#mir's musings 💬

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HELLO?? WHY IS NOBODY TALKING ABOUT THIS?!!

#idk what it is but when I tell you I RAN #also if there isn’t a chapter where we can romance Gaius I’m gonna riot #Lewyn and Olivia I’m coming for you #playchoices #mir's musings 💬 #olivia nevrakis #lewyn junius #radiance choices #ash empress #the royal romance #blades of light and shadow II #the cursed heart #immortal desires #lewyn x mc #villainous valentine #radiance x mc

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Parents

or

Parents

aka

@tiredguyswag btw this is gonna be one of my saved text posts now

#ik our dad didn't do anything wrong but shush #romance club #heaven’s secret #heaven's secret 2 #mr walker #rebecca walker #rc winchesto #rc mammon #rc eliza #mir's musings 💬

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No series is ever going to live up to Blades or It Lives for that matter but seeing the Choices Fandom Renaissance was incredibly wholesome y'all are amazing <3

#playchoices #mir's musings 💬 #choicesfandomappreciation #choices book club #blades of light and shadow #blades of light and shadow II #it lives series

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I'm so glad people gave S5 a chance again because IT WAS SO GOOD OMG I FELT THE SAME FEELINGS I FELT AFTER S2 & S3 AAAAAAAAAAH

One of my favorite parallels was between Viren and Callum with the fever dream from earlier in the show (and the scenes where they were trying to learn more about Aaravos and the librarian shushed them AND-) where Viren was resisting dark magic while Callum is just getting started omg and Karim trying to fulfill his goals with a mythical-esqe sidekick?! SHUT UP

And Janaya my beloved. Fun Fact, they're actually my parents!!

#i can't think i binged the whole thing over night #mir's musings 💬 #the dragon prince #tdp callum #tdp karim #tdp aaravos #tdp kim'dael #janaya #lord viren #tdp janai #general amaya #tdp spoilers

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Okay, I caved and downloaded Romance Club😭😭 Does anyone have any good story recommendations? I'm still gonna be on Choices and post Choices content (and finish off the books on my reading list). I just feel like I need to stop relying on one storytelling app

Ugh, this is such a weird feeling! It reminds me of when I switched from Episode to Choices and I had to acclimate to the better quality of stories imao. I just wanna ✨expose myself✨ to more interactive apps and since Storyscape or wtvr doesn't exist anymore this is the closest I can get

Kali: Flame of Samsara (UP TO DATE)

Astrea's Broken Heart (UP TO DATE)

Heaven's Secret: Requiem (UP TO DATE)

Chasing You 2 (UP TO DATE)

W: Time Catcher (UP TO DATE)

Love, Sin, and Evil Vol. 1 (UP TO DATE)

The Desert Rose (UP TO DATE)

Garden of Eden (UP TO DATE)

Soulless (UP TO DATE)

Song of the Crimson Nile (CATCH UP NEXT DIAMOND RUSH)

Legend of the Willow (NEXT DIAMOND RUSH)

Heart of Trespia (NEXT DIAMOND RUSH)

Psi (NEXT DIAMOND RUSH)

Chasing You (STARTED...)

Sails in the Fog (STARTED...)

Dracula: A Love Story (STARTED...)

Rage of the Titans (STARTED...)

Hell and Highwater (STARTED...)

Shadows of Saintfour

COMPLETED

Kali: Call of Darkness: 9/10; love the MC, the characters, the story progression, the Dozen lore, replayability, etc. but gets a point off for its problematic depiction of Indian culture and Hinduism) tbh it deserves an extra point or two off because I despise the way Remy clearly wrote from a Eurocentric perspective, but this is also the first RC book I read after the slew of mid Choices books so I got attached unfortunately

Theodora: 9.6/10; I got the ending where I was only able to save my soul and it made me sad 😭 the story was well written but there were parts where I was just a lil bored. At least, that’s how I felt initially before I became obsessed with the book. It's objectively amazing etc. but I feel kinda robbed from screentime with the OG characters if that makes sense? Either way the writer did a great job writing them into the plot in later seasons and the MC is so amazing I love her <3 it’s not easy to write the progression of multiple relationships already but to have a different set of likable LIs every season is incredible!

