#And even that's wildly inconsistent and bizarre

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

eh, I think Marinette saying to Natalie that "Adrien needs a mother" is in character despite her not really seeing Natalie being maternal towards Adrien.

Marinette is shown to have a pretty simplistic understanding of families, thinking that children are always better off with their parents and that parents always love their children. I can definitely see her going "female guardian who expressed care for Adrien = Adrien's mother" even if she otherwise doesn't know much about their relationship. That would at least be a more reasonable train of thought than whatever went through her head when she decided making Chloe and Audrey bond over being cruel was a good thing.

(Post this ask is referring to)

If I'm following you, then your argument is that Marinette has too simplistic an understanding of families to see a sentihuman-killing domestic terrorist as a questionable choice for a maternal figure because that character happens to like Adrien. I could maybe see that logic if Nathalie was the only option, but Amelie exists. She's even present in the happy ending epilogue!

[Image description: Amelie and Nathalie sunbathing]

If the stance you're going with is that Marinette has no critical thinking skills when it comes to family dynamics, then why would she default to Nathalie and not Amelie? Amelie is Adrien's aunt which is far more fitting for your "simplistic understanding of families" argument. Aunts are normal parts of families who often take in their niblings. Unrelated secretaries are not normal parts of families and it's exceedingly rare for them to adopt their bosses children. Nathalie being Marinette's default would only make sense if she actually knew Nathalie and had a sense of Nathalie's relationship with Adrien, but she doesn't.

There's also the Gorilla. If Marinette is going to pick a member of Gabriel's staff to take in Adrien, then he seems like the way more obvious choice. Marinette has seen the Gorilla protect Adrien on multiple occasions and has seen Nathalie put all of Paris at risk on multiple occasions. Why go with Nathalie and not him?

And what about Adrien's grandparents? If Marinette was going with Nathalie because she seemed like the only options, you'd think that meeting Gabriel's mom and dad might give her pause, but it doesn't. Even though Nathalie does nothing even remotely maternal in Werepapas and Adrien says nothing about Nathalie being like his mother, Nathalie is still who Marinette picks at the end.

This is why I say the hand of the author is glaring here. Marinette is not being written like someone struggling to make the best of a bad situation for a person she loves. She's also not being written like someone making a questionable choice. She's being written like the writers want Nathalie to be Adrien's new parent no matter how little sense that makes. The writers also clearly want this choice to be a good thing, so Marinette cannot consider other options or have reservation. The writers won't let her. You can see this in how season six is dealing with the lies, too.

From what I've seen, the only lie that is getting any focus is the Gabriel one. The Nathalie lie isn't even mentioned, almost as if the show wants you to forget that Nathalie was Mayura. That's why season six sees Marinette adoring and supporting mama Nathalie and why Nathalie's only concern about mothering Adrien is that she's unworthy of taking Emilie's place. The idea that Adrien wouldn't want Nathalie as his mother if he knew the truth hasn't seemed to cross anyone's mind. It's wild! That should be an issue! But based on the writing, I guess it's not? It's confusing and weird.

I'll once again bring up the fact that Nathalie knows that Marinette is Ladybug as supporting evidence of this read. Marinette should be horrified that this near stranger and former domestic terrorist knows her biggest secret, but she's not. Marinette is totally fine with Nathalie knowing because the writers have decided that Nathalie is good now so they're going to ignore every bad thing she's ever done because there's no good way to properly deal with those things in the story they want to tell. It's the Felix nonsense on steroids!!!

That's why I'm so annoyed by all of this. It would be one thing if the story was presenting Marinette's choice of Nathalie and support of Audrey as character flaws, but the story isn't doing that. The story presents these actions as fine or even good! That's why this isn't a Marinette issue. It's a writing issue. It could only be a Marinette issue if the writers saw these things as problematic and they don't. In the world of Miraculous, Audrey isn't abusive and Nathalie being Adrien's mother is the right choice no matter what she's done in the past. You can't solve that problem at a character level because it's not an intentional character-specific choice. Every character in the show is going to share Marinette's view because it's not her intentionally flawed view, it's the writers' genuinely held view. Switch Marinette with any other character and this would play the same. Based on the writing, I'm honestly expecting Adrien to not care about the Nathalie lie either. I'd be shocked if it was even addressed.

[amysgiantbees]

I just find it strange that the developers chose to rewrite Wyll. I love new Wyll I think he's fantastic and I don't necessarily want the previous version. But I find it bizarre that there was somehow so much negative feedback about old Wyll that they risked completely rewriting him.

Now I love all the companions. This is not Dragon Age Orgins where I debate recruiting Ogrun every time. But I just find it strange that the reason given was Wyll's negative feedback when most of the other characters have been unpopular too. Like Lae'zel is infamously unlikable to a great many people.

People love to bully Gale and there's even lines in game that call him pathetic. The DEV's in the IGN interview even agreed that Gale killing himself can be a good ending, " I really liked Gale setting off the bomb with the brain, and actually that felt like the right ending to me.

AS: In many ways it is, yeah." Which feels problematic to say the least, like I get supporting player choices but suicide is never the "right" way to do things.

Or even I'm pretty sure I remember Neil Newbon talking about how he was sure a lot of players had killed Astarion permanently in their playthroughs.

Then there are people being absolute freaks on the internet about Halsin all because he's polyamorous.

Like these characters are wildly popular too but they certainly have their haters. So why did they lack such confidence with Wyll? The best source I could find on early access Wyll is this article https://gamerant.com/baldurs-gate-3-wyll-early-access-story-change-karlach-explained/. It says that this change was made to make his story stronger, make him more unique, and give him more complicated emotional ties. Unless he was really basic before they did not accomplish this. He has less content so his story lacks the depth the other's do. It's also inconsistent, with you being able to put him off being a duke by telling him he'll be too power hungry which he has never been. His emotional ties are rushed. He never really confronts his father, having the tadpole do most of the work and never hashing out his feelings beyond that he's fine.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. According to the article he was meant to have a dark side like Shadowheart "According to the panel, depending on whether players allow him to go through with killing Karlach, he will become a radically different companion instead of if she is recruited." Which would have been cool but if they didn't have enough time to do that maybe they should have tweaked what they had.

Plus, according to the article in early access he was "a straightforward hero who develops a violent side regarding his patron or goblins." This article too show's that his early approval matches current Wyll pretty well except for dealing with Aunty Ethel and more goblin hate https://fextralife.com/baldurs-gate-3-early-access-companions-guide-wyll/.

I just don't know I just find it so frustrating that it was the black main character they chose to tweak and ran out of time to complete his story and still haven't fixed it with a patch. And in the IGN interview the devs kind of sounded like there wouldn't be anymore patches and it's just frustrating. Wyll deserves just as much content as any one else.

[kyogre-blue]

Finished the Xianyun quest (for the encounter points).

It's...... fine. Almost aggressively whatever. It's probably in the upper half of Genshin story quests, but its overall structure sets a very low ceiling for it and it's let down by sloppy details in execution.

Three points:

First, just noting that we get a few extra details about how adepti work. Yuandai was an ordinary crane who gained sentience after being around adeptal energy for a long time. Cloud Retainer imparted the secrets of cultivation on her, and she could have become an adeptus as well if she completed her training. As it is, she loses her cultivation and becomes an ordinary crane again, but she could potentially regain her sentience in the future (presumably from hanging around Mt. Aocang's adeptal energy, same as before).

Ganyu was previously noted as having not completed her training, and Yanfei seems to have never trained at all, but they're still generally considered as adepti, so you kind of get this distinction between ordinary beings that cultivate up to adeptus-hood and naturally magical beings that can further refine their powers. Of course, in the Chenyu quest, it's brought up that "adeptus" isn't really a precise term with a set definition. It's really just the label ordinary people tend to slap on any supernaturally powerful being.

(Also, you can have magic sentient animals that aren't on the level of adepti, which is interesting.)

I'm not pointing out any inconsistencies here or anything, just thought it was cool.

Second, as I said, the details of the quest aren't really executed too well imo. The ending was especially sloppy. The traveler's expression is weirdly happy once they enter the dream. Like, we just watched a little girl functionally lose her only family member, but we're going "naptime, yay! XD" Seeing them reunited, even in a vision, immediately after Yuandai departed is also jarring and out of place. And then after the sibling cameo, Xianyun doting on Traveler and calling them a young one is also... Traveler is explicitly not a child. I get that you're selling the mommy kink, but this is just bizarre.

There's other stuff too, like how we just casually sidestep the fact that the child there's so much focus on Yuandai giving birth too died somewhere off screen in the years after, since her potential grief over that would be too inconvenient to the message. And the Zhongli scene dragged wildly too, but that's just Zhongli stuff, I guess. Overall, they could have done better on the small stuff.

Still, Xianyun's quest at least actually showcases her personality fairly well, compared to uuuuh a whole lot of other story quests.

Third, as I also said, this quest was always going to struggle to do better than mediocrity because it's hard capped by its structure. It's Genshin's favorite style -- faffle around for two acts, then info dump an entire backstory in the third, with no meaningful events in the present. This can work at times, but it's very limited in how much it can do because, being realistic, we don't know these NPCs and listening to them dump out some past event that no longer really matters is just not that interesting.

