#Marnie (Neo 3)

[violethursday]

Here's a totally not complicated relationship chart of my agents and other characters + a colored guide!

Notes:

Marnie (Neo 3) and Acht are cousins through their mothers. Also they both got that non-binary swag.

Hiro (3) and Octavia (8) got married in early 2022 roughly around when the cherry blossoms bloom in Japan

I ship Acht with Marie, not sure why but they just seemed cute together.

I'm still cooking up Callie an octoling partner

I'll make a better detailed relationship chart later

[t4tbedehopmar]

u will look at her

[geee-three]

maybe i should make a kin list

[bestest-dead-best-friend-bracket]

New Bracket Announcement!

This one is kind of huge compared to what I usually do, and it’s probably going to be a bit before there’s another one this big.

As such, I’ve divided it into four Blocks, which will each run separately before the winners of each block participate in the semifinals.

The theme this time is

Ambiguously Dead Friends

Since there are so many this time, the lineup will be below the cut, but I encourage you to see if anyone you know is there! Please reblog to spread the news and to remind yourself to come vote!

Round One of Block A starts this Monday.

Dead Best Friend Bracket

Block A

KK (Ghostwire Tokyo) vs Alma Karma (D.Gray Man)

Makise Kurisu (Steins;Gate) vs Kokonose Haruka (Kagerou Project)

Kofune Ushio (Summertime Rendering) vs Yami Yugi (Yu-Gi-Oh!)

Bruno Bucciarati (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind) vs Iris Sagan (AI: The Somnium Files)

Marnie (When Marnie was There) vs Cassim (Magi)

The Snatcher (A Hat in Time) vs Professor Turo (Pokémon: Violet)

Asriel Dreemurr (Undertale) vs Sakurane Shoka (NEO: The World Ends with You)

Hayakawa Aki (Chainsaw Man) vs Fubuki Atsuya (Inazuma Eleven: Blizzard)

Block B

Audric (Dragalia Lost) vs Komikado Harumichi (Ohayou, Ibarahime)

Mondo Owada (Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc) vs Brook (One Piece)

Kite (Hunter x Hunter) vs Yukine (Noragami)

Naruse Kakeru (Orange) vs Polterpup (Luigi’s Mansion)

Alear (Fire Emblem: Engage) vs Lief (Bug Fables)

Hoshino Ruby (Oshi no Ko) vs Lyman Banner (Yu-Gi-Oh! GX)

Shizu (That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime) vs Zera (Fairy Tail)

Acht (Splatoon 3) vs Honma Meiko (Anohana)

Block C

Gugu (To Your Eternity) vs Falin Touden (Dungeon Meshi)

Mia Fey (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney) vs Natsuki Subaru (Re: Zero)

Tikal (Sonic Adventure) vs Hinazuki Kayo (Boku Dake ga Inai Machi)

Mari (OMORI) vs Sunny (Pokémon)

Sabito (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba) vs Indou Hikaru (The Summer Hikaru Died)

Excellen Browning (Super Robot Wars) vs Dimple (Mob Psycho 100)

Daruk (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) vs Maria (Silent Hill 2)

Claire Foley (Professor Layton and the Unwound Future) vs Ethan Winters (Resident Evil)

Block D

Lemiel Silvamillion Clover (Black Clover) vs Hanako-kun (Toilet-bound Hanako-kun)

Pandoria (Xenoblade Chronicles 2) vs Brown (Rule of Rose)

Queen Sectonia (Kirby: Triple Deluxe) vs Joe Tazuna (Your Turn to Die)

Reginald Kastle (Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal) vs Missile (Ghost Trick)

Shuu (Inazuma Eleven: GO) vs Yokomizo (Bungo Stray Dogs)

Sothis (Fire Emblem: Three Houses) vs Vanilla (World’s End Club)

Shirakumo Oboro (My Hero Academia) vs Auron (Final Fantasy X)

Dhurke Sahdmadhi (Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice) vs Sayori (Doki Doki Literature Club)

[transidiotloli]

I am problematic!!

Me My name is Monoka, I'm 4/7/12/15/500/899 years(I am Polyage>w<) 🇯🇵ノ🇹🇭ノ🇧🇷 !!

