam showed interest in me during CA but only during the second round of the speed dating thing. Why? Because my MC was inconsistent with what she said and did.

If I had been more consistent, I definitely would have got him to say my name, trust me.

Now, what the hell does “being consistent” mean?

One quality he looks for in a partner is that they should know what they want. They should have made up their mind about something and stick to that opinion, no matter who controversial and or hurtful it may be.

And that’s exactly what MC should do.

Of what do you think when I say “Lottie?” Yeah, “girl code”. Because that’s what she was constantly preaching. Even when Kassam couldn’t care less about loyalty, the fact that Lottie (uh most of the time) put the girls first and vehemently defended herself when confronted that being loyal doesn’t bring you far on love island is what Kassam admired about her.

Why did Kassam only like Lottie? Let’s look at Marisol and Priya. At the very beginning, Marisol preaches that she puts herself first, but when you think about it, until CA she got stuck in a friendship couple with Bobby and the shitstorm about her and Rocco obviously affected her. She did care about other people’s opinions.

Priya, idk, she said that playing a prank on the boys is immature, but look who’s jumping on beds on CA haha jk

Hope could have been a possible candidate. I even hc that he likes an “obsessive” partner, but she was too much, I guess. Also, he wouldn’t have had a chance anyway, knowing how much Hope wanted to get back together with Noah, so why waste time and energy on her when you have someone who is stuck in a friendship couple with Ibrahim?

If you pay for the gem scene with Marisol, you get some intel about what Kassam looks for in a partner. This shit opened my fucking eyes.

“A girl who is true to herself. One who doesn’t mind putting herself ahead of others.”

This is what Kassam saw in Lottie and this is exactly what MC needs to be as well.

As you can see, my MC couldn’t be boring for shit like why should she? It takes like 15 minutes to speed run one day, what tf do you expect haha. Like I said, I wasn’t even planning on getting Kassam.

So, what I’d say is that you should do the following:

pick one personality (people pleaser, outgoing, mean, shy, laidback, drama queen etc.) and stick to it

don’t start drama or add to drama unless you were pulled into it (see example below)

remember what your opinions about certain topics are bc they will come up later and you have to confirm them. don’t be hypocritical

if you promised something, keep that promise

I am sure that Kassam will say your name even if your MC was loud bc the other boxes are all ticked. He will definitely show interest in you during the second round of speed dating, but since I can’t keep track of what my MC said or did, I can’t confirm that to 100%.

Some examples for you about promises and drama:

If you picked “i always put myself first” on Day 1, you better sneak off and flirt with Gary while Marisol and Hannah are arguing about breakfast or you side with Marisol and tell her that that’s what Hannah had to hear if you didn’t show any interest in Gary

Prime example on how to handle drama: When you visit Marisol and Bobby/Ibrahim at the gym area, stay out of their argument first until Marisol asks for your opinion. Your MC should side with that person whose opinions fits to that what MC said earlier that day. Do not say “that doesn’t involve me” twice. Kassam doesn’t want somebody with no backbone.

If you promised Bobby and Marisol to play peacemaker, do it and don’t flirt with Jacub because you won’t have time left to do so.

If you said no to them twice (Bobby confirms that you won’t help during that conversation), flirt with Jacub and skip right to Chelsea and Jacub picking their dates. Don’t resolve one of the two girl conflicts because you have some time to kill. It won’t make you look good in Kassam’s eyes

If you told your best female friend that you like Lucas, repeat that when asked later after every girl had their date with Lurik. Your best friend even says something along the lines of “well, that’s consistent with what you said earlier.”

If you rubbed yourself against the boys during the slime challenge more than necessary, tell Lottie that you don’t care about her girl code talk and watch Hope and Lottie being speechless. So satisfying.

3. Busting Myths

My favorite part. Let’s get into it, shall we? Ask me if you need additional explanations.

You don’t need a new account, nor do you have to delete your cache in advance.

You don’t have to wear only the default clothes, thank God.

Gem dialogue options don’t lessen your chance. Be real, from a company’s perspective, does it make sense to not make your players spend real money on gems?

You can pick any LI on Day 1 you like. You don’t have to choose Rocco or Gary. Kassam’s route is not locked with certain Villa LIs (but with Elijah’s perhaps, see reply in notes)

All choices matter and will be taken into consideration for your heart score with Kassam but especially those on Day 14 (or my score was just critical that day haha)

Kassam doesn’t value loyalty. That’s not what he liked about Lottie (see above).

4. Day 14 – Casa Amor

Like I said, either my heart score was very critical when I arrived there or the choices do matter and are highly sensitive because I tried to recreate Kassam being interested in me by restarting the day, but omg I couldn’t do it! Maybe you can tell me something about your experience here :D

Either way, certain criteria have to be fulfilled on your first day at CA:

Don’t show interest in any other CA boy except Kassam and Elijah. (edit: lethia.killua said that they didn’t flirt with Elijah and got him while I did and did not to see if that would make a difference and it did for me. tell me about your experience!)

During the introduction, say hi to Elijah, wink at him, and say hi to Kassam.

To see if you’re successful, the following should happen in part 2 of the day:

Elijah is your first speed date. He must be shooed away by Kassam because he stayed longer at your table. When he leaves, he must look back at you and say “bye MC 🥰!”

Once I figure out how to make MC not be “one of the most fun, outgoing girl” Kassam has ever known, he should say my name at the very beginning haha

5. Checkpoints to Confirm MC’s Personality

There are certain points where you can check how your MC appears to others. Here are the very few that popped into my head:

on day 1 in the evening, Marisol will give you her two cents about the ideal type of your current LI

After Priya stole your LI and you go out to ask the boys to pick you, they should express their opinion about you. -> for me, it was Bobby (!) saying that he’s not sure bc MC was so out there (and you are not, my dear Sir?!)

Date with Jacub! Pick his correct answers (“speed” and “I do whatever I want” or sth) and he should say either “You don’t rub me as someone who goes after what they want. You always put your friends first”, “You don’t say what you think out loud” or that you are true to yourself, which I never got before haha

Gem scene with Marisol at CA when she makes Graham make her smoothies (see above)

Got some more? Tell me!

6. Summary

Mix the sexy, playful, dramatic side of Lucas with Gary’s chill side and wish to have children, insert Jacub’s desire to have a partner who is true to themselves and always put themselves first, sprinkle in Ibrahim’s anxiety to open up to new people and 💥 you have ✨Kassam✨

Reblog this one right here when you got him hehe

Good luck 🍀

That took me hours to write, holy shit. Leave an emoji in the notes, slide into my DMs, or leave a tip, any interaction is appreciated ♥

#kikki.onloveisland #kikkis.guides #litg guide #litg kassam #kassam guide #litg s2 #litg season 2 #litg marisol #litg guides #kikkis.stuff #litg.newfitalert #love island the game #love island game

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gb-patch · 3 years

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Ask Answers: August 8th

Well, doing big posts all together worked for a while but lately I’ve been putting it off because it takes a long time to get them done. I think I’m gonna try switching back to answering asks whenever I can fit it in and posting them one at a time instead of waiting until I’ve filled out one of these major collections.