The entire quest would have been better served by fully taking place entirely in the past, where you play as Cloud Retainer going through these events in a more extended way, instead of just the short "domain" where they try to shove in some gameplay while she explains things to you. Alternatively, they could have given the present day events some more urgency by having Yuandai go missing and Shuyu searching for her while distraught, or at least something.

Thinking logically, it's not like this structure of wasting time and then dumping out backstory at the end is unique to Genshin. FGO does this fairly often in events too. But in FGO events, they've gotten into the habit of making the new character also be the main antagonist who is causing problems, so the act of stopping them is intertwined with them getting closure (after dumping out their backstory), so at least there's some sense that you're achieving something in the present day.

Anyway, it was... fine as a quest, but kind of shows that this is as far as Genshin can go due to its self-imposed limitations.

[whysamwhy123]

I wrote a continuation, of some sort, of my JungleHook College AU. I say ‘of some sort’ because it doesn’t really further ‘The Plot’ (cannot put enough emphasis on how little plot there actually is) or anything. It’s just sort of a random comedic vignette? That probably isn’t funny at all? Like, this whole thing was basically one dumb idea, that led to another dumb idea, that led to another dumb idea, and so on and so forth. It’s so dumb. Probably embarrassingly so. And not what anyone would want from a continuation. But I couldn’t get this stupid thing out of my head, I felt like I needed to get it out of my system before I can even think about actually writing the actual fallout from the bro job.

The thing is, all my ideas for continuing this thing on from there are so wildly different in tone? Like, I want to write a ton of dumb stuff, comedic bits, some horniness (they’re in college, after all). But some of my other ideas are, like...weirdly downbeat and introspective? Perhaps uncomfortably so? I feel like if I were to keep writing this AU, it’d be this bizarre, inconsistent mishmash of dumb jokes, some classic college self-discovery crap, lots of weird scenes about these four young folks waxing philosophic about their varying thoughts/musings regarding their bisexuality, and a rough overreaching through line of those two bros, being bros together because they’re totally just bros, you see? Nothing more just bros, unleeeeeessss...

THIS WAS JUST SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT HOOK GIVING JACK A BRO JOB

[nateascendingskies]

A DISSERTATION ON ASTEROID CITY

Leaving a showing of Wes Anderson's latest film "Asteroid City" a few weeks ago, having pondered and puzzled over the anarchic, metatextual and science fiction vibes of the entire project, I was certain of one thing by the end.

I'm pretty sure that Wes Anderson is on the autism spectrum.

Like, there's really no other way to explain his quirky, offbeat, and matte painting filled style - the dude oozes hyperfixation and fascination with the strangest of details, and it's really proven by the way "Asteroid City" plays out.

Early on in the film, one of the three leads, junior astrologer and scientist Woodrow Steinbeck (played by Jake Ryan) is playing a name game of sorts with his fellow Junior Stargazer recipients, wherein one person mentions the name of a famous scientist or artist and the other person adds on to that, continuing in a Simon Says-like chain until it should, theoretically, be hard to follow.

After several names have been said and it's Woodrow's turn again, one of the other stargazers challenges him to name all of the people previously mentioned - in reverse order. He does it flawlessly. Since I know others on the spectrum that could do that with the entire alphabet at a young age, you can probably see where I'm getting at.

Later on in the film, following a military quarantine following the inexplicable arrival of an alien to the titular small town, we see the same stargazers - and what might they be doing now, you might ask? Continuing the same game with gleeful abandon and now throwing celebrities like Marilyn Monroe into the mix.

Of course, this isn't the only spectacularly bizarre detail that appears or re-appears throughout the course of the film. At three separate occasions, a slapstick worthy police chase and shootout involving no less than three vehicles passes through the main road of the town, with little acknowledgment from those who see it other than a shrug. It's not necessarily how the gag plays out in this case, though - rather, it's how it's set up and visually portrayed - almost with a sense of lucid unreality and focus on the particulars of what is happening. It's as if Anderson is relishing in the outright batshit insanity of it all - much like the entirety of the food critic hostage situation segment in The French Dispatch and the entirety of Fantastic Mr. Fox, two of his other works.

When you throw in various similarly odd running jokes involving a dancing roadrunner, someone burning their hand on a patterned griddle, a literal highway overpass to nowhere, real estate being sold from a vending machine, a Rod Serling style-guide who presents the play within a film setup in a loving tribute to the creation of such arts (and even intrudes on the "play's" narrative at one point by pure accidental happenstance), and nuclear bomb tests, it's easy to see why a case could be made for Wes' clear and uniquely neurodiverse position on the spectrum. Everything about "Asteroid City" might seem random at first glance, but there's a clear rhyme and reason to Wes Anderson's madness and how the entire narrative works and plays out.

Neurodivergent brains function in a state that is far from what might be considered societally normal or typical, tending to be drawn towards particular obsessive interests and playing with them in a style or voice that is uniquely their own. Over the course of a few decades, I have developed mine - with a love of films being among them. So, when I see a film like "Asteroid City" and admire its tonal consistency with such a wildly inconsistent set of characters and situations, having a clear love of well placed 50's and 60's musical needle drops and a song about the arrival of a benevolent alien told in an appropriately folksy style (Anderson even apologizes to the inspiration behind the song in the end credits for good comedic measure) in the same manner as my love of motorsports, Pixar films, and the scores of James Horner, I can only once again come to one conclusion.

I'm absolutely sure that Wes Anderson is on the autism spectrum.

[outmax]

Jumping the Nostalgia Flagpole: The Ultra-Kitsch Magic of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! (1989)

Long before high-definition graphics and cinematic game adaptations, there was The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, a gloriously campy blend of slapstick live-action, Saturday morning cartoons, and late-80s cheese that somehow captured the hearts of a generation.

Premiering in 1989, this surreal TV gem starred professional wrestler Lou Albano as Mario and Danny Wells as Luigi. The two Brooklyn plumbers opened each episode with bizarre live-action skits involving pizza, weird guests (including a disco Dracula and a robot Elvis), and endless catchphrases like the unforgettable: "Do the Mario!"

But the true treasure lay in the animated segments. Every Monday through Thursday, fans followed Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad through ridiculous parodies of pop culture—Star Wars became “Star Koopa,” Indiana Jones turned into “Raiders of the Lost Mushroom,” and yes, there was even a Mario version of Miami Vice.

The animation was clunky, the humor wildly inconsistent, and the accents—well, let’s just say they were “creatively Italian.” But that was the charm. It was chaotic, colorful, and completely unhinged. And every Friday? You got a Legend of Zelda cartoon instead. “Well excuuuuuse me, Princess!” became both iconic and instantly memed.

In retrospect, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! is a beautiful mess. It’s kitsch in its purest form—a neon-soaked time capsule of late 80s excess, where mushroom kingdoms collided with sitcom tropes and breakdancing Koopas.

It may not have aged gracefully, but it never needed to. It lives on in YouTube clips, nostalgic marathons, and the hearts of fans who remember a time when video game adaptations were weird, wild, and wonderfully bad.

So grab a slice of pizza, tighten your overalls, and remember: Swing your arms from side to side—come on, it’s time to go... Do the Mario!

[jon-mcbrine-author]

Source material accuracy is a coveted goal amongst fans yet the majority of live action adaptations go rogue. Sometimes these creative gambles pay off, but most lack cinematic synergy with their roots, and the original comics are forced into an uninteresting synchronicity. Occasionally, a few get the threads right, though.

Here are five costumes whose tailors stayed true to game.

Deadpool’s journey into movies has been a wild ride. Originating in a Wolverine prequel film, this take on Wade Wilson would haunt Ryan Reynolds until he was finally able to fire off a true-believin’ trilogy. Who knew letting the Merc With A Mouth look like himself would be a good idea?

1990’s Captain America movie is red, white, and corny - however, underneath the silliness, there’s a genuine effort to recreate Cap’s classic uniform. Gone was the motorcycle helmet from the previous attempt - but the little wings over the plastic ears wouldn’t survive the Chris Evans era. Modern MCU fashion has been hit or miss.

Robert Downey, Jr.’s portrayal as Tony Stark turbo-charged the MCU, and his main suit of armor was a big part of the success. Bearing a strong resemblance to the armor he wore at the time in the comics, the live action Golden Avenger was truly brought to life. And it sure looked better than “Exo-Man.”

There is some confusion about the 1977 Exo-Man flick - Google retrieves plenty of info about how this clunky walking trash can is a primordial attempt at an Iron Man movie, but the more conclusive data states that it is a separate, bizarre-looking sci-fi curiosity.

If you’re going to do a cybernetic character based on a relatively obscure series, then you make it like Doom Patrol. Brendan Fraser’s bigger than life performance as Cliff Steele sincerely made you feel something for this full-mouthed tin man with a mushy, human brain inside.

The TV show featured a more contemporary look, but I think they could’ve pulled off the OG Robo.

Christopher Reeve as Superman is iconic. No notes.

It’s not as if the four films he starred him were without flaws, but despite the weird time travel ability, etc., the traditional style of the costume cemented this as the definitive version of the Man of Steel.

