diamondsourcenyc

[ryin-silverfish]

disjointed LMK S5 reactions from a Chinese sub + dub watcher:

-the animation looks somewhat better than the trailer suggests.

-the worldbuilding, however, is...confusing.

-don't get me wrong, the emotional and character beats still hit right, but...the more I try to make sense of the worldbuilding, the less sense it makes.

(at least my fears about the Ten Kings conspiracy didn't come true, the 9 non-traitor kings are still pathetic pushovers that got [spoilered] by [spoilered].)

-welp, I will attempt to do so anyways. Spoilers under cut:

-In the beginning, someone or something made the Pillar of Creation to ward the world from Chaos.

-Which isn't how Chaos works in the Chinese cosmology, btw, but LMK is mostly its own vaguely JTTW-inspired fantasy setting at this point, so I'll try to keep the mythos-nitpicking to a minimum.

-Then some guy cracked the pillar (in the mythos, that would be Gonggong, but S5 does not mention a single name), and Nvwa had to make the Five-colored Stone + sacrifice herself to fix it.

-The "sacrifice" here is mostly her/her soul getting stuck inside the pillar for eternity, though, since MK still got to talk to her once he entered it.

-Each Five-colored Stone is attached to a Divine Guardian, who also serve as the stone's container, so to speak. They seem to remain outside of the pillar as anchors of reality.

-These guardians are the Divine Beasts of the Four Directions + JE himself, which is why Azure killing JE has such detrimental effects on reality.

-For every Five-colored Stone removed from its container, said container is destroyed, the cracks in reality widen, and the end of the "Cycle" draws near.

-Apart from the Five-colored Stone, Nvwa also created the Harbinger...at some point, and placed it inside SWK's stone, presumably after he has already hatched from it (based on Subodhi's words in S4 that MK is born from the same stone, after SWK).

-This Harbinger is supposed to sleep inside forever, awakening only at the end of the "Cycle" so that he can sacrifice himself to maintain the pillar, keep the encroaching Chaos at bay, and maybe give the world a soft reboot in the process or sth.

-Enter: the Nine-headed Demon, king of monologues and convoluted metaphors, a descendent of Xiangliu——another nine-headed serpentine monster from the Chinese mythos (said to be a subordinate of Gonggong in the Books of Mountains and Seas, who was slew by Yu the Great.)

-My attempt to make sense of his metaphor: basically, he used to live happily inside this Chaos-free bubble too (dark cave), alongside people who have never seen outside of it before, until he walked outside, dived into Chaos (sunlight), and went "Hey, it isn't all that bad! No, it's awesome!"

-Unsurprisingly, when he returned to the world inside the bubble and tried to convince his pals to take the Chaos bath together with him, he got rejected by everyone and turned edgy.

-He impersonated the Tenth King of the Underworld, King of the Turning Wheel, and proceeded to awaken the Harbinger prematurely.

-Supposedly, it's because he wanted the Harbinger to have experienced life for himself in the fullest, instead of waking up only to walk like a lamb to the slaughter.

-But his motivation is pretty confusing, tbh, and hearing Pigsy calling him out for never shutting the fuck up is funny as hell.

(Despite that? I kinda like his personality.)

-What MK did at the end of S5 is...well, the way I see it, he is still using the Five-Colored Stone as reality anchors, but instead of infusing their powers into a single mega-strong container, able to withstand the massive strain, every living being become a container, holding reality in place through quantity rather than quality.

-However, the anti-Chaos barrier does seem to have weakened; before Nine-head escaped into the "Chaos Outside" once and for all like he always wanted, he said that MK had opened the "Pandora's Box", so to speak.

-My completely arbitary theory: the anti-Chaos barrier before is like a giant roof, held up by 5 pillars. Take out 1 pillar, and the whole thing is guaranteed to come crashing down, sooner or later.

-The new one is like a net, with each individual functioning as its individual threads. It can do its job——holding reality together, but also leaves a lot of little holes for the Chaos Outside to slip in and out.

[roxannepolice]

Re: my therapy thoschei quote rants. One, maybe just maybe it'll last longer than until 16th because current suggestion is to apply for a month prolongation. So less "I'll never make this as perfect as I want" stress and more "what if one person (the principal) will cut me off at the home stretch with 240 a4 pages already in place" stress 👍👍

And two, yeah I'm obviously very classics and tensimm biased, and of course there's just plain personal preference, but I think there's also a level at which it is only later on that things got... convoluted. Overconvoluted. And for me this is where legitimate criticism steps in. Like, there are much fewer ways in which you can fuck up a simple thing than a complicated one. And when you want your characters and relationships complex, you're likelier to end up contradicting yourself. If it was thought through hypocrisy and this was conveyed by the text - great. But that's not always the case.

The simplicity in ClassicWho was kind of natural for the medium that tv was at the time (you simply CAN'T be intricate and rely on micro acting when the episode will be watched one, two times tops), and I think it carried over to tenyana and tensimm in a more self-aware and thoughtful way. Even if tensimm, or Ten, or Saxon aren't someone's cup of tea, that's what it is: it's not someone's cup of tea - but I've never seen either criticisms or defences that relied on explaining how the tea is actually coffee, you just have to taste it harder.

What I'm trying to say is, I really, really enjoy simplicity and straightforwardness in art. That's not to say I want authors to guide me by the hand, but rather that there's a difference between discussing something complicated in simple and precise terms and discussing something simple in complicated and vague terms. To stick to tags used, I don't need Simm!Master to have a tragic backstory to embitter him towards the Doctor in s10 (this is purely about interpretation, it's great as headcanon and fic material), because welp, his function in that story is to be an asshole and the story is very frank about it. The fact that it needs memory shenanigans and characters being just plain stupid to remotely work is how I'd define bad writing, but that's a topic for another rant.

Basically, there's a difference between participating in discussions of soteriology in catholicism and cardinalsplaining what the Pope actually meant about good atheists going to heaven.

But I guess this is also an invitation to suggest classic and tensimm quotes that don't sit right with someone, because one thing is sure I will be needing brain warm ups in days/weeks to come...

[luin-no-koibito]

Shiki's LMJ Liveblog - Case 2

(aka: Holy Shit, Someone Got Killed!)

I took a break between cases 1 and 2 to do one of the daily puzzles and stuff, but now we're back, and we had to hit up the cops directly.

Because murder.

And the paper guy who tried to brand Ernest as "Mr Steal Yo Girl" is back...

But now we gotta go see Hastings (who I'm neutral about).

》In Hastings's office《

He's gone?

Never mind, he's just angsty right now*. Least I found someone's mustache.

*(and a married man)

Still using the walkthrough though!

Hol'up, wait... TWO PEOPLE DIED AND ONLY ONE WAS A MURDER BECAUSE THE OTHER OFFED THEMSELVES!

... Well, seems SOMEONE intended to make the investigation hell for Hastings, but who?

》Meanwhile at another government building...《

Guess it's the mayor.

(And got in an extra 35 picarats from an optional puzzle!)

Eh, back to our mission though!

》mayor's office《

Did some extra looking around and... HOLY FUCKING SHIT IS THAT A MOTHERFUCKING MIRACLE MASK REFERENCE???

Well, puzzle time! (also side note, the mayor fucking misgendered Sherl)

》one convoluted maze puzzle later《

Holy shit, a legend?? And that's how shit went down now?

*Sees the interactions between Hastings and Lowonida* Haha, Hastings is a simp!

》welp, to the rive- Wait a minute...《

OOOOOOOOO, MILF ALERT!

"I'm taking this case?" Fuck off, this ain't your game!

[make that "Asshole Milf Alert".]

》Off to the Thames - for real this time《

Aaaaand Katrielle's ADHD energy is shining through again.

Also, doomed het couple NPCs go brrrr.

》other side《

After a surprisingly easy 40 picarat puzzle, we met with a dumbass who was out fishing, who confirmed everything because... he saw it.

Meanwhile Ernest is simping for Kat again, but it came back and bit him in the ass.

》Chancer Lane again《

So the dead people were theater kids (age neutral), huh?

But we got the food minigame at least. Looks like a pain, so saving it for after completing everything required to progress the story

》Sus Bros《

Looks like the dead lady's family don't care about their darn kids...

》the old lady store《

Ernest is simping again, and yeah.

》welp, back to Guildhall《

the dead people have been around a lot lately...

SHERL CANONICALLY SAID "SUS"????

Whatever, there's Hot Profilers In My Area!

》Oh hey, Emiliana Perfetti's back《

Still as sassy as ever, O Hot Profiler In My Area?

Oh, you got a puzzle? Bring it on, bitch!

》one bad guy puzzle later《

Well, Emiliana's stumped, but whatever.

》Mayor's Office 2: The Reckoning《

She has plushies? Mood.

》after another puzzle《

Damn, Mayor, having to "I'm fine" your way through your career like a certain lawyer known for his forehead, huh?

The balcony? Sounds like a trap...

》Balcony time《

Wait... people came more because someone died, huh... sus...

OBJECTION! /ref

Yeah, so... IT WAS ALL A PRANK APPARENTLY AND SHE WAS PLOTTING TO YEET HASTINGS OUT OF THE COPS.

AND WHILE THE SECOND PART FAILED, THE PRANK WENT WELL WITH THE KIDS THESE DAYS.

[storiesofwildfire]

v; death is not an escape ( Dead by Daylight verse )

tracktag ( CURRENT )

status; OPEN ships; MULTI

CHAPTER ONE – Ragnarök

Survivor: Loki Laufeyson Killer: Jörmungandr Lokison (aka The Serpent)

For many years, Loki Laufeyson eluded all those who came looking for him. A lonely God doomed to wander the Nine Realms alone, exiled by himself to keep a far distance from the rest of the Gods who deemed him and his children monsters. Odin sent search parties to find him, spies to keep tabs on him, and even the occasional bounty hunter to take his head from his shoulders for a high price.

No one succeeded. Most never found him and those who did never returned to Asgard. No one could catch him.

Until the Entity spawned.

By the time the Entity made itself a known problem, Loki had taken to traveling on Midgard with his Earthbound son, Jörmungandr. Being the only one of Loki’s children with any real freedom, Loki had an easy time meeting up with him and touring the world. Some much needed and long overdue mother-son bonding was just the thing to take Loki’s mind off of the horrors he left behind on Asgard.

The duo didn’t get very far into their travels, however. While Aesir agents had an impossible time tracking the rogue deity, the Entity certainly did not. By that time, numerous people had gone missing, snatched up, never to be heard from again. Loki and his son never bothered to pay attention to a few missing Midgardians. The world was full of terrors and people did horrible things to one another for no reason at all. Getting worked up over every single person that went missing would make for a pretty awful existence.

But Loki should have listened, should have paid more attention to the warning signs, and, above all else, should have kept to more populated areas. The Entity only seemed to pray on those isolated from society, those who did not mingle with the other people in their surroundings. People who would not be missed, people who would not be noticed if they simply... weren’t around anymore. People who weren’t even supposed to exist in the first place, perhaps?

A deity from a religion long past and his monstrous child, even?

They took a brief break from their travels when the opportunity to liberate Fenrir from Odin’s prison came to them. Naturally, they took the opportunity and brought Fenrir to Midgard, but he was wounded. Resources needed to be gathered to care for him properly, so Loki asked a dear friend of his to keep watch over his son while he and Jörmungandr went searching for the artifact they thought they needed.

Exploring the forests of Scandinavia, no one knew where to look for them. No one knew that they should, in fact, be worried about them at all. The pair decided to explore the lands of those who worshipped them so many moons ago, the birthplace of their Midgardian mythos. It seemed like the best spot for the artifact to be. They spent three days and three nights in the forests without incident. The fourth day proved difficult, though.

The density of the forest grew overwhelming, blanketing them in darkness even during the brightest hours of the day. They couldn’t seem to tell North from South and continuously walked around in circles. Eventually, they wound up at the exact same campsite they’d been the night before and were forced to make camp, lest they risk getting lost even further. Even teleporting wasn’t an option. The forest seemed to dampen both of their magic, making it difficult to use.