But for now, here’s more ask answers! Thank you for the questions and for all the kind words along with them ^^.

Hello!! I'm here to ask if its possible to get the game and its dlcs on steam and play it on android?

I’m afraid not. Steam doesn’t have Android builds on their own site and Steam is not cool with keys for other sites being given out for Steam purchases, so you don’t get the Itch version from buying on Steam.

Hello! Sorry to bother you but, I had a question, if we buy the Game on itchio do we get steam keys or would we need to purchase it twice?

You would have to buy it twice if you want it in both places, I’m sorry. To repeat myself a little, Steam doesn’t like the key trading thing. Itch may support giving keys for another site, but the reverse isn’t doable with Steam and Steam doesn’t even really want you to get a Steam key for buying somewhere else either. So we just don’t mess around with that.

hey, sorry if this is frequently asked, but is step 4 free dlc or paid for? some of your sources are contradicting each other.

It’s free! There’s a paid wedding DLC, but Step 4 itself is entirely unpaid.

Hello! I just had a quick question, for the Baxter and Derek DLC's will we be able to confess our feelings to them or let them confess to MC? or will it only be one way? (they confess to MC)

Both type of options will be available!

Hey there! I wanted to ask whether or not the Derek DLC is still on track to be released in August since on the steam discussion board it says it will be released mid 2021. I totally understand if it isn't, I'm just really looking forward to it! If you answer then ty! And keep up the amazing work :D

It’s not, aha. Unfortunately, 2021 wasn’t easier than 2020 as we hoped so things are still slower than planned. It’ll come out late 2021 or early 2022.

Hi! Firstly I just want to say that I LOVE Our Life. I have played a bit of similar games but this one instantly wins for the best one! Everything about it is amazing! I just wanted to ask if Derek would ever lose feelings for MC, like if they make the deal and then MC gets with Cove would he move on? and even if you don't, after "losing contact" would his feeling fade or would he still like MC?

If you don’t really keep in touch with him and clearly move on with your life, Derek will too and he’ll be over it. But if you are still close as best as you can be, he’ll still think the MC is special. Though, he’ll always support your relationship with someone else if that’s what’ll make you happy.

Hello! Sorry if you've answered this before but: 'How's Lee related to us? Though which momma? And does she share our player-chosen last names? Also, do you know if Noelani took Pam's last name or did it happen the other way round?

She’s related to Pamela and Pamela’s last name is the one they use, so the MC has the same last name as Lee.

Will we be able to choose which (they or he) we tend to call Qiu by more often, or will it randomly change depending on the moment?

Qiu knows which pronoun they’re comfortable with at a time and you’ll call them what they’re happy with. And it doesn’t change between lines, it takes multiple scenes or even full Steps for it to switch. So for extended periods Qiu will be totally a guy or fully agender.

Will Step 4 of OL2 have moments?

It’ll be an epilogue like it is in OL1, so it won’t have a bunch of different Moments.

Hello! Just a quick question, is Sunset bird from OL1 based on a real location? If so what's it called? I wanna visit it +_+

ps i love your games so much <3

It isn’t based on one specific town you can go to, but there are a lot of little coastal towns in Cali that have a similar vibe!

Heyaaa ( I hope you're all well ), umm… it might seem kinda stupid to ask but did Patreon members can have a key for the dlc's ( all the steps-released dlc ) even if they became a member this month or later ? (me? saying this cuz it's my case? maybe ;-;), and once again thanks for absolutely all the amazing works on all the games ! u-u

You wouldn’t get the DLCs for backing there. The Patreon is for extra bonus content/early access, rather than being a storefront to purchase the normal DLCs. Rarely we give them out as a side gift, but it hardly happens and if what you want is the DLCs it’s best to ignore the Patreon and buy keys for those directly from Itch or Steam. I’m sorry for the confusion.

Hey y'all, love what youre doing w/Terry. Trans rep outside of player customization is so rare and important to see more of so thank you so much. I do have a question and its that does he have a canon sexuality? I know Miranda was said to be straight ace but I dont believe anything was stated for Terry probably because he wasnt revealed to be a guy which changes things. Im also curious if well get answers on how long hes liked Miranda since he may have liked her in step 3 before she liked him

Terry likes women and Randy likes men! And he did like Miranda back in Step 3.

Will the Wedding Dlc release at the same time as Step 4?

They’ll come out separately with Step 4 releasing first.

I really love Our Life so much! I've spent over 20hours playing it even though I only got it a week ago! I was wondering if I could make a fangame for Our Life with a different love interest but same plot. Next-door neighbors romance, multiple steps, etc? I'll probably make it on Google Slides though-

Sure! I hope you have fun with it and I’m glad you love the game.

How does Cove feel about poly relationships?

He’s got nothing against them for the people they work for, but he’s 100% monogamous and would only be comfortable with a partner who was willing to be monogamous with him.

Idk if this has been answered before but will Step 4 include the option to advance your feelings towards Cove?

Yep, you’ll be able to determine your feelings and what your relationship is.

In step 4 will there be a chosen to say we live with Cove even as just friends?

Yeah, you can choose to live with Cove and that can be done when you’re friends.

I just played the game with the MC and Cove being best friends and omg it’s still so damn cute like the wholesomeness of it all is too much for my heart I swear ^.^ Now with that all said I was wondering can we still marry Cove? if we only love him as a friend like let’s say we’ve made deal with him similar to the one we can make with Derek because let’s real no one could compete with what the MC and Cove have even if they aren’t in love.

It’s great to hear you enjoyed the friendship story! You can live with Cove, but you can’t marry him platonically. Cove has familial affection for the MC if they’re best-est friends. He wouldn’t think to marry someone he loves like family and even grew up with as though they truly were siblings.

Are you still going to be making a DLC for XOBD? :]

Yes! We’re slowing adding voiced lines and fixing errors.

It makes me laugh that Shiloh's last name is Fields because that's what I put as my last name! So in Our Life when he talked about "Ms. Fields" picking him up I was extremely confused, lol. That dude mimics personalities so much that he stole my surname!

Oh, wow, that’s a very funny coincidence, haha.

hi !! i cant seem to be able to get the scene where mc is able to propose to cove despite being at the 'love' stage and telling him i'd want to get married, are there any other details that im missing out on? the options just dont appear at the end...

Maybe you missed telling Cove you were in love with him even if you mentioned wanting to get married or you might’ve accidentally said earlier in the game that you don’t want to progress your relationship further with Cove. We haven’t removed them, so you can get the scene again. It’s just kind of easy to miss since there’s multiple requirements. You can read a little guide in the FAQ.

wait what di you need to do to be able to propose to cove? I've been trying but haven't had much luck

You can check out the FAQ linked above!

does cove only develop a crush on the mc if the mc is also at crush/in love with him?

