#is it a unique perspective? probably not... i think it's pretty straightforward

[son-of-avraham]

"We have six days to build the outside world, six days to make the world a better place. For one day, build up the wold inside of you."

-Rabbi on shabbos

[witch--tips]

💎 WITCH TIP 💎

This is a post about the common “clear quartz can replace any crystal”

(this is more of a beginner post to clarify that tip from my perspective as a witch of many years. beginners can hear a lot of tips over and over again without much explanation for the little things that might make them finally work better. there is no RIGHT way to do witchcraft, so don’t take this as a rule everyone must follow, but this is my opinion and preferred way of doing things, and i think itll help out a lot of witches! <3)

Sure, clear quartz might be able to replace any crystal, BUT that doesn’t always mean you should just treat it the exact same way you would, say, a rose quartz, without any difference at all. No, at least imo, you should sort of program it beforehand. Clear quartz is uniquely open to taking in a lot of energies of all sorts, and so in order to prepare it to replace like a rose quartz (gonna continue with that for the example), you should GIVE it that sort of energy to take in before using it like one!

You can do that pretty easily, it doesn’t have to be some big long process. The simplest way is like energy work and visualization, such as holding it clasped in your hand, feeling the loving energy like a rose quartz would have, feel it pour down your arm, into your fist, then pour it into the quartz and let it take it all in. Or if youre bad with that sort of work, you can hold it and say an incantation (doesn’t need to rhyme or anything! it can be super simple and straightforward), like just TELL it that it’s full of love and has that sort of power. Speaking to it is especially effective if you let your breath from saying those words wash over the crystal imo.

Once it’s programmed, go ahead and treat it just like you would a rose quartz or any other lovey crystal, until you feel that the energy you put into it has faded out or you wanna cleanse it and give it another purpose. Feel free to program it as many times as you want with any sort of energy/intent you want. Just keep in mind that, if you want to program a single piece of quartz with multiple intents at once (like maybe love + peace + creativity), it might not be as strong as if you just gave it one or two at a time. That’s why I’d cleanse before giving it a different kind of energy, so it just has one or two to focus on.

Without that sort of programming beforehand, I feel the clear quartz is just an amplifier. If you stick it in a money spell without programming it, it’ll probably be surrounded by things like coins, cinnamon, bay leaves, pyrite, green aventurine, etc, right? If you didn’t tell the quartz at all to bring you money, it’s still around a bunch of money energies anyway, and since it takes in energies so easily, it might take them in by proximity and therefore enhance them. That’s a perfectly fine way to use clear quartz, but it may not be exactly how you want it to work in some spells, especially not in smaller spells where you’re using it on its own or just with one or two other ingredients. Just something to keep in mind.

I know that a lot of beginner witches hear that clear quartz, white candles, rosemary, etc etc can be used as replacements for everything, and that’s cool if you wanna use them like that, but I highly suggest doing something quick like this before you do. I don’t work as often with herbs, so I’m not really familiar with rosemary in spells, but for candles, another good way to program those is to etch a sigil or words onto it really quick :) though i feel like white candles don’t need as much programming as quartz might, since the flame is often the main focus. But I still program them anyway lol, it’s a big boost that takes like two seconds!

Hope this helps! Really, do whatever feels right to you, everyone experiences and interprets magic a little bit differently, so for us witches who manipulate it, it’s important to listen to your own findings and feelings. This is what I’ve picked up in my practice, and I hope it gives you beginners some good ideas and direction in your practice! Feel free to ask me any questions you might have in my ask box or the replies or anything. Welcome to witchcraft!

[qoldenskies]

So it seemed like Leo and Raph at least had moments where they were either aware of the curse or explicitly trying to fight against it (see Leo freezing in the doorway of Donnie's lab at one point, I'm pretty sure Raph had at least one moment before the curse broke but I can't quite remember which one), but did Mikey have any that I'm missing? He was willing to go along with Donnie on an errand or whatever at the beginning, I know that much, even if his art was all weird (curse bringing out repressed anger, perhaps?), but it would somehow be more of a gut punch if Mikey was the one to not even notice that anything was up until the moment he broke out of the curse.

i think whats most important about the way that mikey responded to the curse was that his perspective on it was not as concrete as leo and raph's. like leo and raph as donnie's older brothers both had in some capacity this feeling of responsibility over him that mikey DIDN'T, and the curse really takes advantage of it (getting more insight into leo's relationship with donnie in ME and CW really compounds his role and how he's spent so long looking out for him and facilitating a relationship where donnie is more comfortable being uniquely vulnerable, while raph was more straightforward as the oldest and their protector). but mikey's resistance is a lot more passive and hard to pick up on, there's a reason he's not proactive until very late in the game.

really i think the moment in the kitchen is the only really mask off moment he has where he's independently aggressive, with no input from his other family, and that's just because donnie did something that would probably frustrate him on a NORMAL day and the curse just intensified those emotions by like a billion

really i think the absolute worst thing about it is that it takes advantage of mikey's impulsivity more than anything else. he's not calculated and reveling in the idea of vengeance for a perceived lifetime of annoyance like leo is. he doesn't think its a deep moral responsibility that needs to be corrected like raph does. mikey is a person who likes fun, who likes to turn his brain off, and sometimes that means he can be reckless, careless, and occasionally even mean! he's an empathetic person who's willing to correct himself when he oversteps boundaries, but when its for someone the curse is twisting him to hate, why would he?

it's the thrill of getting away with it, with being in on the "joke". he laughs while leo does the really nasty shit and usually only goes out of his way to get in on it when leo's the one encouraging him, because early on he sees most of the goading and bullying as actual harmless fun, and later on he hates donnie enough to revel in it when he has the momentum with other people who are in on the joke. mikey on his own really would not be as vicious, and its why you can even see it in little ways- he lies after letting donnie out of the closet but he does seem confused and hurt by his reaction. when they go to the movies without him, he makes up the lie about genuinely forgetting in an effort to protect his feelings. he hugs him after he fixes the oven; the "its ok!! we werent mad" text message was a lie but it was similarly one to make him feel better (while the "good" after indicates how little he actually cares beyond that, not even trying to entertain him)

and when mikey isn't actively taking fun in hurting donnie, he isn't acknowledging him at all. he finds torment for the sake of it to be annoying, and he loses his patience/gets bored with it eventually-- and then he doesn't treat donnie like anything but a broken toy to be thrown away. when donnie isn't fun for him, he isn't anything. its the fact that he's apathetic in the end that hurts donnie the most.

[saccharinescorpion]

the writing of Pikmin 4 is very interesting to me. the plot is extremely straightforward and simple, but there’s a surprising amount of side chatter (i’ve played over 50 in-game days so far and i think i’ve only gotten a single repeat of the-end-of-day dialogue between the crew). more than that though, there’s a lot of in-universe writing. there’s the Rescue Journal, which ostensibly is supposed to be a How To Play guide, but also includes Captain Shepherd’s diary which gives some surpririsng depth to a character that’s mostly comic relief. similarly Olimar has his voyage log, which from a gameplay point of view are meant as a guide for the player to how to approach certain areas and obstacles but also details his melancholy recollections of home

there’s also the in-game encyclopedias for monsters (the “Piklopedia”) and treasures (the Treasure Catalog), which have a description for every single entry, each written in the unique voice of their respective in-universe writers. but (spoilers) once Olimar is rescued he contributes his own entries to both encyclopedias, and an interesting dichotomy appears between the two. Olimar goes into a LOT of detail for his entries for the Piklopedia (which by the way already provided in-universe family names and scientific names for each creature) using a lot of real world biology terms the average layman probably wouldn’t know (notochord, protochordate, ambisexual, to name a few) and i can’t imagine the average 8-12 year old being familiar with. then when you move onto the Treasure Catalog a huge chunk of his notes are just him thinking about his wife and kids. it’s very cute, but there’s also a surprising amount of very mature musing-- stuff like thinking about getting older and the importance of self-care not for vanity’s sake but for the sake of your loved ones, thinking about how being ambitious in your career means exploiting those under you, thinking about the interactions between child and parent and how they change with age and perspective. thinking about fruit. thinking about his wife, son and daughter. a lot. it’s very, very cute

i know it’s trite to joke about how Pikmin, with its morbid premise and punishing gameplay, doesn’t seem like its for kids, but i really do wonder how kids react to it. can they understand the ruminating about responsibilty and adulthood? what do they think about all the melancholy and the bittersweetness? its hard for me to imagine children really connecting to something like that... but i think we underestimate children a lot. in any case, i’m glad they get the chance to play something this offbeat and thoughtful, and i’m glad i have the chance too! this weird somewhat sad atmosphere is one of things that has really endeared me to this game, and i’m glad i gave it a try

other than all of that, the character relationships are mostly pretty barebones. i did enjoy the minor subplot regarding Dingo the Rescue Corps ranger abandoning Bernard the pilot only for Bernard to return and slowly drive Dingo to madness via passive aggressive psychological warfare

[yumantimatter]

Death-Neutral Antideathism

[epistemic status: a statement of personal philosophy. questions and responses welcome, but please argue the tractability of ending death with people who are more invested in it as a goal than I am]

I'm pretty normie for an anti-death transhumanist. I haven't signed up for cryonics and don't plan to unless it gets way cheaper and better, I donate neartermist, I have pierced ears and zero other body mods, etc etc.

I still consider myself a part of the movement, because it's straightforward and obvious to me that if people don't want to die they shouldn't have to, and if they want to change their bodies and minds they should get to.

Personally I'm fine with dying someday. I think I am going to grow up into an old person who has had plenty of experiences and is comfortable with not having many more of them. If I found out today that I had a terminal illness, I would rather spend my time and money on fulfilling my bucket list and leaving my loved ones good memories (and donate the rest) than in the hospital desperately trying out low-probability treatments. (See my opinion on cryo)

(Then again, I certainly wouldn't turn down a miracle cure! Or a known, tested treatment with a decent chance of getting me through! Or something that was unlikely to work but low financial and opportunity cost to try! This is also the same as my opinion on cryo)

I don't view death as bad inherently. It's just a change of state, if one that's uniquely impactful in its irreversibility and all-encompassing scope. I don't agree that people dying is always a great screaming moral emergency, that death is a yawning horror for anyone who looks at it clearly, or that we are all fooling ourselves. For me, the way modern culture treats death is actually a pretty good match to how I feel about dying.

