#I started watching ace attorney play throughs and I was watching so much of it the only ads im getting is. well. GENSHIN ADS.

[caluupin]

ARCHONS TO SEND OFF THE YEAR!!! (kind of a redraw from last year's September)

[sunchaserwings]

Incoming rant about The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Herlock Sholmes from The Great Ace Attorney, and the BBC Sherlock (no major spoilers ahead I promise).

A preface before I begin; I was never a big fan of Sherlock Holmes or any adaptation of the stories. I've seen Elementary although I was very young so I only have the vaguest of memories of enjoying it, and my roommate had me watch a couple BBC Sherlock episodes when I was a tween/young teen. My mother claims she tried to get me into Sherlock Holmes but I'm rather skeptical. Anyhow, onto the story.

Back in March my boyfriend bought me the Ace Attorney games for my birthday which included the Great Ace Attorney Chronicles (or Dai Gyakuten Saiban for those who are still stuck on the pre-localization names ;p). I was on my flight home from my birthday trip after I got the news my manager fired my brother while I was out of the state and figured why not, I'd start playing the first TGAA game on the flight. I'd probably enjoy myself and I couldn't sleep.

Second biggest mistake of the year (first biggest was trusting Les Schwab to do my brake job). I. Was. Hooked. I played the first case and fell in love with Kazuma instantly (he's so Zero shaped!). I played the second case and realized that calling him Zero shaped was way too accurate. We all know what happened there. Most important to this rant, I met Herlock Sholmes (more on my opinions on him later). I could barely put the game down but I had to take a break due to finding a new job and getting adjusted. I ended up finishing the game in June or July, one of the two. I finished the final case of the first game in one long 12 hour gaming session it was that good (my back didn't thank me though).

Now, the man of the hour: Herlock Sholmes. I didn't think much of him initially. He was simultaneously charming and annoying in the second case but as I played more he grew on me. I cried when the start of 1-5 happened. He clawed his way up into like the top 7 favorite characters at the time. The ending of the game with him playing his violin made me bawl my eyes out. I. Loved. This. Game.

It took a few more months to start and finish the second game. In between Adventures and Resolve I played Skyward Sword, Minish Cap, and some others so I had a healthy break. I came back to play Resolve and finished it like two months ago. It hit me in the gut just as hard as the first game did although there are a great many things I'd tweak and do differently. But Herlock Sholmes... man, he's not my favorite but he's up there underneath Kazuma and Van Zieks.

Anyhow, I finished the game but the hyperfixation had started and would not let me go. I've never been one to go out and seek fanfiction due to... personal stuff but I had a feeling I didn't want to go probe the depths of AO3 yet for fear of crying. I started a graveyard shift at my job which severely limited my ability to talk with people about stuff and also there's so many major spoilers but very few people I knew had played the game. A thought occurred to me, however. What about Sherlock Holmes audiobooks? I have an auditory processing issue which has made listening to audiobooks hard but I decided to give it a go. Perhaps it would satiate the TGAA hyperfixation hunger.

I found the ones produced by Magpie Audio, expertly narrated by Greg Wagland. Go check him out, he has over 77 videos of Sherlock Holmes audiobook recordings and all of them are a minimum of 40 minutes, often times far more. I went through over 30 hours of audiobook in a few weeks listening to these. Sherlock Holmes is such a good character and I can understand how and why he took late Victorian England by storm. And you know what the best part is?

Herlock Sholmes is the most faithful adaptation I have personally seen as a character of the original Sherlock Holmes.

They got so many of Sherlock's little idiosyncrasies right and you can tell the entire team were genuine fans of the books. I listened to Mr. Wagland's narration *and I saw 221B Baker of the games*. Especially the jack knife impaling the communications to the mantle being referenced in the game? The sheer mess of the flat? It's so good!

My roommate (whom is also a Sherlock Holmes fan) noticed my newest hyper fixation that spawned off of TGAA and that reignited his Sherlock Holmes obsession. He was a fan of the BBC Sherlock and now recognizes it was not a very great show but it's a comfort media for him nonetheless. He just dragged me into rewatching it and... okay, it's playing into a lot of inaccurate Sherlock tropes I don't like but goddamn Martin Freeman carries the whole show. I love his John Watson because it feels like a reasonable version of a modern, younger Watson. He feels real in a way. I do like the fact that even in the first episode, it's established that John and Sherlock can make each other laugh and smile just like in the books. I don't forgive them calling Sherlock a sociopath, however (speaking as someone with a brother that has been diagnosed with being a high-fuctioning sociopath). He's AuDHD to the max and deserves recognition in that department.

All of this to say, I can trace my current Sherlock hyperfixation back to Mega Man. Finding Mega Man in 4th grade led to watching the Ace Attorney anime in late 2021 which led to playing The Great Ace Attorney and that led to listening to Sherlock Holmes. I don't know why I decided to make this post but maybe I might start live blogging this shit? All in all, this is going to be a wild ride.

[glamangel3766]

Just got into the Ace Attorney fandom/franchise 🏛🏵⚖️

I have a question(or 2)(I tend to ramble) for the veteran fans followed by a few theories/ headcanons/ observations I made as I delved into the rabbit hole that is my shiny new addiction/obsession. (*Please note I'm awful at spelling. Spellcheck can only do so much for my jelly brain)

Question:

Is shipping WrightWorth just a natural part of the initiation/transition into the fandom or is that just the fujoshi in me getting a bingo on a card with all my fave shipping tropes?

These 2 lawyers act like rivals, claim to be friends since childhood, but are desperately in love with each other in reality and anyone with even half a brain cell can tell. This ship gives me strong vibes of "I hate how much I love you but won't say a thing because I believe you deserve better and I'm not ready to deal with the truth of how much I value you" Miles Edgeworth x "I will sing your praises if you'd just let me and alter my whole life to be within your presence because I don't want a life where you aren't a part of it" Pheonix Wright.

Theory/headcanon/observation(s):

I totally agree with the fandom that Pheonix would openly love Legally Blonde. However, I think Miles would secretly love it more after Pheonix forces him to watch both the movie and musical, but only deny his love for it because the song "Gay or European" calls him out too much and he feels offended by that. How DARE a song from a musical based on a movie call him out like that in front of his dearest-childhood-friend-totally-not-first-love-now-turned-husband and their adopted children like that!?!

I feel like even the homophobes can see Miles Edgeworth has the vibes of a bitter old gay man, but this prosecutor is so far in the closet that his shipping address is Narnia

How can anyone say Wrightworth isn't legit/canon? They're either a bickering old married couple or a newly divorced couple that's too proud to admit they still love each other and want to get back together. You cannot convince me otherwise. Either way they still always find things to argue about, but end up aggressively making out in a violent and heated passion then(if divorced) just as aggressively deny that they ever locked lips.

FOR CONTEXT: I watched the Game Grumps do a let's play of it and I'm currently playing through the Trilogy game(s(?)*) on the Switch and know bits and pieces through repeating themes in fan-made content. (I also want to watch the anime but haven't decided if I should finish playing before starting.)

* I'm still not fully used to how the story is structured like a book series, but I'm close. I'm at around 90% used to it. Like I understand it in my head but when I need to put it into actual words it makes my brain hurt.

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk

[journalsouppe]

I started and beat this within like 4 days in July 2023, and I just completely forgot to take photos of this spread T-T.

BUT I loved Tunic so much, one of my all time favorite games I've ever played. If this was a Zelda game, it might've been my favorite Zelda game. This was only beat out by Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice bc my aa brainrot is that bad hfjdkal.

All of the stickers come with ordering the physical version of the game on fangamer!! There's also a freebie fox sticker I got from TheLittleBirdeeCo thats below keep reading.

My writing is typed below as well as my game notes. I will not type out my game notes and I also don't recommend looking at them unless you have played the game.

Game notes^ Plus a little blurb after rewatching a playthrough that I won't type out either since these are more just for fun.

Rating: 9.5 Played: Su 2023 Port: Nintendo Switch Favorite? Y Replayable? Y Recommend? Y

Comments

similar opening to links awakening

the start screen is gorgeous

THE POT SHARDS ARE MOVEABLE - i love the clay feel

tons of hidden paths and secrets

oooo you find the instruction booklet in the game

I KILLED MYSELF?

GIANT SKELETON SHOPKEEPER SCARED ME T-T he's chill tho

oooo you can hear the wind chimes

LOVE the mechanics of the draw bridge

what are the small tuner/bells for

i am apparently really good at finding hidden chests

i love that the fairies are stone versions of the oot/mm fairies

ENEMIES CAN FOLLOW YOU INTO NEW ROOMS?

it's hard to get acclimated since I'm so used to 2d zelda strategies and patterns

the statues of the hero perfectly encapsulate my view of oot link, i really love the design

the garden boss is hard T-T

the bell towers are so pretty

THE POTIONS REGENERATE? WISH I KNEW THAT

the west garden is so pretty omg

I FINALLY DID IT T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-

IM SO TINY T^T

idrk what to do at the heros grave

the librarian fight reminds me of the links awakening nightmare fight

frogs domain music reminds me of the forest temple

A GUN?

who am i?

why is the cathedral filled with ... me?

the boss rush was fun but hard

I DONT LIKE THAT ELEVATOR WHERE DID THE CRUCIFIED THING GO

i don't think there's a set order to do "dungeons" so i'm not locked to doing only the siege engine

i thought cat man was pissing

why do i have the power to activate the boxes?

librarian's ghost?

COLOR CHANGE?

was the heir me?

Game Notes:

beautiful 3D animation and modeling - very pleasing

wide attacking range - don't just attack straight forward

incredible environmental design and path making

two endings - exploration and collection for good end

diverse attack patterns and learning curve + boss rush

Summary

What a phenomenal game. I loved playing this game so much. It was challenging and I wasn't used to the souls mechanics, but I learned fast and had so much fun fighting the bosses. I love the two endings. The Bad where you replace your former self as the heir, continuing the cruel cycle. The Good where you free the Heir and find out it's you, older, someone who is no longer stuck in the cycle, and you get to be friends together. The music is absolutely gorgeous. I listened to it while falling asleep and was just sobbing from it. I love how mysterious the lore is and how everything still hasn't been answered. I love the designs of the environments and enemies and how the game can go from nice and serene to dark and creepy. I loved how this game was a perfect blend of 2D zelda plus monument valley plus a souls game, it forced me to think outside of the box and use my journal to takes notes on all the little secrets and surprises. I can def see myself play this game again, it's such a charming game that has a lot of nostalgia despite being a fairly new game. I am so happy I bought the deluxe edition, I truly cherish this game so much and love the stickers and artbooks I received. I highly recommend this game to anyone, it is such an incredible journey to go through. I'm gonna be spending a lot of time watching and reading about the lore and digging deeper into this game. Truly what a phenomenal game with such a cute yet tragic main character, ough i love tunic.