Technically, yes. We treat the non-romantic relationship options as truly non-romantic since we don’t want to bait and switch people. But there’s nothing wrong with headcanoning that Cove does have feelings developing for the MC even before the MC has.

Is there a way to make/allow Lee and Baxter to date?

No, they just don’t have enough time together.

We also got a group of asks related to Tamarack in OL2, but I’m afraid the way they talked about people with larger bodies made me not want to post their words, even if the person didn’t say they’re trying to be hurtful. I will separate out the core question and answer it though, so people can know that info.

Does Tamarack lose weight in later Steps?

No, she doesn’t. As for the other questions included, to be honest, I don’t have to explain/defend having romance options of different sizes. I’m sorry if you’re dealing with unhappiness that’s connected to body image, if that’s where the negative emotions are coming from, but even so I can’t meet you on that level and pretend it’s a problem that needs an answer. A girl who simply isn’t thin being a main love interest is just not an unreasonable concept. Also, Tamarack isn’t a lesbian. Yes, she can date a female MC, but that doesn’t undo her actual sexuality, so I’m not sure where that one part at the end was coming from.

I wonder... can we "fight" with Qiu over leader status? 👀

Not really, haha. No matter how cool your MC is, they’re never gonna replace Qiu for the other kids around. So you can either partner up with him, follow him too, or not be a part of all that group politics stuff.

So when I play the game, sometimes I mentally call Cove “Covie/Covey” and that made me wonder, how does Cove feel about being nicknamed? Not like Romeo/Space Cadet/etc. but like pet names relating to his actual name

It’d depend on his age, personality, and your relationship with him! When he’s younger he’d probably be embarrassed, when he was grown he’d probably be more casual or happy about it.

will you be able to date baxter in step 3 while at crush with cove (but not dating him ofc) sorry if this has been asked already. i really love baxters step 4 design btw!!

Yeah, you can be crushing on Cove and date Baxter if you weren’t already dating Cove. You just can’t be truly in love with Cove and then switch to Baxter.

I just got my friend into our life, and they adore shiloh and derek sooo will there be more of them in the second game?

I’m afraid not. But you can see plenty more of Shiloh in XOXO Droplets/XOXO Blood Droplets, haha.

I see you haven't gotten any xoxo droplets asks recently but I'm still obsessed with these boys!! I was just wondering if Nate would curse under any circumstance?

Yeah, Nate does use certain swear words (damn, hell, bastard) on very rare occasions.

Hi there! I have a question about the wedding dlc. Will we be able to plan a honeymoon during the planning stages of it or would it be something that Cove and the mc would rather plan later on? Thank you! Absolutly love the game by the way, definitely one of my favorite games!

The focus will be on the wedding day itself. The topic of the honeymoon might come up a bit, but there won’t be any choosing of the exact location and such.

Hi! I have two questions and it's completely understandable if you only answer one/neither and I'm sorry if you've already answered either before! First, is there a set year in which OL:B&A takes place (ex: Step 1 being set in 2010 & Step 2 being set in 2016, etc.) or is it simply up to interpretation? Second, have you guys thought about doing a coming-of-age game where the MC has a tough home life or upbringing? (like one of their parents is an addict, a parent being transphobic whilst the player has the option to be trans, or having friends that are influencing them to do drugs, etc.) That's all! Thanks for making beautiful games. <3

There is a set timeline!

Step 1: 2006 Step 2: 2011 Step 3: 2016 Step 4: 2021

And we don’t currently plan on making a game like that. The Our Life series exists to be a safer environment for people to play around in and if we did do a brand new series that was harsher edged it’d be something more fantastical and/or plot-driven instead of a different type of modern day slice-of-life growing up story. I’m sorry.

i don’t know if you’ve already answered this, but do you have a guess on when phase 4 will come out? as well as ol2? i’m so excited for both of them, the inclusivity in this game is amazing, you guys should be really proud of it!

Step 4 will be coming out very soon! OL2 is gonna take until 2023 to be anywhere near completion. But we might episodically release the Steps one at a time as they get done instead of waiting for three to be finished before launch like we did with the first game.

Hello, I was curious if there was an official or unofficial discord server for the game?

We do have a discord! You can join by clicking this link HERE.

how long do you plan to keep ol's patreon running?

Hopefully for at least a few more years.

Are you considering ever making merch?

Yeah, but I don’t know when it’ll happen or what exactly we’ll make, aha. It’s something we want do, just nothing is set.

hi! i just found out about your game a couple of days ago on tiktok (so sorry if you’ve already answered this question) and i was wondering if y’all are ever planning to release it on iOS?

I have no idea. It’s hard for a small group to get Apple approval and I honestly can’t say if it’ll ever happen or not. Maybe someday, though!

Hi, I love the art style of Our life and I would like to know if the artist has a Twitter? Also, could it be possible to fund more CGs for the game from him/her? So many times, I wish there was one like when the cutscene of the sunshower.

That’s nice of you to offer. He doesn’t have a Twitter, at least not one that’s public enough to be shared with me. And I’m afraid not. The issue is that the CGs take huge amounts of time rather than there not being a budget for it. He’s gotta make CGs for Step 4, the DLCs, and new character sprites, too. There isn’t space in the schedule for even more. Sorry for that.

Hi, how are you?!

Are you planning on accepting new writers or is it always the same people who write your stories??

Thanks!!

Our Life: Beginnings & Always won’t be getting new writers, but we will be hiring a new team of writers for Our Life: Now & Forever eventually!

perhaps this counts as nsfw and I'm sure it has been answered before but what does Cove prefer, chests/boobs or butts? or perhaps both :3c thank you for this wonderful game (and the patreon bonus moment, it was worth all the waiting and more ♥)

He’s a “chests of all shapes and sizes” kind of guy, haha.

i was wondering- did any of the writers actually grow up by the beach? as someone who's lived in a beach town all their life it really did feel nostalgic to play through our life 1

I was born and raised in Cali! Though, not right by the beach. We still had to make trips out, but the setting is based on my own childhood memories of small beach towns we went through.

In Derek’s upcoming DLC, will we be able to reference the pact we made as teens? (love olba and xod/xobd so much btw you’re literally amazing)

Yep, you will be able to talk about that!

Oh, sorry about the Cole being secretly L ask, then!

If you wanted context: Death Note is about this one guy who finds a notebook that kills anyone who you write the name of in there. The guy eventually develops a God Complex and starts mass killing criminals and stuff. L is the one trying to find out who is killing all these people.

Me and my sister first joked about it because I couldn't remember how to translate a word about the way Cove was sitting, so I just did the pose, and it looked a lot like how L himself sits! Then we just snowballed from there, with more and more nonsense connections.

That’s okay! Thanks for explaining. I’m sorry I didn’t know what you meant.