I am radqueer, radinclus, xennie, parafilica, comship, proship, otherkin, alterhuman, lolicon, shotacon n nanacon

Loli irl O.o

I make flags, userbox n symbols:3.

I do it on my own, that is, I don't make requests.

Stances:

Loliqueer, littlequeer, Apatheticqueer, imoqueer, citrusqueer, radqueer n radinclus:D

All my names!

¹Kay, ²Daisy, ³Kurimi, ⁴Dolly, ⁵Mumi, ⁶Bambi, ⁷Cari, ⁸Mili, ⁹Lilico, ¹⁰Coral, ¹¹una, ¹²Rex, ¹³Nyx, ¹⁴Aika, ¹⁵Ruby, ¹⁶Castiel, ¹⁷Otto, ¹⁸Daze, ¹⁹Yuu, ²⁰Nomi, ²¹Miette, ²²Melodie, ²³Blair, ²⁴Aya, ²⁵Lex, ²⁶Ocho, ²⁷Ira, ²⁸Ophe, ²⁹Ray, ³⁰Laine, ³¹Axe, ³²Miette, ³³Mimi, ³⁴Zany, ³⁵Nuko, ³⁶Aino, ³⁷Irene, ³⁸satan, ³⁹len, ⁴⁰Haru, ⁴¹Myme, ⁴²Sora, ⁴³Fizz, ⁴⁴Neo, ⁴⁵Lyra, ⁴⁶Misa, ⁴⁷Poe, ⁴⁸ Ari, ⁴⁹Ayuna, ⁵⁰Buzz, ⁵¹Aria, ⁵²Nelly, ⁵³Villy, ⁵⁴Puffi, ⁵⁵Dot, ⁵⁶Marnie, ⁵⁷Miu, ⁵⁸Aima, ⁵⁹Chie, ⁶⁰Ryo, ⁶¹Limbo, ⁶²Lys, ⁶³Kiki, ⁶⁴Minou, ⁶⁵Hima, ⁶⁶Fuwa, ⁶⁷Mici, ⁶⁸Minou, ⁶⁹Cane, ⁷⁰Milo, ⁷¹Grace, ⁷²Faye, ⁷³Doye, ⁷⁴Astyr, ⁷⁵Cyn, ⁷⁶Zeno, ⁷⁷Stella, ⁷⁸Nori, ⁷⁹Lyalka, ⁸⁰Luna, ⁸¹Starry, ⁸²Ester, ⁸³Mikio, ⁸⁴Uta, ⁸⁴Noemi, ⁸⁵Haze, ⁸⁶Opal, ⁸⁷Wyn, ⁸⁸Hoshi, ⁸⁹Sidra, ⁹⁰Nadime, ⁹¹Lila, ⁹²Meru, ⁹³Monoka, ⁹⁴ Bite, ⁹⁵ Gutz, ⁹⁶blade, ⁹⁷ Kata, ⁹⁸Buredo, ⁹⁹Tenshi, ¹⁰⁰Neko, ¹⁰¹Rinku, ¹⁰² Nikushimi, ¹⁰³ Cake, ¹⁰⁴Medae, ¹⁰⁵Cinna, ¹⁰⁶Soda, ¹⁰⁷ Core, ¹⁰⁸Candy, ¹⁰⁹ Sherbet, ¹¹⁰Nou, ¹¹¹Noi, ¹¹² Jass, ¹¹³Amos, ¹¹⁴Rue, ¹¹⁵Sarreil, ¹¹⁶Mailia, ¹¹⁷Luke, ¹¹⁸Theo, ¹¹⁹Max, ¹¹⁹Yuri, ¹²⁰Akira, ¹²¹Yuki

(Pink = love>w<)

My main trans/cisIDs:

transID: TransGender, GenderFluid, PolyGender, PanFem, GirlFlux, BoyFlux, TransAge, TransBaby, TransToddler, TransLoli, transShota, TransNana, TransDumb, TransCute, PermaInocente, TransJujiTuko, transADHD, TransMadd, TransSH, Transed, TranFactKin, Transtherian, PermaR4p3d, PermaBullied, Trace, TransJapanese, TransThai, TransMoreMelanin, TransVitiligo, Transalbino, PermaBrokenLeg, TransAmputatedLeg, TransCrutch, TransCronoAge, TransSynesthesia, PermaBlush n IterPlura

CisIDs: CisBlack, CisAsthma, CisBiteSh, CisSedentary, CisParanoid, CisAngerIssues, CisAltherkin, Cistherian, CisFkin, CisFactKin.