“Mum?” Jörmungandr murmured as he settled down beside their fire.

“Yes, darling?”

“What’s going on in these woods?”

“I don’t know, but I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. We’ll be out soon enough.”

Silence fell over the pair. They both knew it was unlikely that something could truly hurt them, but the unease lingered. Jor, despite being several inches taller than his mother and fully grown, moved to sit right beside Loki, even going as far as to lean again the God for comfort.

“We’re going to be fine, love,” Loki reaffirmed.

“What if the Aesir find Fenrir while we’re gone? Or what if they find us while we’re stuck out here without our magic? They’ll take you back to Asgard and they’ll murder me for being the monster that they believe me to be.”

“You’re not a monster, Jor, and no one is going to do anything to us. I won’t allow that.”

If only Loki understood what was keeping them trapped in the thickening fog of the nighttime forest. The Entity spawned above them, casting its shadow onto the area. It never took such powerful beings hostage before, but their misery and their isolation drew it in. They were perfect for its methods of sustaining and entertaining itself, but it took the creature a few days to truly rob them of all of their escape routes.

Loki and Jörmungandr were never heard from again, but the Entity could not strip them of everything they were.

It could, however, pit them against one another.

SURVIVOR PERKS AND ABILITIES

Rare Loki Laufeyson Perk – Mirage Grants the ability to project brief mirrors of one’s self wherever the survivor is standing. The mirror becomes instantly visible to the killer and will even move about the immediate area to points of interest (generators, pallets, chests, etc.), while the survivor goes completely undetected for 15 seconds. In those ten seconds, the survivor cannot be seen or heard by the killer. The mirror will fade if the killer interacts with them.

Rare Loki Laufeyson Perk – Charmed Electrician Skill checks are wildly increased, granting a better chance at a great skill check and less chance of missing a skill check. Survivors with Charmed Electrician are immune to certain generator tampering such as Hex: Ruin and Overcharged. When two or more survivors are working on a single generator, grants a buff of 20% faster repair rate per survivor.

Rare Loki Laufeyson Perk – Storyteller Unlocks potential in survivor’s aura reading abilities. Killer becomes visible for five seconds upon finding a survivor, standing within 18 meters of a survivor, or picking up a survivor’s trail by blood or scratch marks. Other survivors still present in the trial will also be alerted to the killer’s location.

KILLER PERKS AND ABILITIES

Rare The Serpent Perk – Friend or Foe Grants the killer a fifteen second period of placing an illusion over their form, giving them the appearance of one of the survivors in the trail so they can quickly gain the trust of those around them and make a quick strike after backing their prey into a corner.

Rare The Serpent Perk – Eye of the Serpent Unlocks potential in killer’s aura reading by allowing the killer to track the heat signatures of nearby survivors. If a survivor is within 20 meters, they will become visible for 3 seconds. Killer’s sight is also heightened and widened. Precision is key in everything, including how well you see.

Rare The Serpent Perk – Poison of the Fang Every strike you deliver has the chance of implementing the poison effect on the injured survivor. Poisoned survivors have 90 seconds to cure themselves at various ritual sites around the map. If they fail to do so, they automatically enter the dying state. If the survivor is not healed by another survivor in 60 seconds, the survivor will succumb to the poison and perish.

CHAPTER TWO – The Binding

Survivor: Sebastian Castellanos Killer: Fenrir Lokison (aka The Dweller)

Perhaps a less likely duo than our first chapter, Sebastian Castellanos found himself taking in a shape-shifting wolf by the name of Fenrir. Naturally, Sebastian never would have believed such a creature existed, but after his time in STEM and meeting a literal God, it became easier to digest. Loki came to him with a request.

“Please watch after my son. He is still recovering and needs someone to look after him when I cannot. You’re one of the few on this realm that I trust. Can I count on you?”

“Of course.”

The God promised he would only be gone for a few days, gathering supplies with Fenrir’s elder brother during one of their trips. Sebastian thought little of it. While many stories and people painted Loki’s children to be monsters, Seb knew what a real monster looked like and Fenrir definitely did not fit the bill.

But Loki and Jörmungandr never came home. Several days passed without word. Sebastian didn’t worry. What could harm a God and his offspring? A foolish question, he supposed, since he met Loki inside of STEM and the whole reason Fenrir needed so much time to recover was because he’d been so badly injured during his time in Odin’s captivity. Still, the detective tried to stay positive while he looked after the disguised wolf. Fenrir hardly woke for anything more than food anyway.

A week passed, though, followed by another, and while Fenrir grew stronger, no word came from the wolf’s mother. Sebastian tried to reach Loki, tried to reach Jörmungandr, but failed every time.

“We ought to go searching for them,” Fenrir suggested halfway through the third week. “This is unlike my mother.”

“Loki didn’t even tell us where they were going. Where do we begin?” Sebastian asked as he dished out some homemade stew. The detective wasn’t the best cook in the world, but Fenrir didn’t seem to mind. As long as it was high in protein, he’d eat just about anything.

“I could track them,” the wolf suggested.

“By scent?”

“No.” Fenrir fixed Sebastian with a rather annoyed expression. “With magic, idiot.”

“Oh... right. I just thought, because, ya know, the wolf thing, you might...” He sighed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you, I’m just... still getting used to the idea that magic and gods are real.”

Fenrir nodded, excusing Sebastian’s stumbling as a human lost in a world that made no logical sense to them. They had more important things to worry about, anyway, like tracking Fenrir’s missing family members. The wolf, despite still trying to recuperate, set to work on tracking his mother and brother, only to find that they... weren’t turning up. He contacted Hel, hoping that she may have some answers or, at the very least, could confirm if they were dead, but his sister only reported back much of the same.

Hel, however, had always been wildly gifted in the ways of magic, even in ways that her brothers were not, and she was at least able to track Loki’s last known location.

“Wait for me. I will come with you to locate them,” she instructed.

“We don’t have time,” Fenrir insisted. “Sebastian and I will go now.”

And they did...

SURVIVOR PERKS AND ABILITIES

Rare Sebastian Castellanos Perk – Light the Way Survivor starts the trial with an old lantern with enough oil to burn for 2 minutes. Burning the lantern makes generator repair easier, increasing the speed by 50%. Searching chests, sabotaging hooks, and healing are also increased by 50% when the lantern is lit. It also makes finding other relevant points of interest easier to spot, making the survivor’s line of sight further and clearer. Oil can be found around the map to replenish the lantern’s supply but be careful! The lantern may make tasks easier, but the survivor will be much easier to spot.

Rare Sebastian Castellanos Perk – Catching Fire Survivor starts the trial with an old lantern and a box of matches. When the lantern is lit, the survivor can smash the lantern against the killing, momentarily stunning them and setting them on fire. The survivor can also toss a match at a flammable object to start a fire that will spread and create a temporary barrier that the killer cannot cross. Lantern light makes the survivor easier to locate. Other survivors can be harmed by the flames as well, instantly putting them into the dying state if hit.

Rare Sebastian Castellanos Perk – Trick Shot Survivor starts the trial with a revolver with an empty clip. Upon killer attack, the survivor can hit the killer with the handle of the gun, momentarily stunning the killer. There is, however, a single bullet in one of the chests around the map. If the survivor finds it, they have one shot to hit the killer. A body shot will stun the killer for 90 seconds. A headshot will stun the killer for 3 full minutes and grant 50% generator repair speeds. As soon as the gun is fired, regardless of if the bullet lands or misses, the survivor becomes visible to the killer for 30 seconds upon killer’s first step.

KILLER PERKS AND ABILITIES

Rare The Dweller Perk – God Eater Power from the Entity flows freely through your veins, granting you the ability to mori the first survivor you come across without having to put them into the dying state or hook them. One remaining survivor will be granted 100% chance of escaping their hook once and luck for all survivors increases moderately.

Rare The Dweller Perk – Howls of Rage You let off a serious of loud snarls, growls, and howls. Nearby survivors are so frightened by your presence, they scream in terror, revealing their location for five seconds. The more you frighten the survivors, the easier they are to track. Their anxiety causes louder breathing and panting, off-balanced skill checks with smaller zones to hit while healing or repairing generators, and more screams of terror when you are near.

Rare The Dweller Perk – Pack Hunting Your ability to track survivors by scent of blood and fear grants potential in your aura reading abilities. Any time a survivor within 24 meters of you enters a closet, it is revealed to you straight away. Any time a survivor sits in a closet anywhere on the map for more than ten seconds, they become visible to you.

CHAPTER THREE – The Gates of Helheim

Survivor: Hel Lokidottir Killer: Hel Lokidottir (aka The Damned)

In search of her missing mother and idiot brothers, Hel left the safety of her realm and went to Midgard to the last known location of Loki and Jörmungandr. When Fenrir insisted, he would go with a friend without waiting for her, and Hel never received word back, she knew that she needed to find them herself. It didn’t come as a shock or a surprise, really. Out of the lot of them, she seemed the most likely to actually preform correctly under pressure, but even Hel, the Goddess of Death and the Queen of Helheim could not escape the Entity’s hold once she stepped foot into its domain.

Splitting her into a survivor or a killer, however, proved to be tricky. Her true, half-dead appearance made her perfect for a monster that would tear apart survivors without so much as batting an eye. Her living side, however, lent itself to that of a survivor. Despite Hel’s cold and hardened exterior, she had a deeply caring and passionate heart, one that could very well put her at the forefront of a pack of survivors, one that made it nearly impossible to condemn her fully to a life of endless killing.

Nor could the Entity strip away what made her such, so what to do?

For the first time in the stretch of the Entity’s exsitence, it decided to manifest both sides of the coin in one person. A young, beautiful, and intelligent survivor that, when touched by darkness, flipped the script entirely.

At the beginning of each trial, Hel starts as either a survivor or a killer. As a survivor, Hel has incredible abilities, but must keep a close eye on her comrades. Signs of betrayal will pull her closer and closer to the darkness, as judgement must be passed on fellow survivors. If Hel is the victim of a betrayal or she witnesses first hand a betrayal, power surges through her, turning her into the half-dead judger of the damned. Her first kill is automatically a merciless blow on the current killer, wiping them out of the trial. Then the survivor who ignited her change becomes her obsession, always visible to her until they, too, are dead. Other survivors are penalized for helping the betrayer.

As the Damned, the killer ruthlessly passes judgment on the survivors, but the survivors have an added ability to perform cleansing rituals. These rituals force the Entity back, pulling the Damned away from it’s hold. There are four ritual sites. Each site must be cleansed by a different survivor. If the survivors manage to cleanse all of the sites, the Damned will revert back to Hel, a survivor. Without an active killer, the trial ends, and all those still alive will escape.

SURVIVOR PERKS AND ABILITIES

Rare Hel Lokidottir Perk – Gifts for the Giving Any time a survivor performs a coop action, the time it takes to complete that action is cut by 50%. At the same time, the killer is distracted by a false audio cue on the far side of the map, putting as much distance between the killer and the survivors as possible.

Rare Hel Lokidottir Perk – Ghosts of the Damned The survivor is infused with the spirit of the half-dead queen, giving them a second face hidden from view. Other survivors are unaffected by revealing what lies beneath but revealing the true face of the queen will spook a killer. Directly seeing the reveal will stun the killer, forcing them to drop their victims in the process. Being nearby but not in direct contact will fill the killer with a sense of terror at the Entity’s displeasure. The killer’s sight will be impaired severely for 60 seconds, making locating and hitting survivors extremely difficult. Restricted use of 3 times per trial.

Rare Hel Lokidottir Perk – Bridge Between Realms As a survivor, the killer’s instincts run strong through your veins. This unlocks potential in the survivor’s aura reading abilities, allowing them to see the killer’s position every 20 seconds regardless of what the killer is doing.

KILLER PERKS AND ABILITIES

Rare The Damned Perk – Judgement Passed When a survivor leads you to another survivor, you gain a buff to hone in on the betrayer and teleport right behind them. You can grab them without downing them into dying state, but you are not allowed to harm the other found survivors until your catch has been dealt with by hooking them or killing them by your hand.

