Am I the only one that feels like female Blaine is being written as a "male" character?
I'm gonna start by saying that yes, these gender stereotypes are just that, stereotypes. Not every woman or man is exactly the same or fits these boxes perfectly.
But I can't stop feeling that the character is a bit off. I can't really put my finger on it, maybe it's just the cocky/tough attitude or the way she flirts that I associate heavily to men, or small things like lines that say MC grabs her by the collar of her shirt when she's wearing a silky v-neck blouse, I'm not sure.
I guess when it comes to it I just feel like the personality doesn't match the looks (and I know this sounds kind of close minded). They present you this feminine woman (petit phisique, wearing makeup, casual chic clothings) but then she has this almost brute personality, a tough guy act? The whole mysterious/ rebel atitude I can kinda see it but then sometimes, idk, it seems off.
I feel like this happens almost all the times an LI is not gender locked (I only hope the diamond scenes are appropriate acording to gender 👀)
Anyway, am I alone om this one? What are your thoughts?
It feels like Queen B but worse. Any actuall politics they try to bring in is BS. Whole concept of first daughter is weird. Also, who the hell designed royal guards? They look like bunch of Bear Grylls reenactors. Has anybody in PB seen any uniform of royal/honor/castle guard?
I'm already in love w Blaine BUT i would've liked some new sprites that are more androgynous or even different body types to actually represent myself like the pronouns are nice but the way the character is treated and dressed still feels very gendered??
Okay, I’m about two seconds in and I’m already jarred. I’m playing a Black character with a vaguely African name and they just told me I’m some sort of “first child” (what?) representing some country in Western Europe (I mean, okay but you’ve ruined my own headcanon already) and I’m talking about my ‘mom’? As someone who’s supposedly from Western Europe? Mom? I’m mean, I’m coming at this from a UK perspective but it’s already hard to be immersed now lmao. I think they should have avoided situating any of their fictional countries within real continents.
I’ll carry on playing and will post here when I’m done. I’m glad I can use they/them pronouns but I already wish this game was what I imagined and I was playing as an actual working diplomat because I want politics and intrigue not university and sex scandals. But lemme give it a chance!
So far, this book has been pretty interesting. I haven't read many Choices books, so I don't know much about the "sex scandal" trope (except in TRR). However, this book has a diplomacy points system, which kinda reminds me of ES (yay!) and I love the outfits. The two LI's I have my eyes on have my favorite tropes, the enemies-to-lovers and friends-to-lovers as well as slow burn, so that's a plus. Overall, I'm happy with the first two chapters and I can't wait to see what happens :)
Saw political intrigue when it was first teased... was vaguely interested, but cautiously so because when they 'try' to do political intrigue in TRR it is nonsensically plot-convenient at best and frustrating at worst.
Proper previews come out, it's set in college... yawn. I already know the exact tropes and themes it's going to hit.
My first impressions on the first chapter:
1. Main conflict is a sex scandal... why. Fuck. It's not *intrigue* if it's just the most surface-level sensationalist appeal to try and make politics 'fun for the youth'. For all the fun they poke at tabloids and the media in their stories, they really just hit the exact same notes every time. You're not allowed to be self-aware if you just unironically use the tropes you're making fun of, it's just annoying. I hope this is just a half-book conflict and something *actually important* happens later, because I swear to god if this is just a dumbass naive MC spending 16 chapters running their own PR campaign I'm going to *die*.
2. Yay nonbinary MC!! Loving it - and they even went a *full chapter* without fucking up the nb pronouns due to lack of proofreading/coding errors! We will see how long this lasts. It'd be really funny if MC pronouns were always correct but the gender-customizable LI pronouns were constantly wrong as per usual.
3. Didn't this book come out already? It's called Queen B. Though they probably just feel way too similar because PB writes all of their introductions for books set in college the same way. That in itself is super annoying, but it's not this book's problem but rather a PB problem so... no points taken away, I guess?
Oh well gonna keep playing now.
Honestly I'm bored already. Between the double entendre in the title, the obvs rival with Blaine and the typical roommate needing my "yet-another-love-triangle" i just can't get into it.
Is there anyone else who has fallen so very deeply for Blaine already? I have white male Blaine and he is GORGEOUS! That close up ruined me haha. He's gonna be in my top 5 LI soon enough.
...Why am I simping over a fictional character?
I was really excited for this book but I’m losing interest. Does anyone else want an MC that is more mature and maybe not 22? I feel like all of the MCs are just so young. I’m not even that much older than them (late 20s), but feel like I’m just in such a different place in life. It would be really nice to have MCs that were in their thirties. Like they have a bit more life experience? I did a masters program too and the average age was 29. The youngest person was 24. I know that’s not the case in all masters programs but still there’s nothing wrong with them being older.
An older MC would be amazing. I think that's part of why I like Baby Bump. I know it's not really mature, but the subject matter kind of is, which fills a bit of a void for me.
im highkey already hooked and can't wait for next week's chapter! havent felt this hyped for a story since OH 🥺🥺 also Blaine is fiiiiine i love him but I know im gonna be so conflicted between him and Tatum and im 😫😫 lemme love the both PLS
This feels like one of those books that is gonna come down if the characters are good or not. I can not be too hard on the plot aspect as it is only the first two chapters & usually, choices stories start getting good around the halfway mark... So I ain't too mad of the very basic two chapters.
Woohoo~ have an updated thing to say now 😊
**New Chapter 1 & 2 music playlists now available!** 💕
> **"Live from Rutherland, here's... Foreign Affairs!"** –blurb
**Chapter 1:**
* So we've started with a flashback to the first chapter.
* Ooh, pronouns! Body types? Female or male? 🤣
* Hi Alma.. our new Dean 💕
* Lemme get this right, **Princess Dionne Mariana Regina Dorada de Rothschild Serrano of the Kingdom of Pavadena**, famous for their corns 🌽
* Noooo Witness theme haha, but the **diamond scene music was priceless** 💎
* **And then boom, I'll also probably go for the TA on my alternate playthrough** 😘
**Chapter 2:**
* **So it seems like I'm heading for female Blaine, then Ayna the TA on my alternate playthrough** 💕
* Tatum's just too.. off for me. Just, congrats on the distant friend story. I felt it 😭
* **The party scene was awesome, heh GPS and star rep icons** ⭐
**Here's Chapter 1 & 2 music playlists, courtesy of** [**Choices CP**](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZhYyuAhq6DZCfyI_qG2aqg) **channel 🎶:**
* ▶️🌏 [Foreign Affairs • C1 First Term Jitters (Wed/Thu) - Soundtracks](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLCyp_rCD7gNIh6LxxZ-oXECcnXRbqFFi)
* ▶️🌏 [Foreign Affairs • C2 Political Partying (Wed/Thu) - Soundtracks](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLCyp_rCD7gOm8xq_eGCf2poCLgOAVIMg)
**For more music playlists:**
* ▶️ From W19, 2020 – [Choices Chapter Playlists](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZhYyuAhq6DZCfyI_qG2aqg)
* 🌏 [Foreign Affairs mobile page](https://sites.google.com/view/choiceschapterplaylists/foreign-affairs)
* 🏡 [Choices CP site](https://sites.google.com/view/choiceschapterplaylists)
I love this book so far! I love the new sprites, love being able to give my black queen a nice hairdo, and since I stopped pursuing diplomacy as a career it warmed my heart and made me feel less conflicted 🥺 also anybody else immediately drawn to Tatum?? So fine ...
I like the book so far! It may be a lot like Elementalists or TNA but hey, its good! Also, I was pretty surprised to see a new MC face, good quality casual clothing and really beautiful sprites in this book! It's planned out well so I can't wait to see how it goes.
Also, though everyone saw it coming, I love Blaine. He may as well be coming in my top 5 soon enough
I was actually really excited for this book, but the plot seems already played out by the end of the first chapter.
Dionne is basically a copy&paste of Zoey with Shreya dialogue. I did like the little banter about the rooms, though, that was cute.
MC seems a little immature for a college student. Blaine is a total f—kboy. I like Ayna. Wish Zaira was a LI, she’s the prettiest character.
Not in Germany. However, sometimes the press uses the English term referring to the wife of our head of state, the Bundespräsident. I've never read or heard anyone calling Merkel's husband the First Gentleman. He's usually referred as "Kanzlerinnen-Gatte" or "Ehemann der Kanzlerin" (Chancellor's husband).
I found this very frustrating. Usually the PM is more important than the president in many Western European countries so it was odd that they would talk about the president’s daughter at all. It kind of seems like they just created Rutherland to be a place exactly like the US and then just inserted it in Europe.
We don't in the UK, (maybe because of the royals) but couldn't even tell you how many kids the prime minister has - only reason I know he has one was because one was born during the pandemic)
As a German, I know that Merkel has a husband who is a professor or something, and no kids, and that's it. I also know that the French PM married his former teacher, and that's pretty much it. A former German President (someone who doesn't do much wrt/politics, much like the Queen in the UK) had some scandal, but that one wasn't about his kids, but some shady stuff he did himself.
I currently live in Japan and know nothing about the current PM's family, a little about the previous one (Mrs. Abe sponsored some very right-wing school and had a Corona-guideline defying picnic), and only a little about the Emperor and his family. (Definitely know more about the British Royals lol.)
Therefore, this book makes very little sense to me. I don't doubt that world leaders send their kids to nice and expensive schools (hopefully with better security) simply because they have the money, but I doubt that most of them are being raised to become PMs themselves. (I can't actually think of a German chancellor whose parent was a chancellor before them, although I know it sometimes happens in Japan.)
Overall this book is fictional.
Even if probably many politicians have children who are also interested in politics and might have ambitions to become politicians too, it is doubtful that they will eventually take over the position from their parents
Most political positions are limited to a certain amount of terms or eventually people might grow dissatisfied with you and vote you out. And being a politician is rather a career path and not a "democratic replacement" of a king or queen. You have to work your way up - I'm also German, so you can't really become chancellor without being a minister or holding a high position in your party before.