This selection of styles does not share the same overly-designed costumes of more modern adaptations. Textures abound, with unnecessary patterns, excessive scaling, and even odd tubing and lining - all of the busy elements that get slapped into contemporary uniforms and outfits make for tacky and confusing lewks. That being said, source material accuracy isn’t necessarily a prerequisite of a quality project. At their core, movies and television programs merely “have” to be an enjoyable experience at the time of viewing. Wildly inconsistent incarnations can result in some of the most beloved content. However, for every film like 1989’s Batman, there are dozens of regrettable motion pictures like 2003’s Daredevil. Tim Burton got away with all black instead of blue and gray, but in the case of so many forgettable features, the clothes do make the man.

What are your favorite live action costumes?

Stay in the loop for more details by subscribing to Jonfiction Blog on Substack and be sure to check out jonmcbrine.com for more info about this and my book catalog.

New blog every Monday. Jonfiction Newsletter first Monday of each month via email.

[apple-pecan]

Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore (2024)

one day in 2007, while curious about the horrible zelda cd-i games, i searched for them on youtube and found a bunch of strange videos that for some reason, had me in tears laughing. this was my introduction to the world of youtube poops, and i couldnt get enough of them. watching them made me even more curious about these games though... what were they like to play?

in a word: BAD. these games are trainwrecks through and through, that are only salvageable though the unintentionally funny cutscenes. the worst part is, if these games had actual time and effort put into them, they COULD'VE been pretty good. they're basically spiritual successors to zelda 2, a game that, while flawed, i thought was pretty cool and interesting. a side scrolling action rpg/platformer in the usual zelda formula? i wonder why they never attempted anything like it again, even with the dozens of zelda spinoffs there are now...

and that leads us to this: an indie platformer/metroidvania deliberately trying to be like the zelda cd-i games, but, you know... actually good this time. did it succeed? hell yeah it did.

if anything, i'd compare this game more to monster world 4 or popful mail, mixed with a zelda or metroid game. you go along levels, helping unhinged NPCs and collecting various items that'll help you, like being able to double jump, shield yourself from projectiles, and even a fucking gun. once you find the right item for the job, you often have to go back to previously played levels to find places to use them.

they make this a bit less like a guessing game, as often an "!" will appear over a level in the world map if theres something new you can do there, but there is a bit of a problem; every time you go back to a level, you have to start from the beginning. there's no warp points where you can just go to the middle or the end; you HAVE to play through the whole level again. if your prudent about collecting items, this doesn't usually become a problem, but in my case during a later stage, i needed 3 sacred candles to open a boss gate, and only had 2. so i had to leave the level, find one more candle in another area, and then go ALL the way back through the level just to open that gate. it's a hard level too, so it took me a while to get where i was. stuff like that aside, the game is pretty solid and is proof that the zelda cd-i games could've actually been fun in more capable hands.

aesthetically, the music is also very good; emulating the kind of stuff you'd hear in 80's/early 90's cd games. i definitely got Ys vibes from some of the tracks, which is obviously a good thing. the cutscenes are deliberately deranged and uncomfortable, with wildly inconsistent art styles. there was one cutscene where it was blatantly rotoscoped and everyone animated really bizarrely and it really got under my skin. it's perfect.

the characters you meet are also very funny; there's a frog voiced by vinny vinesauce who wants "FINE DINING", and by that he means flies dipped in gold. the first boss is a horse who can't stop accidentally making horse puns, much to his dismay. there's a really fast little character who gives you shoes that increase your movement speed, saying "GOTTA GO FAST!" and then runs so fast he accidentally opens a portal to the ninth dimension and gets sucked inside. most of all though, there's a buff moose who forges you the ultimate weapon, but not before doing this game's version of the sideshow bob rake scene and hammers away on an anvil for nearly a whole entire minute before the sword is finished as arzette is bored out of her mind. to really hammer it in (hehe :3), this is the only cutscene in the game you can't skip. it's all really funny and worth playing just for these wacky cutscenes.

one thing i didn't expect was for the game to eventually have a bit more down to earth, serious narrative, complete with a character death that caught me by surprise. a theme of the game is to break the traditions we've known for ages and try to find newer, better ways to do things; don't just throw a book (that's made to orrrrderrrrr) at the evil bad guy and call it a day, cuz someday, he's just gonna escape and come back again. what if you found a way to vanquish the ultimate evil for GOOD? the ending was surprisingly sentimental for a wacky cd-i youtube poop game. one cutscene showing the defeat of a particularly irredeemably evil boss was also pretty cathartic; i'll let you watch that for yourself.

in short, this is a short but sweet little platformer that pays homage to a pair of the worst games ever made, but actually does things right this time. it's a parody of bad cd-i games sure, but in a way it also feels sincere, like an actual tribute to games that are so awful they're amazing. i'm very much excited at the prospect of a potential sequel, cuz this game was great and could be even better with some improvments, and i wanna see more of these characters and their unhinged shenanigans again. needless to say, dopply... YOU WON!

8/10

NOTE: there is an i.m. meen lookalike who works in a library. immediate game of the year

[demonsfate]

i just don't understand why i keep seeing people assume tk8 is ignoring tk6 Jin and think it's just pretending it never happened or something because he's the current hope for mankind, when literally in the first 4 minutes we have him talk about needing to atone, Kazuya directly calling him out for starting the war, and literal flashbacks taken directly from old cutscenes. What is everyone else supposed to do? Let Kazuya just steamroll the entire world instead because it's somehow more important that Jin be punished?

Regardless of how one feels about Kazuya, it is. Canon. That he's been trying to take over the world since the very first game. Jack was literally sent to the first KOIFT by the Russian government to stop Kazuya. We know exactly what happened as soon as he gained power in tk2. Tk8 is consistent with Kazuya in a way the fiasco in 6 was inconsistent with Jin. It doesn't mean Kazuya lacks depth--he can do both!

WELL. Tbh, I somewhat understand what people mean by that. I don't think they mean the game is just pretending it never happened but they're pretending the weight of it never happened. Yes, Kazuya does bring up this weight by pointing out that Jin got 'countless killed' and all that. But of course, the villain is gonna bring up the protagonist's (huge major) faults. The problem is how the other characters are treating him.

For example, even though Tek7 was already doing a better job at depicting Jin (not as good as Tek8, but better than Tek6) - characters all still fucking hated his guts. Claudio obviously had bad intentions with him until that was changed in Tek8, Miguel wanted to kill him and only didn't because he wants to wait until Jin is happy, so he can take that away. The journalist hated Jin for supposedly killing his family, and then Lars STOPPED the Journalist from killing him, but only because they need him. Lars even agreed with the Journalist that he too would kill Jin if Jin wasn't needed.

So how does Lars sympathize with the idea of stabbing a comatose Jin in the head with a screwdriver to all of a sudden now fist bumping him, and smiling while saying "I'm proud of you! You did good!" Like it really doesn't make sense. Especially when you remember all the horrible, straight up traumatic things that Jin did to Lars. Such as having Lars do his dirty work (until Lars stopped believing in it and rebelled) getting Lars' best friend killed - remember Tougou or whatever his name was? Yeah, I don't think Lars does anymore either, but that was a good friend of his. And then forcing Alisa to fight Lars, and then Lars being forced to "kill" Alisa - then Jin immediately mocks her AND Lars after she dies.

While it's understandable that Lars knows they need Jin, it's just bizarre to see him acting like buddies with him after all of the above. Like there's no reason Lars has to behave this way toward Jin. Which is why people feel like Tek8 is ignoring Tek6 to an extent. Same with all the other characters being weirdly supportive - not just because they know they need Jin, but they're to the point where they're acting like good friends.

Which, I mean! That DOES make me happy! I always wanted to see Jin get support from friends and family! It makes me so happy that after so many years of being alone and pushing people away, Jin finally has more than two loved ones! I love, LOVE seeing Jin take on the role of the protagonist again and is even seen as the "hope of mankind." But I do understand the criticism and confusion. It does feel wildly inconsistent. Which is also why I wish they would've just retconned Tek6. Because as I've said many, many times - if Jin was brainwashed or not in control, it would be understandable why everyone is on his side again - because now Jin would be seen as a victim, too, in a way. And everyone would sympathize with him more.

YEAH YEAH!! Which is ANOTHER wild things by fans. Like I've pointed out before - there are so many fans who think Kazuya has done nothing wrong prior Tek7/8

THE ONLY THING KAZUYA IS WRONG FOR OUTSIDE OF BEING AN AWFUL PARENT IS BEING IN POSSESSION OF THE GENE. And this isn't even the only time I've seen this. I've seen this take multiple times. Like one time I saw ppl say that Kazuya is only seen as a bad guy because he opposes Jin and Heihachi??? Like PRIOR TEK6 - WHY DO YOU THINK JIN OPPOSED KAZUYA??? Like Jin wasn't a bad guy at ALL in Tek3-4. So why would he want to kill Kaz back then if there was no war?? Maybe it's the long list of crimes he did back in Tek2. Like for some reason people FORGET (or intentionally ignore) that world domination, or at the very least, ultimate power was always something Kazuya strived for. Like it's not something they started doing all of a sudden just to villainize him. He's always been villainized. Yeah, in Tek2 - they were emphasizing that there's still good in him, and he's constantly in a moral struggle. But in the end, he was still doing many crimes despite this internal struggle.

