#I've always wanted to remake this scene!

[shadow0-1]

In another life

[inkskinned]

no, actually, where is the whimsy?

my ex had a best friend named larry who asked me once: what do you think comes after irony?

we were at the bar where larry worked. it was a quiet night, and he'd hopped over to sit with us on the patron side. i swirled the lemon around my limoncello martini.

earnest positivity, i said, while my ex said, art self-destructs.

i stared at my ex. he stared at me.

his argument was the cinemasins argument: look how bad media is becoming! look at the loopholes and the dumb shit!

it was roughly 2011. galaxy print was still in. at the time, i had a favorite shirt that was a wolf howling at the moon. it got ripped in half in the wash and i honestly still mourn it. i dressed like effie stonem, because everyone did. and irony was the name of the thing. men liked MLP "ironically." the internet liked the kind of crass, "anti-mainstream" vibes of things like fuck romance, touch my butt and buy me pizza. we put cats in sunglasses everywhere, which was because we only liked things in irony.

and media had the same vibe in it: anti-hero white men would be "hard to love" and then storm off the scene. nobody was just earnestly trying to save the world: they were jaded, angry, unoriginal. mad you even asked them to try to help.

my ex ends up not being wrong. cinemasins becomes super popular. a lot of people start viewing media with this lens that is the cruelest, most jaded depiction. it's wrong for your character to have unexplained powers, even if the entire movie is about how strange it is she has unexplained powers - that is still considered a "loophole." characters make thoughtless, panicked choices? loophole. characters are actually kind people, despite hardship? loophole. features a woman doing literally anything without assistance? loophole. movies become hyper-aware of scrutiny, and now irony rules the media.

which means you go to a movie, and the character has to turn to the screen and say "beats me!!" or one of the side characters has to have some kind of quip like "are you seriously telling me that you think this is normal?" because nothing can happen in earnest. like a sitcom laugh track, we now anticipate the fourth-wall break: the moment that the media acknowledges it is telling a story. the media has to apologize for itself, or else someone like my ex rolls their eyes.

but here's the thing: i wasn't wrong either.

the difference might be that i am (and always have been) so soft-hearted that any crack in the light of this world will spear me into the ground. and i was the poet in the relationship. (he thought that was the same thing as being naïve and stupid). i was making things daily. i knew how all of us artists are driven by some strange desire to evolve. he notably liked to critique art, not to create it.

so yes, i've made things that are bitter and angry and even ironic. i've made long, sharp poems with all capital letters, and i've made poems about how the silence stretches out like a song. someone wrote once that we will spend our whole lives just circling the place we grew up. i think it's more that we spend our whole lives trying to remake a home. i think it's that as we age, it becomes less exciting to build the castle on the beach - we become aware of erosion, of windforce. we realize what we really want is to come home to our dog, castle or not.

and while art in the foreground is mired in white male violence and irony, and aggression, and not taking anything seriously - i don't think that's true of all art. i think more and more artists are leaning in to the things we love. the world has changed so much. they have taken so many things from us. the only thing we have left is love. at the bottom of the moving box - all we get is the faint sense that we have to appreciate what little we've got. i can't enjoy this stuff ironically anymore: what room do i have for irony? if it makes me happy, that is an amazing thing. there are so few happy places left for me. i want to be happy because of how leaves shiver beside each other like nestling birds. i want to be happy because of the color pink, and how magenta doesn't exist. i have spent so much of this life suffering, i have earned my right to a gentle ending. if nothing matters, i get to assign meaning to the nothing. i get to create meaning. i am an artist first and foremost, which means creation is my thing.

where is the whimsy? wherever i fucking put it. because if this is my last fucking chance to do any good in this world - i want to do it earnestly. i want to write things that make you happy. that make people feel heard and seen. what comes after irony has to be positivity.

it was close to my 21st birthday. in 7 years, i would end up writing a book about this relationship, which is hopefully coming out somewhere around May 2024. i come back to this bar scene in my memories a lot. i keep thinking of how pale my ex was. the look that crossed his face. how i looked back at him. how for a moment, both of us couldn't recognize the other person. like the gulf between us was a suddenly wide and cavernous thing. like we were alien to each other. he never took my opinion seriously, and he always seemed surprised whenever his manic-pixie-dream-girl ever broke free of the plot. like in the whole time we were together, i wasn't human enough.

this knowledge: where he said nothing comes after, my only instinct was what comes after is love.

[seokmins]

wonwoo doing that move in rwy ↳ gif remake challenge 🎆 (og)

[nickfowlerrr]

darling, it's cold outside.

pairing: charles blackwood x curvy!reader

words: 2.7k

warnings: 18+ only. cockwarming. not foot fetish stuff but he does remove her heels for her? lol. pining. little bit of holiday blues mentioned but overall this is pretty fluffy. maybe like the littlest bit soft!dark if you squint.

notes: very happy to be writing for charles again, i've missed him. 🥹

inspired by this txt post, this is one of seven characters i’m writing this prompt of sorts for. thank you in advance for reading and as always, reblogs and comments are welcome and so appreciated. ❣️

"Mr. Blackwood," you call out as you walk down the empty hallway, your heels clacking on the marble flooring as you go, "I remade the guest bedroom like you asked. If there's nothing else for tonight, I was going to be heading home?"

You look into his open office as you pass, he's not there. Curious...

You continue down the hall, peeking into the study, then the tea room, and then the living room - none of which held him. The television in the living room was on, however, so you assumed he must be close by. But where?

Normally you find it difficult to get more than a few minutes alone from him when you're working, but now the man of the house is as elusive as your holiday spirit seems to be this year.

The pitter patter of the rain outside the castle captures your attention as you pass the grand window.

"Oh no," you sigh as you peer out into the dreary scene. The Christmas lights strung up outside appear blurry through the rain droplets on the glass as the sky grows darker with each moment that passes.

You were supposed to be out of here by 3pm, but Charles, for the first time since you'd started working for him, had many a qualm about your cleaning and tidyings today. You had to go over the bathrooms twice and were instructed to remake his bed before reattending to the guest room. It was nearing 5:30 now, and the rain you were hoping to avoid has clearly already begun - and if the weatherman was correct - would be staying long through the night.

It's not a terribly long walk home, but in your uniform, having to walk home in the rain is a less than ideal situation.

But you resign yourself to your fate as you turn from the window and continue on your search for your boss.

"Mr. Blackwood," you call again, "I'm about to be heading home."

As you finish your sentence, crossing in front of the lavish cranberry colored couch, you notice the throw blanket you had folded and put away earlier is now adorning the cushions. You think to check by the linen closet on the other side of the staircase - hoping to find him somewhere over there so he may dismiss you for the night.

You are about to leave the room when suddenly you hear the kettle whistle sharply from the kitchen. Your brows knit together as you stop in your tracks and turn back around to go toward the kitchen instead.

The sound of your heels as you walk informs Charles of your presence as you enter the room. He turns from the stove, having just moved the kettle from one burner to the other, and looks surprised to see you.

"Oh," he said, nonplussed, "you're still here?" His brow was raised as he looked at you.

You felt stumped yourself, standing blankly for a moment before blinking away your confusion. "Yes, I- I just finished remaking the guest bedroom like you asked," you stammered just slightly.

"Oh, perfect. Thank you. You really are an angel, you know that?" he praised, smiling that ever charming smile at you.

You couldn't help but return one of your own, eyes flicking down almost immediately, unable to hold his gaze.

You sucked in a breath, schooling your face as you looked back up. "Did you want to check it over?"

"No," he brushed off with a shake of his head, turning back to open the cabinet behind him, "I'm sure everything is in order. I trust you."

Your lips twitch as you hold back a disbelieving laugh. He seemed so concerned earlier...

"Alright. Well, if that's everything, Mr. Blackwood-"

"Charles," he corrects.

"...Charles," you amend, "if that was all, I was planning on heading out for the night."

"Of course," he agrees, turning to face you once again, with two mugs in his hands. "Do you have time for some hot chocolate, or will your ride be here soon?"