[mrs-luigi-vargas]

50 of My Favorite Fics from 2023

Did something like this last year on Dreamwidth and it was fun so I’m doing it this year, on Tumblr this time! These are all fics I read last year and loved a lot!

It’s 50 fics because that’s about how many recs were on my list last time by happenstance so I decided to just roll with it. Especially because I read so much fic this year, between the comment bingos and the explosion of Mario fic in the months before and after the Mario movie, for example. Thus, I probably forgot some good ones, somehow (I was mostly going off my AO3 bookmarks for the year + what I’d reblogged on Tumblr) so whoopsies if some quality fics slipped through the cracks! ^_^;

This list ended up being

50% Super Mario Bros,

18% Ace Attorney,

6% Danny Phantom x DCU,

4% Professor Layton, Pokémon, and Linked Universe each, and

14% comprised of other assorted fandoms,

which is obviously a way different distribution from last year, haha!

Regardless, if you’re going through the list and wondering about an author showing up more than once (or maybe even four times) then that’s your cue to go check out the rest of their fic catalogue because it all slaps! That's why they're on here so much! (^o^)/

So, without further ado:

Super Mario Brothers

A Dream of Sunny Skies by Skippy_Watts Rated T | M/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Bowser/Luigi, Luigi & Mario, Bowser & Mario, Bowser & Peach 11 chapters | 62,474 words | Complete A strange affliction is causing Luigi to sleep more and more each day. Worried about his constant collapses, Mario enlists Princess Peach’s help in looking for a cure, leaving Bowser to play nurse and watch over the dreaming brother. To Bowser, this is just an easy favour to make Mario owe him in the future. However, he soon starts to find himself getting much too invested in the wellbeing of a man who may soon never wake up again.

a gentleman by MrSpockify Rated E | F/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Mario/Peach One-Shot | 4,568 words | Complete Peach spent her nights longing for Mario to touch her, to grab her with a passion she knew he possessed. She had seen him scale mountains with ease, punch his way through brick walls, and beat down enemies while hardly breaking a sweat. He was strong and sharp and so, so capable of taking whatever he wanted from her. She wanted to give it to him, whatever it was that he wanted. He just… wouldn’t take it.

All the Gold in the World by peaches2217 Rated G | M/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Luigi/Prince Peasley One-shot | 2,647 words | Complete The quality of one’s character based on the fabric they clad themselves in. The notion made little sense to Peasley. "What constitutes a 'real man'?" ~ Or, "Peasley Doesn’t Acknowledge Gender Norms and Wants to See Luigi in a Pretty Dress."

Coming Down by MrSpockify Rated T | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Mario & Luigi 20 chapters | 70,245 words | Incomplete “You can tell me anything,” Mario tried again, leaning over to look at his brother, but he couldn’t quite catch his eye. “You won’t like what I have to say.” “Tell me anyway.” ~ The brothers face the realization that one of them is unable to cope in the aftermath of Bowser. They just never really thought it would be Mario.

Cooking Mama (Luigi)! by Little_RedHots_Riding_Hood Not Rated | F/M, M/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Bowser/Luigi, Mario/Peach, Luigi & Bowser Jr, Luigi & Koopalings 27 chapters | 83,036 words | Complete Luigi was having a perfectly peaceful stroll through the Toad Market - the sun was shining, he'd just found a lovely handmade blanket, and was on his way to the bakery before heading back to his and Mario's home. Only... what was that sniffling noise from that dark, scary alleyway? Of all the creatures he was expecting to find, the littlest prince of the Koopa Kingdom certainly wasn't it.

Day Forty-Two by Useless19 Rated G | M/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Bowser/Luigi, Mario & Luigi, Bowser Jr. & Luigi One-Shot | 7,119 words | Complete Luigi returns to Bowser's castle. Somehow he's the only one who isn't surprised by this.

Father Koopa by Razzbarry Rated G | No Archive Warnings Apply Bowser & Kamek One-Shot | 1,457 words | Complete Something’s sent Bowser into a furious rage, and it’s up to Kamek to calm him down.

Growing Pains by JupiterRainstorms Rated G | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Mario & Luigi One-Shot | 4,946 words | Complete It’s something he shares with his brother, a connection that feels almost tangible if he thinks about it hard enough—he’s always been the green to Mario’s red. For as long as either of them can remember, it’s always been the two of them off in their own little world.

I Diagnose You with Crocodile by KnightOn Rated G | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Luigi & Mario 4 chapters | 4,833 words | Complete Alternative title: The Id and the Ego Walk into a Bar… Luigi has a chat with his other half.

Koopa Princess by Esperata Rated G | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Bowser & Wendy O. Koopa One-Shot | 687 words | Complete Boy things, Bowser understands. With girl stuff however, he struggles. He tries his best for his little princess though.

Linguistically Challenged by Krackaroo21 Rated G | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Mario & Peach One-Shot | 4,768 words | Complete It was nothing short of a miracle that someone came to rescue Princess Peach. But she would never expect a language barrier to make her getaway so frustrating.

Looking the Other Way by Istadris Rated T | Gen | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Bowser’s Army, Bowser, Mario One-Shot | 1,500 words | Complete All around them were the loyal, the fanatics, the enthusiasts, the fatalists; the ones who followed King Bowser out of worship and the ones who wouldn't care if someone challenged the status quo. Ears which could listen and report any signs of dissension. Their companions, their friends, their family, all would turn on them if they voiced their doubts. King Bowser was the strongest. Therefore King Bowser was right. That was all there was to know. The best thing to do was to look the other way.

Nobody’s ever heard of a girl Toad by wordbending Rated G | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Toad, Peach, Mario One-Shot | 2,092 words | Complete Nobody’s ever heard of a girl Toad, least of all Toads themselves. If you asked a Toad what pronouns he used (it was always “he”), he’d just stare at you quizzically for a moment before answering “I just check the dictionary!” Still, as one Toad stares into the mirror, looking back at a Toad indistinguishable from the thousands that look exactly like him, he wonders if it was always like that.

Pay No Mind to the Man in the Mirror by h0moquixotic (h0moneurotic) Rated T | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Kamek One-Shot | 511 words | Complete Kamek cherishes his opportunity to look like the Princess. Until he doesn't.

Plateau by peaches2217 Rated E | F/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Mario/Peach One-Shot | 3,803 words | Complete “A spell that does what?” “‘Prevents contractions of the bulbospongiosus muscle and withholds resultant bodily and neurochemical emissions,’” Peach repeats directly from the page before her. That’s an unnecessarily complicated way of saying ‘This spell makes it physically impossible to orgasm.’

Super Bowuigi Odyssey by ProtoChan Rated G | M/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Bowser/Luigi, Mario/Peach 102 chapters | 166,306 words | Incomplete When Luigi and Bowser find themselves stranded together in the Lost Kingdom after a turbulent windstorm sends them flying off Bowser’s airship, a busted up Odyssey becomes their unlikeliest of saviors. Now reluctant traveling companions, doomed to remain marooned without the other’s help, the two gather power moons and embark on a globe-trotting adventure home. However, as they fly and hunt for moons together, encountering and overcoming any and all conflicts in their way, their reservations about each other wither away while a fondness forged through their travels grows into something neither of them ever thought was possible.

tethered by MrSpockify Rated M | F/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Mario/Peach One-Shot | 2,214 words | Complete Mario woke with a knot in his throat and a soft cry on his lips. His eyes shot open, and as he lay struggling for breath and clutching his own chest, his eyes darted around rapidly, trying unsuccessfully to see through the darkness that surrounded him. The only thought on his mind was Peach. Peach, who he had just seen die before his very eyes, burned alive by his greatest enemy. ~ When Mario wakes from a terrifying nightmare, Peach takes care of him and sooths his worries.

Little Events by Vegebulluv Rated G | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Toadsworth & Peach 2 chapters | 5,115 words | Incomplete Expansions on little moments of Peach's life following my other fics.

The Mushroom Kingdom’s Unconventional Line of Defence by Amethyst_Goldwind Rated T | Gen | Graphic Depictions of Violence Mallow & Bowser One-Shot | 3,665 words | Complete That Toad remembers his bazooka at a time nobody needed him to.

The Quiet of Night by Istadris Rated G | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Mario & Luigi One-Shot | 954 words | Complete It was true, Mario preferred to travel alone. But never for the reasons everyone expected when they looked at the brothers.

This Blazing World by SelanPike Rated T | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Kamek, Geno, Fawful, Ludwig von Koopa, Wendy Koopa 8 chapters | 14,462 words | Complete Even the Star Sprites had questions about the Dark Star. Surely they knew more about what the Dark Star was, but maybe they were in the dark as to what exactly happened to it, and what it left behind. If that was the case, then Kamek was at an advantage. He had something they’d want to see.

Three Times Toad Broke In And One Time He Didn't Have To by BlueJay2 Rated G | Gen | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Mario & Luigi & Toad One-Shot | 8,810 words | Complete After the bros move into the Mushroom Kingdom, their new friend Toad is excited to show them things in his world. Unfortunately, he gets a little too excited and also knows how to pick locks. There are shenanigans.

Traduzione, Per Favore? by peaches2217 Rated G | F/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Mario/Peach One-Shot | 1,682 words | Complete "I’m named after a fruit. Surely you have a word for ‘peach’." ~ OR: Peach asks a silly question and Mario falls a little harder.

Untitled Dimigi Smut by lizadale Rated E | M/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Dimentio/Luigi One-Shot | 3,905 words | Complete You’re not trying to be rude to him. It’s unintentional, this time, but at this rate you may be lucky if he ever lets you leave the house again.

Whatever the universe is made of. by TheMusicalCC Rated G | F/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Luigi/Rosalina One-Shot | 4,908 words | Complete "They do say butterflies can’t see their own wings.” She muttered. (Super Mario Galaxy but Luigi and Rosalina get to interact.)

