#I'm already not elaborating on the design choices

[sm-baby]

HELLOOO I'M BACK ok ok remember how I said in Jax's analysis that the zapping scene could actually have a lot of information into it?? Let me elaborate:

There are two things that mainly caught my attention in that scene:

1 - How the lightning bolts that come out of the collar are yellow

2- How the shock is really quick (literally just a snap)

"Oh that must be just a stylistic choice right? don't look too deep into it-" WRONG!!!

In the Jax's Doodles, when Caine bites down Jax's head, we can see that he started bleeding in black. Why can I affirm that his blood really is black and it's not just because the comic is in grayscale?

For this reason:

During the Teatre Shenanigans, though it was all an act, it's implied that Ragatha does bleed in red, since, you know, the color is there, and because if it was any other color Pomni might have not believed it.

Also, let's be real, Gangle would not mess up something as simple as someone's blood color - her plays need to be >perfect< I love her so much omg

Still using the Theatre Shenanigans doodles as information, but with the addition of the new comic of Pomni taking the shortest stick, we can see through Gangle's ribbons that if there are colors that are portrayed, even when the comics are in black and white, those colors are red and yellow, so if his blood was actually red, it would've been painted as such.

So with that in mind we can pretty much say that his blood is, in fact, black.

As we can see in the part 2 of the neck pieces, his speaking bubbles are also in black and white, and, through an ask made some time ago, it was confirmed that he can only see in grayscale, and that's the reason why Gangle is the one in charge of coloring his animations.

EVERYTHING, literally EVERYTHING about Jax is monochromatic, grayscale, black and white, 50 shades of gr- you got it. He is NOT supposed to be associated with any color AT ALL

And that really highlights how out of place are the yellow bolts that come out of his collar. Jax is not supposed to have any type of color. The shock emitted from his neckpiece does not match with the way his level is supposed to be, doesn't match with his room, his character, his code, but why would that be??

Is there the chance that the chain wasn't his original collar? It does make sense if you look at some of the theories, especially regarding Kinger's role in the bigger picture. In the Imgur image, Kinger does mention to Queenie that he found a code that could free everyone from their collars, but, the main catch here, is that he could NOT disable it after it was done.

Well, we know that he did disabled it, and as a consequence, Queenie abstracted soon after

After it happened, Kinger probably was really desperate to put the collars back on the other AIs, he didn't want his friends to have the same fate his wife had,

But he couldn't disable the code that took them off, so what could he do now??

Simple answer:

He created a new code, so there could be new collars

That ties up with the ask answered with "it's hard to put a chain on someone if they have a scarf on", Jax's chain was probably not part of his design originally, it was not made for him, it was not part of his code in the first place,

Pure speculation, but this might be why Jax's supposedly new collar doesn't follow in every aspect the whole monochromatic idea that his design was meant to have. The yellow lightnings stand out because Kinger probably didn't put a lot of effort into the new collars, he didn't make sure that they matched with the quirks and characteristics already coded into the characters, as he was too desperate to put them back on and just made the code as quickly as he could.

At most he just made the neckpieces blend in with the AIs designs, so they wouldn't stand out. They just match at a superficial level.

(funny part is that Jax probably didn't even notice the yellow coming out of his collar, he can't see colors 😭).

This is why I imagine that his original design never had a chain to begin with, both because of this information, AND, because in Jax's room, we can see him wearing the scarf in the ripped out poster.

Was the scarf supposed to be his original neckpiece? But why would he still wear it after everyone had taken theirs off (as seen in the restarting scene, in the same comic)? To be honest I think he just liked how it looked, he did seem to have a fashion sense back then.

But, by that theory, of the chains not being his actual design, he has also chains on his feet, was his whole design altered?? Why would it be?? I still don't have any clue on why, gotta wait a little for more information.

I like to think that his current design reflects on his character, being a prisoner of both the game and his mind, and quite literally stuck in the past, being unable to move forward.

OK Now for the second part of the analysis

Remember my comment, saying that the shock he received was really quick? That stood out to me because during Ragatha's reset, when she also received the shock to avoid her abstraction, her shock was actually longer than his, being a "ZPPPPPP" instead of a "SNAP". Something I've also noticed is that both times when Jax got shocked, it seemed to be at a less intensity then when Raghata was, because there was a difference in line thickness and size of the lightning bolts shown.

After Jax's restart, in his room, we can see three centipedes, that's the most bugs we've ever seen in the same room until now, since we had only seen a single ladybug in Ragatha's garden, right after her reset.

Ok, so, I did talk a little about how Kinger might be the one responsible for the collars, and I also made an ask this one time to know if he was using the bugs as a way to keep an eye on the others (that was me!!! Hi!!)

If you pay attention to the relationships between the cast, we can see that Ragatha and Kinger are actually pretty close. They trust each other, while Jax seems to have a rocky relationship with everyone.

That might be the reason why there were more bugs than usual in Jax's room, because Kinger doesn't trust him and is aware of his rebellious nature, so he must feel the need to supervise him to a higher extent when compared to others.

Besides that, while Ragatha is really unstable, she doesn't seem to need to restart that frequently, therefore it's possible that only a small shock is able to make her restart. Jax, on the other hand, has already been shown being shocked twice, both with a bigger intensity than seen with Rags.

I believe that if Kinger truly was the one responsible for the collars, he also must have set the potency of the shocks in a way that it was only used the intensity necessary to reset them, so they didn't need to suffer more than needed.

Since Jax does behave in a more erratic manner when compared to the other AIs, the potency of the collar must have been set in a way that it would be able to restart him as quickly as possible, which means it must be in a higher setting,

On the other hand, Raghata probably needs less power for her to reset, because, while unstable, she's not as rebellious as him, so her settings are lower. In the comic used as a reference, however, she is shown to be extremely stressed, so for her to restart it might have been needed for the shock to be at a higher intensity.

Since her collar is not programmed to give such strong shocks, the solution found was for it to last longer, at least in that moment. That can also be the reason why Kinger appeared in the loading screen, because he got worried with the possibility of the collar not being able to stop her from abstraction, so he went to check on her.

That's everything for now!!! It did take lot of work to transcribe the stuff from the theory board to here (it's pretty disorganized ashuhuash) ,but I think I managed to express most of my analysis/theory!!

-carol

CAROL WHEN I CATCH YOU CAROL- DHLJKHKSJGH

I ADORED THIS SO MUCH- HDKJH i want you to know that I was reading it all in Matpat's voice which made it so much cooler "omg guys a Gametheorist made a theory about me hhehehe"

saving this.. SAVING THIS.. CAROL YOU ARE A GIFT= HXCKJSKA definitely gonna read this again.............

[penncilkid]

Alright, I'll bite. (Sparked by this post) I'm gonna preface this with some context: 

First off: I'm Black in case you're unaware

Huxley is my favorite speaker. Full stop. You ask me to choose, it’ll always be him. 

Likewise, you ask for my favorite listeners, I will say Starlight and Darlin'. (I'll save my Starlight rant for another day)

My designs for both Huxley and Darlin are Black.

With this in mind, I want to be clear from the jump: I don’t have an inherent problem with these headcanons. If I did, I wouldn’t have chosen then myself. That said, I have noticed that Hux and Darlin are, more often than not, the characters that get headcanoned as POC (specifically Black) in design rosters. In some cases, they are the only POC designs present. Why is that?

Furthermore, the more often I notice this pattern so to speak, the more I sit and think about why those headcanons are so popular. I find my answer when I think about the characters I see headcanoned as white most often. Tell me why it’s "practically canon" for Lasko to be pale with light/white hair. Tell me why white Sam "just makes sense". Why? Because Lasko's a nerdy ball of nerves that stumbles over his words? Because Sam’s a sweet Southern man at heart? Those are not inherently white attributes.

Except they're treated as such. They go virtually unchallenged because they're so widely accepted by fandom. People see these personalities and character details and come up with their vision. So, let's apply that to Huxley and Darlin, shall we?

Huxley: Athlete. Canonically implied to be big, as indicated by statements made by him and other members of the DAMN crew. Classified as a himbo with parallels in Imperium highlighting how some will view him as stupid. Overall chill vibe.

Darlin: Reckless with their safety. Known to lash out/lose control of their emotions when they’re not actively hiding them. Gets injured often because they’re too stubborn to run from trouble. An overall intense demeanor that makes them difficult to approach (at least at first). 

Explain to me why this screams Black to so many people. Is it because Huxley's a dumb jock who you imagine gets stoned all the time? Oh, is it perhaps because Darlin is just so aggressive compared to your Golden Retriever-coded Asher, needing to be calmed down by everyone around them? And here's the thing: I can already imagine people saying, "That's not why I made them Black". Then explain why it "just makes sense" for them to Black. Why them out of a sea of characters? Make it make sense.

Now let me make this clear as well: I'm not expecting every headcanon to have elaborate thought behind it. For one, I get that some people take a more casual approach with designs and such. Not every choice has to have a reason or justification behind it. But when literally 95% of the Huxley designs I see are Black and half of y'all don't even know what a fucking durag is? Saying it leaves a bad taste in my mouth is putting it lightly.

You know what I wish I saw more of? Black Huxleys and Darlins with attached nuance.

Give me a Black Darlin who struggles to articulate how they feel with the people in their lives because they haven't been readily given the language to do so. You want to pair a Black Darlin with a White Sam? Why not talk about how POC have an insanely difficult time getting support from the medical system so not only does it explain why Darlin is so resistant to go to healers, but also gives an extra weight to the fact that Sam was their absolute last resort when injured? Give me a Black Darlin who has been taught their entire life that no one will have their back, that they need to learn how to depend on themself alone, and that's the reason why they struggle to feel like the pack would've cared when the Quinn shit went on.