But, um, *gestures at anti-deathists more broadly* *gestures at all the people who do try any possible treatment for their terminal illness* *gestures at the instinctive struggle for self preservation when it would be so much less effort to stop* It sure seems like there's a lot of not wanting to die going around! And it sure seems like a horrible idea to just ignore that!

People who make peace with their eventual death even though they'd prefer to live longer are fine, and not making a mistake. People who make a thought-out choice to die or to risk their lives for other goals are fine, and not making a mistake. And people who desperately want to live, who cling on to cryo and fund anti-aging and search for any possible means of continuing on, are also fine and not making a mistake.

I think death is bad for the many many many people who want to continue living, or decide to live, or endorse being alive, and who die anyway. A natural death after a long fulfilling life isn't an exception to that. This is the part where I do wholeheartedly agree with the standard anti-death talking points, and want them to become more mainstream. That competing perspective which validates the desire to not die, and which spurs people into looking for ways to do something about it, is vitally important for the sake of people who don't work like me.

Maybe this is just a long winded way of saying I'm a preference utilitarian (ish) who takes weird and hard-to-fulfill preferences seriously? If so, I'm happy to take up that flag. Weird-preference-fulfillmentism all the way!

(I haven't even brought up the transhumanism, which I support on the same lines - I don't think my position there is particularly unusual in these parts though, seeing as this is the transgender website.)

For now, I am in coalition with the anti-deathists. And I will keep being in coalition with them, until and unless the world shifts far enough to count my viewpoint as neutral.

[greyplainsttrpg]

Why You Should Play Greyplains:

Or

How I Gave Up and Embraced the Tao

Part 1: The Philosophy of Greyplains

When thinking about Hasbro's: Wizards of the Coast's: Dungeons and Dragons (2014), I can't help but wonder, "you know, I wonder what Lao Tzu would say about this." That's not true. Actually, I am much more interested in what Zhuang Zhou (originally introduced to me spelled as Chuang Tzu; I am not Chinese nor do I speak Mandarin I don't know how or why these letters were selected don't @ me). Hasbro's: Wizards of the Coast's: Dungeons and Dragons (2014) is a pretty weird game that makes me pretty angry, as per my 5e Villain Arc jamboree might imply. My quest to understand and resolve these problems led to some very interesting philosophy that is built into the bones of Greyplains. This is the last time in this post that I will mention Hasbro's: Wizards of the Coast's: Dungeons and Dragons (2014).

You might be asking yourself, "why Taoism?" It seems a bizarre place to gather inspiration for a tabletop roleplaying game, but Toaism is very important to my fundamental being. My father, in his own quest that (now that I'm writing this, I'm beginning to realize parallels my own) created his own martial arts system with Kenpo as the basis but incorporating the philosophy of its traditional Chinese (and in this case, Taoist) origins. This isn't to say that the fighting style is more esoteric and Wu Shu adjacent. No. It is actually more practical and straightforward than its basis in American Kenpo Karate AND more philosophical in its intent. I grew up entrenched in this. It has resulted in a pretty unique perspective.

This origin gave me two major points of contact with TTRPGs that are outside the typical space of most players, GMs, and designers:

1. I know how to fight. I know how to fight with my hands and with weapons. I know how to fight unarmed against weapons (don't, if you can).

2. I am weirdly familiar with Taoism. This provides frameworks that most people around me simply don't have (I have to do a lot of explaining to get to points that are kind of a gleeblor for me in my real life as well as in game design).

Starting with point 2, one of the central axes of Taoism is "inclusive paradoxes." If you've read any of the Tao Te Ching, then you'll know what I'm talking about. "A is the opposite of B; therefore A and B are related to each other; therefore A and B are the same thing; embrace the Tao." Massive over simplification, but that's kind of the Tao Te Ching for 81 poems. Zhuang Zhou, Lao's most famous pupil/person that probably doesn't exist but is instead the adopted name of a Lao's students, is much more interesting. Instead of esoteric poetry explaining the Tao, Zhuang tells stories that illustrate the Tao. Greyplains is designed, from the ground up, to tell perplexing, thematically exclusive themed adventures in the tradition of Zhuang Zhou. However, that is intended to occur AFTER the game has finished. Stories are future-perfect. In the process, the gameplay itself is much more like fighting.

Fighting is one of the most granular, observation-heavy things a person can do. You have to completely shift how you perceive reality. You can't look at your opponent, you have to look THROUGH them. You can't focus on details, you have to concentrate on waiting to notice details that will become important �� and exploitable. You have to constantly be aware of the environment or risk being stuck in a corner, lose your balance, or fall to the ground; you need to find ways to use the environment against your opponent. There is so much information you have to entertain at the same time that you cannot possibly focus on everything AND all the things about yourself that you need to be aware of (breath, balance, guard, personal reach, etc).

This is the thing that most people don't understand about the Yin Yang. There's a white part and a black part, and in the white a black spot and in the black a white spot, we all know. But the Yin Yang has two other properties that are actually very important: the dividing curve and the containing circle. The universe is contained and pivots around the same fundamental force. That fundamental force IS the Tao. The part that seems to be the least obvious is the most important part, yet it is locked away to being a mathematical technicality. The line between Yin and Yang is a negative aspect in that it is defined by what it is not. It is only something that it is not. To be in Tao is to be without, philosophically speaking. That is the essence of Taoist "non-being" and "non-action." Being nothing, you do nothing. Things simply occur around you.

That is what is required to be a good fighter. You have to be without. In order to perceive everything, you must learn to perceive nothing. This is the essential approach to gameplay in Greyplains.

I have a lot more to say, but I will get to them when I get to them in their own sections. For now, the first reason you should play Greyplains is that it is actually a Taoist game masquerading as a standard "vanilla" fantasy adventure TTRPG.

[fwoopersongs]

[Book Rec + Reaction/Thoughts] The Lantern and the Night Moths 灯与夜蛾 by Yilin Wang

An anthology of translated poems by five modern or contemporary poets and accompanying essays by the translator, @yilinwriter.

You can find the pronunciation guide and list of corrections here!

The cover art, a beautiful expression of the tone of this collection, is by Taiwanese artist Ciaoyin (check out her gorgeous insta!). I'm looking forward to the arrival of the physical book as my tab absolutely does not do it justice xD

Anyway! The official release date is 02 April 2024 though there have been some very thoughtful reviews by early readers already. Here, here, here and here.

(It was an ARC that I received too… though in the time it took to put this together, the ebooks have already gone out to readers >.< typical snail yj!) 

Instead, I’ll tell you who I think would be interested in this book or might benefit from reading it, then share things that are cool about it from the perspective of a bilingual hobbyist translator + lover of ancient poetry and lyrics.

Who should read it?

If annotations, translator’s notes and reflections spark joy for you...

If you’ve ever read poetry translations and been intensely curious about what goes on under the hood...

If you’re a translator yourself wanting to hear another voice...

Definitely check this out!

Also if you’re CN+EN bilingual and have ever read something in English that references Chinese terms and concepts etc. except ONLY in English, pinyin or wade-giles and been utterly frustrated by the ensuing guessing game (like me) Fear Not.

That will not be a problem here.

I really appreciate how Chinese words are used naturally where needed for concepts and quotes - they are also translated for those who can't read Chinese so no one is left out. It made this book of and about translation (and more) super comfortable to read! The solution is so simple, so direct, so rarely used that I am amused.

Oh, but do note that the Chinese characters are in simplified though!

The poems are organised by their writers who are listed here by order of birth year, not appearance in the book:

秋瑾 (Qiu Jin, 1875 to 1907)

废名 (Fei Ming. 1901 to 1967)

戴望舒 (Dai Wangshu, 1905 to 1950)

小西 (Xiao Xi, 1974 to _)

张巧慧 (Zhang Qiaohui, 1978 to _) 

Altogether, that covers nearly the last 150 years up to now. I’ve never really been into poetry by poets in such relatively recent times, in part because I’d been holding on to this stereotype of them spurning Classical Chinese and ancient poetry in the first half of the 20th century (not entirely true, as I came to realise xD). It made sense and was understandable, but felt sad.

Yet am I the target audience for this book?

Very much so.

In ways I didn’t think I would be too! It was so much fun to experience this both as a reader and a translator that I thought I’d share it here, where we are appreciating Chinese poetry together.

If you didn’t think you’d enjoy modern Chinese poetry, hey, give it a chance!

Oh yeah - on the way home a while back, I was talking to a friend about translation and was surprised to hear that her impression was that it ought to be a straightforward process. Like isn’t it a 1:1 conversion? At some point, ‘what’s the difference between something google translate might return, and how you would say it?’ was asked, and oh that was a delightful question to my ears! I showed her one of my comparison sheets where an original text is laid out alongside multiple translations line-by-line, briefly explaining some common and unique choices and how the people who had translated those probably arrived at the various interpretations. She was pretty amazed to see that the answer to her question was: very different. Hey, it’s a complicated process!

But there’s only so much one can explain in the space of a train ride. That’s why The Lantern and the Night Moths is a book I would also rec to someone like this friend of mine - open minded and curious but never having the chance to think about or encounter the craft of translation.

Like Yilin says, ‘the meaning of a word cannot be fully expressed in one single translation, nor through a series of translation attempts’. She then explains why with great attention to detail and some solid examples from one of the poems with word choices loaded with subtle connotations :D

What's interesting about it?

Okay, for one, Yilin shared a playlist of music that she listened to while working on this book. Here is the link to the spotify one and the one on youtube. Check them out! They sure put me in the mood to read xD (favs: 别知己, 小神仙 & 去有風的地方) Afterwards, this made so much sense like - ah! an audio moodboard.