Ace Attorney

An Insecure Turnabout by Red_Acted (96percentdone) Rated T | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Miles Edgeworth & Larry Butz One-Shot | 2,178 words | Complete Crying at the drop of a hat is a quirk of Larry's that you get used to after spending a few minutes around him. Miles has spent several years, and yet despite all those years, all those horribly loud bars and messy break ups, he's never seen anything like this. Larry is crying, and it appears it's Miles' fault. In which Miles Edgeworth has had enough of being dragged to clubs, but his annoyance is the least pressing issue.

atroquinine girl and the fox with the hole in his heart by kbots Rated G | F/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Vera Misham/Wocky Kitaki One-Shot | 7,724 words | Complete After a beat, the boy shrugs. “S’cool. You don’t gotta talk if you don’t want. Ma always says I can do enough talkin’ for two.” He pulls a box out of the pocket of his hospital gown - the box of pocky - and offers it out to Vera. “Name’s Wocky. Want a pocky?” ~ where Vera Misham meets the strangest boy of her life while recovering in the hospital and somehow, against the odds, makes her very first friend

Cold Case by RockettoMusashi Rated T | F/F | No Archive Warnings Apply Maya Fey/Franziska von Karma, Maya Fey & Phoenix Wright, Maya Fey & Miles Edgeworth One-Shot | 9,489 words | Complete Deep into a strangely cold LA winter, unseen from prying eyes... the most despicable, most uncouth, most heinous crime has been committed. Of all the hardship the young Maya Fey has seen since leaving her quaint little commune in the mountains, truly no horror has trifled her on such a level as this. Someone... has gotten her sick. Ever the determined truth-seeker, and with years of (totally legit) legal experience under her obi, Maya is going to find out who.

come dine with me by pheenick Rated T | M/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Dick Gumshoe/Phoenix Wright, Phoenix Wright & Maya Fey One-Shot | 5,715 words | Complete “It’ll be a long drive,” says Phoenix, cautiously toeing the waters. He spares a glance at Gumshoe and ends up staring openly. Gumshoe smiles. That’s all he does, but Phoenix swears he sees the afternoon sun rising above the clouds. ~ Or, how Gumshoe gets the guy.

Leopard Lily by frogs_in3_hills Rated T | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Viola Cadaverini & Maggey Byrde One-Shot | 3,564 words | Complete Wright frowned, straightened, and looked her in the eyes. “It’s not like that. I won’t pretend to know what it’s like having brain surgery, but… in therapy, you’re the one in control, not the doctors. You don’t have to tell them anything you don’t want to, they’re just there to help you out. This woman specializes in trauma and abuse recovery, so just… please consider it, Miss Cadaverini. You’ve been through a lot, and I think it could really help.” Well, that did sound a little better than being put under anesthetic so that a stranger could lobotomize you. ~ In which Viola enacts her vengeance through community gardening.

my crown i am by zombiekittez Rated M | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Rayfa Padma Khura'in, Pearl Fey, Nahyuta Sahdmadhi, Apollo Justice 3 chapters | 6,367 words | Complete Pearl Fey cleans the temple like the lowest devotee. She helps translate foreign records into Khurainese, for she is nearly fluent. She stands beside children and frightened women in the docket, helping Apollo and his newly trained lawyers coax testimony from the anxious and weak. They call her the Golden Pearl for the way her light hair catches in the hot Khurainese sun and Rayfa hates her more each passing day. ~ Or, Pearl Fey comes to Khura’in.

the only love i ever found by jambi_cafe Rated G | M/M, Other | No Archive Warnings Apply Miles Edgeworth/Phoenix Wright, Miles Edgeworth & Phoenix Wright One-Shot | 1,571 words | Complete "Have I not made myself clear? I do not spend my time idly. If I am with you, it is because I want to be." Edgeworth speaks with the thoughtfulness and commitment that he brings to everything he does, declaring the above statements as if they are courtroom evidence. Incontrovertible. Phoenix's heart does an odd sort of thing, filling his whole body with warmth. ~ a queer-platonic love story for phoenix and miles. set sometime after aa2.

The State of Spicy Noodles in Southern California by RokettoMusashi Rated T | F/F, Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Maya Fey/Franziska von Karma, Franziska von Karma & Miles Edgeworth One-Shot | 6,317 words | Complete “Maya Fey,” she says, “I regret to be the bearer of bad news, but it seems as though my living space is woefully unprepared to properly nurse you back to health.” “Are you drafting me a fucking work email right now?”

Turnabout Substitution by pictureswithboxes Rated T | F/F | No Archive Warnings Apply Maya Fey/Franziska von Karma, Pearl Fey & Franziska von Karma, Pearl Fey & Maya Fey, Franziska von Karma & Miles Edgeworth, background Phoenix/Miles 8 chapters | 54,776 words | Complete '“I must have misheard you,” Franziska said, almost surprised by how flat and cool her voice sounded as she spoke. How easy the words escaped her mouth, forming into the voice of someone cold and clinical, without a hint of the anger she felt in her words. “Because I could have sworn you’d just asked me to act as a defense attorney.”' ~ When one Maya Fey is in need of legal help, once again, and neither Phoenix Wright nor Miles Edgeworth are available, there is only one person they trust enough to take on the case. And that person is Franziska von Karma, the prodigy prosecutor.

Danny Phantom x DCU

The Health and Wellbeing of Hybrid Entities by Faeriekit Rated T | Gen | Graphic Depictions of Violence Danny Fenton & Justice League 17 chapters | 25,604 words | Incomplete Adrift in an unknown space, his transportation lost, his body a wreck, and only half-conscious, Danny has to find himself somewhere safe to recover. Now, if only he can convince the locals to leave him alone while he does...

those who serve. by aryelee Rated T | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Danny Fenton & Alfred Pennyworth, Tim Drake & Danny Fenton, Danny Fenton & Bruce Wayne, Danny Fenton & Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain & Danny Fenton 6 chapters | 49,024 words | Incomplete Running away from Amity Park—from his entire dimension—Danny takes refuge in the streets of Gotham. It's hard, suddenly being a homeless teenager in such a crime-ridden city, but it's better than dying a second time. Enter Alfred Pennyworth, a kind old man who works as a butler and, for some reason, has decided to befriend Danny. His future is still up in the air, but he's hopeful that things will work out. After all, Alfred isn't getting any younger and someone needs to help him with his butler duties. Danny's just the right person for the job. Or: Alfred Pennyworth sees a homeless teen who looks like he'd fit right into the Wayne family and decides to take matters into his own hands. It's not like he's just going to leave this very sad, possibly meta teenager alone when there's more than enough space in the Manor to house one more child in need.

Throwdown Therapy by gamma_radio Rated T | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Danny Fenton & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne 12 chapters | 30,715 words | Complete Danny hears about a suspicious character lurking around Gotham and decides to befriend him. Jason has no thoughts on the matter — mostly, he has a lot of empty-head green-tinged rage on the matter. This is less of a roadblock than one might expect. Danny thinks he might even be able to help the guy, if he can form enough of a relationship to bring up sensitive topics like "you have the ghostly equivalent of lead poisoning or maybe rabies, we aren't quite sure".

Professor Layton

Breaking News: 12-Year-Old Kidnaps Himself in an Effort to Make Local Professor Attend High School Reunion by DawnCloud Rated G | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Hershel Layton & Randall Ascot & Henry Ledore & Angela Ledore, Hershel Layton & Clark Triton, Emmy Altava & Luke Triton, Hershel Layton & Luke Triton One-Shot | 19,081 words | Complete Hershel Layton, feeling rather out of place, made his excuses and left Monte d'Or as quickly as possible, with little to no intention of returning. Unfortunately for him, his apprentice had other plans.

In your rearview mirror by MagicWhiskers_29 Rated G | Gen | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Aurora & Flora Reinhold, Hershel Layton & Flora Reinhold, Flora Reinhold & Luke Triton, Emmy Altava & Flora Reinhold, Flora Reinhold & Claire, Don Paolo & Flora Reinhold "And... Not at all robots die when they're supposed to, right?" softly, she responded. ~ Having the spirit of a deceased Azran golem show up in her tower was one way to make it less lonely for Flora...

Pokémon

Goodknight, Sweet Prince by EmeraldSands Rated T | M/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Tracey Sketchit/Gary Oak One-Shot | 3,149 words | Complete Gary, a loyal knight, is injured while protecting his prince from a pair of dangerous bug-types. Tracey does his best to help his knight--it's the least he can do.

Stun Spore Detour: The Threequel by EmeraldSands Rated G | M/M | No Archive Warnings Apply Tracey Sketchit/Gary Oak One-Shot | 2,200 words | Complete On a trip to Kalos, Tracey gets hit with a stun spore... again. It's up to Gary to find a cure.

Linked Universe

The Wondrous Sword of Legend by ImperialKatwala & PolynomialPandemic Rated T | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Hyrule & Legend, Four & Hyrule & Legend & Sky & Time & Twilight & Warriors & Wild & Wind 21 chapters | 59,581 words | Complete “Well,” the boy said to it as the sun dipped closer to the trees, “your hero didn't show up yet, but I bet they're coming! I bet they're real nice, too. You’re probably going to save the world together.” He was borrowing it. He was borrowing the Sword of Legend, and… what, checking in to see if it was needed? Waiting for a hero to come for it? It wasn’t sure what to think. It wasn’t supposed to think about its wielders. But it found itself looking forward to the stories, keeping an eye out while the boy slept, memorizing as much of the information he gave it as it could. Its job was to protect the innocent, after all. Or: Hyrule finds a sword. The sword has opinions about this.

Warriors says by Zarvasace Rated G | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Hyrule & Warriors One-Shot | 1,635 words | Complete Hyrule covered his face, feeling it burn in shame. "It's fine, they're just old. It'll be a while until they're entirely unusable." He heard Warriors exhale, then stand up again. Warriors took Hyrule's hands and held them up to try and sign into them again. Hyrule did his best to focus.

Other Assorted Fandoms

An Arm and a Leg by AzuraJae Hi-Fi RUSH Rated G | F/F, Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Chai & Peppermint, Chai & Korsica, Chai & Macaron, Chai & CNMN, Chai & 808, Peppermint/Korsica One-Shot | 6,004 words | Complete "That hurt. Like really hurt." Chai was looking down at his leg in disbelief. "Are you okay?" Peppermint asked again, now seriously worried once more. “Ow, ow… It’s fine, I’ll just walk it off,” Chai managed to say, voice strained with pain. A moment later, there was another crash as Chai fell right back into the pile of debris. “Okay, you know what, nevermind… I think I’m just gonna… lie down.” Peppermint narrowed her eyes, sending off a command to 808 to give her a reading on Chai’s vitals and see what’s wrong. His heart seemed fine, though his stress levels seemed quite high. It wasn’t until Peppermint saw the scans for his leg did she finally understand what was wrong. “Your leg’s… broken, Chai,” she said, unable to believe what she was saying.