Arcanum: 9.8/10; THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD omg I love how the plot came full circle and the MC was interesting and well-written (her character design was also top tier). It's such a unique concept for a book I love it. I feel like S3 could have gone by a lil quicker (along with a couple of other nitpicky things) but that could just be because S2 was so full of action

Heaven's Secret: 9.9/10; I just started its sequel, but I was pleasantly surprised at how engaging this book was! I like the gradual progression from being a new student to slowly learning the truth behind your death and about the academy. The final battle scene was super cool, and I feel like everything had a logical explanation (ex. Shepha only having power over light). I also like the different pathways of being an Angel, Demon, or Harmony Bearer (which I was!) it was really fun and seems like a replayable book <3

Vying for Versailles: [review pending, check later]

Sins of London: [review pending, check later]

Heaven's Secret 2: [review pending, check later]

#i hope it's not just romance books because that's *not* my favorite genre imao no shade to anyone who does tho #romance club #mir's musings 💬 #kali call of darkness #the desert rose #psi romance club #rc arcanum #rc theodora #kali: flame of samsara #song of the crimson nile #heaven’s secret #legend of the willow #dracula: a love story #vying for versailles #chasing you #sails in the fog #shadows of saintfour #sins of london #w: time catcher #rage of the titans #heart of trespia #hell and high water #mir falls in love <3 #love sin & evil #rc soulless #heaven's secret requiem #astrea's broken heart #rc garden of eden

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Me 24/7

#it’s the eyeroll for me she knew she ate #romance club #kali: flame of samsara #vidya basu #mir's musings 💬

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PB is so funny </3 because what do you mean you have the angstiest most deliciously intense plot for RoD 2, and you just...didn't pursue it? Huh? It's not like Platinum (RIP bestie you deserve so much more) where they had to make the music so what's stopping them 😭 we were robbed

#ig budget constraints but where's the smut book money going then?? #playchoices #ride or die #mir's musings 💬 #platinum #logan ride or die #colt kaneko #mona ride or die

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I don’t know how to explain it but he looks like what Geronimo Stilton would look like if he was human

#playchoices #mir's musings 💬 #vasili thorne #crimes of passion 2 #geronimo stilton #choices book club

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So this is mostly a Choices blog but some of you know that I've recently started playing Romance Club as well because 1) there are some really good books on RC, 2) the art, and 3) to compare both apps. I could probably make this a series(?) to compare and contrast the two but here's one of the main things I've noticed playing both apps:

The Difference in Pacing

Background: The clear reason for this is because of how the books are set up. On Choices, each completed book is approx. 16 chapters (like a movie) while on RC, the book is typically 3 seasons with around 10-12 episodes (like a tv show). So a book like Open Heart, for instance, would be 3 seasons under one title instead of 3 separate books since they occur within a close period. This is different from a series like Heaven's Secret, which has two separate books that span ten years apart.

I bring this up because I assume this difference explains why the pacing in both apps is so different. I can use Blades II, Kindred, Theodora, and DALS as an example.

I've brought this up already, but one of my biggest gripes with Blades II was the very odd pacing. The beginning of the book (in my opinion) took longer than necessary to start the plot and there was a little too much filler with less time to focus on new lore the themes ate tho and I'm grateful we got another book.

Kindred has a similar issue. The concept of a witch book was cool and they had a good plot, but 16 chapters weren't enough to explore everything they wanted to with the book. The ending was rushed and it felt way too easy to defeat the Wraith King. Do I still love this book? Yes. Do I think the authors did well with the amount of time they were given? Also yes. But the rushed plot does make it hard to recommend it since PB is capable of handling a lot of plot (RE: Blades I).

On the other hand, Theodora has 3 seasons and the whole immortality arc (the premise of the book) wasn't explained until near the end of S2. We had an entire season to explore the character and at least half of a second season to explore her life after she realized she was immortal but without knowing why (human -> immortal -> realizing how she became immortal and starts controlling her power). As a result, it becomes easier to get attached to her since we spent more time getting to know her still one of my favorite MCs.

Dracula: A Love Story still can't believe it has 4 seasons spent an entire season before revealing Vlad's identity even though it's in the title. In comparison, PB would have done three chapters of leaving MC in the dark before revealing who Vlad is with the rest of the book being allotted to helping him. I get that we needed to see all the visions and stuff but personally, I feel like I was more invested in Lale and would have read an entire book about her, Aslan, and Vlad. I swear I don't hate DALS please don't be offended lol.

