#I wish this post existed when I first got the camera

[neddea]

Polaroid Go tips and tricks - I really love this camera!

This is basically the post I wish I had read before and after I bought the Polaroid Go. I haven’t been able to find much info on tips and tricks, so I’m gonna share what I’ve learned, also with the intention of getting some feedback and hopefully more knowledge from the community 🙏🏻 Also, beware of the long post, I guess!

(NOTE: This is about the 2nd Gen Go, idk anything about the 1st Gen version).

The reasons I bought the Go instead of any other Instax or Polaroid camera:

☑️Analog camera instead of digital (I wasn’t sure about many other instant cameras). I wanted to restrict myself and not even have a screen to be able to tweak things or choose which picture I wanted to print. The goal for me was to learn photography in itself by using the “simplest” tools. If the picture turns out well, it’s because I’ve understood how to use the tools and how to get the most out of them (and sometimes I’m just lucky, let’s be honest!)

☑️Easy to carry around. I have ADHD, so I know that I will never do something if it feels like a bit too much work to get started on (for example, taking pictures outside if carrying it is a hassle). The Go was by far the best one in that sense.

☑️The film is cheaper than the other Polaroid films (at least that I’m aware of). This is huuuge for me, since I wanted to take as many pics as I could and not feel as bad if I “wasted” film with experiments and trials. Still not as affordable as Instax film though, but closer than other types.

☑️It has filters. I know, this might seem like a dumb reason, but I really wanted to get into this hobby because I wanted to relearn photography and go back to that feeling of physicality that used to inspire me back in college. I wanted to experiment with cellophane paper and with the chemistry of the film itself and whatever idea came to mind, and the filters added to that goal. Some instax cameras have unofficial filters, but they didn’t seem as… sturdy? Properly made? Idk, looks deceive and they could be great for all I know (if anyone has experience with them let me know, I’m curious!)

☑️Double exposure and flash On/Off options. Two other huge reasons why I chose this camera! For the same reasons as the one before: I wanted to experiment and be able to control the tool to take the pros and cons to the extreme.

☑️Accessories to carry it around and keep it safe (although I have things to say about some incompatibility issues).

That being said, things I don’t like as much:

🔻Can’t control exposure times and diaphragm aperture (sorry if the terms are incorrect, English is not my mother tongue and I learned the basics in Spanish). There are only two options and they’re automatic, so it’s a bit difficult to get it right. You can half press the shutter button to lock focus distance and light sensitivity though, but I haven’t mastered it quite yet.

🔻Polaroid film is not the most stable (I find it difficult to put this as a downside, I’m actually quite happy and even grateful that it works like this to the point that I count it as an extra tool and a huge part of the artistic process. Then again, sometimes you want things to work as you planned, so I’m guessing this can be a bad thing for many people).

🔻The film is still expensive, especially if you add shipping expenses. There aren’t nearly as many options as with other Polaroid cameras, the only available editions are the white frame and the black frame. I’d love to be able to use the peach frame, or a monochrome film, or the Bowie edition… but it seems like Polaroid doesn’t pamper the Go as much as its siblings

🔻Pictures tend to not be as sharp as the bigger films or it’s harder to get them right.

🔻Too much contrast between shadows and lights.

All in all, I’m really, really happy with it! I think it was the perfect choice for me, and I’m sad to see it isn’t as loved in the community (I’ve read though that the 1st gen wasn’t great, so that might be one of the reasons).

I also wanted to share my tips and tricks for different things!

🔳Double exposure: I'm still figuring things out, but so far my best takes have been in total darkness with very intense and direct light sources (a phone's flash directed to the camera, for example). For anyone who has never tried or doesn't know how this works: think of photography as painting with light on a black canvas. Total darkness means total lack of light, so you're not painting anything, right? This is especially useful for double exposure, which basically means taking two pictures in one. If you have absolute darkness with one small source of light and you take the first exposure, you still have plenty of "blank" canvas left, so the second exposure's lightened parts are gonna superimpose over the darkness of the first one. For example, in the first pic below the first take was for the two lines and circle (with the blue filter) and the second was for my friends' portraits (with a yellow filter). Play around with the shadows and lights, you can for example give some texture to the shadows of an otherwise well lit figure. For this reason I don't recommend using the flash, but hey, there's probably a good way to use both!

⚠️BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE TO IT. You wish you could take more than two exposures?? YOU ACTUALLY CAN. I just discovered this and I'm over the moon: double tap the flash button to turn on the double exposure mode, take the first one, turn the camera off; turn it on again, double tap for double exposure, AND THERE YOU GO, you are gonna take three exposures now. Do this ad infinitum if you want to (probably not the best idea for the film though). I'm so happy about this, you have no idea.

🔳Filters: I’m still getting used to them so I might be wrong, but generally speaking they reduce contrast. Pure blacks and whites will still be there if it's a well lit place, but you get more details on parts that would be otherwise slightly overexposed, and the middle tones don't get as dark. I also have a feeling that the flash works wonders on closer shots, tinting that plane more strongly with the filter, but as the flash reach fades into the background, the filter is not as visible (again, I'm basing this in just one picture that looks like that, I'll have to do more research). Another rule of thumb: yellow is the lightest color and blue is the darkest, so use them wisely. The blue filter is probably going to make the shot look a bit darker, and the yellow one might make it look too bright. I want to hear how anyone else feels about them, I might be completely on the wrong track with these!

🔳Incompatibilities between accessories: This one is annoying. I bought all together the hard case, the silicone skin, the travelling bag, the mini album, the wrist band, the bigger band and the filters. The main issue is the silicone skin, since if used the camera doesn't fit inside the hard case, AND you cannot add the filters to the camera because there's no window for it. I had to cut the frontal part of the skin so I could fit the filters, which is not ideal. I don't know how Polaroid has overlooked this particular thing, but yeah, be aware of that. The bands and the mini album have a ring with a clamp that allows you to attach them to each other or to other bags pretty easily.

🔳Using the countdown to get sharper pics. If your pulse is as unstable as mine and you're shooting a picture under dim lighting circumstances, I'd advise you to use the countdown tool to avoid any blurriness and shakiness. At least for me, when I click the shutter button I end up moving the camera slightly, which has slightly ruined some pics (this is not just Polaroid, it's just a general photography thing, but heavier cameras are not as sensitive to movement, I think. Physics, idk). So to avoid that, I just press the flash button for several seconds until a LED light lights up on the front of the camera. When you press the shutter, it counts down to 9, I think, and then takes the pic.

🔳Film temperature and development: Listen. Some people might complain about this, but I actually see it as another tool to take the shots that I want. I feel it's more impressionist-like than any other kind of photography, since it captures not just what the eye can see: it also kinda captures the impression and feeling of the moment. I've taken several pictures of my hometown, and it was around freezing temps outside, so when I took the first pic of course the shadows came off looking blueish and greenish, and they didn't get too dark at all. At first I was confused and a bit disappointed, but after two or three more shots I was ecstatic about it. It reminded me of the blueish greys Monet used in his paintings. I made some experimentation with the amount of time the pics developed in the cold and it's just so much fun. So yeah, id say use it in your favour! Remember to keep it close to the body in the cold to avoid it, and maybe some insulated pockets for the heat (Polaroid sells a bag for the camera with one such pocket, but I feel it doesn't work too well against the cold, would have to try in hotter temps). ALSO, sometimes it will take several days for the shadows to get as strong as they'll get! Especially if the pic developed in cold temps.

🔳Let entropy be part of it. Just experiment with the camera. Take lots of double exposure pics to try specific things without wasting as much film. Remember: sometimes the pics won't come out as perfect as you'd like, but often enough the reason might be something you might have done wrong; other times, it's just bad luck with the film or something else. Sometimes those imperfections add to the feeling of the picture. And sometimes you half-assedly take a shot and it turns out to be especially interesting. It can feel like every pic is a conversation between you and the camera (as cheesy as this might sound), and some things that you find compelling the camera might not be too thrilled about; sometimes you can convince it, and sometimes it shows you the beauty of something you didn't pay too much attention to. Take all of the pictures as learning opportunities, adapt to the tools you have. This camera can be really good for what it is, but it has its own personality (and so does the film), and sometimes it takes a while to warm up to new people, right? (Instead I feel like I just found my new best friend right off the bat LMAO)

🔳Finally, Polaroid's app isn't necessarily created for the Go, since it doesn't have any Bluetooth tools, but it does help with scanning. I'd recommend giving it a Go (pun intended), since it already crops and fixes the perspective of the image to show just the frame and photo. I normally have to edit it so that it looks a bit closer to the physical picture, but that's just me going the extra mile.

I think that's it! I'm still thinking about how to store or showcase the pictures in a nice way, do you guys have any ideas? How do you do it? I'm also saving all the used film cartridges (is that the right word?), I don't know what for but I want to do something with them! I've seen people displaying pictures in them though... Any ideas?

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk (I’m so sorry for this stupidly long post)

[utilitycaster]

@notstinglesstoo replied to your post “The thing is, and I haven't gotten a chance to...”:

I saw someone not long ago say cr has always felt like a product to them vs D20 feeling organic and I protected my peace but I did want to ask them if they were brain dead

​Oh man I wanted to address this at length because I feel this. My posts have been centered, again, specifically on published journalists picking Daggerheart aprt critically and applauding themselves for doing so despite it being within a couple of hours of its release and therefore any analysis is necessarily going to be based on at best, a skim, when they just as frequently will claim D20 seasons/Kollok are flawless works of genius based on only a partial read, but man D20's got a fandom problem too. (and all of the following comes with the caveat of "I really enjoy D20, and Dropout, and while we're at it WBN and NADDPod which both are half D20 Intrepid Heroes cast, and think Brennan is a particularly brilliant GM, and also it's obvious that the D20 and CR casts are on great terms, and wish the fandom for D20 were more welcoming and enjoyable because I feel it wasn't like this when I first started watching, as a CR fan, in late 2019 and has since curdled into something really weird and bad.")

The first point is the obvious one: technically speaking these are both products. These are performers doing an art form; it is also a portion of how they make their money with which they can buy goods and services. Believing that art is inauthentic when the artist gets paid and acknowledges that is a thing that happens is a fucking libertarian position at best. Like cool, you think only people who are independently wealthy by other means can make art, because it's not real labor, my kid could paint that, etc etc.

The second point is also pretty obvious. I have pushed back pretty hard on the "uwu CR is just watching friends! it's like we're in their living room" mentality among the fandom, which has decreased, thankfully, but like...it did in fact start organically as a private home game, and they decided, when invited, to make it A Show For An Audience. D20 was created on purpose as a show for an audience. This doesn't make it bad or fake - reread the previous paragraph - but in terms of "this is an group of people who really played D&D in this world together even before the cameras were rolling," Critical Role literally is that, and D20 is not.

I think beyond that...my biggest issues with the D20 fandom are first, the level of discourse is abominable. The tag is almost always just shrieking praise and the most surface-level readings possible. I keep bringing up the "Capitalism is the BBEG" mug but it genuinely sums up so much of how I feel; people who want their existing beliefs fed to them as surface-level no-nuance takes. I mean capitalism is fucking terrible but I do not need every work I watch to have a character turn to the camera and say "capitalism is bad" to enjoy myself, and indeed it makes it harder due to the lack of subtlety and grace. For all D20 fans complain about how unhealthily parasocial CR fans can be (and some can be), I find that a lot of the most unhealthily parasocial "how dare they BETRAY my TRUST by having a ship I don't like or not speaking up about every single societal ill" ex-CR fans move over to D20 and then pull the exact same shit; it simply doesn't get called out. Every time D20 fans are like "we don't want to become the CR fandom" it's like "your toxic positivity and unhealthy parasocial behavior exceeds the HEIGHT of what I've seen in CR; the main difference is that CR started in 2015 when D&D was still shaking off the raging bigot dudebros and so in the early days it acquired more of those fans, whereas by the time D20 came around the landscape of who played D&D and watched Actual Play had shifted wildly, and you need to judge September 2018 D20 fans in parallel to September 2018 CR fans, not September 2015 CR fans."

I also feel, and I alluded to this in the post about journalism, and other people have said this better than I have, but the pedestal people have put D20 on does feel like a single...not even misstep, but just, difficult choice that doesn't capitulate to the loudest fans will bring a good chunk of that fandom crashing to the ground. And that includes the journalists. For all the fans of CR can still be obsessed with the cast to an unhealthy degree? The cast and company have put up pretty strong boundaries and have not budged. D20 hasn't, and I think the second they do - and I think it will be for their benefit as a company and a channel - a big chunk of their most vitriolic CR-hating portion of the fandom will viciously turn on them.