Art Exercise by cucumbet Rhythm Doctor Rated G | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Maximo "Lucky" Jonronero & Lucia Moon One-Shot | 3,327 words | Complete A few nights into his stay, Lucky is having a particularly rough time. He can't get himself out of his own shoulder, but you can always trust Lucia to do it for you. Just, maybe in the most Lucia-way possible.

I Can't Accept All This by MeaslyFurball Sonic the Hedgehog Rated G | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply E-123 Omega & Sonic the Hedgehog One-Shot | 4.869 words | Complete It was all fun and games until the roof collapsed. Sonic finds himself buried alive with the one Badnik who doesn’t want him dead. . . . . . maybe.

Peering into Shadows by Menolly5600 Kingdom Hearts Rated T | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Donald Duck & Goofy & Sora One-Shot | 6,825 words | Complete Sora, Donald and Goofy learn why its maybe not a good idea to play with Drive Forms too often.

Perfectly Reliable by chantolove Fallen London, Mask of the Rose Rated T | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Mr. Pages & Griz Smith & Player One-Shot | 6,292 words | Complete The first thing a new citizen of the Neath gets accustomed to is the daily occurrences of impossible phenomena. The second thing they get accustomed to is said impossible phenomena mixing with ordinary, daily occurrences and inconveniences. Relatedly, you are beginning to suspect that something might be up with your boss.

Things We Don’t Say Aloud by TheGoliathBeetle Hetalia Rated G | M/M | No Archive Warnings Apply China/India One-Shot | 1,830 words | Complete “Don’t.” Kabir fights down something panicky in his heart and reaches out, a hand on Yao’s thigh. “Don’t say such things. Don’t invite such rotten luck. What will I do without you on my doorstep?” “My country will live on without me. There’ll be a new personification.” OR, They are old countries. Sometimes they get tired.

Trial and Error by ApatheticRobots Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Rated T | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply Casey Jones & Leonardo, Donatello & Casey Jones & Leonardo & Michelangelo & April O'Neil & Raphael, Donatello & Leonardo & Michelangelo & Raphael, Leonardo & Splinter, Leonardo & Leonardo 21 chapters | 104,123 words | Complete The world ends. The Krang win. Leo failed. It was supposed to be on Casey's shoulders (and his shoulders alone) to go back and make sure the invasion never happened in the first place, but apparently his student had a little more inherited stubbornness than he'd thought. (Leo ends up in the past. This changes some things.)

[freelancefandomcollector]

Just finished the trilogy. I’m kinda crying inside rn, so I’m gonna rank each case and game on a scale of 1-10, kept as spoiler-free as possible

Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney

The first Turnabout: 9/10 - A great start to a great series. You get to know who you’re playing as, and the basics of the game, without it being too difficult

Turnabout Sisters: 8/10 - This series wouldn’t be the same without this case, as it introduces Maya, Edgeworth, and Gumshoe, who are all favourites of mine. As well, it lets you know what kind of treat you’ll be in for with the rest of these games

Turnabout Samurai: 7/10 - Certainly a good case, but not as memorable as certain other cases. Still a fun ride, and I couldn’t bear to give it a low rating

Turnabout Goodbyes: 10/10 - This case is filled with too much content to give less than a 10/10. Not even a point deduction for MvK, because he’s so fun to hate imo.

Rise from the Ashes: 9/10 - Thought the game was over, then this hit me. An amazing case, but a point deducted because it’s kinda tedious to get through, and I can never look at the Blue Badger the same again

Overall, I give this game a 8.6/10

Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney: Justice for All

The lost turnabout: 7/10 - It was a good start-up, if not as good as the first game’s. Overall, a solid case

Reunion and turnabout: 8/10 - Mostly because of Pearl. She’s an adorable character, and I love her. The case itself was pretty good, and took it in a different direction from what I expected.

Turnabout Big Top: 5/10 - Kind of boring. Not a bad case by any means, just not as Fabulous as other cases in the series, and the twist was kind of a stretch

Farewell, my Turnabout: 10/10 - A lovely case. A lot of things happened, even if it was just 2 days worth of trials. Certainly a good way to end the game, and much less tedious than Rise from the Ashes

Overall, I give this game a 7.5/10

Phoenix Wright, Ace attorney: Trials and Tribulations

Turnabout Memories: 7/10 - Loving Feenie. It was fun to get to play as someone who wasn’t Phoenix Wright.

The stolen turnabout: 9/10 - Ron DeLite was a proper delight! Definitely my favourite defendant out of all the games. Luke Atmey, despite his awful name, was also pretty funny.

Recipe for turnabout: 6/10 - Didn’t expect to see Maggey again, but it was a fun treat, if not as memorable as other cases

Turnabout beginnings: 8/10 - Seeing Mia’s first trial was fun, especially getting to see Miles and his baby face. The whole thing was one unexpected twist after another

Bridge to the turnabout: 10/10 - Amazing way to end this series. The amount of story they managed to pack into two days of trials still manages to impress me, and I was on edge through majority of the trial

Overall, I give this game a 8/10

This trilogy overall gets a 10/10. I loved it so much, and I can’t wait to watch my mom play it

[probablygayattorneys]

So, according to my text log, today marks my third Ace Attorney-versary (well, of rediscovering it, unfortunately we'll never know exactly when I originally got into it). Hard to believe that in just three years, I've played 22 puzzle games (and am in the middle of two more), made friends, got back into sharing my writing and have posted 31 fanfics for a total of 326818 words publicly (and that's not even counting my trio of secret fics that I published anonymously, or the ones I'm still working on), made a semi-successful blog dedicated to puzzle games of the early aughts (I'm sitting at about 400 followers, which is not nothing!), moved (twice!), watched my nuclear family start to fall apart (my mom’s receipt for the divorce lawyer’s retainer is on the fridge, being held up by a magnet of the attorney’s badge), even gotten a tattoo (and am in the processing of working with someone to design a second one), and got semi-engaged and my temporary engagement ring (unfortunately my man has the AUDACITY to live on the other side of the country so I have a different ring than the one he'll actually propose with to signify that I am officially off the market) is even based on Wrightworth colors.

I'm not going to lie and pretend all of the games were incredible feats of the genre (they weren't) or that I've had the best time (in fact, the lowest lows of my mental health have been in the past three years), or that everyone I've met has been so wonderful and welcoming (you asshole anons and certain characters know who you are) but considering that I didn't plan any of this, I basically just stumbled into owning a switch and then @vaptainhammer, knowing that I used to love Ace Attorney, bought me the switch port of the originally trilogy and shoved me down the rabbit hole in the process, I'm grateful I had the experience. Here's to Phoenix, to the Laytons, to Ashley and Kyle, and to Vivian, Abby, Zieg, Ash, everyone else that Sissel dragged in, and of course, my love, my first and my last, my alpha and my omega, my number one puzzle assistant, my personal google, the one who started all of this is the first place and has stood by my side through all the ups and downs that life has thrown at me over the past three years, Blayne. I love you so much, forever, and I can't wait until we're able to bring the government into our relationship and I can start the rest of my life as your hersband, Mx. Vaptainhammer.

Can't promise I'll be helming this blog for another three years, but thank you to everyone who had climbed aboard at any point, and welcome to everyone who will, I hope you've enjoyed the thoughtless shitposts and the thoughtful and deeply cared about edits and meta posts, and are ready for more because I've got a full queue that grows every day. I may not go down with this ship but for everything else, I've had the time of my life fighting (the Defiant) dragons with you.

[salamander-crimes]

tag game

got tagged by @missymistake :3c

Last song: uhmmmmm something by the paper chase . was off hide the kitchen knives i think. okay i checked spotify and it was where have those hands been? but im also using this as an opportunity to plug my first instinct which was the common cold (the epidemic) bc i've been listening to it a lot lately and it's good

Favorite color: i am a very big blue-green fan, especially bright ones. like cyan but more green. turquoise? basically any of the colors sanitized ink can be in splatoon.

Currently watching: da dungeon meshi anime. my brother's been trying to get me to watch frieren so maybe i'll start that too

Sweet/savory/spicy: spicy

Relationship status: i never needed bitches (single and aroace)

Current obsession: Ace Attorney, I started playing through all the games and it's pretty much all I've done for two weeks. it's so good. currently on dual destinies

Last thing you googled: how to change the SD card in a 3DS. i bought a bigger one so I could install all the ace attorney games....

ermmm @nuclei and @castadnova hi 👋

[silverjojo08]

On video games and writing and Fire Emblem Engage

Mainly just me musing about how I don't think the story is bad. Sorry for being annoying tbh. This is meant for my personal circle of mutuals, but maybe other people can get something out of it. Please be nice to me; I am not a professional reviewer and don't claim to be writing anything objective or anything lol. I'm also not really editing heavily for grammar or anything (if anything I try to keep a bit of order structurally but I love a comma splice idk lol).

This piece has gone through many versions in my head as I try to nail down exactly what puzzles me about the perception of the writing as being "bad".

Initially I think I was going to do a full plot breakdown and point out how logically every moment fits together and how foreshadowing + late reveals enhances certain previous moments. As I write this down, I don't think that I'll be doing that here. I almost considered a deep dive into the themes of motherhood and found family presented in the game. Not sure I'm going to do that either. At one point I also considered fully getting into common complaints (particularly some brought up from one of my folks who I deeply respect, Mr. Forte himself), but also I don't think I'll really do that.

So, what am I writing here? Maybe it's a mix of all of the above. Maybe it is none of the above. I don't really know. But I do want to talk about how this game just really vibes for me; and while I don't intend on necessarily changing anyone's mind, I want to at least provide some perspective on why I personally enjoy it so that others can understand my perspective at the very least.

Perhaps I will succeed in that. Perhaps I will fail. Let's find out together. (Again I'm doing like very minimal editing. Please excuse grammatical errors/typos. If anything is unclear, ask and I'll try to clarify. But I'm bad at tumblr so either tweet at me or send it through an ask please.)

Prologue: Who? What? Why?

To start, I'm in my early 30s. The video game that made me love video games was Super Mario RPG, and my earliest gaming memories include me watching my dad beat up the robot evil Santa at the end (also him playing some NBA game on SNES). FE games I have played start to finish: 8 (Ephraim), 11, 12, 13, 14 (all 3), 15, 16 (all routes), and 17. FE games I have played a bit of but didn't finish for various reasons (mainly I got distracted and forgor 💀): 1, 4, 5, 7, and 9. None of this actually matters that much, but maybe there's a generational and/or fandom divide of some sort and this provides useful context.

