#Leda’s design is just so good oh my god

[halfratsalready]

I am so in love with her

[tenshiharmonia]

Bayonetta Recap - Part 6

        III - Miscellaneous notes

- Regarding the characters based on already existing species of angels and demons (like Joy or Malicious), I was considering giving them their own names, to make them feel more like actual individuals than expendable tools. I mean, since Máni and Apollonia care about them as friends, it would make sense. So my idea was that Máni’s demons would have been named after lunar craters, like "Tycho" or "Aristarchus", while Apollonia’s angels would have been named after stars, like "Aldebaran" or "Fomalhaut" (those are just examples, by the way ; I didn’t really think about which names I’d actually like to use*). Ideally, they would also have their own unique appearances, slightly different from the other members of their species to mark them more as individuals... But in the end (and without even taking into account the fact that I lack the artistic precision needed to concretize the idea), I cannot help but feel a little uncomfortable about the whole concept. I don’t know how to put it, but the thing is, I really like those angels and demons as they are, be it in names or in designs, so it kind of makes me feel like I would be desecrating them, if that makes any sense. I don’t know, maybe I’m just making a mountain out of a molehill, but that’s how I feel on the matter. Still, I wanted to at least mention the idea. And maybe ask what you think of it. ;)

* For the record, though, I was considering "Bellatrix" (no, not that one) for the Joy. Etymologically speaking, it appears to mean "female warrior", which is already quite appropriate for the skilled and powerful guardian angel she is, but the fact that it contains the phoneme "bella", even if they are completely unrelated on a semantic level, makes it all the more fitting for such an enticing creature. Additionally, I was thinking about "Castor" and "Pollux" for the Grace and Glory brothers. Those ones are pretty self-explanatory, I guess, being the names of the two brightest stars in the constellation of Gemini, named after the mythological twin sons of Zeus and Leda, but I kind of like how the vowels of the stars’ names match those of the angels’ names (Grace and Castor, Pollux and Glory) ; I thought it was quite funny. Moreover, of the two twins, Pollux is said to be the only one who was actually sired by Zeus, so it would be quite fitting for his name, as the son of the god of thunder, to be given to an angel who controls lightnings...

- If this was an actual game, I like to think that the Moon-themed song of the adventure (you know, like "Fly me to the Moon" and "Moon River" for the first two games) would be a cover of "It's only a paper moon". Since Frank Sinatra seems to be the common denominator between the two aforementioned songs, I limited myself to his repertoire. (For the record, "Reaching for the Moon" and "The Moon was yellow (and the Night was young)" were also considered. And if we don’t limit ourselves to Sinatra’s discography, I also thought of the "Moon Song", from the movie "her", a charming duet whose only downside is its painfully uncreative title.) Anyway, I think that a Bayonetta remix of "It's only a paper moon" could indeed make for quite a stylish battle theme. As for the traditional pole dance section of the credits, I searched for the most languorous version of the song there is, and I think that Harry Nilsson’s cover would be ideal. It’s oh so fittingly slow and sensual... Alternatively, I’m also pretty fond of Paul McCartney’s version. It’s a little more upbeat than Harry Nilsson’s performance, but it could be an interesting choice... (For good measure, I also like to imagine that it would be a double choreography featuring both Bayo and Máni. :3 )

- It has technically nothing to do with my characters, but I must say that I really like Luka and Rodin as a pair (and even more, if you see what I mean :3 ). They admittedly don’t share a lot of scenes, but what little chemistry they displayed in the epilogue of the second game was certainly delightful, so I’d definitely like to give them a larger part in the plot and explore their relationship.

- It’s probably a little weird to think about such a detail without even knowing what the plan would actually entail, but I’d like for Máni and Apollonia’s grand design to be referred to as the "Last Judgement". Because it’s bad*ss. (Alternatively, it could simply be the title of the story’s ultimate segment...)

- Now that I think about it though, their plan could maybe involve some form of massive, forced reincarnation and the idea of passing judgement on the Trinity of Realities, sorting the wheat from the chaff before severing the ties between the three realms… Or maybe they could go full-on Neon Genesis Evangelion and try to force humanity to ascend to godhood... I’ll really have to make up my mind regarding what their goal could be...