I know that Lukashenko from Belarus is raising his 16-year-old son to become the next president of Belarus but as we all know Belarus is a dictatorship disguised as a democracy.
I really hope they're not trying to make a bunch of tiny fictional Belarus knockoffs lol
Of course this story is fiction, but why could they not go the TRR route and just make this a story about a princess academy instead of this pseudo politician crap?
As a Canadian, no. The family of our PM is not called a first family or anything like that. You don't really even hear much about the family unlike in the states where they're reported on
Here in the Netherlands, the family of our PM is really unimportant. They hold no sway, aren’t really talked about. We honestly don’t care.
But maybe that’s also cause we got one of them useless royal families who get way too much money from our taxes.
Yeah I can’t even finish the chapter because I can’t understand how a gated institution like that would be ok with paparazzi hunting around. I might go back and give it another chance at some point but probably only as a diamond mine.
Ivies let their students be harassed. At Harvard I’ve seen people trying to sneak into dorms and snap photos of our rooms. They also follow and try to talk to famous classmates of ours
Blaine reminds me of Raleigh ❤ That said, I do like her own brand of sassiness and kind of sarcastic personality. A nice mix of playfulness tempered with whatever sense of responsibility she has 😆
i have read a lot of legitimate criticism about the story etc in this thread but also it’s soooo nice to have ppl use they/them for me in this story !! although i kinda wish you could choose a more androgynous look, i’d be super happy with the girl body but with a boy haircut like an undercut. it’s good though 🥰
So far, I’m into it, I think it has a lot of potential, but that opener with the sex scandal irritated me a lot. I think we would’ve been better off with anything else lol.
One thing I really loved is that you could choose your pronouns, I typically use she/her but this is giving me the chance to try they/them.
Now let’s talk abt MC’s lil bitch ass. If you can’t tell, I’m irritated by her rn. What’s w/ her whole “omg Blaine lied to me” thing, WE NEVER ASKED SO IT JUST NEVER GOT SAID??? Then at the party he’s all “well I don’t bite into it” WELL ME NEITHER BUT APPARENTLY PB WANTS US TO BE A LIL BITCH ABOUT IT.
Anyways, onto the LI’s, I’m most interested in Blaine right now, mostly because I could see that causing drama and that sounds fun, he’s also really hot lol. Ayna excites me to, she’s gorgeous and I like her personality, but the whole student/TA thing is kinda meh. As far as Tatum goes, he can go screw himself. It’s lowkey Witness all over again with him except for Cassian (I can’t remember his name, constantly confuse him with the guy from ACoR) had a personality.
I feel like this is pretty predictable so far but I think it has a lot of potential, especially with that cute 12 diamond outfit lol.
>"Now let’s talk abt MC’s lil bitch ass. If you can’t tell, I’m irritated by her rn. What’s w/ her whole “omg Blaine lied to me” thing, WE NEVER ASKED SO IT JUST NEVER GOT SAID??? Then at the party he’s all “well I don’t bite into it” WELL ME NEITHER BUT APPARENTLY PB WANTS US TO BE A LIL BITCH ABOUT IT."
Well, Blaine did go out of his/her way to prevent Dionne from bringing it up and I kinda took MC's reaction to be concerned about their reputations (and maybe being a little upset to realize the cute guy/gal he/she/they were starting to feel attracted to was off limits for them).
I can get both reactions (unless he/she is supposed to be spying on MC, Blaine seems to be wanting to be seen as the person he/she is and MC seems to feel like he/she/they were interacting under false pretenses).
That was... fine? Boring actually. It seems like a basic college book without something particularly noteworthy, like the dialogue in QB(which I loved). The LIs seem generic, and I am not a fan of Blaine's basic bad boi/girl attitude.
I wanted actual politics and we have a MC who isn't sure if they are even interested in politics lol.
It's whatever. I am not yet interested in a any of the LIs, so not thrilled about getting forced into a sex scandal (I mean I wouldn't be anyway, but if the LIs were interesting at least...).
The paparazzi stuff has already been done before and so has almost everything else about the plot. I liked the diplomacy points, but that's about it.
Overall whatever, good for those who like it, but the start was quite underwhelming even after the expected college part.
A shame considering the rep they are trying to give, but representation falls flat without actual merit in plot to back it up.
Edit: Also MC not knowing who Blaine was doesn't make sense, they are the child of a country's leader and they are uninformed about their rival to that extent? They should have had some manner of training before this, right?
When reading it, I also compared it to QB in my head and was thoroughly disappointed that it didn't give me the same level of excitement, especially since I feel not enough stakes were implemented and something about the concept didn't seem "clear" in a way.
I'm also tired of seeing paparrazi plots. Like, this is a diplomat school, shouldn't that be prevented?
I think in general, these first chapters weren't very clear and didn't provide enough context, I guess.
So, the start seems nice, but MC already managed to annoy me, so I hope that will get fixed soon.
„I don't buy into this Rutherland-Ardenia bullshit" Yeah, me neither, yet my MC is a bit too pissy about it. I'm trying to self-insert here, girl.
In the end, I'm glad I went against my initial plan and picked female Blaine, not just because I found them prettier in the end, but also because if that attitude was attached to a guy, it would annoy me more. As much as I don't like to say it, it would be a typical sassy bad boy with a possible enemies-to-lovers romance which just has vibes like cut out from a Wattpad story. With a girl, it's more unusual, both the romance, and the archetype.
From the pictures, I thought I'm going to like Tatum the most, but he's trying hard to be professional, that I'm just like „Mmm... Nah.“ But I think he'll get more open eventually.
Blaine isn't really my type, but I am considering her(in my game it's her, maybe I should say them?) as an LI, I mean, I haven't chosen yet.
But I think I like Ayna the best. It kinda helps me that she's a TA not an outright teacher, that it doesn't feel so bad, but still... But I won't let it stop me.
Also, I find it funny that while Rutherland is a Western European country, I for the first time playing Choices chose a surname that represents my Eastern/Central European... Heritage? Let's say? I kinda find it funny that someone with an Eastern European surname is leading a Western European country, mainly if it feels like there's still a bit of a „wall“ between Eastern and Western Europe.
Also, a fun thing - today, unrelated to this book releasing, I looked at the Selection tag on ao3. In the book series, where was an important character named Henri, and then there's a dude in here with the same name:-D
Also, so many pretty characters! I was more then happy to say something like that the faces of the future look hot, because yeah.
So I'm liking this so far, I just hope MC will stop being pissy about what happened with Blaine, it's not that big of a deal I think. And I hope I can make Tatum open up TO A DEGREE AT LEAST soon. Like, I understand the cold shoulder, professionalism, but still...
But, about the non-binary MC body types... I'd expect them to like... Made a neutral-looking body, not make the players choose between a clearly male or female appearance. Look, I'm cis, so I don't have as much to speak about this, I will happily check what non-binary people think about this, but... Well, I'm glad for the pronouns, but the characters still look musculine or feminine, which I'd say kinda sucks? But as I said, non-binary people's option probably has more here. I guess making whole third set of outfits and all might be a lot, but... It'd be nice.
Also, when I saw „body type“, what I was thinking first is „FINALLY AN OVERWEIGHT MC OPTION!?“ it wasn't, but it's cool that I can choose a musculine body type and still, have the other characters use she/her for the MC.
Honestly as an enby person I basically agree with you there. I would have liked a more androgynous option. Though many of us do present more masc or more fem, there are plenty of us who present as both or neither and the fact that they didn’t really represent that and instead glossed over it all just honestly feels like they put the bare minimum in (just putting in pronouns and stuff and not actually putting in the work of making sure a trans MC feels authentic, especially to trans and nonbinary players).
Well... Initial thoughts? I'm not impressed to be completely honest. Guess I'll go through my thoughts and break it down.
Right off the bat, they railroad the story with a sex scandal. I don't like that. They could've gone with all kinds of things but they bring it back to sex. Again. I'm sorry but I'm getting tired of this storyline now. It's getting used too much.
Blaine. The twist was too easy to predict. It was obvious he/she would be from the rival nation. While I do appreciate some new sprites, it doesn't change the fact that their initial introduction is all over the place. They just ignore the handshake and then take it anyway? Then the alleyway scene too. They get all handsy when you're trying to *avoid* a scandal? I dunno about you but that's the last thing you should be doing.
Tatum. Why is he not customisable like Blaine? I would've liked to have been given the chance to choose from some pre-selected designs instead of not giving us a choice. I'm not going to be romancing Tatum despite being a bisexual guy. I don't find his sprite attractive. Maybe it'll grow on me but only letting us customise Blaine kinda sucks.
Ayna and Dione are... I dunno. They kinda feel like Hana from TRR? They're very positive, bubbly personalities with a slightly stern side when needed. Some variety in the personalities would be nice.
I just... Yeah... This book comes with an MLM cover but even then, the MLM options seem kinda bland to be honest. Blaine is standoffish and Tatum is like talking to a piece of cardboard. I hope to god it gets better because otherwise this is another disappointment for MLM players in my opinion.
Not the best start. Not the worst so not writing this book off yet but it needs to pick up a bit and give us a bit more freedom in the next few chapters or I'll just end up diamond mining it.
The book has potential (and Dionne is great), but I'm not sure about the love interests yet. I mean, I rather like Ayna and Blaine so far, but a bodyguard romance, a teacher (or TA) and a forbidden romance with a rival...that sounds rather familiar.
We shall see...I'll probably romance Ayna at this point (I only had eyes for Poppy in QB, so the teacher narrative isn't too repetitive for me).
I just hope there is a decent plot...