You wanna talk Black Huxleys? Let's touch on how he's learned to control his emotions/anger because he knows how people will take it if it comes from someone who looks like him. Talk about how his moms teaching him not to use violence speaks to a deeper desire for him not to be viewed as a threat because they fear for his life otherwise. In one of his BAs, he mentions how a lot of people used to sleep with him/flirt with him solely because of his body and he could tell. Do you know how often black men are sexualized and fetishized? Why not talk about it through him? I see people explore that concept through Gavin constantly, where's the energy for Huxley? You wanna make him Black so bad, why not actually put some thought behind it? Because right now, it seems like he gets the "luxury" of being the token Black guy in the DAMN friend group at best.

I know a lot of people are probably going to dismiss this post. I am already anticipating that as I write this. But I'm so tired of pretending like this shit doesn't get to me. Because it does. I've got no intentions of leaving this fandom because I have met so many amazing people and adore Erik's content immensely. But what I am going to do is talk about the widespread normalization of attributing certain personality traits to certain racial groups. Because the non-white people in this fandom deserve better than that.

[in1-nutshell]

Hello again! May I asked you for minicon Buddy? Buddy the minicon who not belong to anyone and wandered around Autobots and Decepticons like a stray cat near your house.

You want to adopted Buddy? Catch them if you can! :)

I'm not sure which au is, I just want them to have some interaction with Soundwave, and maybe the Autobots too.

I saw the words 'stray cat' and 'minicon'. May I present you... Bot Buddy the Felicon! (If you don't know, its Bot Buddy that looks like Ravage). Since you did not specify continuity or some characters, I chose them at random. If this is not what you wanted, please let me know.

Hope you enjoy!

Bot Buddy the Felicon who wonders around the Autobot and Decepticon territories with Soundwave, Starscream, and Goldbug

SFW, Platonic, Cybertronain reader

SG!

Soundwave

Soundwave fears for this felicon’s life.

It is not safe for anyone to be weaving in and out of Bot and Con territory. If it wasn’t already hard for anyone to get out of the Dead zone without their processor getting scrambled.

He has tried to convince the felicon to come with him where it is safe, but it soon turns into a game of cat and mouse

Buddy sitting still looking at Soundwave.

“Hi—”--Soundwave

Buddy dashing out the door.

“No. No. No. No. No—“--Soundwave

He tries to keep tabs on his little friend as much as he can between that and his regular duties on the broadcasting. He is mainly worried about them getting caught by the wrong bot and never seeing them again.

For Soundwave’s sake, Glint has promised to track down Buddy and talk to them about joining them or at least staying within safe territory.

Starscream

Starscream has seen this felicon every now and then.

Whether it be flying around or seeing them pop up on their scanners, the felicon always makes some sort of entrance.

Like Soundwave, he fears for their safety as they easily weave in between territories.

But the times he does get with Buddy, he tries to recruit them to their cause. With their expertise in getting to places undetected, could be extremely useful for them. But Buddy makes him try and catch them before escaping again.

Buddy running from an angry white jet.

“Why are you running from me?! You know I don’t mean you any harm! I just want to talk!”--Starscream

“No!”--Buddy

“Please?!”--Starscream

“No!”--Buddy

Starscream stops for a while realizing that the bot themselves may not want anything to do with the war and respects their choice.

He gets some updates on the felicon from Soundwave from time to time.

Goldbug

Goldbug absolutely hates this bot with every fiber in his new body.

This bot has made a fool of him and his security!

He has set up traps for the felicon, but they always fail no matter what he puts in them. It’s almost like the felicon was playing him!

Goldbug looking at the security footage from last night.

Buddy absolutely demolishing the trap and getting any energon goodie that was left in the open.

“WHY WONT THIS CAT JUST—JUST ARGH!”--Goldbug

Keyboard gets smashed.

He is out for this felicon’s energon.

It comes to a point where he is considering on putting a bounty on the feilcons helm all throughout Gold city. Maybe get that Blurr bot to get them alive so he could torture the troublesome felicon himself.

The only reason that is holding Goldbug back from calling in the bounty hunter or sending out the wanted posters is that he doesn’t want Prime or Prowl to find out he was being played by some low life felicon.

For now, he’ll have to make do with setting more elaborate traps than the last ones, maybe get Slicer to help with the designs.

[thequeensjester]

Thoughts on Galadriel's Hair

I'm back with more conjecture disguised as meta and this time, I'm exploring Galadriel's hair design. Hair is an integral part of Galadriel's character and story in the lore. When the early s2 promo shots of Galadriel wearing her crown braid came out, fans were excited because of its direct reference to Tolkien.

For me, I'm more interested in what her hair design expresses in the current story beyond 'it's just hair' or 'it looks pretty.' I was surprised to see how short-lived the crown braid was until I realized that it tells us so much about where Galadriel is in her story.

Galadriel's bound hair shows a controlled but darker self. Galadriel's loose hair shows her freer, if not wilder, self. I think this could even go back to s1 so let's have a look.

(I know there are practical reasons to have tied hair. I've heard that some action productions will put actresses with loose hair because it's easier to swap between stunt doubles but I'm also having fun here.)

When we're first introduced to Galadriel in the present day, she's wearing her hair loose. She's deep in her pursuit and is already at odds with her squad.

Again, in Numenor, she roams with confidence and arrogance, clashing with anyone that challenges her. "There is a tempest in me." As much as people snark about this line, this line perfectly reflects how fast and unrelenting she approaches her self-appointed task.

This is the wildness we see. As much as she's weighed down by her trauma, this is Galadriel's truer state at this point in the story.

Note when I say true self, I mean Galadriel being the best version of herself; freer, in the light and upholding the values of her kind.

The braid in the battle for the Southlands is an interesting choice because she boards the Numenorean schooner with loose hair. When this happens, it's framed as a glorious moment for Galadriel, in what appears to be her most powerful moment but it's just an illusion.

Because Sauron was here the whole time. She holds her hand out to Halbrand, thinking that it's an alliance between the two when it was an elaborate ruse. In her time with him, Galadriel showed all her cards to Sauron and he used it to lay breadcrumbs.

So why the braid?

I think the braid here represents Galadriel trying to stay in control of herself. She admitted to Sauron how her pursuit has worried her friends and what it's doing to her. Her confrontation with Adar nearly pushes her over the edge of losing control.

Then with the Mt. Doom eruption, Galadriel is confronted with darkness in an unexpected way. The way that even a young child, Theo, who is should be free and happy but instead, is affected by the darkness. Galadriel trying to guide Theo with hope is also a call to return to her true self.

Speaking of her true self, we have this from the raft sequence which was all about temptation. Galadriel could let go everything but she resists. Her neat, loose hair is from a begone time that she longs for but the truth is that it's gone so she has to fight back.

Her bedraggled hair on the raft, in a storm no less, again is that wildness which Sauron completely underestimates. He can't turn her no matter how dark things get because Galadriel isn't someone to be controlled. She will find her way back.

This brings us to s2 where Galadriel's hair design is mostly partially bound. On the left, it's a simple but formal pulled-back style. Galadriel is now back with the elves and in Lindon, no less. Galadriel cannot act however she wishes but she also has the backing of Gil-Galad so she's not completely restrained.

On the right, we have some braiding again. This entire episode, we see Galadriel troubled—by her visions, her conflict with Elrond and even with how much Sauron affected her. So while she has Gil-Galad's support, she's constrained and struggling with her sense of self.

This finally brings us to the mission with Elrond, where the two are at odds. Galadriel's ego is hurt that Gil-Galad doesn't trust her to lead. She's hurt from Elrond's mistrust. Elrond sees Galadriel as completely compromised, even though her visions from Nenya later proved to be correct.

To me, Galadriel's crown braid symbolizes how cut off and restrained from the others' mistrust. She cannot be herself because she's not allowed to and so she plays the part as expected.

Only when she's proven right that Galadriel sheds the crown. Her hair is still loosely braided, for what I think is practicality with the night orc sequence stunts but notice how the front is loose and only the back is tied back.

This tells us that Galadriel is ready to break from Elrond's command because she's unfortunately vindicated with the dangers of the south path. Here, Galadriel places trust back in herself.

Now it doesn't mean that she's entirely correct because Galadriel still makes mistakes.

"I stand alone," she said before her stand against the orcs.

In this sequence, Galadriel could have fought with the group to make a clear escape together. However, Galadriel seizes the chance to do things her way, alone. She fights like an amazon with an explosive rage that we haven't seen in a while but it falls apart.

I do think she intended to keep the ring safe just in case by giving it to Elrond because I also don't think she intended to get captured by Adar, which is the consequence of running without thinking clearly.

Given the trailer, this is likely going to be Galadriel's hair style for the rest of the season. I'm interested in how her character evolves while wearing this style.

As a closing note, hair and costume in pop culture generally gets treated as -aesthetic- but there is a reason it's considered design and not just a wardrobe. It's another way of visual storytelling for the character. In media set in the modern day, there is still styling choices in hair and costume to show you who the characters are; eg A Most Violent Year, Barbie, Ready or Not.

[winstein-nin]

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Characters - Garfield Style

This series of images basically started thanks to Lyman Banner being called, well, "Lyman". Given that I already created a series of Mario characters in the style of Garfield, I decided to give the Garfield style another go. Thus, Lyman Banner is basically Lyman with Lyman Banner's clothing, leading to Jaden/Judai being based on Jon Arbuckle, because I think it's funny, and besides, they are practically the main characters in a sense.

While Yubel is based on Liz (and in fact I called the fusion "Yubeliz"), the resulting character doesn't appear to have much in common with the real Liz, so I would probably not attribute much to the character of inspiration. I do personally think that the result is not to shabby, especially with the various details that Yubel has!

Initially, I didn't want to base Pharaoh on Garfield, but ultimately I relented because I wasn't satisfied with the initial sketch for Yubel. My initial idea was to base Odie on Pharaoh and Garfield on Yubel, because Lyman was Odie's original owner, so that would make sense. Also, Garfield has often been joked as some demonic entity so in my mind that seem to make sense. But after I analysed Yubel's details, I became unconvinced that it would be the best idea.

Winged Kuriboh was a late addition, because in my mind, doesn't Jaden/Judai have Winged Kuriboh as a spirit partner? The choice of character ultimately went to Gnorm Gnat for the deep cat and the fact that I felt that this is probably the best character to use for Winged Kuriboh.