#our life #ask #gb patch #gb patch games

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ldss-interactive · 3 years

Text

At Alter’s End: A CYOA Novel

Overview:

Trentworth, Maine. A town of ten thousand southeast of Ellsworth and North of Bayside. Its only bragging point since its conception in 1867 was being a shoreline city and cheaper than any of the other big tourist towns. Nothing ever happened here, besides the occasional drowning or fishing trip accident, until the killings started. They lasted five years in total and 48 people were lost to the killer’s sick desires. Robert Hall terrorized this small town, slipping under the radar by focusing on those considered “undesirable”; sex workers, orphans, drug addicts, and the like. Now ten years later, ten years after the killer has been put behind bars, murders have begun again. A copycat killer has come to Trentworth. And they seem to be targeting the ones left behind, still trying to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives…

You take the role of a highschool senior; your parents having died in a home fire shortly before the killer was put behind bars and now under the care of your workaholic aunt. Make allies of your classmates or attempt to go it alone, clear your parents’ name from their believed involvement with the killer or fight to put the past behind you, deal with the skeletons in your closet and mind or bury them deeper... Oh, and make sure your history project is turned in on time. With two young siblings depending on you and a whole host of problems a highschool student should never have to deal with, can you survive this nightmare made real?

Trigger Warnings: This game will go into very heavy topics including the following; murder, death, various mental health issues (such as PTSD, depression, and anxiety), abandonment, gambling, various types of drug addiction, self harm mentions (not happening to the MC or shown in graphic detail), suicide, sex work, child abuse (mental, emotional, and physical), and dangerous situations. This is a murder mystery/thriller, it is NOT intended for audiences below 18.

Hello! Thank you for showing interest in At Alter’s End. This is a Choose Your Own Adventure style novel in the Thriller and Murder Mystery genres. It would also fit nicely in the Drama genre as well, but Drama is not the focus. This will be a rather lengthy project, with fifteen chapters plus a prologue and epilogue planned.

You take on the role of a senior at Trentworth High. Join an after-school activity, take care of your younger siblings, prepare for finals, get a part time job, find a date to homecoming, and survive your worst nightmare come to life. The copycat killer is targeting the students of your school and no one is safe. With the police dragging their feet, no help coming any time soon from any higher up law enforcement, and the locals refusing to acknowledge the possibility of a copycat killer, it’s up to you and your classmates to find the person responsible...before it’s too late.

- You can play as female, male, nonbinary, or trans!

- You can be straight, gay, or bisexual!

- A highly customizable MC including hair color, eye color, skin color, hair length, height, and personality and interests!

- The ability to choose which mental illness the MC suffers from due to the trauma of their past from the following:

Anxiety, Depression, or PTSD.

- The MC is deaf in their right ear ear due to the way in which their parents died; this is not something that can be changed.

- Choose from 7 different official after-school activities! Trentworth Volunteers, Up and Coming Artists, National Debate Society, National Honors Society, Co-Ed Varsity Basketball, Creative Writing, and Trentworth Gardeners!

- Bond with your classmates, explore your town, and help raise your younger siblings!

- Rescue your parents’ bakery from corporate clutches or let it go!

- Find the killer, stop the murders, and put a stop to the rumors that have plagued your every step for 10 years!

Vanya: Oldest adoptive twin sibling to MC’s adoptive siblings, 6 years younger than MC. Strong-headed, intelligent, and always getting into trouble. She looks after her brother and MC in the ways she can.

Ajay: Youngest adoptive twin sibling to MC’s adoptive sibling, 6 years younger than MC. Nearly completely blind since birth, he enjoys painting and other artistic endeavors. Obedient yet opinionated.

Aunt Emma: The workaholic aunt that takes custody of MC and their younger siblings after the death of their parents. Well meaning but absent most of the time on business trips or at the office.

Kwan Hall: An adoptive relative to Robert Hall; aloof, intelligent, and completely ostracized by Trentworth as a whole. When the killings start again the town’s attention is immediately turned on Kwan. He’s the first to begin investigating the killings when the police prove their incompetence. He is of Korean descent, standing at 5’6” with dark hair and dark eyes. His most notable feature is the long scar that stretches from his forehead’s hairline, down his left temple, and ends just below his jawline and the constant disinterest on his face. He is asexual in that he doesn’t experience sexual attraction at all. He is also bisexual.

Alessia D’Agostina: Trentworth High’s school president. She’s clawed her way tooth and nail up to earn the respect of both the school faculty and her fellow classmates; she’s strong-willed, dependable, and always looks at things through a logical lens. When she sees her classmates dying, she takes it upon herself to try and stop this once and for all. With dark skin, deep brown eyes, long braided hair, and standing at 5’8” her confidence and sense of self always make sure she stands out from the crowd. Alessia is bisexual.

Georgiy Kuzmin: Twin brother to Anastasiya Kuzmin; he is, in the kindest way possible, not the brightest bulb in the box. Yet he always means well and is more than willing to offer a helping hand. As the co-captain of the basketball team, captain of the baseball team, and the star of the swim team, Georgiy is one of the most popular and well beloved students at Trentworth High. When he realizes his friends are in danger, he willingly throws himself into the investigation to do all he can to help. With fair skin, dirty blond hair, bubbly green eyes, and standing at 6’1” he cuts an approachable figure to anyone who knows him. Georgiy is gay.

Anastasiya Kuzmin: Twin sister to Georgiy Kuzmin: she and her brother are alike in so many ways apart from just appearance. Anastasiya, who goes by Ana more often than not, is head of the Co-Ed Varsity Basketball team, the Girls’ softball team, and the Tennis team. Just as popular and loved as her brother, Ana may not be the smartest but she makes up for it with passion and dedication. Like her brother, she has fairer skin, dirty blond hair, and bright green eyes. Also like her brother, she felt she couldn’t just sit around while her friends were put in danger and agreed to join the investigation. Ana is gay and demiromantic, meaning she only gains feelings for someone after having a strong relationship with them.

Lillian Triano: A quiet, withdrawn girl who mainly keeps to herself. Due to the fact that Trentworth High demands for every senior to be apart of an elective, she is mainly seen in afterschool reading club run by Ms. Habeeb. She’s MC’s closest friend, having been one of the only people who didn’t believe the rumors that MC’s parents were assisting Robert Hall in his murders. She has an olive complexion, brown eyes, a heavy dose of freckles, and stands at 5’1”. Lillian is gay.

Jasmine Abernathy: Jasmine is Trentworth High’s self proclaimed “Best news source!” After the school newspaper was disbanded, Jasmine took it upon herself to keep freedom of the press alive. She’s fierce in her pursuit of the truth and never one to back down from a fight, though her rash attitude can get her into some sticky situations on occasion. With vibrant red hair, dark brown eyes, and standing at 5’3” she puts the term “fire” in Fire Signs. (She’s an Aries in astrology!) When the copycat killings began, it was no surprise when she took the case head on. Jasmine is bisexual.