Rare The Damned Perk – Survivor’s Savior If you catch a survivor assisting another survivor, you have the choice of rewarding that survivor rather than harming them. You will pull the survivor to your side, recruiting them to help you throughout the duration of the trial. They will be forced to assist you in sabotaging generators, protecting totems and ritual sites, and locating survivors. You are not allowed to kill this survivor. They will automatically be guaranteed a survived status at the end of the trial.

Rare The Damned Perk – Rites of Passage There are four ritual sites where survivors can perform the cleansing ritual that will drain you of your power. You must protect them at all costs while hunting your charges. To do this, you can set traps at the entrance of each ritual site. If a survivor steps through this trap, they will instantly be transported to a rune etched into the basement where they will be trapped for 20 seconds. You can choose to retrieve and hook them, but that will leave your ritual site vulnerable to the next survivor.

[cedion]

Welp I finished the third act of the game, only left are the guys happy ends (except Yves I finished him) and that's it. Short rant on Ankou and the overall game, major spoilers under cut (don't read if you don't want to be spoiled!!)

I am so so so so sad and frustrated with how his route turned out to be. He and Adolf share the entire third act with one another. Third Act being the true route basically, he already doesn't have much of an appearance in the third act it's mostly taken up by plot revelations and new character introductions (lol) also Adolf takes most of the screentime together with the other characters. That is my first gripe, not enough Ankou I was honestly a tad annoyed with how little time Ceres gets with him ALONE. And then the whole entire plot line revealed itself and it turns out Ankou is Adolf but from the past so they're technically the same person. Here is my second gripe. I hate that trope. I really really do because it undermines the individual characters, Ankou is no longer Ankou he is now past!Adolf with a new appearance and I can't stand it. Yes hints were being dropped in the beginning that they might be the same person but due to Ankou suffering through countless of decades alone his personality changed, his speaking mannerisms changed, of course his appearance changed and he was given a completely new name. I don't like when characters like that turn out to be the exact same person as an existing character. And let me tell you, Ankou doesn't really have a "route" he really is just a plot device to help Adolf get together with Ceres and to resolve the entire curse issue. He does not have a happy end with Ceres, he has a despair end (haha yaaay..... Like we needed more of that) which honestly just made me want to die even more inside. His entire storyline is very tragic and sad but I really loved the tiny bits of interactions we got between him and Ceres and I understand why they technically can't be together but it's so fucking cruel to throw him in there as a "route" when he really isn't.

I'm used to games which focuses more on story and tragedy than on romance. But shuuen no Virche for me has 1 fatal flaw, there is no impact of tragedy if you didn't let us get attached to the characters or couples in this case, there is so much plot shenanigans and sub characters who get sob stories left and right, there is barely any time for Ceres to DEVELOP her relationship with a guy. This is still an otome game, the only route who truly delivered was Yves, he was perfect, pacing was perfect, tragedy was perfect. But anyone else suffered from convoluted storylines and getting cockblocked every 2 seconds by sub charas and not enough time to form a proper relationship to Ceres so the tragedy has impact. It really did not have an impact on me besides "Oh yeah this is super fucked up... Wow I feel so bad for Ceres" THIS was honestly my consistent feeling throughout the game: I feel bad for Ceres. So many awful things kept happening to her or her guy. The game forces you to go through each tragic ending first before unlocking the third act (act Adolf and Ankou) and after completing that you can go back to get the happy ending of everyone except Ankou ofc. So basically 50+ hours of absolute despair before you get good Endings.

I've played bws, kng, gekka romance, birushana and they all had tragic elements to it but I feel like Virche had so much potential but was too focused on coming up with a good storyline that the relationships between characters weren't the priority. And that for me is a shame because I play games for characters, an amazing plotline is very welcomed but if you don't give your characters room to grow with one another then I might just go and play a regular visual novel instead of an otome game. Urgh I'm just so emotionally depleted after almost 4 days of reading the most fucked up shit, and the dude I was excited for the most got shafted. At least Yves was my salvation.

The game is by no means bad but don't expect anything revolutionary either. I can't give a final verdict yet since I haven't completed the good Endings but I doubt those are gonna change much.

Also just for the record, the characters were fine. I like them all on an individual level. Mathis was really good and I like the chemistry he has with Ceres but there wasn't enough. Lucas as well suffers so much from sub Charas taking over, he barely has any development with Ceres once you get a bit further in his route, his one was the first route I started and I was so... Dissapointed after finishing his like... Freaking 4 bad Endings or whatever. Scien... Gosh he had no chemistry at all with Ceres, none whatsoever, I get what character archetype they were going for with him but their relationship felt very shoehorned into the story. (his first despair ending felt SO unfitting, suddenly this dude has emotions??? Over Ceres?? Did I miss this part in his route or wtf happened) I liked Scien the moment he was acting warmer towards Ceres but again, his route got taken over by plot exposition. Same with those sub characters. I goddamn HATE all of them except for 2 people, the rest always turn out to be absolute pieces of shit and they get so much screentime and sob stories to explain their fucked up behaviors. That's why I don't hate on any of the main cast, it's not their fault that their routes sucked, it would have been amazing if the writers just gave them more time to develop.

[justslightlycool]

Hey bnha manga rant here. I'm kinda disappointed with Shoto's arc in the recent chapters. After the big dabi reveal the war arc felt kind of convoluted because of one plot twist after another. We also get very minimal pov from Shoto after the reveal. He was finally healing mentally. But we hardly get to see his proper emotional turmoil and the pressure of fighting his own brother in the future. Even in the dabi vs shoto fight, Deku sort of steals the spotlight by demonstrating his new quirk. I also think it would have been nice to see 1a's reaction. How do you feel about this?

Ohoho~ my time has finally come.

Welp, bb, I have a lot of feelings about Shoto’s arc and the manga’s plot in general, in this essay I will but to answer your questions:

1. Yes, everything post-Toya reveal felt like Boku no Hero Speedrun and it did take precious focus and pages away from an emotionally charged for everyone - Shoto, Toya, and Endeavor.

2. Having said that, it didn’t bother me that Hori didn’t dive into Shoto’s turmoil right away (and by this I mean, during the battle) bc I read it as Shoto taking over while Endeavor froze. Shoto, canonically, is great at compartmentalizing (eg: there’s the amazing hero Endeavor, from whom he can learn so much; and then there’s his abusive father, Enji Todoroki). So right then, it felt very in-char for him to handle Toya’s attacks, even trying to reach out at once (objectiveness + kindness, traits we have seen other characters praise Shoto for having).

3. Now, post-battle...We got that one panel where Shoto thinks “I have to be the one to face Toya” or something along those lines and then we have Rei arriving with divorce papers and the whole TodoFam assuming responsibility for the creation of Dabi, therefore telling Shoto ~they’re all in this together~ and heeeeere is where my particular beef lies.

4. I am not exactly bothered by the fact Hori didn’t explore more of Shoto’s feelings about fighting Toya because - and this might be controversial - Shoto barely remembers his brother. He’s much younger and had barely any connection to his siblings. I think he feels the pressure from the concept of fighting against a brother, but not Toya himself (completely different than if Natsuo were in Shoto’s shoes, for example). But we did get Shoto’s empathy, how he can see his past self in Toya and recognize the same self-destruction, etc. And I feel like this is where the connection and chance to save Toya is, so I was satisfied by the way Hori did it.

5. What I did miss, and I think we’ll never get to see, is his reaction to Rei’s admission she’s to blame for his scar; what was he thinking when he saw Endeavor crying?; what did Natsuo and Fuyumi say to him after Hawks and BJ left?

6. I say this bc, despite the western fandom’s stance on Endeavor and the tons of hcs and fanfics where Shoto is forever sluuuuurping away at his dad, canon is showing us that he might indeed choose forgiveness. And, damn it, I wanna see how he arrives there!

7. I love the Todofam plot, it is my favorite in the entire series: it’s incredibly nuanced, from how the siblings react to Endeavor’s abuse and neglect; to how it affected their other parental figure, an abuse victim so broken she hurts one of her children; to Endeavor himself. Everything has layers, no cookie-cutter reactions and - most wonderfully of all - no right answers. It’s okay to forgive or not. The first does not equal forgetfulness, a free pass; and the second does not damn you to a life of bitterness. It’s just what’s right for that heart.

8. Now, Deku’s new quirks...*sigh* Man, that’s a whole other essay, but I’ll say that I hate-hate-hate the narutofication of Deku. As for 1-A’s reactions, I can’t say I was surprised. Since Hori didn’t take the time to explore Shoto’s POV, I felt like he wouldn’t show much of the other students.

9. So as you can see by this essay, I FEEL FUCKING ROBBED, NONNIE. Hori has proven before that he knows how to write emotional build-up and that he knows the importance of it. There’s no way this man crafted this plotline without knowing it, SO WHERE IS IT?! HUH?!

10. In conclusion, I think BNHA is about to become a different manga. Hori moved away from mixing action and high school shenanigans when Deku dropped out. I don’t necessarily have a problem with that if it’s well-executed, but I suspect heavy editorial meddling and Hori burning out are stripping away the human element that first attracted me to BNHA (shonen can combine action and emotion, just look at FMA), and turning it into a Cool Fight Scene extravaganza that’s not my cup of tea.

tl;dr: I hate it here and my boi deserved better

[miracul0us-multishipper]

So can we expect a Labyrinth AU in the future???

Well I sure am super fucking tempted! Though I’m not quite sure how to handle to roles.

My first idea would have been Adrien as Jareth and Marinette as Sarah, simply because I’m always a goner for enemies to lovers, and J/S fits that theme perfectly. Also, Goblin King fashion except Chat Noir themed? Just IMAGINE!!! The potential! The gracious amount of leather! The DRAMA!

On the other hand, despite fan fiction traditionally casting Chat in the role of the Sinful Dark Badboy, he is canonically a cinnamon roll. Jareth Is Decidedly Not.

Since the Goblin King is the antagonist in Labyrinth, and Hawkmoth the villain of Miraculous, that would leave me with the very awkward option of placing the absolute bore of a fashion disaster that is Mr Eggreste in Jareth's extravagant mess of Cool Costumes, which is plainly something Clip-On-Tie-Guy doesn’t deserve. Also, it would waste all these i n t e n s e dialogues between the our favorite trash king and the glorious champion of the labyrinth. Because that? Is chemistry. And Agreste doesn’t even have chemistry with his wife, in my humble opinion. (Another Matter: Jareth is surprisingly good with children! Hawkdad Is... Not.)

If we leave the Lovesquare behind, I could imagine Luka to make a decent Goblin King. His aesthetic is far too preppy, but he is a musician and the fandom seems to drink a lot of Obsessed/Unhinged!Luka juice lately, with all the Evil!Luka AUs I see floating about. So, there's potential.

The longer I think of it, the better it becomes. Luka, seeing himself as the righteous and gallant prince, thinks he can woo the everdreaming, creative Marinette by making her favorite fairy tale come to life! He'll just kidnap her (brother? Crush?), innocent little Adrien and make Mari run his Labyrinth to get him back. That's fun after all, right? She'll be the daring heroine for once, and after falling in love with his eerie, yet weirdly charming kingdom, he can make her fall in love with its king. It’s not like she can actually win! No one has ever bested the Labyrinth, after all...

Or wait. Wait wait wait. I've been going at this from the wrong angle.

We have the ruler of the goblin kingdom, who is head over heals for a childishly innocent mortal. The King likes to play games, is very creative with his traps and has a thing for weird yet somehow awesome outfits. He also can’t seem to just confess his feeling normally, and instead (kind of) stalks a lot and comes up with this huge convoluted scheme to trap his crush in his kingdom.

On the other hand, we have the innocent, somewhat neglected mortal who wants to escape her life into a fairy tale. She's a tad dramatic, naive, and a romantic at heart. Her dad might mean well (?) but certainly sucks at basic conversation skills.

Guys. Marinette as the Goblin King, and Adrien as Sarah. Can you imagine the Crystal Ballroom scene with Marinette in that sick costume? Also, #LetAdrienBeAPrincess2020!