So, if you look at Tek2 and Tek8 Kazuya - you can feel their motives still line up, and they are practically the same characters. However, if you look at Tek4 Jin and Tek6 Jin - they have different personalities and their motives do not line up. I've already pointed out with screenshots how drastically different Tek6 Jin is from regular Jin.

[fireemblems24]

It's weird because 3 Houses showed 4 unique perspectives on Fodlan, but this one only has 2 - Edelgard's and AG's.

More below the cut obviously :)

Claude admits that he's untrustworthy, that he purposefully comes across that way. If it's racism, then it's racism in the writing of Claude's character and not specific to AG/Blue Lions. Who, by the way, have no problem with Cyril, Dedue, Shamir, Hapi, or Petra - so darker skinned, foreigners, and even Almyrans aren't a problem. Claude is a problem.

To be fair, the game never drags Dimitri for killing Rufus. They did everything they could to make it as justified as it could possibly be - civil war, attempted murder, abuse, refusal to communicate, etc . . . It's just Dimitri struggling with killing a family member, which would be OOC for him not to.

I was kind of bummed that Hopes confirmed that Patricia was so evil. I wanted her to have more complications to her actions, even though the most straight-forward and obvious answer is the one we got. I do wish we had a decent mother-daughter relationship (because, yeah, Sothis-Rhea is yikes, even in Houses where Sothis comes across a lot better). This game ignores motherhood in general, which wouldn't be so obvious if it didn't have so many detailed father-child relationships explored.

The trust Shez in AG vs not trust Shez in SB definitely feels deliberate. Edelgard doesn't trust anyone, but Dimitri doesn't have that issue, so it's fine. For Shez, though, it's obviously better to have allies that trust you and don't make everything about you into your mysterious power, so AG for the win. I agree with your other comment about how Faerghus culture would definitely promote tighter friendships and friend groups, and that's def reflected in the writing.

OMG, the recruitment for Shamir in SB is so wild. Especially later when the Empire has to face the possibility of fighting Catherine and Shamir's just "shrugs." It would've been fine since colder merc, ok, I can role with that, but she literally only joins Edelgard under extreme duress and to rescue Catherine. It's so bizarre. I generally don't have a problem with Shamir or her recruitment, but in SB it's really bad.

I'm guessing you mean that Claude-Dimitri conversation? I knew that line would upset some people, but it didn't me as much. Religion shouldn't have any sort of political authority. Fodlan games are wildly inconsistent with how much CoS has, but any at all is bad, and I'd want any leader not to embrace them having too much power, esp Dimitri because it must suck to feel like he's obligated to another institution regardless of how good/bad it is. I don't think Dimitri blames Rhea for arranged marriages and racism like Claude does and clearly doesn't think getting rid of her will fix human nature (or else why would he protect her? He never mistrusts her either). But they didn't have time for Dimitri go to, well I agree with this and this and this and not this and this and this and 95% of people don't want to read that anyways. I think Dimitri's the ONLY leader with a balanced outlook on the church. He acknowledges and sees first-hand the good it does, doesn't use Rhea as a scapegoat bc he fails to grasp nuance, understands how necessary it is (right now) for the mental wellbeing of his people, but also believes it could use some reform. That seems pretty fair. Because the writing is so unfair towards the Church, then it comes across way, way worse and harsher than it would if Rhea/the CoS got supports or their own route like SS.

You know, I didn't think about that at all about Miklan's mother. My guess, and this is only a guess, is that the vast majority of people with power in the Empire thinks they're the superior nation to the other two. For Faerghus, specifically, they see them as barbarian, uncultured Northerners. Edelgard gets no pushback from anyone for her land grabbing. There's lines from multiple characters suggesting the Empire huffs their own farts. But everyone? Of course not. For every Ferdinand, you've got a Linhardt that just doesn't give a shit.

Yuri is pretty openly pro-Church in this game, to be honest. There's map dialogue towards the end of SB and GW where he straight-up says, I'm only here because you're going to win, and he questions who's actually going to be allowed and benefit in Edelgard's world (it's not like a hopeful, but a doubtful). In AG, he says something totally different that chapter - a more generic observation/we're about to win/etc. There's also dialogue where he cuts himself off in SB and GW, not telling you things, in AG, he just tells you (noticing these things is why I play them back-to-back, I would've never picked up on Yuri trusting Shez in AG and not in SB/GW if I hadn't). His Dimitri support ends with him partnering with Dimitri because he believes the future Dimitri wants will accomplish his own goals (which, I'm guessing, has something to do with protecting/improving the downtrodden). He also low-key agrees to do any dirty work necessary to protect Dimitri's reputation and safety from that kind of work. Dimitri protests anyone doing anything bad in his name, so Yuri's like ok, ok but it's still pretty obvious that's exactly what he intends to do regardless and the part of the reason he intends to do so is because Dimitri's the kind of person who protested lamo. Honestly, he comes closer than any non-student character to openly declaring a side in this game regardless of what side you're playing.

Seteth giving a pro-crest view is interesting. Crests in themselves aren't bad things. It's human greed that turned them into a burden. And, of course, he'd see them as good. They're obviously some kind of "soul" or "spiritual energy" or something of Nabateans given to humans to help them (either get strong enough to defeat Nemesis or save their lives when sick or etc). He sees them from a different perspective and it's literally part of who he and all his family is.

I love the devious side to Flayn. You're right that it's never malicious, it's more playful. She'd be a lesser character without it.

I'm actually kind of shocked how badly Petra got treated. It seemed the fandom never played up how awful it could've been because Petra and Edelgard are friends, but I guess I just never gave Petra enough attention (there's so many characters), but did Petra ever have a choice? It's in her best interest to befriend the person who will one day have the power to destroy or free Brigid of anything in between.

Sylvain probably hates and wants to make peace with Sreng. He often has pretty complicated relationships in general. In GW, he tried to make peace and they used that to spring war on them, a war that killed his father. So, at this point, Sylvain has given up on peace and given into his hate. Since his father just died, that's a reasonable emotional reaction (if not a helpful one). Who knows if, in 3 years, he'd still feel the same way or circle back to "it's complicated, but I want to at least try."

I agree somewhat about your take on Dimitri being the only one who bothers to figure out "why" and even feel guilty about attacking others. It's part of why he's my runaway favorite. But when looking at the writing a a whole, it's a bit sus to only have the one getting attacked care when the ones attacking almost never bother to remember they're killing human beings and the whole thing ends up looking really victim blamey from a country that refuses to acknowledge when they were playing Edelgard in real life. BUT, I don't think it's a big mystery how Dimitri would react to questioning a Caspar or a Nadar who are openly bloodthirsty and for shallow reasons. He'd go and fight and kill them and feel a whole lot less bad about it. Even when he understands the enemy enough to know how badly he'll come across from their perspective, he still gives the command to attack if he thinks it's in Faerghus' best interest. If their reasons are evil, then he'd just go do it again.

AM Dimitri is better off mentally, but that doesn't mean AG Dimitri can't get there. How I see it is AG!Dimitri is what the writers would've done with AM!Dimitri if they had more time. People overplay how Dimitri just "turns around," but it is a valid criticism even if you understand the constraints. I think AG!Dimitri is showing the growing pains. So you'd get initial timeskip -> Grondor -> AG -> AM. Except in my fantasy world, Rodrigue doesn't die at Grondor, but just almost dies, lamo. Also, it could make sense with his friends too. They aren't able to reach him until post-Grondor because they're too tied to the past that's haunting him. So someone he loves almost dies to save him -> he sinks to rock bottom and wants to leave everyone but Byleth convinces him not to -> he and his friends start opening up to each other again -> slowly works towards Savor King. And it's in that "friendship is now back on the menu" when you'd throw in a lot of the AG and some immediately post Grondor AM stuff.

I totally agree about how they did Dedue dirty in AM though. AG redeemed that.

Manuela is from the Empire. For me, it's as simple as that. All her family and friends are there. It's also why I can't fathom the vast majority of the characters joining the Empire either. You'd have to have some crazy high convictions to openly take up arms and be willing to kill your own family, friends, and everyone you grew up around.

When I read people saying that Byleth is so effective because they're a new element, it made a lot of sense to me - especially for the Blue Lions because so many of them are haunted by their pasts. There's too much complicated shared tragedy among the Blue Lions for them to be able to talk about it to each other like they can to Byleth. There's def some annoying self-insert worship going on too, but it still does make sense and there's just good and bad parts to it like any other piece of writing.

That's 2/2 for Dimitri being the one lord that doesn't make a big fuss about the self-insert's powers. It's even better in AG though, since in AM, it's not even commented on. In AG, Dimitri knows that Shez's powers could go crazy one day, but just doesn't care. Shez is a person first and foremost and not just their abilities. (Though, I love it in AM too, that Byleth's powers play no factor at all in their relationship, to the point it's barely talked about. It's very sweet for Byleth to know that Dimitri only ever saw Byleth and not their super powers). Given that Faerghus actually needs super powers more than the other nations, it just makes it even more heartwarming how they put less emphasis on what the powers can do for their country than on valuing that person as an individual separate from God powers.