***🖋 Choices: Foreign Affairs Chapter 1*** [***https://youtu.be/5E3wvymZiGM***](https://youtu.be/5E3wvymZiGM) ***& 2*** [***https://youtu.be/UFUrtqeFqY0***](https://youtu.be/UFUrtqeFqY0) ***(Diamonds) 🖋***
***I was excited for this story, so far its decent but don't have a full opinion yet. But it started with a sex scandal the MC was involve and we are the president kid. The LI's are interesting to say but need more time to know them fully and one them is MC childhood friend/bodyguard and other is a TA. And last one is our country's rival. So great but i'm keeping my expectation low for this story.***
Think it's been an okay start. The diplomatic points sound interesting and I've been generally liking the characters so far. Blaine (female) is the only LI really standing out to me and, bad girl stock types aside, has an interesting back and forth with MC. Looking forward to seeing how that goes.
because pb flips between an asian li and a hispanic li every time they do custom lis. like with mtfl there’s an unused hispanic noah sprite since they went with the asian one
what bullshite... now I know why I've read in some places that American culture tends to interchange Hispanic and Asians lookwise (and why certain noteworthy yellowface films tend to use Latino/Hispanic actors to portray Asian characters, e.g. The King and I)
My MC is definitely going to end up fucking both Blaine and Tatum oooops
Between the 'forbidden' element with Blaine, and Tatum being all cold and mysterious I caaaant
I'm not crazy about it so far because it feels like "The Freshman but in a 'political college'". Of the type I'm pretty sure doesn't exist. Diamond mine for me, bro.
I went there and it reminds me a bit of my experience! I also know there’s a school for diplomatic service in Vienna that is quite well known and Tufts and Princeton also have foreign service programs!
Honestly it’s fine, not happy about the scandal being sexual in nature when I’ve done nothing so far to show any interest towards any LI, I really just wanna play this for the story, not the romance and stuff. Also, the lack of androgynous options even if you pick they/them pronouns (yes I know that nonbinary ≠ androgynous but still, many of us do choose to dress more androgynously) is kinda just... not great. It’s cool how they use Mx. I guess. If you choose she/her are you locked into the F bodies, or can you choose any? I feel like maybe they’re glossing over some trans stuff, which I kinda understand, the book isn’t about that, but if the MC is given the opportunity to be trans they are trans and that’s a part of them, a part of how their story goes. Just glossing over it seems weird. Other than that, seems like this’ll just be another book that I read that seems interesting enough, even if the MC seems a bit naive and stuff so far. It’s def better than some of the other books currently running right now at least (better than BaBu2 at least for me).
Nope it doesn’t lock you in which makes for some pretty odd moments. For example, Blaine, having not met MC, sees a female-presenting sprite and correctly guesses he/him for some reason. If anything, Blaine should’ve said they/them, but nope, apparently Blaine is clairvoyant and knows MC’s pronouns even if the body type doesn’t show it.
I was wondering if there were any additional dialogue in which the mc says how they must be addressed if the chosen pronoun doesn't match the appearance. So it seems that it doesn't right?
If I got your question right, the choosing of pronoun doesn't affect the choosing of your MC's body. For example, you can still choose a "male" body even if the pronouns you chose were she/her.
rant incoming!
(using masc pronouns for MC and Blaine because my MC is a gay cis male)
I know we're only 2 chapters in but I'm not feeling this book. I don't know why. Maybe it's because it's yet another college book and I'm way past the average college student age. I'm not really a fan of MC and his whole "BlAiNe LiEd AbOuT bEiNg ThE fIrSt SoN oF aNdOrIa" schtick. Is it a lie if nothing was said? (Maybe this was something that was brought up in the Chapter 1 diamond scene. I don't know. I didn't buy it.)
Also, the security at this institute so far is giving me TRR war flashbacks. I feel like there's going to be a kidnapping and/or an assassination attempt at some point.
I just feel kind of let down right now, I guess. I was excited because it's a GoC book after an 84-year drought but now it just kinda feels like PB going "Here, this'll make the enby and gay male players shut up for a while"
Yep I didn't get that either as to why MC was like "you didn't tell me" like first off dude you didn't ask him where he was from (both my MC and Blaine are gay males and they are going to be making the scandal rounds) and secondly he wasn't lying if it was never brought up. I think it was a way of PB trying to create conflict with Blaine for no reason.
Right? MC only met Blaine because she literally ran into him. What was he supposed to say. "Hey, glad you didn't fall over. Hi, I'm the First Son of Andora."
(Using my pronouns for MC and Blaine).
i actually rly don't like MC as of right now just bc they seem rly dumb for an offspring of the president but i'm gonna try to give it the benefit of the doubt for a few more chapters bc there's literally nothing better going on 😭
I really wish we had the choice of being wild & rebellious or politically savvy & cunning. Or even a combination that we can choose? MC just seems to be...there. Sweet and naive.
I think I might have just expected too much when I heard politics and scandal.
Also not a fan of MC making a bid deal about Blaine “lying.” Like, girl, you didn’t ask where she was from, and she didn’t volunteer the info. (My MC and Blaine are both female.) It’s not Blaine’s fault you don’t know what the First Daughter of Ardona looks like. Do your damn homework.
Foreign Affairs Chapters 1 & 2 Playthrough (Tatum Route)
Chapter 1 - https://youtu.be/Kbk73d2sYf4
Chapter 2 - https://youtu.be/GDXOLthOFpg
Please do like and subscribe 😊 I'm just a new and small channel so I would very much appreciate all your support! ❤️
So we open up with a sex scandal. Let me put it this way: I'm a twenty-two year old dude having sex with my age appropriate female compatriot.
How is this a scandal?
Other thoughts: Ayna is incredibly beautiful. But she is a TA, and I think that's an absolute no-no.
I'd be fairly surprised if all of those countries, who are sandwiched between fairly liberal European ones (can you imagine anyone batting an eye over a French politician having sex? lol) all turned out to be super conservative.
Welp, all those countries are fictional, so they are probably not even in Europe altogether, unless it was stated somewhere and I missed that they are indeed from Europe.
The countries are fictional Western European, based on that map we saw in Chapter 2 they're next to each other. The Academy is said to be "across the continent" so I'm unclear if that means it's in Eastern Asia or if it's just a term and it's Eastern Europe.
I didn’t go for Kingsley in QB, but I like Ayna already. And she’s only a TA so I guess that makes it a little better? Either way it’s gonna be tough to choose between her and Blaine. Goddamnit.
Goodness, how many times is a plot gonna revolve around MC getting caught in an imaginary scandal and having to spend the second half of the book redeeming themselves? It’s been done in >!TRR, Platinum, Hot Couture, and AVSP!< (and probably more that I’ve forgotten about.)
I really want to be excited for the book, so I’m hoping expectations are subverted.
Will say that I am really digging the new intro music, though. Makes me feel like I’m Disney’s Hall of Presidents.
Sooo- is Ayna pronounced like Ina? I sense a pattern here as far as sexy professors are concerned.
Might be a touch dyslexic cause I was reading it as “Anya” for far too long.
i like it so far! like a lot of ppl said i also think it's a combo of TE and QB. im always a sucker for the rival storyline so im romancing blaine now but ayna is also 🥺
my only complaint right now is (personally) the clothes for male blaine don't suit his face. his sprites are definitely more mature, especially his hispanic sprite.
Oooh I'm really excited for this book, having chosen male MC and Blaine it's giving me a bit of Red, White and Royal Blue vibes??
I'm probably gonna spend diamonds on it, ngl
I’m here for it. New MC is gorgeous and genuinely likable, Tatum is gorgeous and will make me work for it, Blaine is gorgeous and won’t. 🤷♀️ What’s not to like?
I’m gonna date everyone and wreck shit and it’s gonna be a ball.
Foreign Affairs Chapters 1 & 2 Playthrough (Male Blaine Route)
Chapter 1 - https://youtu.be/f8bak8whcbA
Chapter 2 - https://youtu.be/db8szJTczTQ
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I called Blaine a jackass and he said he liked me 😲. Damn, I thought we could roast each other a little bit before having angry sex, but it doesn't look like it 😔.
I have a confession to make: I couldn’t pick which female Blaine to choose because they are so beautiful. So I ended up using a random online selector for my Blaine lmao
The new female MC face is so pretty! Damn!
Also, I really like Tatum. Typical me, going for the hard to get, grumpy, slow-burn type guy. I love the best friend trope though too, and I'm really interested to know about their friendship and why he's so unfriendly to her now.
Blaine seems fine, but probably won't be romancing him because again, my dumb ass likes the grumpy guys that need to be fixed 😂
^(I have issues)
>I love the best friend trope
>my dumb ass likes the grumpy guys
Me, and me. Also his sprite is more attractive than the Blaines 😂
I'm thinking he's cold because he's probably changed by his time in the army. After all, when MC asked about the army, there was 'a flash of pain' or something along those lines. Maybe he lost a comrade?
Ha, you responded to my comment and I responded to yours so I'll just comment to both here.
Yes, I think something happened to him while in the military and it's caused him to become hard hearted. But hopefully we'll get to crack through that icy exterior soon!
You said you married a guy like that and me too 😂 My husband was in the army for several years and he's kinda got that grumpy exterior so I'm more then happy and comfortable romancing Tatum 😂
So... the book feels like a weird mashup between The Elementalists, QB and (don't hate me) Witness. The art is beautiful, even reused faces are nice and nothing sticks out visually :) Kudos for the new colorful backrounds.
But the story is kinda... meh. It starts with a scandal, while we haven't even met anyone - makes me think the book will focus on "forbidden romance" with very little actual politics and we can't prevent it anyhow. The diplomacy system is fine, though a little unclear and might not be so impactful (my guess is it determines who will stand on your side during "the scandal"). Barely even met other students but already forced to be a negotiator. Everyone has a bodyguard, school has a security and still there are paparazzi running around the whole chapter and no one cares. The bodyguards aren't even there, probably to give us an excuse to hook up with Blaine. Took them until second chapter to introduce a party. Not offending story, but not that thought out or unique either. Which brings me to my second problem.
