#Lusamine of COURSE. and. Rose is a solid maybe

[catboy-cyrus]

great idea @merryloo

Catboy Giovanni REAL

[epicspheal]

Hi again! Just wanted to know your opinion on the Pokemon villains, especially towards a chance of redemption. I think the only villains that kinda got redeemed was Archie and Maxie, learning that what they did was a mistake ( a little too late tho) and maybe Colress ( being the true neutral he is), through the Alola games. But yeah, what's you're opinion on them?

Hi Ihopethisendswell!

I’ve been sitting on this ask for a bit just trying to gather my thoughts. To be honest, the Pokemon Villains are some of my least favorite aspects of the games, mainly because in my opinion they’re rarely handled well (except for original Team Plasma and Team Skull, those guys are amazing and I except no slander of either)

I’ll start with Team Rocket. They have a very basic but realistic evil goal (especially in a setting as fantastic as the world of Pokemon). I honestly can’t say I dislike them. I would like to see more teams using their concept of just taking advantage of Pokemon for profit and selfish reasons rather than trying to tie in some philosophy (because to be honest in my opinion most of the teams who try to use philosophy to justify their extremism just end up looking really stupid for the most part). I like Kanto Team Rocket better than Johto’s plot and Rainbow Rocket was only good for the “what if” aspect and adding to the new multiverse lore. As far as redemption...I don’t think Giovanni or the grunts really deserve it.

For Team Aqua and Team Magma, I actually like them in a “so bad it’s good” type of way (definitely nostalgia based as even though I got into Pokemon during the original anime, I didn’t get to play a main game until  gen 3). Like the idea of having two separate evil teams competing against each other to see who can enact their plans first is a super cool concept in my opinion but wasted on the idiocy of the “expand the land/expand the sea” goals. I will say I enjoyed their Emerald enhanced plot and ORAS’s expansion on them in the Delta Episode. I think the Emerald clash of Kyogre and Groudon was the most logical conclusion to their schemes. As far as redemption goes, I do think Maxie and Archie should’ve served some jail time like Chairman Rose because their plan was just as catastrophic if not more so.

For Team Galactic, ugh. They’re my second least favorite. They were just boring and made an already painfully slow game even more intolerable. This is where I give the Pokemon Anime credit, they made them more interesting in the games and I actually really loved how it was adapted (proof that when they want to the anime can have some really solid writing). Redemption for them? Nope, you literally tried to rewrite the world. Even with Cyrus’ tragic backstory...still nope.

Now for Team Plasma. This is how you do an evil team. Easily one of my favorite teams to actually go up against in game. I like that they actually tried to tackle an ethical question with Pokemon in Team Plasma.  N was a fantastic antagonist and I’m glad he saw the light at the end and he definitely deserves the redemption. And all of the Team Plasma grunts who actually believed in N’s goal deserve redemption. I really enjoyed what they did in BW2 where they had the Plasma House with the misguided former grunts and the confrontation between the old team plasma and Neo Team Plasma about how ostracized the reformed grunts are. Although I don’t like Neo Team Plasma as much (although the outfits are 100 times cooler), it does make sense that the ones still loyal to Ghetsis would try for another attempt. Also it took me a second runthrough of White 2 to really appreciate Colress and his “this is for science” mantra but you know what, I love him. Him and N are really awesome and deserve the redemption. Ghetsis can go jump in a fucking volcano though, him and his followers (:  As for Team Flare, they suffer a lot from not getting a sequel or third version. But like Team Galactic the anime adaptation did a lot of good for them. Team Flare is like Team Aqua/Magma for me in that I think they’re so bad it’s actually good. They actually had some funny dialogue bits and there was actually a lot of potential for them storywise if we had of gotten another Kalos game. The Great War, and AZ all had a lot of potential. Plus having an Elite 4 member working with them? That was more of a twist than Lysandre being the boss. And the Xerosic post-game plot was heartbreaking. Redemption wise though, it’s kind of hard to do with a group who literally tried to nuke the world. 

Team Skull. I love these guys. I love them so much. This is another example for me personally of an evil team done right. I really liked how they weren’t even evil, just frustrated youth who were failed by Alola’s tradition. Like I could seriously go on about how toxic the Alolan community really is if the fact that a child failing the island challenge (a coming of age journey) somehow makes them feel so down about themselves and feel like rejects to the point they join a literal gang to find some sort of belonging (this is of course not talking about the origins of Team Skull being from a disgraced Kahuna who incurred the wrath of the tapus). Like I feel so sorry for them and I wanted to yell at the Kahunas in game for them not recognizing that their traditions were creating the Team Skull problem. Team Skull definitely deserved their redemption as they reformed in the post game

Aether Foundation though, ugh. Easily my least favorite. I really disliked the Aether Family as a whole as I felt they were invasive to the plot and that the focus should’ve been on team skull and how traditions while important can have harmful consequences. I will say it was nice to have female antagonist and I vastly prefer SM Lusamine to USUM Lusamine. USUM Lusamine was more redeemable but she was less interesting and USUM really screws up Lillie’s development which I dislike (which is saying something because I really can’t stand Lillie). 