And finally, here are some rejected sketches:

To elaborate on why I changed the Yubel and Pharaoh designs, Garfield's smaller body makes the details unable to stand out very well, even though I personally liked Odie's design. But a change of plan necessitate that I redesign the two from scratch. I'm also personally not a fan of portraying Garfield as a demonic entity that a group of fans do, so in a way, I am sticking to my beliefs in this case.

As for the second Pharaoh design (top-left), someone feedbacked that the cat looked too much like Garfield and I am inclined to agree, and I expressed interest in showing off a detail on Pharaoh that never got to be shown: the head pattern. Garfield does have cats with a forehead, like Barney (the cat).

There you have it. They're probably not the most perfect Garfield style, but I think I am satisfied with how it turned out.

Thank you for reading.

[ponytailzuko]

writing down my overall thoughts on the live action

first of all, i walked into my step dad watching it of his own free will - and then me and my entire family sat down to watch it. both my step dad and mom had never seen the cartoon in their life, so this was a first time viewing for them. they enjoyed it. my mom even asked where season 2 was. so i think the live action served its main purpose - get new people who haven't watched or wouldn't have watched the cartoon into the franchise. they did it! yippee.

anyways, my own thoughts have an inherent bias due to having seen and loved the cartoon. i believe my parents when they say that from their perspective, it holds up on its own. obviously, i don't think it was ever going to be better than the cartoon, but wanted to write my opinions what i liked, changes i enjoyed and changes i didn't, etc.

putting it under a read more because this sucker is long:

i don't know anything about film making - set design, props, fashion, cgi, etc. nothing particularly stood out to me in a way that ruined the show, and i only really pay attention to it when it serves the story. so i'm just not going to comment on it for the most part. most of this is about writing choices i liked or disliked. anyways here we go.

the good:

aang was a highlight for me. i know some people have problems with moving his backstory to the very beginning of the story, but i liked it. it immediately made me get in aang's shoes and feel his connection with his people, his home, and gyatso - and made it very easy to connect with his grief when he woke up from the iceberg. live action really emphasizes the last airbender part of the title throughout, and how aang feels isolated in his duty as the avatar, as the last airbender preserving his culture, and by being from another world - lost in time.

i liked how he sought out his past lives so often. really makes him feel like a child who doesn't know what he's doing and had the rug pulled out from under him by losing gyatso too soon. he's looking for adult guidance, and kyoshi, roku, and kuruk are all there telling aang THEIR version of how to be the avatar. feels like good set up for later when aang gets to define HIS version of the avatar, and how he wants to bring peace to the world. we already see it with their versions of the avatar feeding into aang's feelings of guilt and self-isolation - that he needs to do things on his own. it gets concluded with katara and sokka declaring him family, and they won't leave no matter what.

in that nature: adding more emphasis on katara's grief as well, since it was APPARENTLY not enough for people watching the cartoon and called her whiny for mentioning it. in general, it feels weird that katara's flashback to her backstory happened in season 3 of the cartoon when there was a whole episode dedicated to aang and zuko's backstory all the way in season 1, another one for zuko's backstory in season 2, and then bato of the water tribe elaborated on sokka being left by hakoda. glad to get katara backstory earlier. love you katara <3

and from that: sokka and katara's conflict being about if she should waterbend. feels very natural and something they would fight over. it is a vital aspect to their culture, but also if word gets out there is a waterbender in the village, there could be another raid.

aang stealing zuko's notebook is another highlight. it is both such a petty kid thing to steal and be upset about someone reading your diary, but also it actually serves a purpose in giving aang a guide for his avatar journey. the show sacrificed paralleling aang and zuko's backstories like the storm, but they still intertwine aang and zuko's story through this notebook and the connection aang makes with zuko through it. very sweet.

in that note: the set design adding little things such as those little statues in zuko's room. feels like it really was lived in by someone obsessed with finding the avatar for 3 years. i really liked details like that they put throughout the show

suki extrapolation with her mother and her conflict of being duty-bound to her village but wanting to see the world, and how this relates to sokka. made me genuinely invested in their relationship in a way i wasn't from the cartoon. i also loved the actress' portrayal of suki, she's so awkward and i love it. need to see more of her.

iroh in season 1 of the cartoon feels less like his own fleshed out character and more of a comedic relief expansion of zuko's b plot. he's made to make zuko's slice of the show more fit for a fun kids show by giving him someone to talk to and be funny with. he's a fun tea-loving uncle, but it's hard to parse what he really feels until later. live action iroh keeps that fun tea-loving aspect, but he has his own baggage and its GREAT. i think i genuinely enjoyed live action iroh more than the cartoon. he has so much more growing to do. could talk about this version of iroh (and his relationship with zuko) forever. i need season 2 just for him.

iroh and aang's prison arc together.

making zuko's crew have issues with him earlier and making them 41st division was nice. i really liked that change.

secret tunnel with familial love between katara and sokka was so cute. enjoyed it.

the ???:

azula and ozai's addition is a 50/50 to me. i think the sick power plays ozai is doing between his two children are genuinely interesting. the change in how ozai doles out praise and the dynamics between azula and zuko is also interesting and i enjoyed it. but i also find their screen time unnecessary. could be used to further the dynamic between the main protagonists, or they could be saved for season 2 or 3. did like how azula used zhao to thwart zuko and it fucked zuko up immensely in the head. very nice. also not sure how i feel about azula being good at archery, feels like getting good at a nonbending discipline isn't something that meshes well with her character for me, but that's a nitpick.

combining plotlines such as jet and the mechanist in omashu + the change with bumi was... fine? it served its purpose. liked some aspects and didn't like others.

the spirit world stuff was really cool and i enjoyed how koh preys on people lost in the fog. very interesting concepts that got us to be able to experience katara and sokka's backstory first hand. felt immersive to me. but also wtf, wan shi tong? katara and sokka being gone from the plot for so long? come backkkkkk! COME BACK! DO WE HAVE TIME FOR YOU TO BE IN SPIRIT JAIL WHEN I HAVEN"T SEEN YOU GUYS INTERACT ENOUGH? i did like yue being in the spirit world and interacting with sokka. that was cute as hell.

northern water tribe and yuekka had parts i liked and parts i didn't. they kept the sexism and arranged marriage but also yue opted out? feels detrimental to yue and sokka's relationship and how they connect to each other out of their sense of duty. did really like hahn being nice, it would have been really interesting to see how yue felt stifled with an arranged marriage even if hahn was perfect. also liked yue being able to waterbend and the little scene with yue and sokka making dessert, so cute. yue freezing sokka to the ground before sacrificing herself.... didn't like that. wish they let sokka let her go, understanding it was her choice.

katara in the nwt as well. katara fighting master pakku and losing, but everyone watching thought she was SO COOL. loved the guy asking how she did the ice disks and she has to teach him. but confused on the fact that pakku doesn't take her as a student, and we don't see her being taught but people still refer to her as a master. i'm going to assume she learned waterbending by learning from her fanclub and also teaching them her moves.

why did they almost kill momo?

the bad:

everyone and their mother has said the exposition is bad so i won't hammer it home too much. this isn't actually much of a problem for me because it was actually necessary to get the point home to my mom who was watching it for the first time. i was also told that screen test audiences asked for the exposition to be added in the first episode after production, so i don't have much to say there.

aang's decision to leave home not being running away but due to the fact that he was stepping out to get a breather. this felt like a weird change to me, since the rest of the show hammers in about aang running away from his problems and his duties in a way the cartoon doesn't. would have felt WAY more heartwrenching to see the temples under attack while aang runs away from being the avatar and it would have hit harder when gyatso tells aang to let go of that guilt and pain... that it wasn't his fault. it was harder to feel the root of aang's guilt when i know that he didn't even plan to leave for very long. alas!

continuing from that point about aang's attribute of 'running away': lack of episodic plotlines. everyone and their mother has also hammered home about the lack of them from cartoon. i don't actually hate the change, but i do think it does some disservice to aang's character that they didn't adjust for. i'm being told that aang runs away, but i haven't been shown aang doing so. i've been seeing aang do his duty as the avatar and research it every episode. give me a reason to believe why this is a character flaw that aang needs to face.

similarly, i think this does a detriment to katara's role in book 1. since aang is more focused on what he needs to do as the avatar, katara becomes more his partner in finding out more about what it means to be the avatar instead of pushing him to be more motivated into doing so. (ex: 'we need to continue on our journey and not stay on kyoshi island' or 'we need to help haru in this village')

aang, katara, and sokka get separate plotlines so much that they don't feel like a solid dynamic. again, detriment of the lack of the smaller episodic plots. does make more sense that katara says aang is family at the end of season 1 instead of the beginning for this reason, though.

katara feels like one of the weakest aspects of the show to me. katara doesn't get the narration. katara isn't the first thing when aang gets out of the ice. and katara's rage just feels lost. i think a simple script or direction change in ep 1-2 to make katara's actress play her with more of that rage during her arguments with sokka would've worked wonders. katara has this feeling of anger at injustice that motivates her throughout the cartoon and i don't feel it here. also miss some of her sass - katara should've hit aang in the head with an acorn.

sokka's weird engineer arc? he's a warrior. why are you saying it's okay to not be a warrior when he is - what is up with setting up sokka as a disappointment to hakoda? HELLO? DOES ANYONE HEAR ME? i'm confused where they're going with this, please tell me that sokka has misinterpreted and created that memory due to insecurity. this is where my bias is totally coming in. this worked fine for my parents who hadn't ever seen it. BUT WHERE ARE THEY HEADING WITH THIS?

kinda wish information about zuko's situation was dropped more subtly throughout instead of zuko being like "my father banished me and i need the avatar to get back" like episode 1. like ok give me a moment to just be like "ugh this zuko kid is a fucking BITCH" before i have to feel for him, damn.

also zuko going straight to barbecuing feels weird to his character when they're also trying to tell us that zuko's capable of kindness and also has a strict honor code? zuko is against using bounty hunters in a way he's not in the cartoon. he talks down on the terrorism in omashu since its not 'honorable', but he also was about to burn katara who was down on the ground. of course, realistically if you're throwing fire around, you are going to burn people. but there was a suspension of disbelief in the animated version that isn't in the live action. zuko does things such as immediately resorting to fire instead of hand to hand in his fight with sokka. in the live action, i'd expect zuko to use MORE hand to hand in comparison to fire, not less. plus the fact they took out moments such as zuko not burning zhao in the agni kai or holding his hand out to save him during the north. weird dissonance at points with his character for me.