- That being said, I like to think that, for their own selfish reasons, the forces of Paradiso and Inferno would also be trying to prevent the siblings’ project from coming to fruition. So the latter parts of the game would take place while Glitnir is under attack, invaded by an army of angels on one side, and by an army of demons on the other, as everyone is rushing to Apollonia’s sanctum to prevent Baphomet and her from enacting the last stages of their plan...

- Since each of the three playable characters would have their own collection of weapons, we’ll also need plenty of Gold LPs to unlock all those bad boys (although luring demons with angelic music would probably not be the only way to gain new weapons this time around, especially for Máni, since a large part of his arsenal would be powered by souls his infernal friends would willingly lend him). So to conclude this recap, here is a list of the various pieces of music I’d like to use for this purpose (I’m not a music expert, so excuse me if I mostly use the colloquial names of those songs) : "Air on G string" (Bach) ; "Worthy is the Lamb" (Handel) ; "Veni Creator Spiritus" (Mahler) ; "Te Deum - Prelude" (Charpentier) ; "Wedding March" (Mendelssohn) ; "Sempre libera" (Verdi) ; "Flower Duet" (Delibes) ; "Magnificat" (Liszt) ; "The Infernal Gallop" (Offenbach) ; "Boléro" (Ravel) ; "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle/Habanera" (Bizet) ; "Le veau d'or est toujours debout" (Gounod) ; "Graceful Ghost Rag" (William Bolcom) ; "Dance of the Hours" (Ponchielli)... And many, many more. I was also thinking there would be a special "Ode to Joy" LP, handed by Apollonia herself, as part of the main story or maybe as a reward for a post-game sidequest (or maybe looted from her personal collection XD ), that would allow Cereza to unlock one of the game’s ultimate weapons. I also considered having her gift it to Máni instead, but as I said, her brother’s weapons are actually rarely crafted with the help of an angelic LP, so in the end, I thought it’d make more sense for her to give it to Bayonetta, as a token of friendship and good faith, in a "I heard that your blacksmith friend uses recordings of angelic voices to gather the resources he needs to craft your weapons, so please take this one ; I'm sure it will help him make something especially dandy..." kind of way.

[libralita]

Title: The Thousandth Floor

Author: Katharine McGee

Summary:

New York City as you’ve never seen it before.

A thousand-story tower stretching into the sky. A glittering vision of the future, where anything is possible—if you want it enough.

Welcome to Manhattan, 2118.

A hundred years in the future, New York is a city of innovation and dreams. But people never change: everyone here wants something…and everyone has something to lose.

Leda Cole’s flawless exterior belies a secret addiction—to a drug she never should have tried and a boy she never should have touched.

Eris Dodd-Radson’s beautiful, carefree life falls to pieces when a heartbreaking betrayal tears her family apart.

Rylin Myers’s job on one of the highest floors sweeps her into a world—and a romance—she never imagined…but will her new life cost Rylin her old one?

Watt Bakradi is a tech genius with a secret: he knows everything about everyone. But when he’s hired to spy by an upper-floor girl, he finds himself caught up in a complicated web of lies.

And living above everyone else on the thousandth floor is Avery Fuller, the girl genetically designed to be perfect. The girl who seems to have it all—yet is tormented by the one thing she can never have.

Amid breathtaking advancement and high-tech luxury, five teenagers struggle to find their place at the top of the world. But when you’re this high up, there’s nowhere to go but down…

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review:

Futuristic Gossip Girl! I think genre is a little hard for me to get into because I found some of the drama annoying. I wanted to slap all the characters at least once. And I wanted to stab a certain character. However, I found myself enjoying this book and getting invested in the characters. I liked the world McGee built and I’m interested to find out what happens in the next book.

I only imagine Eris looking like Eris from the Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy. I also find it hilarious that Eris likes Cord. Y’know Eris, the goddess of discord.

So far Watt is my favorite character but Eris’s story is interesting.

“Eris unscrewed the right earring and held it out on her palm. It was so beautiful; a glass sphere glowing with whorls of color, like the eye of a coming storm.”—Page 72

A Sphere full of Stormlight.

Wait…take the train to Paris…from New York?

“I need to know where he’s been this whole time, and why he came home, the person requested.”—Page 85

So it’s either Avery and Leda. Leda. Desperate.

Avery is being super selfish. This group date is not going to end well.