I am not a writer by trade nor hobby. Writing is actually one of my least favorite things to do (this is potentially related to OCD brain "just right" stuff), to the point where I chose my college major specifically based on which had the least amount of classes that I could actually complete without having to write essays. I am a math person. I do like consuming and dissecting written fiction though.

This piece is meant to be mostly explanatory. I want to give my perspective as best I can. I decided other writing styles would be too combative for what amounts to something we're consume for enjoyment. I just want to pass on some understanding of how I feel.

I think the best way to do this is generally avoid spoilers, but I will include a specifically marked section where I discuss all spoilery things that come to mind (anything that I intend to come back to in this spoiler section will be marked with a *). Any non-FE games mentioned will not be spoiled beyond kind of a general "a reveal happened in a way that bugged me" type of stuff, if even that is a concern here's a list of the games vaguely mentioned so you can crtl+f: Tales of Zestiria, AI The Somnium Files: Nirvana Initiative, Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies. It all happens within two paragraphs, so you can just skip them if needed.

(Also I may accidentally use he/him pronouns for Alear because M Alear was the one I played with first, but I do generally think of FE avatars as the same being regardless of gender and try to use they/them when speaking to things both versions experience, which is like everything besides the hair colors being flipped and class options?)

Chapter I: What Is "Bad Writing" To Me?

Ok if you're reading this I assume you are at least in high school, and for that reason I'm not going to walk anyone through that level of analysis. In no way is this meant to be a lecture and I'm not trying to give any particularly deep literary analysis. That feels kind of like a pretentious thing to do in this situation.

So, bad writing? To me the biggest thing I consider bad writing is when an idea is not communicated well. This could be contradictory messaging, poor delivery, puzzling execution, etc. Obviously this can happen to various degrees of "bad", but I will not consider a story to have bad writing unless the writing breaks the experience in some way.

A broken experience is not the same to me as a negative one. To me a negative experience is just a matter of taste in the end and not a matter of "bad writing". Boring writing is not the same as bad writing even if it makes the experience painful. A broken experience has to be bad to the point where you just do not understand what they were attempting at all.

One game that comes to mind on this is Tales of Zestiria. I loved the characters in that game, and the main story itself is largely logical. But it was written so messily that there's a point where it becomes truly incoherent. To this day I have no idea what was going on with Dezel and Rose's personal histories despite a major climax of that game being built around the moment things get revealed for them. Again, it was overall a fun game, but it was definitely one I would claim had some bad writing.

Another situation that comes to mind that can be a spark for bad writing is when a reveal sours previous experiences. Misleading an audience can work really well in some ways. Ace Attorney 5 (Dual Destinies) has a reveal that has made me not want to replay it at all, but I don't believe the reveal is poorly done. Conversely, Somnium Files 2 (Nirvana Initiative) had one reveal that invalidates a significant part of the playing experience in a way that's hard to describe without going any further, but I think playing with audience expectations can only go so far until you make the audience feel like you've stolen part of the joy of the playing experience by severing an emotional connection.

I've been trying to describe this all in objective terms, but obviously it is very subjective. It's totally a "I know it when I see it" thing in the end. This section might be pointless. I don't know.

(There were too many blocks of text so look at Alfred; he's so nice and funny and good. I will give him the pact ring every time I play as M Alear lol.)

Chapter II: What about Fire Emblem Engage?

I guess this is kind of my point. I don't understand how any of this is applicable to it. The plot is fairly simple especially to start. You go from point A to point B with plenty of easy to follow narrative. Characters behave in logical and understandable ways. There's nothing functionally "wrong" with the story.

I think there are some pacing issues with the last stretch of chapters in that things happen too quickly for the player to properly respond even though the concepts are cool*. There's a lot of infodumps in these last chapters too that feel a little misplaced*. I agree that the tea supports (and shared gimmicks in general among certain groups of characters) are a bit overwhelming to unlock in succession. The DLC sucks* and only small parts of it truly add to the main story's narrative. There's the usual Fire Emblem incest and pedophilia grossness trying to peek its head through*. It's not a perfect game by any means.

I think I need to break up overall story discussion and character usage discussion, so I'm going to do that right now. If you've read to this point you generally get my point maybe on why the writing works fine for me and can stop here if you don't want a full peek into the deepest and most illogical recesses of my mind?

If you're not stopping here, together we ride or something idk did the title for this song come from Smash? Whatever.

Chapter III: The Story

***SPOILER WARNING, SKIP TO THE NEXT PART IF YOU WANT TO AVOID SPOILERS***

Alright so I lied when I said I wouldn't go into this fully dissecting the plot or other people's criticisms. I'll do that a little bit here.

The biggest moment of "controversy" I think that happens early on is the loss of Lumera. What I've seen is that many people feel it didn't land well with them due to the game having not built up the relationship all that well. And I intellectually get that perspective. If a story beat doesn't land well to you then I can't tell anyone they're wrong for feeling a particular way about things. But while I understand people may feel this way, I truly do not understand that viewpoint. That we don't know Lumera is kind of the point. Alear also doesn't know her well at that moment. You're supposed to feel like it came too suddenly and is weird for it. The full gravity of the moment is not clear until later on in the game, and I think it was executed very well because the entire game revolves around this specific concept of chosen motherhood and family.

But maybe I'm moving too quickly. Backing up a bit, another criticism of this early game situation is I've seen people say they don't "have reason to care" how Alear is feeling this early on. And like, I truly don't know how to help you with that. When I start a game I generally don't start at 0 waiting for the game to make me care about the main character. I am already on their side and hoping for the best for them? I went in mainly thinking Alear looked goofy but like a nice kid who deserved nice things and the game did build well on it for me.

I think there are some questions on the nature of the emblems and the rings that go somewhat unanswered. There's a lack of clarity on how the rings function, and how stealing the rings after winning a battle works. Given that we see them levitate at numerous times, I suspect that is mostly the answer. But I do understand if that's a point of contention for some since it's not directly clarified.

The emblems are similarly somewhat explained as kind of heroic essence put to form, which genuinely is enough of an answer to me. But I do understand some may find that lacking. There are also many issues with the writing of the emblems which I sympathize with especially as a comic book fan who hates it when my faves are misrepresented in other titles. That's a genuine flaw that could have been corrected by having people working on the script who cared more about accuracy.

The pacing absolutely becomes an issue in the later chapters of the game. The Zephia and Griss death scene is extremely touching and well-written, but to have a scene that long and that complex in that moment of the game is very awkward. It would have been better suited as a Memory Prism type of bonus scene like FE15 had (for several characters there were scenes that added context but did not exactly fit in the main story such as a flashback discussion with Emperor Rudolf). It is necessary to understand the characters, but there's not a truly comfortable place to put it that doesn't seem insane especially given the length. This deeply ties into how I feel about the DLC as well, which is that Good!Zephia/Zelestia gives crucial insight to the effects of positive nurturing and actively choosing to build bonds, which is perhaps the strongest and most important theme of the game. Every instance of chosen family in this game is framed and shown to be a truly critical event for the individuals, as are the instances of chosen neglect. The usage and execution of this theme to me was extremely powerful in execution and just worked without feeling too cringe or forced. It's good stuff. I love love love what they did here, and I say this as a person who has never wanted to be a mother of any sort.

To go on a bit more about this: Griss (and by extension Gregory, but focusing on Griss here for simplicity) and Alear are such strong reflections of one another. There's some obvious aspects like how Griss is visually edgy and Alear is visually bright, Griss is rude and confident while Alear is kind and doubtful, etc. But the strongest comparisons and contrasts between them involve their mothers, and I think it's just incredibly well done. Comparisons include both of them get their sense of fashion from their moms, get their unit classing from their moms, somewhat blindly follow the words of their moms, had terrible upbringings and cling to their moms as their first emotional support, etc. But the contrasts? Oh baby. Zephia adopts Griss because he's a standout while Lumera adopts Alear because they're a failure (by Sombron's measure, not literally). Griss spends years by Zephia's side learning from her while Alear has to mostly guess at what Lumera had planned for them. And perhaps most starkingly: Griss gets to die alongside Zephia while Alear and Lumera are always mourning one another. Griss is such an incredibly well done rival character. It's no wonder he's the one who gets the special cutscene where he reveals the truth to Alear. Forever my GOAT!

Sadly though it's time to switch gears and talk about the DLC: it truly sucks. I said it on twitter after beating it, but I really think that they messed up on anticipating what would be a compelling scenario for the players to play through while also coaxing themselves into a snafu regarding spoilers. There's some good stuff there, but it's almost directly undercut by necessitating that it can be played early in a playthrough before the player has gotten to the revelations about Alear's biological parentage.

The DLC does attempt to carry over the themes of the main game, but without being able to openly acknowledge that these are some of the last of Alear's siblings (even if not by blood exactly) it becomes hollow. The only real payoff on the theming is the Nel and Veyle support chain where even if they aren't sisters in the traditional sense, Veyle is desperate for that kinship as she is so young and has spent so much time alone. It's very touching and something that could have been touched on with Alear as well if only the writers weren't forced to write a detached arc to avoid spoilers.

Yes this is probably where I should get into the alt Alear being the "twin" of the main one. They needed to either go all in with that and have Alear confirmed as sort of a multiversal set of twins or back up off it and confirm that they're only narrative parallels because doing literally all of this and then having Nel have feelings for the other Alear is gross. They did so well avoiding weirdness with Veyle in the main game, and then completely blew it in regards to Nel. It makes no sense you can romantically S support her and invalidates all the themes about family presented to that point if characters who literally share a father and share similar traumas don't find healthy kinship with one another.

But beyond all that, we don't really get to see enough of Nel and "Nil" to be convinced by their dedication to one another especially in comparison to other familial relationships like between the recruitable royals, Four Hounds, and Four Winds. It feels like things are just happening to happen without feeling the gravity of terror that we are told Sombron caused them. Again, the obvious parallel to Alear being forced to fight Veyle purely due to their father's machinations isn't allowed to be explored due to the spoilers thing. Subtlety can be a structurally clever thing, but this doesn't even feel like the DLC writers were aware of that basic fact. This is the only aspect of the whole game that I feel truly misses the mark for me. It feels like a bland copycat of the main game written by someone who only skimmed a wiki article of the main story. I truly really believe they would have been better served making it a proper postgame arc because then maybe the emotional connections could have been fully explored.