Dni

Antiradqueer, antixenogender, anticomship, anti para, anti transID, antilolicon, Homophobic, Racist, N4z1

->I don't mind if you use my flags, but I'll probably block you

[best-pkmn-battle-ost]

The bracket has been decided! Here's the match-ups for Round 1!

Each match-up will be linked to it's post below, when it goes up! Round 1 will start going up on Friday 16th, 8PM CEST!

Round 1, Upper Left Group

Clan Warden VS Hau Galar Gym Leader VS Dark Matter Phase 2 Subway Boss VS Oleana Zinnia VS Origin Dialga/Palkia Legendary Birds VS Penny Diantha VS Eternatus Phase 3 Neo Team Plasma Grunt VS Alola Champion (REMATCH) Chairman Rose VS Lake Trio

Round 1, Lower Left Group

Calyrex Final VS Team Dim Sun Grunt Wally VS Aether Foundation Employee Ultra Beast VS Iris Alola Elite 4 VS Team Star Grunt Arceus VS Lance/Red Ultra Necrozma VS Paldea Gym Leader Guzma VS Gladion Lusamine VS Decisive! Steven

Round 1, Upper Right Group

Giratina VS N Final Ghetsis VS Gateway Colosseum World Tournament FInals VS Anime Hoenn Elite 4 Guardian Deities VS Crowned Zacian/Zamazenta Cyrus VS Colress Champion Nemona VS Hoenn Gym Leader Cynthia VS Team Aqua/Magma Leader Bede VS Team Star Boss

Round 1, Lower Right Group

Team Galactic Grunt VS Champion Leon Ultra Recon Squad VS Lysandre Battle Tower VS Hop Final Suicune VS Hoenn Rival Marnie Final VS Treasures of Ruin Gym Leader Piers VS Dialga/Palkia Ho-Oh VS Dialga's Fight to the Finish! Red/Blue VS Team Rocket

[outfitpolls]

Round Five, Match 3

[jadeazora]

The New Message from the Masters Team is out!

EX Roles are coming: By unlocking an EX Role, a Sync Pair will gain traits of a different Role in addition to the one they started with. For example, if they're a Strike Pair with the Tech Role, their Sync Moves will hit all opponents and receive a 50% power boost. These can be unlocked with Role Cakes, which are earned by getting Role Cakes coins. You can get these accomplishing the Daily Missions scheduled to start Aug28, and as battle completions rewards from the new difficulty level they'll add to the Daily Region Rotation coming Sept3.

Leaf will be added to the Lodge starting Aug30!

New Sync Pairs are also going to be added to the BP pair item exchange. There's four new 4⭐ units and two new 5⭐ units. They also plan to add daily tickets to the daily missions, which can be exchanged for Roll Cakes coins.

Details on the Anniversary Pairs! In addition to the standard Master Fair, there will be a paid banner that rewards a Roll Cake when you Scout the featured Pair. Their Neo Champion event begins Aug28. (I'll likely cover the Villain Arc stuff before this.)

The prelude to the final Villain Arc chapter will be added Aug28, with the final chapter coming Sept4. Villains on Pasio begin to start acting on their own beliefs again. By completing the final chapter, you can exchange for a new style for your Trainer Lodge!

A new Stop the Evil Mastermind special event is coming. There's also a special log-in bonus that will highlight the evil machinations of Team Rocket members, a new Variety Scout that will offers the chance to team up with Giovanni and the Executives, and a new co-op mission that have several in-game missions, and a separate rally with special rewards based on the number of missions completed by all Trainers.