[phoenix-downer]

KH4 First Trailer

This is the first KH4-related translation post I've done (nearly two years late ;lakjsdf my how the time flies), and hopefully there will be many more to come. I'll be focusing on the dialogue and text in the trailer and not so much on the camera angles, character expressions, etc. this time around just because I want to keep the focus on the translations.

Here’s a general key for the kind of analysis I like to do:

JP: Official Japanese Dialogue

EN: Official English Dialogue

TR: My Translation (usually more literal and thus more stilted than the official English version. I’m not using natural-sounding English in order to stick as close to the Japanese versions of the lines as possible for the purpose of analysis)

Notes: things I found interesting, grammatical points, extra thoughts, etc.

One last note: media doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Every work of art must be viewed through the cultural lens of the people who made it. Kingdom Hearts, for all its ties to Disney, is still very much a Japanese game, so it should be analyzed in light of that.

With that in mind, let’s continue.

JP 自分が望む結末ではなかったと絶望するのならー

EN If this isn't the ending you desired—if it brings you despair—

TR If (this) wasn't the ending you hoped for—if (you) feel despair—

Notes: Sigurd is apparently the character saying these next few lines.

The word for "ending" here, ketsumatsu, is an interesting word choice. It is often used in the context of stories (though it also has other uses), which fits really well with how KH4 will play around with the concept of reality vs. unreality. So on a meta level it's like, "If you didn't like how KH3 ended, if you didn't like how Sora ended up, then help him escape Quadratum."

Also, the word the official English version translates as "desired," nozomu, can mean "desire, want, wish for, hope for," and it's an antonym of zetsubō, the word translated "despair." So there's this nice poetic contrast going on between hope and despair in this bit in the Japanese version.

JP 他の世界に退場すればいい

EN then leave this world for another

TR —(then you) should leave for another world.

Notes: This particular word for "leave," taijō, can be used for leaving venues, stadiums, parking lots, rooms, sports games, etc. It can also be used for actors exiting the stage. Take a look at definition #1, which translated states, "Leaving venues, stadiums etc." and #2, which translated states, "Actors etc. leaving the stage" (Source):

I thought that was really interesting, because using a word with these specific connotations makes me wonder if this is more of that meta commentary, this time about how we should direct Sora the character to leave Quadratum if we so desire. Sure, the general sense of "leave" or "exit" is the main meaning here, but I always get so intrigued by word choice and all the connotations a word has.

Also, the phrasing isn't exactly the same, but there is a euphemism in Japanese for the place your soul goes when you die, takai, that uses the same kanji as hoka no sekai that we see in "another world" here, it just uses the onyomi pronunciation instead of the kunyomi pronunciation for "another" hoka/tai and has no no particle.

Googling hoka no sekai brought up a lot of images about parallel worlds and the isekai genre, so that's probably the most accurate connotation given Sora's world traveling adventures thus far, but I still thought that was an interesting tidbit, even if it's a complete reach on my end. Like sure Sora can go to other worlds, but he's still dead, so he's still going to more places where he's dead and can't go home where he'd be fully alive.

JP 選択肢は無限にあるはずだー

EN Your options are endless.

TR (Your) options/choices should be endless/limitless—

Notes: I really like how the English version contrasts "ending" with "endless." You don't like the ending Sora got in KH3? Your options for taking him to other worlds are "endless." The Japanese version has this interesting tidbit too where the speaker conveys an expectation. He says hazu, which means "expected," "should be," "must be." So he expects Sora's options are endless, but it has a slightly different nuance than if he'd just said they are endless.

JP 心は魂に宿り　魂は運命によって在るべき場所へ導かれる

EN The heart resides within the soul which in turn is guided by fate to its rightful place

TR (The) heart dwells in (the) soul, (and the) soul is guided by fate to its rightful place (lit. the place it should be).

Notes: There's not really any difference between the official English version and my translation. It's just interesting to break it down. For whatever reason the "rightful place" of the soul has the verb of existence for inanimate objects (aru) instead of the one for animate objects (iru). Not sure if that's a set phrase or if the soul in this context would be considered an inanimate object (time to go down a rabbithole about animacy in Japanese).

This bit also kinda reminded me of how Xehanort talked in KH3 when he was recounting the cycle of light and darkness. The language has a very "mythological"/storytelling feel to me, which makes sense given whoever is saying these lines is talking about fate, destiny, the nature of the universe, etc. And then the floating text in the darkness also reminds me of the Dive into the Heart sequences with the disembodied voice as well, so it could also be a reference to that.

JP 選択は再び委ねられる

EN The choice is yours once more.

TR (The) choice is left (to you) once more./(The) choice is entrusted (to you) once more.

Notes: Once again, this bit of text seems very meta. It feels like it's addressed to the fans, given how we're the ones who will be controlling Sora in KH4. And of course the image shows his chess piece with his crown symbol on it, so the implication is that Sora's heart will be the one guiding him once more, and his heart will be guided by fate.

JP あなたはこの世界に来て7日間　ずっと眠っていたの

EN You've been asleep since you arrived in this world seven days ago.

TR You came to this world seven days ago (and you)'ve been sleeping (the) whole time.

Notes: I don't love my translation because nanokakan more literally means "a period of seven days," but yeah I think I get the gist across.

Strelitzia refers to Sora as anata here when the norm is to refer to other people by their names in Japanese, even when addressing them directly, so either she doesn't know his name yet or she's being very polite, almost distant. She also ends her declaration with no, likely to indicate she's offering more of an explanation (it also makes her sound pretty cute and feminine).

Also, as I'm going through this trailer again, I'm reminded that Sora doesn't talk at all. He has the battle grunts during his fight against the Darkside, but he doesn't have any dialogue. I just thought that was interesting, because Xehanort commented on Sora not having a voice in Melody of Memory as well. Somehow that also told Xehanort where Sora's heart is located (foreshadowing for this game I suppose). I wonder if Sora will be similarly voiceless at first in KH4 or if he just is for this trailer for dramatic effect because Nomura knows everyone wants to hear him speak.

And then of course I have to mention the significance of Sora being asleep in Quadratum for seven days. Seven has a lot of significance in the KH universe, given how there are seven guardians of light. Seven is also the length of a week, and it's a number that has connotations of wholeness and completion in certain cultures.

JP ここは クァッドラトゥムー

EN This is Quadratum—

TR (This is) Quadratum—

Notes: Not really anything to note here other than the gorgeous graphics, how Sora doesn't look at all like his usual cheerful self (no smile to be found), and the colors in Quadratum seem very warm/brown/earth tones/"real" and not super bright and colorful like in the "main" KH universe.

JP 生者の世界ではあるけれどー

EN It's a world full of life—

TR (It's) a world of living people/the living but—

Notes: Seija is translated as "full of life" in the official English version, but it more literally means "living people" or "the living." So Strelitzia is pointing out that all around them are living people and yet, for her and Sora, it's still a world of death because she and Sora should be dead.

JP 私たちにとっては“死の世界”ってことになるみたい

EN but for you and I, it's similar to an "afterworld," I suppose.

TR —for us, (it) seems like it's "a world of death."

Notes: This is where I wish the English version was closer to the Japanese version. "World of death" or "world of the dead" would've been a closer translation, and I'm not sure why it wasn't used (perhaps to avoid mentioning the dreaded "d" word). I do like the pun-like quality of "afterworld," combining "afterlife" and the oft-used-in-the-KH-universe "world," and since the translators have access to information I don't about the game's lore, I can't say whether crucial lore has been lost in translation, but I wanted to point out the difference here.

Also, the grammar pattern Strelitzia uses here, koto ni naru, indicates something that's outside of her and Sora's control. This being an afterlife of sorts for the two of them was decided by factors beyond their control, in other words. She also uses mitai to indicate her speculation/observation.

JP だがー

EN However—

TR However—

Notes: This is back to Sigurd speaking, and very ominously so.

JP 一度退場すれば元の世界に戻れると思うなー

EN if you do leave this world behind, don't expect to return to the one from which you came—

TR —once (you) leave, don't think (you) can go back to (your) original world—

Notes: This ends on a rather ominous note. Again the word taijō is used here for "leave" much like earlier in the trailer. I remember this dialogue when I first watched this trailer because it was such a wham line. What do you mean Sora can't go home? He can go to other worlds but he can't go home? What will it take to bring him home then? Something pretty drastic from the sounds of it.

Also, I like the formal wording of the official English version. Sigurd sounds like he's from a different time.

Then of course this next bit cuts to Donald and Goofy, searching for ways to find Sora presumably:

JP どこにいるんだろう？

EN I wonder where he is.

TR (I) wonder where (he) is.

Notes: Nothing really to talk about, just that the "I" and "he" is implied in Japanese (Japanese tends to drop pronouns in places they would be required in English because there's enough info provided by context, verb conjugations, etc. to figure out who the speaker is talking about).

JP 手がかり見つかるといいね

EN I don't know, but I sure hope he can help.

TR I hope (we) can find (a) clue.

Notes: A bit of a difference here, Goofy is focused more on finding a clue in Japanese whereas in English he's hoping "he" (Hades, presumably) can help.

JP おい

EN Hey!

TR Hey!

Notes: Hades' Japanese VA has a very distinctive voice, and so right from this word you know it's him a;lsdkjf and he's as snarky and blunt as ever lol.

JP どこへ行くんだ

EN Just where do you think you're going?

TR (Just) where (do you think you)'re going?

Notes: I love the sass and snark of the English translation, and it captures the vibes of the Japanese version well (Hades uses ~nda at the end of the sentence to indicate he wants more information out of them). They found Hades, but now they'll actually have to deal with Hades...

And that's what I have for now! I am curious about what promo material will be released next and what new tidbits we'll have to speculate on. Fingers crossed we get more info around the anniversary this year!

The Japanese trailer is here.

The English trailer is here.

[hshtag]

🦢 ─────── *ೃ  ‍୨ POPULAR STARTAG (HASHTAG X STRARCRUSH, OT5) SHIPS !

STARCRUSH & HASHTAG are the most well-known artists currently under MELODY MEDIA and are known for being each others sibling group, their lore often intertwining or overlapping occasionally. These pairs have formed overtime and are fans most popular and most liked ships between the two groups, gaining both more shared popularity. There are multiple other ships that are included in Hashtag x Starcrush, but these few are the most popular.

INSPIRED BY THIS POST.

── *ೃ  ‍୨ YUNHEE X YUAN / DOUBLE YU.

Yunhee & Yuan are the definition of Sun & Moon, Yunhee being the sun, Yuan being the moon. Fans believe that these two are the best duo between the two groups because of all the content put out from the two, for both fandoms, and wish that more people payed attention to their friendship. It’s mostly a marketing scheme Melody Media made to promote the groups better but their humor is what mostly attracts people.

FAN FAVORITE MOMENT …

“Welcome back to the DOUBLE YU cam where I, Kim Yunhee, film clips of Wang Shanyuan, also known as Yuan, for free! Solid deal, right?” The shaky camera flips to show Yuan, glaring silently, looking ahead of him, seemingly frustrated. The camera zooms in on his face. “As you can see, we’re backstage just before a collab stage between both our groups, and Yuan over here, isn’t very happy.” He scowls at her words, swatting the camera away.

“Get that out of my face before I lob it at you.” He grumbles, turning away. “Hey, I don’t appreciate empty threats, Wang. As I was saying, he’s not very happy cause we’re performing his least favorite Hashtag song, Talk & Talk.” She attempts to stifle a laugh as she continues to zoom into the elder boy’s face. “Please explain to the viewers why you are a hater of Talk & Talk?” Her finger enters the frame, nudging Yuan’s shoulder.

“I don’t hate it, It’s just got too many complicated moves and I’m tired.” The camera zooms out at this, her hand still shaky. “Ooh, you heard it here first everyone, Talk & Talk is terrible to dance on stage to because it’s got ‘too many complicated moves’, as said best from our favorite, Yuan.” He blinks up at her from his chair, reaching his hand up to ruffle her hair in an attempt to annoy her. “Yuan! Listen the only person you’ll be angering, is my hair stylist.”

Yunhee slaps his hand away, the camera focusing on the floor instead before she remembers its existence and flips it back round to have her face in frame. “That’s it for the DOUBLE YU cam today, if you have any questions or queries, please message my melodytalk account. Thank you for watching DOUBLE YU cam, stay tuned for the next cam and wish us luck during our performance!” She says, smiling as she waves the camera off with Yuan standing awkwardly behind her, rolling his eyes.

── *ೃ  ‍୨ MINSEO X DAE / MINDAE.

Minseo & Dae were initially paired up on a variety show for a very long time, thus causing them to also be paired up by the company for practically everything you could think of and have now become seemingly, closer. Fans say they’re only friends for convenience, which is technically true, but others truly believe they gradually became better friends since it didn’t look like they were as close as they were now, previously.