"Oh, I don't have a ride," you hide a grimace at the reminder of your lonesomeness. Well...maybe you could call a cab? But no, that short ride would just feel like a waste of your hard earned money. And anyway, Charles knows you walk to and from. He's chided you on it before. You'll never forget the way you warmed at his concern for you that first time. He had offered you a ride home, but you refused. It was a clear evening and there really was no reason for any fuss. But of course, his worry still made your heart flutter.

The mugs clink as they're set down on the counter, the sound brining you back to the room. "Sweetheart, it's raining. Supposed to only pick up, too. If you were planning on walking, I don't think that'd be a good idea."

The pet name has butterflies taking flight in your tummy as you work to tamp them down.

"It's not that far of a walk, I'm sure I'll be fine."

"I must insist that you stay," he presses, your name sounding so nicely on his tongue. "Please. I would offer you a ride myself but I'm afraid my headlight blew out, I wouldn't be able to see a thing. The guest room would be yours and I could drive you home in the morning. Or, if you insist, the weather should be fairer by then - enough to walk if you really want."

"Oh, really, I would hate to inconvenience you, sir."

"Not at all," he assures you as he prepares both mugs of coco. "In fact, I think it'd be nice to have some company for the holiday. In a house this big, being alone can feel rather lonely."

You consider his words and can't help but agree. "It can feel much the same in a small home, too," you say with a bittersweet smile. "If you really don't mind, I'd be thankful to stay."

"And I'd be thankful for the company," he smiles back. "I was about to start a movie."

You trail behind him slowly as he leads the way back to the living room. When you get to the couch, he sets both mugs down on the coffee table as he gestures for you to sit.

"Please, get comfortable. You've been on your feet all day."

You don't argue and take your seat. The couch is as comfortable as it always looks and you can't help but sigh as you relish the feeling. You almost instinctively kick off your heels, but stop yourself right in time. Charles notices the twitch of your feet, however.

You hold in a gasp as he kneels down before you and takes hold of your foot. His eyes flash up to yours as you stare down at him, lips parted and breath stalled. He slips your heel off and squeezes your foot lightly before repeating the same to your other foot. No words are exchanged as he pops back up and walks to the television. He pushes a tape into the player before sauntering back over to you.

You want to lift a leg up underneath you but don't allow yourself to, especially not while you're in this skirt. Charles takes the spot beside you and you somehow go even more rigid at his proximity.

"I said get comfortable, darling," he chides, pulling you in closer to him, "I meant it."

You allow yourself to fall into his side, and then after a long second, slowly bring a leg up to get more comfortable beside him. Another long moment, and you bring your other leg up as well, repositioning yourself while you shimmy the littlest bit closer.

Charles is warm and the room is a bit cold, so you don't mind how close he actually is. Maybe more aptly, how close you are to him...

You try to focus on the opening scene of the holiday movie you've only heard of before, never actually having had the chance to see it. But as Charles leans over and grabs the throw he'd brought out earlier, he takes over your focus once again. He drapes the blanket over both of you before settling back, essentially right against you now.

Your heart is beating so loud, you're almost sure he can hear it if he listens close enough.

Charles wraps his arm around your shoulder and you instinctively scoot closer still, letting your head rest on his chest trepidatiously. He hums his approval as you do.

"Is this okay?" he asks quietly, keeping the cozy and comfortable ambience in tact.

You're quiet, unsure of what to say. Does it feel okay? It feels like everything you've dreamed of since meeting the man. But is it okay? That you're not so sure of. Are you crossing a line? Is this a mistake?... Oh god, what are you doing? You can't lose this job!

You push yourself to sit up, pulling away from Charles as he looks at you, stunned by your haste.

"I- I'm so sorry, Mr. Blackwood. I don't know what's come over me. I should, I should go," you rush your words as you try to stand.

Try.

Charles' hand is on you in an instant, keeping you in place. You look at him with wide eyes, like a deer in headlights. He says your name and you don't think to try and get up again.

"Darling, I don't know what you're apologizing for. If I've made you uncomfortable, I should be apologizing to you," he says. "...Have I? Made you uncomfortable?"

You stare into the hypnotic gaze of his cerulean blue eyes, taking in his words. It's a moment before you softly shake your head. "No," you nearly whisper. "No, you haven't." He nods, admiring your face as you peer at him.

"That's good. And, it's Ch-"

"Charles," you cut him off. "I know. Habit," you shrug lightly.

"One you'll hopefully come to break," he smirks. "So, back to my question," he pulls you closer, "Was that okay? Being that close to me?"

You nod meekly, "Yes."

"And was it okay that I put my arm around you?"

Another weak murmur as you unconsciously lean into him, "Yes."

"And just to be sure," he breathes, leaning closer into you in return, "do you really want to leave?"

Your breath catches in your throat as you shake your head. "No."

"One last question," he says as he brings a hand to your cheek, holding your face delicately as he urges you closer. You're nose to nose as he continues, "Would it be okay if I kissed you now?"

You smile softly, your lips brush his as you answer him. "Yes," you nod.

He pulls you in gently and your hand holds his to your face as he finally kisses you, so softly you swear you could melt into the cushions.

You murmur again into the kiss as your eyelids flutter shut. Without thinking, you deepen the kiss. You find your body moving without your permission as you pull yourself more into him - almost crawling along the cushions to get closer to him.

Charles doesn't stop you, in fact, he leans back further - pulling you along the way, moving you up his lap.

Your skirt stretches across your thick thighs as you are maneuvered by him onto his lap. You straddle him as his arms come around you, pulling you to be flush against him - his lips never stopping as he kisses you so completely, so passionately. The intensity only grows more fervent as you return the desire in kind.

You mindlessly move your hips against his and he moans at the feeling. The sound of his pleasure is music to your ears and serves to get you even more worked up. You can feel the slickness as it grows between your thighs. And as you rock your hips again, you can feel Charles' excitement, too.

He is hard beneath you, his erection growing more and more prominent with each second.

"Mhm," you mewl against his lips, breaking for a breath, "Charles," you sigh - rocking once more. The friction sending a wave of sparking pleasure through you.

"Does that feel good for you, angel?" he asks, hands grabbing your hips.

You nod helplessly, "Feels so good."

He kisses you again, harder this time as he holds you in place on his lap. "I know what would feel even better," he says huskily.

He reaches for the button of his slacks and you bite your lip, a few nerves building now. You pull away from him ever so slightly as he begins to undo his pants.

"Um, Charles," you nearly whisper, waiting for a response you don't get.

You watch with heavy lidded eyes and parted, pouted lips as he pulls his straining cock from his briefs. You almost feel frozen for a second before one of his hands comes up and buries itself between your thighs. You yelp, squeaking at the touch.

"Charles, I don't know if we should-"

"Oh, sweetheart, don't worry," he hushes you. You gasp with a tremble and a light moan as his deft fingers slide up and along your clothed sex. You tilt your hips as he feels along your cunt and don't stop him when he moves your underwear to the side.

His eyes are trained on your face, he watches as it contorts with the beginning sparks of your pleasure under his touch. His dick is throbbing, on the verge of starting to leak for you.

He can't wait any longer, he's waited so long already. He needs to have you around him. Needs to feel your warmth envelope him and your weight as you sit on him. He doesn't even need to go all the way with you - not tonight. He just wants to feel you.

His tongue slips past his pillowy lips as he grips himself with one hand, guiding his red tip to your tight, slick entrance. He presses against you but you slightly back away - still unsure.

"I just want to feel you, angel. That's all. I promise. Just need you to sit down and that'll be it. Just sit right here and keep me warm for a bit. You can do that, can't you, darling?"

A sigh of relief escapes you as you slacken a bit into him. You can do that, you decide. You nod your head and bring one of your hands to his shoulders. He presses against you again and this time you move into him. You whine at the sting of his intrusion as he helps ease you down onto his length a little at a time. When you are fully seated, you drop your head into the crook of his neck as one of his hands rubs your back.

"Fuck, doesn't that feel nice?" he asks, voice breathy. You only nod against him as your walls stretch around his cock, squeezing him every so often.