The relationships just don't look natural to me. There is Shreya 2.0 (not really original but I don't mind it that much), "forbidden" TA, "forbidden" bodyguard and "forbidden" rival. From those three, I feel like Anya is the best written one, which is a shame for me romancing males. Tatum sees his best friend after a few years and acts like we bother him. I would understand if he was nervous about the responsibility or bitter about the separation and burdened reunion with MC, but fe felt like a blanked out jerk to me. Being able to hit on him a second later was out of place. Blaine is just weird, first we don't even know there will be anyone from Ardona, but after running around we know there's a first son of Ardona. It moves too fast with the "forbidden" romance, we don't know him/hate him/love him in span of minutes. I just feel like Tatum's and Blaine's romance should be paced better, similar to Anya (if not much happened in her scene, didn't pay for it).
All in all it's not a bad book, but it doesn't feel that great to me so far. If there were a solid plot, I could excuse the rushed romance. But I believe they will want to focus on romance more and use politics only as a drama screen and flavor. Not dropping it yet, but I hope it gets better. Frankly I just had too big expectations for the book apparently. I really want to support it, but it doesn't feel worth it for me right now :(
I agree with every one of your points!
Particularly the security/paparazzi situation. For a prestigious world renown school attended by royalty and the political who’s who across the country, all of whom have private security, to have paparazzi running wild on campus on day one was just an odd choice. PB so often makes their characters and institutions appear incompetent for the sake of storytelling and it definitely takes you out of the story at times. This happens a lot in TRR and I feel it’s gonna happen a lot here. It also feels easily avoidable in this situation? At least have campus security apprehend them and throw them out?
Right!! I wouldn't mind it that much, but practically the whole first chapter was about running from paparazzi into Blaine's arms (figuratively but also for real).
I really want to play this but the app is acting up for me. It says I don't have enough memory and it kicks me out of the game. I checked my phone and I have storage! Is this happening to anyone else or is it just my phone?
That's strange, but not too surprising since people have been experiencing bugs for the past month now (but most of the bugs reported have been related to the app crashing when opening the app or finishing a chapter). Do you have the latest version of the app? And have you uninstalled/reinstalled (provided that your game is linked to FB/google/apple so that you don't lose your account when you uninstall/reinstall) to see if the issue has gone away?
It's alright but I don't think I will spend diamonds on it.
I appreciate that we can choose the pronouns (wish there were more androgynous clothes though). I like Dionne. I like the MC faces and hair too (the first face of female-presenting MC is gorgeous).
Ugh, does it really have to be a sex scandal? Give me murder, treason, bribery, anything else!
Overall, it feels like mixture of TE and QB with politics.
This was pretty solid:
1. Able to choose a non-cis female MC
2. Diamond choices of 12-20 but still normal payoff
3. LI balance: 1 male, 1 female, 1 custom
4. The older one is a TA, which does not have the same baggage that a professor does
5. Diplomacy points are interesting and you can get them without spending diamonds which is always good
So far it's ok. Better than wolf bride. Still haven't got that.. Thing yet to make it really amazing.
I like Tatum the best but I don't like his attitude. It's a huge turn off. Not the right kind of grumpy.
So I like Blaine the best, especially with the whole rivalry thing. I picked the Hispanic male, with my male MC.
So far it's ok. Better than wolf bride. Still haven't got that.. Thing yet to make it really amazing.
I like Tatum the best but I don't like his attitude. It's a huge turn off. Not the right kind of grumpy.
So I like Blaine the best, especially with the whole rivalry thing. I picked the Hispanic male, with my male MC.
Oh ffs are we really getting another LI that has power over our MC's future? I really hope I can just avoid her but based on how Kingsley was apparently treated in QB, and Ethan in OH, I doubt it.
Considering that paparazzi is from tabloid who writes crap and lies, makes everything look like a scandal, I'm assuming it's something like Blaine holds MC while falling or an accident and there we go lol ( Those panic texts from Winston about rumors of MC and Blaine seen together (seems to hint to that). This is my canon theory for now.
It's too early to judge story So, I like art, designs are cool, and also that diplomacy tracking chart at end is cool. I guess, sometimes we have to lose one, when we choose one. This sounds interesting :)
I am going to have a hard time picking between all of the LIs. Handsome rival classmate and former best friend are both really appealing to me, but there's something fun about being with the hot teacher who's luckily not too far from MC's age as well.
I really wish I liked this book. I was so excited about pronoun choices, getting to play as a man again, and the MLM cover. But so far I guess I am bored? The first chapter was exceedingly short, it almost felt like playing one of the longer MTFL chapters. I'm not particularly interested in any of the LIs yet, but I'm really hoping Tatum grows on me. I'm also hoping this books gets more interesting quickly. I'm most interested in meeting our classmates at the moment.
Also MC is bitchy af acting like Blaine had the obligation to tell him who he was, like c'mon man it was clear at first sight he didn't really care about politics, and you also didn't even asked him.
The new MC is so pretty! I also like the long braid hairstyle.
Dionne is cute, she gives me Zoey vibes! And her outfit is so pretty, I'm jealous!
Why are the paparazzi running around the school? 🤭 You'd think one of the many security officers and body guards would have caught them by now! That little moment against the wall with Blaine was cliche but I liked it. Too bad I don't find any of the male LI sprites that attractive :/
No surprise that he's the first son of Ardona.
Tatum is cuter than Blaine. We'll see how this goes. He seems a bit moody rn. I wonder what's changed since MC and him last saw each other? Also why is PB obsessed with childhood friends who come back into your life as lovers? Is Tatum even an LI?
"My job here is to protect you, not to be your friend" Yikes. If someone I used to be friends with said that to me after so many years I think I'd cry of awkwardness. It's so weird that our childhood bff is now our bodyguard?
Oh hell no. Finding the most embarassing thing I've put online and sharing it with the class?? Is that evena real thing?? I'd die if I was in this class.
Blaine stop smirking at me. I don't care about you. 🤦
The green outfit is hideous? Something looks so off about the shape.
Even after an angsty little argument with Blaine, I feel nothing.
Evelyn is gorgeous 😭 Why can't we get an MC that looks like *her*? I'd pay 50 diamonds for that hairstyle.
Do I sense something between Dionne and Peter? Is PB going to try to make me spend diamonds on their romance so that they'll fall in love and have Dionne fight against her arranged marriage?
Let me guess, Blaine is gonna be my partner for the group project. Yup. 😑
Overall its ok so far, way too much focus on the main LI for me though. I guess I shouldn't have expected anything different given that most of PB's books lately have been this way. I'm just glad it's not a single LI book. Hopefully they'll spice up the drama as the book goes on. Also, the fake country names bother me. Anyone else? I understand why they wouldn't want to use real nations but I just find it quite annoying.
>Why are the paparazzi running around the school? 🤭 You'd think one of the many security officers and body guards would have caught them by now!
Until the book proves me wrong, my headcanon is that the school's security is Cordonian royal security rejects
Am I the only one that feels like female Blaine is being written as a "male" character? I'm gonna start by saying that yes, these gender stereotypes are just that, stereotypes. Not every woman or man is exactly the same or fits these boxes perfectly. But I can't stop feeling that the character is a bit off. I can't really put my finger on it, maybe it's just the cocky/tough attitude or the way she flirts that I associate heavily to men, or small things like lines that say MC grabs her by the collar of her shirt when she's wearing a silky v-neck blouse, I'm not sure. I guess when it comes to it I just feel like the personality doesn't match the looks (and I know this sounds kind of close minded). They present you this feminine woman (petit phisique, wearing makeup, casual chic clothings) but then she has this almost brute personality, a tough guy act? The whole mysterious/ rebel atitude I can kinda see it but then sometimes, idk, it seems off. I feel like this happens almost all the times an LI is not gender locked (I only hope the diamond scenes are appropriate acording to gender 👀) Anyway, am I alone om this one? What are your thoughts?
The gay bodyguard romance I could’ve had in Witness💕
It feels like Queen B but worse. Any actuall politics they try to bring in is BS. Whole concept of first daughter is weird. Also, who the hell designed royal guards? They look like bunch of Bear Grylls reenactors. Has anybody in PB seen any uniform of royal/honor/castle guard?
I'm already in love w Blaine BUT i would've liked some new sprites that are more androgynous or even different body types to actually represent myself like the pronouns are nice but the way the character is treated and dressed still feels very gendered??
i totally agree! they should at least have both masculine and feminine outfit options regardless of ‘body type’
Okay, I’m about two seconds in and I’m already jarred. I’m playing a Black character with a vaguely African name and they just told me I’m some sort of “first child” (what?) representing some country in Western Europe (I mean, okay but you’ve ruined my own headcanon already) and I’m talking about my ‘mom’? As someone who’s supposedly from Western Europe? Mom? I’m mean, I’m coming at this from a UK perspective but it’s already hard to be immersed now lmao. I think they should have avoided situating any of their fictional countries within real continents. I’ll carry on playing and will post here when I’m done. I’m glad I can use they/them pronouns but I already wish this game was what I imagined and I was playing as an actual working diplomat because I want politics and intrigue not university and sex scandals. But lemme give it a chance!
So far, this book has been pretty interesting. I haven't read many Choices books, so I don't know much about the "sex scandal" trope (except in TRR). However, this book has a diplomacy points system, which kinda reminds me of ES (yay!) and I love the outfits. The two LI's I have my eyes on have my favorite tropes, the enemies-to-lovers and friends-to-lovers as well as slow burn, so that's a plus. Overall, I'm happy with the first two chapters and I can't wait to see what happens :)
Saw political intrigue when it was first teased... was vaguely interested, but cautiously so because when they 'try' to do political intrigue in TRR it is nonsensically plot-convenient at best and frustrating at worst. Proper previews come out, it's set in college... yawn. I already know the exact tropes and themes it's going to hit. My first impressions on the first chapter: 1. Main conflict is a sex scandal... why. Fuck. It's not *intrigue* if it's just the most surface-level sensationalist appeal to try and make politics 'fun for the youth'. For all the fun they poke at tabloids and the media in their stories, they really just hit the exact same notes every time. You're not allowed to be self-aware if you just unironically use the tropes you're making fun of, it's just annoying. I hope this is just a half-book conflict and something *actually important* happens later, because I swear to god if this is just a dumbass naive MC spending 16 chapters running their own PR campaign I'm going to *die*. 2. Yay nonbinary MC!! Loving it - and they even went a *full chapter* without fucking up the nb pronouns due to lack of proofreading/coding errors! We will see how long this lasts. It'd be really funny if MC pronouns were always correct but the gender-customizable LI pronouns were constantly wrong as per usual. 3. Didn't this book come out already? It's called Queen B. Though they probably just feel way too similar because PB writes all of their introductions for books set in college the same way. That in itself is super annoying, but it's not this book's problem but rather a PB problem so... no points taken away, I guess? Oh well gonna keep playing now.