FAN FAVORITE MOMENT …

“I think i’m finally finished!” Minseo said, clasping her hands together in celebration. The live seemed to be very active, with comments comments coming in every few seconds, making it difficult for Minseo to choose a question to answer without her Manager getting upset. “I feel like i’m getting older and older, but thank you all for joining my birthday live.”

“Yes, everyone sent me happy birthday wishes, I think the earliest person was Annie, but she’s always up when she should be sleeping so i was grateful, just not surprised.” Minseo laughed along with her words, fixing the birthday hat placed on her head. “Actually, one person forgot to say happy birthday to me, he’s a bit late but we’ll see what excuse he has for his lateness.” She grins.

Minseo picks up the Ipad on the table and continues to answer more questions, speaking about random topics when her phone begins to vibrate. “Oh! See? I told you guys he would call in the middle of the live, let’s see what he has to say.” Minseo laughs before she answers the call. “Hello?” there’s a small pause. “I didn’t forget to wish you a happy birthday! The message sent late, I told you my phone’s broken!” Dae says desperately, in an attempt to redeem his actions.

“Not true, ‘cause it says it was sent at 2:33pm and I started my live at 2:20pm.” Minseo folded her arms over her chest, grinning once again. “Okay, fine you caught me but it was a pretty good lie, right?” she scoffed, holding back laughter. “No it wasn’t Dae, now if that’s all, i’ll talk to you later.” Her fingers hovered over the decline button when Dae yelled out. “Wait! Happy birthday, Seo.” She smiled softly, commenting a quick ‘thank you’ before ending the call and continuing her live.

── *ೃ  ‍୨ YOORA X THEO / YOOREO.

Theo & Yoora are the most popular Startag ship to date, always being paired together whenever they both feature on things ranging from variety shows to constantly posting on their instagram stories when they can. Some argue and say that their friendship is strictly promotional but others say that it’s clearly a true friendship between the two and that they have a strong bond. They also appear to hang out the most, more than other ships included in the groups.

FAN FAVORITE MOMENT …

Yoora holds Theo’s wrist as they walk through the hallways together, holding a camera in one hand, previously splitting up with their group members to form small groups of two in order to complete their mission for the variety show. They make a sharp turn and enter a room with a few desks and chairs decorating the space. Once they do the door closes and Yoora shrieks at the loud noise.

“That scared me.” She mumbles slowly as Theo chuckles at her sudden reaction when her hold on his wrist tightens out of pure fear. The room is dim without any lighting but is extremely spacious with drawers everywhere. Yoora points to one of the drawers and asks Theo to look through it, doing the same to another drawer on the opposite side.

She first looks through the top and bottom two drawers and checks the middle compartment finding a small key inside, nearing the corner of the empty area. “Have you found it?” Theo asks impatiently, turning around to face his partner. She nods, motioning for him to follow her out of the room.

They open the door and rush into the main entrance of the hallway when a man dressed in dark clothing and a frightening mask appears in front of them. Yoora screams and attempts to run away, tripping over herself but Theo manages to catch her in time, still laughing at her as they run away from the masked man.

Yoora stops to catch her breath, “Please remind me next time to never say yes when the company asks me to star in a horror show, because i will never do something like this again,” She groans, quickening her pace as Theo walks beside her, laughing even louder at this.

── *ೃ  ‍୨ LILING X SUNDAY / SUNLING.

Basically the serious + unserious duo. Liling is always joking around, being way too hyper and Sunday is the one who looks at her weird for doing so, but still cares for her nonetheless. The media sees Sunday as a spoiled and stuck up person, but when with Liling she is easily more liked, despite Liling being the more preferred one out of the two due to Sunday’s behavior. They’re another very popular ship, but they’re very known individually and have too much content together whether it be any type of video footage or hundreds of monthly photos of them.

FAN FAVORITE MOMENT …

The camera currently points upwards, towards the ceiling of the room as shuffling and a few muffled voices can be heard. Liling picks up the camera, still directed upwards, and waves eagerly before placing it down on a table. The shot shows Liling and Sunday sitting on a small couch together. Liling’s knees are pressed against her chest and she wraps her arms around them for support. Sunday turns her head slightly to look at her silently and the pair suddenly burst out into loud laughter. Liling points to her goggles, worn for aesthetic purposes, with the tip of her charm-decorated nails as she speaks, “They’re pretty cute, right?” She signals the question towards Sunday and she nods blankly.

“Anyways, we’re about to go on stage so wish us luck!” Sunday says, smiling as she animatedly talks to the camera. She leans in to hug Liling as they both raise their hands to signalize cheering themselves on. Liling pauses for a moment and then reaches over to pull out a pair of similar goggles from behind her back to give to Sunday. “Here. We’ll look better if we’re matching! Okay now seriously, bye guys!” They both wave excitedly and the clip fades out.

── *ೃ  ‍୨ CLEM X BONNIE / CLONNIE.

Everyone’s (second) favorite and most underrated duo in all of Startag history! Clem and Bonnie are most likely, and naturally the closest compared to others. They’ve known each other for a very short amount of time, but Clem is also known to be the least friendly person you could ever meet so Bonnie must be very special to her. They have the most amount of on-screen interactions and always speak about each other, whatever the context is. CLONNIE is also known for being extremely chaotic when put together, and always being the loudest no matter what room they're in.

FAN FAVORITE MOMENT …

The clip was featured in a Hashtag Behind the Scenes Episode, taken by Reiko. Reiko is talking about the collab stage both Hashtag and Starcrush have just performed and in the background you can see Bonnie and Clem talking to each other whilst Clem fixes Bonnie’s stage outfit and brushes her hair out of her face. In the next clip, Bonnie reaches out to hug Clem whilst still talking to the other and most likely exchanging praise for their performance. Later, they come into frame, holding hands and waving at the camera with their free hands. Reiko notices and points this gesture out, they both simply shrug and laugh.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Here's a collection of Trigun Stampede thoughts and observations I had from someone who has only seen this series, since big long posts rarely go over well lol. I'm really intrigued to contrast with the manga later and see if I get similar takeaways... I'm eagerly willing to expand on any of these if anyone is interested but for now they will exist as loose point forms! Hopefully this is coherent!

Firstly: Vash my beloved... please be nicer to yourself... please... you are so kind...

Meryl and Knives are the lead active/driving forces of the show, in contrast to most everyone else's passivity and Vash's reactivity

Meryl's influence on Roberto over the course of the story - she actually has him taking a pretty firm stance later on (which is likely the opinion he held all along, he just buried it), which brings me to the next point-

Conrad and Knives claim to be looking to the future but ignore the present - Roberto dismisses this because those who won't even save a life in front of them in the present moment won't save anyone (this is more in keeping with what Vash does)

The juxtaposition between Conrad and Luida's methods are great and I hope we return to that in the next season

I love Meryl. This is not an observation or analysis it is merely a statement of fact. :)

I wonder if we'll get more Zazie and Meryl interactions. Zazie seems to find Meryl intriguing at the very least. I also just like Zazie and think this could be a really interesting dynamic.

I would also like to see more of Rem, hopefully outside of the biased recollections of Vash and Nai... I still don't feel like I know anything about her :(

Ideals in the service of people (Vash) vs people in the service of ideals (Knives)

Most of the children in the series literally age too quickly. There's a lot to examine there.

Given the attempts to create Independent-like humans by Conrad and the rapid aging of these children... is the serum created from Plants?

Vash 🤝 Me: "Wolfwood" 🥺 (I'm kidding, I'm kidding... mostly.)

Vash and Wolfwood are not fundamentally different, as they first appear to be, but are actually quite similar in their drives (protection of others at personal cost) - the difference in their perspectives comes down to the scope of what they swore to protect (with Wolfwood's being far more limited, thus there are outsiders) and propensity to hope (Vash will act on hope without solid proof, while Wolfwood needs the proof but will jump on it if he sees it - interesting for someone who is associated with religion and faith)

Wolfwood's version of mercy is an unfortunate form of projection (aka Legato is a fucking idiot for thinking removing Wolfwood's attachments would lead him to be solely devoted to Knives. my dude, I am pretty sure that attachment plus raw survival instinct is the only thing keeping him going)

Vash: allows himself to get shot and reveals his scars / Wolfwood: >:O !!! / also Wolfwood: repeatedly takes hits either shielding people or just plain not dodging when he 100% could / Me: 😐

I wish we'd gotten some breathing room in the series. That's my number one gripe about it. Specifically, I wanted a little more time with Wolfwood to get to know him in the present before we got into him having the worst life of his fucking life in the span of two episodes... I also wanted to see a little more of this world that Vash cares about so much! I understand the manga and 98 series do this a little better so I'm excited to see that. Meryl's arc was great though!

Loved the really clever way the flashbacks are done!!! Nai is barely focused on at first, then as his character is slowly revealed, he gets the camera focus and childish behaviours more and more!!!

Huge themes of autonomy and choice. I think they're actually more the point than the whole morality aspect. It's not as important that Vash be perfectly moral and right than it is that his philosophy allows people the chance to choose and change for themselves - Knives' doesn't grant anyone that choice, and in fact, he and the people under him actively remove free will (breaking Vash's mind, the experimentation on Rollo, Wolfwood and Livio, what he did to... the Plants... etc.)

Vash is genuinely angry at Nai in a way he doesn't seem to be with anyone else. I do think a part of him can't forgive what happened to Rem or the emotional strain that comes with watching someone you love repeatedly do horrible things. I don't know if humanity could hurt him the way Nai has. The worst part is that I don't think Nai fully comprehends how badly he has hurt Vash. He looked so confused and hurt when Vash trained the gun on him for the first time. The "ominous piano playing" probably isn't meant to be ominous at all, once we see they used to play that piece together. Nai's been playing it on loop for so long. He wants his brother to come home. :(

The twins treat each other like an extension of themselves for a lot of the story, which is somewhat ironic for a couple of Independents. Vash blames himself and seeks to atone for his brother's actions, Nai thinks any differing opinion his brother has is a result of corruption instead of him being his own person. That is why it is a triumph when Vash finally asserts his identity away from Knives in episode 12, declaring himself his own person. That is why it is a tragedy when Nai would rather let his old self die, figuratively and literally, than accept that.

Nai did not want Rem dead. I stand by this strongly. His anger at her is I believe in part to justify her death in his mind.

Nai wants to return to a time of safety more than anything (the higher dimension is like an "egg", the ship's dome around the two as children, the quietness of the tree, etc.).

Tesla 🤝 Livio: products of human experimentation who really ought to be dead but apparently... aren't??? I am putting them both in my pocket and running away

[humming-pokemon-helpers]

[The Truth--MewTube Live]

[This post is just a link to a MewTube livestream... you've got nothing better to do, and hey, you've at least heard of Vanilla tangentially, so you click over.

You're early, it seems, but there's already quite a large crowd gathered, from the noise. Or maybe that's just the commuter traffic at Gear Station. A few Nimbasa PD officers stand around behind Vanilla, presumably to stop the wanted criminal waiting on official charges from trying anything. The hybrid's wearing all-black clothes, and has at least a rudimentary barricade set up to stop the audience from steamrolling them. That doesn't stop an audience member from trying to nail Cross with a Tamato Berry, though. An electronic voice says "w-what did i do?!" as the camera swerves, and Vanilla shoots someone a nasty glare. You can sort of understand the allegations. She's terrifying.

He recovers his composure quickly enough though, and grabs a few stapled-together sheets from his bag. A nod. Then a loud snarl--if you understand Zorua for whatever reason, it's quite a polite request to quiet down, given the volume, but it shuts the crowd up quickly.]

"People always listen better when I speak like that... apologies. My name is Vanilla Cress.

I know many of you have seen "me" give a speech earlier this week. But in reality, though I understand believing me is an impossible ask... I am being impersonated by someone who calls themselves "Vision". She associates herself with Colress Achroma, formerly a scientist from Team Plasma, something I have turned evidence over to the Unova Police Department regarding. If you know anything about my life in the past year, you would understand that associating with Colress in any way is an idea I hate more than any other. Even so, I understand there may be some doubt around my identity, so..."

[They look back at the officers, nod, and release Amadeus, who immediately chomps her auncle's arm. Vanilla flinches, letting out a small squeak, but his appearance doesn't change in the slightest.]

"I... I believe that should prove I am not an illusion, at the least... ouch. Thanks, Amadeus..."

[The Zorua jumps back onto an officer's head, smug, and Vanilla continues.]

"In any case, I would like to clarify some points regarding what Vision had said, previously. Firstly, I believe I have shown time and time again, throughout my life, that I care for the bond between humans and Pokémon. I do not wish to change that, and as long as I can help it, I will protect that bond. No matter what it takes. I will be collaborating on multiple levels to ensure this fact, including with scientists and with skilled trainers. I thoroughly reject Vision's message. Even if Pokéballs are not perfect... they connect us. They always have.