I also almost feel as though they'd have been better served writing a story set in the past around red Alear. I understand that would have made it difficult to have playable units from the DLC in the main campaign, but I would have gladly missed out on them if that meant adding to the main universe instead of mostly meaning nothing in the end besides an edgy boy (and I genuinely like Rafal, he's funny) realizing he isn't as edgy as he thought he was.

Back to the main game though. Alear becoming Corrupted and begging their sister to not give up was extremely cool and dangerous and insane in a GOOD way (though again, the cutscenes were somewhat long but long for the sake of the main characters is different than long for side villains). Then you play the actual chapter and nothing truly significant is happening that makes the experience feel noteworthy. I think the design and gameplay are more of a problem with this than the specifics of the writing itself, but both of those generally work to the benefit of storytelling in this game so to have an obviously contradictory moment like that undercuts the drama of the scenario. It's a great idea done in kind of a "just ok" way. Would have been better off omitting that chapter entirely and just jumping to the emblem-izing of Alear immediately. Maybe the writers were just too ambitious with the idea of using the Corrupted for a good reason, and couldn't bear to cut it out? I don't dislike indulgent writing, but I dislike when I can tell the writers are just doing something because they thought it was cool and no one felt like being the one to say "ok this doesn't quite fit".

Another gameplay and storytelling problem is the final boss fight. Bringing back the other final bosses as evil emblems was brilliant, but to not bring them back as recognizable models, not give them their portraits, and not give them their voice lines (and correct me if I'm wrong, but they all have voice actors from their own games or Heroes) made it difficult to identify who was who without looking up their classes online. That really undercut most of the drama in them being used in that battle. I understand this may have all added costs to the game that they maybe didn't want to pay, but that lack of detail made a very cool inclusion feel kind of middling.

And the boss himself? Sombron is actually an interesting dude to me. But again, all his backstory and evil plans probably should have been dumped in a monologue separate from the final battle. I think this is yet another case, similar to the Zephia and Griss scene, that would have worked better as a memory prism than as just a character telling the audience directly in what sort of feels like an inappropriately detailed explanation. I appreciate that they did not force this into being another story centered around multiversal crossovers in a media landscape that is currently overwhelmed by such stories, especially if the "Zero Emblem" hook has no intention of being followed up on. Though arguably that's yet another thing the DLC needlessly complicated. Is there just an infinite number of Sombrons looking for an infinite number of Zero Emblems? Even more proof that the DLC should not have happened as it did.

Last thing worth addressing in detail is the pedophilia that has been sadly very prevalent in the series and arguably emboldened by the introduction of the S support system. Even if one wants to disregard the internal age data, characters like Anna, Jean, and Hortensia should not have been romanceable in any language. I thank the English localization team for scrubbing out most of this and making them as platonic as possible.

Ok I think that's basically everything about the plot I can think of right now to address directly. Solm royals could have gotten more, but whatever. I thought they were fine as the hyper-competent Batman-like country that's like 5 steps ahead of everyone. I don't have any other things to speak about on the main story events.

*** THE SPOILERS ARE DONE, CONTINUE READING HERE ***

(Your reward for reading all those paragraphs is a nice picture of my daughter Veyle, who is precious and good. I was so worried they would be weird about her and barefeet aside they thankfully were not.)

Chapter IV: The Other Characters

There's a couple of obvious social groups of characters who have largely overlapping gimmicks. Tea time enthusiasts (Celine, Louis, Jean), aesthetic obsessives (Goldmary, Rosado, Hortensia), gym rats (Alfred, Etie, Boucheron sort of). Firene has perhaps the biggest problem of having so many gimmicks done so close together. There is still a lot of depth in those supports still (notably in the A levels after many might have given up, such as Alfred-Etie, Alfred-Celine, Celine-Alear, etc). I don't really have a defense for this, but I do understand why especially early on it would cause people to write off the cast of the game. It didn't bother me much maybe because I benched everyone but Alfred and Louis right away (I needed to keep Clanne and Framme around, they're really funny lol).

But overall I didn't mind any of the characters for their gimmicks besides Seadall (his disordered eating being treated as a joke was just extremely offputting and it was really 50/50 on whether a support might focus on it) and Goldmary (she is just an asshole and to me it wasn't funny, not every joke will land for everyone I suppose).

The cast felt extremely likeable and well-rounded. I will sound like a broken record here, but again they really reminded me of what I enjoyed about the FE8 cast. Just pretty much all likeable and good characters.

Chapter V: Everything Else

Here's like everything else that comes to mind but I don't have enough in my brain to properly write sentences on them and I kind of want to be done with this lmao:

Yes, I think it's a little silly how some characters manage to get away without the game directly stating how. Alear and co are nice and not brutal so you can assume they allowed the escape, but it's still weird at times. Poorly choreographed.

I will never unironically use the term "ludonarrative" (no shade if you do, but it's not me). However the introduction of the Lucina ring bringing back hope to the crew while being a supportive ring for gameplay purposes and all is just really special stuff. It's good. Similarly, the ring you get at the end of chapter 17 is an amazing moment.

I'm not particularly bothered by the rings being former characters. I don't feel they were used poorly or anything. They're wise old heroes helping the new gen, and they serve that purpose well. Only Marth has a bit more to him than that due to his history with Alear, and I think it plays out well without being reliant on prior knowledge. Again very sorry to Eirika fans, I've seen the essays there on the inaccuracies and you're all valid.

The time travel is very clean and properly defined imo. Much more limited than in Three Houses in-universe which is good, however the best explanation for the rewinds will continue to be Mila's Turnwheel (in that there is no time travel, just some premonitions that allow the characters to evade danger).

I love Pandreo and Zelkov so much. Oh my god. They're so funny and just good men. Excellent dudes. Amber, Rosado, YUNAKA. The cast is just lovely. I love them.

Sommie is so cute for real. Just brilliant idea to include a nice pet for your home base. If anything, they should have given it more wigs for the main royals or some of the emblems. Also Sommie is totally the Zero Emblem.

Chapter VI: Conclusion

Let me get TMI here. I do understand that personally I experience and perceive emotions in an unusual way compared to most people. I've not been diagnosed with anything specific to that level of wiring (just OCD and anxiety), and as far as I feel it doesn't seem necessary. But it is what it is, and I am who I am. Maybe all of this is pointless to write and it truly is just a matter of taste and personal emotional expectations. I don't know. I just know I liked the game, and what worked on me really worked. Hope this was fun to read even if it doesn't give any particular insight.

I did not intend to compare any other FEs in this piece mainly because it's not about them. Legit sorry if I inadvertently cause some sort of discourse.

tl;dr It's Peak Fiction™

[genderdotcom]

people i want to get to know better tag meme

tagged by @collegeoflore tyyyy!!!!!

idk who wants to do this though so just!! assume i tagged you if u want to do it and assume i didnt tag u if u dont want to do it sfghgh

last song?

johanna frm the sweeney todd 2023 broadway cast album

favorite color?

dark red ^^

currently watching?

i rly dont watch shows or movies much... ive been trying to watch nge but i cant get through even a single episode in one sitting 😔

last movie?

i dont knowwwwww i THINK the last movie i watched in cinemas was a haunting in venice w my family (it was good! i liked it) but if ive watched any movies at home since then i genuinely cant remember

currently reading?

a couple of things! getting to the end of dykes to watch out for, still in the middle of house of leaves, and ive started rereading six of crows but in croatian because i thought the best way to build up my reading ability again would be to read young adult books and stuff like that

sweet/spicy/savory?

all 3 really but i generally have a limit to how much sweet or spicy stuff i can have, so i guess savoury

relationship status?

single (:

current interests?

bg3... ace attorney... ive been playing pwotr a bit... but im moving across the country in a week so i havent really had time to play stuff/draw/write

last thing you googled?

"can you destroy the steel watch after killing gortash" i mean you CAN but the gondians get killed

selfie or another pic you took?

not a selfie but me w my cat simba :3

[scaredybot]

Yes Shinobi was a pain! Stupid enemy killing life drain mechanic! ASUDHSJAJA. The characters, story, and music carry that game

Also I finished a playthrough of the first Sakura Wars game. I'm also playing Shenmue right now. And once that's done I'm starting Resonance Of Fate!

Prior to PXZ2, I had played Fire Emblem: Awakening, and the Ace Attorney Triology and Investigations duology.

In my opinion, this is a better crossover than Smash Ultimate. In Project X Zone 2, the characters actually INTERACT!

I also love how many games are confirmed to take place in the same universe!

YES! THIS!

that’s a lot of games to play through lol (I still need to get on some of these.)

I agree with the pxz2 being a better crossover compared to ssbu (in terms of character interaction.)

like, I didn’t know anything about chrom or lucina before playing pxz2 (I did play ssbu, but wasn’t really interested in them.)

pxz2 made me realize they are indeed unique characters! So I watched a playthrough of fire emblem awakening to get a better understanding of them (maybe I’ll play it one day.)

I sort of love/hate the whole “some games take place in the same universe.” The hate just comes down to me looking at certain games and going “Um ACkTually ThAt DoESn’t MaKe SENse BecAUsE xyz...” I completely understand that it’s more convenient this way and that I shouldn’t be looking into it so deeply lol.

I still think the yakuza and ace attorney thing was genius.

p.s. hope I wasn’t talking your ear off too much lmao

[helenawa-art]

i started playing ace attorney!! its literally so much fun my mother was with me while I played through the mia case and she got really into it too she's better at figuring out the evidence than I am lol

OMG YAYYYYY I'm glad you're liking it!!!! I can't wait for you to see other cases! I didn't play it but I watched all the gameplays and I went obsessed with AA a few years ago EHEHDH 🤭🤭🤭

[my-past-disgusts-me]

Your turn to be asked ship edition

Yttd: what is your opinion on Naosara, Q-Kai, Ransara, KeijiAlice and Naoshin?

Ace attorney: what do you think about Wrightworth, Franmaya, Phoenix and Iris, Godot and Mia?

Great ace attorney: you already asked me nearly all major ships, so I want to ask about the same thus Asoryuu, Susahao, Susagina and Homumiko. (Also maybe Hosonaga and cure from whatever allergy he has, guy should stop coughing up blood)

Alright! Starting with YTTD ships we have

Q-Kai: I love these guys together. This is one of those ships where as I was watching a playthrough I thought “oh. Oh they are in love I think. Oh these bitches gay.” Q-taro’s actions in ch. 2 are so tragic yaoi it’s amazing, how do you do it man. I think, in a non-death game universe, they would have a very compelling slowburn romance where they grow to respect each other unconditionally and that, I think, is romance. Idk I’m aro.