She's also putting together these adorable mini profiles of each poet along with a cmedia and tea rec to match their vibes. Go see them on her instagram xD

Now to business...

structure

What really helped keep the reader’s focus was the way each section is organized, how the poems and accompanying essay were presented and finally the short bio of each person right at the end. 

The poets are first introduced through five or six of their poems, works well suited to this purpose. Their voices, distinct through the vision, ambition and emotion of their words, are brought across by Yilin’s sensitive, thoughtful and poetic translations into English. These translations were also creative and transformative in a way that made so much sense after reading one of her reflections on the process, how she ‘must guide it with gentle hands to ensure its spirit is kept alive and intact during this transformative, and often excruciating process’. A rebirth into another language!

Personally, I’ve come to think of reading translations as looking at a work through another’s eyes. So it’s delightful when the translator’s presence is discernible, and even more so when the reader is given insight into their intention and process via commentary. 

Yilin’s essays coupled with the poets’ bios at the end provide a means to go back and appreciate their works in context of their circumstance and inspirations. Similarly, to read the translations with a changed perspective.

I don’t know how much of a thing this is with translated poetry anthologies in English - can count the number I’ve read with both hands lol, and they’re all of the ancient chinese poetry variety - but I really like this design.

drawing on poets who came before them

Remember how we’re always recognizing traces of inspiration from ancient works (to them) in poetry of the various dynasties? 李商隐 Li Shangyin of Tang for example, was influenced by 楚辞 Verses of Chu and folklore and mythology such as that in 山海经 Classic of Mountains and Seas, 李白 Li Bai frequently references poets and history of the 魏晋 Wei-Jin era, and 王维 Wang Wei was clearly familiar with Buddhist scriptures which were translations themselves! 

Just like the late Táng poets whom he praised for boldly deviating from the voices before them, Fei Ming used popular references and tropey shorthands ‘in contexts utterly different from the original, reimagining them anew’. Dai Wangshu, too, ‘boldly re-envisioned what modern poetry could look like by revisiting the classics’. In fact, in his very relatable ‘To Answer the Visitor with Classical Imagery’, I see Li Bai’s 春夜宴桃李园序, Qu Yuan’s 离骚 and lots of - as the title says - classical imagery, as if pulling out painting after painting to describe a feeling.

And Dai Wangshu’s faith in the translatability of poetry, that ‘poetry isn’t what is lost in translation, but rather, what survives it’ reminds me of what a friend, @xiakeponz, said that I agree with so much - because readers can ‘experience something in their own individual way through (your) shared humanity rather than language alone’.

poetic tradition and beyond

Between the lines of contemporary poets Zhang Qiaohui and Xiao Xi, I can really see the charm of plain vernacular, how it can be beautiful, incisive and clever in turns. Even as it seems to have moved further than ever from the structure and language of literary Chinese, the themes that inspired common motifs remain a part of life. Mother and divinity, homesickness, finding oneself, tributes to admirable spirits and the issues that trouble society - just in a new form and with different ways of expression.

Qiu Jin

So many FEELINGS about what Qiu Jin was doing - ‘I awaken the spirits of women, hundreds of flowers, abloom’. I would love if she could see the world now. So many things for her to rouse and fight against, but at the same time just as many to be proud of. I am so in awe of her, but now hearing her loneliness and struggle there is a soft spot in my heart for those too. 

conclusion

So so so…

Qiu Jin’s admirable fire and lonely resolve. Zhang Qiaohui’s precious ability to express beauty in the mundane and in pain. Fei Ming’s utter delight! He is having so much fun and when* I’m vibing, I feel it too. Xiao Xi’s critical eye and keen observation of the world. Dai Wangshu’s whimsical charm and passion for translation. Finally, Yilin Wang, the connecting thread wound through them all, bringing them together so that we may be acquainted. 

*Reading his poetry is like unwrapping a seamless, many layered present. A gift that keeps giving - if only you have a key 😅 Fortunately, Yilin has halved our struggle 🤣

I’ve had such a great time with them all. And if you come, I hope you will too!

[empressofthewind]

/twirls into the room 1 2 3 21 for the ask for one nate river please!!!!

HELLO AND WELCOME 🥰 these were genuinely the hardest questions to answer because I could write essays upon essays about how much I love him but I tried to keep it at least somewhat brief!!

~

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

I adore everything about him 🥺 here’s a bullet point list so this doesn’t just look like one daunting wall of text:

The very first thing that compelled me was his relationship with Mello. I love the idea that they’re designed to be two halves of L, and that he is fully aware of his own shortcomings as an individual despite Mello’s own permanent state of denial. He’s so understanding and forgiving of Mello’s actions, he defends him when he can’t be there to defend himself and gives him more credit in the warehouse than he gives himself.

He also demonstrates this level of empathy with his team, factoring their opinions into the decisions he makes and checking in with them to make sure they’re comfortable when he sets them dangerous tasks. He’s stated in Volume 13 to be sensitive, and this comes through so clearly in the way he interacts with the people he cares about.

He’s direct when he has to be, and he doesn’t put on a fake persona or play into childish mind games the way L and Light do. He’s honest with the people he trusts, and when he has to lie, he does it in the most straightforward, simple way. Most of his plans are like this - relatively straightforward, rarely overcomplicated. He’s sharp and he thinks things through very thoroughly, even at short notice.

Much of his personality comes through in nonverbal cues and subtleties in his dialogue, like the creativity in his construction of toys and puppets, and a vague streak of recklessness in the way he so casually destroys them. His inability to throw darts is also one of my favourite things about him, because of the way it starkly contrasts his tendency to be good at everything else. He can stack thousands of cards into the shape of an ‘L’ with the most insane impeccable precision but he cannot hit a dartboard from 1 metre away. Iconic.

He’s the least arrogant and prideful of the main cast, but he does have a tendency to be judgemental, with regards to the way he freely calls people stupid and gets frustrated by anyone he sees to be a mindless follower. I think it’s interesting though how he seems to feel much more strongly about that than L and Mello do. Mello wants to catch Kira to beat Near, and L wanted to catch Kira for the sake of his ego, but Near seems to have a real, genuine disdain for Light and everything he stands for, despite also somewhat buying into the idea that the whole thing is a game.

On the whole he’s just SUCH a unique and well-designed character, and I love that, for how direct and unapologetic he is, there are also many complexities to dig into if you’re willing to go looking for them.

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

His facial expressions!! In particular I am OBSESSED with his evil little smile 😭 he does it when he knows he’s right about something, and he gets immediately smug about it, and it’s especially delightful to watch when Light is on the receiving end and is just as aware that he’s been backed into a corner. I love his angry/frustrated look a lot too, especially when his cheeks get all puffy.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

Everything about his anime counterpart, if that’s within the scope of the question lmao. For manga Near only, I do find it a little sad in the warehouse scene that he immediately writes off the possibility of Mello having deduced that Takada had the notebook. I get why that would be hard to believe from his perspective, but given that he is Mello Apologist Extraodinaire™️ in canon, it seems pretty depressing that he spends probably the rest of his life believing Mello saved his life by total reckless accident.

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

I really like exploring his feelings, in a very general sense. His feelings towards Mello of course, but also his feelings towards L and the successor program, towards his childhood, towards himself and his own identity and future, and broadly, the ways in which he deals with these emotions. It’s very easy to read his character as entirely unemotional and I hear that said about him a lot, but I think he’s much more complicated than that and there are a lot of compelling possibilities to explore.

Something I dislike is probably putting him through too much angst 😭 I HAVE written fics that don’t end well for him and I can write them just fine, especially if there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but in general I much prefer making Mello suffer. This is mostly because Near is my favourite and he deserves the world, but I also do find Mello’s anguish more narratively compelling given that he’s more likely to react in ways that are irrational and self-destructive.

~

Ask me things :-)

[vibesoda]

Hi! I love your Fine/Quick Clockwork au and i was too shy to ask about it before but i saw your post talking about people asking questions, and it felt like a sign asdfsdf

ok first though i found the fic from your drawing of fein/fine and couri/icarus and it's literally??? been living in my head rent free i was making silly little doodles of fine and couri during class today like???? the story is so interesting and cool (im a BIG sucker for hero-villain stuff) and the characterizations are so good, especially loving the dialogue and fein's narration, it matches his voice really well

i think i've reread chapter 3 at least six?? times?? probably more. every scene is so good because they're all tense but in different ways, which makes each part suspenseful while still being unique. there's a feeling of dread throughout the whole chapter, and it's awesome. also villain fruit is everything to me...he's so slay (literally. maybe too literally actually)

So I have two questions! One, aside from obviously having different characters, did anything change between the chapter three that we got and the original idea/vision for the chapter (that you can say w/o spoilers) given that there was a 2 year gap between it and 2? And two, how common is having a power in the au's world, and how did you decide what power to give each person? of the people we know i feel like people wouldn't usually correlate fein and being a healer so it's soo interesting seeing that kind of dynamic here

this got really long so just wanted to say your writing is amazing and im always excited to read your works, thanks for taking the time to read this ok bye-

thank you SO much for this. you are so kind and i’m absolutely overjoyed that you enjoy my work. i’ve said this many times before, but it bears repeating that people like you are the reason i’m still sharing my work. knowing that people other than me derive joy from what i make is everything.

anyway, to answer your questions: no, not much changed between the original concept for the story three years ago and the current outline i have. one thing that changed, though, was that i never planned on Fine himself being targeted by villains, but i since changed my mind (obviously) because the events of chapter three force Icarus to think about being a hero from a different perspective. it starts a domino effect that leads to some rather groundbreaking discoveries on Icarus’s part.

i’d say about 30-40 percent of the population has some sort of power, but very few of them are “powerful,” like Icarus’s wings. Lots of them go undetected for a long time, like Fine’s healing.