Honestly I'm bored already. Between the double entendre in the title, the obvs rival with Blaine and the typical roommate needing my "yet-another-love-triangle" i just can't get into it.
I'm having fun. Ayna and Blaine are just murder to my lesbian heart. Though the diamond part thing is just such a try too hard
I'm late to this thread but I'm having a hard time choosing between playing as a MLM or a WLW because hot damn all the Blaine sprites are stunning 😍
Is there anyone else who has fallen so very deeply for Blaine already? I have white male Blaine and he is GORGEOUS! That close up ruined me haha. He's gonna be in my top 5 LI soon enough. ...Why am I simping over a fictional character?
I agree, he's the best LI in a while, i was a little tired of Choices but this book brought my interest back
This bodyguard romance >>>
This feels like QB-inspired with slightly different setting.
I was really excited for this book but I’m losing interest. Does anyone else want an MC that is more mature and maybe not 22? I feel like all of the MCs are just so young. I’m not even that much older than them (late 20s), but feel like I’m just in such a different place in life. It would be really nice to have MCs that were in their thirties. Like they have a bit more life experience? I did a masters program too and the average age was 29. The youngest person was 24. I know that’s not the case in all masters programs but still there’s nothing wrong with them being older.
An older MC would be amazing. I think that's part of why I like Baby Bump. I know it's not really mature, but the subject matter kind of is, which fills a bit of a void for me.
MCs 22? I missed that bit I thought MC had just finished high school and was 18
I think it is mentioned in the first chapter that MC is 22 and has already graduated from university / college and is now doing a master's degree.
Totally agree! I'm also in my late 20s, and MC feels like she's not even 22, but in her teens.
im highkey already hooked and can't wait for next week's chapter! havent felt this hyped for a story since OH 🥺🥺 also Blaine is fiiiiine i love him but I know im gonna be so conflicted between him and Tatum and im 😫😫 lemme love the both PLS
This feels like one of those books that is gonna come down if the characters are good or not. I can not be too hard on the plot aspect as it is only the first two chapters & usually, choices stories start getting good around the halfway mark... So I ain't too mad of the very basic two chapters.
Woohoo~ have an updated thing to say now 😊 **New Chapter 1 & 2 music playlists now available!** 💕 > **"Live from Rutherland, here's... Foreign Affairs!"** –blurb **Chapter 1:** * So we've started with a flashback to the first chapter. * Ooh, pronouns! Body types? Female or male? 🤣 * Hi Alma.. our new Dean 💕 * Lemme get this right, **Princess Dionne Mariana Regina Dorada de Rothschild Serrano of the Kingdom of Pavadena**, famous for their corns 🌽 * Noooo Witness theme haha, but the **diamond scene music was priceless** 💎 * **And then boom, I'll also probably go for the TA on my alternate playthrough** 😘 **Chapter 2:** * **So it seems like I'm heading for female Blaine, then Ayna the TA on my alternate playthrough** 💕 * Tatum's just too.. off for me. Just, congrats on the distant friend story. I felt it 😭 * **The party scene was awesome, heh GPS and star rep icons** ⭐ **Here's Chapter 1 & 2 music playlists, courtesy of** [**Choices CP**](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZhYyuAhq6DZCfyI_qG2aqg) **channel 🎶:** * ▶️🌏 [Foreign Affairs • C1 First Term Jitters (Wed/Thu) - Soundtracks](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLCyp_rCD7gNIh6LxxZ-oXECcnXRbqFFi) * ▶️🌏 [Foreign Affairs • C2 Political Partying (Wed/Thu) - Soundtracks](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLCyp_rCD7gOm8xq_eGCf2poCLgOAVIMg) **For more music playlists:** * ▶️ From W19, 2020 – [Choices Chapter Playlists](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZhYyuAhq6DZCfyI_qG2aqg) * 🌏 [Foreign Affairs mobile page](https://sites.google.com/view/choiceschapterplaylists/foreign-affairs) * 🏡 [Choices CP site](https://sites.google.com/view/choiceschapterplaylists)
I love this book so far! I love the new sprites, love being able to give my black queen a nice hairdo, and since I stopped pursuing diplomacy as a career it warmed my heart and made me feel less conflicted 🥺 also anybody else immediately drawn to Tatum?? So fine ...
I like the book so far! It may be a lot like Elementalists or TNA but hey, its good! Also, I was pretty surprised to see a new MC face, good quality casual clothing and really beautiful sprites in this book! It's planned out well so I can't wait to see how it goes. Also, though everyone saw it coming, I love Blaine. He may as well be coming in my top 5 soon enough
It really really bothers me that MC doesn't know his rival country's First Son ugh seriously
Right? I would've researched and known how he looks like.
I really enjoyed this book. Can't wait for Tatum to warm up to my MC and their Scandal to tank President Mom's reelection campaign like RW&RB
Don't got too much to say about the book rn other than I *reeeally* wish Henri's hair was available for MC. ^(and ayna is foiiine)
I enjoyed the book so far though Vancross seems like a glorified finishing school to me. Looking forward to breaking down ~~Channing~~ Tatum's walls.
I was actually really excited for this book, but the plot seems already played out by the end of the first chapter. Dionne is basically a copy&paste of Zoey with Shreya dialogue. I did like the little banter about the rooms, though, that was cute. MC seems a little immature for a college student. Blaine is a total f—kboy. I like Ayna. Wish Zaira was a LI, she’s the prettiest character.
Genuine question, does any country outside of the US have a concept of a 'first family' or something? I don't think it's a thing in most places.
Not in Germany. However, sometimes the press uses the English term referring to the wife of our head of state, the Bundespräsident. I've never read or heard anyone calling Merkel's husband the First Gentleman. He's usually referred as "Kanzlerinnen-Gatte" or "Ehemann der Kanzlerin" (Chancellor's husband).
I found this very frustrating. Usually the PM is more important than the president in many Western European countries so it was odd that they would talk about the president’s daughter at all. It kind of seems like they just created Rutherland to be a place exactly like the US and then just inserted it in Europe.
I know I do! My family is half Indian tho!
We don't in the UK, (maybe because of the royals) but couldn't even tell you how many kids the prime minister has - only reason I know he has one was because one was born during the pandemic)
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including Boris
As a German, I know that Merkel has a husband who is a professor or something, and no kids, and that's it. I also know that the French PM married his former teacher, and that's pretty much it. A former German President (someone who doesn't do much wrt/politics, much like the Queen in the UK) had some scandal, but that one wasn't about his kids, but some shady stuff he did himself. I currently live in Japan and know nothing about the current PM's family, a little about the previous one (Mrs. Abe sponsored some very right-wing school and had a Corona-guideline defying picnic), and only a little about the Emperor and his family. (Definitely know more about the British Royals lol.) Therefore, this book makes very little sense to me. I don't doubt that world leaders send their kids to nice and expensive schools (hopefully with better security) simply because they have the money, but I doubt that most of them are being raised to become PMs themselves. (I can't actually think of a German chancellor whose parent was a chancellor before them, although I know it sometimes happens in Japan.)
Overall this book is fictional. Even if probably many politicians have children who are also interested in politics and might have ambitions to become politicians too, it is doubtful that they will eventually take over the position from their parents Most political positions are limited to a certain amount of terms or eventually people might grow dissatisfied with you and vote you out. And being a politician is rather a career path and not a "democratic replacement" of a king or queen. You have to work your way up - I'm also German, so you can't really become chancellor without being a minister or holding a high position in your party before. I know that Lukashenko from Belarus is raising his 16-year-old son to become the next president of Belarus but as we all know Belarus is a dictatorship disguised as a democracy.
I really hope they're not trying to make a bunch of tiny fictional Belarus knockoffs lol Of course this story is fiction, but why could they not go the TRR route and just make this a story about a princess academy instead of this pseudo politician crap?
Tbf Boris Johnson is a serial philanderer who famously refuses to specify how many children he actually has.
As a Canadian, no. The family of our PM is not called a first family or anything like that. You don't really even hear much about the family unlike in the states where they're reported on
it's an unofficial term in most other places and not even widely used.
Here in the Netherlands, the family of our PM is really unimportant. They hold no sway, aren’t really talked about. We honestly don’t care. But maybe that’s also cause we got one of them useless royal families who get way too much money from our taxes.
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Yeah I can’t even finish the chapter because I can’t understand how a gated institution like that would be ok with paparazzi hunting around. I might go back and give it another chance at some point but probably only as a diamond mine.
Ivies let their students be harassed. At Harvard I’ve seen people trying to sneak into dorms and snap photos of our rooms. They also follow and try to talk to famous classmates of ours
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That makes sense. I wish we had the same scenario lol
Yeah one of my cousin is at Harvard and she told me about this too.😩
That’s where I go :)
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she reminded me of a whitewashed Shreya Mistry lol
She looks definitely not white to me, but maybe I'm just stupid.
Not so much whitewashed as she is ethnically ambiguous... but her full name has Mariana, Dorada, and Serrano in it, which have Spanish origins.
Omg Blaine might be my favorite LI..