Nino as Hoggle, only just learning to (hihi) come out of his shell? Or rather Chloé, learning to think of someone that isn’t herself? Alya as Sir Didymus, always down for a fight and ready to defend what’s right! (Ooh, that rhymes!)

As for Ludo... the Gorilla? Yeah, that works.

Welp, this post got real long real quick. Feel free to add your own ideas, because I’m definitely not calling dibs on this fic. I’m currently busy streaming David Bowie music directly into my brain while wishing for the goblin king to take me away. I mean, I’m not straight, but I’ll make an exception for That.

[ocean-in-my-rebel-soul]

ooo, 2 12 and 16 for dragon age! (salty fandom asks)

2) Are there any popular fandom OTPs you only BroTP?

Not really/kinda? Most everyone can find some cool interesting dynamic with everyone else. I did see a Solas/Iron Bull fic a while back, but while it was... super interesting, actually, I never got an overly shippy vibe from them. Deeply respected friends, I can see, but eh. But on the other hand, I can definitely outline scenarios in fanfic to extend what they develop in game, so like. The potential is there?

12) Is there an unpopular arc, that you like, that the fandom doesn't like?

The Fade wasn't that bad, c'mon! Like, it works even narratively! The Fade is influenced by your will, and even as a mage you don't know what the fuck you're doing or where you're going, so of /course/ it's gonna be complicated and convoluted and frustrating and makes you wanna throw your controller! That's just, well, that's what it's about!

16) If you could change anything, what would you change?

Two things: give Raleigh Samson a rehabilitation arc, and Grand Enchanter Fiona's role in DAI in a templar route.

Samson is a super interesting character to me. He upholds the unjust laws and institutions of the Chantry (ACAB!) but gets kicked out because he tries to be nice to his wards, at least as he can. (Granted, that comes with its own can of worms.) The Chantry got him hooked to magical meth and then shoves him out the door to go through withdrawal alone? A, fuck them, and B, this shit is deadly serious. I bet the guy was in fucking /agony/ with the myriad shit lyrium is said to do to you. Dude doesn't have a severance package or any magical drug treatment compensation for the addiction, so he turns to the streets and eventually gets wrapped up with Corypheus and soon the disaffected templar order. Yeah, he's a bad guy, and he worked for shitty people, and did shitty things. Not arguing! I'm just saying that he's done a lot of things in ultimately trying to help others like him. Going through withdrawal? He's got a hookup to some intense fucking mega-lyrium. Need a purpose in life? The guy who's feeding your addictions says he can keep you safe and give you a job if you work for him (or, alternatively, they're all manipulated by Cory via the taint in the red lyrium). They all cosign this with the intent of overthrowing the unjust Chantry that fucked them all over to begin with. Sure, they're tools of oppression, but even tools get abused.

Like, Samson clearly sees that the Chantry is really the bad guy, and he gets there in pretty fucked up ways, but he's got some good points. If we could have an arc that saved him but made him face consequences more impressive than "welp, you're dead"? Give him a lot of angst as he has to clean up the mess he's made? Make him confront the fact that he let Corypheus use him in the same ways as the Chantry and he willingly infected his brethren to do the same? Like, there are a lot of broken pieces he could clean up, more than just being a test subject or research project. I wanna know more about his resistance to red lyrium, and I want to get a suckerpunch to the gut every time I see him!!

Fiona: okay. Like. Fiona is a legally recognized badass, top of her field, grand enchanter, leader of the rebel mages. Fiona Baddass McGee convinces the Ferelden crown to grant the rebels asylum after the failure of the Conclave. Fiona apparently brokeres an agreement with the Imperium (which honestly didn't make sense to me; yeah, things were tense, but by this time they'd have asylum status, and I understand that as having the right to stay at the protection of the Crown, as is implied at Radcliffe in DAI). And she ends up being the boss fight at Haven? I dunno. That seems like a cop out, a bit. If there were as many Venatori mages in that fight as it looks like, wouldn't it make sense to take Calpernia, who at this point has had less development than Fiona (though it's mostly offscreen), be an early stage boss? I feel like they sidelined a really cool character with a lot of potential in that decision. But I dunno! I haven't played the templar route myself but have watched a couple runs online, so I'm not an expert and most of this is gut feeling.

[atamascolily]

lily liveblogs Star Trek: TNG 1x10 - “Hide and Q”

oh, man, a q episode. I'm so excited. I’ve missed that crazy fucker so much.

No Troi this episode? Hahaha, right, because I'm sure the crew will get up to all kinds of shenanigans without their resident counselor (or maybe her actresss just needed a day off?) Too bad, though, I like Troi.

Okay, who has the miniskirt as part of their uniform? I keep seeing background characters wearing it, but none of the main crew. At least, it's gender-neutral, inasmuch as I've spotted both men and women wearing it.

Geordi picks up a force field on the scanners... "It's almost like..."

....the last time we ran into that obnoxious Q guy at Farpoint, Data finishes.

(Riker totally missed that bit, so it's gonna be hysterical watching him catch up.)

Picard: "Not now, Q, damn it!" (is there ever a good time, though?)

I see the show is re-using its SFX from the pilot to save on money.

Q, a floating three-headed cobra attached to a translucent balloon: Hey, wanna let me make your dreams come true?

Picard: NOT NOW, DAMN IT, I'M BUSY!!

so that's what a Starfleet Admiral's uniform looks like with the ridiculous gold trim? WOW.

(love how the music sweeps to a dramatic flourish as Picard and Q stare at each other there)

Riker crosses his arms over his chest, and looks all smug as Q flirts with Picard. RIKER KNOWS. RIKER KNOWS EXACTLY WHERE THIS IS GOING.

so much flirting. so much flirting. I can't keep a straight face.

Q decides to flirt with Riker instead since Picard is Not Buying It, and then kidnaps the bridge crew to mess with Picard

Q is dressed up as Napoleon because of course he is, lol

(Q is literally just fucking with them all because he's bored)

Worf refuses to drink with Q and stares up down while dramatically destroying his glass, #respect

Q puts Tasha in a literally penalty box for threatening him, so much for any female characters in this episode, sigh

oh, wait, she's on the Enterprise with Picard, trying to explain everything and Picard is so sweet trying to console her ahhhhhh my heart.

Tasha says, "If only you weren't Captain", oh no, that girl has some ISSUES with sex and intimacy that this show has only hinted at, but NO PLEASE I DON'T SHIP THIS and Q shows up jealous, WOW, lot to unpack there.

Picard, as a French person, has, uh, issues with Q's Napoleonic outfit, lol, that’s totally why Q chose it

ahahaha, picard and q get into an argument over Shakespeare, I am LIVING FOR THIS.

Riker is doing the thing where he props his leg up on a boulder again, lol

(where is wesley crusher in all this, anyway? no idea)

Riker asks Data a question and Data turns and its Q in Data's makeup AHHHHHHHH SO CREEPY AHHHHHHHH

Q gives Riker phenomenal cosmic power, this is gonna be fun

Data is hesitant to explain that they were being shot at by animal creatures in Napoleonic uniforms because Picard is French. Poor Data.

Picard's like, welp, we don't have to worry about Riker, because Q's interested in him. Jealous much, Jean-Luc?

Watching Riker annoy Q is so satisfying, lol.

oh there's Wesley in his rainbow sweater, finally

Riker uses his new Q powers to save the crew from DEATH then makes a promise to Picard not to use it, even though he could have saved a girl's life with it later when they visit a mining colony and this bothers him.

(I see why Troi isn't around, she would have SHUT THAT SHIT DOWN in a heartbeat.)

Riker is so impressed with the Q, and everyone else - who was there for that fucking trial farce - is like, nah, bro, Q's a bastard, don't fall for it.

Q shows up dressed as a monk now, and encourages Riker to give the rest of the crew "gifts" using his powers

Dr. Crusher startles to hustle Wes out of there but too later - Riker turns him into AN ADULT STILL WEARING THE SAME RAINBOW SWEATER AHAHAHAHAHA (because he wanted to be “a man” and not, you know, a fashion icon)

(Geordi's reaction to aged-up Wes is "Not bad," which is just *chef's kiss*)

Data's like, no, I want no part in this, and quotes Shakespeare, so Riker doesn’t make him play this stupid game

Geordi gets to SEE with his eyes and his first reaction is to tell Tasha how beautiful she is, SIGH

but Geordi makes Riker take it back because he doesn't want to owe Q anything

Rikers gets Worf a girlfriend. I shit you not. They start brawling/making out on the bridge, which must be so awkward for everyone else, and then Worf rejects her, saying he has no place for sex in his life now

(but really this is the equivalent of the drink-tossing earlier)

We are spared Riker trying to grant Tasha's wish because the writers are SHITTY AT WRITING FEMALE CHARACTERS AND IT WOULD BE AWFUL by Riker admitting he's wrong

Picard’s like “no really?”

and then the rest of the Q show up and nab our rogue Q and he disappears screaming

Data asks how Q can be so good at time and space and shit at humanity, and Picard says space and time are easier, and you can see Data's "well, that checks out" shrug

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THIS EPISODE. WHAT THE FUCK.

don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed this, but the message got a little muddle with the incredibly convoluted plot, and none of the writers know how to write female characters AT ALL

like STOP SHIPPING TASHA YAR WITH EVERY MALE CHARACTER ON THE SHIP, DAMN IT

this could have been really good if the writers had been on their A-game, but instead it's just cracktastically weird

I think if I were to re-write the episode I would focused on either  the “Riker having the powers of the god” bit OR “Q forcing them to fight to the death on a random planet for his amusement” but BOTH plotlines in a single episode was really a mess

but hey, I am a simple soul, and Q messing with Riker and flirting with Picard is pretty hilarious in my book.

I still maintain none of this would have happened if Troi had been there, though, because Riker would have been “yes, ma’am” and sat the hell down as soon as she looked askance at him.

(still no clue what the title means, though)

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

Spoilers.

Okay I can’t hold it in anymore, I need to yell about Star Trek. 

SO.

In light of the revelations we got from Picard ep8 and ep9, I have come to the conclusion that the plot is a giant fucking mess. Lemme explain.  (Buckle up, it’s long and VERY spoilery).  First, a recap: 300 000 years ago, synthetic lifeforms from another galaxy dragged eight suns together (or maybe created them) and put a sign on the planet in the middle, saying “hey synth pals, when the organics decide to destroy you, give us a call, we’ll destroy them.” The Romulans stumbled upon it, understood only the “synth, organics, destroy” part and decided to hunt and kill robots before they evolved. So far, the robotic higher beings have only succeeded in making the organics hate the synths, so good job. Using the Romulan rescue, Oh makes synths illegal through the attack on Mars, causing the death of most of her people (and incidentally, of the entire Vulcan race in another timeline. Thanks, Oh!). I’ll give her points for dedication, at least this isn’t a “save my people and screw the rest of the Federation” scenario. She’s actually willing to sacrifice her planet to save the whole galaxy. (Doesn’t make it moral, but still, pretty selfless, in a dark a twisted way.) Again, this is the robotic higher beings’ fault. 

Moving on, The surviving synths try to make first contact with Starfleet, resulting in the death of Jana, Beautiful Flower and Vandermeer, which has overall very little consequence on the bigger plot. AGAIN, this is indirectly the robotic higher beings’ fault. (Maybe losing her sister is what makes Sutra such a bitch? Don’t think so though, we’ll get to that.) Maddox, learning nothing from the Ibn Majid, decides to learn the truth about the ban and sends two synthetic girls that look exactly like Jana to investigate (my god is he stupid), while not actually telling them what it is they’re supposed to find (oh, Bruce. Oh my god). It leads to the Romulans realizing that there’s an entire planet of synths. Outstanding work, dumbass. 

Picard does his thing and decides to save the synths and advocate for their lives, Sutra realizes what the Admonition actually meant, and decides that killing all the organics sounds like a great idea. She doesn’t hesitate to let Narek kill one of her sisters to unite her people, showing that she’s exactly the same kind of psycho bitch as Oh. The problem is: SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECIES. The robotic higher beings are fucking IDIOTS!! They’re supposed to have seen many civilisations rise and fall, so they should know what to do and what not to do, and their rational still is “organics will kill us anyway, so let’s kill them,” leading to the organics being like “oh shit, the synths want to kill us, let’s stop making them,” leading to Sutra being like “welp they’ve already started hating us, our robot overlords were right, let’s kill organics.”  OH. MY. GOD!!!