"Yes," you huff, "Oh, it feels so nice, Charles."

He pulls you from his neck, brushing his nose against yours as he brings you face to face with him again.

"I knew we'd be a perfect fit," he smirks, kissing you hotly as you press yourself closer to him, returning his kiss.

"I said the guest room was yours, but there's room enough for two in my bed if you'd rather," he simpers.

"I think I just might rather," you whisper with a smile against his lips. You move to sit up but are immediately pulled back down onto his cock. You moan deeply at the movement, the drag of his length along your walls and the way your walls work to keep him inside of you. To be fair, you aren't the most experienced woman in the world, but the feeling of him is unlike anything you've ever felt before. You are entirely full of him and you fear you won't want to ever go empty again.

"Not just yet, sweetheart," he laughs, holding you down. "We aren't even halfway through the movie yet. And we have all night before we take this upstairs, angel. I want to make sure this is a Christmas we'll always remember."

[askfallenroyalty]

Okay so I'm going to be real with ya'll.

I got the sprites for DOWN mostly ready, outside character sprites for cutscenes and portraits (as I've decided to change how I do those)

I got it looking great! Just one problem.

I, for the life of me, cannot make this game.

I've been trying on/off for 5 months. I can't sit down and work on it. it's seriously got me like.

and i just????? on top of the all writing troubles i've been having and my roadblock on working on this i just...

i don't know. maybe Fallen Royalty was always too ambitious. i feel like i wasted years trying to remake this! i want to scream!

and i wrote myself in a hole -i do need Down to happen in some shape or form and it'd work best as a game because audio is a big component to what i wrote but i've changed engines when TML's engine briefly was dead (it got better) and so I've made that song half way twice

i just hate it i hate it i hate it

i can make sprite work for it cause that's medativative for me and i enjoy seeing it come to life

but sitting down, making cutscenes, having characters move around and talk? sounds like the worst thing ever. i'd rather do anything but that.

and drawing the comic?? i need to fix the story beats to make it. even chapter 2 took more work than it should cause i re-drew half the chapter and i'd sometimes just, make scenes that'd get tossed. i'm scared i'm going to try to sketch out the chapter, hate it and then resketch it. and yeah, that's why i've rewritten it so many times to prevent that, but i can't settle on a story i think works no matter what i do!

so uh.

long ramble aside i think I should put Fallen Royalty on indefinite hiatus. I DO SEE THE IRONY THIS IS EXACTLY WHERE I GAVE UP LAST TIME AND I'M SO ANGRY AT MYSELF FOR IT LMAO!!!!!!!

[bryce-bucher]

.50 Caliber 3D Platformer Post #7

Environment AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAART:

Finally, I've gotten around to making the environment art for the one level that I've got rn. I've been playing the system shock remake, and I really love how that game creates the illusion of grungy detail that reveals itself to be very low-resolution textures up-close. I knew I wanted the game to look like of grungy for a while now, but I didn't know exactly how I would go about achieving it. I toyed with the idea of layering photocopy textures over everything, but I eventually settled on using low resolution textures that are dithered with web colors. I'm quite happy with how it ended up looking. I think it has a source engineish vibe that reveals itself to be more colorful and strange up-close.

The Textures:

The process for making these is a lot simpler and less time consuming that how I usually make textures. This is mostly because I'm relying a lot more on the baked lighting to make things look good in this particular game, so the textures can get away with being less detailed. I'm mostly just grabbing stuff off of websites like textures.com and adjusting the contrast / coloration before shrinking them down and lowering the color depth. Here are some examples of how they look wowee wow:

Lightinggg:

For this game I'm using baked lighting as opposed to vertex based or realtime. I really like how it looks, and it ends up saving me a lot of time. If you don't know how baked lighting works, basically I place lights around a scene in unity, and then I use anything but unity's built in lightbaker that is bad and sucks (I use bakery) to essentially turn the lighting into a texture map that is placed on the mesh. It turns lights into textures basically. It is a lot more performant than real-time lighting, and it usually looks a lot better as well. With this game's particular art style, everything really ends up coming together with the lighting, and it would look pretty trash without it.

Cameo Skinz:

I've always really liked putting cameos in my stuff from artists that I'm friends with and/or take a lot of inspiration from. In this game, I plan to include a lot of unlockable skins for the player character that are characters from games / animations / whatever that I like. So far I've made a couple to breakup my time working on environment art. Check um out:

This one is Peter Shorts from an upcoming game called You Are Peter Shorts. I loved this dude at first sight and it was the first skin I ended up making. He was really fun to make because he has no body or hands, so I ended up making his head/torso one big thing that is attached to the head bone. You are Peter Shorts is made by the talented ondydev who I don't think I've actually asked permission to include this skin yet. If it doesn't end up in the final game pretend I didn't post about it lol. You should check out their previous game Tres-Bashers if you haven't.

This one is Appy from Brawlers World! Brawlers World is one of those creative projects that is so great that it gives me envy. I'm honestly so excited to be able to have this little dude in my game, and I think he ended up fitting into the art style super well. Those are the only two skins I've made so far. I have a lot more planned including Nova from Anodyne 2, Frog from Jamphibian, Knight of Trye from Knight's Try, Orbo from Peeb Adventures & Orbo's Odyssey, and some characters from my own stuff. They aren't a high priority right now because I have to actually make the game first, but I'll probably make a few here and there to curb burnout, and I'll show them off whenever I do. I am v passionate about the cool shit my peers are making, and I hope other people are too.

Conclusion:

idk it's like 8 am and I haven't slept. I've just been workin a lot while listening to the magnus archives. I guess I can turn this conclusion into me talking about the magnus archives. I'm on episode 197 while writing this so im almost done. It is p cool and I like how much it changes tonally overtime. It really feels like a big long journey, and I like media that can do that kinda thing. It is now a series that I will forever associate with the development of this game considering I listened to it all while working on it. It's kinda funny how that happens. Sometimes I'll be in a location in one of my games and it'll make me think about some video essay or w/e that I was watching while making it. Anyway, have a good day every1 pls tyty

[elionwriter]

Sherlock Holmes the Awakened: a Review

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

Sorry, sorry, sorry, but I just NEED to talk about this game! I have been a Frogwares Holmes fan since the very beginning and 'The Awakened' was always among my favourite titles. Not to mention one of the games that had scared the wits out of me. So I have to speak about the Remake now.

First and foremost, I think it needs to be reiterated that this game was made DURING THE FU****G INVASION OF UKRAINE! During such dark times, the team kept working on this. I would have supported this game even just for this reason alone.

Now, let's be honest: Frogwares never had the most marvelous graphics nor the most polished of gameplays and this entry is not an exception. I still feel the map system is a bit difficult to navigate (I may be an idiot, but I had the same issue with Chapter 1) but I really appreciated the added help the game gives you when you're recreating a scene, letting you know which passage you got wrong. Last game I found myself changing everything trying to hit the right combination so I really liked this fix.

This needs to be said: the game doesn't feel under any shape or form a product for a new fan. Everything from dialogues to game mechanics sort of take for granted that you've at least played 'chapter one'. Honestly? I'm ok with this, I hate having to always go through nearly identical tutorial stages for games I know inside out (like Pokémon) and I believe that most of not all people who are going to get this game ARE old fans!

I wasn't originally a big fan of the new Holmes and Watson models when the last game came out but....I dunno, they have grown on me. I find myself liking them now for, I suppose, no other reason than 'they are very expressive' and 'I've gotten used to them'. I think it's gotten to the point that these might be my favourite models of the two to date. Please ignore how fickle I am! (In honesty, just to draw a similar parallel, when Roger Craig Smith was first announced as Sonic's voice I hated it and now he's my fav Sonic v. actor)

This game has something.....compared to its predecessor, that makes it less scary. I can't really put my finger on it, but I distinctly remember the feeling of claustrophobia building in me when I was in the Black Edelweiss. Or the sheer jumpscare I got when the sacrificed American detective on the altar had tentacles coming out of it and severing his head making it roll to the ground. I remember almost not wanting to paddle the rowboat under the tree of hanging men in the Bayou. I remember how viscerally sick I felt at the lighthouse by all the gore and blood depicted. This time round.....I just didn't. I'm honestly not sure why this didn't hit me nearly as hard as its 2006 predecessor did!