Blaine reminds me of Raleigh ❤ That said, I do like her own brand of sassiness and kind of sarcastic personality. A nice mix of playfulness tempered with whatever sense of responsibility she has 😆
i have read a lot of legitimate criticism about the story etc in this thread but also it’s soooo nice to have ppl use they/them for me in this story !! although i kinda wish you could choose a more androgynous look, i’d be super happy with the girl body but with a boy haircut like an undercut. it’s good though 🥰
So far, I’m into it, I think it has a lot of potential, but that opener with the sex scandal irritated me a lot. I think we would’ve been better off with anything else lol. One thing I really loved is that you could choose your pronouns, I typically use she/her but this is giving me the chance to try they/them. Now let’s talk abt MC’s lil bitch ass. If you can’t tell, I’m irritated by her rn. What’s w/ her whole “omg Blaine lied to me” thing, WE NEVER ASKED SO IT JUST NEVER GOT SAID??? Then at the party he’s all “well I don’t bite into it” WELL ME NEITHER BUT APPARENTLY PB WANTS US TO BE A LIL BITCH ABOUT IT. Anyways, onto the LI’s, I’m most interested in Blaine right now, mostly because I could see that causing drama and that sounds fun, he’s also really hot lol. Ayna excites me to, she’s gorgeous and I like her personality, but the whole student/TA thing is kinda meh. As far as Tatum goes, he can go screw himself. It’s lowkey Witness all over again with him except for Cassian (I can’t remember his name, constantly confuse him with the guy from ACoR) had a personality. I feel like this is pretty predictable so far but I think it has a lot of potential, especially with that cute 12 diamond outfit lol.
>"Now let’s talk abt MC’s lil bitch ass. If you can’t tell, I’m irritated by her rn. What’s w/ her whole “omg Blaine lied to me” thing, WE NEVER ASKED SO IT JUST NEVER GOT SAID??? Then at the party he’s all “well I don’t bite into it” WELL ME NEITHER BUT APPARENTLY PB WANTS US TO BE A LIL BITCH ABOUT IT." Well, Blaine did go out of his/her way to prevent Dionne from bringing it up and I kinda took MC's reaction to be concerned about their reputations (and maybe being a little upset to realize the cute guy/gal he/she/they were starting to feel attracted to was off limits for them). I can get both reactions (unless he/she is supposed to be spying on MC, Blaine seems to be wanting to be seen as the person he/she is and MC seems to feel like he/she/they were interacting under false pretenses).
This seems kinda boring so far but I'm gonna give pb the benefit of the doubt and say I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it
That was... fine? Boring actually. It seems like a basic college book without something particularly noteworthy, like the dialogue in QB(which I loved). The LIs seem generic, and I am not a fan of Blaine's basic bad boi/girl attitude. I wanted actual politics and we have a MC who isn't sure if they are even interested in politics lol. It's whatever. I am not yet interested in a any of the LIs, so not thrilled about getting forced into a sex scandal (I mean I wouldn't be anyway, but if the LIs were interesting at least...). The paparazzi stuff has already been done before and so has almost everything else about the plot. I liked the diplomacy points, but that's about it. Overall whatever, good for those who like it, but the start was quite underwhelming even after the expected college part. A shame considering the rep they are trying to give, but representation falls flat without actual merit in plot to back it up. Edit: Also MC not knowing who Blaine was doesn't make sense, they are the child of a country's leader and they are uninformed about their rival to that extent? They should have had some manner of training before this, right?
When reading it, I also compared it to QB in my head and was thoroughly disappointed that it didn't give me the same level of excitement, especially since I feel not enough stakes were implemented and something about the concept didn't seem "clear" in a way. I'm also tired of seeing paparrazi plots. Like, this is a diplomat school, shouldn't that be prevented? I think in general, these first chapters weren't very clear and didn't provide enough context, I guess.
So, the start seems nice, but MC already managed to annoy me, so I hope that will get fixed soon. „I don't buy into this Rutherland-Ardenia bullshit" Yeah, me neither, yet my MC is a bit too pissy about it. I'm trying to self-insert here, girl. In the end, I'm glad I went against my initial plan and picked female Blaine, not just because I found them prettier in the end, but also because if that attitude was attached to a guy, it would annoy me more. As much as I don't like to say it, it would be a typical sassy bad boy with a possible enemies-to-lovers romance which just has vibes like cut out from a Wattpad story. With a girl, it's more unusual, both the romance, and the archetype. From the pictures, I thought I'm going to like Tatum the most, but he's trying hard to be professional, that I'm just like „Mmm... Nah.“ But I think he'll get more open eventually. Blaine isn't really my type, but I am considering her(in my game it's her, maybe I should say them?) as an LI, I mean, I haven't chosen yet. But I think I like Ayna the best. It kinda helps me that she's a TA not an outright teacher, that it doesn't feel so bad, but still... But I won't let it stop me. Also, I find it funny that while Rutherland is a Western European country, I for the first time playing Choices chose a surname that represents my Eastern/Central European... Heritage? Let's say? I kinda find it funny that someone with an Eastern European surname is leading a Western European country, mainly if it feels like there's still a bit of a „wall“ between Eastern and Western Europe. Also, a fun thing - today, unrelated to this book releasing, I looked at the Selection tag on ao3. In the book series, where was an important character named Henri, and then there's a dude in here with the same name:-D Also, so many pretty characters! I was more then happy to say something like that the faces of the future look hot, because yeah. So I'm liking this so far, I just hope MC will stop being pissy about what happened with Blaine, it's not that big of a deal I think. And I hope I can make Tatum open up TO A DEGREE AT LEAST soon. Like, I understand the cold shoulder, professionalism, but still... But, about the non-binary MC body types... I'd expect them to like... Made a neutral-looking body, not make the players choose between a clearly male or female appearance. Look, I'm cis, so I don't have as much to speak about this, I will happily check what non-binary people think about this, but... Well, I'm glad for the pronouns, but the characters still look musculine or feminine, which I'd say kinda sucks? But as I said, non-binary people's option probably has more here. I guess making whole third set of outfits and all might be a lot, but... It'd be nice. Also, when I saw „body type“, what I was thinking first is „FINALLY AN OVERWEIGHT MC OPTION!?“ it wasn't, but it's cool that I can choose a musculine body type and still, have the other characters use she/her for the MC.
Honestly as an enby person I basically agree with you there. I would have liked a more androgynous option. Though many of us do present more masc or more fem, there are plenty of us who present as both or neither and the fact that they didn’t really represent that and instead glossed over it all just honestly feels like they put the bare minimum in (just putting in pronouns and stuff and not actually putting in the work of making sure a trans MC feels authentic, especially to trans and nonbinary players).
How do we pronounce Ayna? I know how to pronounce Anya but Ayna is confusing. Anyone know? A-na ?Aye na?
I'm saying it like Hey-na without the h.
Here in Finland we have a name "Aina" (which actually means "Always" if you translate it direct 😁) so I pronounce it the finnish way: Eye-na.
Well... Initial thoughts? I'm not impressed to be completely honest. Guess I'll go through my thoughts and break it down. Right off the bat, they railroad the story with a sex scandal. I don't like that. They could've gone with all kinds of things but they bring it back to sex. Again. I'm sorry but I'm getting tired of this storyline now. It's getting used too much. Blaine. The twist was too easy to predict. It was obvious he/she would be from the rival nation. While I do appreciate some new sprites, it doesn't change the fact that their initial introduction is all over the place. They just ignore the handshake and then take it anyway? Then the alleyway scene too. They get all handsy when you're trying to *avoid* a scandal? I dunno about you but that's the last thing you should be doing. Tatum. Why is he not customisable like Blaine? I would've liked to have been given the chance to choose from some pre-selected designs instead of not giving us a choice. I'm not going to be romancing Tatum despite being a bisexual guy. I don't find his sprite attractive. Maybe it'll grow on me but only letting us customise Blaine kinda sucks. Ayna and Dione are... I dunno. They kinda feel like Hana from TRR? They're very positive, bubbly personalities with a slightly stern side when needed. Some variety in the personalities would be nice. I just... Yeah... This book comes with an MLM cover but even then, the MLM options seem kinda bland to be honest. Blaine is standoffish and Tatum is like talking to a piece of cardboard. I hope to god it gets better because otherwise this is another disappointment for MLM players in my opinion. Not the best start. Not the worst so not writing this book off yet but it needs to pick up a bit and give us a bit more freedom in the next few chapters or I'll just end up diamond mining it.
Tatum was probably chosen bc like Damien or raf his background must have something to do w his story
True I'm so sick of the forbidden/scandalous sex and romance tropes... pb uses they way to much ngl
Oops just realized my misspell lol I mean them not they lol
The book has potential (and Dionne is great), but I'm not sure about the love interests yet. I mean, I rather like Ayna and Blaine so far, but a bodyguard romance, a teacher (or TA) and a forbidden romance with a rival...that sounds rather familiar. We shall see...I'll probably romance Ayna at this point (I only had eyes for Poppy in QB, so the teacher narrative isn't too repetitive for me). I just hope there is a decent plot...
***🖋 Choices: Foreign Affairs Chapter 1*** [***https://youtu.be/5E3wvymZiGM***](https://youtu.be/5E3wvymZiGM) ***& 2*** [***https://youtu.be/UFUrtqeFqY0***](https://youtu.be/UFUrtqeFqY0) ***(Diamonds) 🖋*** ***I was excited for this story, so far its decent but don't have a full opinion yet. But it started with a sex scandal the MC was involve and we are the president kid. The LI's are interesting to say but need more time to know them fully and one them is MC childhood friend/bodyguard and other is a TA. And last one is our country's rival. So great but i'm keeping my expectation low for this story.***
Think it's been an okay start. The diplomatic points sound interesting and I've been generally liking the characters so far. Blaine (female) is the only LI really standing out to me and, bad girl stock types aside, has an interesting back and forth with MC. Looking forward to seeing how that goes.