Am I saying I prefer RC to Choices? Not necessarily, I have problems with RC too mostly regarding representation, and I also know it wouldn't be fair to compare the apps since they are set up differently. I just thought this was something interesting to point out.

#mir's musings 💬 #playchoices #romance club #choices vs romance club #open heart #heaven’s secret #rc theodora #dracula: a love story #blades of light and shadow II #kindred #blades of light and shadow

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What are your thoughts on Mal's route in Blades 2?

OOOH this is such an interesting question! Tbh I'll probably have a different answer by the end of the book but in short, I think that the idea was interesting but the execution was flawed. I feel like that could be said about most of the love interests but it's very prominent with Mal.

First, taking this route with Mal isn't out of the question. I always saw it like this: the other LIs have one barrier (getting them to open up to us). However, Mal had the additional barrier of having a ~facade~ hiding his vulnerability. It's one of the reasons the finale of his route in B1 was so satisfying. Simply put, it would be harder to reach his true self because it becomes a two-step process rather than a one-step process. I'm not trying to reduce people's complicated natures to numerical values, it's just a metric I'm using to explain my thought process.

I bring this up because MC's disappearance reinforces Mal's belief that prevents him from getting too close to anyone. That wall that he's built around his heart that has slowly fallen? It's back up now and even stronger. If MC of all people, the Savior of Morella, left him, who's to say they won't leave again even if they've returned? Case in point, I'm not super upset if they did this for the sake of the plot, but they didn't give this part of the story enough weight, which makes it harder to take seriously. This leads to my biggest problem with Blades II so far: its pacing issue.

Personally, they didn't balance the ratio of plot to emotional development as well as in the first book, which had a clear goal in each chapter that drove the plot forward and gradually expanded on the relationships between characters without the paywall. From a reader standpoint, it feels like they had too much and not enough story for a second book, if that makes sense. This makes B2 feel almost stagnant. In fact, it feels like there is a ratio of filler episodes with a plot-heavy episode every few chapters which is kind of frustrating?? I do want to emphasize that I am grateful for Blades coming back and I don't wanna seem like someone who is complaining for no reason a new book is better than nothing in this case but I wanted to bring it up because it's clearly affecting the LI routes. They weren't given enough time to emotionally process what happened, nor did they address how that negatively impacted them, they just ignore it.

Basically what I'm saying is it would have been different if Mal was apathetic and it was addressed in the story in a way that doesn't feel like a casual side effect. Personally, if I was him, I would be too worried to have MC out of my sight lol.

Idk if that was phrased well but yea <3 I'll make a post about my final thoughts on Blades II so consider this post a preview to that.

#feel free to add your own thoughts anon! #asks #mir's musings 💬 #playchoices #blades of light and shadow II #mal volari #mal volari x mc #choices book club

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At the behest of the honorable Head of the 'Make Radha Basu an LI' movement and club, @agattthaa, I offer thee one of my humble Radha x Devi drabbles, ahem:

"You look nice," Devi said with a smirk. Radha's lips curled into a faint smile despite her best efforts to remain passive. Don't smile! You're mad at her! "Did I not look nice before?" "I never said that." Radha scoffed, tucking a few loose strands of hair behind her ear. Devi frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. She looked both ways, making sure the room was clear before hugging Radha from behind, Devi's arms loosely wrapped around the Basu heiress's waist. She buried her head into the crook of Radha's neck, taking pleasure in her warmth after spending the cold morning riding Deimos. "I know what happened today." Devi stilled, Radha waited to see if she would say anything in her defense before continuing. "How long did you think you could hide this from me?" Devi sighed, moving away from Radha. "It was an accident, the doctor said it would heal fine!" "What if it wasn't! What if something happened to you that wouldn't heal so quickly? You can't keep recklessly endangering yourself!" Radha exclaimed, placing a hand over her forehead. Devi's eyes widened and she took Radha's hands and placed them in hers. "Is there something else bothering you, my darling?"