And talking about comparisons, one thing I'm a bit disappointed they didn't grab the chance to do in this remake was fix the loose ends that were left hanging in the 2006 version. I mean....they still abandoned completely the search for that one Maori servant, what happened to all the people they managed to rescue? Who hired the private American detective that was killed? Why give out the cheap pendants? I know I'm a bit dumb and need extra explaining than what is necessarily needed but...I can't be the only one right? Sometimes you want to be told just a bit more.

Now, getting into the really good bits, that make all of it worth it!

'Chapter One' acted as a 'de facto' reboot of the Frogwares Holmes series, and I honestly think that was for the best. I don't really see where they could have gone with things after 'Devil's Daughter' and their Holmes had changed too much to be the same guy from 'The Silver Earring'...let alone Watson. But like this? They have a fresh, clean slate to start off from and they can rebuild the two mains' relashionship and lore from the ground up in a more strictly consequential manner. And the way they are doing it? I think it's state of the art!

The fact that they poke fun at themselves on certain points like Watson stating: "What about when you used to roll up only one of your sleeves? Did you get bored halfway through?!" I think the Devs themselves realized this was a cringe design choice and I like that they said so out loud.

The meta-conversation they wrote in towards the end, 'because yes, this HAS Happened before and the story still has the same outcome', is brilliant. I don't think I've ever seen another remake that acknowledges that it is a remake, and in the general madness that is mounting in the narrative this makes perfect sense! It adds one more layer of horror and inexplicable to the tale. The villain's warning 'that the Final Problem is coming and Sherlock will fall in the abyss too' is such a powerful way to use Canon. The prophecy is only made more real and dreadful by the fact that this person is aware of what has already happen in a similar but different scenario!

Also, not them using that one quote from 'The Valley of Fear' novel which happens to be one of my all time favourites!

I say, Watson,’ he whispered, ‘would you be afraid to sleep in the same room as a lunatic, a man with softening of the brain, an idiot whose mind has lost its grip?’ ‘Not in the least,’ I answered in astonishment. 'Ah, that’s lucky,’ he said, and not another word would he utter.

I think the thing that has most benefited from the Remake is Watson's character. Compared to the 2006 version, this Watson is a truly compelling character in his own right and this time round he's not just along for the ride. In this version, you simply cannot imagine how Holmes would have done it on his own. Watson was in every way a key component to the solution of the problem and the reason why Holmes didn't drown in madness. That point is driven home by Rochester asking 'How did you defeat me?' and Holmes answering 'I made a friend!'

Much of the narrative in the game was focused on Holmes truly learning to accept Watson's friendship and him as a person when he was still clinging so much to his old imaginary friend. You can see how, at first, Holmes refuses to be honest with the Doctor about what he thinks and feels and it's only as they move forward in the adventure that they both open up to each other. You can see as the adventure progresses that Holmes shifts his desperate cries from 'Jon' to 'Watson' to 'John' and the Doctor goes more and more often from 'Holmes' to 'Sherlock'. Mycroft also points this out when he says that Sherlock 'went from one Jon to another'. But this one, John Watson, is real and there to stay. In the context of a story that happens mostly in the detective's mind, Watson's friendship is really what turns the situation around!

I could add of little tid bits which were so random and on the nose that somehow worked, like the possessed 'Heidi' doll or the fact that you had to actually 'Kill Holmes' with the booby traps instead of avoiding them.

Also, "The director Guygax was randomly killed.....by a doll?!????!?!?! Yeah, let's just walk out of here no questions asked. That's too deep a wormhole even for this f***d up Adventure to go down. I'm sure nobody is gonna ask us questions, suspect or stop us as we go out the main doors!" 😃 -Holmes, probably.

So, yeah, I loved this game despite it not being perfect and my love and support goes to Frogwares more that ever!

[nightowl374art]

Hey,

-So I'm very excited to write this 'cause I've been meaning to do it for a while now. So yah here I go...

-I just love your art so so much! Like fr bro you give me so much joy with your fanarts. I haven't felt this attached to an artist and certain art style in a while but you bring it all back with what you're doing and I'm so extremely grateful. So y'know... Thank you deeply from the bottom of my heart.

-I love every piece you've made so far but I gotta say ... That one with the remake of the amazing Spider-Man 2 graduation was just out of this world. Andrew's spiderman is my favorite of the live action trio and I love that one part so much! But I gotta say... Take this as an idea lol... So there's one more part of that movie I deeply love. It's the part where Peter makes the "I love you" on a bridge and then takes Gwen and they make it up to each other... Can't help but see miles and Gwen do that as well. Like in the end of beyond like them getting together or like maybe Miles proposing like that IDK! Take my idea 💡!

-Ok so that's my fav fanart but I'm absolutely in love with their beautiful family! Their kids look so beautiful and them being together is something I treasure a lot! I love how you made the kids different then the comics and also the way you made Miles and Gwen! They look so good! I love Gwen's side braids and Miles haircut it's like... I don't see him doing it BUT I freaking love the spider detail in the side! I even told my friend that if I had my hair like Gwen someday I would add that detail! It looks so good! So perfect like chef's kiss! Also the first art I saw of their kids was that one with Peter B calling Miles and Gwen for having kids and them all just being like:

Max and Charlotte: who the hell is this dude?

Miles and Gwen: What the actual f-

Miles (dad): Idk who the hell you are but please don't touch my kids...

-I also love miles 42 and Gwen 42 art... It looks so cute and she looks hot as hell btw. I also find it very funny when they are having a double date with miles 1610 and Gwen 65. They look adorable ... So different but very refreshing I really like it!

-Look like I mentioned I'm beyond have and grateful that you're making art like this... It's not just the art or the art style but the impact it made me! You're very talented and special! I can't wait for more beautiful art from you. I hope you're getting all the support you deserve and that you're doing well! Never stop smiling and have a nice day/night!

-Hope you get to read this soon and sorry for being so long! But this is just a fraction of what I was meaning to tell you so yah....

-Thank you for everything and for your time! Bye❤️🌻🫂🕸️

I am always amazed when people say these kind of things to me. It means everything to me to know I can bring even just a little bit of joy to someone through my passion, so I would like to say thank you to you 💕.

Agreed. Andrew is my favorite version of Peter, the vibe of his movies really speak to me. I love the scene you’ve mentioned, but it breaks my heart because of Gwen’s fate. However I would love to do that for Miles and Gwen. Right now I’ve got a lot of pieces in progress, so don’t expect it right away, but if I find a chance to do it I will ✨

I really enjoyed drawing their kiddos and had every intention of drawing them differently from the comics. I wanted to do my own interpretation of their kids since the spiderverse style if different from the comics. I actually based Gwen’s braids on some of her concept art, I loved that look (it’s viking-ish which I dig) so I wanted to do something with it.

Though Miles and Gwen 42 are not exactly canon, I still love the idea of them and so I’m glad you have enjoyed what I have made.

Just so you know, I’m very moved by what you said and all your heartfelt thoughts about my art. It’s lovely to hear what you think and how it has given you joy. It’s all I could’ve asked for as an artist so I hope you know how grateful I am 🩷

[magnoliaroad]

Magnolia Road is Moving + Exciting Projects!

Hi there - Rizu here! It's been about a year since I last posted an update here. Life got really busy and pulled me away from Petz. As life calmed down I had the itch to return to some unfinished petz projects! Here's a look at some of the things I've been working on. The major one being the launch of my new home - Magnolia Road on Neocities! Keep reading for more details!

When I first launched this tumblr blog, I wanted a platform that didn't require a whole lot of set-up to get started. While it has served its usefulness as my first home in the Petz community, I need more room for the amount of content that I'm planning on making.

So I've been quietly working on a complete website overhaul and it's been such a blast. I think it will serve me better as a home for my crew and petz content. For the foreseeable future I am planning on keeping this tumblr for long-form write-ups on Petz things.