Secondly, regarding the past Vision had brought up, I would like to apologize deeply. It was an act of cowardice on my part to hide it for so long, but... Vision is correct. As a child, I was in fact a member of Team Plasma."

[The crowd mumbles; a few people shout questions as Vanilla holds her ears for a few seconds. Amadeus lets out an angry growl to quiet the noise.]

"If I may continue... though it is no excuse, when I first joined Plasma, I was coerced. I was nine years old, newly homeless, and convinced that my very existence was an evil that had led to the death of the people and Pokémon I loved. And my own. ...Maybe that last part is a bit of a long story. However, when I was taken by Team Plasma and brought to the attention of Plasma's leaders, they decided someone with my... natural abilities would be useful. I was placed in training under the Shadow Triad. I followed their every order with a closed heart and mind until I was twelve years old, when I finally had enough of a flash of sanity to run away. And I had... the most fortunate chance encounter of my life."

[He sighs, frustrated by something.]

"Even so... even as a child, I had the ability to... to hurt people. To... tear apart lives. And I did. It's absolutely inexcusable, but I believe after so many years of hiding from my past in fear it was the only way to reclaim my life... I wanted to tell the truth--"

[With impeccably bad timing, a giant explosion is audible in the distance, far past Nimbasa City to the northwest, the sky in that direction turning vaguely orange for an instant. Vanilla puts up their hands instantly, as if to clear themselves from the happening.]

"Holy fucking--ahem, by the dragons. ...I think this situation may be getting much worse sooner than I had anticipated. Was that Resh--"

[The livestream cuts off, as camera-Rotom Cross rushes towards Vanilla's face.]

[elvenbeard]

Paranoia

Cyberpunk 2077 Fanfic

Summary: Something is off with V's medication, but there are many leads and the clock is ticking. What is Mr. Blue-Eyes planning and who is the rat that sold V out? With little expectations, Kerry begins an investigation on his own. (Post-Sun-Ending, mostly canon-compliant, Chapter 11/?, 6999 words, Kerry Eurodyne/V - notes at the end) >> Previous Chapter >> Read from the Beginning

“Vik told you to take it easy, Vince,” Kerry urged, placing his hands on V’s shoulders from behind. He had been lingering on his desk ever since they’d come home instead of finally joining Kerry on the couch downstairs. Watch a show, or just listen to music, just… exist and forget about all the existential dread at least for an hour or so, but no...

V’s half-empty martini glass stood close by the left edge of the table. Gently massaging V’s tense muscles, Kerry leaned down to give him a quick kiss on his flushed cheeks. He hadn’t made his drink that strong, as requested, but V just really didn’t react well to alcohol. In a way it was adorable. This seasoned merc, Night City’s bad boy number one, couldn’t hold his liquor.

“One sec,” V said, a little absentminded, eyes glued to the screen displaying a timelapse of various views of security cam footage of their penthouse. Kerry suppressed a sigh, and he opted now to loosely wrap his arms around V’s shoulders, trying to get his attention away from the computer like this. When he would not budge still, he rested his chin on V’s head and then reluctantly looked at the screen as well.

Selected in the security system’s overview was one of the cameras in the garage, the one in the elevator, one in the armory. Three more that overlooked the exterior of the house, including the entrance. Kerry knew of a couple more that V wasn’t monitoring at the moment. The timestamp in the corner of the footage was racing backwards, as was the video itself, and V had reached mid-August, briefly after they’d moved in here. The recordings eventually stopped at various still frames of him testing the setup on the day he’d had it installed.

“I wish I had footage of my old apartment,” V murmured, more to himself than to Kerry, “Was still spending a lot of time there when I got the first batch of pills from Vik.”

“Nothin’ suspicious here?” Kerry asked.

“No… at least, nothin’ apparent, as in…,” he gestured vaguely, “Masked intruders with blue glowing eyes.”

Kerry chuckled at his sarcastic undertone.

“That would be too easy.”

“I guess…” V shrugged, finally leaning back into Kerry’s embrace now, although with the backrest of his chair between them it was kinda awkward. Kerry shuffled and shifted slightly to better see V’s expression.

“How’s your head?” he almost didn’t dare to ask.

“Alright,” V said, eyes unfocused, but then he paused, “No actually it… was better earlier. Think Vik’s stuff’s startin’ to wear off. But I’ll manage.”

Kerry lowered his head and briefly closed his eyes. The heat of his own drink long worn off he basked in the warmth V was radiating. His warmth, his glow… how many more – or how few – setbacks would it take until it would all fade away forever?

“I gotta cross-reference this with my schedule,” V changed the topic back to the footage, “What date I got which batch of pills, and then see if there’s any weirdness here around those timeframes… Second prescription was around the time we moved in, but there were so many people in and out all the time… And if they got here before the security system was up and running the next best thing is the building’s surveillance outside, but that’s shitty quality and bad angles…”

V rubbed his face with his right hand and took a deep, heavy breath, as if an immense weight lay on his chest. Kerry clutched him a little tighter.

“Ooor, “he suggested in an attempt to ease the tension, “You could just chill until Nix does his job. ’Cause if this AJ chick lied to ya, you’re wastin’ a lot of energy on somethin’ pointless right now.”

“Don’t think she was lying…” V shook his head and finally moved to get up, Kerry letting him, “If she did, she should apply at some corp’s CI department. Better suited there instead of a dingy drug lab.”

He slipped out of his chair and picked up his leftover martini in one fluid motion, bringing the glass to his lips with some reluctance though.

“Y’know, I’ll happily finish it for ya,” Kerry offered with a wink, his forearms resting on the chair’s backrest now, fingers loosely interlocked as he played with one of his rings. V’s eyes met with his, a challenging glimmer in them, a cheeky smirk on his lips. He emptied the rest of his drink in one go. Letting out a long, deep breath V set the glass down and leaned back against the desk, healthy hand holding on to the edge for support.

“I’m so gonna regret this, but…” he still smiled at Kerry, “Not gonna lie, that was pretty good.”

“Despite the olive?” Kerry teased, then slowly pushed the chair aside, and stepped in front of him.

“Even that wasn’t so bad,” he said as Kerry’s hands trailed down V’s sides, then slipped under his t-shirt. Kerry grinned when goosebumps rose under his fingertips as they wandered around V’s waist, down to the small of his back.

“Picked a good one,” he said, trying to keep his mind from wandering as well, too fast, too far.

“Yeah, I did,” V smiled, and Kerry paused for a moment, noticing the slight tilt of V’s head, how he pursed his lips, amber eyes looking up at him through long dark eyelashes. Yeah… he wasn’t talking about the olive anymore.

“Gonk,” he muttered, but then he leaned in, no longer able to resist to kiss V’s cheeks and neck and chest, tongue and lips guided by the dark pink flushes speckled all across pale skin.

“What was that about takin’ it easy?” V whispered hoarsely, grabbing on to Kerry’s waist, leaning into his touch.

“Yeah… you lean back and relax,” Kerry breathed against his neck, “And lemme do what I’m good at…”

V giggled as Kerry slowly guided him over to their bed, accompanied by more kisses, little gasps, and fleeting touches.

Drunk sex usually guaranteed that V would be out cold (blissfully, of course) for at least a couple of hours afterwards. It had been one rollercoaster of a day and night… of a week, really, with both of them getting too little restful sleep. So, Kerry hoped this impromptu afternoon nap would do V good, or at the very least give him a little rest from everything. He seemed at peace at least, lips slightly parted, breathing slowly and deeply, huddled into their lightweight silk blanket the same way he’d been this morning. Kerry stayed by his side for a little while longer, just watching… but Lee and Vicki and a few other studio assholes kept messaging him, interrupting their domestic bliss once again.

They had been trying to get in touch all day, reminding him of deadlines, work that needed to be done, promo events, concerts, collabs… And Kerry had been patiently ignoring them while out and about with V. All he wanted was to stay in bed with him now, help him get the help he needed, force him to take it easy when he just wouldn’t listen to his doctors telling him to.

He lightly brushed his fingers over V’s cheek, the hint of patchy dark stubble along his jawline, eyes lingering on his pulse point for a moment. Kerry had sucked an almost purple bruise into his flesh, right where skin and cyberware met, as V had been flinching and whimpering under him…

Blip beep. Another message from Lee forced the steamy mental image out of Kerry’s head. He huffed and quickly checked his phone, with no intention to respond.

“The situation in regard to the video is somewhat under control now,” it read, and Kerry shuddered, “But N54 News’ showbiz representative sent in another exclusive interview request. They agreed to scratch the questions that had been bothering you in their previous e-mail, but in return they want a statement on the video and your relationship status. Same conditions as before. I think this is as great chance to clear things up and gain you some sympathy – also in light of already circulating rumors. I wrote up some possible responses (attached below) if you want to read them in advance! Maybe we can meet up some time later today, or tomorrow or… whenever fits best. To talk things through, discuss the next steps for the album and everything else. Please just quickly let me know if you’ve read this so I know you’re okay and onboard!”

Kerry suppressed an annoyed groan to not wake V. After a few more minutes of failing to doze off as well, he decided to get up. Drink some more maybe, have a smoke. Smash his phone with a hammer. In fact, what he really wanted was to get high out of his mind, knock himself out with vodka and pills, and sleep for 72 hours straight. Had he been alone, just lil’ old Kerry back at his villa in North Oak… he probably would’ve, and without hesitation.

Instead, now, he slipped into his bathrobe hanging over the gallery’s rail, and as he passed by V’s desk to get to the kitchen, his eyes got caught by the screens once more. A quick glance over his shoulder confirmed that V was still asleep. He had been so sure to find something suspicious on the security footage… but he’d also been high on Vik’s drug cocktail, dizzy from drinking Kerry’s actual cocktail, and pre-occupied with too much else. No surprise he hadn’t succeeded. If there even was anything to find at all.

Then again, Kerry barely knew what he was doing when it came to their house’s security system either. He had left these types of things to his management team for decades, and so far, that had worked out just fine. Mostly, at least. V had said himself, back when they had this installed here, that there simply was no system that was one hundred percent safe and impenetrable. There were always loopholes, exploits to use, and all that other fancy tech terminology Kerry only half understood but loved to hear V talk about.

“You can never fully rule out human error, either,” was what he liked to say.

Hence why Kerry felt a little silly when he pulled out the desk chair after standing, staring, and pondering it all for too long. All camera views were still selected in the review tool, V was visible in one of them, the 180 degrees view into the armory. He was looking up at the lens, at Kerry, pensive and serious. The timestamp read “August 3rd 2077 – 11.46 a.m.“. Just a little over a month ago, but he looked so much less tired than he did most days now. But also, at this point, he must’ve already been working for Blue-Eyes behind the scenes. Kerry realized that maybe that was exactly why he had been so keen on upgrading the security system before they’d even properly settled in.

Kerry sighed, leaned back in the chair, and then pulled up his own schedule. They’d just talked about it, the day Viktor had delivered more bad news to V regarding his initial treatment plan was the same day Kerry finally got out of the contract with Kovachek. The same day Blue-Eyes got in touch with his convenient help offer. He had to scroll past walls of texts and messages, but he finally found the invitation for the meeting with the studio bosses. July 22nd. Yeah, no footage for that. They had been talking about moving in together for a while at that time already though… early, really, given how they first met back in May only. But V had spent most of his nights at Kerry’s villa anyway, and Kerry sought refuge at V’s apartment all other days. Finding a place for them both together had simply felt like the right next logical step. It still did, more than ever. And with how little time they seemed to have left at the moment, there was no “too soon” for nothing, really…

Kerry held the thought and continued to scroll further up through his appointments on his planner’s interface. The scheduled meeting during which Lee had signed him on, a few days after the final conversation with Kovachek. The appointment with the realtor to view the penthouse. Moving in day, various important events at the recording studio, and with medias. A handful of parties, occasions, dinner dates with V sprinkled in-between, an invitation from River to come over some time… He hesitated for a moment at August 20th. It had been surprisingly hard again this year, but V made it easier, like so many other things...

After a few more studio-related appointments Kerry had reached present time.

He looked back at the computer screen in front of him, had to search for a play button. Then the recordings started moving again, at a quite high speed.

“Ah fuck…” Kerry hissed and looked for a way to slow the footage down, clicking some random buttons, but without success. Before accidentally deleting something, Kerry decided to just keep his eyes peeled for anything out of the usual as best as he managed, but there was nothing too obvious… Them both or either of them leaving and coming back home every day around similar times, AVs or delivery drones landing outside. There was quite the commotion with the moving company in the beginning, lots of strangers all at once, but Kerry didn’t recall any of them behaving weirdly, or even getting near where V stored his pills at the time.