4yr anniversary missions that will reward a Ticket that will allow you to team up with N/Zekrom, Raihan/Duraludon, or Marnie/Morpeko. (Well, she's the only one I haven't 3/5'd yet...)

A Rental battle event using preset teams, and special 15x and 25x paid Select Scout banners that have a few Pokefair pairs added.

Future plans include updates to battles and upgrading Trainers, new types of battle content, and expanding the Profile features, such as adding a photo feature that will allow you to create your own photos by arranging Trainers.

Next update message scheduled for late September!

[izunias-meme-hole]

Ranking The Pokemon Antagonist/Villain Teams 

Team Rocket (Kanto) 10/10 - Good starter villains. This ain’t peak Team Rocket, but this was still an alright base for future entries to improve and build upon, so it’s a 10/10.

Team Rocket (Johto) 3/10 - This is an UGLY blot on Rocket’s resume, but in all honesty with Giovanni gone, and some boring as hell admins running the gang, this plot was doomed to fail without someone carrying the team. The only good thing was that their plan was to try and get Giovanni back.

Team Magma 2/10 - Cool designs, especially in the remakes, Courtney was okay, but come on! WE CANNOT SURVIVE WITHOUT WATER, MAXIE!

Team Aqua 7/10 - We can live in a world with water, so Archie was onto something, but the group is held back by the story of Hoenn games. Still better than Magma

Team Galactic 10/10 - The plan was carefully constructed, Cyrus is a good villain, the admins here were better than in other games, the space cadet outfits are bland in a fitting way, and Team Galactic felt less like Pokemon villains and more like Final Fantasy or Xenoseries villains.

Team Plasma (Original) 10/10 - Plasma was the most unique team in the series, especially since they brought up the concept of “pokemon liberation,” gave us N, and had the most devious plan in the series. However this was revealed to be a lie that it’s founder, Ghetsis, used as propaganda to try and convince people to release their pokemon, so he can rule the world utterly, and the plan almost worked! That and the medieval aesthetic is VERY unique.

Neo Team Plasma 9/10 - Plasma may have lost all power, and the aesthetic is vastly different, but they’re still dangerous as hell, and the plan is literally one big revenge scheme (It’s a backup in the manga). Also Colress helps carry the team, along with a more demented Ghetsis.

Team Flare 5/10 - On one hand, Flare was not great in their debut games, but on the other hand, they’re better in other media. 

Team Skull 10/10 - Best joke villains the series has ever made.

Aether Foundation 7/10 - Lusamine is fine, but aside from that these guys are just PETA. Also the existence of Faba is cringe.

Team Rainbow Rocket 10/10 - What a nice way of establishing what Giovanni would to with multiversial travel! Also this was a nice way of reintroducing Team Rocket!

Team Yell 8/10 - Team Yell was just a gym leader, his sister, and a bunch of twitter stans. The stans were an annoyance, but they weren’t awful, also Piers and Marnie were great.

Macro Cosmos 1/10 - Magma at least tried, Aqua was just held back, Aether had Lusamine, and Flare is salvageable. The ONLY thing goods about this company were Rose’s boss theme, and the POTENTIAL Rose had. 

Team Star 10/10 - Team Star may not have been the actual villains, but they WERE antagonists, and in all honesty it was nice to see Tumblr Users and victims of bullying who fought back be perfectly represented in a video game.

Team Break 3/10 - These little shits are from a mere mobile game, and are annoying as hell, but they aren’t a steaming pile of shit so I needed to be based about their placement.

[crystalelemental]

Sync Pair Retrospective - Kalos Neo Champions

This was such a mixed event for me. On the one hand, this is the best outfit Serena has. I love her hair, I love the blue, it's perfect. On this same hand, this is some of the best writing DeNA ever produced. The focus on Calem's rivalry with Serena leaving him feeling like he doesn't measure up, and wanting to push himself to do better so he can stand on equal footing with her, actually held weight. I generally don't like the confirmation of which protagonist is "canon," but one of the only times they do, and they nailed the emotional significance of the other side having literally never won. And when he does get his win, the whole event feels like this big accomplishment, like everyone involved has finally made it.