#this is just one (of many) drafts so it's not super polished or anything 😔 I wrote this when I was sad at 3 am #oh and to the anon who requested a Saraswati fic I def could! I wanna find an interesting prompt first tho #romance club #kali: flame of samsara #deviya sharma #radha basu #devi x radha #mir's musings 💬

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Ok so I've mentioned this a bunch of times on my blog by now but I've been trying to speedrun all of the Choices books and I'm so glad I am because there are some underrated gems out there! I'm almost done with TC&TF Book 1 and that book had a ton of love interests so I was inspired to make a top ten list to organize my thoughts. This post will be under development as I play more books or change my mind lol

Top Ten Books/Series

Bloodbound Series - This book is literally one of the best series PB has ever put out. To be fair, it should be under Blades and TC&TF, I would argue that these three books deserve top place. But it would be harder to combine my Bloodbound explanation with the other two fantasy books so here you go. Contrary to most, I did like the first book, wasn't my favorite, but it was a good intro to the series. I like that the world slowly grew as we learned more about vampires and it felt complete and like it had something to say. Thank @gaiuskamilah for my further obsession with the series lol

Blades of Light and Shadow Book 1/The Crown and the Flame Book 1 - I couldn't choose but they're both AMAZING BOOKS ugh I can't say enough good things about them. The choices actually matter and the plot was so good. Every chapter had a purpose and the conclusion felt so satisfying. The scoring system and skills for both books was super cool, we need more books like them <33

Crimes of Passion Series - Definitely a Top Tier MC!!! I liked the mystery (Book 2's reveal wasn't great but the chaotic Thorne siblings make up for it) and Trystan is the best single LI we've had in a while, their dynamic with Rose was *chef's kiss*

Perfect Match Series - I LOVED this series and our friend group/love interests so much. They all felt like unique people with their own experiences and the plot was so amazingly intense. The finale of Book 1 was UNMATCHED we won't ever live to experience something that iconic ever again smh. It took a while for the plot to kick in, which is why it's lower on the list

The Elementalists - I'm a sucker for elemental magic systems/magic schools, and I love our friend group/family so much. Atlas is the coolest twin, and the whole sun/moon dynamic was fun! Being a powerful Sun-Att boosted my ego astronomically. I wish we got another book to see our mom more though

It Lives in the Woods - I like that the premise was relatively simple, along with the game mechanics. Your actions had real consequences and it was more immersive. The flash-forward in the last chapter was super sweet too and I like that the anthology was interconnected. This series also gave us an amazing friend group and set of LIs so I'm thankful <3

Open Heart Book 1 - Simply iconic, grounded in reality, and actually put together imao. It was one of the peaks of our fandom. This book is super nostalgic for me because I'm interested in the medical field, and it's the whole reason I'm posting Choices content here in the first place

Ride or Die - I adore this book. It felt complete on its own EVEN IF IT DESERVED A SEQUEL *side-eyeing PB* and it's a great coming-of-age story with a realistic teen MC. The ending was bittersweet and you felt changed by the experience playing the book

Nightbound - I liked the vibes and the idea more than the execution if that makes sense? I love the idea of Lamrian and how the MC is half-fae and super powerful, but the book didn't have enough time to showcase the supernatural world compared to Bloodbound, which focused on vampire lore. I can probably make a whole separate post on this but yea

The Royal Romance/The Royal Heir - I think, again, I like the vibes of the series more than the flawed execution, but because it went on for so long I kinda of got attached to the characters (mind you I didn't play or finish any of the books) but it's super fluffy and sweet and iconic for Choices history so here <3 a lot of the books like ROE, TRM, and TC&TF are interconnected so it's part of the foundation for the PB Choices Multiverse :) to be fair, it looks like they did a somewhat decent job writing the conflicts for each book?

I have a feeling when I finish Endless Summer, this list is gonna change...

EDIT: I totally forgot about The Heist: Monaco, but it was amazing! TRR/TH should be bumped down to honorable mention, I'll change it at some point-

Honorable Mentions

A Courtesan of Rome - The book took awhile for me to get through but my MC is legendary and carried the book so it's up here lol. I also liked that it felt like a historically accurate book?