Icarus’s power was pretty straightforward. A long, long, time ago in the year of our lord 2021 (and parts of 2020 if i recall correctly), couri ran a category of 1.16 RSG called icarus, where the player would start with an elytra and a stack of rockets. that’s where his sona’s wings came from. artists started drawing him with wings and the rest is history.

about Fine’s power: Iterum readers would know that it’s quite similar to Switch’s power, but Fine’s power predates Iterum, so it came first. if you read the tags on Fine, you may notice one that reads “superpowers as a metaphor for love languages,” and, uh, weeelllll, if you read into Fine’s monologue in chapter three, think about giving vs taking, uh, you can come to your own conclusions about all that. A lot of HBG’s powers are based on their Dolorem/Iterum counterparts, if that provides some insight.

[rei-caldombra]

Delicious in Dungeon - First Impressions Review

This is based off the first 3 episodes of the anime and does contain spoilers. Please be aware that I have not read the manga and am not spoiled. 

I actually got to watch the first 2 episodes of the anime live at Anime NYC last year. It also came with a sampler manga volume that includes a bit of the first volume of Dungeon Meshi. I’m glad they gave this out, this is a cool and unique item. It was nice being able to look at the manga art while waiting for the panel to start, so then I could compare it to the anime. I think the visuals match the manga very well and think both look great. I think there may be slight differences in facial expressions but nothing notably different or anything I would notice if I was not intentionally looking closely while writing this. The visuals of the anime are very high quality. The animation and art are clean, detailed and smooth. 

I like the intricate details of monsters. The mollusks in the armor in episode 3 are fantastic and easily my favorite part of the show. This is creative, unique and fascinating. This was completely unexpected. It is so interesting and inventive. This took a classic fantasy enemy and explained it in an entirely new way. If they can pull this off every episode, I would be ecstatic. I hope we get to see more reimagining of classic creatures on top of one's original to the series. 

I also enjoy the cooking aspect of the show. It's very satisfying to watch. I do like very detailed cooking and eating animation. I think the show is at its best when it presents an interesting creature followed up with an interesting way that they are cooked. Again, this is done well in episode 3, where we see the multiple ways that the living armor could be cooked. 

Another specific moment I loved was the detailed look into traps in the dungeon. Traps in any kind of dungeon-like structure are a staple, but usually they are breezed past as the characters avoid them. It was great seeing how these mechanically function. And even greater to then see how these traps can be used to cook food. This is another time where Dungeon Meshi does something truly unique and inventive.

It’s also decently funny. I do not think it’s laugh out loud funny, but there’s good jokes. I do think Marcille’s reluctance may get a bit repetitive if it keeps getting leaned into so hard but hopefully it won’t be too bad if we continue the same pattern of each episode featuring a new monster or two that they show us how to cook. I am totally down if it primarily wants to continue the trend of creature cooking of the week for now. 

When it comes to the characters, Laios is the main one I have much to say about. I think he is a solid main character. He is pretty straightforward but with the funny flair of being concerningly fixated on eating dungeon creatures. 

It creates lots of great rapport between the characters, and I am totally up for this simply being a weird hyper fixation of his. I enjoy when writers embrace characters having weird specific passions like many real people do. I think there is potential for there to be some more depth to him through his responses to his sister being in danger, but sadly I do not think that element is being hit properly, at least not yet. I hope going forward we will get more perspective from Laios on his sister that makes me care more about her and them as a family. 

The previous point is a good transition into my primary gripe. I think the main premise of saving Falin clashes with the tone of the show. You’d think they would be rushing to save his sister but it does not come across that way at all. And I do not feel like this is out of caution for moving through the dangerous dungeon or any reason along those lines. I understand that the dragon probably digests slowly but it still doesn’t change that this is between life and death. Falin being in danger does not feel very relevant. A lot of the time it feels like they are taking their time and enjoying themselves. Which is not fundamentally bad, but feels strange when the reason for them being there is to save the main character’s sister from dying. It feels so irrelevant that I genuinely forget that she existed for a time. With the general tone and content I think a serious motivation like his sister being in danger isn’t needed as a plot point. They could just want to finish where they failed, and Laios just wanted to go through it but be able to cook the monsters this time. And I think nothing would need to change. I think a simpler and less serious motivation would be better. A more dramatic plot like someone slowly dying would fit better if the series seemed to have more intent on being dramatic. But I do not see many attempts at that so far. Even at the very beginning when they realize she is down there we do not see much emotional expression. It seems focused on just having fun with its concept of cooking in a dungeon. Which is totally fine, but for me this creates a very poor tone. If I want to just be invested in the cooking and adventuring then I do not see the purpose of Falin being slowly digested being in the back of my mind while they relax with some food. If I am supposed to care about Falin then it doesn’t feel right to see the characters spend time and effort just to test if they could use trap oil to safely fry something when she is being digested by a dragon. For me there is clear tonal whiplash that harms my investment in the show. 

I will definitely continue watching as I am enjoying the fun adventuring and cooking. Hopefully the tone will be improved as we go forward. The anime is already slated for 24 episodes so we have a lot ahead of us. I do like the basic episode structure of “creature of the week” but I do worry about it continuing to be interesting for 24 episodes 24 weeks in a row. But I think and hope we will get some more dramatic elements eventually and more focus on Falin being in danger while they take their time cooking. Thank you for reading!

[reblogthiscrapkay]

The Myth of Persephone in "Punderworld."

Apparently it's been two years since I posted one of these. Technically I actually did read something a few months ago, a very short story called "Persephone Remembers The Pomegranates," but I found it so short and unmemorable that I forgot to even write about it. It felt like a fanfic someone was charging for instead of an actual story. So let's talk about "Punderworld" instead.

I had heard of this one years ago and thought it looked cute, but I never really went beyond that. The other day though when I went to the library to work and completely forgot my computer, I decided to settle down in the graphic novel section to read a book I brought. But first I HAD to look through the shelves just in case there was something I needed to read there. I ended up checking out some books, and this was one of them. This is definitely not a conventional retelling of the myth. In fact, after the first volume, the myth hasn't even been fully told. I expect there to be at least one or two more volumes. The story starts with Hades talking to Zeus at a party for Artemis, which he is reluctantly at because he needed to ask Zeus a business question. At the same time, Persephone and her mom are fighting about how she won't let her go to the party, which spirals into how she won't let her live her own life. We find from these talks that Hades and Persephone met once when he went to get a cornucopia from Demeter and have only briefly seen each other since but they are both infatuated. Zeus decides to "help" by planting a trick by the lake where Seph lives. Hades rushes there to see a chariot that Persephone gets swept away by when she goes to inspect it. Hijinks ensue as the two have to land the thing in the River Styx and ultimately get separated. When he finds her, he tells her who he really is (Demeter had insisted he was a minor deity) and offers her a tour. She wants to go on the tour but says she needs to get home and then we see Demeter finding her bed empty.

It's kind of a lot of book for so little plot, but the good thing is that we get a really strong feeling for the characterization of everyone. Hades is pretty socially awkward in an endearing way and Persephone is strong willed and more straightforward (see also: flirty). Both of them are really hard working and reliable. I like the characterization a lot. I also LOVE the artwork. I've seen a lot of good comic versions from an art perspective (like the Allison Shaw one or the George O'Connor one) but this one may be my favorite. There is a ton of thought put into the designs and at the end of this volume the author talks about why she made the choices she did. As a Greek myth nerd I already saw what she was doing, but it was great to see. I love the detail about how all the major deities have crowns that are unique to their domain and some change with their moods. There's also a lot of little details in the writing that show the author really did her research about ancient Greek customs and such and I really appreciate that. Not judging too much since the story is probably not even halfway done, I will say I don't know how I feel about some of the changes. I like the idea of Hades not kidnapping her but the way in which they got to the underworld felt weirdly convoluted. I like that it put them in a position to have to work together (again, the characterization is very good) but it felt a little overwrought. I also think it worked to have them already knowing each other but I wish it had shied away from the "already in love and spoke once" trope just a bit. While you're changing stuff, why not just have them be interested and fall in love over the course of the book? Either way, I will definitely keep reading these if they keep getting published. But it could also use more puns.

[allthemusic]

Week ending: 19th April

A double bill this week, from an artist I have historically quite liked, and at least one of the songs written by another artist I don't at all mind. Seems promising enough, though I'm a bit worried just from the titles that one of them's a novelty number, a genre I don't like at the best of the times, and that I'm really not in the mood for today.

Where the Boys Are - Connie Francis (double A-side, peaked at Number 5)

Okay, so out of the two, this is clearly meant to be the big dreamy ballad. And I can confirm, it's both big and dreamy, with Connie going for huge sweeping vocal lines. As ever, she's very good at this, selling a sort of impatient yearning in a way that at least to me comes off as fairly convincing. It's a song about not having met your love, yet, and about dreaming of them. Where the boys are, Connie sings, someone waits for me, / A smilin' face, a warm embrace, two arms to hold me tenderly. You don't get the sense that Connie's tormented by her loneliness - she's not out there crying lonesome tears and suffering terrible torments over it. But she is impatient, wondering when it's going to happen, when Mr Right's going to finally arrive in her life. It's a sentiment that I think is pretty relatable, and Connie comes off as pretty likeable here. A bit passive, waiting for her love to come find her, perhaps, but that's not really the point of the song, anyway. So I don't mind, at least.

I think it helps that it's also just musically nice. Connie's voice is excellent, as ever, and the tune soars and dies away by turn, hanging on its final notes just long enough to really sell the melancholy and the yearning of it all - it's almost like Connie's love's keeping her hanging on, so she's going to keep us hanging on those last few lines, too, selling that feeling of something you just have to wait for, that you can't hurry. And backing it all up, piano triplets, a simple, straightforward bassline, some quiet vocals/strings and some shimmery, jangly guitar that periodically pops up. It's all charmingly unobtrusive - it's not minimalist, by any stretch of the imagination, but it doesn't stand out, either, and Connie's voice just floats over the top beautifully.

The song was written by Neil Sedaka and his writing partner Howard Greenfield, but was never written with any intention of Neil singing it. He's gone on record to say that this is unique, among the songs he wrote - apart from this, he claims that just about every song he ever wrote was written with the intention of releasing it himself, even if that intention was then dropped. Not so for Where the Boys Are, which was written on demand for a film, also called Where the Boys Are. Connie had been cast in this film with the understanding that she'd perform the title song - all that was left was to write a title song for it. Neil and Howard were invited to write a song, as was another duo, the Oscar-winning team of Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen. Obviously Neil and Howard won, and this was the result.