Without further ado, check it out here.

Not everything on the website is finished but I've put the 'good enough' stamp on it for now. I'm looking forward to fleshing out the pages more with some exciting content.

On that note...

Projects!

Something that I've wanted to do for a while is to create more custom content for Petz 5. Though Petz 4 is the community favorite, I feel Petz 5 has a lot of nostalgic charm and a lot of potential for quality of life upgrades. Despite Petz 5's glitches and bugs, I've by and large have learned to live around them without too much trouble and largely prefer some aspects of Petz 5 over Petz 4, such as the expanded color palette for playscenes, weather, day/night cycles, being able to carry all the toyz with you, etc.

With the new content that I am working on, I hope to inspire some more love for Petz 5 and make it a more welcoming home for your Petz!

So what am I working on? I've been working on a MASSIVE rework of the Petz 5 playscenes. They are quite dated and an eye-store in some instances.

So here's a sneak peek of what I've got going so far. These are not finished yet so these may change a bit!

I'm going for a Luxury Living theme based off of neutral beiges, greys, and gold, with a touch of rococo. I've painstakingly fixed the window sprites (they're a pixelized mess in the original), replaced the garden backdrop with my renovated back yard (see below), and gave the night scene some gentle spot lighting. No more ugly orange floor and yellow fridge.

Continuing on the Luxury Living theme, the family room gets an upgrade.

This one definitely needs more work before it is done but here's my Cozy Cabin themed room.

I've always disliked the original snow scene in that all the trees look like lifeless lumpy snow blobs. I wanted to bring back some greenery and make the scene look more vibrant. I replaced the really bland skyboxes with more realistic skies, with the night scene featuring an aurora borealis.

Inspired by my love for Lilly Pulitzer prints, this beach remodel is a more colorful upgrade over the original. I've recolored the sand to look more like....sand and less like this weird ugly yellow sand the original had. I'm planning to make a daytime one as well.

Salon upgrade. This one is very incomplete, so expect this one to change a bit. The original dresser is so hideous that it's hard to make it look "better".

And finally, perhaps my pièce de résistance and my most time consuming overhaul was the backyard. The original looks so junky with its broken fence, muted colors, and lack of landscaping. It definitely needed some more life to it. I hope I achieved that with my 4 seasons remake of the back yard. To say it was a challenge is an understatement. I had to make 3 versions for EACH season. Day, night, and stormy versions. So 12 BMPs along with the edited leaf sprites. The fall leaves are not stills - they are recolors of the original animated sprites and move in the actual playscene! I was excited to be able to pull this one off and I'm happy with how it turned out.

And lastly I've reworked the Petz 5 carrying case skin with a template that makes it easy to come up with new carrying case skins quickly.

Here's just one of the many carrying case skins that I have planned. This one matches the pattern featured in the beach remodel.

And there you have it! These are all works in progress and I can't wait to share more updates with you all. As always, thank you for stopping by!

[deadcrowcalling]

the olive theory

Neil hates almonds, and Todd loves them. Giving almonds to Todd becomes a tradition, lasting even after one's death.

warnings: angst? major character death (canon-compliant), grief, sad :(, some fluff at the beginning maybe, not proof read we die like neil, bad formatting due to the fact i'm writing this on my phone in the notes app lmao, ooc writing??

a/n: my first fic yayyy!! this was supposed to be rlly sweet and fluffy anderperry but it most definitely isnt :(

It was an oddly well known fact around Welton that Neil Perry did not like, perhaps even despised almonds. It was a not-so well known fact that Todd Anderson loved almonds. 

"Who wants my almonds?" Neil spoke over the hubbub of the dining room. One boy named Anthony had snuck in bags of trail mix from town and had been using them as payment for notes and homework answers for weeks.

Todd immediately perked up. He gestured for Neil to hand him the almonds, and as he did, Todd immediately put a few in his mouth and began to chew.

Charlie, who had been in the middle of telling off Cameron, quirked his eyebrow at Todd. "Since when have you liked almonds so much?"

"I love almonds," Todd said in his usual quiet tone. "Always have."

Charlie scoffed. "Where were you all those times Neil made me eat the damn almonds?"

Todd shrugged and kept eating the almonds. Neil watched as the scene progressed. "If i had known you liked almonds so much, Todd, i would've given them to you sooner," he smiled.

And so a tradition began, if Neil received almonds, they'd go to Todd.

•December 10, 1959

"Meeting tonight?" Todd asked Neil as he sped up to walk at the same pace as the brunet. 

Neil hummed. "Oh, that's reminds me," his hand traveled to his pocket and pulled out a bag of almonds. Todd's eyes brightened. "I've had everyone forfeit their almonds from Anthony's trail mix for the last few days."

"You didn't have to do that," Todd smiled sheepishly, taking the bag from Neil.

"I wanted to." Neil smiled. "You're my friend, and nobody else likes almonds, with good reason,"

"Hey!" Todd interrupted. "Almonds are great."

"Whatever you have to tell yourself." Neil shrugged, shaking his head as Todd rolled his eyes.

That night in the cave, as Pitts read a poem from the book, Neil bumped Todd's shoulder. In his hand was an almost-empty bag of trail mix, everything gone except the almonds. Todd gratefully took the bag from Neil's hand and began to eat.

•December 13, 1959

Neil paced back and forth in his shared room with Todd, reciting his lines as Todd wrote something in his notebook. Per usual, he had a bag of almonds next to him, snacking away.

"Have you told everyone when the play is?" Neil asked nervously. "I don't want anyone missing it."

Todd nodded. "You mentioned it at the last meeting, remember? And you've already told Mr. Keating."

Neil sighed. "Oh, yeah, right."

Todd set his notebook and pencil down. "Is everything alright? You seem on edge." 

"It's just, the play, my father, it's-" he sighed, messing with his fingers. "Nerves."

Todd hummed. "You'll do great, i know it. You'll be the next Frank Sinatra within no time." he smiled. Neil's mouth rose into a small smile. Todd gently kicked at his leg from his perch on his bed. "If they ever remake Around the World in 80 Days, you better be in it. I'll go see every showing of it if you do." 

Neil smiled and sighed. "I'm getting worked up over nothing. Thank you, Todd. For everything."

Todd smiled and continued eating his almonds. Neil groaned and mumbled about how he had zero taste for liking something so disgusting and Todd giggled.

•December 15, 1959

Todd was right. Neil did amazing. But, to the poet's disappointment, Todd wasn't able to inform his friend of his success before Neil's father dragged him into a car and drove off, not before telling Keating to stay away from Neil.

On the way back to Welton, Todd wondered how much trouble Neil would be in. His gut felt uneasy with worry. Mr. Perry was in no way fond of Neil's longing for an acting career, everyone knew that, even though he was spectacular. 

Todd tossed and turned in his bed for what felt like hours. Eventually falling asleep, he was soon rudely awoken by Charlie. He slowly opened his eyes, blinking the sleep out of them. Charlie was... crying? The rest of the poets stood in the doorway. "What is it?" 

Charlie took a shaky breath. "Neil's dead."

Todd's insides were buzzing. The air felt thick and it felt like he was drowning. His ears rung with a painful sharpness and his brain ached. "What?" His voice was feeble, and his tone quivered. 

Charlie sniffed. "He-" he wiped a tear off his face. "They said he killed himself."

Todd shook his head. "No-no..." he chuckled nervously. "Neil wouldn't do that. He- he wouldn't kill himself."

"Todd.." Knox said.

"No!" he said, voice a bit louder than it should be. "Neil wouldn't leave us. He- he wouldn't leave us. Why.. why would he do that? You're lying." His breath was unsteady now, and his chest rose and fell with an unstable pattern. 

"I wish i was. I really, really do, Todd." Charlie said, voice shaking.

•December 18, 1959

Neil's funeral was somber. His mother was hysterical, sobbing the entire time while his father stared on, face expressionless as people spoke about his late son.