Rylin, you’re going to steal from Cord? Well, you just became a shitty person.

Well, at least Eris is telling Avery the truth.

“Because I’m cheaper than a bot,”—Page 184

Good to know the robots won’t steal all our jobs in the future.

“Because in ninety seconds this train will be deep under the Atlantic, heading to Europe at twelve hundred kilometers per hour.”—Page 187

I…well…that’s interesting.

Despite Rylin stealing from Cord, I still ship them.

Well, Atlas and Avery just kissed each other.

Well, Hiral is being arrested and he’s being an awful dick.

“Surprise! You’re meeting your biological father!” Without any warning or preparing? You’re just going to spring this on your daughter?

Oh, shit for a second I thought it was Avery’s dad because I couldn’t remember which dad had lied but it’s Leda’s dad. Daaaaaamn.

I’m glad that Watt told Avery some of the truth, I think I ship them.

Leda’s dad is going to give Eris the scarf and Leda is going to think that her dad is having sex with Eris.

“I should feel terrible too, Avery thought, but even though Leda was her best friend, it was hard right now to think of her as anything but the obstacle that had kept her from Atlas.”—Page 336

God, Avery is such an asshole sometimes.

Ugh, now Rylin has to break up with Cord. If I were her, I’d tell Cord the truth. Ooooh, poor Cord…. I love him so much.

And now Mariel and Eris are breaking up.

Leda fucking drugged Watt? My god these characters are so awful. Oh fuck now Leda knows that Watt had Nadia.

Please, for the love of god, don’t let Eris and Cord be hooking up. Let Rylin and Cord get back together for Cord’s sake.

Honestly Eris is the best character, she’s the one who’s gotten the most character development. I swear to god if Eris fucking dies….

GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!

FUCK LEDA! FUCK LEDA TO HELL AND BACK!

I hope Mariel gets her revenge for Eris.

[andavs]

Here’s a get to know you thing, and I was tagged by @fandomsbehold!

Nicknames: Leds, Ledi, Rita

Gender: Female 

Sexual orientation: Bi 

Favorite color: A really, really cool dark blue. Darker and more grey than tumblr blue.

Favorite animal: Bear? Wolves are cool. I don’t hate foxes. Bats are cute until they’re flying through my bedroom at 4am. Just to be clear, I like all of these from afar and would never want to own one or even interact with them.

Cat or dog: Whichever I’m closest to at the moment is my favorite. I love both. 

Favorite book: Right now, The Disaster Artist by Greg Sestero. I also love Hitchhiker’s Guide, all of the Jeeves and Wooster books, and if you’re interested in St. Peter’s, Basilica by R.A Scotti is a wild ride. Renaissance architects are a fucking riot.

Dream job: Something I don’t hate?

Favorite movie: My go-to is School of Rock, because it’s a classic and changed the course of my entire life/taste in music. Little thirteen year old Leda was a serious screamo douchebag before that came out. With an Avenged Sevenfold shirt on picture day. Not a good picture. Lots of eyebrow.

Place you would like to go: I think it would be cool to go to Imbros/Gökçeada, where my family was from way back when, but mostly Mantua. There are tons of buildings I would love to see in person there. 

Anime: Oh god, I can’t remember any from my middle school anime phase. Um...Cowboy Bebop? Inuyasha? I had some Case Closed comics? I can’t believe I don’t remember more, I was so hardcore for a few years there. 

Task: answer the questions with the first letter of your name.

Randon four letter word: Lima Animal: Leopard Name you like: Leona Song: Lydia the Tattooed Lady <-- You should click that link for some Groucho fun. (I was indeed going to draw Lydia as the tattooed lady with ships on her hips, but it never panned out because I can’t actually design or organize tattoos to save my life.) (This song is also the reason I wasn’t named Lydia, because my grandma was horrified at the idea I might be associated with tattoos??) Food: Lllllllinguini? I can’t think of anything else. Place: Louisiana Random thing: Lotion. It’s the only thing that starts with L within sight. Movie: Laura

And I’m going to tag @petals42, @wellhalesbells (I KNOW YOU DON’T APPROVE OF THE ANIME PHASE), @obroech, @mad-madam-m, @troubleiwant, oh god I don’t know how many I’m supposed to tag! There wasn’t any clear instructions! Whoever wants to!