The film honestly doesn't look like something I'd be massively interested in. It's about four girls at a Midwestern college on spring break, all with different opinions on premarital sex, but all keen to chase after men in varying ways. This leads them into various romantic and sexual misadventures, as a result of which all of their opinions are completely turned on their heads. It's credited as one of the first films to really document changing sexual mores among young Americans, and it is probably interesting from a sociological perspective, but personally? I'd probably give it a miss. Still, I can see how this song fits with its themes of courtship and waiting for a man to find you vs. going and chasing after one yourself. Plus it's a good song, whatever you think about the film.

Baby Roo - Connie Francis (double A-side, 5)

Urgh, and I was correct. This is a novelty song. Curiously, I assumed it was going to be a very different novelty song, from the title. "Baby Roo" says Australia to me, and so I expected a song comparing Connie - or possibly her lover - to a little kangaroo. I wasn't sure quite where this would go, but there's potential there, right? They're bouncy, a bit goofy, have a pouch - you can do something with that. Or perhaps it was just going to be cavalcade of Australian animals and puns, right? I noticed that it's a Neil Sedaka hit, so I was kind of expecting something in the vein of I Go Ape.

And musically, the comparison isn't so far off the mark. We've got the same rock and roll piano, the same hand claps and silly backing singers, the same tambourine bashing away in the background, the same fun, bubbly sound. It's the sort of warm, sassy song that Connie excels at. Add a rocking sax solo, and you've got something that sounds great, really good fun. Just in terms of the sound of it all, this is a nifty little song. Not an all time great, or anything, but a perfectly serviceable bit of sugary fluff.

Unfortunately, the lyrics kind of spoil it for me, in the same way that the lyrics to Bobby Darin's version of Clementine also spoiled that song. Because for reasons that are genuinely unfathomable to me, Baby Roo is basically just one big fat joke, all about how fat Connie's man is. From the very first lines, the tone's set, as she asks us who's got a heart as big as a whale? / Who draws a crowd when he steps on a scale? Going real sensitive here, it seems. And things don't improve, as Connie describes her lover as my private moutain of love and my roly-poly little tonne of fun. Which are both clearly well-meant, but at the end of the day, it's a song about gawking and pointing at a fat guy. The whole "novelty" of it is that fat people exist, the joke being that Connie still loves this guy despite his weight. Which is just kind of insulting, when you think about it. And I don't think it being a girl singing about a guy excuses anything here - sure, it would be shocking if somebody sang this about a woman, but it's still plenty gross here.

Plus, and I can't believe I'm complaining about this, but it has literally nothing about baby kangaroos, who are known for being born the size of a jellybean. So you know, really quite small. Just go ahead and call the track Baby Whale, or Baby Elephant, or literally anything else!

Well, deciding on a ranking should be easy, if nothing else. Because these songs couldn't have been more different if they'd tried. I know that was kind of the goal with releases - give buyers something different on each side of the disk - but it still surprises me, somehow. I think especially because nowadays singles are generally released ahead of a longer album - this naturally means that consecutive singles from the same artist tend to have similar kind of vibes. There are exceptions, but the kind of wild variation that gives you both of these songs doesn't seem to have survived into the streaming era. And honestly, given this as example 1, I can't say that's a bad thing - I'd much have preferred it if both sides of this sounded like Where the Boys Are.

Favourite song of the bunch: Where the Boys Are

[four-loose-screws]

Limstella, Bramimond, and My Quest to Make Sure I Get Their Pronouns Right in the FE7 Novelization Translation

Hi all! FE7 is a unique game in the Fire Emblem series for having a couple of characters that do not identify strictly within the male / female gender binary, each for their own reason.

As I translate the novelization, I thought I'd make a T/N quick note about their pronouns in Japanese vs. English. It ended up a bit more complex than I originally thought, but hey, it's almost like human language is complex and ever changing to fit the current needs of its speakers!! Who knew?

Limstella

First, we have Limstella. TLDR; not human but a creation of the main antagonist Nergal known as a 'morph,' genderless, 'they / them' pronouns.

Canonically, from the initial release of FE7, Limstella was clearly established to be genderless. JP sources always say in their basic bio that their gender is fumei, meaning 'unclear, obscure, ambiguous,' anything of that sort. I think in both the original Japanese script and English localization of FE7, the writers avoided assigning pronouns to Limstella in game, not on purpose, but simply because they don't get that much screen time.

In the novel, their character introduction at the beginning of Book 2 says their gender is fumei, as I said pretty much every JP source introduces them. But there is one scene in the novel where they are referred to as kanojo - which distinctly means she / her. Limstella's map sprite in FE7 is the generic female sage sprite, so it's understandable that the author could understand them as both genderless and use kanojo at the same time. The OG canon is a tad conflicting when you consider the sprite used, was probably just a time constraints sort of thing.

With their inclusion in Heroes, Limstella got flavor text on the official Heroes website that serves as further discussion to add to this conversation.

With Heroes existing at the same time as the rise in usage of English singular they, that made it pretty easy to fully establish Limstella in English as genderless, and their pronouns as 'they / them.'

In JP, though, the description seemly goes out of its way to avoid pronouns for Limstella - they are referred to by name FIVE whole times in those four short sections of text! Though it's pretty normal to refer to someone by name over and over again in Japanese, whereas it starts to feel annoying after a while in English. So from a Japanese person's perspective, this would not read as "avoiding pronouns," it would just be business as usual.

Bramimond

I also did some research to make sure I used the correct pronouns for Bramimond. TLDR, born male, he lost his sense of self in his mastery of dark magic, and now reflects the person he is speaking to. Bramimond = 'he / him,' each personality = the original person's pronouns.

In English, in both the original FE7 script and Heroes, Bramimond is still referred to with 'he / him' pronouns. See the Heroes character intro of him for the most straightforward proof.

That makes sense enough though, when speaking about the existence of Bramimond, use 'he / him.' Got it. Then refer to each of the reflected personalities as the pronouns of the original person. Got it.

One of Athos' lines in FE7 does add another layer though...

“Bramimond has no self. He… She… It… Yes, it is a mirror that reflects the person addressing it. It projects no personality of its own. There are as many Bramimonds as there are people facing him. …Bramimond, do you remember me?”

So Athos uses all pronouns when referring to all the personalities as a whole, then shifts to 'it / he / him' when referring to Bramimond alone. Got it! Using 'it' to refer to people though... that's a bit... eh. Since we have singular they nowadays, I can avoid 'it.' So I changed 'He... she... it...' to just 'they' in the novel for this dialogue. 'They' is performing both a singular and plural usage in this case.

What does the Japanese do? Well, in the Japanese version of Athos' line, Athos doesn't use any words that lean towards male or female, instead strictly using words that mean "self" in English. But again, Japanese can get away without "full sentences," so Japanese uses pronouns a whole lot less, and that's just how the language works. It's not like the writers tread carefully around the fact that they wrote queer characters or anything.

［アトス］(Athos) ブラミモンドは己を持たぬ。▼(Bramimond has no self.) 他者に対しては (To others) その者を映す鏡となり▼(becomes a mirror that reflects that person, and) みずからの人格は (own personality) 決して表に出ることはない。▼ (never outwardly expresses.) それゆえ、出会う人々の数だけ (Because of that, as many people that meet ブラミモンドはいるのだ。▼(there are Bramimonds.)

...Well that's something of a "direct" translation, ha ha. As you can see, it just does not work at all. And you couldn't just have Athos repeat Bramimond over and over, because 1) again, standard English rules do not like to repeat names over and over, and 2) the localization team and programmers probably would have hit a GBA text box limit, especially with Bramimond being such a long name. So the English absolutely had to establish some kind of pronoun usage for him.

In Japanese, Bramimond's Heroes website flavor text just does the same thing as Limstella and refers to him by name alone. Like I said, repeatedly using names is just more accepted in Japanese.

-

And that's all I could think of to note. Ended up even being a bit of a Japanese lesson on top of covering the characters! Thanks for reading!

[yokohamabeans]

Hey, what do you think about the new chapter of the Tokyo Revengers? That Kisaki, Hanma ,Izana and the rest of the negative characters suddenly became good and kind?

Oh man.... Chapter 277.... Hooo boy. Warning: incoherent, saltyish rant ahead cuz I'm commuting and these are just off the top of my head.

Well, don't get me wrong. I'm appreciative of the fact that everyone (Kakucho especially) is alive and well but, I just thought it was pretty bad writing...

Firstly, one of the many things that drew me to TokRev is that major characters can die anytime, which I thought was pretty unique for such a straightforward mainstream shonen story, especially one about TEENAGERS in modern 'normal' Tokyo. Draken's death was heartbreaking but well done imo. Even Izana's. So for Wakui to suddenly write all of them off like that makes me wonder... What was the point in those 'deaths' then???

It doesn't make sense to have every single character suddenly become members of the 'good' Toman, when they weren't even good people in the first place. Their goals don't align with Toman's 'code or honour', Kisaki and Hanma especially, even members of Tenjiku. I suppose with Shin alive, Izana can be talked into joining Toman but a huge part of his character was his jealousy of Mikey which happened whether or not Shin died, yknow? Izana, from the start, wanted Shin's full attention and love, and wanted to be the one and only. (I suppose a lot could've happened off screen to change Izana's mind and perspective, but then it's not really Izana, huh?)

And a huge reason why the S62 joined Izana (aside from being beaten into it) was that they were essentially promised a leading position in Japan's underworld alongside him (as part of Tenjiku). Now that they're in Toman, they're probably just a step or two above a regular lackey in Toman. I just don't see how or why Tenjiku, Kisaki and Hanma needed to be part of Toman.

Many other blogs here already brought up other points I've been feeling about the TR ending, especially about the impact of it on their entire characters and personas. I'll reblog ones that made me fist my table in agreement too if you wanna know what else I think of it!