[utilitycaster]

I know it’s only been a few episodes, but how are you finding the production/ editing of D20 Junior Year?

I feel like they dialed back a bit from the majorly distracting edits of NA and BE, but maybe thats just because of genre differences rather than stepping away from a miss.

I'm finding it fine - they've always done those sweeping shots of the maps and minis, and I don't mind the more elaborate stuff they've been doing with projections on the dome (BE's shadow puppet sequences were in my opinion really lovely) - my fight is much more with the glitchy camera and some of the echo-ey sound design choices. I agree it's otherwise felt dialed back; it might be the genre and the fact that they already have a simpler visual style established for this setting, but for what it's worth, Dungeons and Drag Queens, The Ravening War, and Mentopolis, all strong D20 entries from last year, also didn't have these weird editing choices so I think it might have just been those two series.

I am about to watch the first hour episode 1 of KOllOK (not 1991; I did watch the summary video for new viewers) so I'll have more opinions shortly but more generally I do understand wanting to develop an interesting and distinct visual style but I think that's done best without a lot of camera work. CR's stuff with the scrim on the main set and with the spotlights on the Candela set, or BE's shadow puppet mythology sequences and having the map of Elmville on the dome in Fantasy High are both really great choices. Like, I'm not arguing that you have to go back to the early C1 set nor the monochrome 3 am in a warehouse dome options either; I just think that a lot of digital filters or montages or double-exposures look cheesy as hell.

[fraeuleintaka]

Remaining new names in the official Investigations 2 Localisation - Cases 1-3

This is the 68th post in the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection Countdown: 13 days left until release!

Today's topic: the remaining new names in the official Investigations 2 localisation from cases 1-3!

Thanks to the release of the demo of the Investigations Collection and some very hard-working people we now know of all the remaining new names for the characters and cases in the official I2 localisation. Since there are so many names to discuss I'm going to divide this into two posts, one for the cases 1-3 and one for cases 4+5, because most of the names we already know of (that I discussed in previous countdown posts) are from the first two cases. First, the names of the characters:

Bastian Rook (for Ethan Rooke): His last name was already known and I've talked about how I don't like that it's just the name of the chess piece he's supposed to represent, I prefer the fan translation for that one, it's a little bit less on the nose (same with "Knight" and "Knightley"). His first name sounds similar to bastion, a fortified building, which fits what the rook is and Rooke's job as a bodyguard protecting his "king". His first name in the fan translation has a similar connotation meaning "safe and strong". Between those two I don't really have a preference, they're both good choices for his first name.

Samson Tangaroa (for Jeffrey Masters): A very drastic change! His official name has a more elaborate meaning with both parts referencing mythical figures: Samson to the judge in the bible who lost his superhuman strength and was subsequently imprisoned, fitting Masters' own imprisonment, and Tangaroa to a Māori god of the sea, fitting the nautical theme of his chocolate desserts in the contest. In contrast, his fan translated name is a play on "master chef" (even going as far as giving him the nickname "Master Jeff") and not much more. Purely from the meaning his official name is obviously better but I prefer the sound of his fan translated one. It sounds more like a complete name instead of two that just got stuck together, though that might change once I read his official name in context a few times.

Judy Bound (for Katherine Hall): In this case the name puns are about equal, the official localisation goes for "duty bound" referencing her loyalty to Masters whereas the fan translation goes for "catering hall" (even more so with her nickname "Kate") keeping the mansion reference from her Japanese name and the chef theme with Masters. However, I vastly prefer her fan translated name because it's so much more elegant! Her present design doesn't fit "Judy" at all but it perfectly fits "Katherine", her past self might fit but it also fits "Kate" perfectly, and I love the contrast between the two and how much of her personality gets conveyed through it. I hope her official full name is "Judith" or something similar to get a little bit of the same sentiment across.

Carmelo Gusto (for Dane Gustavia): For Gustavia's name the change isn't as drastic but still significant. His official first name is a shortened version of "caramello" which is Italian and translates to caramel referencing his candy making. "Gusto" comes from Latin "gustus" which translates to taste, very fitting considering his business and his taste issues, and doing something "with gusto" means doing it with a lot of passion which is exactly what Gustavia has for his goal of becoming the greatest pastry chef alive. His fan translated name has his last name going for the same association with taste, "Gustavia" sounds similar to "gustatory" which comes from the same Latin source. "Dane" is a reference to "danish (pastry)", the English name for a type of pastry from Denmark keeping to his pastry chef theme. I also like the interpretation of his name referencing Gustavus Swift who apparently invented the first refrigerated railroad car which is wonderfully hilarious considering what Gustavia does in the case. I don't really mind his official name, it's a good choice, but I slightly prefer the fancier sound of "Gustavia" from the fan translation.

Delicia Scone (for Delicia Scones): Not much to talk about with this one, the names are almost the same and just use her Japanese name without changing much (referencing "delicious scone" like the British quick bread). I don't think the change from "Scones" to "Scone" makes any difference and I like that both the official localisation and the fan translation chose "Delicia" as her first name, it fits her well.

[Spoilers for Investigations 2 in the next two name entries]

Artie Frost (for Isaac Dover): The meaning of his official name is pretty obvious, "Artie" referencing his job and talent as an artist and "Frost" referencing his work with ice and his corpse being frozen. His fan translated name focuses more on the "ice" part with "Isaac Dover" being a play on "iced over" which is, again, the type of dessert he uses in the contest (sherbet) and how his corpse was hidden. I hate to repeat myself but yet again I slightly prefer his fan translated name because it sounds more serious and mature and not like a nickname. (Artie? Couldn't they at least have gone for "Artus" or something and have Delicia use "Arty" as a nickname?)

Paul Halique (for Pierre Hoquet): With this name they couldn't change around too much because the initials still had to be "PH" for the signet ring to make sense. The official localisation just used an alternate spelling of his Japanese name (Paul Holic) while the name in the fan translation doesn't have any meaning associated with it that makes sense in the game's context apart from just sounding nice. In that sense the official localisation easily wins with this one.

And now for the case names (my discussion for the new name of the first case is here):

The Captive Turnabout (for The Imprisoned Turnabout): Nothing to complain about here, "captive" and "imprisoned" mean almost the same thing. They both sound great as well, I don't prefer one over the other.

Turnabout Legacy (for The Inherited Turnabout): Wow, that official name is amazing! I love the fan translated name, don't get me wrong, and it fits but the official one has such a weight to it - Legacy - you really feel how significant this case is, to Miles in particular but also to the series as a whole. Its impact cannot be overstated and the official name absolutely does it justice. Perfect choice for one of the best cases in the entire series!

[kurczeno]

ok so a little rant about DA:V, because I feel like it needs to be said. First a disclaimer: if you are hyped, thats good for you, really. Enjoying the final product is absolutely fine. However, I've seen SO MANY people, especially here on tumblr, but also on tiktok and reddit acting as if any criticism of the game is just people being mean haters or homophobic.

And don't get me wrong - there are probably people taking things too far, just for the sake of it. There are also people mad about the wokeness - though as a person that is very interested in the topic, I've seen only one? discussion about this matter and it wasn't even made by people that like the series, they just wanted to complain about wokeness in games, etc.. But I'm not saying these people don't exist, because I haven't seen them.

However I am seeing so many valid criticism of the game being discredited for no reason and I feel like there is at least one thing that needs to be said.

I played Origins over 20 times. DA2 and DA:I - also more than once, but I didn't count it. I loved all of them - even the Inquisition, despite its many flaws. But it's not a post about them - the thing is, I am a fan of a series. I've been since I was little and later I got that stupid hyperfixation. I was extremely excited about the game, despite SO MANY red flags - I'd say it's still Dragon Age and I'm sure it won't be that bad.

But at this point even I can't cope that hard.

First of all - it's barely Dragon Age at this point. I just want you to remmeber that most of the staff that was working on the first three games got fired or resigned themselves. The LEAD WRITER himself, David Gaider (he's incredible btw, go follow him on twitter and play stray gods!!!) has been trashing Bioware on TT for years and he's been there for 12 years. He tried to highlight just how badly the company treats its workers - and it's not only Bioware, it's gamedev in general. I have many friends that work in gamedev and whenever we talk about situations like this their reaction is "yeah, but thats what happens in gamedev every half a year". You know, it's so bad, we just treat it as a standard. Why am I bringing all this up? Because I think that countering every argument with "you haven't played the game yet" or, even worse "people are only complaining because woke" is just buying into their narrative, taking the responsibility from them. When the truth is that every single teaser looks, to say the least, outdated. The graphics are very, very bad, the designs are mid at best (I'd single out Neve and technically? Emmerich, but he looks horrible because of the graphics, so...), the reps show that they know little about Dragon Age (I'm in love with that one recording in which they collectively barely remember Zevran. The companion in the most beloved game. The guy that is basically the only source of info we get about the Crows. The Crows that are a fraction in their game???), they have already stated that your choices don't matter. I can elaborate on each of these, but the post is already to long and my point is different - don't excuse Bioware. And I'm sorry, but "play the game first" shouldn't be the argument here, because the things that should be good, regardless of the game itself fail - I'm sorry, but this isn't an indie game. It's made by a huge company, with loads of money after two commercial flops. I know some of you (including me!) are nostalgic towards Bioware, because of their games and what they meant back in the day, really. But at the end of the day, the games were made by people and Bioware is just a company. A big corporation, that just wants to make money, has a long history of mistreating their employees and has delivered the worst teasers I've seen in a long time.