On the other hand, Greninja. God I hate this frog. Also, no other NC event has lived up to this one. Not even close. Galar NCs were fine but I'm still pissed about Opal, while Kanto NC event couldn't stop sucking Red's dick long enough to remember how Blue's character worked. I'm kinda sour on Neo Champions, despite how much I love the concept.

Neo Champion Serena Serena remains top Water. "But SS Lys-" no really, I need you to trust me on this one. Serena is obscenely good. Low gauge cost, fast self-setup with little to be desired, powerful Water and Dark-type sync that ranks well above the competition, rebuff application for both types, hilarious levels of debuffing on Water, flinch and accuracy debuffing on Dark, etc etc etc. Serena wanted for very little.

Truth be told, I have little to say as well. Nothing has seriously competed with Serena in what she set out to do. She's insane. And in a few days, datamine very well may show us they handed her the Strike Role, and now I legitimately don't think there's any stopping her. If anything, she just got better when SS Lysandre entered the picture, because now she had someone she aligned perfectly with. His Buddy move evaporates sides, her sync deletes center, and both are powered up further by Kalos Pride. What possible limitation is there to be found with her? Even outside of the Water situation, Serena has Dark at her disposal as well. Despite that type being loaded with powerhouses, Serena keeps up perfectly, and if she receives that Strike role, NC Marnie is frankly out of a job. That's how disgusting NC Serena is. This is going to get a buff soon. Not Anni Lillie though, apparently. The meta is unfair.

In spite of that though, I barely use Serena. I legitimately think there's some kind of brain block that prevents me from using pairs that I think are actually too good at what they do. It's like how I never really use SS Lyra or NC Marnie, I just can't bring myself to do it. It's no fun.

Neo Champion Calem Calem, by comparison, kinda sucks. Oh, don't give me that, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Calem had tremendous value as a role compression support. Not just Rain, but Dark Zone, could be called. Considering only SS Cyrus had this ability before, and SS Cyrus has never rerun, Calem had tremendous value. There's just one teensy tiny problem. The conditional was 10 hits on opponents. Which meant, unless he was running with NC Serena, that condition isn't going up until it's time to sync. Which is completely unhelpful. This is the crux of what makes Calem so frustrating: he has these two tools, but they're inaccessible until the fight drags out a little. His buddy move is a nice injection of stats, but with Team Sharp Entry at 3/5 he can't cap crit, and neither offensive stat moves to cap either. He also messed up, going for Special Moves on Rain and Physical on Dark, when the inverse at the time was the better call. Even now, Special on Rain was a mistake; he does not at all compete with SS Kris for rain dominance. He's far more frail, and lacks her healing potential. And to make his life worse, one of his big benefits was that he buffed both offenses and crit pretty quickly. That was something! Well, it was, until NC Bede dropped, and copied most of his stat boosts on a 2MP move that also gave both kinds of Moves Up Next per use and refreshed every sync and also rotated Free Moves Next and could do SEUN on all allies. Bede put a lot of people out of work...

Thankfully, all he had to do was wait a week and his fortunes were reverse, thanks to SC Zinnia. SC Zinnia has X Atk All, and thus between the two of them, they cap the entire team's physical offensive needs in one turn, while also setting Rebuff. Zinnia's Buddy move hits AoE and flinches, which is fantastic for stealing an extra turn for Calem to ensure his Buddy move goes up with first sync. Pretty much any physical Dark type could fill in and the team would still work. This was a surprisingly powerful answer to NC Marnie's dominance, literally one month later. I switched to Zinnia and never looked back; this was so much more fun. And with Akari, we've now entered a situation where Dark Zone can be called at any time for this team, and Calem supplements later on. They're stronger than they've ever been, and are a huge part of what makes Dark so dominant. It's hard to beat 70% flinch rates, stealing all buffs then preventing them, perpetual Dark Zone, massive DPS on Akari, massive sync on Zinnia, and Calem throwing in Team Endure and evasion boosts. Yes, I know people will run Marnie as the third and Akari as the tank, and it works in CS. I like the bullshit of evasion. But I do see the appeal.