Asa San Nicholas: Asa is the oldest of a set of triplets; they’re the type to march to the beat of their own drum, often not listening to what anyone has to say about themselves or their interests. Asa is a firm believer in the paranormal and it isn’t uncommon to find them indulging in their interest in various ways. “The spirits are distrubed. These deaths aren’t meant to happen.” Asa’s reason for getting involved seems to tie directly back to their “connection” with the spirits of the town. Asa has black hair, most often tied in a ponytail, hazel eyes, and an olive skin tone. At 6’4” they tower over most everyone...something they seem to enjoy a great deal. Asa doesn’t see gender and is interested in people regardless of how they present.

Leo San Nicholas: The middle of the triplets. They are genderfluid, okay with any pronouns. Leo is, for lack of a better word, eccentric. A bit of an adrenaline junkie, you can often find them cliff diving or giving their siblings heart attacks by playing russian roulette with a chocolate gun. To them, it isn’t fun if there isn’t a little danger involved; naturally, an investigation into a serial killer scratches that itch quite nicely. Their black hair is clipped short, multiple piercings visible on each ear, and their heterochromatic hazel and green eyes are often stated to stare through a person. Although Leo is genderfluid, they are only interested in people who present as female.

The demo is upcoming! When it is available I will make a post announcing it! I will also update this post with the link! This game is written in choicescript; the demo will be published on Dashingdon and the final game will be published for free on itch.io. I am open for questions regarding this game/novel and once the demo is published I will also be publishing a link to my Ko-fi! Until then, please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions!

#interact if #interactive fiction #choicescript #Choose your own adventure #At Alter's End #CYOA #Author Speaks

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otomelavenderhaze · 3 years

Text

My honest, but with no big spoilers plot-wise, review about Tears of Themis.

If you wanna get a general idea about how this game works, I think it’s fair to point out that one reminds me of very loosly of My Candy Love given the screentime we get with each character, it also reminds me of Ikemen for the tight plot and engaging story with a complex but still pretty straightfoward and it reminds me Queen's Choice in the composition of the app and with certain mechanics, as well, the possible only platonic type of relationship that you can get with the four male leads.

However and even so, Tears ot Themis is still pretty much it’s own thing with the Sherlock Holmes-like approach to the cases, it’s own world building with it’s own rules and pretty advanced technological set up and hits of retro/vintage elements here and there, with a very much anime styled storywise and artwise scenarios but a really tight and engaging plot.

So I don’t think it’s fair to draw any further comphrasions and instead let’s talk about my game experience with this one so far:

The game give us multiple ways of engaging with story/plot.

You have the main episodes to play, with criminal or civil cases to solve and win over.

Then in a different section, each male character has it’s own lockable side route, where you can know them better and get the spend some time with them after raising some affinity AND each card from the Gacha that you evolve and level up can have it's own little story that costs nothing and most of them feels like a date. I have played some of it and it's really really cute.

Now I think this game will approach romance in a more platonic way. The romance in the first four episodes and for what I saw so far, is very light, platonic and soft. I’m not sure if we will ever evolve to a full-relationship type of dynamic with the male leads.

However, I wouldn’t rule it out for the future just yet, since it feels like an otome.

We get some truly cute moments with MC that clearly has a lot of chemistry with all four of the male leads. They all have their own dynamic with her, different kind of relationships and levels of intimacy. Every moment we get to share with them feels different and they all are interesting, mysterious and charming around her.

They’re also all very linked to the plot in different ways, like Artem is also an attorney, meanwhile, Luke is a detective, and so go on and on - they all have their own weight to the plot, but it doesn’t feel unbalanced at all. I had a very pleasant surprise dealing with them in those different scenarios, because I never felt bored or annoyed by any of them in any shape or form.

The art of the game is gorgeous.

The backgrounds, the side characters, the main characters, the cgs!! Everything is so beautiful all the time that it can catch your attention really easily. The animation is also really well done, it doesn’t look weird even tho, looks very cartoony sometimes.

Some cgs don't have animations, most of the special ones do and when they do, they're pretty and cool. It’s totally something that you can stare and simp for hours kkkkkk I didn't dislike any of the ones I got, not even with the characters that I feel less connected with.

As a beta tester I can't really talk much about the cap in the points we get to play the game - because they gave us so much energy to test the most we could.

However, I can see how the energy points system will put certain cap on us, because you will need energy points for EVERYTHING - aside from somethings that you won’t, like the card’s stories. I pushed my limits somedays and I can see how this can push someone to actually spend money on the game to get through the story.

But I can’t point out if it’s gonna be super unfair or not yet, because, like I said, they almost give us infinity supply for the energy points, so I went through everything I had without thinking too much and I did almost run out of spare things to use, indeed, but I was commiting some mistakes and I just being full-on about it.

As a Gacha Game it’s what it is. I also can’t speak much about my experience with it, because they give a lot of things to us and I did spend everything I would got in game to get cards. I wasn’t really trying to get any that I really wanted, so I can’t speak about the frustration of not getting them - I got a lot of cool ones, but they did supply us with a lot of points to exchange for cards, so.

The system to level up the CG is the complex part. You can upgrate a card in way too many ways. However, I have played through the fourth episode and I didn’t find any block with the ones I had leveled up (I had 3/4 RS leveled up on their main level and I played without any worry at all).

I'm not going in dept about what each episode is about here, however, I need to point out that each case is pretty straightforward but really fun with a twist to play.

MC is an attorney, but she also acts like an investigator in a very Sherlock Holmes way, picking apart small things and piece together, with us the players, what happened. And to make it even funnier, we get to play a little bit of Ace Attorney in this game kkkkkkkk it has a really obvious inspo on that one and it's a really cool addition. Any one that at least are familiar with the memes can pick apart which parts have a nod to Ace Attorney.

That being said, every case doesn't really feel like a challenge per say. You won't fail the whole episode if you commit mistakes on the trials. The game is more about the journey than really create a challenge for us and I can see it as something good. Maybe some of you will hate it, but I was fine with how it was.

I wanna see which direction Mihoyo will take it story-wise (I’m actually really curious) since they're doing a such good job with Genshin's and Hokai's story. They both have really well tied up stories, with a dark twist and full of symbologies that gives clues to a bigger picture.

It feels like the cases of every episode for the main story are key for the major plot BUT not quite what the major plot is going to be, there’s for sure something bigger going on and I’m very interested to know what exactly it is.

Overall my experience with this game was really good.

I loved Artem and Marius, I’m totally taken by their personalities and by how handsome they are kkkkkk Luke is also super cute and handsome, he was a very pleasant surprise. Vyn is an interesting character, very morally grey and kinda shady but really trustworthy too kkkkkk which was a fun mix - but I would say he’s my less favorite.

I wasn’t expecting enjoy the story so much, but I did. I wasn’t expecting just how cute and charming the male leads are, Marius and Luke in special really surprised me and hooked me in. I was pretty sold on Artem alone, but now I’m there for them all. I wanna learn more about them and play more with their stories in the future.