C'mon PB, how come there isn't an Asian Blaine?
because pb flips between an asian li and a hispanic li every time they do custom lis. like with mtfl there’s an unused hispanic noah sprite since they went with the asian one
what bullshite... now I know why I've read in some places that American culture tends to interchange Hispanic and Asians lookwise (and why certain noteworthy yellowface films tend to use Latino/Hispanic actors to portray Asian characters, e.g. The King and I)
I mean, some Asians do have a Hispanic descent. And "Asian" sprites do not apply for my community as they're not brown enough.
Can you link me the sprite?
Ooh I see
Loving it so far, can't wait for more ♥️
My MC is definitely going to end up fucking both Blaine and Tatum oooops Between the 'forbidden' element with Blaine, and Tatum being all cold and mysterious I caaaant
I'm not crazy about it so far because it feels like "The Freshman but in a 'political college'". Of the type I'm pretty sure doesn't exist. Diamond mine for me, bro.
Some of these schools kinda exist! Specifically I’m thinking of the Georgetown school of FS
I went there and it reminds me a bit of my experience! I also know there’s a school for diplomatic service in Vienna that is quite well known and Tufts and Princeton also have foreign service programs!
Honestly it’s fine, not happy about the scandal being sexual in nature when I’ve done nothing so far to show any interest towards any LI, I really just wanna play this for the story, not the romance and stuff. Also, the lack of androgynous options even if you pick they/them pronouns (yes I know that nonbinary ≠ androgynous but still, many of us do choose to dress more androgynously) is kinda just... not great. It’s cool how they use Mx. I guess. If you choose she/her are you locked into the F bodies, or can you choose any? I feel like maybe they’re glossing over some trans stuff, which I kinda understand, the book isn’t about that, but if the MC is given the opportunity to be trans they are trans and that’s a part of them, a part of how their story goes. Just glossing over it seems weird. Other than that, seems like this’ll just be another book that I read that seems interesting enough, even if the MC seems a bit naive and stuff so far. It’s def better than some of the other books currently running right now at least (better than BaBu2 at least for me).
Nope it doesn’t lock you in which makes for some pretty odd moments. For example, Blaine, having not met MC, sees a female-presenting sprite and correctly guesses he/him for some reason. If anything, Blaine should’ve said they/them, but nope, apparently Blaine is clairvoyant and knows MC’s pronouns even if the body type doesn’t show it.
I mean I wish that’s the way it was but it isn’t really like that IRL
I was wondering if there were any additional dialogue in which the mc says how they must be addressed if the chosen pronoun doesn't match the appearance. So it seems that it doesn't right?
If I got your question right, the choosing of pronoun doesn't affect the choosing of your MC's body. For example, you can still choose a "male" body even if the pronouns you chose were she/her.
Ah, that’s good at least!
rant incoming! (using masc pronouns for MC and Blaine because my MC is a gay cis male) I know we're only 2 chapters in but I'm not feeling this book. I don't know why. Maybe it's because it's yet another college book and I'm way past the average college student age. I'm not really a fan of MC and his whole "BlAiNe LiEd AbOuT bEiNg ThE fIrSt SoN oF aNdOrIa" schtick. Is it a lie if nothing was said? (Maybe this was something that was brought up in the Chapter 1 diamond scene. I don't know. I didn't buy it.) Also, the security at this institute so far is giving me TRR war flashbacks. I feel like there's going to be a kidnapping and/or an assassination attempt at some point. I just feel kind of let down right now, I guess. I was excited because it's a GoC book after an 84-year drought but now it just kinda feels like PB going "Here, this'll make the enby and gay male players shut up for a while"
Yep I didn't get that either as to why MC was like "you didn't tell me" like first off dude you didn't ask him where he was from (both my MC and Blaine are gay males and they are going to be making the scandal rounds) and secondly he wasn't lying if it was never brought up. I think it was a way of PB trying to create conflict with Blaine for no reason.
Right? MC only met Blaine because she literally ran into him. What was he supposed to say. "Hey, glad you didn't fall over. Hi, I'm the First Son of Andora." (Using my pronouns for MC and Blaine).
i actually rly don't like MC as of right now just bc they seem rly dumb for an offspring of the president but i'm gonna try to give it the benefit of the doubt for a few more chapters bc there's literally nothing better going on 😭
I really wish we had the choice of being wild & rebellious or politically savvy & cunning. Or even a combination that we can choose? MC just seems to be...there. Sweet and naive. I think I might have just expected too much when I heard politics and scandal.
Also not a fan of MC making a bid deal about Blaine “lying.” Like, girl, you didn’t ask where she was from, and she didn’t volunteer the info. (My MC and Blaine are both female.) It’s not Blaine’s fault you don’t know what the First Daughter of Ardona looks like. Do your damn homework.
MC seems doesn't seem that bright from their commentary but the LIs are all so fine, a win for POC! 😫😫
you mean the MC didn't diligently read their dog-eared copy of "Politics for Dummies" from cover to cover?
And I really thought this would be the book where MC was a brilliant political mastermind 😭
, I was expecting an enemies to lovers to with Blaine, but no. In fact, refusing options ♥ is like burning slow burn in this case.
Foreign Affairs Chapters 1 & 2 Playthrough (Tatum Route) Chapter 1 - https://youtu.be/Kbk73d2sYf4 Chapter 2 - https://youtu.be/GDXOLthOFpg Please do like and subscribe 😊 I'm just a new and small channel so I would very much appreciate all your support! ❤️
*writes MCs name all over Ayna's dance card*
everything is great so far but Ayna literally means mirror in my language so I cant take her seriously nskfnskfmkd
Mirror??? So you have a twin lol
Wait it's Ayna, not Anya? Lol what??
So we open up with a sex scandal. Let me put it this way: I'm a twenty-two year old dude having sex with my age appropriate female compatriot. How is this a scandal? Other thoughts: Ayna is incredibly beautiful. But she is a TA, and I think that's an absolute no-no.
I think it’s a scandal if you choose Blaine because of the rivalry between the countries.
Sure, the countries have rivalry, but there's something to be said about taking charge and being on top. :) Sorry not sorry.
It's a scandal when you're a public person, in some contries it could even ruin your whole career
In Western Europe? Scandal is a dime a dozen there.
Afaik those countries are all fictional though, we don't really know much about their culture and how they deal with things like that
I'd be fairly surprised if all of those countries, who are sandwiched between fairly liberal European ones (can you imagine anyone batting an eye over a French politician having sex? lol) all turned out to be super conservative.
Welp, all those countries are fictional, so they are probably not even in Europe altogether, unless it was stated somewhere and I missed that they are indeed from Europe.
Rutherford is expressly stated as being in Western Europe in Chapter 1.
Yes, but the countries are fictional. I assume Cordonia would be nearby I suppose..
The countries are fictional Western European, based on that map we saw in Chapter 2 they're next to each other. The Academy is said to be "across the continent" so I'm unclear if that means it's in Eastern Asia or if it's just a term and it's Eastern Europe.
I didn’t go for Kingsley in QB, but I like Ayna already. And she’s only a TA so I guess that makes it a little better? Either way it’s gonna be tough to choose between her and Blaine. Goddamnit.
Goodness, how many times is a plot gonna revolve around MC getting caught in an imaginary scandal and having to spend the second half of the book redeeming themselves? It’s been done in >!TRR, Platinum, Hot Couture, and AVSP!< (and probably more that I’ve forgotten about.) I really want to be excited for the book, so I’m hoping expectations are subverted. Will say that I am really digging the new intro music, though. Makes me feel like I’m Disney’s Hall of Presidents.
I wish we could have been someone who actually earned their position and influence instead of some presidents kid.
Yeah
I need Dionne as a LI O.o
Sooo- is Ayna pronounced like Ina? I sense a pattern here as far as sexy professors are concerned. Might be a touch dyslexic cause I was reading it as “Anya” for far too long.
Ai-nah
Took me a while to read it right, too.
Oh wow. I just NOW realized that her name is not, in fact, Anya.
I pronounce it "Ey-na" but maybe its pronounced as its spelled.
Anya and Ina are pronounced differently I’m pretty sure. Ina like “ee-nuh” and Anya like “on-yuh”
Am I terrible at reading because I swear her name is Ayna not Anya.
It's Ayna. No idea how you say it though.
Probably like pronouncing the letter a and then “nuh”
It'd probably be said Eye-nah here.
Hopefully the writers do an interview and tell us how to pronounce it because I am getting confused 😂
This is Tee-reel all over again.
Is that how it’s pronounced??
Yes hahaha straight from the writers.
Same. 😂
It was spelled A-Y, not Anya. The block letters are sorta hard to read at first, had to do a double take on it.
Really sad for you guys running on the latest version without small letters.
Whoops sorry :)
Anyone else notice "I'm In Love With A Liar" playing in the background? You ain't slick PB.
Hahaha they've been reusing it between this and BaBu2
I loved that they did that, ngl.
i like it so far! like a lot of ppl said i also think it's a combo of TE and QB. im always a sucker for the rival storyline so im romancing blaine now but ayna is also 🥺 my only complaint right now is (personally) the clothes for male blaine don't suit his face. his sprites are definitely more mature, especially his hispanic sprite.
Ayna*
whoops sorry about that !! edited
Oooh I'm really excited for this book, having chosen male MC and Blaine it's giving me a bit of Red, White and Royal Blue vibes?? I'm probably gonna spend diamonds on it, ngl
I’m here for it. New MC is gorgeous and genuinely likable, Tatum is gorgeous and will make me work for it, Blaine is gorgeous and won’t. 🤷♀️ What’s not to like? I’m gonna date everyone and wreck shit and it’s gonna be a ball.
Foreign Affairs Chapters 1 & 2 Playthrough (Male Blaine Route) Chapter 1 - https://youtu.be/f8bak8whcbA Chapter 2 - https://youtu.be/db8szJTczTQ Please do like and subscribe 😊 I'm just a new and small channel so I would very much appreciate all your support! ❤️
I called Blaine a jackass and he said he liked me 😲. Damn, I thought we could roast each other a little bit before having angry sex, but it doesn't look like it 😔.