I get that the lesson is that fear is the great enemy, and in this case it’s really well demonstrated (gotta give credit where it’s due), but still! It’s so frustrating!! 

My biggest problem with that convoluted plot is that we (the viewers) are supposed to see the synths as the organics’ equals. Their plight is supposed to be equal to the Federation’s. Except NO. I’m sorry, NO. 

(More on in-universe morality and out-of-universe viewer experience under the cut, because I took pity on your dashboards.)

I get wanting to survive from the Romulan attack, okay. (There is la Sirena for that, just as a reminder.) But Sutra saying that the Federation banning them was essentially genocide? NO. They are made. They aren’t born naturally. A government telling its people to stop making procreating isn’t the same thing as a government killing every kid younger that ten! Parents refusing to conceive isn’t the same as murdering their children (I won’t open the can of worms that is the abortion debate, the point stands). 

We as an audience are still supposed to see the Zhat Vash as the bad guys, because Oh, Narissa and Narek are villains, and because they have caused untold suffering. (By the way, linking Cris’ personal tragedy to the synth crisis is a massive plot contrivance to make us hate the Zhat Vash more, which I found frustrating watching ep8. Losing people in a horrible way happens even without grand global conspiracies, and Cris had already been established as going out of his way to help people even when there was nothing in it for him. We didn’t need the connection to empathise with his pain, and he didn’t need the added incentive. Seriously, how small is that galaxy? Are everybody’s demons linked to Picard’s heroic quest? How convenient.)

But are the Zhat Vash really the bad guys? (Even Cris questions that despite arguably being the Sirena crewmember who as per ep8 had lost the most because of them, along with Elnor.) I’m sorry, if Sutra does try to call the robotic overlords, I say burn Cappelius to the ground. Lemme continue to explain. There are what, 50 synths? 50 robots. And the show tries to make me (again, the viewer) accept that risking the survival of the entire Federation (trillions of people) to save them is actually a question worth asking? From an in-universe moral standpoint, perhaps. 

From an outsider’s perspective (the audience), not even close. Robots having souls and being equal to humans isn’t even a discussion we’re having in real life. I don’t believe androids will ever be self-aware, and capable of emotion and love. Sure, in the Star Trek universe they apparently are. So what? Suspension of disbelief only goes so far. The show can’t expect me to accept that many IFs. I get the very one-the-nose “fear of the Other,” “make love not war,” “different races have equal rights to life” analogy. The message is very much worthy, the show’s depiction of it really pisses me off. The show isn’t asking me to decide whether or not it would be moral to kill the last survivors of a human (or even alien) tribe to save the world, it’s asking “but what if we were basically God and we fucked up, how would we fix it? What if the stuff we made eventually had feelings? Then it’d be bad to destroy it, right?” 

Aside from the sheer hubris of that premise, I don’t know that the robots have feelings. I know it looks like they do, and that they believe that they do, but again, how am I to know? From a biological viewpoint, they’re certainly not alive:

“Life” (biological def taken from the web) Definition. noun, plural: lives. noun, plural: lives. (1) A distinctive characteristic of a living organism from dead organism or non-living thing, as specifically distinguished by the capacity to grow, metabolize, respond (to stimuli), adapt, and reproduce. 

Do the synths grow? Nah. Do they metabolize? Yes. Respond to stimuli? Yes but debatable as it’s programmed. Adapt? Yes. Reproduce? NOPE. 2.5/5 on the living scale lol. That’s not that great. (From an in-universe moral perspective, this time. I know, TNG did an ep on that, sorry.)

Still the show tries reaaaally hard to sell their sentience, and the one time that really didn’t sit well with me was that “robotic finger touching the human finger” image. WOW, last place where I expected to find religious imagery, a show that questions what it means to be human and what creating beings in our image would entail *sarcasm*. 

Except they twist the imagery. In the Bible, human lives are sacred because they are in the image of the perfect God, and He values us (=> so human worth come directly from God attributing worth to us because we’re meant to reflect His goodness). Humans being imperfect due to their fall, creating something in their own image is called an idol - it’s a false god, it’s not sentient, it’s even more imperfect, and it’s wrong. And if humans don’t value it and and it doesn’t reflect who they are anymore, well, it would make the idol even more worthless, right? (clearer explanation because my arguing skills suck => drawing on the Bible’s imagery, either humans are not gods and the images they created are worthless, or the series means for them to have God’s place, in which case refusing to attribute worth to their images makes those worthless. That invalidates the question that I previously said the show was asking.) So all in all, reminding us of the Christian take on the issue right in the middle of the Admonition claiming that synths are perfect is thus completely counterproductive, both in universe and from a viewer’s pov.

But but but, I hear you protest, what about Data? He had worth! 

This may be controversial, but Data mattered to us because of the character he was, not because he was supposed to be human. He was adorable and losing him meant losing an interesting and enjoyable element in the show, which would make us sad. I love him like I love Cris’ holos, the Voyager Doctor, Wall-E and Eve, R2-D2, Jarvis and Chappie. They’re (very) likeable fictional creatures that can be used as metaphors for real life issues, nothing more. In any show/movie I’d be really sad if one of them had to be sacrificed to save the world, but I’d accept it (looking at you, Infinity War Captain America). If the question arose in real life, would I question the morality of it? No. 

So, are the new synths the same? I already tackled the metaphor thing, it’s not handled that well and Detroit Become Human did it first. (Again, it’s hard to portray the otherness of other real life-cultures that we may unjustly fear by using things whose living status is so easily questionable!!)  Is killing off the synths wrong from an out-of-universe perspective because the audience loves them? Let’s see... Are the new synths adorable/likeable? Heck no, give me Emil and Enoch over them any day. Would we lose something in the show if they died? Nah. We didn’t even know they existed until one episode ago. Picard would get angsty and Agnes would get upset, but it’s nothing a few fluffy fics wouldn’t fix. Do we know the synths as characters? We know that Sutra is crazy, violent and bloodthirsty, Jana was probably nice (?), Dahj had a cute boyfriend (outstanding characterization) and Soji... Welp... *sigh* I guess Soji is okay, even though she’s the least relatable and interesting character of the whole Sirena crew?  We know that their creators and biggest advocates, Soong Jr and Maddox, are(/were) creepy old dudes with warped ethics, half a brain between the two of them, really toxic interactions with Agnes, and enough hubris to bring the entire greek demigod population to shame. They would race Icarus to the sun, seriously.  We know that Captain Vendermeer killed himself over two robots, permanently damaging one of the nicest and most beloved characters of the series. Yeah, real incentive for me wanting to see the Federation risk destruction for the androids, guys.

But seriously, the last time a psycho AI tried to destroy the galaxy and make it in its image (*cough* Control) the protagonists spent a season trying to destroy the thing, and they were right! Future-control was self-aware and demonstrated anger and fear! Make up your mind, CBS!! 

And by the way? THE SYNTHS HAVE A MEANS OF ESCAPE!! No, I’m sorry, if they don’t decide to go aboard la Sirena and choose to endanger the Federation instead, then for all plot issues I’m siding with the Zhat Vash. Go on, destroy the synths. As part of the audience, I don’t care, and the show attempts at making me care by trying to make it a moral issue feel clumsy and forced. 

Also. Q exists in the Star Trek universe! He’s a deus ex-machina machine!! (Pun intended.) It’s hard to take big issues like that seriously when he could just swoop in and teleport the synths out of the galaxy/destroy the Romulan armada/put the robotic overlords in their place. JL, please, give Q a call. Yeah, yeah, it’d take away from the moral stakes because you can’t solve your irl problem with a snap of your fingers and you have to make actual decisions - but as I already said, I feel like the moral stakes are dumb and contrived. Give me the deus ex-machina, please. 

This has been a Star Trek rant. I know that I tackled two separate issues here: the in-universe morality of the synths’ death (I will admit that from the crew’s perspective it’s not right, because they can’t know if the synths are alive or not for sure) and the out-of-universe viewer experience. I apologize if it came across as really confused and complicated. 

I still like the show and love the actual characters (meaning, la Sirena’s colorful crew), and the show writers are not incompetent, or stupid, or wrong for writing their show how they want. They are really skilled and talented and they have created mostly compelling characters - I’m just unhappy with the direction taken by the story.

[into-september]

Sarazanmai 10

Rin looks crazy in the preview screencap so this is sure to be promising. For the penultimate episode of an Ikuhara anime, I mean.

Anyway, I was pretty distracted watching this, since these days sees stuff with consequences for both me and other people going in the parts of my life that has to do with earning a living. With apologies to all my loyal fans (hi, @blacknidstang!), I'm pretty sure there's stuff I'm missing here that's not just the usual Ikuhara fuckery

- Rin also wastes little time showing up for the plot and Kazuki is uh oddly calm about having these conversations with the guy who tried to kill him hours before and effectively HAS killed his BFF

- I don't know why they're on the Otter Lift but I approve of Rin having a desk there 

- Where are they? Dunno. Why did they go there? IDK. Was this Keppi's plan all along? Because I suppose it makes sense but I can't recall anyone being told about it. 

- New question: Did Enta just get Rin's treatment or did Rin willingly end up where he is? And is Enta breaking free some sort of proof of his "purity" in that he can't be seduced by Otter!Kazuki's promise of a "special relationship", instead opting for the "just friends" with the real Kazuki? What exactly is the moral in this being played on the two characters who have been shown to be unquestionably queer? 

- And there went Mabu, having displayed his one (1) human emotion. I feel like I am seriously the only person around who uh, sees Rin's point about how fucked up it is to pursue a relationship with an imperfect replica of a human being. It's one thing to think it's cute in the happy prequel manga but what they are in the anime is some Chobits level of messed up and Rin's refusal to get into that is pretty much his only redeeming quality, FFS. 

- And that's how zombies are made. 

- Let's dwell on the significance of us getting to hear the full song without dialogue and screaming only when it's Rin singing it. And then forget about it in favour of asking if this means that Mabu is going to turn into a ghost in the end like all the rest of them. 

- I know I made a Princess Tutu comment at some point but welp, there we went and that suddenly got sad and only Ikuhara, only Ikuhara could pull that kind of heartbreak during epilepsy-inducing animation of a gigantic naked man with hanging balls. 

- Anyway they're way more adorable kappa than the golden trio are

- All that and he's worth nothing more than a badge? Cheap, Keppi :/ I bet it's going to turn out to have some kind of special meaning whenever Toi shows up to inevitably start fucking things up.

- How did he collapse a building with a revolver

- Haruka, please refrained from breaking any symbolic crockery

- I should be sad but who did not see this coming and more importantly, Keppi's constipation face

- And so a childhood friendship trumped the criminal you met two weeks ago and Toi is Ottered in what sounds like the master plan out of the Cardcaptor Sakura finale and THIS is somehow the most Magical Girl Ikuhara anime yet. Huh.

 - I have absolutely no idea what the Otters are actually doing and what they are trying to achieve by it. In general, I think this episode has been the greatest proof this far that this anime needed to be twice as long. There is a lot of stuff happening here and a lot of conflicts that are pulled off well enough, but which really could’ve needed more time to truly stick to the viewer. Who is Sara? What’s the significance of the head dish that broke? What are the Otters even up to? What’s Keppi doing with Dark Keppi now? What was with the making of the zombies in the first place? Penguindrum might’ve been convoluted, but it always took care to hold the audience’s hand as the plot progressed. This episode, together with Haruka in the not-child-broiler, made it regretfully clear that Sarazanmai doesn’t have the time to do the same. 

(yes, the "Rin" is intentional but only after I'd already accidentally typed it like that for half the post)

[seenashwrite]

14.08 Round-Up

NOW THAT IS HOW YOU START AN EPISODE. Boom, baby.