#Tears of Themis #personal

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cheri-translates · 3 years

Note

Hello! Just wanted to say thank you for all the translation of MLQC content (especially Gavin). I fell into a deep hole of MLQC by binging your translation. Just wondering what’s your perspective or analysis on the dynamic/relationship between S2 Gavin and mc. Are they friends just working together but obviously there’s something between them? Since S2 where they’re more mature and on the same wavelength

Hello Anon~ May you enjoy your stay in the deep and cosy hole of MLQC ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ

🍒 S2 spoilers under the cut 🍒

Short answer: As of Ch 17, I’d describe their relationship as old friends who have complete trust in each other, and will protect each other with their lives. Also, Gavin has a crush on her.

Long answer:

1. Old Friends and Gavin’s crush

It’s strongly hinted that Gavin has feelings for MC, both as a teenager and as an adult!

While MC gets flustered by him (e.g. shooting game in Ch 9) and cares deeply for him, I’d say that the crush is more one-sided on Gavin’s part.

Papergames wouldn’t want to step on any toes by making it seem as though MC is inclined towards a particular love interest unless it’s in a split chapter or a date!

In Throbbing Date, baby Gavin secretly bought her strawberry milk and said he'd protect her 🥺 THIS BOY DEFINITELY HAD A CRUSH AS A TEENAGER.

Despite how the writers tried to mislead us multiple times from the karmas that adult Gavin and MC are adversaries given their respective organisations, it’s crystal clear that Gavin doesn’t view her as one. Amongst other things, he:

gave her a ginkgo bracelet in Ch 1

was open to letting her listen in on his call in Ch 2

asked her for assistance in an interrogation in Ch 9

said he’d always protect her in Ch 9

unconsciously drifted to her house at one of his lowest points in Ch 11

gave MC his oxygen concentrator in Ch 16

was only vulnerable around her in Ch 16

The question here is whether he’s treating her simply an old friend or if he likes her romantically.

I’ve done an analysis on their early dynamics here which describes how Gavin has a soft spot for MC even when he appears guarded. When we see their banter in [R&S - Reunited Yesterday], he seems to treat her more like an old friend.

But we later on, it’s evident that Gavin’s feelings do extend beyond mere friendship.

In Chapter 2, Gavin prohibited Tang Chao from making physical contact with MC.

In STF Filming Project, Gavin was visibly jealous when MC mentioned “a very kind person” i.e. S1 Gavin.

In Chapter 9, Gavin went into blush mode just because they shared his jacket underneath the rain.

In Chapter 11, MC asked why Gavin chose her to work with him in such a dangerous operation. Gavin hinted that it was because the people keeping an eye on him knew how important she is to him:

Gavin: Cough. Under these circumstances, the person I’d want to involve least in this matter… Without a doubt, that person would definitely be you.

2. Complete trust in each other

Gavin’s trust in MC can be seen in most of the bullet points stated above.

As for MC’s trust in Gavin, she:

was relieved that Gavin was handling the investigation of Kiro’s incident in Ch 2

was not fearful at all when they were surrounded by flames in Ch 2

expressed how much she trusted him in the rain in Ch 11

let herself fall off a rooftop, knowing he’d catch her in time at the end of Ch 11

3. They protect each other

There are so many instances of them protecting each other in Season 2!

Notable Instance 1: Throbbing Date

I let out a faint sigh, slanting my umbrella towards the kitten next to me.

And then:

A shadow suddenly cloaks me from above. When I lift my head in shock, a large and warm school jacket covers me, including my head.

This scene is especially significant if we contrast this with the way they met in S1. Back then, MC covered the kitten with a handkerchief.

Just as an umbrella is more durable than a handkerchief, MC is more courageous in S2 as compared to S1. Even so, Gavin still steps in anyway, protecting her with whatever he has to offer.

Notable Instance 2: Chapter 9

But the jacket doesn’t seem to be large enough, and isn’t sufficient for two people to walk while standing side by side. After a moment of thinking, I stagger slightly, standing in front of Gavin.

Here, Gavin’s jacket isn’t enough to cover the both of them.

Symbolically speaking, Gavin’s methods of protecting MC aren’t always enough for the both of them. In S1, he lost control of his Evol and he had no choice but to leave her side for a period of time.

While S2 Gavin cleared MC’s name from false allegations multiple times, he didn’t even know that MC was involved in the Hunter Game till in later chapters.

So what does MC do? She stands in front of him, which is a protective stance. She works on being stronger herself, and strong enough to protect him.

As we see in later instances, they do protect each other.

Notable Instance 3: Chapter 9

Gavin: When it rains, you should keep the umbrella for yourself.

Here, Gavin is discouraging MC from getting involved in dangerous situations. As far as possible, she should protect herself first. Let’s compare this with Chapter 11.

Notable Instance 4: Chapter 11

I walk over slowly, lifting the transparent umbrella over our heads. Rainwater patters against the surface of the umbrella, becoming the only sound in this silence.

And later on:

Gavin takes the umbrella in my hand, his eyes carrying with them resoluteness and certainty.

Gavin’s a Commander who has been through field training under intense conditions. He doesn’t need an umbrella. Furthermore, the rain had already drenched him to the bone.

In such a sorry state, there was absolutely no need for him to accept MC’s umbrella. Yet, he did.

Symbolically speaking, the acceptance of MC’s umbrella represents his acceptance of her protection. This was likely the moment when he decided to involve her in his investigations of the New Years Eve Incident.

The remaining two notable instances are self-explanatory:

Notable Instance 5: Shooting Stars Date

Gavin: Don’t worry. Since I agreed to let you come along, I have sufficient certainty that I can protect you. You won’t face any accidents.

MC: ...

Before I can say anything, the controlled “meteorites” plummet straight to the ground. I seem to hear the piercing sounds caused by the intense friction.

Gavin: Give me your hand.

Gavin offers me his hand. I stare into the depths of his eyes, neither anxiousness nor worry in my heart. There’s a courage from simply standing beside him.

MC: Okay. In that case, I’ll bind my safety to Captain Gavin. I won’t let you come to any harm either.

Notable Instance 6: The oxygen incident in Chapter 16

Just before the final wisp of oxygen leaves my chest, I halt my breathing, feeling for the portable oxygen concentrator I carried along with me.

…at the very least, Gavin has to leave this place safely.

In the dark waters, I try my best to feel for the corners of Gavin’s mouth, stuffing the portable oxygen concentrator into it.

All of a sudden, I feel the corners of my mouth being pried open by something icy cold.

MC: Mmph?!

I take a breath instinctively, but don’t get choked.

When I open my eyes, Gavin’s frantic expression crashes into my line of sight. The tips of his fingers press against my lips, and he seems to be confirming if I’m biting on the object in my mouth properly.

In the dim light, I see that the portable oxygen concentrators in our hands are on each others’ mouths.