Team Yell was a disappointment. Honestly there was so much potential because like Team Skull they are a very grounded team (as you can see, I like the grounded in reality teams more so than the philosphical extremist ones). Like I can totally understand why they would form considering how dilapidated Spikemuth is. The issue is that they aren’t given a chance to do much actual evil. Even though Team Skull wasn’t really all that bad, they still did bad things. Which is realistic given their desperation. As desperate as Team Yell was to get Marnie to become champion I was expecting more sabotage and outright hostility. Which while being bad, would be realistic given their situation. That and the fact that no one really calls out the fact the irony of their sabotage actually delegitimizing Marnie’s strengths as a trainer. Like is Marnie truly one of the strongest trainers from the gym challenge or were their people who could’ve beat her who got targeted by Team Yell and ultimately dropped out? Not to mention the implications of ongoing beef between Team Yell and Chairman Rose. Again so much potential wasted. If they had of just made them just a tad more hostile and had someone point out how they were unintentionally making Marnie look bad, they’d easily be one of my favorites.

Macros Cosmos. I think this was the team most screwed over by the plot, and the controversial anime adaptation did them only a few favors. I’ve said this before, but the royal twins historical manipulation plot was more interesting than Rose’s “I’m going to start the Galarian Apocalypse to save Galar” plot. And the sad part is Rose could’ve been a very compelling antagonist. I’ll say that if they really wanted to make Rose an antagonist, they could’ve taken away the Eternatus plot and just used his poor communication skills to cause problems for the gym leaders and champion. A bad boss with impatience and crappy communication skills is something many people can relate to, and I think would’ve been a more interesting plot than trying to force philosophical extremism on to him because.

And lastly the Royal Twins. Man I hated them, but also they’re some of my favorite antagonists. I think people at times look solely at their goofy hairstyles and entitledness and forget how dangerous these two actually were. They had a whole network of spies loyal to them? Imagine a game with them as the main protagonists where it gets to the point you can’t trust the NPCs because who knows which one supports them. Also their historical revision plot is something so relevant today with textbooks being written in a way to minimize horrible atrocities such as the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Granted their plot in game left a lot to be desired, but they had so much potential and honestly a better reasoning to want to awake Eternatus than Rose did. As you can see I prefer the more grounded teams such as Rocket, Plasma, Skull and Yell (in theory) and the Royal Twins given how their goals relate to the real world. I also think in many ways Gamefreak does better with those plots wiriting wise than the philosophical extremist teams. 

[venusthewriter]

THEY B A C K

Just a few hours before, my partner and I had been wrapped in each others arms, asleep. Now, in this small room, I was watching my partner get beaten. My anger and fear started rising. Frantically, I started pulling at the restrains that binded my wrists to the chair. The restraints had started digging into my wrists. Light iridescent scales now covered my face, arms, and legs as my anger rose. I felt powerless in my chair. There was nothing I could do other than watch helplessly and scream at the people to stop hurting him. Rage and fear started coursing through my body as Angelo had been shoved to the ground and kicked repeatedly. The woman standing behind him, Lusamine, grabbed his throat and lifted him up, wearing a smile of pure delight. Angelo’s feet dangled in the air. My breath was becoming shallow as I watched. After a moment, I broke from the binds that held my wrists to the chair. I shot forward, landing a solid punch on the other woman. She slid back and released Angelo. I quickly stepped between Angelo and Lusamine, keeping a careful eye on the woman. She let out a sharp laugh and got ready to fight. I knew this woman’s fighting style like the back of my hand. She is, after all, the one that taught me how to fight. Although, she did teacher me, I felt no remorse is beating the shit out of her. This woman tortured my boyfriend, brainwashed my sister, and was behind my father’s death. The only thing I felt in that moment was rage toward Lusamine. I got ready to fight her, at any cost.

Lusamine howled with laughter, “You really think you’ll be able to beat me?”

“I don’t think,” I spat, “I know.”

The older woman cracked a vile smirk and slid into a comfortable fighting stance. I wasted no time allowing my ability to spark. Bright plumes of fire formed above my fists. I soon let my rage grab hold of my body. I dashed at Lusamine and landed a heavy punch across her face. She reared back, holding her cheek with the same shit eating grin on her face. She brought up 4 different shadow beings between us. I stared at them and froze, coming back to myself briefly. Angelo, Sam, Talia and my mother all stood in a line in front of me. I could feel my hands start shaking.

“Amalia,” Angelo whispered, watching me from where he was on the floor, “Amalia, those aren’t real.”

I shook my head slightly and stepped back, “How… How came this not be real?” I asked, on the verge of tears.

Angelo stood up and gently embraced me, “It’s not real.” He whispered into my ear.

I hadn’t dropped my eyes from the shadow beings in front of us. My body felt as though it was vibrating against his. My arms dropped to my sides and I let my head rest against my lover’s arms. After taking a deep breath, I nodded and laced out fingers together and smiled slightly, “We go at this together.” I said softly.