TLDR: I'm not trying to tell you, you are wrong to be excited. I'm just kindly asking you to stop coming to Bioware's defense at all costs, because they don't deserve it.

(also I know David himself has reacted to the teasers and reviewed them in a positive way but I am talking mostly about the things that I blame on higherups. However I personally think that Gaider, as someone who's worked in the industry knows that there are many people there that ARE actually passionate about the product. Not the reps, please, they are embarassing, but the animators, writers, etc. And trashing their work as a lead writer of the first games would be a little too much, even if the final thing is not their fault. They don't need any more shit)

[mdhwrites]

Five Reasons Why The Owl House Isn't Inclusive

Someone on Twitter asked me to elaborate on the concept of TOH not being inclusive beyond LGBTQIA+ labels, which I'm still happy it has, and I accidentally just made a five part list of them that helped bring together a lot of the points I've tackled not only recently but also in the past so... Why not? Let's actually make a kind of master post for this. These are five reasons why The Owl House isn't inclusive.

The demons

I don't entirely have an order for this, this isn't a top five thing, but we'll start with probably the thing that's the easiest to never even think about: It's treatment of the demons of the Isles of the DEMON REALM.

Every demon in the show is either a gag, a villain... Or the ones who get to have nuance or be good are the ones who pass the most for being 'human', much like how the witches are just humans with pointy ears. The first point is pretty obvious. A lot of random demons show up just to be made fun of for looking strange and then move on.

The villain accusation though is because like 90% of one off villains in this show, with no nuance or real personality and are obviously evil just because they're evil are demons. They also aren't allowed to be amongst the good guys for the most part. In the main cast, the only demon is Hooty who... Boy his treatment is AWFUL. It actually says TERRIBLE things about Luz that she treats him just as poorly as everyone else, especially when someone else manages to befriend him... Which the show uses as signaling to treat Lilith as lesser than the rest because now she's comic relief.

Finally the passing part. This is actually big for the fact that it's actually kind of racist in general. The only demons who are allowed actual nuance are the ones who look the most like witches or humans. Boscha and Steve are both theoretically demons as far as we know and they get kind of redemption arcs but much lesser ones than any more human character and both start as villains. Then there's Vee who is the only unequivocally 'good' demon and her whole thing is that she can pass for a witch or human. In fact, she's better at being human than LUZ is.

So point one and we've already got a weird undercurrent of an entire race being lesser than the conventional ones or... that'd be it if not for

1.5: Take a lot of what I said about demons and apply it to the guys of TOH because they're also treated like shit by the writers. They are either villains or jokes when they first appear and the only exceptions are either still pretty questionable for fitting one those roles... Or dead. You know, like Manny. I think Dell is literally the only ALIVE male character who isn't a joke or villain at one point.

2. Everyone's really fucking pretty. Like... period. Every character in the main cast is ready for the runway. The only main character who really comes close to being transgressive in their looks is Willow and like... Overwatch came out 7 years ago with Mei and that she wasn't a daring design choice then and Willow wasn't four years later. They're the definition of 'more to love'.

Admittedly, I'm normally fine with things just having pretty people. Yokotaro is based for giving an android a big ass because he likes pretty women. I don't think people should feel ashamed for that. It's just a problem when a lot of your contemporary competitors, or even old school competitors like Recess back in the NINETIES, who aren't even trying to preach inclusivity, have better body representation than the show that does.

And yes, that does tie back into the demon thing too as you might notice that all the demons who are accepted by the main cast or given more nuance are the ones who look the most conventionally attractive. Good job show.

3. Nothing here is actually transgressive.

So now we're getting away from looks and the like and actually getting into how well the show sells its theming and representation of those society rejects. The embodiment of this should be Luz if the show wishes to say that it accepts those with weird interests or behave oddly. The only problem is that Luz doesn't. At all. When she is, the things she's transgressive about are things like the safety of others and common human decency.

Luz never really defines herself by her interests after all. Azura exists sure but it gets like... A handful of forced references in S1 and then maybe a couple in S2, often not even by Luz eventually but Amity, which is literally what happens in S3 as she abandons the series effectively. This isn't technically bad. She has a healthy relationship to it for the most part. She doesn't hyperfixate or try to interject it into every part of her life. She's just a nerd... Which wasn't even a brave thing back when I was in High School a decade ago.

Straight up: I was a part of JROTC, the American school fast track into the military and people the first guy I ever heard squeal about how the Avengers were gonna happen, he swears, was a really dude in that ecosystem. He was more of a nerd than any of the drama kids I eventually hung out with and no one cared.

And Luz is less extreme than THAT. The only time she actually is is during her character introduction where she, you know, releases spiders on a classroom and also snakes that attack people. Or how about those fireworks? What was her plan with those? Set them off inside and kill burn down the whole building in the BEST CASE scenario? Because if she's been bullied so much, why would she expect her class to come outside for that? Regardless of the fact that you'd get expelled just for bringing that much gunpowder into school, let alone the other reasons she should have been expelled.

The worst part of all of this though is Lilith. Lilith actually hyperfixates. She cares a LOT about her interests and gets giddy about them... And it's almost always framed as mocking. Everything to do with her interest in history is almost always setup for a joke of some sort or to make her look smaller. She is also more genuinely interested in learning and excited about the Isles and its potential than Luz commonly but when she becomes that character, she isn't taken seriously anymore. She's a joke, just like her best friend Hooty.

So now we've rejected nerds. Can we really go deeper? Well, how about the oppressed themselves?

4: The oppressed are inconvenient to the show so they don't show up.

Because the Isles is meant to be bigotry free except for Belos (an ENTIRELY different topic that has bunches of problems of it own) the only people actually oppressed in the show, who are ever actually forced to conform and mind that conforming, are wild witches. But not only is their plight poorly shown but it's also inconsistent.

Eda is our ONLY representation of it and the show ever struggles to decide how genuinely illegal her presence is. She's allowed to just stroll into an Emperor's Coven funded school and enroll her student there. All it takes for her to be free for a day is burning some posters. But also on the other side, she is literally threatened with death ONLY for the crime of being a wild witch and not the rest of her rap sheet.

And why shouldn't it be? Systemic oppression isn't actually that bad by what the show depicts. Dana herself wrote Reaching Out where the coven system is treated like not going to college instead of a crime so severe as to have the death penalty. She also was one of two writers for The First Day where they treat the coven system as just tradition and not like multi-tracking is going to get these kids literally killed, if Bump himself isn't removed by Belos for enabling people to break the law in an episode where he SPECIFICALLY NEEDS GOVERNMENT FUNDING.

And as the coven system is the only form of oppression, no one has to actually deal with the social and sometimes legal pressures that makes one hide who they are. It can't say anything about those actually struggling because it's inconvenient. You can't just have Luz be accepted by all if her dream makes her illegal to most. You can't have her easily fall in love because that relationship is illegal. You can't have members of the government who have done literal witch hunts just turn around and be good guys because they are active participants in bigotry.

So the oppressed, the people actually other'd by the story that's being told, are pushed out of frame for the sake of the escapist fantasy of Luz getting to runaway to a magical world and save it. They exist solely to claim there IS a reason to fight but actually showing their struggle is one step too far apparently.

5. It leans into extremely harmful stereotypes of people with mental disorders and disabilities. Content warning for those topics until the BUT at the end.

This is the last one because not only do I think it's actually the most dangerous but it's also the most personal as someone who is literally disabled due to their depression. Who had to be really careful when writing about characters in crises not to peddle the same narratives most stories do. Extremely hazardous, painful narratives.

Hunter and Eda are both disabled by the logic of the world they live in. Both are incapable of magic in a world that expects it from them and it causes real difficulty in their lives, forcing them to require equipment and/or meds to aid them in dealing with the struggles these cause, doubly so for Eda because of the curse. It actually is good representation... Until you start thinking about and people start getting 'cured'.

Eda's is definitely more of a mental health disability with how much it's connected to emotions, stress, etc. like that than her physically being incapable of doing more. She suffers from not having enough spoons on any given day to do things with some being worse than others. Again, face value, this looks kind of nice.

Here's the insidious part: When she isn't medicated, when she isn't able to hold back her symptoms... she's literally a monster. Anytime she shows her pain, she is actively dangerous to those around her. Full stop. And there is no way to stop this except her murder. She will ALWAYS be a threat for the rest of her life, even after making peace with her diagnosis. After all, in the final episode she literally has to warn someone to get away because she's going to lose control. Worse yet, part of her getting a reprieve from it is to ruin another life. Lilith is made disabled because Eda's illness is so out of control that only through other people's sacrifices can she find help.

If none of this raises red flags, GOOD FOR YOU! You haven't ever had to be told you might lose your apartment just because they don't want to one day find you having done something terrible because they assume that will eventually happen, SOMETHING THAT HAS ACTUALLY HAPPENED TO ME. You've never been told to hide and lie about your condition, to pass as just a normal person, so you could get a job or just so you didn't appear wrong to others. So you don't seem like a ticking time bomb that will explode.

Hunter is a mixed bag comparatively. He's better because his disability, not having magic, isn't inherently dangerous. He's not going to kill anyone someday because of it. The problem is that he is still mostly framed as lesser because of his lack of magic and that he is helpless due to it minus one time he gets to show off his skills while without his staff... To no avail. Otherwise, everytime he doesn't have a staff, he is completely at the mercy of anyone around him. His heart to hear with Willow is even about feeling like less of a person due to it and how they've both struggled with the problem, which, you know, feels disingenuous when at the end the plant goddess forces him through the ground against his will because she has her own magic and is one of the strongest witches on the Isles. It's like telling someone missing an arm that yeah, when you were young you broke your arm too but you got better while the other person is still MISSING AN ARM.

And then he is cured... By the death of his best friend. At which point, he is whole, a complete person with his own magic... at the cost of a life. You know, just like how Eda only got the curse to back off by hurting someone she cared about too.

What the fuck?