#teatime with cheri

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wedreamedlove · 3 years

Photo

Xu Mo vs. Mo Yi [Character Study]

I can never get over the aesthetic of these two pictures placed side by side LOL. But, anyway, the point of this post is to nip any undue comparisons in the bud and claims of copying organize my thoughts and compare these two characters to highlight their similarities, differences, and further explore each character through these contrasts.

Q) If you like Xu Mo, would you like Mo Yi?

Honestly, I think this depends on what you like most about Xu Mo. I already knew beforehand that I gravitate towards characters who think 5 steps ahead, are predominantly logical, and scholars/gentlemen, so it’s not surprising I bias both Xu Mo and Mo Yi.

However, as I got to know Mo Yi further (Themis is around 6 months old now), I find that he’s distinctively different from Xu Mo on three crucial points that’ll determine whether people from either camp will like the other character.

1) Stance on Others

In a post for Xu Mo, “Into Your World”, I argued that Xu Mo is an alienated genius who had troubles getting along with others, until he mastered the social game as an adult. However, you can still see glimpses of this as he tries to understand MC’s world and shares his own.

To be fair, Mo Yi’s past is still under wraps but I feel confident in saying that, while he was probably highly intelligent compared to his peers [SR Sculpted Heart], his isolation doesn’t seem to come from his innate nature but rather his social position (there’s heavy implications that he’s like some sort of noble or something) [SR Snowy Pine Fairytale].

IMO, these backgrounds really shaped the way these two men interact with the world.

Xu Mo has a detached and indifferent view towards other people. They simply exist and don’t bring anything positive or negative to him. His ambition to ensure the survival of humanity reflects this too because it’s pure utilitarianism; everyone (apart from MC) can be sacrificed equally for the greater good. If anything, he probably finds other people to be interesting subjects to study, no matter what kind of person they are. IIRC the only time he expressed dislike to people, or a group of people, was when he told Hades he enjoyed killing thieves LOL.

Meanwhile, Mo Yi has an elitist streak to the point where he and his MC actually clashed opinions and debated each other [SR Warm Fingertips]. It’s incredibly ironic because he’s a psychiatrist who treats his patients without judgment, but at the same time he looks down on so many things and people (PUAs, people who betray love, hypocrites who only seek power and fame) [Ch2; Personal Story Ch1-3; SSR Moonlit Ball].

One of the things I noticed early on is that Xu Mo draws from the Eastern scholar archetype, “Xu Mo Character Study”, while Mo Yi actually draws more from the Western gentleman archetype.

So, just to summarize this section, Xu Mo is detached from the world naturally and likes to observe people and try to blend in. Mo Yi deliberately draws a line between him and others and, at times, has the casual cruelty of someone born as nobility (arrogance is carved into his bones, even if he tends to keep it low-key because he generally has a “gentle and polite” attitude).

2) Stance on Love

Xu Mo didn’t understand love, or really even emotions. Love is grown between him and his MC (there’s multiple analogies throughout the game about how their love is like a seed). I think [Ch25] pretty much sums it up for Xu Mo, where he goes through that emotional rollercoaster and muses about how, at the end of human evolution, emotions should be discarded. He also admits that MC taught him the “fear” of a normal person, because now he has someone he cannot give up no matter what, which goes against his previous utilitarian beliefs.

Compared to this, Mo Yi fell in love at first sight. Yes, you read that right. The “scientist and logical” archetype fell in love at first sight LOL. Not only does he acknowledge it right off the bat, but he fully embraces it too and believes that real love makes people better versions of themselves [Personal Story]. Mo Yi is a through and through psychiatrist in that he never underestimates how primal emotions (and love) can be.

Heck, not only is this central to his personal story, but we also have hints that one of Mo Yi’s parents fell in love at first sight with the other person (and he inherited their predisposition for that). Unfortunately, their love had a tragic end and Mo Yi seems to have a huge grudge against his father for whatever happened to his mother (again, Mihoyo is keeping this a mystery LOL), but Mo Yi explicitly confirms that even if his love leads to a tragic end he will still walk down this road and attempt to change it [SR Cool Summer].

IMO one other difference between them re: love is this exchange that lives rent free in my head which I saw in a Xu Mo/Reader/Mo Yi fanfiction LOL. Bear with me here.

Mo Yi: Wearing a mask for a long time will tire you.

Xu Mo: It’s enough just to wear one in front of the necessary person.

Xu Mo and his MC make great efforts to understand each other’s worlds, but this understanding comes from the doors he chooses to open to her. He reveals himself as much as possible, but I think he’s an inherently private person (and there’s all that Ares stuff) so there are times where he hides things so that he doesn’t worry his MC. I think this is enough to count as a “mask”. Sometimes he pretends he’s okay when he’s not.

On the other hand, while I think Mo Yi shares the sentiment in not wanting his MC to worry unduly, he tries to reveal himself as much as possible. There’s an amazingly relatable conflict in him here where he wants her to know every side of him, but he’s also terrified of how she’ll react if he shows her his ugliest sides and imperfect sides (he has some sort of phobia or fear about imperfection, but Mihoyo has been keeping mum on the exact details of this so far) [Personal Story; SR Sculpted Heart].

It’s pretty ironic that Mo Yi wants to be perfect, but he realizes that the more perfect he is the more of a sense of distance there’ll be between him and his MC because of the subconscious pressure someone “perfect” brings LOL [SSR Border of Light and Darkness].

3) Stance on Growth

If you haven’t realized that one of Xu Mo’s greatest themes is the phrase “Take your time in growing”, then what have you been reading? Jkjk, but seriously this gets repeated in multiple places, although my brain always goes back to [Blossom Date] for this.

Even if he and his MC start off with fundamental differences (she believes all people have inherent worth and can’t be involuntarily sacrificed), he wants to personally watch the journey of her maturation. He also subtly guides and teaches her. Unfortunately, due to circumstances of the main story, he doesn’t get his wish and she grows up a lot out of his eyes, but their relationship still revolves around him wanting her to have as much time as possible to grow.

He’s, for a lack of better word, extremely gentle about this (setting aside as much of the Ares and story parts as we can, because LovePro’s story is tragedy on tragedy LOL). I think [Autumn Blaze Date] shows a good analogy for this, because he holds the bicycle steady for MC until she can get going on her own, and he also catches her the first time.

Meanwhile, Mo Yi... ha ha ha. I just came out of chapter 3 for his [Personal Story] and let’s just say his philosophy is tough love. It’s ironic because, in many of his other dates, he wrestles with an internal conflict to protect his MC but also to let her experience all sorts of things to both test and temper her.

This is going to touch on the previous topic about love for a moment, but a part of Mo Yi’s love at first sight experience is also “testing” the other person through all sorts of situations and, after seeing all their different sides, he can determine whether his love at first sight is one that’ll last for the rest of his life or if it’s just a fleeting moment of beauty and emotion.