Since there was only about a month of footage sped up dramatically, Kerry opted to just restart it a handful of times whenever he reached the end. Lee showed up in person at the entrance quite often in the beginning, but rarely made it all the way into the penthouse… Kerry hadn’t been aware just how often he did it though, seeing it happen again and again now on loop. He assumed that during some occasions neither he nor V were home to let him in. Kerry in fact remembered only one time Lee had been here in the early days, and how pissed he’d gotten at him for showing up unannounced over something completely trivial. He’d told him to meet up at the studio for these types of convos in the future and he had assumed that was the end of the story of unannounced visits.

Apparently not. Because right now he saw Lee coming back day after day… then not anymore for a few weeks. Then again on two days in a row at the end of August, the 24th and 25th. Kerry was not there to invite him in for any of those visits either…

He paused the preview at Lee just getting out of the penthouse and into the elevator on August 25th. His heart was racing faster than the footage had been, raking his brains… Had V let him in? He doubted that…

He pulled up his holo screen again to read back through the endless wall of text messages Lee had sent him since. Finally, the 25th, on which there had been a little bit of back and forth between them actually, and Kerry’s tension dropped slightly.

“Lee, I’m fucking busy tonight. Shard with demos is still at my new place. If you really need it that desperately, you gotta go get it yourself,” had been Kerry’s final message that night, and it fit the timeframe Lee was at the penthouse.

 So, he’d let him in remotely to pick up that shard, just how he did the other day to feed the cat. Temporary access token, no big deal, right…

Kerry scrolled further back through his messages, but there was nothing in his texts, nor his e-mails, nor his appointments that would explain Lee’s visit on the day before though. Only a reminder to himself about “date night with V <;3”, the reason for his pre-occupation on the 25th and neither of them being at the penthouse.

He dismissed his schedule and stared back at the screen. At Lee with his ridiculous pompadour, bleach-blond still at the time, in his over-priced suit, stumbling into the elevator, frozen in time. Going by the timestamps, he’d been in the penthouse for 15 minutes to pick up the shard which seemed… long for a task that simple. Unless it wasn’t the only thing he’d done there while Kerry and V were out on a fancy date.

No, not him though. The thought alone was fucking insane. That man’s spine was a slinky toy. He almost shat his pants whenever he had to call or speak to Kerry. If all that was an act and he was secretly one of Blue-Eyes’ agents, he deserved a fucking Oscar. Kerry shook his head at his own paranoia, took a few moments to rationalize, think it through. Lee was notorious for his bad timing and inability to just leave him the fuck alone. There were a million possible explanations that made more sense than any deeper, darker purpose behind these numerous, persistent visits and incompetence of fulfilling easy tasks in a timely manner…

He scrolled back through the footage to the several days in a row Lee was there at the start of August, shortly after they moved in. Kerry had his messages to him from that timeframe at the ready.

The one time he actually remembered Lee coming to the penthouse to talk was a Sunday. He didn’t even have a proper reason, apart from “getting to know each other a bit better” and discussing future plans and whatnot. Nothing they couldn’t have done over the holo. Hence why Kerry had been so pissed off, apart from Lee invading his living room unannounced. V hadn’t been there, thankfully.

The day after this incident Lee was on the footage again… No messages in Kerry’s inbox, but a calendar appointment for booking a recording booth. Kerry wasn’t home, and going by the footage, Lee didn’t get into the house either. He lingered in front of the intercom by the entrance a long while though, and Kerry noticed that he was talking – to V maybe, home that day, but telling him that Kerry was at the studio? Lee left the entrance area of the building with reluctance. Then he came back the next day, and again, Kerry couldn’t make a connection to his visit with any of the entries in his schedule or his messages. And then, August 11th…

“Lee… got a problem, forgot to fill the cat feeder this morning. I’ll be at the studio for a while still. Sending you a temporary access token. Cat food in the shelf next to the fridge.”

“You can never fully rule out human error…” shot through Kerry’s mind again. But yes, of course he’d give him access to their house, repeatedly, for stupid little tasks like that. Why wouldn’t he? Lee was a fucking pathetic little loser. He could never harm them in any way apart from maybe, psychological damage, right?

Kerry continued to stare at the screen, the timestamps. Lee arrived on the 11th and then spent almost 45 minutes feeding the cat. Kerry jumped forward to near the end of the collection of recordings, to a couple of days ago. The day he’d been at the med center and instructed Lee to feed the cat as well. Lee arrived at the penthouse quickly and sent his photo of Nibbles eating 5 minutes later. He was out the front door again after just over ten minutes. What had he done for the more than 30 extra minutes during the first “feed the cat” visit? Even his incompetence wasn’t great enough to need that long to locate the cat food and put it in the feeder.

Kerry’s ears were ringing as he watched himself in front of the computer from above. He hadn’t had such an intense out-of-body experience in a while. Trying to come up with a more logical explanation than “he probably searched for and swapped the pills during that time”, he was unable to even lift a finger. The thought ate itself into his brain like acid.

“Lee swapped the pills…” he wasn’t even sure if he said it out loud, so insane the mere idea. For money, for power, for chrome? What could a Mr. Blue-Eyes offer a small light like Lee… Well, everything he wanted, probably, and more. And Lee was dumb enough to believe him, too, if even V could be lured in by someone like that with promises big and times desperate enough.

 When Kerry arrived back in his own body eventually, his paralysis was slowly but surely replaced by rage.

“I’m gonna fuckin’ kill that bastard…” he muttered to himself, got up from the chair, and instead of drinking more, maybe having a smoke, he went to grab his clothes from the wardrobe and then his gun from the armory. V was still fast asleep and none the wiser by the time the Aerondight left the garage.

Of course, Kerry wouldn’t kill Lee. Not really. Probably. But at the very least he wanted to scare the shit out of him and make him talk. Even if he had nothing to do with all of this in the way Kerry assumed, something was up with him, and Kerry needed to give him a piece of his mind before he imploded for good.

He arrived in front of the MSM recording studio in Charter Hill much faster than anticipated… so much so that his impromptu plan to get Lee to talk was still somewhat fuzzy around the edges. He was in the mood to storm in, guns blazing, but there was no guarantee Lee was even there. Maybe he should’ve checked that before coming here. Kerry cursed between his teeth, slightly clammy hands gripping the steering wheel tightly as he parked straight across from the building’s main entrance. Reluctantly he decided to simply call his manager, something he usually never did. It rang a handful of times, longer than he would’ve expected.

“Kerry?” asked the shaky voice on the other end of the line.

“Certainly not Lizzy Wizzy,” Kerry replied deadpan, “Where are ya?”

His heart was beating in his throat.

“I’m at the studio! I’ve been waiting to hear from you, been worried that –…”

“I’m outside the front door,” Kerry interrupted him, “Come down, let’s talk.”

He tried not to let his nerves show, and he was thankful for his AudioVox evening out the slight tremor in his words.

“Uh… why don’t you come upstairs to my office?” Lee evaded, “Vicki just dropped by with two new demos you can listen to, I think – …”

“No,” Kerry said sternly, but he was grasping at straws for a reason as to why they had to meet outside that wouldn’t leave Lee even more suspicious.

“Bring the demos with ya, we’ll listen to ‘em on the road,” was the best thing he could bullshit this quickly, “Been too stagnant lately, gotta move around a bit, get the creative juices flowing.”

Empty phrases he’d flung around a million times before, but they usually worked with types like Lee.

“Oh… okay?” Lee said, then there was silence for a couple of seconds, “Okay, I’ll be right there but… I need to be back at the studio at the latest in an hour, got an important appointment...”

Kerry didn’t reply and simply hung up. No promises.

Lee appeared at the building’s main entrance around ten endless minutes later. Maybe he was truly just very bad at fulfilling simple tasks quickly. Kerry’s doubts were loud in his head as his right leg bounced in a shaky rhythm, the gun in his jacket’s pocket, heavy as a brick, bruising his thigh. Lee jogged across the street, black and blue designer coat fluttering in the wind. When he approached the passenger side of the car, he tried to put on a smile, but it was slanted and forced. Kerry opened the door for him.

“Get in,” he ordered, demanded almost, and Lee slightly flinched, fumbling in his pockets and pulling out a handful of shard cases.

“Got everything with me, I thought maybe we could start with the song demos? But just in case I also brought the interview questions I mentioned, and some other things you can decide on for the upcoming promo events.”

“Wow, great. Now get in,” Kerry repeated himself with zero enthusiasm and finally Lee slipped into the seat. The same seat V had fucked Kerry in so gloriously yesterday… and now Lee desecrated the space with his presence.

Kerry closed the door again and sped off before Lee could say another word, headed towards the highway that would lead them out of the city.

Lee kept babbling without pause, played the demos for Kerry and recounted the producers’ notes on what needed to be changed still and what was good, as well as the opinions of the studio bosses Kerry didn’t give a fuck about. But he had to just nod and smile, because in the end they were the ones that determined his success to an essential degree.

About twenty minutes into their drive, with buildings left and right becoming scarce and nothing but the near-deserted Badlands ahead of them, Lee grew quieter. He stared blankly ahead at the CrystalDome screens.

“Uh, Kerry, at the latest at five I need to be back in Charter Hill,” he reminded him.

Kerry did not respond, only half heard him really, his thoughts racing, eyes scanning for a secluded place he could pull into, wary to not be tailed by gangers, or worse, paparazzi. His GPS navigation pointed out a little dead-end road not far ahead, leading to an old racing track. He remembered the place, knew where he was now. He’d been here with V, very early on in their relationship, blowing off steam after something V couldn’t talk about at the time. That was before Blue-Eyes even, Johnny was still around… In hindsight Kerry was sure it had had something to do with that whole Dogtown mess.

His Aerondight squealed and rumbled across the uneven dirt road, he physically couldn’t go much further than a couple of hundred yards away from the highway, so he pulled over to the side of the road behind a large rock and turned off the engine.

“Uh, Kerry, we still have a long drive back ahead of us, and I gotta – ,“ Lee wanted to protest and Kerry slipped his fingers around the grip of his gun. He tried to breathe away his shaking, but it was no use. They were here now, he had to seize the opportunity, because who knew when – or if – Lee would ever get into the same car with him again.

He pulled his gun and pointed it at Lee, who let out a brief but surprisingly controlled scream and immediately raised his hands.

“K-Kerry I mean… Let’s talk this through, I’m sure you don’t wanna –…”

“Shut your fucking second asshole, Lee, ‘cause there’s only shit comin’ from it anyway,” Kerry ordered sternly, somewhat surprised at his own bravado, “Turn off your phone and put it in the glovebox, and then get out. No tricks, no messing around.”

“Okay, okay!” Lee whimpered, pulled out his phone with a feverish expression and squashed it in the glovebox between condoms, unpaid parking tickets, and one or two satchels of colorful pills.

“Get out, hands on your head,” Kerry repeated, “And slowly start walkin’.”

“Okay!” Lee squealed, eyes big and teary, then Kerry unlocked and opened the door for him before getting out of the car himself.

He looked over his shoulder, listened into the distance, but the desert was quiet. No roaring engines, no gunshots, no yelling. Yet.

With his gun he gestured Lee towards the old racing track, and whimpering Lee obeyed and marched on, white syn-leather boots soon turned orange from the dust. They quietly walked on until Kerry felt there was enough of a distance to the road, and they were at least partially obscured by the tall coarse rock formations and sparse vegetation framing the location.

“That’s far enough. Turn around,” he ordered, gun still pointing at Lee, he gripped it tightly with both hands to keep it steady. His manager slowly did as he was told, turning on the spot, slightly hunched over and squinting against the sun and the barrel of the gun. Kerry just stared back at him, tried to make sense of it still… and wondered if he had maybe lost it for good now. In the end, he had only a vague suspicion, no proof, no nothing. The uncertainty began to gnaw on his to-begin-with shaky confidence in all of this.

“Kerry listen,” Lee then pleaded, “I’m sure this has got to be a misunderstanding of some sort! Let’s just… talk, okay? Without the gun, maybe?”

“Shut it,” Kerry ordered, “I’m makin’ the rules here.”

“Okay, okay,” Lee lowered his head slightly, whispering something under his breath Kerry didn’t quite catch. He never took Lee for a religious person, but a little prayer probably couldn’t hurt in a moment like this.

Kerry still didn’t have a plan of action in his mind on how to move forward. In a movie the hero would probably hold a dramatic speech now, confronting the villain about his crimes and all, but truthfully, Kerry wasn’t the hero here. Holding a whimpering mess like Lee at gunpoint at least had nothing heroic about it. So, he decided to just cut straight to the point.

“Did you swap V’s pills?” he asked, voice not nearly as firm as the grip around his gun. He didn’t even have his finger on the trigger, but the visual alone was intimidating enough, he hoped.