Todd's eyes never left his feet. Not while he was carrying his friends casket, not while he was speaking about his friend, not while they were putting him in the ground. God, they were putting him in the ground. Snow fell upon the dirt as they shoveled it upon the casket that held Neil's body. Todd felt numb even thinking about it.

The night they returned to Welton was hell. Todd walked into his room, some part of him still expecting to see Neil's smiling face practicing lines or doing trig homework.

Todd sat at Neil's desk and immediately fell apart. He sobbed into his hands just looking at the dogeared pages in Neil's chemistry book or the pencil shavings sitting on the desk. A single pencil sat out. Todd opened the top drawer of the desk to put it away, and sobbed even harder at what he saw. A little plastic bag of almonds, Todd's name written across it in permanent marker.

it was an oddly well-known fact at Welton that before his death, Neil Perry did not like almonds.

Now, neither did Todd.

[risingoflights]

Hmm, you don't feel comfortable talking about it unless someone asks your opinions? Then this is your official ask!

I've never played the critically acclaimed- er, you know. And I have no idea what the Ilsabard Region is or what its story and tone are.

So! What is it, and how does it compare to what you've experienced of Rebirth so far? What do you get from one that's missing in the other? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each narrative, and which do you feel, at this point, will have the most replay value?

(Plus anything else that's crossed your mind!)

ah friend, you should know better than to ask, but thank you for asking <3

leaving xiv out of this for a moment, i can tell you exactly why chapter 7 specifically of rebirth is the one to have caused me to openly gripe.

and, as you might expect, it's to do with hojo.

i was always going to judge the entirety of this game by its handling of hojo, and so far i've been sorely disappointed. standing by what i said in my previous post about nostalgia and fandom goggles, i still believe there was more written into hojo in og than, say, scarlet and heideggar. and since remake did a decent job rounding out president shinra, i was hoping hojo would get similar treatment. so far though, it seems like they've gone the opposite way.

i try not to make too many comparisons to og because many characters are pointedly deviating away from their og characterisations (rufus seems a standout so far), but this point in og was importantly where hojo started shaping up to be more than the trope he began as. it was crucial that as soon as sephiroth reappeared, hojo abandoned shinra. in fact if memory serves, someone (heideggar or rufus?) even points this out in og - hojo's 'disappeared'. then when you see him in costa and cloud asks why he's there, hojo admits 'the same reason as you'. cloud was chasing sephiroth, so was hojo. and he was doing it without shinra because finding sephiroth wasn't on shinra's agenda - at least not at that point.

i was actually so hopeful and happy at the end of remake where the camera pans across the executives lined up in front of rufus, and hojo is decidedly missing - off laughing to himself...! excellent! that defiance seems to have led nowhere in rebirth!

you could argue that in rebirth, hojo decided to continue using shinra resources to go after sephiroth and he's still playing his own long game. doesn't change the fact that rufus was openly out to kill sephiroth now - so what did he tell hojo to make him stay, if hojo had wanted to leave? i mean, you could argue a lot of things to make things make things deeper. and maybe things will get deeper - i'm only halfway through rebirth after all - but rebirth hojo was still on the beach to capture the robes and study them. that single-minded drive and obsession with sephiroth just isn't present. it felt like the icing off the original cake. the bikini girls fawning on him, really fun! him throwing off-handed remarks about recruiting them for his sephiroth breeding program, noooooot... as fun! the whole shinra bigwig come to town, johnny being made to carry his briefcase and push crowds on the beach out of his way? ish! sort of a... dazzling superficial picking of what that scene originally was? did i laugh? yes! was i let down? also yes!

the other thing that really grated on me was the optional aerith dialogue, but that's no surprise - the whole aerith situation has been one big headache for me so far and promises to continue to be so. talk to aerith on the beach and she says a bunch of things about hojo culminating in 'i hate him'. oh. oh, like we really needed this explicitly said? you know, what i really loved about og here is twofold - 1. hojo doesn't appear to even remember aerith's name, which is such a good demonstrating of him not registering her as worthy of ifalna, compared to rebirth where hojo literally yells this at her during battle. this was one of the neat little consistent touches about og hojo - he didn't give a shit, but passively and dismissively - like, it's not so much he deliberately chose to harm others as he just didn't even register harming others as a concept, which made the few people and times he did choose to be sadistic stand out more. and 2. og aerith, instead of... any of the ugly things she could've said to and about hojo, asks him about her lineage and connection to sephiroth instead. how loaded does that make their relationship? that no matter what he did to her and her mother, she still registers him as a source of knowledge and felt pressed to ask him despite the subject being a particular sore point for her?

og aerith probably also hated hojo - i mean, that just makes sense. but the way that scene played out really sets precedent for more questions... what more? what else? which. i guess summarises a lot of the issues i have with rebirth so far. that whole sense of wonder is just not there. the game likes to hand you everything, tell you exactly what to think. this is often done at its detriment, because real complexity simply cannot be spoonfed! BUT - i have to keep reiterating - nostalgia and fandom goggles. they're grafted to my face and i can't take them off.

....so after all that, would you still like to hear about ilsabard? i realise i've just completely failed to answer all your questions but, thank you for allowing me to vent a little!

[yumedoca]

And UY's third cour's final PV dropped.... which means it's time for me to share my thoughts!!

(And as usual. Ignore the shitty quality of the screenshots)

First up, I have to mention the fact that MAISONdes is doing the OP and ED again!! The new OP is 'Rock On*' feat. Hashimero, Meguru and the new ED is 'Raizakura' feat. 9Lana, SAKURAmoti. Here are the gorgeous album cover arts for both songs and oh my gosh, they are so precious!!

*It might either be 'Lock on' since the Japanese pronunciation for 'L' and 'R' sounds the same.

(Edit: Seems like it is 'Lock on' after all!!)

As for my thoughts on the songs themselves, so far they sound great, but to form a proper opinion I need to hear the whole thing as well as see how it pairs with the visuals.

Now to the actual PV itself.. (Attention: Spoilers!!)

First up, as expected, there's a lot of new footage shown. Many of them are from the episodes shown in the previous PV which I've already discussed (go read it if you haven't, since this is technically a part 2) so I'm not going to talk about any episode shown previously unless it's new or specifically worth mentioning..

First, I want to talk about the adaptation of the hilariously deceptive 'Lum becomes a cow' chapter. Let's be honest, this is hands down the funniest AtaLum chapter of all time and it looks like the remake is making the AtaLum moments in this one extra dramatic (they even added rain for more effect!) just so the final payoff would hit us in the most hilarious way possible (unless those bits are from something else but I doubt it). AtaLum enjoyers (me included) are being really well fed this cour, huh?

I don't know where these and a few others come from (please tell me if you know!!). I'm guessing the fourth one might be from the chapter about Ryu's mom since it was already confirmed previously and the montage looks like a flashback with lot of beach vibes but I might be wrong. The Kotatsu Neko one might come from the Kitsune (fox) chapter with the photo and camera since I remember a similar scene which looks like that shot, but again I might be wrong. There are a few other scenes as well (Onsen-mark getting hit, Ten hanging from a tree and such). Maybe they're anime original scenes? Who knows, but we'll know sooner enough...

That's really all I have to say anything new about the PV, everything else are chapters I've already pointed out. That aside I do have to give props to how absolutely gorgeous everything looks as well as the fluid animation. The above shot of Lum and Ten sleeping is so pretty!! There are others but there's too many to count and it's obvious which all they are. I also like how Inaba's bunny realm looks and I'm also in love with AtaLum's outfit colorings for their 'date' in the electric jungle arc, they're kinda caramel coded!! Speaking of AtaLum, the PV also showed a lot of their key moments which surprised me since I though they'd keep those a secret till the episode airs, but to be fair, it's only bits and it did end up making the PV a bit emotional.. :')

(I had space for one more image till I hit Tumblr's limit so here, have an Inaba coming out of a trash can. He looks so proud of himself XD)

Anyways, that's all for now. This cour seems to be very AtaLum focused, to the point where the OP and ED album cover arts have both Lum and Ataru in it!! But it still has other fun storylines as well and I'm excited for all the episodes, may it be big or small. There's one week left and we'll probably get next weeks episode titles on Tuesday (as how it always is). One more week, here we go!!!