He also extremely respects his MC’s sense of justice and pursuit of the truth in the world, no matter what she encounters, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this is what drew him to her in the first place. But MC’s occupation and beliefs will make her confront a lot of dark and dangerous things and so, whenever possible, Mo Yi lets her confront these in “controlled” situations to train her. If I had to make an analogy, IMO, he’d let his MC ride the bicycle and pick her up only after she falls, or when she’s like 0.1cm away from the ground LOL.

Mo Yi is (perhaps rightfully) called out on this by another character, who believes Mo Yi is too arrogant in believing everything is under his control and he can prevent MC from getting hurt whenever he lets her get into dangerous situations, and I’m interested to see if Mihoyo will let him experience failures with his philosophy so he can grow more, like the things Xu Mo went through re: his personal beliefs [Ch24].

Overall

I don’t know how well I explained myself, especially for people who don’t know anything about Mo Yi, and each section goes back and forth between the two characters LOL so here’s another section that attempts to describe their overall atmosphere.

If, like I said in my Headcanon Notes, Xu Mo makes me immediately think of all the words for soft, gentle, light, still, water, etc etc., then the words I constantly think about for Mo Yi is messily human. He’s like a bundle of contradictions, but coherent because it’s being intentionally done.

Mo Yi doesn’t discriminate against his patients, yet he can be elitist and looks down on others. He wants to let MC have dangerous experiences, but also wants to protect her. He wants to be perfect, but he also wants to reveal himself entirely to his MC because that’s real love.

In contrast, Xu Mo has a very clean and orderly personality LOL. You can draw clear cause and effect lines from his personality to his actions.

So, anyway, these are two interesting characters who start off with similar archetypes as scientific logical men of scholar/gentleman dispositions, but yet they’re also on opposite ends for a lot of things such as their approach to emotions and the world.

Oh wait, lastly, because I don’t have a good place to put this—but I think it’s funny—is that both characters are pretty possessive and greedy, but while Xu Mo does things in a sneaky, cunning and fox-like way Mo Yi gets ridiculously open about his jealousy and it’s hilariously cute but also almost childish? I often forget Mo Yi is older than Xu Mo by a year, because Xu Mo honestly feels a bit more mature than him LOL. If we count them actually aging by when their game came out though, then Mo Yi is 28 and Xu Mo is 29 now.

#mr love queen's choice #tears of themis #mlqc xu mo #mlqc lucien #wdsjb mo yi #love and producer #weiding shijian bu #mlqc #love and produc(ing) meta #tears of meta

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bunny-hoodlum · 3 years

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I want to ask you a bit of every wips you have, but the one that has my whole attention is Better Off!

I reread it (with Territorial) not so long ago on ffnet, so I'd love to have some news about it.

Maybe how you feel about it? How the rewriting is going? Or maybe a few recent lines you wrote?

I take anything you have to share about it.

Though if you don't have anything to say, you can always speak about 21 Days.

No pressure, you decide 😊

Chloe!! 😭🤗💕 Haha, I'm just happy with your continued investment despite my worst writing habits. Thank you for understanding. 🥺 I'm also perfectly happy to touch on both stories!

Ah! One last thing! @dayseternal-blog was my sounding board for both old and new iterations of Better Off, so I owe a lot to her, even though I haven't produced anything from our talks yet. 😓

I can't decide on an excerpt, I was gonna share the last thing I wrote for the Better Off reboot, but it wouldn't fit lol! Man, that file hasn't been touched since 6/20/2020. 😂... 😭

In the original iteration I wanted Hinata to be a cop with Sasuke (stationed at, well, the train station) and Naruto gets arrested by Hinata as a suspected Chikan (train molester) and maaaaaaybe it was misunderstanding? God I forget. I think I wanted him to rly do wrong but like, he's fallen so far that he was bound to do it. But I was really really scared to write that, too. I kept picturing the flak I would've gotten, lmao. But then Hinata was going to strike a deal with him. She would take on all of his lust so he would stop and get better. She has no idea she's been his Muse all along, so it oddly works out?

Anyways, I got cringed out by the old iteration of Better Off because I just felt bleh by Naruto's internal monologue and self-pity and shit. There's ways to do that that's less heavy-handed. Also I just didn't enjoy informing his characterization off of hentai MCs, even though that was the intention. I thought it would be fun, cuz I like playing around with the meta, but that didn't last lol.

So now, in the new version, instead of a cop, Hinata is a guidance counselor at her old private all girls school. And there is this 'club' of enjo kosai (compensated dating aka high school girl prostitution) and 3 of those students are the kohai fangirls from The Last. Instead of Naruto turning into a compulsive fapper and malignant daydreamer (why do I compound these things?), he gets his research by using a call girl agency. The enjo kosai club decides to poach him as a customer and yeah. Probably still creepy, but still better than being a Chikan loser. The premise of Hinata taking on all of Naruto's lust still remains intact, with new nuances of course.

Moving onto 21 Days!

I probably have 78 files for Chapter 22. Some really sparse and some really long. It's cuz I think I wrote the opening scene 5 or so different ways and each time spawned a new copied file full of fresh edits, because I'm inflexible af.

When I posted Ch 21, I had originally envisioned Naruto sharing stories from Uzushio through his Kaohon/FB page, and I had this beautiful image of Naruto scrolling all the way down to the first post of his first day in Uzushio (filmed by his mother) and how starkly miserable he looks and Hinata visually seeing the extent. And then Naruto forgetting that the video was like that and being embarrassed. (He thought it was just a tour of the Market.) But it ended up being boring to write? And like, repetitive because they already hashed that stuff out and Hinata had her epiphany. I wasn't sure if I should keep beating a dead horse or figure something new out, but I'm mentally still held back by that scene.

I also had 2 other backstory scenes written, but it felt like I was stuck in the despair/pining tone of the last 21 chapters, so I haven't committed those. But the really, really long backstory scene has interesting details I wish I could still incorporate.

Also the meat of the chapter where Naruto is at Sasuke's hotel room party, I've been struggling to plot it out in an interesting way. I have multiple outlines and ideas and junk, but it just hasn't been coming together.

I want the party chapter to evolve relationships and progress the plot and everything, but it keeps feeling awkward to write. Like, Team 7 trying to work in some new 'therapy' schemes for Hinata. For starters, I kinda fucked up Exposure Therapy? It's mostly talk therapy. The physical exposure stuff is after talks. I'm so distracted by my mistakes I can't proceed! I just don't believe in the way I wrote that scene where Sakura was trying to psychology profile Hinata. It's both exactly the way I wanted it to be and completely silly in hindsight. It just sounds like my author voice was coming out of Sakura's mouth, now I can't believe in any of their schemes from here on forth.

So that's what I've been struggling with! I've been hoping with every effort that I'd figure it out, and I'm still hoping lol!

Thank you for the ask, @chloelapomme 💕💕💕

#answered #wip tag game

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