And finally, for a bit more mental health rep: Luz. People like to claim that Luz is suffering from trauma, depression, anxiety, etc. in the second half of show and especially S3. The problem with this is that after S2A, Luz is just categorically is a worse person. This culminates in what most consider to be her lowest point, Thanks to Them when she has a speech in class that potentially hints at suicidal ideation. However, in the episode she decides that instead of taking responsibility and trying to fix her mistakes like she used to, she is going to just stay home and let an entire world die. Yes, she frames it as self sacrifice and having learned from her mistakes... but it's not. It's self preservation if anything.

Anyone on the Isles should be presumed dead or something akin to it with what she experienced during King's Tide. Anyone who goes back is going to fight a GOD to try to reclaim it. To have to beat someone who is leagues more powerful than any entity they've even fathomed before. Her friends have been trying to get home and planning for this all with the expectation that Luz would be by their side. But despite the fact that she explicitly blames herself for the situation, she's staying. There's no talk about how this means dooming her found family, how it means breaking up with Amity or anything like that. Her focus is entirely on herself and the mistake she made. They can all go rot while she gets to stay home with her mom.

This doesn't even go into Luz's lower empathy or her CONSTANT LYING that was more prevalent in the second half of the show. It all says one clear thing though in this context: Because she is damaged due to trauma and depression, she is a generally worse person. She cares less about others than a functional person would, as she was a better person before all of this, and loses her morality as she is willing to let people die instead of fix her mistakes.

All of this just makes it bluntly better if Luz isn't actually depressed during this time period and more is just being a bad person because things have gotten tough. Otherwise this feeds into a LOT of bad stereotypes for those who are mentally ill.

BUT.

I do not think any of this is done with malice. Any of the five points. It's just careless. I pointed out the narrative problems for properly including a couple of them and I could easily tell you why others regurgitate issues without blinking for many of the others. It's easy to make these sorts of mistakes if you're not thinking about it. If you're just taking tropes you like instead of trying to craft towards a genuinely coherent theme. It's made worse when you know you're in a landscape that is hungry for representation so being praised for it won't be hard so you don't need to fully commit.

As I said earlier though, this is kind of a problem for a show that wants to be about inclusivity. Who's main themes, at best, are about self actualization and self acceptance. About being who you are and finding the spaces that allow you to do that. And yet... So many are left to the wayside. Abandoned because the show has a very narrow definition of a 'correct' identity and if you don't fill those definitions, it will leave you behind.

If you want a show that actually accepts everyone, that allows for all parts of identity, I've seen only one season of Craig of the Creek and it is EXCEPTIONAL at it. All are welcome in the creek. No exceptions. If someone is alone, it's because of circumstance or self selection and even they are given chances to be a part of the community.

I wish TOH had believed in something even close to similar.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[kerubimcrepin]

Episode 31 - The Break

It will be so refreshing to liveblog an episode that isn't heavy on characterization or analysis, oh god, I am tired of typing words.

He is so sad and for no reason... I just want to wrap him in a heated blanket.

World's most serious case of Sads, finished off with an evil little glare.

I can imagine adult Joris doing the same thing to Kerubim even by Wakfu times. Just a cunty, unamused little gaze. I can see it so clearly. This will happen in season 4, mark my words.

Also, inside me are two wolves. One of them wants to say "perhaps it's unusual for Joris to not go hook line and sinker for whatever ideas Keke proposes", and the other wants to say "Joris and Kerubim having psychic vibe battles moment #5"

He is so unserious.

Joris loses this round in the game of mutual psychological manipulations.

(Guy who notices landmarks in this show voice) (Also, guy who, for some reason, has developed a parasocial relationship with this setpiece in a kids show voice) THE TOWER. THE FUCKING TOWER

I've already spoken on this topic, but Kerubim already being known to sell stuff and have strong opinions on the ethics of museums makes me so unwell. Especially with implications of the Crepin family being salespeople.

I am not going to elaborate. You've read my other posts. Just... yeah.

Can I get some love for non-Cra archers in this universe? The degree of unemployment must be hellish.

Also Lou has two swords, and Nella has two quivers. They are so normal.

Some may think that Kerubim is out of shape, but I will argue that this is his Farm Boy shape. His "not constantly on the road and fighting monsters while worrying about travelling supplies" shape.

He's still muscular, because Herding Animals is Serious Business, but he's got a bit of a gut going on, because there's no food insecurity, and the food he has is mostly meat and milk.

Considering old Kerubim also has the gut, — and is, notably, still very agile, — I think that this is just, like, Kerubim's natural shape when he's eating well and living like a normal person.

Sorry for overanalysing his body. I just wanted to talk about my "adventuring should be deconstructed as a concept and examined more closely, considering the multiple characters who had been ready to die "to become legends" about it. Like is all the trauma, food insecurity, and violence worth it, when the only way for people to truly respect you in this career, is to die in a cool way?" agenda.

The resemblance between young Keke in this episode and his older self is actually scary.

Say NO to alcohol, say YES to being a calcium-based lifeform.

I've never mentioned this before on this blog, but it's very likely that Kerubim is kind-of-sort-of accidentally implied to have an underbite.

It varies, whether he has his teeth in a normal bite, or an underbite, — and it is an art style choice, it happens to some other characters, albeit nowhere near as often as it does to Kerubim, — but, once you see it, and know what I'm talking about, you can't unsee it. Hell, it's on half the screenshots in this episode already!

Underbites are something that goes in families, which fits really well.

Because, like... yeah. That sure does seem like a family thing.

Together with the "pale-ish brown pigmentation around an eye or both eyes" thing, and the triangle-ish shape of their heads and snouts, Keke and Atch are the Bouba and Kiki of siblinghood.

Anyway, for transparency's sake, despite the underbite being one of Atcham's very notable character features, he is also sometimes drawn with a normal bite. Which might point towards Kerubim's underbite also being a genuine part of his character design, — instead of it being a case of animators liking the look of it a lot.

Personally, I like to think that both of them had been trying to fix his underbite his whole life by simply willing it away, and it's Not working.

If they actually realized they care about one another, and could be chill about it instead of immediately starting a Doomed Toxic Cottagecore Farm, Pangaea would reform.

Oh? You like Kerubim and Lou? Well, then, do you think Lou and Kerubim efficiently utilized girl power when they, Bontarians, went to their oh-so-hated Sidimote Moors and Brakmar, to conduct what they call a "slaughter-safari"?

This is not a Divorce Theory I usually subscribe to, but my funny crack theory is that she left him to go adventure around the world because he wanted to settle down and adopt a kid or whatever.

Truly, the possibilities of kerulou divorce theories are endless.

If they formed a polycule, Pangaea would explode.

I like to think that whatever Julith has going on is a cloak with a similar, but more complex enchantment.

This item is real, but I can't really find the sword mentioned by Lou moments prior.

I need to inject this image inside, intravenously.

...Anyway, you will never guess what my newest addition to the desktop wallpaper rotation is.

[vervainvoyage]

MR5, woot woot! THAT test was the hardest of them all- they wanted me to hack 6 things in a row. Never ask me to do this again. PLEASE.

I'm done with farming for now and getting back to quests, and I have a weird feeling that I got spoiled with some info too soon by doing the Heart of Deimos mission and

being told that apparently, those huge people made me? cool. Nice to know. I like the look of their old buildings, very gold and white, so I can vibe with that. OH and it suddenly makes sense why the extraction points in Orokin ruins look so conveniently designed- because they were designed to be landing points for Frame aircraft. Neat.

Me and Daughter are really vibing, mostly because I applaud her choice of blasting a boyband at full volume on a moon entirely taken over by eldritch mutated meat growth. The horrors persists but we stay silly.

Despite having now... 20 hours in the game, wow, I still run face-first into walls and fall off the map. I applaud Lotus for still wanting me on any missions despite that, though considering how often she tells me to "Focus, Tenno" she might have figured out I just have ADHD and usually forget to put on glasses. She scares me with some of her warnings though- when raiding Vaults, she sometimes says "something's wrong" and DOESN'T ELABORATE. MA'AM. PLEASE. DETAILS.

Also it took my bro a few tries to hammer it into my head that during the drilling missions, when Lotus tells me "The scanner has picked up a target. Go to the dig site" I'm supposed to STAY exactly where I was. Lotus please WHY are you telling me to go somewhere else and then nag me about my excavator getting destroyed 😭 I'm just a little gal, I can't receive this many orders at once, you already know I woke up from the coma a bit uh... uncalibrated.

Anyway, I just finished Stolen Dreams and... well that was a plot hook if I've ever seen one. I am more confused than before that mission. The Codices sound like a random MacGuffin, but I must assume they will show up later and this was just a set up that they even exist. The message though? About "the womb of the sky" being empty? Yeesh thanks ominous machine. Good to know. I'll just. I'll just leave you to it, thanks.

So. It's fun playing a warmachine that goes through enemies like a lightsaber through butter, even if I'm clearly one that lost some vital brain matter during the coma.

[bokunosoul]

i’m gonna need you to elaborate on ceo lau 🙏🧎‍♀️

CEO Lau x Reader

You bit your lip as you look at the most biggest high rise building on town. Kong Rong Corporations, one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in all of the world.

Having too many companies extend their hand onto you offering opportunities for your impressive skills it seemed like a fantasy. But you are an indescisive person and ended up making a roulette to make the choice on which company to apply.

That's when you made the dumbest decision of your whole existence.

I did not knew what i was getting into.

Just playing a long with it you were offered an secretarial position that was weirdly a high salary despite you were new.

It paid a whopping $130,000 a year. You can't say no to that money after you paid off your debts.

You have read and watch in the news that the CEO, whos name you forgot is an really impressive person whom donates to charity and reportedly is a playboy and the heir of the company Kong Rong.

Well the nasty thibg about him he was rumored to be a hard person that's why many people quit on his company.

I don't really now since the media is full of trolls right now.

Setting that aside, the company's boss seemed to have weird taste. Noticing as i first went inside the building every employee was dressed in a casual suit and pants.