Naosara: GUH. TRAGEDY. SORROW. Two girls supporting each other through their trauma. I think Sara would become a muse for Nao. I think they’d have a tumultuous but ultimately healthy relationship. I think these two deserve each other’s support. I think they should kiss and cuddle and watch shitty movies together. 10/10.

KeijiAlice: I don’t have strong feelings either way. I think they could make each other happy. Good for them.

Naoshin: it’s cute but I think they’re better as besties.

Ransara: This one I dislike. It feels weird to me. It’s compelling in a “depths of human depravity” kind of way but also it’s far too real to me. Not a fan but I see why people like it.

Now for Ace Attorney!

Franmaya: I love wlw so much tbh. I want them to be happy. No thoughts only girls in love

Wrightworth: what can I say on this that hasn’t already been said? Nothing. Moving on!

Godot/Mia: I haven’t played/watched the later games so I don’t know much but what I have seen of them is cute and I think they make a nice family tbh. No complaints here, Godot makes a pretty good big brother for Maya

Phoenix/Iris: another idk moment. Also Feeny is annoying sorry. I’m not a fan but also they really seemed to love each other which I respect. On Iris’s part. I can’t respect Feeny I’m sorry he’s such a little bitch /affectionate

And now for DGS :]

Okay so mayyyybe I just like dgs ships a lot. Maybe it’s maybelline.

Susahao: childhood friends to lovers 100K slowburn Susato transitions and Haori loves her the whole time. We love a failgirl who is tripping over herself because her friend looks so good in drag. We love a competent girl getting her girlfriend out of jail. We love women in general tbh. I think they are so cute and also Susato deserves all the girlfriends.

Susagina: Speaking of Susato deserving all the girlfriends, I really like Susagina. Neither of them are afraid to get their hands dirty, both of them are stubbornly supportive of their friends, both of them want justice and truth, they’d be great. Power couple honestly. They deserve the world. Love em to death

Asoryuu: these fuckers got me writing nonsexual omegaverse fanfiction wtf is wrong with them (me) anyways

Homumiko: I haven’t finished the games so I don’t know their whole history but I love me some middle aged man yaoi. Also Iris deserves extra dads since her first one. Y’know. Died or whatever. Also Sholmes needs someone reasonable to keep him from going off the rails and it can’t be Ryuu because he’s barely holding on himself. Classic Ace Attorney defense lawyer behavior.

And that’s all! Thanks for asking bestie (and also for telling me my asks weren’t open OOPS anyways)

[radyumi]

tagged by @noctilis !! ty ^__^

♡ last song: ノーテーマ by meddmia (メドミア) ! it's playing in the bg right now bc i listen to vocaloid 95% of the time

♡ favorite color: pink but black/white also bangs

♡ currently watching: newest season of ccs <3 oh what the art style has done to the male cast....

♡ last movie: kamikaze girls w/ @noctilis ehe

♡ currently reading: uhhh stupid uni stuff bc i'm forced to. i'm also reading X/1999 but i didn't know it never got finished until getting halfway through it ;;; other than that i also started reading the kuroshitsuji manga in the grand year of 2023 bc rewatching the anime broke something in my brain

♡ sweet/spicy/savory: sweet always

♡ relationship status: no celibacy bts gif here (taken)

♡ current obsession(s): EGL fashion................. i'm trying to be so normal about it but i'm very much Not. also playing ace attorney finally and it's so yaoi wow

♡ last thing i googled: 22000 yen to euro bc i love spending money and buying another dress (stayed strong and didn't <- the impressive willpower of a single girl)

♡ currently working on: uhhh 5 WIPs of unfinished art that i'll hopefully touch in the future again. also a personal website just for fun (kinda)

♡ tagging: ummm the girl reading this <3 ^__^ sorry i don't tag people that's too scary T__T

[kitchfit]

Year in Review: Games Part 1

This is a series I've been wanting to do for a while. Whenever I finish a piece of media (books, games, movies, comics, maybe art and music in the future) I jot in down in a doc so I can look back on them at the end of the year. I wanted to write my thoughts on them as I finished them, but since you have to start somewhere, I'll be writing simple reviews in retrospect. This is just for fun, but I welcome any feedback.

Pokemon Scarlet

This game released with some controversy. It was an unfinished glitchy mess with graphics still not up to the standards of the Nintendo Switch six years into its lifespan, but tbh this game was fun as hell to complete. I loved most of all the new designs and managed for the first time in my Pokemon career to actually complete the Dex. I usually get worn down on that pretty quick.

The characters were also much more engaging than the previous generation, especially my best boy Arven. The environments were super fun to explore and I got a new favorite little guy (Slither Wings my beloved). Here's hoping the next game has an actual sane development cycle and we get this amount of creativity in a higher degree of quality with better paid developers.

Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations

If you thought I only played games that came out this year, sorry to disappoint. I don't manage to pick up even half of the blockbusters that pop up annually, and go after older games way more often. That being said, I see why AA fans hold this game up so high. I played the first and second Phoenix Wright games last year (which I won't review since that was too long ago now) and this is a nice cap to the original Trilogy.

You get Phoenix's background as a dorky bisexual art student, Mia's first case as a defense attorney, and an honestly heartbreaking quest for revenge through Godot while never stooping to melodrama. (I love his theme it sounds like the Mother 3 Magypsies). Also unlike the first two games, there were zero "filler" cases. Each one was thoroughly engaging and moved the plot forward in a meaningful way. Though, I don't begrudge the earlier cases that fuck around a lot more.

Pokemon White 2

When the OG Black and White came out, I was in the "everything new is lame" stage of adolescence, so when the sequels came out I didn't even bother. Turns out I was the lame one for doing so! In hindsight, Pokemon seemed to reach something of a peak with Gen 5 in terms of graphics and gameplay, and would seek to experiment with new artstyles and gimmicks for the next (looks at watch) 11 years damn.

With the first Black and White, it focused on remodeling classic Pokemon designs and gameplay into something new and modern, and these games add back in most of those classic Mons. The plot is also very action-packed and engaging, and gives a satisfying epilogue for a lot of the characters from the first games. You get to see how the region has changed after 3 years and even get to explore some new parts of Unova, similar to how the Gen 2 games handled Kanto. I hope Gamefreak does something like this again in the future.

Kingdom Hearts: Re:Coded

Prepare for a deluge of this series, and not in any conceivable order. Kingdom Hearts took over my heart, mind, and body Xehanort style for the better half of the year. This title is known for a fun variety of gameplay and an absolute dogshit story. I wouldn't really agree. The game switches up its playstyle pretty frequently, including side-scrolling platforming, railshooting, and turn-based combat but for the most part its classic hack-and-slash 3D platforming that feels kind of grindy, but there's multiple unlockable difficulty sliders that you can use to switch it up if you get bored.

Storywise, there's not a lot for newcomers and if you want to play through all the games as one overarching narrative, I wouldn't blame you for skipping this one. However, if you're already a fan of Sora and Riku's relationship, this has quite a bit for someone to dig their teeth into. The world's are all recycled from KH1, making this one of the two games where you can actually explore Destiny Islands, but they all feel pretty downgraded. The endgame gave me a headache.

Kingdom Hearts

Our best boy's first big boot step into adventure. I watched all of the KH cutscenes for all of the games during a particularly dry season of lockdown, so this was my first foray into the original. The story genuinely holds up to a surprising degree, leaning into the Disney elements more than its Squaresoft side for probably the last time in the series. Its really good groundwork for Sora's introduction as a hero, I especially love the assertion towards the end that it is Sora's choice to help others that makes him worthy of the Keyblade and not destiny. Its a theme that would be both muddied and compounded upon later in the series in a pretty interesting way.

I was almost astonished at how in-depth all of the worlds are, especially Traverse Town. There are a lot more little Disney references and sidequests, like the 101 Dalmation quest, that help the worlds all feel a bit more lively. Also NPCs, which later in the series would become a rare gift. I fucked up on the combat. Did not learn how to do spell shortcuts until midway through KH2. Despite that, it was still fun to wack Heartless with my keyblades six different ways, and it makes me excited to replay it at some point.

Kingdom Hearts II

This is the big boy that every KH fan loves to absolute death. Chain of Memories had already started the series tradition of experimental storytelling, but the mainline sequel takes it to an fascinating and well-executed degree. For the first three hours you are forced into playing a new protagonist with zero context and near zero Disney shit. Vivi is there though and we love him for that. Later on we would see this prologue as the tragic conclusion of another entry in the series, but its initial presence here is jarring in a way you have to piece together throughout the rest of the main game. It would also introduce many of the more headache-inducing plot aspects that are fun to dissect but a pain to explain, such as Nobodies. I see them as ghosts, and no one can tell me otherwise. I wrote a whole absurdist retelling about it.

The worlds are more quantity than quality, I'll be real. About half of them are made up of 4 or 5 flat maps with nothing to do except grind Heartless encounters, (e.g. Mulan.) The other half are a bit meatier but could have benefited from more sidequests and such. You revisit quite a few from KH1 to see how they changed and that's always fun. There's a theme to each of the Disney worlds that add to the narrative, in this title mainly being romance and identity. The identity aspect leans toward the relationship between Sora and Roxas, two separate people who are also one person, while the romance theme hints towards the relationship with Sora and Kairi. Oddly enough, both themes also seem to work towards Sora's quest for Riku, who is in the midst of his own identity crisis while Sora desperately tries to find him. Huh. Interesting.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep

This is my favorite Kingdom Hearts game. This was one of the few I was able to play as a teenager and even after all these years I still adore this game to death. It works without knowing anything else about Kingdom Hearts. You don't need to know about Ansems or Nobodies or Time Travel; none of that shit. This is the story of three friends that get torn apart by their own ignorance and one bitter old man on his quest to change the world. Its one story split among three perspectives, and each character you play through the game with you understand the grander narrative. You understand why Aqua's best friend snapped at her, why Terra's little brother is so ready to die. You also get to hear Leonard Nemoy yell "KEYBLADE" in the same cutscene three different times.

I love this game so so much dammit. The combat has a fun collection system where you earn action commands and combine them to make better attacks and healing moves. The worlds in the latter half of the game are also really creative and fun to explore, though you get a limited area to move around in for each character. If you have played previous KH entries, there's a lot of references to make you point at the screen and go "THAS AXEL THAS MY BOY HE'S A LIL GUY HERE." Anyway I'll shut up. Play this game.

Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance

Never ask me to explain the plot of this game. They added Inception to Kingdom Hearts and also Time Travel. And the story is mostly told through unlockable backstory cutscenes including the premise. Yes, the introduction to this game's story is an unlockable. Despite this, the story is pretty effective. This is Riku's second time in the spotlight since Reverse/Rebirth, though the game is once again split between him and Sora. It dissects Riku's character arc in a similar way to Re:Coded, except uhh this one isn't a computer simulation, he is a Dream. Completely different. It asserts his desire to continue as Sora's protector, and realizing this it is him who ultimately triumph's over Angst Teen Xehanort, saves Sora and passes the Key Test. He's no longer on his Way to the Dawn. He's in the light. It's sweet.

The worlds in this game are based around vertical movement. There's a new Parkour mechanic that lets you wall-step-flip around basically everywhere, and to compensate this the worlds are Huge. Since they're dreams, that also means they're pretty empty of anything to really do or explore. They are pretty at least. There's also a pokemon mechanic where you collect lil guys. I did not realize this mechanic also determines Riku and Sora's stats until the final boss, which caught me off guard. I see why this is a lot of people's fave KH game of all time, but its a little too busy for me.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages

This is an odd one. I first played this game two years ago at college alongside Oracle of Seasons in my spare time. Eventually my phone-I MEAN MY AUTHENTIC GAME BOY COLOR- broke and I thought I lost my save data for both. Turns out I did not and finished through the last few dungeons. This game makes solid use of the time travel mechanic, which is a mix of Ocarina's time travel and Alttp's world jumping. It's fun to jump sporadically between 1000s of years and see the world in different eras. That rock? Used to be slightly over to the left. Would you look at that.

The dungeons had a larger focus on puzzles in comparison with Season's love for combat, which is probably why this is the more beloved twin. Some of the dungeons had me waddling back and forth for too long until I figured out what to do. You can link these games up to get bonus items like the Biggoron's Sword which is fun to complete. After beating both games, you get an extra final boss against Ganon and a scene hinting towards the beginning of Link's Awakening, which is a nice touch. And then Nintendo declared them two separate Links, for some reason. Beh.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

Oh hey. One of the most beloved games of all time. I have played through this games more times than I know. Probably around like. 6 times I used to boot this game up and play all the way up to the Forest Temple and then restart for some reason, I don't know how many times I actually got to the end.

Its a game that eases you into its idyllic fantasy world before dropping you headfirst into the apocalypse you inadvertently caused in your quest to destroy evil. Its never a melodramatic game though. Its about the loss of innocence. Maturity. Learning that the evil was always there, before the King of Thieves took over the world, before you were even born. It even came from the place you are trying to protect. But there was always goodness too, there was always light. There are always friends to be found in dark places. The style and presentation are peak. The dungeons are rich in aesthetics and well made puzzles. The time travel mechanic is honestly a bit undercooked. But this game is fantastic. Quintessential Zelda.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure

I straight-up forgot I played this. Its fun though. Its a relatively short game, but compared to its predecessor, its a huge improvement. The game plays out in stages like the first Four Swords game, but usually in explorable environments, like towns and forests rather than generic volcano and cave themes. You control all Four Links at once, moving them into different formations to move rocks or put fires out. Or you can do it with friends controlling each Link. I did not. :(

I was mainly interested in this games story from a lore perspective. It features the return of Vaati, the Wind Creep who Lova Da Ladies, but with the addition of the Rise of Ganondorf. You are sent to stop him from a wise owl, Ganon allies himself with Deku Scrubs, attacks the Gorons, and is eventually turned into a monster by his own lust for power. It seems more and more like a retelling of Ocarina in a different light. Eh. Maybe I'll write about my Zelda timeline theories in a different post. Not here though

Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory

BACK TO KH BABY! This is a rhythm game, so I don't have too much to say. I've never really played any rhythm game before this, and I'm not sure if this one is on par with the more well-known rhythm titles out there, but I had a good time with it. Its great for people who like Kingdom Hearts music, lmao. You have a lot of unlockable character groups to play through the music with and level them up, but once I unlocked the Days trio I didn't really go for the others too much. Xion my beloved.

The story is hilariously shallow, almost insulted considering its Kairi's first solo outing, technically. She's on her quest to learn all the KH lore she missed out on, and eventually finds a repressed memory of a grown adult monologuing at a toddler for fifteen minutes. Also that her boyfriend is alive so that her boyfriend's boyfriend can go save him. Her boyfriend's boyfriend is also her boyfriend. Fight me.

Kingdom Hearts III

People were. So upset when this game came out. Acted like it was the biggest disappointment since the ill-fated economic crisis of '07. Sure, yea, that's a reference. Well this is the first time I've gone into it and I'm here to say this is probably among my favorite KH games of all time. Strong competitor with BBS. A lot of the criticisms of the story and gameplay weren't wrong per-say, but the issues with this game, such a goofy dialogue, bizarre pacing, and over complicated exposition dumps, are problems with the entire series that fans of the series, in my opinion, have come to see as endearing elements of Kingdom Hearts. Its funny to watch the big cloak guy point at Sora and say "Darkness Light Heart Darkness," and see Sora gasp in fear, while also realizing the importance of that dialogue to the story. It's a feature, not a bug.

The worlds in this game are its biggest asset. They are huge, heavily detailed, heavily explorable areas with tons to discover. Hell, the Pirates of the Caribbean world acts as a slightly smaller Wind Waker. The game adds in most of the mechanics from all the spin offs to give you a lot of toys to play with, such as parkour or sharpshooting, that are easy to forget but a treat to use when you actually remember them.

A central theme of each of the Disney worlds is happy endings. Hercules finally takes down Hades for good. Mike and Sully are able to visit Boo without risk to her safety. The dead Baymax from that one Disney movie gets a redemption arc. Frozen and Tangled play out exactly as their movie which is kind of boring. This correlates with the happy endings the rest of the supporting cast get to experience, including the initially tragedies of the BBS and Days trio in scenes that genuinely got tears out of me. But Sora doesn't get a happy ending. He sacrifices himself to strong-arm everyone else into their perfect circumstance. Literally breaks the rules of time and space to force the universe into saving his friends at the cost of his own life. And then Hell turns out to be Tokyo so its not all that bad. It makes you feel for the boy. This game also lets you play as Kairi in the DLC which makes me happy.

Alright ending this here. I've played way too many games this year this isn't even half. Also only including games I've finished, and games with definitive endings. I played Mario Kart 7 but that doesn't rlly end, ya know? Will try to write these weekly, even if no ones reading them. But if you do read them tell me what you think! Gonna switch over to books next week to even it out. I swear I don't just play games. This is the last Kingdom Hearts game on this list too I swear.

[wingsyliveblogs]

I'm always looking for good livebloggers, since you apparently follow some, who do you recommend?

Oh, that's a great question!

I have to preface my answer by saying that I don't have much information on livebloggers who are specifically liveblogging The Owl House (or Amphibia), because I'm not seeking out liveblogs for either show at the moment for obvious reasons. Generally, I look for liveblogs for shows I've already watched, such as SU. (SU in particular is the most popular subject for liveblogs as far as I've seen, so there are a lot of them!)

With that said, here are a few liveblogs I'd personally recommend, mostly either complete or ongoing. I'll just be highlighting the shows they've watched that I'm personally familiar with, but some of them have watched plenty more than what I mention.

(cut for length)

loreweaver-universe - as far as I know, this guy was one of the first SU livebloggers, if not the first. Has complete liveblogs of SU and OtGW, plus I think a couple others? One of the three (3) people I've ever seen liveblog Mob Psycho 100 (and the only one who’s still active), though has stalled indefinitely on that one at two episodes in as far as I can see. To be honest, I’m not... entirely sure what his schedule is at the moment? I'm not actively following him right now, because as far as I'm aware, he's currently liveblogging both The Owl House and Amphibia, and I’m trying to avoid spoilers.  

But from what I can tell, he seems fairly active, with a couple of liveblogs every month or so, I think? Plus a bunch of game streams in between. Probably the liveblogger who’s remained active over the longest period of time that I've ever seen, so he’s definitely a good one to follow for consistency. That said, I think he’s pretty well-known as far as liveblogs go, so you probably already know about him! I’m mostly including him as a technicality.

zephyrthejester - currently appears to be on an indefinite hiatus, but did a lot of liveblogging back in the day scratch that, it looks as if they're currently active on their youtube channel! One of the few livebloggers whose episode rating system I’ve actually liked, as they rated episodes purely based on personal enjoyment. While they’re not actively liveblogging at the moment, they got through quite a few shows back when they were.

Has done a complete liveblog of SU, plus both FMA anime adaptations! Did a few other anime as well. On their let's play channel, they have a complete playthrough of the Ace Attorney trilogy, and they appear to have gotten started on Apollo Justice recently. It seems they’ve also done a challenge run of Hollow Knight. If you’re interested in let’s plays, or their completed liveblogs sound fun, check them out!

thelreads - unusually for most of the liveblogs I keep up with, they exclusively liveblog stuff through reading it rather than watching! Has liveblogs of BNHA and Spy x Family, plus a couple others. As far as I can tell, they're pretty active for the most part! This blog is a good one to follow if you’re interested in any of those series!

suworkbook - including this one on a technicality, since all of her liveblogs other than SU are on hold indefinitely. Other liveblogs can be found here: includes the beginnings of OtGW, A:tLA, and a couple others. Currently liveblogging SU only; active but updates pretty infrequently. I enjoy her observations a lot! If you feel that good liveblogging is worth the wait (as I do), she’s a great one to follow. 

cheesy-kitten-liveblogs - exclusively a SU liveblog so far, and probably the one I’m following most actively, because they’re an active liveblog blogging a show that I know fairly consistently. They’re a good one to follow if you like SU liveblogs and great analysis! They’re just now finishing up Season 1, so it’s a great time to check them out.

I probably took some subconscious inspiration from them for my own blog’s URL and colours but I didn’t really think about it until I was already set on both

light blue just feels like a liveblog colour, you know?

There’s one other blog I can think of, but it’s not exactly a liveblog blog, so I’m going to leave that one out of this for now. 

I’m certain there are other good liveblogs that I’ve forgotten about or simply am not aware of, so I’m extending an open invitation to anyone to add on to this post with any recommendations of your own!