Azure Gleam Ch 11

Spoilers below for AG Ch 11.

STORY

RODRIGUE is back. You have no idea how happy I am that he got more screen time (and is now playable!)

Ashe's not happy that some nobles kept their titles after turning coat, but they can't afford the chaos changing things would create right now, but they plan to in the future.

I am living for the Big Dad energy Rodrigue always has.

Do we get to kill Caspar's Dad? Please let me kill Caspar's dad.

Felix asking the right questions - asking if they can trust Claude. Annette doesn't trust Claude. Ingrid neither, but doesn't think he's as bad as Annette and Felix.

Gustave and the Knights of Serios are keeping the Alliance in check.

Once again, people asking if Dimitri can kill his step-sister. But Dimitri's like, guys, I killed Rufus. I can handle it.

Ohh, a letter from Patricia? If it doesn't have new info, why bring it up? Something disturbing. Confirmation she was always bad.

Yep, she helped plot Duscur. I mean, we all guessed she was an awful human being, so now we know.

Like, I don't blame Patricia for missing Edelgard or whatever, but setting your child step-son to get butchered alongside tons of other innocent people is straight-up evil.

Dimitri's worried about Shez, and she's opening up to him. It's pretty sweet. It's also so sweet how much they trust Shez even if she doesn't trust herself.

Honestly, Dimitri and Shez are so cute, as friends or more, it doesn't matter, they have a great relationship.

Shez would rather die than kill her friends 😭 We won't let that happen (it better not happen)

MAP/SIDE BATTLES

Seteth said he trusts me 😭😭😭

Rodrigue got to say two things this time, which means he made up for lost time last chapter.

Ok guys, Shamir just went up in my books. She said as a mercenary she'll get hired to kill anyone, but prefers killing bad guys, like the Empire. I love it. She hasn't said anything like this in GW or SB.

SHEZ & RODRIGUE B

LAMO, omg, I love Shez.

So it starts with Rodrigue taking Shez very seriously as Shez talks about how the war may be over by next winter because she . . . wants to have a snowball fight, like all the Kingdom kids got to do.

It's actually kind of sweet, seeing Shez want to just play and have fun with the Blue Lions.

Rodrigue, of course, love the idea.

And takes snowball fighting too seriously, talking strategy. Of a snowball fight. OMG I love this. I love him.

He'd do full-out battle with Lambert and go with kids.

Rodrigue lost, lamo.

So Lambert would rush into battle alone, and Shez thinks like father like son with Dimitri.

I also love how Rodrigue thinks Gautier is cowardly for laying and ambush for Lambert, but is totally fine with his own sneaking and waiting to strike.

It ended with them getting cussed out by Ingrid's dad for not taking the mountain seriously.

Shez can invite Rodrigue to join in.

Oh, man, I wish I got to see this fight. I can only imagine Felix when he realizes Rodrigue is involved and thinking it's dumb for taking it seriously, then taking it seriously. Ingrid being an absolute tyrant ordering people to follow her strategies. Dimitri scared he'll knock someone's teeth out. Mercedes being absolutely savage. And so on...

DIMITRI & YURI C

Excited for this.

Yuri's told a "funny knight" who's really strong is helping everyone out who sometimes sounds sheltered and obtuse and sometimes not. Yep. It's Dimitri.

Yuri's not happy seeing Dimitri in dangerous allies. Worried about him. But Dimitri wants to learn how the commoners live so he can help them rule better.

OMG, Yuri's like "you don't have an heir," worried about the civil war that will happen if Dimitri dies.

Yuri is determined for Dimitri to live a long and happy life because the people of Faerghus like Dimitri and Yuri likes the commonfolk of Faerghus.

Also love how Yuri points out that if war breaks out, nobles will die, but commoners get slaughtered. Wish he'd tell Edelgard that.

Haha, he says to bring Dedue at least.

OMG, I love Dimitri. He then just asks Yuri to be his bodyguard.

And Dimitri won't ask Dedue because he knows Dedue will just forbid Dimitri from coming, like a nanny, lol.

Yuri's entertained that Dimitri asked him to be a bodyguard.

SYLVAIN & DEDUE B

Dedue is impressed with Sylvain for interacting with a woman like a normal person lamo.

"Don't expect praise for merely doing your job." I love Dedue. That's savage af.

Sylvain was motivated to mature by Felix and Dimitri. He said they're both like brothers, which is why he wouldn't get left behind. I love this group.

Oof, Dedue "had" a sister. And now we're getting to learn about her. 😭 She liked flower crowns and was determined when she set her mind to it.

Dedue wants Sylvain to visit Duscur after the war, to visit her grave together 😭

SYLVAIN & FELIX A

Felix got into a fight with soldiers . . . . because they were making fun of Sylvain.

Felix called it the "worst decision in his life." Of course. Felix being Felix.

Felix didn't tell Sylvain because he was worried about Sylvain hearing the details about what people said about him.

I love the idea of Felix getting into a fist-fight with people insulting Sylvain lamo.

Sylvain thinks he deserves his bad reputation because of who he used to be. Felix challenged why Sylvain didn't change sooner. Sylvain has no defense lol.

Felix is ok with people making fun of Sylvain, but only certain people lamo.

Felix is blushing after saying something nice lol. Now he's pissed at Sylvain. And insulting him. Very typical Felix.

Sylvain says he's 7% more cunning than Felix lamo.

This one did go more into ship bait. I was surprised how un-shippy their C was, but I'm sure Sylvix fans loved this one.

DIMITRI & MERCEDES A

They're traveling to a village together. It's the one Mercedes used to live in. Dimitri likes how calm it is.

Mercie called Dimitri her friend 😭😭

Dimitri claims he's a king's knight lol. He catches himself. Also village woman finds Dimitri handsome. She has taste.

Mercedes and Dimitri talk about how open minded the church is and give credit to the overall teachings (lamo, eat shit, Claude)

Mercedes is grateful to Dimitri to taking in the Central Church because it helped the village out. It's why she brought him there, so he could see the good that comes from protecting the church.

Mercedes plans to show him around the town and introduce Dimitri to her mother and the priest.

Dimitri's nervous lol. Hahaha, Mercie says she'll tell him he's someone "very important" which flusters him lamo.

She made him laugh and smile.

This support was adorable. (and feels like it couldn't possibly be the same writers as SB and GW lamo)

MERCEDES & DEDUE B

Sad they only get one support. Their Houses one was amazing.

Mercedes is teaching cooking. The little girl gets scared of Dedue when he arrives to fetch Mercie.

Poor Dedue frightens children and animals :(

Mercie says lots of the kids are orphans, so they're scared, and that Dedue looks intimidating. She has a plan to make him not look as scary.

I KNEW IT! He's handing out flower crowns. I was going to say it was something with flowers.

Now all the kids love Dedue. Good. He's the sweetest man in Fodlan.

Dedue teaches them how to make the crowns.

Dedue is happy with Mercedes, but Mercie says it was Dedue's kindness who won them over. Of course they both give each other credit.

They both have such strong mom and dad energy.

SHEZ & ANNETTE A

Annette's up late working on music lol. Shez thinks the notes look like bugs lol.

Annette won't sing it though :( Her songs are legendary.

She wants a song that makes people feel happy when they sing it. Very Annette.

She heard the song Shez passed around getting sung by a dying mercenary, who died happy though because they appreciated the song. It made Annette appreciate the song more.

She is such a sweetie.

It's sweet to have a whole support revolve around Annette realizing her songs make people happy and help people. She'd love that.

OMG, I love Annette. Her new song is about a feast, then they go to get more ingredients, and then get into a death battle with a bear. Truly a child of Faerghus.

RAPHAEL & FELIX C

Raphael is drooling over Felix's food, so he gives it to Raphael, and Felix offers to go buy more.

Felix thinks he hears thunder, but it's just Raphael's stomach.

Felix is being nice, lol, insisting Raphael eat some of his food.

But now he's annoyed that Raphael called him a "meat buddy" or a bit. Felix likes the idea of hunting that Raphael suggested.

Raphael is so nice not even Felix can manage to get mad at him.

SYLVAIN & IGNATZ C

Sylvain feels bad because he interrupted Ignatz painting. He wanted Ignatz to look at a painting he brought home.

Sylvain knows painting styles (he knows it's not a common Faerghus style). But ofc Sylvain is interested in how pretty the woman in the painting is lamo.

He's curious about the woman's identity, but it doesn't seem in a fuck boy way, but a curiosity over a favorite piece of art way.

That Sylvain is into art just made him even cooler.

Religious art often has their symbols in the art (and Flayn's is fish lamo, good).

As a major art fan, I love this support adding little tid bits about Fodlan art.

Lamo, Sylvain studied art to impress ladies at first, but now he actually likes it.

SETETH & YURI C

Yuri chatted with a scholar, wanting to learn about the 10 elites because he didn't get a good education.