Meanwhile i look like an first lady watching my husband spout nonsensical lies and stand there being pretty.

But you did not mind the cute gray suit top and the pencil skirt you are wearing. But you must admit these loubotins are like daggers going through my feet.

Entering the department you will be managing you get all those kind of weird concerned looks.

The same goes as for everyone else you met.

"Why does everyone stare at me like i'm going to get killed or something?" you smiled akwardly and asked the girl showing you around.

"W-well that's beca-."

The girl suddenly stopped by a smack coming across her face causing her to fall down on her butt.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" i shouted as i help the girl stand up.

You glared at the woman. Yet you were so taken aback causing your jaw to drop.

An beautiful asian girl wearing red satin cheongsam and her hair perfectly in fingered waves and angelic face glared at you back.

Your eyes widened as you also recognized who she was. The famous supermodel and designer Ran Mao!

"You must be miss y/n l/n, you are late follow me."

Ran Mao said, she was different in the magazines and the news. I thought she was kind and shy but this was shocking and disappointing at the same time.

"U-uh miss-."

"Get this report done before 8pm tonight, it's about the report on our monthly sales and stocks, chop chop."

She said and pointed over at my workspace filled with paperwork.

"And, also if the clock strucked at exactly 7:30, do give coffee to the top floor for Lau."

"Uh sure, on thing is this office mine?"

"Yes it is."

She replied annoyed before shutting my office door.

Looks like im going to work the shit out to get my 130 grand.

_____

Typing the third to last page of your report you are already exausted. Lights are starting to go off in each departments as each employees clock out.

Standing up to your feet all sleepy and getting your 8th glass of coffee on the day you sighed.

You looked at your watch and suddenly remembered what the supermodel has said to you. Give a "Lau" guy some coffee when the it turned 7:30.

"FUCK."

You hurriedly stirred the coffee and went to the elevator headed top floor.

You were out of breathe when you reached the top floor.

There it leaded only to one big hallway and one big wooden door.

Knocking three times you said.

"Coffee for Lew?Lu?Lo???? Aha LAU!"

You can't prounounce the name well but managed.

"You may come in."

A man's voice behind the door.

"I-i'm sorry sir i'm late a bit, hehe this is your coffee."

You put the coffee on his table and sighed in relief as you've seen he's not mad.

The swivel chair turned around and there appeared a handsome tall man smirking.

You blushed, expecting an old fat man to welcome you.

"Is this the coffee?"

He said while stirring it.

"Yes sir."

"Why don't you come closer dear."

His deep husky voice gave you the chills and have no choice but to come closer.

In a flash the warm coffee was already in your white polo shirt drenching you.

"WHAT THE F-."

You stared at the man in disbelief as you can't believe what just happened.

"You are approximately 4 minutes late miss y/n."

he said coldly before laying the coffee cup again on his table.

"I'm very sorry sir, i was-."

Your eyes fell to the ground and come across at a shiny thing. A golden name plate which engraved the world "Lau, CEO of Kong Rong."

"Do you realized your mistake now darling?"

Still shocked from what just happened he just smiled and said.

"I'm going to make your life hell."

______

[missing-sock-misto]

🐱✍️🔥

🐱 Who's your favorite song cat and why?

Mr. Mistoffelees! I love the facets to his character; he’s shy and quiet and aloof, but he’s also flashy and dramatic. There are so many versions and interpretations to his character, from a mute kitten to a right-hand singer to Munkustrap, to an eldritch creature you aren’t sure is actually a cat. Plus he’s just so unabashedly ✨Fabulous✨, and it’s funny to see that a musical made in the 80’s, during the height of homophobia and the aids crisis, stumbled into making the hero of the night an extremely gay cat.

✍️ If you had total creative control over a production of Cats, what would you change and why?

So I answered it here, but that one was really focused on a replica/revival style version, so I’ll answer for a nonreplica idea here.

I put the disclaimer that non-replica’s are a bit of a blind spot for me, so I might just say an idea that’s already been done. But yeah- I like the idea of a masquerade style non-rep, where each cat gets a specific aesthetic and dance style.

Victoria is traditional ballet obviously, Misto is acro-modern ballet. Jennyanydots is tap, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteaser are swing dancers. Skimble could be Scottish dance. Make Tugger a stripper or something Idk lol. The Jellicle Ball is a montage of various ballroom dances, with the Pas-de-deaux being a Waltz featuring Plato and Victoria.

There is a precedent for Macavity being a participant during his own number, so it could be a Tango or Rumba, where he alternates dance partners with Demeter and Bomba (HE DOESN'T SING). I imagine he’s not Literally there, it’s like, a very dark stage, and he enters and leaves spotlights on verses. It’s more the memory of his presence that the girls are dancing with, kind of like the “Cell Block Tango” in Chicago. He’s dressed in a suit with red trim and has a death mask or something.

But everyone is wearing masks with various degree of coverage, and cat ear like head pieces. But I’m imagining very elaborate dresses and costumes, a ballroom set design.

🔥 Share one (1) hot take/opinion about the show/fandom/etc

I really like Revival. It makes me sad when people bash it so much, cause while I don’t agree with all of the artistic choices made, I like a lot of them and find them interesting. But I know any defense I make of it will make me sound like I'm bashing the OG, when that isn't my intention, so I don't say anything.

[celticbotanart]

Wrote a very depressing tweet earlier, but was a coward and deleted it.

So, instead of being depressed AF on main, I'll take one of the things I said in it and will elaborate in a much better, healthier manner, which is... gushing about music, my beloved, my hyperfixation ~

In the tweet I mentioned André Matos, a BR singer, composer, pianist with a literal degree in classical music and conducting.

He became a literal metal legend here in BR specially in the 90s/2000s. Like for real - he was THIS CLOSE to replace Bruce Dickinson when he left Iron Maiden in the early 90s (Andre was in the 3rd place of choice).

Unfortunately, Andre passed away in 2019 at early age of 47 due to a cardiac arrest - it was very sudden and a shock to everybody, it's kind of insane even now looking back and remembering he's gone.

Anyway. That being said, enough with the sad stuff and let's turn this into THE COOLEST THING you guys will ever learn about Brazilian music!! As a kid, Andre Matos was the vocalist of a band named Viper, and later on as a young adult he joined Angra, a band that still exists to this day with other members and vocalists - BTW!!! SMALL PARENTESIS, the vocalist who replaced Andre in Angra, Edu Falaschi, sang the Brazilian version of "Pegasus Fantasy", Saint Seiya's opening theme back then!! Still a fucking banger, and Edu STILL often sings it to this day; Edu isn't in Angra anymore, I think???

But yeah. As you can see, we're already getting epic and complex and I didnt even get to Andre yet lol ANYWAY!! This is Angra with the OG formation with Andre as the lead singer/keyboardist - he's the 3rd one, the pretty boi in the middle, hehe

Angra was one of the pivotal points in Brazilian hard rock/metal; Sepultura is right there with them, I think - I don't know a lot about Sepultura (that's my sister's territory lol), but I know that much.

I'll skip straight into Angra's stuff cause there's where the good stuff begins!

First album of theirs is called "Angels Cry" and the title song is SUCH a quintessential Angra / Andre Matos song, i swear to gods. And the album art sdkjfhsdkfjshdf it's very Graphic Passion Is My Design. Don't be fooled by the dated album art tho:

Here you'll hear the "classic music interludes" that were very common in Andre Matos' songs due to his background and training in classic music. It's SOOOO 80s and their Iron Maiden influence is SCREAMING, quite literally. Worth mentioning I'm not an Iron Maiden fan lol btw #Poser

Another CLASSIQUE-TM from Angels Cry is "Time".

I'll throw the official videoclip in here because it's hilarious, even though the song slaps ksdjfhskdj (André's corny, pretty metal boi look in his early Angra days is kind of a goal to transNB me, ngl. #GenderEnvy)

WELL, do you guys know folk metal? Like, when we say that, it's usually metal + medieval/European instruments (like Eluveitie, for example).

In 96, Angra did what I like to consider "Brazilian folk metal", metal with BR elements and influences, in their album "Holy Land"

The concept of the album was like, the great navigations but it was also kind of a commentary in colonization - Brasil is our "holy land", and a lot of the songs feature this epicness and bittersweetness, joy and sorrow of being BR. The songs are in ENG, which is kind of ironic, but still The songs being in ENG is due to a lot of factors tbh, all of them involving the fact that Brazil doesn't embrace metal a lot, and they wanted to to sell their songs outside BR bc of that. Which sucks, but i get it.

Here we have CAROLINA IV, an epic describing a ship at sea, and it also references the Portuguese who arrived in BR back in the 1500s.

The song is all in ENG except the intro, which is a chant dedicated to Iemanjá / Janaína / Iemoja, the orisha of the seas and the most well-known orisha around here, if I'm not mistaken

"Hail, hail Yemoja, Hail Janaína And everything that was made in the waters They throw flowers at the sea God save the Queen And my journey on this sphere An orishas' caboclo Soon leaves the Earth Meeting his fate Where the sky meets the sea He will find his safe harbor And that's how it ends..."

Black culture and religions are strong here in BR, and this chant and the instruments used are a tribute to them <3 If you guys know of or remember Michael Jackson's "They Don't Really Care About Us", that's the same beat/Afro-Brazilian influence - in MJ's song, it was the famous group Olodum who did it, I don't know if they were involved in Angra's Holy Land though. "Carolina IV" is a very long with a lot of changes in pace and even genres (again, classical music interludeTM). It's very epic, very 80s metal, and very Brazilian as well, it has everything I love, ahhh <3

In the early 2000s, Andre left Angra and he and other, previous Angra members formed the band Shaman.

I think it's good for me to reiterate at this point that while we had bands like Angra and Sepultura, the metal genre WAS NOT and NEVER WAS mainstream here in BR.