He expected confusion, more bargaining, or just downright denial from Lee. Not for his eyes to grow wide, the remaining color to fade from his face. And for once in his life, Lee was dead silent, stared at Kerry open-mouthed. He’d hit the nail on the head.

“You fuckin’ asshole!” Kerry hissed and took a step towards Lee, pointing his gun straight between the fucker’s eyes, near-blinded by anger at Lee’s reaction. Lee screamed and flinched back, stumbling almost. Now the bargaining began.

“Please, please, I had no choice, they threatened to ruin me!”

“Well, tough shit, guess I’ll do it for ‘em now!” Kerry barked, his chest tight and face hot, and Lee kept screaming, pleading.

“No, no, no! Please!”

“You fuckin’ son of a bitch! To save your own sorry ass you, you – …”

Suddenly Lee’s persistent fear of Kerry and V made even more sense. If he’d been behind this from the start, he’d probably been scared they’d figure it out somehow, sooner or later. Every time they were alone together the bastard was a shaking mess not because he was so bad at his job, but scared for his life. Well, a little bit of both maybe.

“Who told you to do this?” Kerry then asked, “And you better spit it out quickly and as detailed as possible, or I’ll leave your sorry ass to rot out here.”

Lee whimpered and now sank to his knees, hands still on his head, facing the ground and actually sobbing.

“I don’t know them, I swear!” he sputtered, “Never saw their faces, never spoke to anyone in person. It all went over the holo. Directed me to pick up spots and gave me a certain timeframe to do… to do the swap. And if I hadn’t, they’d’ve ruined my life. Oh god… they’re not gonna just ruin my life, they’re really gonna kill me now that you know!”

He tumbled over forward, face-first into the sand and his sobbing intensified. Kerry couldn’t help but feel sorry for him now, a pathetic little loser in way over his head. And his story sadly sounded plausible with the little Kerry and V knew about Blue-Eyes and his associates.

“Fucking hell…” Kerry muttered and lowered his gun, then he closed the remaining distance between himself and Lee. He bent down and firmly grasped him by the back of his collar to pull him back up. Lee neither resisted nor made the feat easy for Kerry.

“Get it together, man,” Kerry hissed through gritted teeth and Lee fell backwards on his ass and just sat in the sand now, a picture of misery. His face and hair were encrusted with dirt, wet streaks running down his cheeks, his hands rested in his lap in resignation.

Kerry knelt down on one knee in front of him, gun still at the ready just in case, and tried to catch Lee’s gaze.

“Hope they at least fuckin’ paid you well,” Kerry said, trying his best to remain calm, scared that Lee would actually pass out if he intimidated him even more. Lee shook his head and Kerry frowned.

“They blackmailed me,” he explained sniffling, “I don’t know how but… They have so much information on me that I was sure no one knew about. How I never went to a prestigious school, the shit my parents did, how many of my credentials are… polished at best, how I… I never would’ve made it this far up at MSM if I hadn’t… improved my background here and there. I’m gonna lose everything if that information reaches the wrong kinda people...”

Kerry sighed deeply.

“Why am I not surprised,” he muttered, but knowing that Lee acted for purely selfish reasons made this somehow so much worse than if he’d just done it for a huge chunk of money. Not that it surprised him though, that was Night City in a nutshell. He got up again and started pacing in front of Lee.

“Lemme guess, you also didn’t know what you were even swapping there, right?” he asked, anger creeping back in, “Cause, surprise, you didn’t exchange some ibuprofen with sugar pills!”

He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a few deep breaths. They still didn’t even know exactly what these pills had been doing to V, but whatever it was, if they came from Mr. B, it couldn’t be good. Some kind of preparation to put V in that artificial body at best, mind control that was killing him even faster than his own body at worst. Everything in-between and beyond seemed possible and plausible, too.

“They said it was none of my concern and the less I knew, the better,” Lee admitted quietly, and Kerry couldn’t help but laugh out loud in frustration.

“You… pathetic shitstain!” he now yelled, so close to losing his temper again, “You’re the worst kind of scumbag, aren’t you? Messin’ with someone else’s life and health without asking any questions, just to save your own sorry ass. Believe me, you fit in just fuckin’ right with MSM and that whole fucking’ shitshow of a corporation. Such a brave obedient little corpo soldier, aren’t ya? Fuck!”

He kicked a small rock into the distance, swirling up orange dust, and its impact against one of the larger rock formations echoed across the desert. The sun was beginning to set over the city far behind them, and Kerry paced back and forth, back and forth, failing to find a solution. Lee held his head low and said nothing either, too shaken and guilty still, probably packing his bags in his mind already. Or shoveling his grave.

V would know what to do now, or at least be able to improvise something, but Kerry was at a loss. He eventually stopped in his tracks, still clutching his gun tightly, but despite his seething anger at Lee he still had no intentions of killing him. The guy had killed himself long ago already by weaseling his way into MSM through crooked schemes. Blue-Eyes was only serving him the bill for it now.

As if he could sense Kerry staring at him, Lee looked up and their eyes met.

“What now?” he asked shakily.

“Dunno, whaddaya suggest?” Kerry shrugged, “Wanna have me put ya outta your misery right away?”

“No no no!” Lee stammered and raised his hands again, hunching over in fear, “Please I… I know I fucked up, big time!”

“That’s the understatement of the century…”

After a moment of hesitation Lee looked back up at him again, carefully.

“I… if there is anything I can do to make up for this…”

Kerry couldn’t help himself but laugh.

“Well now I’m curious what in the fuck you’re gonna offer.”

“I… dunno…” Lee’s brief moment of confidence was blown out like a candle in a storm.

Kerry didn’t know either because, as usual, Lee was useless. Or at the very least he didn’t see a solution that could actually help them either. He needed to tell V about this. As soon as possible.

“Get back in the car,” Kerry then ordered, waving with his gun, “Takin’ ya to your stupid appointment.”

Lee’s eyes grew wider.

“What? Am I… I’m just supposed to continue as normal?”

Kerry frowned.

“What did you expect, that I’m gonna help you escape into a cozy exile somewhere nice and sunny while we clean up your mess and deal with the consequences?”

Lee just stared in response, but Kerry wouldn’t have let him answer anyway.

“You stay put and behave exactly how you always do, play the manager. And you sure as hell will not tell anyone anything about what we just talked about,” he ordered, “If your creep friends call you and ask you to run another errand, you will do exactly that, and don’t let show in any way that would suggest V and I caught on.”

“I… what?” Lee stammered.

“I’m not done yet,” Kerry interrupted him sternly, “Not done with you, either. You will make up for this shit you caused. And I promise you, if I get as much as a whiff of you tryin’ to rat us out or bail or whatnot… V knows people that will track you down to the dark side of the moon to blow your lights out, if necessary.”

The last one was a bluff, although he was sure, with some persuasive words and favors exchanged here and there, even that would be possible, should the need arise.

“Okay, okay!” Lee whimpered, “Understood. I… This meeting never happened?”

“Damn straight. Now back into the car, asshole.”

Kerry was elsewhere with his thoughts for the entirety of the ride back into the city. It wasn’t much, but if Lee managed to keep his mouth shut and not draw Blue-Eyes’ attention, they now actually were a step ahead. Kerry just didn’t know how to use this tiny edge yet, if they could use it at all… and all of course under the assumption that Blue-Eyes wasn’t listening in or watching them 24/7 through some fucked up means already anyway.

“Don’t forget your phone,” Kerry said when he stopped in front of the studio to let Lee get out. They were back early enough so he still had some time to clean himself up, get himself back together before his appointment.

“Yeah, right, thank you,” Lee stammered and stumbled out of the car and slowly started walking towards the building without further words.

The passenger door slid shut and the warm interior lights of the Aerondight engulfed him, but still, it was far from enough to soothe his nerves. Kerry rested his forehead on the steering wheel and let out a deep breath. Something in his guts told him that the studio would call him tomorrow morning to inform him of Lee’s mysterious disappearance or death, and that they already had the next replaceable guy lined up to take over…

“Fuck…” he muttered, smacked the steering wheel, and unlocked his own door. He jumped onto the street, a car passing by honking at him, but he ignored it. He turned to the main entrance of the studio building where Lee was just about to walk through the door.

“Lee!” he called, and Lee flinched and turned around with wide eyes, like a deer in headlights.

“Get back here,” Kerry waved, and hesitantly his manager returned to the side of the car.

“Yes?” he asked shakily, clutching his phone still. Sand was still dripping from his hair and the dirt on his face had dried.

“Get back in,” Kerry decided, and Lee gulped audibly, “Don’t think it’s a good idea to leave you alone right now. These guys that made you do this stuff…”

He didn’t have to say anything else, Lee nodded in strong agreement.

Edge or not, it was so small, so insignificant almost… And no matter how much he hated Lee’s guts sometimes, if Blue-Eyes snuffed him in his sleep tonight… Lee could know more than he let on, maybe even subconsciously. Him already being involved in this whole mess against his will also made him a better ally than any new manager that could be one of Blue-Eyes spies for real this time.

Lee got back in the passenger seat, and Kerry behind the wheel, turning on the engine. How the hell he was gonna break this to V he didn’t know yet. Right as he wanted to drive off, back home, he noted a dark van parked across the street, in good view of them. Kerry hesitated. This was nothing, probably, delivery guys, technicians. Although, no markings, names, or logos on the car.

Maybe this shit was getting to him more than he realized, seeing enemies where there were none. But it had ended with a black van with the Peralezes as well…

He tried to write the thought off as paranoia once again, but just in case, Kerry made extra sure they weren’t being followed before even getting into view of Watson.

*****************

>> Next Chapter

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Notes:

It's been a hot minute, so much has happened since my last update, and I'm so happy I can finally share this ;__; I really had a lot of fun writing Kerry on his own little adventure for this chapter, and I think a few of you will be happy to see Lee back as well XD I've grown quite fond of him and had really been looking forward to this little reveal ever since I first introduced him xD I hope it came as a surprise but not entirely unexpected that he's involved in this mess a bit more deeply than he let on so far.

I hope the next chapter update won't take me as long as this one did, as with black vans showing up unannounced and Mr. B's schemes slowly becoming unravelled I can't wait to continue telling this story! :3

I put a little nod at Dogtown in this chapter, but to anyone who hasn't played Phantom Liberty and wants to continue reading: fret not! Since I started writing this story before the expansion and planned it out without any ties to it, the events of PL will not be majorly referenced here, not beyond what I did in this chapter.

Hope you enjoyed reading this, as always, and are looking forward to how it's all gonna continue (hopefully soon). I would say, we're about to reach the midway point of the story!

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[crybaby-capri]

so i finished imas 2011, shiny festa, and the movie a while ago and something bugged me when i was watching it (and when rewatching) that i wanna talk abt cause idk if im just being nit picky.

i feel like imas 2011 treats some of its characters so poorly sometimes. the worst victim of this is miki, i think. earlier on in the show, i REALLY liked her. and i still do, but i feel like after a certain point she sort of lost all her personality. she already had a lot of her screentime dedicated to fanservice, and by that i dont mean the sexual boobies in your face kind (which actually does happen in the first ep iirc lmfao) but like. her winking and being cute for the camera, or doing something cutesy with the producer (who i believe is meant to be a self insert, based not only on character but also the role of the producer in. well. everything else related to imas)

but when she started her weird obsession with the producer is when it really started getting to me. the "honey!!" thing was okay at first i guess like its not the end of the world, but it got irritating very quickly. it also felt uncomfortable, considering shes 15 and the producer is way older than her. yeah i get that teens get crushes on adults all the time but it didnt seem like it was portrayed in that way. to ME at least it just seemed like boring fanservice that they refused to give up on, probably because they knew a lot of fans liked imagining themselves in producers position. i still like her but the constant fucking "HONEY!!1!1 DONT LOOK AT OTHER GIRLS HONEY!!!" makes it really hard to even though i know it aint her fault.

Azusa is another victim of something similar. i watched that whole anime waiting to find something of interest in her, and while there definitely was, it was buried under a heap of gag moments. the whole "im just a woman with big boobies and i got loostt agaaiinn ouuuhh nouu me so dumdums :(" thing just got so tiring so quickly. ive learned to appreciate her more by now but idk is just annoying how she feels like she only exists to be hot and stupid

these are all just my thoughts! i still really enjoyed what i saw of imas, i just wish it weren't so. That sometimes. but then again from what i know i think the series has always been like this. im posting this just cause i want to see what other Ps think about it, whether they agree or disagree, etc. also lmk if im just flat out wrong anywhere!! ty for reading :)

[destinysbounty]

Listen I KNOW that it's a cheap trick to keep reusing Zane's death theme any time something particularly tragic happens to him, but dammit it WORKS! Every time! I straight up can't get through his farewell recording in season 11 without getting at least a little teary-eyed. I KNOW they're doing it to play with my emotions but I can't help it 😭

To my knowledge, there are three instances of Zane's death theme being used (if I'm missing any, feel free to correct me!) First when he died in season 3, then in his fight with Mr. E in season 8, and lastly during his farewell recording in season 11. And while I'm sure this was entirely coincidental, I noticed that the one connecting thread between all three scenes - aside from something bad happening to Zane - is a theme of isolation.