It's a support to explain how crests came to be and their powers

Yuri trusts Seteth with his crest secrets (partly because he knows Seteth already knows, and partly bc Yuri has taste)

Seteth encourages Yuri to cherish his crest and the power it brings

So is Yuri the son of an elite or something?

FLAYN & SHEZ B

Flayn thinks Shez looks good because she's dirty and that suites her lol. I love Flayn.

Flayn is wearing perfume. Seteth probably doesn't know lamo.

Flayn talks about how perfumes coming in trend shows that even in dark times, it's not all consuming. Very Flayn of her.

We're going trend shopping. She doesn't get to shop often.

Flayn is straight-up making shit up, lamo. She invented that Shez wanted to shop to raise Shez's spirits, not hers.

It's this more -uh - questionable side of Flayn that keeps her from being a one-note, overly sweet character. I love it.

CATHERINE & SHEZ C

Count Charon asks Catherine for more soldiers, but only Dimitri or Rhea could give that order.

Shez didn't know Catherine's family. She stays vague about it when Shez asks about her past.

Catherine, unsurprisingly, says she'd fight for Rhea if had to choose between her or her family.

Catherine asks why Shez is here. Oh, I can pick too - for friends, money, or to fight Byleth. Def picking friends. I think that suits AG Shez best.

Catherine looks happy with that answer.

Oh, I like that, live in a way that makes your past self proud.

ASHE & FELIX B

Their only support.

Oh, Felix is confronting Ashe about how he's a knight working for Dimitri. Should've known it would be about this.

Ashe defends Felix when he calls Dimitri a boar and tiresome lol.

Ashe says Dimitri does his job for him, omg, Dimitri, stop (but that's he's getting better).

Felix is like - you have to steal your job back from him!!! Use force if you have too - I love this, lamo

Dimitri promoted a lot of commoners to be knights, and there were some minor misunderstandings at first, but now no one cares

Felix asks Ashe if he's a noble or commoner, and Ashe is like kinda both actually, which is true

Awww, Dedue comes to Ashe's aids when he needs it (and Dimitri, but Ashe mentioned Dedue too)

And now Ashe is singing Dedue's praises, and ofc Felix insults Dedue, saying that blind loyalty will get him killed

And omg hahaha, Ashe is like that's sweet Felix, that you care about us, I always knew

I love how almost no one takes Felix's tsun seriously. They're all like "aww, look, he's chewing my old slipper!" energy

Ashe putting Felix in his place round 2, I love this. Ashe and Felix is always gold

Felix is like, it's just because more work for me if something happens to you!

Then he's finally nice, telling Ashe he does a good job

ANNETTE & SYLVAIN B

Their only support

This time it's Sylvain who catches Annette singing. Annette seems relieved rather than embarrassed.

Sylvain thinks her song is creepy (covers that, saying creative) and that only Annette could make it (affectionate - maybe)

Why is Annette always singing about swamp beasties?

Sylvain wants a song about something cute instead, so Annette naturally jumps to huge bears lamo

We need an Annette Bernedetta support about finding creepy stuff cute

Annette doesn't seem upset with criticism

Also, this is the second time Sylvain talks to Annette like a person and doesn't really flirt with her, more like siblings vibes it's cute

Annette's next song is even creepier lamo But Sylvain likes it anyways

DIMITRI/RODRIGUE/SYLVAIN PARALOGUE

This one is easy since all 3 are leveled up. I want to do other ones, but I may wait to save some cash lol.

They're up north, so Sreng? Yep.

So they're preparing for a Sreng raid.

So a hostage that grew up in Faerghus is now leading the raid. And Margrave Gautier treated him well even though he felt bitter about Sreng killing his wife. So Miklain's mother?

And now the Sreng hostage is using Fodlan knowledge against them.

Haha, Sylvain was going off about being lazy forgetting his dad was right there lol.

It's cool seeing papa Gautier and Rodrigue together.

The Sreng commander really came across like a dick. Rubbing in Miklain's death, not caring about all the men he got killed.

So did Claude do this in AG too? Incite Sreng? They guess Cornelia and someone from Adrestia too, which could be the case in AG.

Gautier takes credit for the fall. Sylvain got through to the guy apparently.

Dimitri's just happy they share a language now. He would know how important that is since he learned the language of Duscur.

I'm glad they fight over land. It's way more interesting and realistic than whatever the hell they did with Almyra.

Aww, Sylvain is dedicated to reaching peace with Sreng. Of course his dad is harder edged because they killed his wife.

Sylvain being so bent on peace and diplomacy just makes the people who claim he makes sense in CF make even less sense.

I had Shez believe in Sylvain, because AG!Shez is nice Shez.

Sylvain and Dimitri both hate resorting to violence and using warfare first. Both want to avoid it at all cost. I like the future of these two both being important in Faerghus.

Oh, cool, talk between Rodrigue and Matthais. I love the little stories we get of all of them. They were trouble makers lamo. They snuck out the night of the festivities.

Lambert wanted peace with Sreng and Duscur. Dimitri's half-way there, and he and Sylvain are working on the other half.

Gautier now agrees with Sylvain, Lambert, and Dimitri and a pathway to peace.

Aww, Rodrigue advised that he apologize to Sylvain, and he's going too.

Oh, I got the lance of ruin! Cool. Sylvain has his weapon now.

FINAL BATTLE

Not Dimitri being more understanding of the Empire nobles who''ll follow any leader that promises them more land than Edelgard does him and the other Blue Lions

He's thinking from the other's perspective, how it looks to them, not what it actually is - Claude and Edelgard could never

Shez is like, no need to feel guilty, hell yes

Felix is worried about Dimitri, in his very Felix way, meanwhile Dedue is like "we trust you"

I love so much that the importance of his friends' support is stressed so much more in AG.

Oh, I get Constance and Linhardt this battle. Cool.

Felix got lectured by Rodrigue lamo, he wanted to break ranks to chase after Monica

Lamo, Manuela's defeat quote is that she won't die single. Ngl, glad she just retreated.

It's really something that the Blue Lions show way more sympathy towards their enemy than the other routes do. They're the only ones that feel guilty for "invading." When the others are invading.

Glad they're bringing up that if they don't do this, Adrestia will not stop until Faerghus is destroyed.

Rodrigue has such a nice voice.

Felix got angry with Rodrigue when he said all the blame for invading will fall on Dimitri, but then Rodrigue said it's up to Felix to support him through it. This really is Dimilix the route, lamo.

Felix is like, duh.

Why is Shez talking to Rodrigue while it's late. I'm getting flashbacks. He died last time this happened.

They're both worried about Dimitri. And it's cannon that Dimitri falls asleep at his desk. Sooo much fanart of that lol.

Apparently Lambert did the same. Like father, like son.

Lambert had a shorter temper than Dimitri, but are very similar. Unlike Rodrigue and Felix. I get to disagree with Rodrigue there, so I will. Because I think they're more alike than they both think.

Ok guys, we finally got it. Why Felix is miserable outside of AM. He can't live without a great purpose pushing him forward. And in SS, VW, and CF he finds no great purpose, unlike in AM where working with Dimitri towards his version of the future does work.

When Lambert died, Rodrigue struggled to find another reason for being. So he devoted himself to his promise to Lambert, to make sure he sets his won back on his proper path is he loses his way.

Shez feels like Dimitri's been helping her, but she's helping Dimitri too. Like what Rodrigue is doing.

Rodrigue says he's only Dimitri's retainer, that's so false. But he says Shez is in a unique spot since she's a friend first, then he's her leader. Which makes me happy.

More teasing about Shez's origins.

Rodrigue says though that Shez's background or powers aren't what's important, it's about who Shez is as a person. I love so much how the Blue Lions keep repeating this idea, that it's not Byleth's or Shez's power. It's their worth as a person that matters.

Arval just called Rodrigue a wonderful human being. Based.

xxxx

[terrence-silver]

Some wonky things about Cobra Kai S5 that just hit me like a brick over the head:

― The villains being shown as childless, family-less and ultimately loveless. They’re The Others. It is only the heroes and those on the path of redemption who have or will have families, found families, actual friends (they don’t have to bribe or buy), offspring (adoptive or otherwise) and committed significant others.

― The grounded, nuanced representation of Terry Silver we were promised somehow boiled down to an age old stereotype of a youth-corrupting, greedy, materialistic, manipulative, snake emblematic, wealthy, sleazy Jewish man who wants to take over the world and ‘Steal the soul of The Valley’. In 2022, year of our Lord.

― The characters morals and ethics are ultimately measured by their proximity to either Daniel Larusso and Johnny Lawrence as the sole arbitraries of all good, proper values respectively. If you’re on the side of all things right, you’re either on the track of being on their side, or merely getting there. 

― Women are mothers and girlfriends, and sometimes, when we want to supposedly up the anti and shake up the diversity, they’re also angry Asian Dragon Lady tropes --- who is also single, by the way. Because no heroic person is ever left unpaired with someone else and when they are left single, they’re going through a Dark Night of The Soul, the way Sam and Tory respectively did.