(But, he ain't dead, we know he ain't dead, everybody pump your bonfire brakes.)

Mary doesn't answer, quelle shock.

You know, I appreciate it, but lumberjackin' now that the beard's retired? Hmmmph.

I... I agree with getting knee-walkin' drunk, I just... there's... there's a.... y'all got a corpse down yonder... this song is not what I would've chosen.

I dig the Overlook Hotel: Version Goo action. Hey somebody point me to the gifs of the dollar store Terminator rise from last week, will ya?

IT'S YA GIRL - I've made clear my love for Lily Sunder. I also love Alicia Witt. I happen to like this character actress, too, though. So. Okay. All right.

.

.

AND OUR EXPOSITION ANVIL WINNER IS DEAN! Thank you, writers. The "Then" covered it. The Kevin/Donatello part was necessary but chasing that first dog... woof.

Jesus wept, if you have to get this convoluted with your plot in order to fix past plot, and not-in-the-distant-past plot, I mean in-the-immediate-past plot, then YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE DONE THAT PLOT IN THE FIRST PLACE. Not without a streamlined plan. And this ain't streamlined.

Anubis [rolls eyes] Oh, fucking fine.

"Sorry long story" ---- Cas I love you, and hard. Lack of exposition makes me tingly in my no-no places. This almost makes up for the anvil.

Hello Kelly actress who is awesome and was underused but I'm told is being used quite well on that other show! Not gonna lie - I love that they're getting to meet, I do. Kelly's a good mom.

That's Leviathan goo, yo. And if it's not.... do they even canon? I get it's probs Empty goo. Still. That there's Leviathan goo.

SHE'S POSSESSED WHY IS SHE NOT FRIED IF YA BOY'S OVER THERE FRIED... Cas you trusting dumbass... I mean, if she ain’t possessed, then oh writers #bless 

Shut up, Naomi... "I thought you were old friends, nyah meh myah neeeeeuuuhhh"

Stop cutting your palms, TV people. Forearms.

That's excellent - that we decide. I dig it. Well played.

.

.

Spoke too soon - CONFETTI ANVILS FOR CAS! Naomi just said all this - was there not a smoother way to have this accomplished without it being back-to-back? A “Come on, I know why you’re here and where Jack is, I’ll explain when we get there” and then, y’know, explain it to all parties right then?

SHE'S YOUR “SHADOW” YA DUMBFUCKS [moments later] ::sigh::

Hey, why aren't we calling it The Entity anymore? That has a better, more ominous ring to it than "The Shadow". I mean, that's a literary term for such a character. So it's... redundant. And something a kid would call a spooky character, besides.

Man, I *really* like this actress, she has got the insidious psychopath thing doooooooown, holy moses, I'm a fan. I'm a big fan. They won't let her live, so we'll never see her again, which is a shame because-----HOLY SHIT THEY DIDN'T KILL HER.  I am legit grinning from ear-to-ear. They'll squander her. **whispers** Please don't squander her.

Wait, what deal did Cas make? That The Entity will get him sooner than planned? I missed it somehow. I think there was a little doggy drama at this point.

Aaaaaand of course they killed Lily. But I freaking love this. I kinda love Anubis now. I like the actor for sure.

"Say hello to your daughter for me" --- I honestly got tearful, be still my black heart.

What the shit is up with Naomi? How does she manage to keep on keepin' on? And Michael's in Dean's ascending colon, we've covered this, wherever Naomi - the supes trustworthy and totally successful at the shit she’s always tried to do [snort] Naomi - thinks he is, he’s not.

N-No.... no, Kaia found you. But semantics, shemantics.

Good ep.

[moments pass]

GARTH!

.

To wrap up, we need to talk writing for a second, feel free to tap out if you don't care.

But we gotta talk about this, because they're gonna have a major Chekov's Gun situation, here, if they don't do what I'm about to say:

The only way this could cohesively play out now------

and I ain't saying it will, because of Dabb and Singer and Buckleming, The Backwoods Brain Trust

------is that the Entity is the ace in the hole for defeating Michael.

Why, Nash? -- Glad you asked.

For those unfamiliar, Chekov said (and I'm paraphrasing) that if you make a point to describe a gun hanging on the wall in the room in the first chunk of your story, you must bring it up again, and it better be for a good reason, otherwise why the fuck did you bring it up in the first place?

So we must ask ourselves: What was the point of Jack losing his grace to Luci? I would submit so Lucifer wasn't really dead. Is that accurate? Remains to be seen. But for sure we now know that at least one part of the point was for him to get sick, and die, and be an excuse to get The Entity (I'm not calling it "The Shadow", see above, re: stupid) back on the field.

But what about the Kaia-super special wtf is it made of God's fossilized jizz spear thing, Nash? -- Glad you asked.

Welp, not really, because fuck if I know. I don't mind Kaia being in the mix, I already spoke on how much that rocked not just during the WS pilot but spoke of it again in the ep where she returned, that actress is phenomenal and the character's got a ton of potential.

What I'm getting at, is: if The Entity isn't somehow integral in the Michael arc - which is supposed to be the major arc of the season, despite us having spent, collectively, about forty-five minutes on him - then what in the hell was the point?

So if they're playing the long game like seasonal shows are supposed to, keeping things articulated like a nicely polished skeleton (it's a bump-in-the-night show, hence the choice of analogy #you love it), then that's the only connective thread that makes sense.

Oh, and they also better say that Lucifer targeted Nick and ordered Abraxas to kill his family to make him vulnerable. They pussed out by not making it that Nick killed his family. That would've been *chef's kiss*

There, I'm done. See ya next week!

[knightofbalance-13]

https://sokumotanaka.tumblr.com/post/177509479149/back-on-my-bullshit

Welp, guess you can take mine then.

Let’s tweak the lore a bit.

*slaps five bucks on the table* I’m betting you fundamentally break the lore until it doesn’t work anymore.

During a discussion with a friend of mine I was going on about inconsistencies in rwby cause she never watched it but was aware of some of the flaws and was curious. The conversation soon turned from my disdain for the series flaws (really I’m so tired guys) to fixing certain flaws in the narrative, and during our swapping she asked me how if yang had aura did adam cut through yang’s aura.

You know, I’d bet that all those ‘flaws’ are just bullshit you told her.

Also: If you hate the series, why the fuck are you supporting it? or are you pirating it in which case, you don’t get to complain.

I told her want miles told us and I can tell you the look on her face was priceless, she then asked why his blade was pure red and frankly after 5 seasons we don’t know shit about adam but one can assume it could be made from metal that cut around aura.

Did you tell her about that time Monty literally fucked up one of his own twists by putting oin Penny in a fight where she wasn’t needed?

because knowing Monty kind of helps understand most of the decisions of early RWBY.

One would argue why everyone doesn’t have this metal then but that’s a different subject altogether, Point is We fixed the lore and it was a long ways back we had to go to do so.

Grab the popcorn everyone, he’s gonna fuck it so badly.

(If you watched Celtic phoenix’s lore video on the grimm this makes a lot more sense.)Suffice to say: Grimm leave behind the white bone like armor when they die.)

*ducks as a gear flies over his head*

Literally the very first statement you said broke the lore. Grimm don’t leave ANYTHING behind. That is CANON. And if they do leave the white armor behind when they die, that REALLY defangs a lot of their horror since, if they can leave things behind they7 can be studied, weaknesses can be found and it takes away from the unusual horror they exude as they solely attack humans and leave nothing behind, defying two things that the animals they emulate do.

So adam’s sword is an expensive and rare type of metal obtained by one grimm. The elephant grimm, see as we see them in the series they seems to stand far off from cities and we never seen any fight so like real elephants there’s something spectacular about their bone plating, they eat precious gems and metal unlike other grimm and hunters during the graduation into full time hunters have the option to go kill these grimm for some incredibly powerful metals stored in the bone plating on the grimm.

A. It is expressly SAID and SHOWN they will fight if they think they can win.

B. Grimm have never shown any other biological functions like eating or sleeping. That helps make them scary because it drives a FURTHER disconnect between what we as pattern seeking beings we are would assume of them.

C. These Grimm are shown to be bigger than skyscrapers and have hides that shrug off bullets. They are some of the strongest Grimm in the series and now you make them look like slightly tougher Ursas.

D. Their PLATING is not special, THEY are. 

And E. HOW is it that consuming gem stones and rare metals makes them grow this strong metal? How? Rare metals are NOT strong weapons, they are in fact pretty damn fragile when it comes down to it. Gold is actually pretty soft you know?

If it’s magic...HOW does the magic work? And why is magic not universally accepted in RWBY then?

Oh and F. You ripped this off from Sableye from Pokémon. For a guy who screeches about RWBY barely holding a resemblance to anything, your ideas seem heavily reliant on others.

Problem is these grimm have a high kill count, cause they’re elephant like and they’re smart so they stick in groups deep in forest with traps and the aid of less intelligent grimm that they can command.

A. HOW can a fucking elephant make traps that aren’t super obvious?

B. WHY would other Grimm hang around these creatures? They are not pack creatures nor would other Grimm be smart enough to listen to them.

C. If these Grimm are so intelligent as to make traps and command less Grimm why have they NOT killed off humanity long before this setting? 

C2. If not THAT, why haven’t these intelligent Grimm that can apparently command other Grimm not command their underlings to eat rare gem stones and rare metals in order to have this super metal too?

Occasionally you’ll find a really good Titanium like metal made from grimm that seems to bypass aura like they do (recently that’s changed but we actually seen grimm cut and bite despite aura existing) and that’s why adam’s blade ignored yang’s aura instead of “Well it’s awesome heheh.” This way besides just killing grimm it makes the world feel a little more alive, people can kill certain grimm for certain metals (students at signal start out with more down to earth metals and when they graduate they can go hunt a grimm as graduation form their more fantasy like materials to make new or improve their weapon.)

You know, that Titanium comment really goes to show your double standard about RWBY.

Titanium ,as you are thinking of, RARELY occurs in nature and instead is found mostly in sand as numerous different types of minerals. To get pure Titanium, you’d need to REFINE it. And Titanium, in and of itself, isn’t actually very durable. As a natural metal yes it is for how light weight it is as well as how resistant it is to extreme tempetures. But it’s still only equal to common low grade steel and like many metals, it’s true strength lies in being mixed into alloys where it becomes a component of the metal.

AKA Titanium as we know it, made from it’s pure state along with being mixed with certain metals, CANNOT BE FOUND IN NATURE. So such a metal WOULDN’T EXIST in a Grimm due to eating NATURALLY MADE metals.

You could explain it away with “magic!” but A. that defeats the entire purpose of you making all these details just to end it with “magic!” and B. We both know you’d be attempting murder on Miles and Kerry if they tried anything remotely similar.

And there lies the hypocrisy: your explanation has the EXACT SAME ISSUES you have with Adam’s original explanation (in which it makes no sense) except it takes far bigger leaps in logic, breaks several rules of canon to the point of needing NUMEROUS retcons to fix it and being over complicated as FUCK. And yet you have the audacity to claim you fixed anything.

Same thing with the Shade Academy thing: It’s same shit you bitch about with the Fanaus except you have set ZERO foundation for the culture of the area to support such an idea unlike the Fanaus.

You BROKE canon.

And worst of all: there was a MUCH simpler explanation.

It’s just a tweak but what do you think? got better ideas? Or addtions?

Yeah:

Adam’s sword had Dust.

Or his Semblance lets him cut through people’s Auras.

The original explanation of “He just hit her hard enough” makes more sense AND is much simpler to understand.

There’s a saying Sokumotanaka:

If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it.

You gave a giant convoluted bullshit explanation that sounds like M. Night Shamalyan wrote a WOR episode when much simpler and more effective answers stared you in the fucking face. Ergo, you don’t know how to actually WRITE RWBY.

Because god knows what you’d do to the main conflict.

[isuzukuretsuki]

Welp I finished Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk and my biggest comment is that this game has more plot holes than swiss cheese.

*insert more shifty eye uncomfortable emojis* 

What was...... that convoluted mess of a game I just played? Like this is reaching Zero Escape level of plot holes and “wow the writer clearly has no idea what the hell they are doing”. I don’t even know where I’m gonna start breaking down the amount of issues. Lots of spoilers beneath.