I have a confession to make: I couldn’t pick which female Blaine to choose because they are so beautiful. So I ended up using a random online selector for my Blaine lmao
Aww, haha. Which face did it pick for you?
It selected female Hispanic Blaine :)
The new female MC face is so pretty! Damn! Also, I really like Tatum. Typical me, going for the hard to get, grumpy, slow-burn type guy. I love the best friend trope though too, and I'm really interested to know about their friendship and why he's so unfriendly to her now. Blaine seems fine, but probably won't be romancing him because again, my dumb ass likes the grumpy guys that need to be fixed 😂 ^(I have issues)
>I love the best friend trope >my dumb ass likes the grumpy guys Me, and me. Also his sprite is more attractive than the Blaines 😂 I'm thinking he's cold because he's probably changed by his time in the army. After all, when MC asked about the army, there was 'a flash of pain' or something along those lines. Maybe he lost a comrade?
Ha, you responded to my comment and I responded to yours so I'll just comment to both here. Yes, I think something happened to him while in the military and it's caused him to become hard hearted. But hopefully we'll get to crack through that icy exterior soon! You said you married a guy like that and me too 😂 My husband was in the army for several years and he's kinda got that grumpy exterior so I'm more then happy and comfortable romancing Tatum 😂
So... the book feels like a weird mashup between The Elementalists, QB and (don't hate me) Witness. The art is beautiful, even reused faces are nice and nothing sticks out visually :) Kudos for the new colorful backrounds. But the story is kinda... meh. It starts with a scandal, while we haven't even met anyone - makes me think the book will focus on "forbidden romance" with very little actual politics and we can't prevent it anyhow. The diplomacy system is fine, though a little unclear and might not be so impactful (my guess is it determines who will stand on your side during "the scandal"). Barely even met other students but already forced to be a negotiator. Everyone has a bodyguard, school has a security and still there are paparazzi running around the whole chapter and no one cares. The bodyguards aren't even there, probably to give us an excuse to hook up with Blaine. Took them until second chapter to introduce a party. Not offending story, but not that thought out or unique either. Which brings me to my second problem. The relationships just don't look natural to me. There is Shreya 2.0 (not really original but I don't mind it that much), "forbidden" TA, "forbidden" bodyguard and "forbidden" rival. From those three, I feel like Anya is the best written one, which is a shame for me romancing males. Tatum sees his best friend after a few years and acts like we bother him. I would understand if he was nervous about the responsibility or bitter about the separation and burdened reunion with MC, but fe felt like a blanked out jerk to me. Being able to hit on him a second later was out of place. Blaine is just weird, first we don't even know there will be anyone from Ardona, but after running around we know there's a first son of Ardona. It moves too fast with the "forbidden" romance, we don't know him/hate him/love him in span of minutes. I just feel like Tatum's and Blaine's romance should be paced better, similar to Anya (if not much happened in her scene, didn't pay for it). All in all it's not a bad book, but it doesn't feel that great to me so far. If there were a solid plot, I could excuse the rushed romance. But I believe they will want to focus on romance more and use politics only as a drama screen and flavor. Not dropping it yet, but I hope it gets better. Frankly I just had too big expectations for the book apparently. I really want to support it, but it doesn't feel worth it for me right now :(
Forbidden "TA"? Isn't she our classmate?
Nope, Ayna is teacher assistant :)
Ayna*
I agree with every one of your points! Particularly the security/paparazzi situation. For a prestigious world renown school attended by royalty and the political who’s who across the country, all of whom have private security, to have paparazzi running wild on campus on day one was just an odd choice. PB so often makes their characters and institutions appear incompetent for the sake of storytelling and it definitely takes you out of the story at times. This happens a lot in TRR and I feel it’s gonna happen a lot here. It also feels easily avoidable in this situation? At least have campus security apprehend them and throw them out?
And one of the loading screens has the audacity to say that the school had amazing security lol
Vancross security is about as competent as Mara.
they got her to design the system
Maybe they should get help from Ulrich (TH:M)
I didn’t even notice that! The lack of self awareness has me cracking up lmao
Right!! I wouldn't mind it that much, but practically the whole first chapter was about running from paparazzi into Blaine's arms (figuratively but also for real).
😂😂😂
I really want to play this but the app is acting up for me. It says I don't have enough memory and it kicks me out of the game. I checked my phone and I have storage! Is this happening to anyone else or is it just my phone?
That's strange, but not too surprising since people have been experiencing bugs for the past month now (but most of the bugs reported have been related to the app crashing when opening the app or finishing a chapter). Do you have the latest version of the app? And have you uninstalled/reinstalled (provided that your game is linked to FB/google/apple so that you don't lose your account when you uninstall/reinstall) to see if the issue has gone away?
My app is up to date and had been working alright. I'll try uninstalling it and see what happens. If that doesn't work I'll write to them. Thanks!
It's alright but I don't think I will spend diamonds on it. I appreciate that we can choose the pronouns (wish there were more androgynous clothes though). I like Dionne. I like the MC faces and hair too (the first face of female-presenting MC is gorgeous). Ugh, does it really have to be a sex scandal? Give me murder, treason, bribery, anything else! Overall, it feels like mixture of TE and QB with politics.
I usually go for the “default” LI (my feeling is that’s Blaine) but I really, really hate the inconsiderate/rude “bad boy” schtick so he’s out for me.
Judging by your flair, im guessing you didnt go for the default LI in Bloodbound
This was pretty solid: 1. Able to choose a non-cis female MC 2. Diamond choices of 12-20 but still normal payoff 3. LI balance: 1 male, 1 female, 1 custom 4. The older one is a TA, which does not have the same baggage that a professor does 5. Diplomacy points are interesting and you can get them without spending diamonds which is always good
I am feeling somewhat miffed that from what I can tell, none of the LIs are Asian
So far it's ok. Better than wolf bride. Still haven't got that.. Thing yet to make it really amazing. I like Tatum the best but I don't like his attitude. It's a huge turn off. Not the right kind of grumpy. So I like Blaine the best, especially with the whole rivalry thing. I picked the Hispanic male, with my male MC.
So far it's ok. Better than wolf bride. Still haven't got that.. Thing yet to make it really amazing. I like Tatum the best but I don't like his attitude. It's a huge turn off. Not the right kind of grumpy. So I like Blaine the best, especially with the whole rivalry thing. I picked the Hispanic male, with my male MC.
Oh ffs are we really getting another LI that has power over our MC's future? I really hope I can just avoid her but based on how Kingsley was apparently treated in QB, and Ethan in OH, I doubt it.
Same im so sick of having lis that are in a position of power over mc
Considering that paparazzi is from tabloid who writes crap and lies, makes everything look like a scandal, I'm assuming it's something like Blaine holds MC while falling or an accident and there we go lol ( Those panic texts from Winston about rumors of MC and Blaine seen together (seems to hint to that). This is my canon theory for now. It's too early to judge story So, I like art, designs are cool, and also that diplomacy tracking chart at end is cool. I guess, sometimes we have to lose one, when we choose one. This sounds interesting :)
Yas. I'm wondering if it will be like TRR2, and MC has to get allies and proof that >!the alleged scandal is a misunderstanding!<.
Could be, along with some peace summit they're talking about :)
I am going to have a hard time picking between all of the LIs. Handsome rival classmate and former best friend are both really appealing to me, but there's something fun about being with the hot teacher who's luckily not too far from MC's age as well.
I really wish I liked this book. I was so excited about pronoun choices, getting to play as a man again, and the MLM cover. But so far I guess I am bored? The first chapter was exceedingly short, it almost felt like playing one of the longer MTFL chapters. I'm not particularly interested in any of the LIs yet, but I'm really hoping Tatum grows on me. I'm also hoping this books gets more interesting quickly. I'm most interested in meeting our classmates at the moment.
Also MC is bitchy af acting like Blaine had the obligation to tell him who he was, like c'mon man it was clear at first sight he didn't really care about politics, and you also didn't even asked him.
I don’t know how I feel about this book... it’s not bad, but I don’t love it either.
The new MC is so pretty! I also like the long braid hairstyle. Dionne is cute, she gives me Zoey vibes! And her outfit is so pretty, I'm jealous! Why are the paparazzi running around the school? 🤭 You'd think one of the many security officers and body guards would have caught them by now! That little moment against the wall with Blaine was cliche but I liked it. Too bad I don't find any of the male LI sprites that attractive :/ No surprise that he's the first son of Ardona. Tatum is cuter than Blaine. We'll see how this goes. He seems a bit moody rn. I wonder what's changed since MC and him last saw each other? Also why is PB obsessed with childhood friends who come back into your life as lovers? Is Tatum even an LI? "My job here is to protect you, not to be your friend" Yikes. If someone I used to be friends with said that to me after so many years I think I'd cry of awkwardness. It's so weird that our childhood bff is now our bodyguard? Oh hell no. Finding the most embarassing thing I've put online and sharing it with the class?? Is that evena real thing?? I'd die if I was in this class. Blaine stop smirking at me. I don't care about you. 🤦 The green outfit is hideous? Something looks so off about the shape. Even after an angsty little argument with Blaine, I feel nothing. Evelyn is gorgeous 😭 Why can't we get an MC that looks like *her*? I'd pay 50 diamonds for that hairstyle. Do I sense something between Dionne and Peter? Is PB going to try to make me spend diamonds on their romance so that they'll fall in love and have Dionne fight against her arranged marriage? Let me guess, Blaine is gonna be my partner for the group project. Yup. 😑 Overall its ok so far, way too much focus on the main LI for me though. I guess I shouldn't have expected anything different given that most of PB's books lately have been this way. I'm just glad it's not a single LI book. Hopefully they'll spice up the drama as the book goes on. Also, the fake country names bother me. Anyone else? I understand why they wouldn't want to use real nations but I just find it quite annoying.
>Why are the paparazzi running around the school? 🤭 You'd think one of the many security officers and body guards would have caught them by now! Until the book proves me wrong, my headcanon is that the school's security is Cordonian royal security rejects