― Johnny Lawrence more than ever before being posed as the model of old timey, bygone 80′s masculinity and ideals and getting endless do-overs, second, third and fourth chances and rewards over literally doing the bare minimum and sometimes not even that much, with his character arc progressing backwards so much, he is literally a comedic caricature of his former self.

― Sometimes violence is bad and sometimes it is okay and even justified. Really depends who does it. If someone bad does it, then clearly, it is bad, and if someone good does it, then it is conveniently forgotten about, pushed under the rug, made light of, glossed over and scrapped as a plot-point.

― The complex, layered friendship between John and Terry being revised in such a weird, inconsistent fashion where Johnny Lawrence, is yet again, inserted in the midst of them as the one ‘John cared for more’ to once more, distance John from Terry and bring him closer on the moral scale to the ‘side of right’ by him having just a teeny, tiny bit of attachment more to the prime model arbitrary of the show. 

― The original pacifist heart and message of the whole franchise somehow culminated in an overblown sword vs sai duel one on one, Daniel pulverizing his foe in front of an audience in an elaborate humiliation conga, in an all out chaotic battle where everyone fought everyone on a big messy, violent pile and yet only Terry Silver got apprehended and nobody got questioned and at this point, this is all about as pacifist as a nuclear explosion.

― The importance of everything oscillating wildly and bizarrely depends where the plot needs it to be and depending who gets the sympathetic spotlight this time around. Last season, Terry was suffering from war flashbacks and obviously unhealed, suppressed trauma that has haunted him all his life. This season, he says he never had to scrape for anything (not even through Vietnam and a POW camp?). This season, we also get Samantha’s trauma nightmare nexus treated with the seriousness Terry doesn’t get.

― Cobra Kai (the evil guys) still being the most diverse of dojos, of course and don’t get me started about the lack of any other sexuality other than straight.

[llycaons]

persuasion 2022: final thoughts

well this movie was trash, as I expect everyone has come to understand. it is...it's not austen's persuasion. the barest bones of plot and character are there, but it's just not the same work. I don't even think it should be counted as a period piece. it's some kind of bizarre monstrosity pieced together from multiple incompatible pieces of media, and it leave the entire experience confusing and fractured

it's shallow, grossly misinterprets austen's book, wildly exaggerates many characters, writes its main character inconsistently, is full of logical fallacies, has some of THE worst dialogue I have ever seen in any movie, and pretends to be progressive while in fact being nonsensical and whitewashing (for lack of a better word) the upper class of 19th century england. the jokes all rested on ~social awkwardness~ and borderline malicious sarcasm. weakest at the very end. I hated it when they actually got together because they suck as a couple they're so annoying and they have no chemistry. romance was complete bust, special effects were bad, and their attempts at the Diasffected White Woman (not my term) fleabag-esque "looking into the camera" schtick was never funny and is painfully at odds with ALL of austen's works. but even with no book background, I cannot imagine anyone with taste watching this and unironically enjoying it

on the other hand, I cannot overemphasize how many times it made me laugh out loud. it was easy to watch and consume, like some kind of slushie made of junk food. all the acting was pretty good! DJ was charming and funny. the shots were quite lovely, especially at the beach. mr. elliot was my favorite character by nature of being utterly deranged and therefore more entertaining than anyone else with the narrow exception of sir walter, who was also deranged but slightly less malicious about it. some of the comedy was very bad, but some of it did hit

conclusion: a very bad movie. a very very bad movie. giving it 4/10 based on quality would be generous. however since it brought me a lot of delight this week I shall rank it 8/10. I cannot wait to watch this with my mother

[fierceawakening]

Yes. It drove me absolutely nuts.

I imagined abortion as something roughly like killing a small animal. I couldn’t understand why everyone around me knew, just knew, that killing a pet was horrible and wrong, that people who do that are not just shiver shiver creepy but also at high risk of hurting people next, and yet on this it’s HUMAN, even, but they kept talking about “rights.”

It BAFFLED me. And made me feel sick, which meant I was likely even LESS capable of listening to reason.

I could tell it was different to them, but not WHY.

I don’t know what would have helped. Probably more information, or an analogy to like, cold germs or tapeworms or other things that get in our bodies and we don’t want, so I could parse why they didn’t see this as… bizarrely wildly inconsistent.

As I said elsewhere, it took a detailed, vivid description of a coat hanger abortion for me to understand any of this at all.

And even then my position was (and in some ways my instinct, though not my considered belief, still is) “GAH! Don’t DO that! Uhhhh I mean unless you have to. Ummmm oh yeah and by have to I mean you WANT to because what’s necessary for you is none of my business *sweatdrop*”

[butwhatifidothis]

bless you for this work, honestly. I first was exposed to this game through fanfic and genuinely loved some of the versions of edelgard that writers have developed, and then took on the game starting with the Deer and thought “hmm I’m clearly not seeing her perspective in this timeline though cause I have an outsider view and everyone keeps saying they agree with her in principle,” and then played CF and recruited everyone I could and it was one of the most jarring narrative experiences I’ve ever had, seeing so many characters veer wildly OOC. I was prepared for a villain run or a secretly-good-but-misunderstood or a forced-into-desperate-actions or a bloody-revolutionary route but what I got was just so bizarre that I honestly felt like crap and was just pushing through at the end to get it over with— like the actions I was presented with as a player were super dark but the framing was so happy as to be disorienting (like Ignatz being excited about the fall of the Alliance). thank you for your time and energy laying some of this stuff out! it is very validating and helps me feel less disoriented to have someone acknowledge the disconnects, haha.

Aw, thank you so much! That’s actually very similar to how I first saw Edelgard - I hated her in-game, but reading some fic before playing through/watching through the rest of the routes had me wondering if there was something I was missing to her character that made everyone love her so much. She was very interesting in some fics, and her portrayal in AM softened me up to her some! I thought playing - or watching, in this case - her route would be that final push I needed to like her as much as everyone else did.

But then I watched a cutscene/support movie for CF (those longass ones that are like 7 hours) and saw how just... evil, some of her actions were and most of the characters acted, how weird they were being compared to GD and AM, how angry Rhea was at Byleth’s betrayal, how shocked and dismayed Claude was if you kill him, how distraught Dimitri was at his death scene, combined with everyone’s happy-go-lucky personas, and I was just baffled.

It honestly had me hooked - sat through the whole 7+ hours in one sitting (and as someone who usually can’t sit through a 2 hour long movie that’s sayin’ somethin’ lmao). It was like you said one of the most jarring things I’ve ever seen. When Edelgard lied about Arianrhod I was legit shocked, and when she bold face lied about her assault on Garreg Mach - how she said she gave them time to evacuate when we know as players who’ve played other routes that she was spied on and discovered to have been amassing her men to join together during the two weeks grace period before the assault itself - ngl I straight up yelled WHAT. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing from her, and not for the first time either. 

This is the character that stole the hearts of so many? This character, who compares herself to someone willing to murder his own men - hell, his own son - to get vengeance for someone who’s dead? Who never tried to make up for the fact that she used Demonic Beasts to accomplish her goals, knowing how they’re made? Who helped in Flayn’s kidnapping? Who knew who killed Jeralt and said nothing, ever? Whose response to someone rightfully calling her out on her violent conquest is a childish “no u” (and yes, I’ve seen plenty of translations from the JPN text itself, and from what I’ve seen the ENG ver. just simplifies an already dumb sentiment into the dumb phrasing it deserves)? Who lies to her friends and never comes clean, even when it comes to a mass killing like at Arianrhod? Who calls Nabateans “creatures who can merely masquerade as humans at will,” beasts, an inherent enemy to humanity that must be put down for the good of humans? Who’s blatantly wrong about history, who calls the near end of an entire race a “simple dispute”? This one? If I’m being honest, I don’t see how any player who didn’t play CF first could possibly play her route and come out thinking that she was the good guy at all - CF almost made me go right back to hating her - hell, my sister does hate her, full stop, and she played AM first! The route where she’s the most sympathetic!

Absolutely no problem!! This account was made specifically to rant and rave about the fandom’s shit taste and the game’s inconsistencies (like I love 3H to bits and pieces but oh boy is there a lot to rant about, for me it’s like Bleach - a nice mix of good and bad where I love and write about the good and can vent about the bad for hours lmao), so I’m glad it gave you some validation! (:

[man-and-atom]

Information or its Opposite

Much of what is said about nuclear energy consists of half-truths and distortions, outright fabrications, or basically meaningless nonsense.

Worse yet, claims which are repeated over and over again ― “plutonium is the most toxic substance known to man”, for instance, or “nuclear waste is deadly for millions of years” ― become ingrained in public discourse to the point of being automatically accepted, “common knowledge” which “everybody knows”. They even come to be repeated by voices of authority ― see, for instance, the bizarre claim by USEPA that tobacco causes cancer because it is radioactive. Any oncologist can tell you that, among partially-oxidized complex hydrocarbons such as are found in tobacco smoke, there are many agents far more powerfully cancer-promoting than radon daughters. In fact, there’s little evidence for carcinogenesis from radioactive substances at levels substantially lower than those where other toxic effects show up. And there’s no way a person could survive smoking enough cigarettes to get radiation poisoning!