So, the fact that Shaman became incredibly popular in the early 2000s because one of their songs "became to mainstream" was kind of an anomaly. THIS, MY FRIENDS, is where my story with Andre Matos' music starts. Because this was early 2000s, I was around 13 and the reason why I knew about the band, alongside hundreds of other teens at the time, was because a song by Shaman became soundtrack to a BR telenovela. The telenovela in question was O Beijo do Vampiro ("The Vampire's Kiss") and as the name suggests, it had vampires and 'edgy dark fantasy stuff' cause it was more targeted for a younger audience, as the protagonist was this middle schooler aged boy who was actually the son of a vampire.

The BANGER, THE ETERNAL, EVERLASTING ANTHEM from Shaman they chose as a soundtrack to that freaking telenovela was "Fairy Tale", from their first album "Ritual":

I swear to god, this song is fucking everything to any Brazilian metal fan my age. It was a literal game changer to a lot of us, because this was how we discovered or started really appreciating metal, since we were too young to catch on Viper in the 80s or Angra in the 90's. Other bands like Evanecscence, Nightwish and Linkin Park were also starting to become popular, so a lot of metal styles were coming around around that period.

Including a Brazilian singer that also leaned more towards a heavier sound, Pitty! That song is from her first album.

ANWYAY, BACK TO ANDRE MATOS - I'll make an exception here, and share two versions of the same song. I've shared the official videoclip with the studio recording, and below, is a very beloved live performance from 2003:

I'm sharing both versions because they are slightly different - studio ver starts with a religious chant in latin, and the live version includes a violin, played by Marcus Viana (another conductor and a famous composer of soundtracks for Brazilian shows and movies). In the live ver you can also see Andre Matos SLAYING on the piano because dude was a literal master of his craft ksjdfhksjdf

The song starts all calm with the piano, very lullaby-like, and then BAM!, 80s METAL HAIRFLIP AND GUITARS AND EPICNESS. And then it ends how it started. It's such a beautiful track. I love it so much, such a true banger. Makes me nostalgic AF, and I love the "epic tale" nature it has.

Another personal favorite of mine from that time comes from their second album, a track called Born to Be:

I love how it mixes mellow piano lines with heavier metal arrangements, it was kind of their thing and they did it so well! And by the way, I am aware the name of the band / cover of first album might be considered problematic nowadays?? It was the 2000s, unfortunately those things happened a lot. It's looking back into our teen years and realizing things were not as pristine as we remembered fskjdfhksd oh man. But yeah. Aside from that, the songs slap so hard, specially if you like the 80s metal feel. And speaking of the 80s music, Andre covered some pretty badass, daring songs over the years, not only but including... ..."Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" from Journey, which he recorded after he left Shaman and went solo in the late 2000s:

I cannot affirm that for a fact, but I think this cover is sort of a "meme" because it was kind of a recurring joke that Andre Matos sang like Bruce Dickinson but looked like he was Steve Perry's "long lost son". Steve Perry was the most well-known vocalist from Journey. The "Dont Stop Believin" Journey:

(The picture above is Andre when he was like 15yo in Viper btw dfkjjsdf) And like, this is pretty fucking funny cause if you are here following my art for long enough - like REALLY, REALLY LONG ENOUGH, around 2009 deviantart -, you'll def remember me in my Journey/Steve Perry phase. And my Andre Matos phase too, it was around the same time lol

ANYWAY. BEST FOR LAST. CAUSE THE LAST IS "WUTHERING HEIGHTS" COVER. THE KATE BUSH "WUTHERING HEIGHTS". YEAH. THAT ONE.

Madlad decided to make a metal cover of Kate Bush with this falsetto voice and he just. He just did it. DIDNT CHANGE / ADAPT THE LYRICS, EITHER. You'll hear 22 year old Andre Matos in 1993 fucking scream at the top of his lungs HEATHCLIFF IT'S ME CATHY, I'VE COME HOME, I'M SO COLD LET ME IN-A-YOUR WINDOW. And he's singing VERY VERY HIGH NOTES, this song is fucking hard to sing y'all, I'll let you know right now lol. Anyway.

Here was the Andre Matos / Angra / partial Brazilian Metal history for you, and I hope you like the song recs, and if not, I hope you enjoy the trivia at least!

Remembering his music earlier made me nostalgic, but also made me sad, bc a lot has happened ever since 2003 and the "Vampire Telenovela". I've created OCs inspired by him - it was a two-in-one sort of OC, and he's retired for over a decade now; and I didn't do much with him anyway, so no artworks to show.

And I'm seriously considering bringing his music and influence back to a more recent OC (if you read my post about me looking for a new voice to my transitioned OC, that's what I'm talking about). It's a funny way to go back to where some things started.

That (and a lot of other, unrelated stuff) made me super sad earlier.

Andre Matos left us way too soon, and like I said earlier, it's always weird remembering he's dead, because it doesnt feel like that, to me. Maybe the fact I always "forget" he's gone is because his music and influence on me as a person still lives on, which is sort of a comfort~

-

commission info | patreon | kofi | twitter

[callioclops]

A short while ago I was prompted to explain why I didn't particularly enjoy Baldur's Gate 3, and it led me down an interesting rabbit hole of thought about RPG progression. Stepping away as much as I can from my personal preference, I want to take a moment to talk about the pros and cons of what I've started referring to as 'Buffet' or 'Menu' progression systems.

So a quick explanation of what I mean by this, say you're eating out and you go to a restaurant that's hosting a buffet. As long as you have room on your plate, you can take anything you want from the buffet in any combination you want. The things you choose may not compliment each other very well, but it's your choice to make.

Now take another restaurant, this one without a buffet, instead you are given a menu. You have a selection of curated dishes, already picked out for you because the ingredients are believed to compliment each other. You may have some customisation, extra bacon on a burger, a choice of condiment, but there are limits to how much you can do.

I'm going to relate these metaphors back using the two games I've played from Larian Studios: Divinity Original Sin 2, and Baldur's Gate 3. Divinity is very much a buffet system. There are presets in character creation, but these can be completely ignored if you wish. Every skill can be upgraded at every level, there is never a moment where you're locked out of improving your rank in Necromancy or Dual-Wielding, etc. The only limitations on your character building are the limited points you have to allocate.

Baldur's Gate 3 on the other hand is (primarily) a menu progression system. You pick a class, and are given a curated list of things you are allowed to do based on this. You can pick your choice of spells, stances, and some other parts, but the overall strategy stays largely similar for most of these changes, you're just changing the seasoning.

Now I say primarily for BG3 because like most things, this is a spectrum and not a dichotomy. I think that BG3 leans towards a menu system, but it doesn't embody it. That prize I think goes to a lot of early JRPGs, where you don't get any customisation at all, you are just given party members that gain the same stats and learn the same abilities at the same levels on every playthrough.

Acknowledging my biases at this point, I think my wording has made menu progression sound entirely negative, so let's go over some of the benefits: It creates a more streamlined play experience, less fussing over the intricacies of a build allows people to experience the story and gameplay at a much more rapid rate. From experience, I have spent 15 minutes deciding on what to do for a level up in Divinity, which can definitely detract from the pacing if the need to allocate points arises at a crucial story beat. Reduced options also makes the game more approachable and enjoyable for casual players, who may not necessarily have the desire to understand the minutia of the mechanics (To be clear, I'm not using casual in a derogatory sense here, play games how you want to play them I'm not here to gatekeep). Finally, reduced choices in a build path is easier to balance from a game design perspective, and can make the utilisation of these mechanics more interesting in combat. If focus is taken away from what you use, much more emphasis is placed on how you use it, which for some people is much more satisfying when done well.

And with that out of the way, my personal list of pros for why I love buffet progression systems: Firstly, it encourages creativity. This is an obvious one, but I feel it deserves to be elaborated on. In Divinity, while I said you could ignore the presets entirely I don't think that's a good idea. Because the presets are very good starting points for a better, more whole build that you could create yourself. Taking Enchanter as an example, it primarily uses air and water skills to dish out AoE damage and stun opponents out of their turns. You could stay entirely in these two skills, but there are other things that could improve this game plan. Polymorph has access to Spider Legs which you can use to web opponents and stop them from moving, maybe allowing for more enemies to group up. Necromancer can give you access to Vacuum Touch or Vacuum Aura when combined with Aerothurge, letting you shred through magic armour so you can apply your status effects earlier. Divinity in particular I think is very good at leading you down a path without forcing you to stay on the trail, but of course any open ended system would encourage experimentation to find an optimisation.

I think buffet systems also allow for a lot of replayability. BG3 obviously has this for all of the different story paths you can go down, but in terms of mechanics, a more open system tends to give me the feeling of "oh what if I did this" or "I could maybe combine these together" which I just didn't feel at all in my time with BG3. Finally, and most importantly to me, buffet progression rewards knowledge of the systems far more than menu progression does. By understanding the interactions that occur in the game, you're able to put together these incredibly powerful combinations that don't necessarily trivialise the game, but feel like a significant boost from using the preset paths prepared for you. A great example of this is my favourite build I've ever made for Divinity that I nicknamed the Firebomb. Feel free to skip the next paragraph if you don't want a brief rundown of the build.

The essence of this build is that I would use Aero skills such as Teleport and Nether Swap to gather up a lot of enemies in one place, then use skills like Supernova, hitting everyone around me and myself. I was mitigating the damage however as I have points in Necromancer which give you lifesteal, and the talent Living Armour which converts a portion of healing into magic armour regeneration. I could then use Fireball on myself after casting Deflective Barrier. DB is a skill that after being hit with a projectile will launch it back at the source. Since I cast Fireball on myself, it gets deflected back at me, effectively doubling the damage as it triggers twice. Once again, hitting everyone around me. This resulted in a huge amount of fire damage in a single turn, and could often solve a minor fight all on its own. There are more details like the fact that I have to compensate for low physical armour and what I do when those abilities are on cooldown, but I don't want to bore you with the minutia.

So am I saying one method is better than the other? No, not at all. I may prefer buffet, but menu has its merits and its audience. The correct method depends on the game that the developers want to make. I think both of these examples with Larian made excellent choices in regards to the game they built for their respective systems, it just happened that one of them wasn't for me.