(Speaking about personas... You're telling me that Takemichi was essentially a 26 year old stuck in the body and life of a 7 year old?? That's rough buddy...)

TLDR: I'm happy for the characters, but they're not the ones we know anymore... The manga ended too fast and suddenly, there's too much to explore and too many unanswered questions.

[adelle-ein]

Lace's Engage Review: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly (minimal spoilers)

So I ended up deciding to get Engage shortly after it released, and I uh…have some thoughts about it. Far too many thoughts. As usual.

This is intended to be a spoiler-light review for those on the fence. There's pretty much no story spoilers, they all pertain to gameplay aspects. Also these are my opinions. They're subjective. You'll probably disagree with me. And I don't want to fight about it. Like at all. Okay? Okay.

Overall, I think the gameplay and general style puts me most in mind of the GBA games, with maybe a splash of 3ds-era (Fateswakening, that is, echoes is really more its own thing.) The general focus on the maps and battle, the feel of said maps, the game mechanics, the relative length and varied quality of supports, some characters being very gimmicky while others are more layered — it definitely doesn't feel like Three Houses, and it's more of a return to traditional FE form wrapped up in a strangely-colored package. The story is quite bad, but in a more "average FE story way" — some sweet moments, not a bad concept at all if a common one, but poor and very straightforward delivery. Alear is very Corrin-like in that they aren't the smartest and get largely worshiped just for breathing, which is definitely tiring, but they do actually have a consistent personality and characterization unlike Byleth. C-B supports are mostly (not all) for humor, but several A supports are surprisingly thoughtful and well-done. Unfortunately, the game falls down hard in what, for me, are a few key areas. Basically, maybe this is a three out of five stars? Something like that?

The Good: 

Let be known, for starters, that I am a ~casual~ gamer. I'm bad at video games! Some of this is disability and some is just me! I like to play things on easy! So obviously my perspective will be different from someone playing the whole thing on maddening-classic-ironman-nuzlocke-yunaka solo-what have you. Also, I've played FE7-16, along with both Warriors games, played Heroes since day 1, and read/watched other people's playthroughs of 4/5/6. So those are my "qualifications"…so to speak.

Starting off: The graphics, character designs aside, are really very nice. Everyone is much more expressive, things are much smoother and less jagged than in 3h, and the environments and scenery are very pretty. The pre-rendered cutscenes look detailed and high-quality. The lighting is good and fairly dynamic, and textures are crisp and don't have that photoskinned look to them. Sommie is very cute, honestly. You can run around and explore the maps a little bit after battles, and it's clearly just a mechanic so the devs can show off how good the environments look. Honestly, they're very good! Cute, detailed (you can see inside buildings sometimes and they're fully furnished,) and well-designed. There's also some other cute and well-done details around the Somniel. For example, there's a ton of different models for the various cooking meals (I'm not sure I ever saw any reused? There's a LOT) and they look pretty nice considering you only see them for like ten seconds apiece. Also, I do think Three Houses had a prettier interface, but Engage's is much more comfortably readable with its font choices. Minor thing, but a good thing.

The maps and battle system are clearly the focus of the game, and the game continues to throw new things and gimmicks at you without feeling cheap or getting stale. The Emblems being used both by and against you contribute to this, but there's also some single-map gimmicks and returning ones, such as unique boss AI or moves, that add variety. Offensive staves, more varied weapons and maps, lots of fun ways to mix it up within the main story maps. Just the fact that bosses now have multiple HP bars, for example, adds a lot to gameplay and makes every map just feel like a unique challenge, which I haven't gotten from FE for a few entries now.

While the characters overall aren't quite as layered or deep as Three Houses's, some are genuinely very good, and many are likable in spite of that. Honestly, sometimes when Three Houses pulled out the "depth" card, it just ended up ruining a character for me (ie the Gonerils' child slaves that are never mentioned again…). There wasn't anyone in Engage that I hated at all, really, and that was refreshing. No womanizer character, no "racist but they feel bad about it," nothing like that. I enjoyed them a lot, I think they were fun and colorful (if perhaps maybe too literally colorful) and while a few were reduced to gimmicks, they weren't the majority, and nearly all show a lot of deeper motivation once you get digging. Sure, some of them bring up their hobbies too much, but uh, I'm one to talk. I think they were a fun, lovable cast overall, if perhaps not the ones with the most depth, but a good level of depth for what I personally want out of a Fire Emblem game. They also didn't feel clogged up with "filler characters" the way the earlier games sometimes do. You do get a few prepromotes thrown at you in lategame just in case, but no groups of four cavaliers with interchangeable personalities in case you fuck up and kill two. Everyone feels like they have a reasonable amount of characterization and care put into their writing, even the cast's weaker members, and the result is a generally memorable and likeable group.

While the supports aren't as long and many aren't as deep, they all go up to A, and a lot of them are just fun and enjoyable to watch. If you've only played Three Houses, or only like Three Houses's cast, then yeah, they'll feel weird to you, but if you do like the casts of older FE games, I don't think they're any worse than those (and frankly, they're better than some.) They're fun, some are quite creative, and I don't get any of the "ugh, we HAVE to include these" vibes that sometimes came across in Awakening and Fates. Those two games suffered from needing to include S options for almost every M/F combo, and Engage enjoys being freed from it. Characters are paired together because of their existing connections, traits in common, or because the writers just had an idea, and things flow very well. Overall, it feels like a throwback to FE6-10.

This is a personal note for me, but Three Houses felt like the writers had just discovered the concept of mental illness and wanted to use it as a crutch. Engage steps away from that, and for me personally, that's a huge improvement. After so many "hates: herself" characters, so much depression and anxiety that was portrayed downright callously or even cruelly, and the absolute nightmare of a parody that is Bernadetta, it was a relief to not open every support wondering in which way the writers were about to mock me. I know some mentally ill people liked the way characters were written in Three Houses. I am not one of them, and found it awful. I'm so glad they've decided to step away from their "PTSD is sexy, anxiety is funny, listen to characters tell you they stopped being suicidal because of [Player], listen to Bernadetta scream at the top of her lungs as wacky music plays because agoraphobia is a laugh riot" crusade.

The overall "throwback" feel of the game is genuinely nice. I had sort of missed getting to play what feels like a "regular" Fire Emblem. Personally I like it when the game varies formula, but it frustrates me when FE does two extremely similar games in a row (like how Fates tries really really hard to just be Awakening Again), and I was sort of expecting FE17 to be Three Houses Two (again, because Three Hopes is already that…). It was a pleasant surprise to find that Engage overall has its own identity while going back to basics with other aspects of the formula. I don't love everything that came from this (as you'll see below) but there were many things that I really enjoyed, mostly the actual gameplay itself and how fun it was.

As far as the main plot, in a spoiler free version: the idea was good, the execution was off. Pacing is kind of a mess, and the writers fail to give the deuteragonist and other significant secondary characters enough material and screentime to get you as attached to them as they clearly want you to be. This seriously drags down the whole thing. Take the exact basic concept, rearrange the ordering of the chapters and the priorities for screentime, maybe don't fight the Hounds QUITE as many times (it gets ridiculous by the fourth go around and you're still not done…) and certain scenes would hit a lot harder. The emotional core just isn't there because the pacing is so wonky. Parts of the script, animation, and voice acting also fall down at key moments (one character's scream of grief and rage just looks and sounds absurd.) I do like some of the messages, which break up the usual Fire Emblem narrative in key ways, and I don't think it's a terrible plot. It's just another mediocre one. I would personally rank it similarly to Binding Blade or Awakening, which is to say, unimpressive and predictable, but not horrifically bad or anything. It's a bit frustrating though, because I think it had the potential to be genuinely heartfelt, but unwillingness to provide any lore combined with really bad pacing combined with badly distributed screentime leads to kind of a mess. I have more detailed/spoilery thoughts on the plot here, but be warned, I SPOIL EVERYTHING.

The CGs are really well drawn and pretty-looking. Minor but true. The credits are really very nice, I enjoyed them and wish other FE games had something similar. The S-support CGs are not as well done, but the faces are not as, well…Bad as they are in 3h. I'll take it, basically. The rest of the CGs and illustrations are good though! The ally logbook and the little screenshots you unlock of the characters are also cute.

Also Sommie is admittedly adorable. I had to warm up to it but the way it follows you around the Somniel making its little footprint noises? Fucking precious. And hey, if you don't like it, you can just not feed it and it'll stay in its shrine so it won't bug you. Overall, the Somniel is very optional. I don't like minigames (and some of them are too painful for me with my health issues), so I didn't play any of them much, and that was totally fine and didn't slow me down. I personally see this as a plus. Also you can design a cute little card to hand out to anyone you do multiplayer with. With stickers! Lots of stickers!!

…If every aspect of this game had as much care put into it as that card designer, I would be rating it five stars. Alas.

The Bad:

The UI and quality of life features leave a lot to be desired. It is not easy to find or figure out how to do things in this game. For example, you can raise your bonds with Emblem Rings in the Arena area of Somniel, unlocking skills from them that you can then inherit. Great! But, uh...to inherit those skills, you have to go through a loading screen and travel to an entirely different area of Somniel, the Ring Chamber. I've spent a very long time traveling back and forth between the two as I unlock skills. It's a strange oversight, and one that is unfortunately repeated again and again all over the game. The menus are cumbersome, weird, and annoying, and sometimes really frustrating to navigate because there are just too many things going on in a single interface (The ring menu is just not enjoyable to use in my opinion.) Auto-equipping things sounds great until you realize it takes everything off your non-deployed units and the choices it makes are nonsensical. You don't have any kind of notification for support conversations being unlocked, and neither supports nor bonds are indicated as being available from menus either. If you're trying to win over a particular character with a pile of gifts, you'd better hope they randomly happen to spawn into Somniel, or you can sleep over and over until they do, because it's just luck of the draw. There's just a lot of weird, nagging little details that make things very cumbersome.