Now, when I say that Nuclear Information Research Service, or Beyond Nuclear, Bellona, Greenpeace, or Friends of the Earth (to name just a few), even ― sad to say ― the Union of Concerned Scientists or the Federation of American Scientists, are promulgating misinformation about nuclear energy, and that their statements on the topic are not to be trusted, why should you believe me over them?

The first step is to actually look at their statements. This is hard for me, in all honesty. But you will rapidly find that they are wildly inconsistent. In effect, half of their messages contradict the other half. For instance, in a single document they will first say “breeder reactors are not a viable energy option for the future because they produce plutonium” (which of course they want you to understand is Very Bad), and subsequently, “breeder reactors are not a viable energy option for the future because they do not produce plutonium fast enough”. This leads to the conclusion, not only that what they are saying cannot be true, but that it cannot be meant sincerely.

It is also important to compare their claims with information from other sources. This is made difficult, because these groups characteristically play on distrust of authority to shut subject-matter experts out of discussion, on the grounds that anyone who has worked in the field of nuclear energy is morally tainted.

One of the long-term strategies of the antinuclear campaigners is to present themselves as aligned with social-justice struggles. (Never mind that social justice is far more of a priority, and far easier to achieve, in a high-energy than a low-energy society.) In the 1970s, this manifested in claims that the widespread use of nuclear energy would lead to a fascist police state. Today, it shows up in claims that negative affects of nuclear energy disproportionately fall upon women and people of color. But this provides an opportunity to check what they say.

One such claim is that an elevated rate of a terrible birth defect, anencephaly, among Mexican-American women in central Washington State is related to nuclear activities at the Hanford site. If you investigate anencephaly, for instance by getting textbooks from the library, or poking around on PubMed, you will find many references to folic acid deficiency as a cause, and few or none to radiation. And further investigation will show that the Washington State Department of Health has recognized for years that the diet of this particular community is deficient in folate, and has been working to implement plans of action to remedy the problem.

Now, there are various ways to investigate claims about the effects of uranium mining on miners, and of mines and other nuclear facilities on “downwind” communities. The long-term study of the Port Hope radium miners in Canada, who worked without modern occupational health and safety measures, has shown no significant early deaths compared to the general population from any cause other than knife wounds. The Chernobyl liquidators, who received  the highest allowable doses of radiation, have been followed for 35 years now ; it was initially expected that they would show a sharp rise in leukaemia within 10 years (because bone marrow is especially affected by radiation, and leukaemia has a short latency time compared to solid cancers), but the only significant causes of early deaths so far have been from automobile wrecks and cirrhosis of the liver.  The British “Committee On Medical Aspects of Radiation Exposure” was called into being over concerns about “cancer clusters” near British nuclear sites, and  in decades of frankly amazing work, has ruled out most of what were formerly considered possible consequences of low-level radiation exposure. (It has also found lines of evidence suggesting that childhood leukaemia may be caused by viruses.) The deeply regrettable instance of the “Radium Girls” of the 1920s, who like the Port Hope miners have been followed the rest of their lives, has provided valuable clinical evidence that negative health effects drop off very rapidly below a certain level of ingested radioactive material ― a level which is still far higher than what is permissible under modern radiation-protection standards, or what is likely to occur as a result of exposure to mine and mill tailings.

Even if you believe the antinuclear campaigners that all that data is untrustworthy, part of a cover-up (despite the long history of nuclear scientists working to make information available, as see for instance “Project Sunshine” to supply information about levels of fallout from weapons tests), there remains a fact that certainly cannot be ignored. For millennia, the peoples of the Colorado Plateau region of North America (which stretches practically from the Gulf Coast to the Sierras) used carnotite, and other brightly-colored uranium minerals, for face and body paint. It stands to reason that no exposures to uranium and its daughter products, incidental to even very poor mining practices, could be as large as those deliberately incurred by seeking out these minerals and smearing them on the body. Hence we cannot look for any negative health effects from mining uranium specifically (as opposed to mining generally, which certainly does have harmful consequences) which were not already present in the affected populations.

When it comes to climate change, again, the mendacity is on full display. The “Climate Scorecards” issued by the Worldwide Fund for Nature (formerly World Wildlife Fund) simply replace nuclear energy with natural gas, massively inflating the emissions figures for countries such as France, and giving a completely false picture of the situation. A footnote explains that the authors do not see nuclear as a good option. Many antinuclear sources will go even farther, and assert that the lifetime equivalent CO₂ emissions associated with fission energy are comparable to those associated with gas. This is in marked contrast to, say, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which gives nuclear as having emissions less than those associated with wind or solar ― say 4 grams per kilowatt-hour, as opposed to 400 for gas. The only support for this claim is a paper by Storm van Leeuwen and Smith, who basically admit in their methodology section that they made the numbers up. Their figures are incompatible with the basic economic statistics of uranium-producing countries such as Gabon. Many other claims are frequently repeated, which were made in papers which had to be retracted ― having once appeared, they remain talking points.

On the other hand, the vast mass of published information on nuclear energy, available for instance through IAEA INIS, is reasonably consistent. That is to say, where one statement does not agree with another, the reason can usually be found in the normal development of scientific knowledge and technical expertise, or in the inevitable variation of perspective from one writer to another. A monolithic uniformity suggestive of some grand, sinister conspiracy is not to be found. It also incorporates many cross-links to other fields of science and human activity, in which the facts can be ascertained independently. This gives confidence that what is being said is sincerely meant, and is probably mostly correct.

So here is the question : whom do you trust, and why?

[breadknight-likes-things]

Outriders Is A Game Out Of Time, And I Might Like That A Lot?

The overwhelming take I have on Outriders, the new third person shooter from People Can Fly, is that it feels ripped directly out of 2006. To be clear, I don't consider that a bad thing by default, because it's not like good games didn't exist in 2006, but there are elements about it strike me as odd coming out today, due to how at home they feel in say, Gears of War one. All in all, you could make the argument that Outriders has fairly bog standard third person shooter "Game As A Service" gameplay, but even so, it works just fine, and the powers of the selectable classes adds a bit more variety than what was present in games like Gears of War or it's myriad of imitators in 2006. Of course, as is obvious, Outriders didn't come out alongside the first Gears of War, it came out a week ago. In fact, despite me previously describing it as a "Game As A Service" game, it's not even that! It makes you sign onto a server at the outset, but near as I can tell it's a full featured single player game, with optional co-op. So why does the story, writing and characters feel so aggressively out of time? It's odd to see People Can Fly lean so hard into tropey grimdark material like this, when their other claim to fame is the openly goofy and bizarre Bulletstorm. A game which, by the way, I will always maintain is a lot smarter with it's writing than a lot of people tended to give it credit for. Even their work in Gears of War focused on that franchises most sardonic and humor focused character. In this, we have a batty mix of premises like super powered beings, eternal super storms, and a mad max style world with technological rules that almost seem to be purposefully inconsistent (they insist complex machines don't work, but everyone's guns seem to be firing just fine), but all of it feels like it doesn't quite come together as the winking comedy that it really should be. I won't lie it's disappointing to see People Can Fly not continue their streak of comedy in this game thus far (full disclosure, I'm not super far into the game, so for all I know, all of this could change, and my outrider could be threatening to kill Grayson Hunts dick any minute here), but despite my early misgivings with the story, I do have to add, the gameplay is satisfying in a way I didn't expect. I'm really not kidding when I talk about this game's gameplay being extremely circa 2006. You could put this and the first Gears of War up side by side and though Outriders has a lighter feel, you'd still be hard pressed to notice many significant differences in the basic gunplay. That said, it's not the gunplay that's the main draw in this game, it's clearly the powers. Said powers add up to some significant differences in the feel of gameplay, and I would be stupid to leave them out. I've tried two different classes so far, Technomancer and Pyromancer, and both feel like wildly different ways to actually play the game. Despite both being armed to the teeth, Pyromancer ends up feeling a lot more like a fragile mage style class. With high powered fire spells, but weak basic fighting skills and difficult to access healing. Whereas Technomancer tends to remind me of a summoner class with it's various mines and turrets, outsourcing some of your damage dealing to A.I helpers. When you combine these powers with the more standard 2006 era shooter gameplay, you get something a little bit better than I was really expecting back during the time I played the demo and bounced off. Though the game has issues, it should really pick a lane on tone for instance (I swear sometimes it almost seems to wink at it's grimdark nature and other times it's deadly straight faced), I'm actually quite excited to play more of Outriders. I would never have been the first person to say that I'd be dying for a game that harkens back to such a specific era of action game as the year 2006, but you know what? Stranger things seem to keep happening, and this is on Game Pass, so it's time to embrace the strange.

Stray Notes: - The bad guy in the opening, the evil doctor dude, feels so much like he belongs in a late era Midway game. That dude is a long lost asset from the cancelled Psi-Ops 2, if anything. - This is the first time I've written anything, let alone a stray notes section, in quite some time! Would you believe that your final semester of college, even an online one, really keeps you busy? - I don't know how frequent updates will be, but I want to get back to writing on this blog, I haven't had the outlet other than talking to friends about some of these things for a little while, feels good to get thoughts out somewhere.