Take Zane's battle against the Overlord, for instance. In Decoded, Zane confesses to having felt 'alone' when he died, to such an extent that he locked away that trauma and that loneliness in a digital puzzle-box in his head so it wouldn't hurt him anymore. Sure, Zane was empowered and comforted by memories of his friends in his final moments, but he was still all by himself up there.

And when he fought Mr. E, the final shot the camera focuses on as the music begins, is of Zane lying lifeless at the bottom of a canyon, all by himself, with all his friends too far away to help him. He'd done everything he could to help his friends, to further their investigation, even going so far as to intercept a coded message in his final moments of consciousness, but he'd failed. And as he lays there, unconscious and shut off, his distress beacon flashes to notify his friends of his location. They're coming, but they're all still far away. Until then, he is helplessly on his own.

And when he was recording his farewell message, he was definitely alone (I mean Vex was there but he didn't exactly know about that). He recorded that message as a farewell in the hopes that someone, anyone would see it and know who he was. Remember, he wasn't specifically addressing his friends in the message, just whoever happened to find the recording. He wasn't saying goodbye to his friends, necessarily, he was just....he just wanted to be known. He wanted someone, somewhere out there to know his name and know that he existed, and that he loved his friends. Using their memory to comfort him, even if he can't have their presence.

It makes sense though, right? For about 40 years, Dr. Julien and the falcon served as Zane's only company. And we don't know how long Zane wandered with amnesia, but we can reasonably assume that was a pretty lonely period of his life - especially since he very quickly adopted the ninja as his family, like by episode two he was already emotionally attached, yall this guy is so lonely. Then there's the months he spent imprisoned on Chen's island, separated from all his friends and unable to even remember their names (or his own for that matter). And how he struggled in the wake of Pixal's disappearance from his systems during HoT. And how poorly Zane handled Cole's perceived death. His literal decades spent lost in the Never Realm. Him and Pixal being the only ones left while everyone else got trapped in Prime Empire.

And let's not forget that the moment Nadakhan deleted Pixal's data files from his neural drive, Zane wished himself away then and there. This guy is so lonely, yall.

Just....I could make a full freakin thesis paper on Zane and loneliness, but I don't want this post to get too long. Rest assured I am crying about this either way

[wegonbealright-09]

So I've been thinking quite a lot about a lot of things since Tae debuted since the release of slow dancing and I've decided to put my thoughts into words

......

So since Tae released and debuted officially there's been a lot going on around his debut at the same time nothing at all. I'm very surprised by the company's quietness. Hybe's quietness. Geffen records quietness I haven't seen a single post from the companies with regards to the debut and the release.

It's so bad like really bad. I'm pretty sure he's rethinking his decisions maybe wishes he has taken a different route because his debut is not that much different from the rap line. It'll be by luck if he sees the bb100 top 30. I mean the schedule was fucked up. How do you release the same day as the industries plant and expect good results. Kths trydefending themselves by saying that he didn't have a Collab before his debut like the other members. That's not an excuse good enough it's not a valid excuse at all considering that fact he "the most popular idol". You should have to have excuses when it comes to delivering. I knew they wouldn't do good in streams but I thought they could do better in MV views considering the fact that when they called him the most famous idol they would bring fancam views and engagements as evidence. By the way is it only me who notices that not only army has stopped posting updates about jimin they have stopped completely engaging in his posts and brand posts.?

So with what's going on rn. Many thought that scooter probably has beef or a problem with jimin but it doesn't only seem like that but it's also crystal clear that they're indeed pushing the "Jungkook biggest pop star" agenda. It's clear now that they've invested in jk only. Which makes me raise an eyebrow with regards to the group's future

Whilst on JK. I truly don't get him now. Idk I feel like whatever ever it is that he's doing its definitely not good and it's going to backfire in the long run. First of all his behaviour during the second chapter is very mhhhh. Idk he's been serving weird vibes and I feel like this is the real him. He's done concealing and putting on a facade and his personality is pure shite. First of all he smokes that's not very surprising to me. He's always wanted to be viewed as this tough guy, nonchalant guy who got zero chill and gives zero fucks. He's drank on live showed alcohol on a live not even Jin the CEO of Jinhit does that he's always made sure not to show alcohol when he drinks on a live. He's smoking nicotine and all that shite he probably smokes a blunt too. He's got a whole sleeve of tattoos. All these things I think he's tryna appears tough and all. But he behaves like a teen going through adolescent. You're 26 grow tf up and stop lurking on the internet, tryna be a bad boy you're half way to your thirties. Behave like your age.

And a part of me thinks this may all be fabricated, with the bad boy, fuck boy image he tryna have for his debut looking at seven the lyrics and all that now seen in the streets of NY smoking clearly looking at a camera knowing his being photographed, looks staged to me. When he was in SK he clearly panicked in that live when his vape was visible, that doesn't seem nonchalant to me because of he doesn't really give a fuck he should have gave a fuck then also, because he tries hiding the vape then. He might just be seen making out with a female or in a club somewhere with strippers shaking their ass on him. Which reminds me of the wild JB during his debut years scandal after scandal. Classic.

With all that's going on rn idk if BTS is really going to come back as a group in 2025 if they come back as a group jk is going to stand out like a sore thumb because you can't try and convince me that the members are absolutely okay with this. Them getting the bare minimum and jk getting everything. There's already been a shift in the group's energy you can see who's who. That ot7 shite don't exists no more. Tell me why would scooter invest millions on a guy that'll be gone in the next 7-8 months unless he's not going to serve with the rest of the group or when BTS comes back they'll be ot7 with the maknae gone. Gone to be the biggest pop star.

If BTS comes back in 2025 it'll be very much forced. Namjoon before FACE. He looked like he was done with the group barely mentioning it he looked like he was happy being a solo because his album was doing good. The FACE was released nigga was on some "I want better numbers" blah blah. He became jealous and insecure. Then there's yoongi with his bitchy attitude towards jimin which I won't even address. Then there's Tae and Jimin whom it is very clear that they're divorced the friendship is gone they're no longer close everybody can see. Now tell me how would it look like if they bahave like besties in their comeback when we clearly know they're not that close anymore? The there's JK, I know none of the members are okay with this preferred treatment him being treated like the next MJ. So you tryna when they come back as group if they will, it'll be rainbows and sunshine's, ot7 forever? Hell no.

There's alot going on rn. Tae trying to feed his delulu shippers by name dropping jk 100 times before his debut. Jk in his emo era again can't wait for jimin's birthday I want to see something

Well well well

[inchidentally]

need ur analysis on the mclaren wrapping vid ASAP!!!!!!!! much love <3

<3<3 oh babe @slugesh already did such a great post of the best parts and I rly don't have anything to add other than to double down on wishing they'd just filmed them side by side? it's also such a weirdly throwaway Xmas video compared to how hard they've gone every year before this ?? giving them such a boring challenge and straight up not even putting the colors through post so that Oscar's lips don't look purple?? have they had like a staffing change since previous year orrrr

I wasn't active in fandom to know how much of the first part is true but I do know that they go hard for carlando bc the engagement is absolutely rabid lol. I also wouldn't be surprised if they're separating out the Lando content from Oscar bc Lando will get them more engagement on his own since he's a bigger personality and has such a huge existing fanbase. I don't check sites like twitter or even tiktok that much so idk how much their basing their targeted posting on?

side note that I kinda wish they'd done some research into the Prema videos bc that social media team blows all F1 teams socials out of the water (and with F2 money and resources no less!). none of the Prema boys apart from Arthur and Robert were natural hams yet they got all this great natural content out of them, especially Oscar! I've been on a few sets similar to that and truly so much comes from the energy behind the camera when dealing with non-professional actors or presenters. if you're low on props and the sets are minimal or just a meeting room then you've got to give the people on camera a LOT to bounce off of. again, I get that Carlos and Daniel made it easy for McLaren's team before this but like have they never done filming with any other driver?? on camera charisma is not a prerequisite for their jobs for a reason fgafgljasfgas

they could do just a teensy bit more and get all that great Prema Oscar content for themselves js!

I truly don't know enough about McLaren bts staff to know what they might know about bringing RPF into real life territory (though Lando posting that story about the attacks on Luisinha def made their radar). I personally feel like they just found Lando's reaction to those socks to be funny, esp since he followed it up by saying he'd wear them for race days. and as I said above, they're not going to give up the social media equivalent of a cash cow like carlando or at least discourage it.

but yea the comments on the Xmas vids on IG are why I'm happy to be backing off of carlando engagement when I'm reminded that the women involved in the larrying pay taxes and possibly have children and they're spending significant time upvoting carlando onto every. single. Lando post on McLaren sm. I'm actually getting sick of shit like the mareea caray thing bc it's being absolutely beaten to death. you would literally think Carlos wasn't over there actively saying that he considers himself and Charles a packaged deal and that they make a great couple and that it wasn't his choice to go to Ferrari if you went solely by comments on a team he'd planned on leaving before even fulfilling one season with them ??

[archangelween]

S2 overarching theory

Rewinds, memory and no god

I don't think the present in s2 are memories. It starts the same way that the s1 present-set times start: s2e1 begins in the clouds and zooms across the same landscape just like s1e2, the only difference is that there's more fog in s1 after the zoom into building-level. We literally go through a ton of white bullshit in s1 that isn't there in s2.

In s1, we were explicitly shown that what we were seeing was a recorded narration: the camera bumped into Newt's window, showing us that he can affect electronics, and we saw a pair of fast forwards/rewinds.

We did also explicitly see in s1 that there were different versions of the past/present, interwoven timelines if you will: Anathema's drawing on the title page of Agnes's book changes between when we are shown she made it and when Aziraphale sees it, and the "last" prophecy changes numbers. There is also a boat I cannot identify.

We did not have the fog in s2, and we did not have god's narration, and we had no ff/rw's. In s1, we also saw white mist in the paintball war, which appeared to make the office workers reenact the war in heaven: instead of seeing the ineffables as strangers, they saw them as people they knew.

I think the white mist, and the fog in the flydown to the present, was a "heavenly filter", god's POV. God sees "the truth", she sees things filtered through her demands, her rules.

Not having that in s2 means we are seeing reality as it appears to humans, not objectively, not "adjusted" so it's easy to understand. S1 was adjusted, s2 wasn't. That's why s1 was normal and s2 is a mess.

Imagine if we saw s1 without god's POV. What would it look like from the POV of the humans on the bench after armageddon who were told that their trade delegation got eaten by a mass hallucination?

It would look like timelines were intersecting and memories were being erased and you were reliving time loops. Because you kinda did. Except that's not what happened. It all happened, and it was changed post facto by Adam. That's not a memory wipe, but to the humans that's what it looks like. We are now those humans. Both realities are true: the trade delegation was eaten, and the monster that ate them never existed. That sure does look like a timeloop from the inside.

"Armageddon only happens once, you know. You don't get to go round again until you get it right."

Except they sure did. God shows us they did, because her ff/rw's show us things changed. God went round till she got what she wanted, but we only saw the last version.

Why else change the opening fly down? God said at the end of s1 after the reboot that "there was fallout in the nature of reality".

I think armageddon went round once, god didn't like it, so we went round at least once more, perhaps twice. You know how she likes threes. Maybe the first time Agnes wasn't there. Maybe the second time, there weren't enough prophecies to help. Third, perfect, and that's the one we saw: but there were echoes of the past two tries we didn't see inside the third that we did get to see. Much like how in s2, we see the dirty columns from the demons scratching it in the beginning, and people seem to appear and disappear as if there's sloppy Doylist editing and poor continuity. It got worse from s1 to s2 because we're not seeing the god's eye view, we're seeing things like those people on the bench bitching that a mass hallucination ate their trade delegation: people are literally there and gone between blinks.

God gave us a neat and linear Watsonian story in s1, because god was our Doylist editor. We do not have her anti-bullshit filter for s2, so now we are seeing what the humans in s1 saw: continuity errors.

So in s2, we don't get god's narration, we don't get her truth spell fog, AND on top of those, things are also "going screwy with reality" because of what Adam did.