The thing that really bugged me, personally, is that Engage has no real way to fix up your lower-level units. Thanks to the royal/retainer setup from Fates returning, Engage throws a lot of characters at you very quickly throughout midgame. You can't use them all, so many have to hit the bench. Oh, but that's okay, right? There's skirmish battles infinitely respawning on the map, after all! Well...wrong. The level scaling for those skirmishes is based off the toughest members of your army, and is usually actually higher than whatever story chapters you currently have unlocked. Left Jean on the bench? He's staying there, since every enemy you can spawn for him to face will kill him by blinking. And the levels scale fast. Even sitting out a few maps can be terminal, as it was for my poor Yunaka. No matter how fun you might find some of the characters you skipped, you'll simply never get to use them. The modes in the Somniel are specifically set up to be anti-grind, and have limited uses...or don't gain EXP/supports/SP...et cetera. Weirdly enough, characters will also complain in this game if you don't use them, for some reason, since you can't actually do anything about that. Guess what, Panette, if I deploy you now you're going to immediately be Corrupted food, and there's nothing I can do to fix that.

This extends to every other traditional FE "grind." Other than a few potential exploits people have found, which are very, very slow, there is simply no way to reliably support grind with non-Alear units. Non-Alear units ONLY gain support points with each other by using staves on each other, eating meals or doing arena battles with each other, or...by defeating an enemy on player phase only and only with the units directly adjacent to them. And you can only have one mealtime between every two battles, not endlessly stuff yourself with different duos a la Byleth and Shez. Even with Corrin's support-gaining skill and regular mealtimes and arena battles, supports gain at a crawl. Gold runs out fast and the only way to get more is the miserably difficult, high-level skirmishes.

I have one massive file each in Awakening and Fates in which I have every single unit fully built, all their stats and A supports maxed, and full sets of skills (except for my least favorite units…), from both spamming reeking boxes and the DLC maps, all just for fun. That's not possible in Engage. Awakening/Fates didn't have NG+ because they didn't need NG+. Engage does. In Awakafates, you could, if you wanted to, have a fun, enjoyable postgame/lategame to collect everything and try completely wild combinations out. In Engage, there are a number of skills and builds and abilities that, while cool in theory, are just never possible to try in-game without insanely slow grinding. Finishing the support log is a nightmare ask and pretty much impossible in one file unless you are insanely devoted to having units healing each other with Micaiah's ring in the corners of high level maps for IRL days on end. It’s pretty much impossible to max all donation levels or collect all bond rings, because again, no NG+. This certainly doesn't matter to many players, but it does to me, so that's why I'm sharing. I wouldn't be surprised if we get some DLC maps designed to help fill this in a little, and personally, I think that sucks. Sure, the DLC maps in Fates/Awakening speed things up a lot, but they aren't absolutely necessary as you can still use map battles easily enough. If they add DLC grinding maps to Engage, they will be the only options available. Lame. Even if it’s a free patch, the game currently feels like it’s missing a basic feature. Withholding that for hype or money reasons is just obnoxious.

The throwback paralogues, meanwhile, are…kind of a slog for me. The Emblems make a fairly bland speech about their motivations and then fight you on a map designed to look like various random maps from their corresponding games (and I mean random — some of these choices were far from iconic and downright inexplicable. Why a random beach for Celica? Why is Sigurd on a Seliph map, albeit a well-known one? Why is Lyn's map from FE6 aaaaaaaaa.) While the gameplay on these maps is tight and challenging, that's pretty much where the well-done fanservice begins and ends. Actual characterization of the Emblems is few and far between, pretty much limited to Bond conversations. In the story proper, they're exposition bots.

The Ugly:

Just coming out to say it: God, these characters look so bad. Alear is hideous. The colors are all over the place and clash with each other horribly. The battle outfits are just eyesores (although the Somniel ones are generally improvements, you can't equip those in battle, so what's the point?) The job outfits are REALLY ugly (that sage outfit is goddamn hideous.) Nearly all the characters all have either Boy Face or Girl Face, and Girl Faces all look like they're about eleven years old. The weird medieval/modern/fantasy/??? mashup look doesn't work for me. Every non-pre rendered cutscene had girl Alear making her blank stupid blob face, and no matter what expression she made she just looked really weird. Her design is, for me, simply so weird and ugly as to be distracting at all times. Meanwhile, so many characters like Yunaka, Panette, and Hortensia are just downright distractingly bad looking. I can't take the face stickers or clown dresses seriously at all, and they're not even fun to look at. Orientalism, as usual, abounds in both some default outfits (Seadall is...so bad) and dress-up options. The artist was a poor choice for FE, but I don't think most of the blame lies at her feet — the choice itself was bad, and there's no direction to speak of when it comes to the overall look of the characters. Most of the countries don't appear to have any coherent cultural identity in clothing designs the way Nohr and Hoshido did, for example (barring Firene's passion for flowers and some recurring patterns among the Brodians.) If it weren't for the copy-pasted faces, many of them would look like they came from different games altogether. Even the generic soldiers look awful. It's disjointed and ugly. The entire design team fell down hard on this one.

The Emblems honestly leave a lot to be desired. Some aren't bad, but that blobby girl face doesn't really work for most of the female Emblems. Celica and Eirika's hair looks atrocious (do they have terrible bedhead or something?) and Leif just looks incredibly off in a way I can't quite define. Design-wise, this is a very bad looking game. Which is a shame, because all the animation upgrades now feel completely wasted on terrible designs.

And, of course, Fire Emblem gonna Fire Emblem: the S-supports are just a mess overall. The datamined ages don't appear to be present in the game proper, but based on the under-18s being made platonic in the NA localization, I'm assuming they're still canon. This means Alear is 17 and capable of marrying a number of people in their twenties and above, even in the localized version. To be fair, I think the localizers were fucked no matter what they did here. Leave in marriage to Anna and the game will rightfully be slammed. Take out every romantic relationship and the backlash will be incredible. But where do you draw the line for a 17-year-old dating a 15-19 y/o? There was just no way to win this one, and I guess going with 18 makes as much sense as anything. This is not me defending the original devs, who suck. This is just me thinking about how the localization team really just could not make any good choice here, thanks to the original game's fucked up "lol you can marry anyone" choices. Whole thing is gross all the way around. There's a pretty small handful of characters that are both left romantic and not creepy choices for Alear, so we're back in the same situation Fates and 3h left us in, where all the super popular avatar ships are just weird and unpleasant and people call you a monster for not liking them. Great, thanks a lot, intsys. All of this being said: the game itself really doesn't include these ages, and most people aren't even going to realize they're a thing. You need to go online to even find out. So who only knows why they exist to begin with (Anna etc romantic S-supports still gonna be real bad no matter what, though.)

And no, there's no romance or paired endings between non-Alear characters, just some vague non-explicit implications in certain a-supports, as per usual, because playersexuality is all that matters to anyone anymore. Let's all publish thinkpieces about how FE said gay rights or whatever though! Woo-hoo!

Verdict:

So, all that being said…Engage is really fun. It is also a hot mess and while the gameplay is overall strong, there are certain aspects that don't seem to have been thought through at all. Its greatest strengths are its map design and focus on core gameplay, but its weaknesses lie in quality of life and options for grinding and more casual fun. There's no postgame/ng+/etc whatsoever despite the game really needing it. And the designs look terrible. I personally don't think it was worth the $60 (maybe more like $40), and mostly decided to go ahead and buy it so I could lend it out to the family. Of course, your mileage may vary, but those are my full thoughts on the game as a whole. 

Also don't ask me how it ranks in the series overall, it'll take at least a few months before I can form concrete thoughts on that. All I can say it doesn't inspire sheer frothing rage and I will probably play it again. No the best FE game but not the worst either. That's all I got.

Stan Sommie.

[criminalmutantsins]

Top 10 Favorite Young Justice Characters

10. Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle

Starting off the list is Blue Beetle. Young Justice introduced me to him, and I was hooked. He’s probably the most mellow and calming voice. His arc and relationship with Bart (friendship or not) were my favorite aspects of S2. They bounced off each other in every scene. I was very disappointed when Jaime and Bart were sidelined so much, and hope S4 changes this (particularly with Bart).

Jaime in the number 10 spot since he doesn’t really have much of a memorable personality. Still love him to bits though.

        9. Will Harper/Red Arrow

Funny enough, I did not like Will. He was an asshole in S1; S2 kind of changed my mind about him but not enough since he didn’t appear as much. What really changed my mind was the episode “Private Security” (S3 Ep.4). I started looking back into Will’s storylines and, I have to admit, his is probably one of the best character development.

The first season had him unwillingly living a lie and betraying the people he cared for. In season 2 he was so consumed into finding the original Roy for five years, not even caring or focusing about his own life. I felt really bad for Will because he was probably going through an identity crisis and thought he couldn’t live his life without finding Arsenal. Probably felt guilty.

Seeing him living his own life and being happy with his daughter was so heartwarming. I smiled every time Will appeared in the latest season (totally ignoring the Will x Artemis fiasco), especially with Lian. I’m very proud of him.

I feel bad for putting him so low, yet I adore the next characters more.

 8. Garfield Logan/Beast Boy

I have been a massive Beast Boy fan since Teen Titans so you probably can imagine how excited to see him. His origin story was unique and his brother-sister bond with M’gann was very sweet. It was pretty weird seeing how much younger Gar was than Dick, but I got used to it. I was bummed that Gar wasn’t in S2 as much; however, S3 truly made up for it. 

After watching Beast Boy being a great leader in S5 of Teen Titans, I wanted a leader-like and more mature version of him. Young Justice truly delivered with Gar being the leader of the Outsiders. It’s nice to see him treated with respect rather than as a joke because that was my biggest gripe with Teen Titans. Though it was weird seeing him not crack a joke at all.

Gar’s story with his mom was heartbreaking to see. I literally cried seeing his reaction to revisiting his trauma in S2 and S3; I just wanted to hug and tell him how awesome he is. My only complaint with Gar in S3 was that the Outsiders weren’t established until near the end of the season.