Platinum - Cool commentary on the darker sides of fame and the music >>>

Veil of Secrets - The plot was interesting, one of my fave mystery books they've written! Also the characters >>>

Mother of the Year - Wholesome and felt finished, def one of the best single books. Also the antagonists were properly despicable so...good writing

Wake the Dead - It wasn't perfect, but I love zombie apocalypse stories and the idea of rebuilding our camp was so cool so idc how flawed it is <3

Foreign Affairs - The ending was rushed and the premise should have been rewritten but more on that on a later date. It was still fun for me to play

Desire and Decorum - I finished book 1 and I really liked it! it's basically the Choices version of Bridgerton, not historically accurate but super entertaining. The vibes and the LIs were amazing

Kindred - Pacing issues but still entertaining, I love the witch lore that they had in the book and the focus on building both platonic and romantic relationships so I'm not complaining

Top Ten Love Interests In No Particular Order

Trystan Thorne

Bryce Lahela

Kamilah Sayeed

Damien Nazario

Kaine Bell

Raleigh Carrera

Aerin Valleros

Jax Matsuo

Colt Kaneko

F!Hayden Young

Honorable Mentions (Again, No Particular Order)

Drake Walker (listen LISTEN I don't like that he sidelined other LIs, and I absolutely HATE how his character was a total contradiction, it was executed poorly, but I like the idea of his route if that makes sense. Some of the banter was cute and I love the whole grumpy x sunshine trope. I'm pretty sure he took a bullet for me lol)

Raydan Lykel (Solely because I haven't finished the series yet)

Mal Volari (He would have been in Top Ten but I had to bump him down because his Book 2 Route isn't working)

Tyril Starfury

Nia Ellarious

Prince Hamid

Tatum Mendoza

All of the Nightbound Love Interests are amazing I just couldn't fit them on the list

Gaius Augustine

Alana Kusuma

Rainier (Kindred)

Thomas Mendez

Flynn O'Malley

Olivia Nevrakis (she had so much potential omg)

Robin Flores and Sofia Russo (in my world, they're LIs just shush)

#playchoices #mir's musings 💬 #bloodbound #blades of light and shadow #the crown and the flame #crimes of passion #perfect match #the elementalists #it lives in the woods #open heart #ride or die #nightbound #the royal romance #a courtesan of rome #platinum #veil of secrets #mother of the year #foreign affairs #kindred #trystan thorne #bryce lahela #kamilah sayeed #damien nazario #kaine bell #raleigh carrera #aerin valleros #jax matsuo #colt kaneko #olivia nevrakis #gaius augustine

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I remember seeing a Choices confession that was talking about Maxwell being an LI. And personally, it makes the whole “Olivia not being an LI” situation much more of a wasted opportunity.

It’s pretty obvious but in books with 4 love interests, there’s usually two male and two female love interests. There’s the brooding guy, the charismatic/fun guy, the rebel girl, and the nice girl. One of the books that come off the top of my head is Blades with Tyril, Mal, Imtura, and Nia.

If they followed a similar structure in TRR/TRH, then they could have had a brooding Drake, the more outgoing Liam, the kindhearted Hana, and a rebellious Olivia. Idk it would have been more balanced and she’s genuinely one of the most interesting characters esp with her family’s bad rep following her around. They could even have Maxwell be another LI, they just would have had to make more room for him. And since TRR/TRH seem to have more episodes and was one of their most popular series, I don’t think it could have been that big of an issue?

I love Maxwell, he’s an absolute sweetheart (I’m ignoring the whole book profiting thing that was so weird to me). I’m happy he’s an LI even when he was written to be a younger bro/platonic friend at first, but I feel like the execution could have been more effective

#playchoices #mir's musings 💬 #the royal romance #the royal heir #drake walker #liam rys #hana lee #olivia nevrakis #maxwell beaumont

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Me and the girls having a deep conversation about the troubles plaguing society

#mir's musings 💬

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Character bingo for raj doobay !

YOU DARE MENTION THAT WEASEL IN THIS HOUSEHOLD?!

No I will not elaborate

#all my moots hate Raj Doobay<3 #he's a groomer and he ruined Radha’s life I hate him!! #asks #romance club #kali: flame of samsara #raj doobay #character opinion bingo 🧍‍♀️ #mir's musings 💬

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Imao I guess I have a thing for awkward princes who don’t know how to react to hugs who would’ve thought 🤷‍♀️💃🏽

#crossover ship anyone?? #playchoices #choices book club #blades of light and shadow II #crimes of passion 2 #mir's musings 💬 #aerin valleros #sebastyan thorne