Perhaps Aziraphale's and Crowley's powers go haywire: just like at the ball, people are now showing up as they wish to be, which would explain why people are dressed so haphazardly on the streets; and they now know something is wrong with supernatural events, instead of living in boring "reality" where they see them but make up a justification and forget. We're seeing what happens to Soho when A+C make it how they want it to be, just like Adam did to Tadfield's perfect weather. A+C never had to learn not to do that because they never had those powers before. The other angels have no idea what earth is like so they don't notice anything wrong.

If what we're seeing is A+C affecting reality, perhaps the people flipping around between blinks happens just like it did for Adam: Tibetan people not digging spy tunnels, then suddenly spying and having no idea why but compelled do to it. Maybe A+C are gaining powers akin to god's, and God is fighting them trying to control it, to put reality back to how it's supposed to be. A 14-second kiss feels like forever and the clock skips 15 minutes because that's how time feels like it's moving when you can MAKE your feelings into reality. Just as time doesn't move when you reminisce about when you fell in love and the days felt like they were melting together.

That doesn't explain Maggie though. She couldn't have bought the record store from its previous s1 owner and just lied about it, because Aziraphale would have said something (probably). Though perhaps she did just buy it, 8 months ago, and never paid rent. Nina is the only person she tells she was always there, but if it's true Nina only just arrived, Nina would not know she's lying. I do still think Maggie's god taken form, which explains all her weirdness: human heads aren't built for omniscience just like Jim's isn't built for remembering who he is anymore, you'd have to cut out a lot of stuff.

[clarajohnson]

the magicians s1e10

i love how the neitherlands are conveyed through spooky tilted camera angles

penny normally: >:-( penny when eve implies santa claus is real: :-o :-D

the neitherlanders are extremely interesting actually. wish we got more of them.

IF YOU WOULD JUST SHUT UP FOR TWO SECONDS THIS SEX DREAM WOULD PASS THE BECHDEL TEST QUENTIN

alice knows julia is his lifelong crush they've known each other for like three months pleaseeee

it was 1943 it wasn't a dirty thing to say back then

we just can't talk enough about eliot and margo's friendship truly i love them beyond anything

julia's online handle being vicious_circe... be mine miss wicker !!!!

the magicians, trying to convey an air of potential danger and creeping fascism in the library: so the camera is always tilted severely

free trader beowulf is one of the loveliest things in this show for the short time it exists. it's so sad.

thibadeau's planar compression. it's really not a big deal.

ALICE'S PARENTS !!!!!!!!!!! YIPPEE !!!!!!!

they are such assholes but also so fun like they're such an unexpected but sense-making part of alice's full context

zelda's pants are so yass and slay

"richard may be about forgiveness but i'm sure as shit not" as though that's not your best friend in the whole entire world kady

if my mom made me call her by her government name i would also be a little insane

i need us to spend much more time in alice's room. the butterfly artwork. the garden state soundtrack. my god.

she made him give me the version from the seventies because she thinks that kids should know what pubic hair looks like

"i'm really into damaged chicks" was about 90% of my reason for hating q the first time around

PLEASE QUENTIN IS THE WORST BOYFRIEND his limp little "oh my god" while alice is talking about family shit she's probably never in her life told anyone oh my god oh my god

i know a hundred ways to break in

ELIOT HAS TWO BOOKS

"filleted goat penis." "that's very thoughtful of you, dad."

you haven't even touched your penis!

alice's parents/joe throuple. it's a delight.

god i wanted margo to be able to deck him in the fucking face

"our friend is trapped in the neitherlands" "...acquaintance"

stephanie, this one DOES seem like an awful lot of work. which is why it works for eliot and not alice.

don't take this the wrong way mom but shut the fuck up okay <3

margolem is evil i think he should've been killed for that

"sometimes the only thing we do is spoon" "UGH"

shitty boyfriend q episode of all time where's that post about his internalized heterophobia

julia using "kludgy" she is a megadweeb

as i always do i love that the magicians as a show just kind of shrugs and says all gods. yes all gods. they're real.

ELIOT NEVER GETS TO OPEN UP

did margo have sex with the margolem yes/yes

"i like you a lot and i don't know why" is not what you say when you're interested in men i don't think

bite me.......................

[my-own-lilypad]

Just wanted to follow up on The Art of Selling Out not being a surprise to me. When it was announced he would star in A Rainy Day In New York I was shocked because even then there was enough negative information available about W.A. that non-celebrities could say, “Something is not right with that man.” Yes, he donated his salary afterwards but that was when I realized his ambition for fame was great. When the “dating” announcement broke earlier this year I realized more distance was needed; just admire his work but not follow his every move.

You don’t have to post but just wanted to add a bit more as you responded. Today was the first day I saw your blog and like what I have seen so far. Have a great day! 😎

That's ok, I don't mind follow ups! And thanks for the compliment. 

Yes, I agree - when I read about the drama around A Rainy Day in New York, I did start to wonder, why did Timmy get involved, it must have been purely for his own personal gain. Then I watched the film and I was not comfortable with the misogyny. Why would any young man claiming to represent people of all genders, colours, sexualities etc, an intelligent artist like him, ignore all of the old-fashioned sexism? Did he think it was funny? Did he think it wasn't gratuitous that the girl was naked by the end? Did he not see how that was some kind of perverted Chekhov's gun -like, here is a cute blonde - don't worry, by the end of the film you're gonna see her in her underwear, for no real reason. Not to mention the whole mother/hooker story line. I thought, Timmy must not have been thinking about the implications when he agreed to star in this rubbish. I passed it off - but part of me did wonder how far he was willing to go to further his career. Yes, he gave the money away, but it would have been better not to have starred in the film at all. Like, just don't support this shit. I don't know what he got out of being in a Woody Allen film but it must have been worth the drama. 

And now of course he is supporting Kylie Jenner - coming out to the public as being in a relationship with her is implicitly supporting everything she stands for, whether it's PR or true love. And not only did he come out as being in a relationship with her, it had to be a big media reveal - someone's filming, quick let me suck your face and grab your ass and then look smug at the camera. That flummoxed me. I was like - what is this shit? Grabbing a plastic model's ass in public? Groping her? - what are you THINKING? - how dare you normalise this shitty chauvinistic behaviour - you of all people!

That was when it fully dawned on me. No principles. Even if he's pressured into things, he's got a tongue in his head hasn't he? A brain in there too somewhere? Not a very intelligent lad in the end, as it turns out. But making a shitload of money, so that's ok then. 

The last part of your message about 'more distance is needed'. I agree, that is what I want and need now. I have loved and admired him (in a fandom way, you know 'fandom Timmy' not the real person obviously) for two years and I need to pull away because that person that I thought existed is not there. I mean, real-life relationships are hard enough to break away from, I don't need a fantasy one to be the same, lol!

If there is a film out that I want to see and he happens to be in it, then I will go and see it, but I'm not going to follow him the way I did. 

Anyway, enough of me rambling, but it did feel good to get all of that off my chest to someone who isn't blinded. Thank you for reading my blog, wish I could return the compliment. 🤓 Have a great day. ☺

[ofdarklands]

1 and 5 for both atrum and mitr'a please? 👁👁

yes boss

1. What is the character’s go-to drink order? (this one gets into how do they like to be publicly perceived, because there is always some level of theatricality to ordering drinks at a bar/resturant)

atrum in his hometown the closest thing to a bar was his parent’s bakery and they only served beer (strongly bread flavoured). after the Incident he looked like a sick(?) 15 years old and, more importantly, had like 3 coins to his name, and now it is currently a post apocalyptic world where he can only enter one of the surviving cities under like 2 glamours and 3 hiding spells, just in case. poor man WISHES he had a go-to drink order. would probably like an irish coffee, if it existed

mitr’a by now he doesn’t drink stuff he hasn’t made himself. before ishgard he was trying to find an eorzean beer he didn’t hate, but after that he decided it obviously wasn’t to be found outside of his home forest. would have liked something like a mojito as long as it wasn’t too sweet, if he had gotten around to actually staying in costa del sol longer than it took to hatefully deliver whatever gegeruju or the titan lot wanted. perhaps he’ll make one himself now that he’s on vacation. maybe zero will like it

5. What was the last time they cried, and under what circumstances? (Good way to get some *emotional* backstory in.) 

atrum well, he’s now a npc in my gm’s hands, so i don’t quite know, BUT. last (and first) time he cried ‘on camera’ was at the very end of the campaign, after we catastrophically failed our quest, the secondary bad guy got the magic city, the apocalypse started, and half the party died in front of him. so he just, sat where he was after escaping and started crying

mitr’a hmmmmmm there were probably some wet eyes at many points, like after the fight against hydaelyn, but crying, crying, probably after the talk with venat, the moment he managed to get out of her sight for a second. that moment when you suddenly intuit the shape of the story and how it was and how it will turn, you know how it is. the circle of it all

bonus: mitr’a’s fight or flight sense is so firmly stuck on fight that if something terrible happens DURING a fight or tense situation he will not react with tears or even sadness. if you want to make him cry you have to get him while he’s not fighting, like SOMEONE in ULTIMA THULE asking about TREES. they get the honorary mention. only reason he didn’t cry outright is that he knew it was Necessary, even if he hated it. after that he just got The Foulest Mood, like after the summonings at the end of sb

[inspector-montoya-fox]

i’ve finished Sly 3 and it’s actually the first time i did all the challenges and got 100%. Here are my final thoughts on this recent playthrough (mostly bitching):

it’s an honest mistake but after completing an entire section centered around the ancestors, you’d think they’d get the spelling of Thaddeus correct

Dr Matthew’s bossfight is very underwhelming. as a bossfight on its own, it’d rank average but considering that it’s the game and series’ final one, they could have come up with something better, something more dramatic than... him controlling the elements ? also, at the beginning of the fight, Sly says ‘Come on, aren’t we supposed to banter a little?’ and i was like uh yea?? for them to point it out feels a bit lazy. like where’s the final bossfight dialogue? if the Contessa, who didn’t even know ConnEr, gave the iconic you’re an ignorant, young child playing dress-up in his father’s legacy, then you’d expect Dr Michael who actually knew ConnEr to say something similar?

on that note, while i was playing the bossfight, i realised what my biggest issue has been with the game. i could never really point out why Sly 3 felt lesser to me. i mean, there are a couple of reasons like the small number of episodes or some of the missions being annoying, but those were never enough to make me go meh towards the entire game. i think it’s the narrative and more specifically, the way it’s handled. Sly 3 has a handful of story beats and only a few of them actually get the attention they need, whereas sometimes focus is placed on stuff which wouldn’t have mattered otherwise. for example, Dr Micah’s pre-bossfight dialogue being non-existent whereas Lemon Rage is given so much attention (which is what makes it such a great mission). Sly 2 was extremely cinematic and its cutscenes helped preserve the story’s flow: Sly dancing with Carmelita while the camera focuses on the wings smoothly being stolen behind the statue; all of Neyla’s scenes, from flying by the train on her little jet to her crushing Arpeggio and escaping into the night; SHE’S GOT THE EYE !?!?!?!? These are all so eye-conique because they are treated like scenes from a movie. Sly 3 on the other hand, lets a lot of its pivotal story moments go to waste. Penelope getting abducted by LeFwee is basically him holding a sword to her throat and the dog guards behind her muddling the dialogue because of their audible yawns. Jing King’s escape is literally just her silhouette getting lowered. major events like the opera recital and Tsao’s wedding are literally non-existent. where. are. the. cinematic. scenes ? i think this deserves its own post but, catch my drift?

first time completing the challenges and honestly, some of them are genuinely challenging. like beating Tsao with limited health? it took me a few tries. i feel like they could’ve gotten more creative with these instead of just slapping ‘under time pressure’ or ‘with limited health’ on every mission, like, let’s say, maybe have Sly complete a mission with Carmelita constantly chasing him? and also, when i got 100%, nothing happened. like not even a message saying congrats? maybe like a secret cutscene as a reward??? Goodbye, My Sweet ??? no???

i wish they’d go with one of their original concepts for Octavio instead of what we got. i like the idea of him being genuinely scary, i think villains that are scary is what’s missing from the Sly 3 rogues gallery when compared to Sly 2. i mean, 4 out of the 6 villains are Bentley’s height with their short tempter played for laughs. and the other’s a mask. it doesn’t have to do with stature and size, it’s more like, Octavio being a lion and being associated with the mob would be the most appropriate to strike fear. his get-up and singing outbursts serve... Liberace? idk

Operation: Reverse Double-Cross is, um, cute. she’s cutesy yea, ig. but how does Sly avoid getting blown up by the Penelope bomb? it’s never explained. was it part of the plan? if so, why does Sly enter the room and fall for the bait? and how does he survive the blast?

i can’t find the in-game unlockable concept art anywhere online, but i went over it after years of not checking it and... Sly smokes? like Sly genuinely has a lit cigarette in his mouth in most of the concept art, especially the Venice ones. it took me by surprise, it’s such a bizarre detail. Lol