My favourite order is prob Levi > Elric > Lugus > Hugh > Eiar > Aria > Tee > Lord > Olgar > Lawrence >>>> Lavan >>>>>>>>>> Francisca

For starters, this felt like less of an otome game and more of a gang bang 5p fuck pile orgy. Seriously. One moment, Eiar is making out with Lavan, the next moment, Eiar is dreaming of sleeping with Lugus and wakes up panicking because “oh no! I think I’m in love with Lugus!”. If the romance is “the heroine being passed among all the guys”, I’d rather there be no romance at all. It felt more like a fucking badly written reverse harem anime than an otome. I had this problem with PBB but boy it was not this level of bad. 

None of the characters really develop, none of the relationships really develop. Let’s not even get started on the fact that 2/4 of your love interests are your adopted brothers who are actually your blood cousins. At first I enjoyed Lugus’s enchantment with Eiar but it doesn’t develop beyond that. Why is Lugus even in love with Eiar? His feelings never felt like anything beyond captivation, and the same applied for Eiar. Why is Lavan in love with Eiar? Because he’s some gross nii-chan lusty pervert who’s in love with his adopted sister??? IDK. 

The only one who genuinely felt like he loved Eiar was Levi, and even Levi’s character was butchered with the whole “yeah I’m a serial killer who enjoys inflicting pain onto other people”. Even if you blame it on the ~magical stone~, the revelation was like a slap in the face and it was so disconnected w everything we knew of Levi. The writers clearly didn’t know if they wanted to write him as a character who’s sadistic and ruthless, or if they wanted to write him as a character who was manipulated by his mother into becoming her assassin through abuse + gaslighting. The writers aimed for both, and failed miserably at both. 

Speaking of Francisca, the fact that Francisca is an evil bitch is literally NEVER brought up lol???? Like when Levi admits that Francisca was using him as an assassin, Eiar and Lavan are shocked but.......... that’s it. Especially in Levi’s ending, the fact that there’s never a hint of acknowledgement that Francisca was abusing him is jarring to say the least. There’s never any real discussion of how Eiar and the Wolf brothers feel about Francisca after they find out what she did to Aria and Olgar. Like wow we just found out our mom is a piece of shit, let us NEVER DISCUSS THIS or have ANY heart to heart talk about this EVER. Because that will give our characters perfect closure! The fact that Eiar never returns to her real name, the name given to her by her mother, also kind of bothers me.

Francisca’s character was honestly butchered along with Levi after everything she did to Aria was revealed. "That evil slut is taking away all the men in my life!” is not a good enough motive to burn a completely innocent woman to death, sorry. Her love for her sons felt shallow and her love for Eiar felt like she was just trying to show up Aria. I can’t find any redeemable thing about her and her character just ended up being at to the bottom of the barrel along with Rika and Mejojo. The only emotion I got out of the whole dumpster fire between the parents was “wow Aria deserved so much fucking better”.

Now lets get started with all the fucking plot holes this game has. 

For starters, if the whole town is actually Psychedelica and everyone lost their memories, it makes no sense for Francisca to be the only one who remembers killing Aria, and there’s never any indication to confirm whether or not Francisca is actually aware the fact that everyone is in Psychedelica.

Speaking of Aria, that scene where Aria is shown to be slumbering in the abyss and stops the kids from completing the Kaleido Via makes no sense either. For starters, why is Aria even in the abyss? She died in the real world, so her soul should have moved onto the afterlife, or she should have been trapped in the Psychedelica town too. Actually, the fact that she isn’t trapped makes no sense. Olgar activated the Kaleido Via with a desire to see Aria again (similar to Hikage with Usagi), so it makes no sense for Aria’s soul to not be drawn to the town if the town was created through Aprus and Olgar’s collective desires.

I don’t really understand why tf Aria would want to stop the kids from completing the Kaleido Via when that’s literally the only method to free the souls of the town so they continue into the afterlife? It’d make sense for Aria to stop them if their souls would go into the abyss, but again, it’s explicitly stated that your soul will only end up in the abyss if you die in Psychedelica. And again, the fact that Aria is supposedly in the abyss makes no sense in the first place. The scene with the kids and the kaleido via was so out of place it was ridiculous. How do you not remember a scene where a shard flew into your friend’s eye and caused her to bleed everywhere?

Moving on, it’s literally never explained what the hell is up with Eiar’s red eye. It can be assumed that Eiar inherited it from Aria who really was a witch, but then that doesn’t explain why only one of Eiar’s eyes glow red and not both. 

MOVING ON, who the fuck is Hugh and literally what is his damn role in the story. Like I looove character types like him bc and I’m a huge sucker for “mysterious observer characters who act as the story’s narrator” not to mention he’s beautiful but Hugh’s origins and role remains wishy washy from start to end and his character ends up being a plot device to give 30 minute info dumps on the plot. Like, he’s the dumb dead bird that lived with Ashen Witch (whom I assume is Aria’s mother), and after he’s killed by Aprus, Ashen Witch... releases his... soul? So he becomes... a mindless traveler traveling between the different Psychedelica worlds...? I guess??? It’s implied that Hugh is the one who gave Hikage the kaleidoscope but again, how or why he did so is never explained either. I also dunno wtf is up with his ending where Eiar just magically turns into a butterfly and whooshes away with Hugh.

I still have no idea what was with that scene where he chats with Aria about the stories in the Links ending, and I definitely don’t know what was with that scene where Aria talks with Eiar and decides to name her non born child off of her (who is the same Eiar). Like what?? are dreams and timelines converging or something??? No clue.

Also. What the fuck is the deal with Lawrence and Elric??? THAT’S NEVER EXPLAINED? Like yes, I know that much that they’re Kagiha and Hikage respectively but literally wtf is Kagiha and Hikage doing in Aprus/Olgar’s Psychedelica. Lawrence clearly retains his memories as Kagiha, but Hikage never does and it’s like ??? why?? Also why is Usagi in a form of a rabbit in this world? WHO KNOWS. I was just so tired of this game that by the time I was half way done all the endings I just wanted it to be over already.

No joke, I seriously thought that PAA took place in the real world where Hikage was born and raised because of the medieval/historical setting and we’d learn more about the lore of the manor and the kaleidoscope. Honestly though, I wish it was because it prob would have made this game a million times better. If the game was split between a “wolves” and “hawks” path like BWS, it probably would have fixed some of the problems with the terrible romance.

The one good thing I will say about this game is that it’s the first otome game localization from Aksys I’ve played that didn’t give me a migraine because of no proof readers. There were some issues with wrong tenses being used but other than that it wasn't littered with typos like literally EVERY OTHER otome they’ve localized so far lmao.

Presentation wise, this game is beautiful. The sprite work is beautiful and the cgs are amazing. I loved the character designs for all the guys like A++ pretty boys. Unfortunately, the OST really lacked in comparison to PBB this time around. This game had so much potential but everything just fell apart the further and further you go and that’s what makes it even more disappointing. It’s setting and premise were a million times more interesting than PBB. Like medieval setting? Check. Feud between two clans with the heroine caught in between? Check. It had everything I loved and I was confident I was going to love it but the execution was just so terribad that I don’t love it. I can’t love it. I do love all the characters sans Lavan and Francisca though and I think they all deserved better. They deserved better writing. They deserved better development. I wish I could just rework this entire game from the ground up because that’s how frustrated I am with it lmao.

TLDR; I am very very disappointed with this game and it’s such a shame because I loved Black Butterfly to bits and pieces but this game ended up being a convoluted mess of bad and inconsistent writing. PBB had a rather weak premise with an uninteresting and incredibly cliche “all childhood friends in love w the heroine and there’s ~tragedy~!”. However, it had a very interesting and well written lore and universe while simultaneously being clean and easy to understand so it didn’t make any unnecessary loop holes for itself. PAA was the complete opposite. I enjoyed the connections this game made to the first game, but that was pretty much it. 

anyway wow that was long, this is the first time I’ve played a game where all I can do is go on a tangent about all the problems I’ve had with it. Hopefully other people enjoyed this game more than I did HAHA.

[sasspotatodoesthings]

Killing Book

Aka, the Death Note movie released this year. Now, I like Death Note (the anime of course). I watched it when I was like 12 or something and it introduced to the world of gory anime. So as you can expect, I was upset at seeing this movie, seeing the wrong things in the trailer and knowing it would be even more wrong in the movie. I was interested though, as one would be interested in watching a kid harmlessly fall so you can snicker at them. I avoided the movie even if I wanted to see the train wreck it was. But tonight, at somewhere around nine pm I decided NO MORE! I shall watch the movie and tell my friend how bad it was. We’ll be calling her Friend. I skype messaged her (i know who uses skype anymore? i do. because im lazy and dont want to change to discord) while watching it. Sadly she left early because she sleeps waaaaay earlier than I do. So at some point I’m just talking to myself. Just to let you know. Enjoy my ramblings.

WARNING: Obviously lots of death is mentioned. Also, if you liked the anime of Death Note, do NOT watched this movie. It’s horrible.

So this was taken directly from skype, with VERY little editing (just small things like personal stuff etc.) and it is rude, crude and not pleasant to look at. I tend to message a lot, in segments and that is was what made this so long. You have been warned.

Me: so I'm finally watching the death note movie Me: and I might rant at you a bit Me: first, its set in Washington in seattle Me: and lights fuckin blond frosted highlights Me: why

Friend: so Friend: 10/10

Me: its the best start a movie could ever have Me: so light is bullied and does homework for other classmates Me: who is this man? this isn't the light I know

Friend: maybe Friend: maybe Friend: just maybe Friend: someone kidnapped him

Me: god and now he likes this fark haired girl Me: dark Me: light loves no one Me: his heart is too icy to love Me: if only he was kidnapped Me: then at least he would break out and kill the person impersonating him

Friend: does he have the death note?

Me: yeah Me: its so different Me: its not the same at all Me: its like they just took the concept and fucked it Me: so the death note looks used even tho I pretty sure it was blank in the anime

Friend: it's for the money

Me: shit dude ryuk is in the house

Friend: is ryuk still cool thougj

Me: and light just fell over and is now running away Me: idk we'll see

Friend: does he still freak out over apples

Me: maybe Me: didn't ryuk show himself in lights room? Me: cause right now he's in school at detention Me: oh ryuk ate the apple

Friend: they met in his room

Me: welp here they met at detention

Friend: also it's to soon for light to know ryuk's obsession with apples

Me: its waaay too soon Me: I'm 10 minutes in Me: light didn't know ryuk for awhile Me: not almost immediately after getting the death note Me: also ryuk is persuading light into using it Me: anime light did not hesitate to kill a motherfuker Me: didn't need a demon to tell him what to do

Friend: wait Friend: what about the chip scene

Me: oh Me: what] Me: the Me: FUCK Me: they've ruined it

Friend: THE CHIP SCENE!?

Me: wasn't it a rule that if you put someone name without a death, theyd die of a heart attack like an hour later Me: well Me: fuck that rule Me: doesn't exist Me: they die by random bullshit means

Friend: WHAT?!?!!?

Me: also Me: no chip scene Me: yet Me: I'm waiting Me: anime light waited until he got home to kill a guy Me: but movie light was still at school and watched him die Me: heres what happened that absolutely gets rid of the heart attack rule Me: so a couple of kids had a basketball and dropped it when a woman's bags of groceries ripped Me: the kid chased after the ball into the street, where a car swerved to miss him Me: another car coming the opposite way swerved to miss the car and hit a parked car Me: a ladder on top of the crashed car got loose and decapitated the guy whose name was written Me: instantly after his name was written Me: wtf happened man

Friend: -.-

Me: also Me: apparently there are rules to the book Me: lemme get to the scene where he looked at them Me: but I know one of them was the holder of the death note can only hold it for 7 days Me: wtf?? Me: in the anime anyone could have for eternity if they wanted Friend: for as long as they lived or until they gave it up Me: atleast his dad is still a cop Me: but his mom is dead??