His voice actor being Greg Cipes also gives him extra points (He’s a chill guy and radiates BB energy).

 7. Dick Grayson/Nightwing/ Robin I 

Sorry to all the hardcore Nightwing fans.

I love Dick (don’t get any ideas), but he doesn’t get enough development in the spotlight. One of the things I really wanted to see from him is his growth as a main leader, and his journey to becoming Nightwing. I was really bummed when these happened between the first two seasons.

To be honest, I don’t have as much to say about him other than straightforward qualities I enjoy about him.

1.His Voice (it’s so soothing)

2.His Personality (very charismatic)

3.Very Handsome (Probably in the top 3 my most handsome YJ Men list)

I put him higher than the others since he made a lot of contribution to the story and his new words (gotta love that aster!)

6. Megan Morse/M’gann M’orzz/Miss Martian 

If I made this list during S1, M’gann would have probably been in my top 3 (maybe even No. 1), but S2 didn’t give her any brownie points.

I really liked S1 Miss Martian because of her kind heart, awkward girl next door personality. Her trouble fitting in the beginning reminded me of when I was going through a time in high school; seeing her having trouble as well helped me feel not so lonely. M’gann powers were (still are) my favorite since I am a big fan of mind-like powers. I would feel so powerful. Watching her identity crisis(?) arc was great too. I’ve had trouble feeling comfortable in my own skin as well as my social anxiety (I’m a mess) and I could understand how scared Megan was of her friends’ thoughts on her true form. 

Oh boy. Season 2 basically ruined her. Learning what she would do to enemies was terrifying to see and left me wondering what happened to Miss Martian that made her step this far. What she almost did to Superboy was almost unforgivable. You do not try to manipulate with your boyfriend’s mind when you guys have an argument! Shame on you M’gann. If Superboy hadn’t forgiven you then I wouldn’t have either.

Good thing S3 somewhat redeemed her. Her kind heart was noticeable again and she refused to do that mind trick again (thank god). Very excited for the Superboy and Miss Martian wedding! Please creators, I beg of you to not skip over it. I want to cry my eyes out in happiness!

 5. Kaldur’ahm/Aquaman/Aqualad 

Now we’re in the top 5 with Aqualad (*ahem* Aquaman) starting it off.

Creating Kaldur was the best decision the creators ever did. I love him with all my heart!

He added diversity to the original team and was a great leader. S1 was not his breakout season, though the second season definitely was.

Kladur played the villain so well that he deserves an automatic Oscar. I never doubted that he was with the heroes, but he didn’t disappoint. My favorite part about Aqualad’s performance was when he rose from the ocean slowly like a cliché villain (he made it work), and the line he said right after he “killed” Artemis; it sent me chills. Love it! 

Pretty disappointed that he didn’t appear as much in S3. Very happy that he is a part of the LGBTQ+ community and is in a happy relationship. I’m a part of the community and loved that there was finally some representation in one of my favorite shows. Even so, I have to criticize how rushed and sidelined it was. I hope Kaldur and Wyynde’s relationship gets development.

 4. Kon-El/Conner Kent/Superboy

Like Will, I did not like Superboy at first. Mainly angry and volatile characters were never really my cup of tea. I do understand why he was upset and felt bad for him; I just handle anger the direct opposite as him. My love for Conner started growing around the end of S1. He was very sweet towards Miss Martian (bless him for not caring about her appearance) and his anger was in control.

Season 2 pretty much switched my opinions on him and M’gann. It was awful what M’gann almost did to him. That scene with him being so sad that what she did ruined that special bond they had almost made me cry. I wanted to give him a hug. He grew so much too since I don’t think he would have handled the whole M’gann drama as well in S1. A lot of furniture would’ve been broken.

I gotta admit something. I almost put Conner near the bottom (maybe no. 7). A comment in a poll in Amino changed my mind. I wrote a poll asking other fans who did they prefer SB or MM. At that point I said SB, though I didn’t think much of it. Someone (specifically yjfangirl) responded “Superboy has the best development in the show.” This had me thinking about how far SB has gone. In the beginning, Conner was an angry guy who felt alone and rejected by the person who he was meant to emulate. Now he is happier and living for himself rather than to be the next Superman. He’s getting married people! A little detail I noticed when rewatching S3 was Superboy mentioning to new characters that they weren’t obligated to be a hero because of their abilities. I adored this! The main reason why Superboy was created to be Superman if the original ever died, and another one of Luthor’s puppets. But he strayed from that pressuring path and is doing his own thing. Conner doesn’t want other people to feel like he did. What an absolute pure soul.

Also, yjfangirl, first I want to say Hi (*waves*)! Then say thanks for writing that comment. It made me really think about the bigger picture with SB and my love for him as grown exponentially. You probably didn’t mean to do that, but I still want to thank you. 😊

 3.Wally West/Kid Flash

We’re in the elites now.

I don’t know how to explain it, I just love Wally. He makes me laugh, and his character growth was great. At first, Wally was this cocky flirt who didn’t take the hero work as seriously. That changed in “Cold-hearted,” one of my favorite episodes in the series. This was when I really started seeing more of Wally than being this dumb flirt. It was great seeing him actually caring about helping people since I believed for a long time that he wanted to be a superhero to just have powers rather than actually protect others. The regret in his eyes when he thought his impulsive behavior killed Perdita helped me see who he really was- this somewhat arrogant speedster who had a kind heart. Episodes that can make me change my perspective on characters are truly special.

I was very upset that he wasn’t in S2 a lot. I understand why since he gave up the life, but I was still bummed. Seeing him being so loving and protective towards Artemis was amazing. Spitfire is my favorite ship and I will not give up on them. All I want is a happy ending! The penultimate episode of S3 was a hint that it will happen. Watching the S2 finale was heartbreaking, I cried watching him disappear, his love for Artemis being the last things he said. Artemis’ reaction did not(I just wanted to hug her). 

I have more to say, though I’m leaving it for another post. 😉

 2.Bart Allen/Kid Flash II/Impulse

Picking between Bart and Wally for second place was tough. Took me a while to decide; I’ll talk about it later on.

The moment Bart made his appearance, I absolutely adored him. He is amazing and I live for his hyper, fun attitude. His arc and relationship with Jaime were my favorite aspects of S2. What can I say, their chemistry is great to see.

That scene when he was meeting the Flash family was so adorable. His excitement was infectious and spoiling his dad and aunt’s births was hilarious! I watch it occasionally whenever I need a good laugh or reason to smile.

Unlike most time travelers- at least the ones I’ve seen- Bart was very involved with what was going on and befriended his biggest enemy- evil and weirdly huge future Blue Beetle. He was pretty careful about disclosing very important information and took things very seriously. You never know if disclosing everything was the thing that brought the world to chaos.

What I found interesting was his choice on how to interact with everyone. He seemed pretty gloomy in the future, but decided to portray this cheerful, devil-may-care attitude to be more likable. I understood (still kind of do). I had terrible mental health issues and I pretended to be happy in front of loved ones because I thought they wouldn’t care about me anymore. Bart got some brownie points for that.

I was dissatisfied when his role was greatly reduced. I wanted the creators to go further with Bart by revealing his past and how it affected him. He was pretty much comedy relief. You couldn’t imagine how disappointed I was, especially with it involving my second favorite character. Season 4 better change that.

I know that you shouldn’t assume a character’s sexuality, yet I really hope Bart is gay. There needs to be more clear representation and Bart can be one of them. I’m also a Bluepulse and Bartuado shipper (fine with either one as long as Bart’s bond with each of them stays strong).

Anyway, I mentioned that I would explain why I chose Bart for 2nd place over Wally. It mostly stems from wishful thinking. I really want S4 to have Bart as a main character since I believe the future will be strong plot point in the season. Development could surely happen such as Bart opening up more about what he went through. Let all those feelings go.

I’m going to write an article on my hopes for S4 when a release date is announced. Bart and Wally will most definitely be talked about.

 …..

We are finally near the end!

And my No. 1 favorite character is…

Drumroll please!

…

..

.

1.Artemis Crock/Tigress/Artemis

That’s right people!

Artemis Crock, original member of the Team and daughter of villains!

She is such an inspiration to anyone who wants to go their own past without their parents’ support.

It’s hard to describe how much I love Artemis. She’s brave, strong-willed, and a kind person. It’s crazy how great of a person she is after all the terrible things that happened to her. I look up to her because I don’t have a healthy relationship with my parents (verbal and mental abuse) and there are times I don’t feel strong enough to stand on my own. I want to carry the amount of strength Artemis has as my own.

After all that happened in S2, it was amazing to see Artemis come back to the team and train the new generation. It must have been hard to walk away from a safe, comfortable life for a chaotic, dangerous life. I admire that in everyone, but I hold more respect for Artemis since “the life” “killed” Wally. I wanted to hug her so bad.

She’s also one of the kindest people in the show, the events in S3 being the best example. When Zatanna was crying about her dad, Artemis was there to comfort her. It was so sweet! Roy and her also took in Halo and Terra like they were a part of the family; the archer treated them like the best big sister. That rainstorm scene was heartwarming to the core.

Wouldn’t Artemis be an amazing mother? Lian and her have a strong bond like a mother and daughter; I loved it, and Lian is in good hands with Roy and Artemis. Though Jade deserves a chance to be a mother. Artemis also seemed to enjoy taking care of those kids in that S1 episode. Wally too. You guys know what I’m guys insinuating. 😉

Get ready for some fanfics on that someday.

My favorite Artemis-centered episode was the second to last episode of S3. I was waiting for this episode centering around Artemis missing Wally and learning to move on. It was great yet heartbreaking. Nothing bad happened. That Will and Artemis kiss never happened. Everyone makes a mistake. No matter how terrible it was.

Anyway, seeing Artemis and Wally living their lives and having a baby gave me life, even if it was fake. It was a vision of the future. I will believe this until there is confirmation that Wally will not come back.

Did anyone else cry when Artemis was so desperate to, but Wally wouldn’t let that happen (the real Wally would do that)? They are a great example of a healthy relationship with all the love and support they have for each other. I want that.