[fairytale-poll]

ROUND 1A, MATCH 1 OUT OF 16!

*Includes the original 1950 animated film, the 2002 sequel Cinderella II: Dreams Come True, and the 2007 sequel Cinderella III: A Twist in Time.

Propaganda Under the Cut:

Animated:

she is very iconic, she is super kind and has a beautiful dress

Submitting specifically because Cinderella III: A Twist in Time has lived rent-free in my head ever since I was a small child.

This Cinderella is most young (western) peoples introduction to this very story. Cinderella is so hopeful and by getting one small magical adventure, her whole life changes for the better. She is skilled and inspires such loyalty with her kindness that it’s hard to dislike her for any reason she gives. I’ve always been jealous of her ball hairdo too.

Walt Disney put all he had into this movie. And his favorite animation was the dress transformation scene. There’s a reason she is often front and center on the Princess group promotions.

she is the original. to me. probably the first exposure to cinderella for a solid chunk of people alive & on tumblr today. she is just a perfect encapsulation of everything that cinderella is, even if she's become warped in the public consciousness. also i'm pretty sure she's the reason why the glass slippers are so predominant in more recent retellings bc she is simply so iconic. 100/10 no notes 💜

She's maybe not the OG OG but she was one of the first animated Disney princesses and strangely enough it doesn't stop her from having an amazing personality. She's literally a slave but keeps being a nice person, forgiving and always doing her best. And the sequels absolutely didn't ruin her character. She's a sweet girl who tries to fit in but who's loyal to the person she is and who tries to change things always in a cute and sweet way to show people it's not that hard. She literally forgave Anastasia and tried to help her after all she did to her (the scene where the step-sisters destroy her dress still is terrifying to me)... she's awesome and deserves more recognition honestly...

(Mod's note: the following submitted specifically for Cinderella III: A Twist in Time, but I condensed the animated movies into one entry.) No she is not the same as the original Cinderella of 1950. This girl’s biggest chance was unfairly snatched away from her. When the Prince was brainwashed she was enough to get him to double take. She was so Right that their connection over powered magic. And she had to be rescued from a ship. And was almost crushed within a pumpkin! And finally had to expose another imposter, who turned out to be just another victim of Lady Trameine. This Cinderella fought harder for her love because she knew what True Love was like and she still was able to forgive those who asked for it.

(Mod's note: the following submitted specifically for Cinderella III: A Twist in Time, but I condensed the animated movies into one entry.) Listen yes it's the same Cinderella from 1950 but she has an arc in this one! It's Disney's greatest film!!

Live-Action Remake:

Of all the live action remakes of the past decade this one is my favorite. Somehow it keeps the essence of the 1950 story but makes it today relevant. Ella really does live her life by having courage and being kind. The mice and birds might not speak but she (and we) still understand. She didn’t want to go to the ball for any grand reason besides being able to see a friend. That blue dress was so beautiful! And the butterflies! Ella and Kit matched so well together the Princess, King, and Captain of the Guard all Knew. And that wedding dress!

Plus Ella forgave her stepfamily. That is something that take such great strength of character and kindness of heart.

Tbh I've never seen the movie but I was a young impressionable child (7 years old) when it came out and. There was an ad in a paper or something and I thought she was really pretty so I cut out and hung it on the wall. It stayed up for. Many years. This was likely the first sign that I was gay.

[codenamesazanka]

I do appreciate, in a grim sort of way, that Midoriya isn’t smiling through this whole chapter, like yeah! Despite how everyone else is acting, there is still something wrong and unaddressed! It’s not just me as a reader who feels these celebrations ring hollow because of the whiplash going from a murder to a graduation! And considering how Hori has has established that ‘heroes smile’ and ‘not smiling =not saved’ we’re probably going to get more resolution on that, which hopefully includes taking actual action, not just (to mix a metaphor from Mirio) to change this ‘minus’ back to the zero of the status quo, but to go beyond it (insert Plus Ultra here) to something meaningfully better.

Hello! Yeah. The whiplash is crazy. We go from a murder to graduation and school stuff... then we go from that to 1) mysterious person who looks like they just cut their way out of confinement and 2) Enji in a wheelchair in front of a scary looking machine. That's always been the case with Heroes and Villains, more so UA kids and Villains. Heroes live in default zero/maybe a bit of the plus, while Villains live in the 'minus'. Any meaningful change has to bring the Villains into the plus. (Ideally that's not assimilating Villains into the system, but change it altogether. remaking it anew.)

So, agreed, that it's good Deku's not smiling. He's culpable for the death of the guy he was trying to save, and that should weigh on his soul. I would be concerned if it didn't. I can't believe I've gone like 180 on saying that about Deku. But I want to believe that the manga is saying he failed with Shigaraki, and now he'll be facing consequences for it.

I like that, whether intentional or not, Ochako and Todoroki - the two people who saved their Villains - have both blocked Deku off. He doesn't get to join their club. They worked hard to plan and think about and talk and save their Villain and tried to imagine a future; Deku did not.

There's also this one scene: when Fuwa said her class was naive, and so Aizawa gave them a taste of death, and it looks to me Deku's getting like a thousand-yard-stare.

I hope he is.

Thanks for the ask!

[derekscorner]

Reloaded Rambling: Persona 3

Broken Fulfillment

I finished Persona 3 Reloaded last night and ever since I've been torn between rambling about it and sobbing because the ending never fails to wound me.

I'm not exaggerating for narrative emphasis nor am I joking, I cried. I am a grown man and I cried just as much last night as I did when I beat Persona 3 Fes in the late 2000s to early 2010s.

I can not express in words to you just how much the ending hurts me nor can I express how much I love it. That's why I am broken but find fulfillment...which is as on point with the death theme as anything else.

I even delayed finishing the game because I could feel the emotions and tears welling up as soon as the final month started. I even took a moment to note how ironic it was that the color palette literally grows gray throughout the month.

As 'The Fall' draws near and apathy syndrome grows the very world itself begins to white out yet I feel the story the strongest as it does.

Every interaction with Aigis is emotional pain because I knew what was coming. As she grew as a person, understood love, and found a reason in life I knew that she was about to have that ripped from her.

It wasn't just her either. P3 already had a lot of little moments in the final month as the cast finds their resolve and as you finish what social links you've started, everyone is finding a resolution, they're preparing for a battle they believe they may not win.

In fact, Reload improved on this more with it's link episodes. Everyone playing in the park, Ken's silly combat and coffee practice, the movies with Koromaru, Akihiko and Yukari, everything.

Several of these mini stories wrap up toward the end and it's only when you know about P3's ending that you realize why.

Constant Improvement

I'd even argue that Persona 3 is one of the few stories to properly be remade in recent years. They only added small things to make the story better, updated gameplay, and just overall refined the package.

That's the kind of treatment a remake should be given rather than the laziness you see in movies today or the bait & switch SE pulled with FF7.

And it was only upon typing this that I realized that P3 has had this treatment from the start. P3 Fes only ever expanded the original hit game. Even though many fans didn't like 'The Answer' they at least loved everything added to the Journey.

P3 was then made a classic for a third time with P3 Portable. The PSP limited some things but it is loved for it's female MC and the story changes.

Persona 3 has always been given a positive treatment each time it's tackled and it's so rare.

That cycles back into Reload. We fans had to beg and complain for years but they tackled the remake with every bit of love that you could've hoped for.

The only things they did to earn ere was not including 'The Answer' or the FeMC and as of the time I type this 'The Answer' will at least be added as DLC.

I don't intend to downplay the feelings of those who strongly desired the FeMC either, I am playing through P3P so I get it, I just want to point out that having so few complaints about a remake is so rare.

I went on this whole side tangent to emphasize how impressed I was with the things added. The episodes, a few scenes, it made the feelings that P3Fes gives me just as potent years later.

I'm an indifferent man, I rarely feel emotion let alone genuinely show it, but for years one thing that always broke me was P3's story. To see it remade so well meant a lot to me.