Friend: dfhnasjkfahdjkasdhf Friend: what

Me: by getting hit by a car by the guy he killed earlier Me: wtffffff Me: okay Me: okay Me: tell me what you get from this, its rule 65 of the book Me: "each page of the note contains the power of the whole note" Me: wtf does that mean?? Me: ooh Me: oooooooh Me: wait Me: is that the thing where you could tear a page out and it would still work? Me: wtf you gotta word it like that man

Friend: it's as bad as tests

Me: okay I got a previous rule wrong Me: it was rule 95 Me: anyone can write names in the note but only the keeper can have it longer than 7 days

Friend: -.- that's still stupid

Me: it is yeah Me: I'm pretty sure a death note was supposed to have one owner Me: I mean once you touched the paper, you were stuck with the powers until you died or gave it up Me: also Me: previous apparently wrote warning ramblings in the book for light to see Me: "don't trust ryuk"

Friend: -.- Friend: no

Me: he also said ryuk weird Me: I say ree-yook Me: he said rye-uhk

Friend: i'm sad Friend: i'm pissed

Me: and that's barely 20 mins in

Friend: need bleach?

Me: still another hour and a half left Me: god Me: 90 more mintes Me: ryuk is creepin in lights closet Me: light is offering an apple Me: ryuk is happy Me: ooh thank god Me: ryuk told light how to pronounce his name Me: I don't think I could live with light always saying his name wrong Me: ryuk looks gross Me: haven't seen him clearly yet tho Me: always in shadows

Friend: ryuk is cool

Me: movie ryuk is pretty chill Me: light has killed again Me: this time the gfather of the guy he killed ealier

Friend: is

Me: oky

Friend: is light killing innocent people

Me: heres how he died because I'm pretty sure light didn't right a death Me: not yet Me: so a couple knocked a salt shaker of a table at a restuarant Me: a waiter trips on it and bumps into the dude who will die Me: the father get knocked forward and stabs himself in the neck with a knife that he had been holding upwarrd Me: he sprays blood all over his guests and dies

Friend: why are the deaths so convoluted

Me: ryuk cackles in the background Me: I have no idea Me: wow steak sounds good right now Me: even tho I guy just died because of some Me: a Me: oops heres dark haired pretty girll in the bakground Me: she talked to light Me: wtf Me: who is this chick Me: she elooks like the next bella swan Me: turner Me: light turner Me: and her name is mia Me: what was the name of the blond girl who loved light?

Friend: yeah

Me: mia was her name? really? Me: she has no idea what a death note is Me: and light is showing it to her

Friend: fucking moron

Me: anime light would never do that Me: mia is laughing at hime Me: shit her name in the anime was misa Me: not mia Me: noe light is killing in front of mia Me: but at least hes using the news like anime light did Me: this movie is horrible

Friend: I wonder how they will ruin L Friend: i might cry at that part

Me: and I will tel you every wrong thing they do Me: so light and mia teamed up

Friend: i know you will

Me: even tho mia doesn't have a death note like anime misa did Me: and light want to kiss her Me: help Me: help Me: oh n Me: they Me: making out Me: I don't want to put skype down Me: hep Me: me

Friend: GET Friend: THE Friend: BLEACH!!!!!!!!!

Me: theyre done Me: no[e Me: not done Me: shit Me: okay Me: wait Me: stop' Me: they keep kissing Me: and its inbwteen scenes Me: so it surpried Me: me

Friend: life has no meaning

Me: okay hang on Me: how did light start getting called kira in the anime Me: didn't the public start calling that?

Friend: yea

Me: well light chose it in the movie Me: hes like Me: I want to be kalled kira Me: and now somehow the whole world knows Me: agh Me: nudity

Friend: >=c

Me: brief, dead women nudity Me: L is helping kira? Me: L informed kira of a club full of baddies

Friend: are you sure that's L

Me: yep Me: subtitles label him as L Me: here lemme send a screen shot Me: there it is Me: proven by the subtitles Me: L is originally from England right? Me: I cant tell if movie L is sitting like anime L

Friend: L is an orphan from England yes

Me: no accent Me: move L is american

Friend: i'm sorry japan

Me: gotta apologise to the mangaka who wrote death note

Friend: who

Me: idk their name

Friend: who the hell made the decision to make them..

Me: I have no idea Me: eath note was done and over years before they made this movie Me: why did they make it now?

Friend: money

Me: fuck the money Me: at least follow the god damn plot

Friend: yeah

Me: they used the right logo for L Me: that's nice Me: to see somethingsimilar Me: ugh Me: L is such a pig in the movie Me: hes got candy everywhere and is eating it messily Me: anime L was careful and deliberate

Friend: yeah

Me: ugh Me: they say "fuck" is this movie too much

Friend: i'm going to bed. you can keep ranting and i will respond tomorrow

After this point, it’s just me ranting so there will be no more Me: going on. Just a series of messages one after the other.

kay okay wait this was funny the movie did a funny so lights dad is meeting L in L's big fancy hideout and lights dad has his hand held out and and ice cream is just silently put in his hand with no information about it no one says a word about it he just holds the ice cream now L is speaking to a million reporters in broad daylight outside and movie L doesn't sit exactly the same as anime L hes in the same pose as anime L but movie L sits on his butt instead of sitting/squatting on his feet in the chair if that makes any sense L is calling out kira on the news ryuk likes L so apparently to kill using the book, you need a name AND a face but I'm pretty sure in the anime you only needed a name and now L isn't even sitting right hes lounging LOUNGING also mia cant see ryuk even tho shes touched the note book all the rules have been tossed out the window mia stole the book and is killing all the investigating agents oh siiit mia didn't do it ryuk did ryuk killed 13 people and now hes telling light to let the note go anime ryuk didn't do this he wanted light to have the note mia wants to kill lights dad so light and L have met in public and they fightin and light is being sooo suspicious they've got the weather in this movie right tho its constantly rainging shit mia told light she loved him and they making out now so if you write a name and burn the page before the person dies, theyre spared. but you can only do this once so many dumb rules  what I don't understand is why they changed misa's name to mia but didn't changed light's misa is a way more normal name than light why change it?? okay now movie L is sitting like in the anime lights dad is beating L down L is threatening light and light is acting as innocent as possible ryuk is meddling in lights plans lemme tell you those plans light write the name of L' assistant, having him find L's name and then tell light but ryuk is there to screw things up oh shit ryuk took the page with L's assisatants name on it so mia betrayed light light wanted to save watari watari is L's assitant but mia and ryuk messed that up ooooh shiiiiit mia did kill all those agents she killed 13 people not ryuk oooh L is angry that watari is dead and mia is trying to kill light hope he kills her instead L is gonna hunt light down L is driving angrily through the streets just rmapgaing dude rampaging now L is chasing light on foot 20 mins left no chip scene (note: really sad there wasn’t any chip scene) L is confrtoning light but light is saved by one of his many admirerers mia is trying to take the book and theyre fighting at the top of a ferris wheel light put mias name in the book she dead the ferris wheel deatached so now its slowly falling ryuk is manipulating the ferris wheel mia is hanging out of the pod thing light dropped her light fell mia died in an explosion of flowers light landed in water the book did too now L' there the page containg lights name is burning and L saw the page buring some old guy just picked up the washed up death note this new guy is carrying on kira's duty while light is in a coma now he's returning the book back to light oh light woke up L knows that mia was involvev involved lights dad knows he knows now light is gonna tell his dad how it works okay wait some exposition is going down and you need to know what is up so mia wrote that light's heart would stop at midnight so to fix that light chose a rapist who had connections to a hospital to save light when he fell in the water, give him cpr and keep light in a medically induced coma hospital guy commits suicide then light writes a pedophile mailman gets the note book on the shore, writes criminals names to keep up the act while light is in a coma, gives the death note back and commits suicide then he writes when mia takes the note book from light, she falls, tears the page with lights name on it that then the page is burned, light lands safely in water and mia dies instantly when she hits the ground L found the page with watari's name and all the agent's names L angry at light hes laughing crazily L looked like he was gonna write light's name but then the credits are going ooh that was interesting they showed behind the scenes stuff while playing the credits but it was done in a way I hadn't seen before they were like flashing it on screen inbetween credits, only a few seconds at a time got to see how they did ryuk which was cool god damnit they never showed if L wrote light's name or not I'm guessing not I waited through 5 mins of creits for thi why so light didn't kill any innocent people huh but mia sure did so my rating is 0/10 this wasn't death note this was like like some knock off version called'killing book' hope your happy that L is alive tho didn't have to kill himself like anime L did unless that was what the end implied hang on imma see if movie L killed himself too well Wikipedia doesn't say anything but we all know how reliable Wikipedia is that was a real joy ride hope you enjoyed my ramblings even thought half of them prob don't make sense

[likepuppetsonastring]

Dark Side Headcanons: Markiplier Edition.

Welp, You guys really seemed to like my headcanons before, so I thought I’d hit you with what I think of some of the many Iplier incarnations.

-First off, the inimitable Wilford Warfstache himself. He’s something of the supernatural persuasion, a genie or a djinn or a minor demon of some description who happens to entertain himself in his eternal existence by messing with people. He’s not evil, necessarily, he’s just amoral, which means he lacks a sense of right and wrong. He’s guided by a sense of fun, doing whatever keeps his boredom at bay. For a while, that was trying to pass as a human reporter, going after wild stories that no one else could for fear of dying. This was fine until a passing affair he was having with an associate’s wife went wrong and he ended up murdering not only his “lover”, but the associate, their neighbor, the dog, and a policeman before he “died”, ie, faked his death to avoid further complications. He continued his show after using some minor magic and a proper amount of time to erase any connection he had to the murders, but that quickly went wrong again when he defeated an “indestructible” animatronic, and committing yet another murder, this time of a more famous victim (Mark, more on his similarities to Mark later). He was forced to reverse this particular murder (He’s very strong, but doesn’t care to use his powers, as it’s more annoying than useful in a lot of cases. He likes getting his hands dirty), and decided that he was finished being in the spotlight for now, simply reveling in the growing fan base he had. Side note: The fact that he looks like Mark was actually a coincidence that he finds hilarious. He’d simply picked a generic male look and gone with it, deciding it wasn’t interesting enough without the pink mustache. He still thinks Mark looks quite boring, but thought their identical appearances were intriguing enough to interview him about, wondering if he could perhaps kill Mark and take his place, just for shits and giggles (that didn’t turn out well; people liked Mark far too much and studied him far too closely for it to be and easy switch, and Wilford’s all about convolution but not over-extension. All theatrics, basic effort.)

-I’ve already talked a lot about Dark, so I think it’s best to leave well enough alone with his personality. As to how he interacts with the others...he tries not to. Dark is a solo agent, with no associates, only pawns and tools. Google is an exception, but more on that next.

-GOOGLE! Google is one of my favorites. I’ve done a little bit of theory work already on this post, but to recap: Google is an android, created by either Dark or Wilf, more likely Dark, whose primary objective is to “serve” people, but secondary objective is to destroy them as chaotically and painfully as possible. He’s beyond intelligent and unfeeling, other than basic satisfaction in completing an objective or getting closer to one. Unfortunately, his programming is so specific that he’s easily thwarted. But don’t let that fool you: he’s clever. Like, kill you in your sleep clever. What very few people know is that it would be possible to reprogram Google to be a good guy, but you’d have to figure out how to deactivate him first, and good luck getting that close without dying.

-I’m not gonna touch on Yandereplier other than to say I have no fucking idea what that’s all about. Anybody got any theories you wanna share with me?

-The Author. Now, this is an old one, only used in like two videos, but it’s one of my favorite characters of Mark’s. He’s half human, half something else, a bit like Wilford, a genie, a djinn, a demon, etc, which means that he has certain powers but only a limited capacity in which to use them, ie, to bring his writing to life (Or, warp reality). He just wants to write a good story, but unfortunately, he has no regard for the well being of others. He doesn’t care who or what he has to step on to get that perfect ending, and unfortunately, he’s more Poe than Carol in style. The darker, the better. Could he be Dark’s son? Who knows?