Angelo nodded, “That’s my girl.” He said warmly and kissed the top of my hand.

“Let’s go beat her ass.”

Angelo nodded, and sent a force field at the shadow beings, causing the images to faltar and fade. Lusamine softly cursed under breath but still held up her fists for a fight, “We only need to knock her out, maybe tie her up, and escape.” I said softly.

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll give you cover.”

Yep, Amalia and Angelo are back except it’s in first person! hope y’all enjoy it <3

[supergenial]

[Review] 穢れなき瑠璃色のローゼンクロイツ

Hey there. Tomorrow I’ll be back with another translation... NOT for this album. I wanted it to be this one because it’s the latest one from 2018 so I waited a while for someone to upload the lyrics or at least the album scans so that I don’t have to translate entirely by ear, but it seems no one will bother doing so which is quite unfortunate. I translated another one of their albums and will upload that instead. Meanwhile let’s take a look at this bad boi.

*Slaps Lucienne’s head* This bad girl can fit so much suffering in her

In 2013, Ariabl’eyes released this,  瑠璃色のローゼンクロイツ (Azure Rozenkreuz), their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is 穢れなき薔薇十字 (Untainted Rose Cross), a song so catchy most people probably won’t listen to the lyrics, but they should because it’s not only about a (possible?) fascist bourgeois publicly being burned at the stake but also about her love for her sister and her nation. It’s so good someone else other than me actually translated it years ago. Despite perhaps being Lyse’s favorite album (has it as their twitter header for a long time) and probably their most popular album (if we use google as a measuring tool), Lyse seems to have decided it was not enough. They want more, bigger, and so we got this 2018 album,  穢れなき瑠璃色のローゼンクロイツ (Untainted Azure Rozenkreuz).

Someone uploaded it entirely to youtube, how nice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to9y-1mWVRY&list=PLIRV6qsS9AlJANP1qurJCE5ChwFw65SRF

The story of the album is that of two sisters. One’s a military leader and sort of a public figure, and the other one is a peasant. There’s an awful lot of nationalism and sisterly love that borders on the incestual (Julienne says even if she’s forced to marry a man she’ll always think only of her sister). Anyway, that never comes to happen because they sort of get killed and their homeland is invaded. Politically it’s kind of a mess isn’t it, despite the slight lesbianism it comes off as sort of conservative, with outsiders being bad guys, and proclaiming how much you love your country even as you’re getting killed. Anyway, the story is obscured by the music, this extended album has 5 solid pieces that wow me (瑠璃色ソワレ, 瑠璃色の姫君, 黒き陰謀, 荊冠の旋律 and of course 穢れなき薔薇十字) three of them being from the original album, and even among the slower songs there’s Symmetric Rose which is pretty awesome.

In videogame terms, this album is an extended remake, though it could’ve just been DLC. While the original has 6 tracks (which are preserved with only slight modifications) this one spans 10 tracks to expand upon the Rozenkreuz universe. Personally, I like all the new tracks, yet I still feel like they don’t really bring anything onto the table. You’ve made the album longer, and added 黒き陰謀 (Black Conspiracy) a song that expands upon the enemy force that destroys our heroines lives, but was an extended version of the album truly necessary? No, not really. Is it bad though?... No, not really. It’s a good album. Personally I would’ve pulled a Nein and given it a happy ending but that’d be a bit too much I guess. But really, if you’re going to release the story all over again, an alternate ending doesn’t sound that crazy in my opinion.

edit from the future: they actually did change the ending in a sequel album, though it’s still not a happy ending lol

The real question then is, is this the definitive edition? I’m sorry to say this but the answer is a solid no. I say this because of the changes made to the song 穢れなき薔薇十字 (Untainted Rose Cross). While the other tracks from the original are preserved identically (or at least with little to no differences) this one adds a ton of ominous chanting to the background, it’s not awful but I personally feel that the original is much better. This is one of their most popular tracks so it’s really weird that they decided to modify it so much, almost makes you believe they wanted people to still buy the original album. Now that’s a Black Conspiracy for you. You might also decide to look at this as a cashgrab to capitalize on one of their most popular releases, but hey at least they added a few cool new songs. Ultimately this is a Pokemon Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon type of situation, where the remake is bigger than the original, sure, but it’s still not the definitive edition because the original is better in at least one way (I of course mean Lusamine being absolutely and justifiably insane and evil in SuMo but just a bit insane in USUM, she’s even kind of a good person in that one).

While the original is a solid 7 for me, I think I’ll have to give this one a 6, maybe a light 7 on a good day. Ironic given the word Untainted in its name, might as well call it Slightly Tainted Rozenkreuz, hah.

What’d you think of the album did you love it did you hate it you’re the best you’re the best what should I review next hit the like if you like and please subscribe and please don’t cry, Supergenial,  穢れなき瑠璃色のローゼンクロイツ, forever.