Memento Mori

When I first played P3 I was actually looking for P4. A friend on a KH forum had suggested it as a fan but I couldn't find it on sale. P4 was at the height of its popularity so I couldn't find it at all.

Instead, I found P3 and bought it. My friend was a bit annoyed and said P4 was better but I played it anyway and by God it broke me.

At that time I had a depression problem. I have had one since 8th grade at that point in my life so P3's theme of death resonated with my core.

I had no spoilers for this story then, I thought we were defying fate like any other RPG and looking back I should've expected something. People died often in P3, even main cast, and the story put time into seeing the cast process that.

The single dungeon of the game is Tartarus but no, nothing clipped for me till that final scene.

That final scene caused a whirlwind of emotion to hit me because I could sense something was wrong and your MC only gets weaker as Aigis affirms her feelings and goal in life and the music doesn't stop.

Just when the other SEES remember and rush to find you they arrive only to find you gone. That.Fucking.Broke.Me.

The credits then has the audacity to play an upbeat song as the credits roll. That was it, you died and the entire game clicked in my brain.

The entire game just hits me all at once. The MC's persona is Orpheus, you literally climb through Tartarus towards Nyx, death itself, and you do not come out of it unscathed.

The characters each dealt with death and found a reason to keep living while Aigis found humanity, in those tears I understood that the games message.

Death is not avoidable, even for your MC. His miracle came at a cost, his ultimate persona is the Messiah for a reason but that's not what truly important.

It's the journey to that ending. The MC helped everyone he had a bond with find a reason to live, the games story is a positive one not a sad one.

I felt my brain rewire that day, aside from truly depressing events in my life, I have never truly been depressed again. Not permanently.

Even if I live a life like a hermit I'll never just give up on everything because this story broke me and rewired how I see things.

More importantly for this post, my initial breakdown of emotion always resurfaces when I play P3. I find myself attached to Aigis in particular due to her specific journey and her role in 'The Answer'.

So when I say this remake only added to the positive I meant it. (you probably thought I forgot about that and went on a seperate tangent didn't you~)

Every little scene new or expanded they put in this game makes it stronger. I did not want January to end but I was already a few days in and the game was breaking me.

Koromaru's new linked stories, Shinji, and Aigis in particular were wonderfully done. Everything just ties together in a way that I can't explain to you in a singular post.

These things I've stated not only apply to added content but old as well. A complaint you'll see at times is how some Persona social links seem to contradict the casts main story progression or how some are weaker than others.

Persona 3, any version of Persona 3, does not have that issue. Whether you personally like them all my vary but they are all remarkably consistent with the Death theme, the theme of finding new direction or meaning in life, or they're harmless at worst.

A key part of the reason why is because the Fool & Judgement Social Links are tied to main story progression. The whole reason linked episodes were added was because the main SEES cast have character growth alongside those two arcana as the story progresses.

In P3Fes or P3Portable you could have friend/romance with some SEES based on MC chosen but their actual growth as a character is tied to the story. They grow with you.

And what you do learn on those friend/romance links doesn't contradict with that main story progression. You won't have a situation like in P5 where Ryugi feels like two different people between his personal social link and the main story.

No game is flawless mind you, all I mean to say is that P3 meshes better with it's links and main story. All those lives you help along the way just hit harder during the finale for it.

You can feel like it meant something.

I can't wait for 'The Answer'

I have no decent transition here nor am I sure I conveyed my feelings/meaning as well as I had hoped above. So before these P3 images and OST make me cry again I'll talk about 'The Answer'.

If nothing else, I do hope I have explained how important the main story is to me and I hope that it makes sense to you that I do not consider P3 complete without this story addition.

It had issues in P3Fes, there is no way around that, but given how well they handled this remake I hope they can give 'The Answer' that same love.

Because it's very important to Aigis as a character as well as to the overall themes of life & death. If you have not seen the scenes of The Answer or played P3Fes yourself you may want to skip from here on out btw.

You still there? Good because I need anyone reading to understand that 'The Answer' is key. It's key because it's about grief.

Many of the main cast had to deal with loss and grief in the main story so people find their relapse odd here but you have to remember that no one death is the same. You do not just become okay with important people dying.

You can always fall back on your sadness and that's what happens here. Aigis literally loses the will to live and becomes more machine like, Yukari quite frankly becomes bitchy, and the overall crew is somber.

They thought they had won, your MC lived till graduation. They had their best and worst times with him and he died for reasons that they do not understand.

'The Answer' is quite literally that answer. They learn why he died, Aigis finds her own answer to life, and I wish I could elaborate more but I'm torn between telling you and just hoping you play it.

It's an epilogue and one that I feel P3 needs to have to feel right. It makes your MC's sacrifice feel more worth while to know the cast will use his memory to live better rather than fall back into grief.

It does my soul better to know that Aigis won't give up on life.

I'm spent

There's more I could've said but I'm quite frankly to emotional to add more. I struggled to even be coherent with this and I'm not sure I was.

I consider this the best Persona game yet and I'll always love 3 more than the others. I simply didn't feel attached to the scooby doo gang from P4 and I'm too old to care about the teen rebellion in P5...plus their mascot characters literally agitate me.

I hope you play this game or already have and I hope you're willing to give 'The Answer' a shot. Bye now~

[axnewxera]

// A headcanon (or more of an observation maybe?) I have for Rufus and the Turks

Sooooo I'm only roleplaying Rufus, I'm certainly not saying that every Turk I interact with HAS to follow these ideas. I would MUCH rather you come to the table with your own lore and your own take.

But, here is my personal takeaways from the canon about the Turks and their relationship with Rufus. I'm mostly writing this because it's fun and I'm getting to know my muse a little bit, but this will probably affect how I play the character and his feelings toward the canon Turks and Turk OCs.

I haven't played/watched Before Crisis yet, and I need to revisit Crisis Core because I played it a looooong time ago, so I'm mainly going off the original FF7, the Advent Children sequel film, and Remake and Rebirth. Tseng, Reno, Rude, Elena.

My absolute FAVORITE thing about the Turks is that they almost feel like a "main party" of their own game. They're super professional and do hella questionable stuff, but they are FRIENDS, they hang out, they go drinking together, they genuinely care about each other, they talk about their crushes, they have their own Synergy attacks just like the main party...

As evil as Shinra, Inc. is, at least the Turks division of the company seems to be VERY well-managed. And we've seen (moreso in the original FF7) that Heidegger is a super toxic and abusive boss. But, when Rufus takes over, the power dynamics shift a lot. Heidegger is ridiculed and often kind of just acts as Rufus's assistant. The Turks, though, become much more prominent, and I've always gotten the vibe that they report directly to Rufus more than they do Heidegger. Rufus almost seems to steal the department away from him. Even the official art of FF7 had Rufus and the Turks all in one image together. From what I know of Before Crisis, he has a personal history with the Turks and has pretty much gotten their complete loyalty and respect before FF7 happens, and like YEAH that holds up.

I think Rufus is much, MUCH closer to the Turks than the games show us. We never directly see Rufus drinking with them, but we also rarely see him directly out in public at all. He's the Charlie to their Angels, he's more of the behind the scenes guy directing them, but he IS part of the team. He drinks with them, he jokes with them, they all hang out and have love for each other... But with Rufus it's more private and behind closed and guarded doors.

That's not an artificial, "he signs my paychecks" relationship. That's LOVE. That's the power of friendship, the heart of the cards, the eye of the tiger. Just like all the Turks have with each other.

Advent Children, especially, did a very good job of expanding on Rufus's relationship with the Turks. They're all on the same page as remorseful and genuinely wanting to change the world for the better. Rufus has a moment of genuine shock and concern when Kadaj throws Elena and Tseng's bloody IDs at him. Reno and Rude show panic when Rufus just dives off a building. The fact that Rufus even COULD make that jump with full confidence that the Turks would catch him. And they DO.

Like honestly in my mind the Turks are almost an extension of Rufus himself. A scene with Reno is also a scene with Rufus, even if he isn't physically present, and vice-versa. They all have that Synergy (pun intended) to them. They're all watching each other's backs and on the same side.