The point is, Calem came around to be really good, and it was kind of exciting. Which is why it's so disappointing his EX Role is Tech. This dude was perfect for either Field or Sprint, and they went with Tech. Hysterically disappointing. Guess we can't expect much good for Supports from these EX roles.

Final Thoughts Kalos NCs were huge, and remain huge. While I dunked on Calem all day on his release, he did have some good traits, and has since been elevated to a position on one of my favorite team compositions. That said, I do think that teams succeeds almost in spite of him, with SC Zinnia doing most of the heavy lifting there. I think the two are fairly lopsided in that regard. Serena's exceptional on both fronts, and has a ton of traits beyond just damage that will keep her relevant long into the figure. Calem is good but feels like he's just waiting to get outclassed. The Rain/Zone combo will keep him relevant, but that Buddy conditional really does him no favors.

[violethursday]

I got Splatoon 2 last Tuesday and completed Hero Mode on Monday and here's 2 things I want to say.

Despite knowing who the final bosses were, I felt TERRIBLY bad for fighting them. Also because my New Agent 3 in Splatoon 3 is an octoling.

Wtf Marie that's your grandpa's ex-husband.

[tilbageidanmark]

Movies I watched this week - 49

When Marnie Was There, a Beautiful, Beautiful Ghibli story of a lonely, introverted and sad 12-year-old girl who befriends a mysterious girl living in an abandoned mansion. Modern animation and old-fashioned sentiments. 8/10.

✴️      

2 With Tom Courtenay:

✳️✳️✳️ “...You know, you have three editions of this Kierkegaard book, and I don’t think you ever read past chapter two?...”

45 years, a subtle story about Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay, a married old English couple, who live in a house with no family photos. The only 2 dramatic moments in the film bookend it: It opens with a letter telling the husband that a body of his former dead lover from 50 years ago was found in the Swiss mountains. And it closes with a final shot on her quiet, devastated face.

(Photo Above). 9/10

✳️✳️✳️ Working-class rebelliousness in Tony Richardson‘s The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. He could run, but he could not hide. A mixed bag of realism and class consciousness in early sixties Britain.

With James Fox in an early uncredited role. 4/10

✴️    

Rachel Weisz X 2:

✳️✳️✳️ Paolo Sorrentino’s rich 2016 Youth. A wistful and patient movie about very old friends Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel vacationing at the luxury Hotel Schatzalp at the Swiss alps. Gorgeous, moving tableaux and subtle reflections on aging, regrets, life & death - Shocking it was created by a a man in his 40′s.

This is my second Paolo Sorrentino film. I must see the rest of his “oeuvre” now!

Eat your heart out, Wes Anderson & shut the fuck up! 9/10.

✳️✳️✳️ Disobedience, my 2nd film by Chilean director Sebastián Lelio (after ‘A Fantastic Woman’). A Jewish love story set up in a strict North London orthodox community. But what starts with a rabbi’s estranged daughter who returns for the funeral of her father, turn unexpectedly into a complicated and intense same-sex relationship. 'May you have a long life'... 7+/10

✴️      

Another Lesbian love story, my first Venezuelan film, Liz in September. It is based on ‘Last Summer at Bluefish Cove’ by Jane Chambers, a landmark Lesbian Play from 1980, transplanted into a tiny beach resort (Like the one me and Sammy sailed into in 2005). The short soft core scene when the two women finally make love is one of the few I ever saw in any regular, non-porn films, that worked.

✴️      

Kodi Smit-McPhee X 2:

✳️✳️✳️ The Power of the Dog, Jane Campion‘s restrained new neo-Western, based on a story of Thomas Savage, a closeted writer whose Western stories often told of sexually ostracized, mistreated outsiders in the prairies of the west. 1925 Montana is reminiscent of ‘Days of Heaven’ and ‘Brokeback Mountain’.

Best film of the week.

✳️✳️✳️ The Road, a dark, harrowing post-apocalyptic survival film, about life after “The End” in a world without color. Our future when we are the last humans on earth. Uncompromising, bleak and hopeless. 8/10. Re-watch.

✴️      

...”One side will make you larger“...

Disney’s classic 1951 Alice in Wonderland, one of about 25 film versions of the Lewis Carroll story. I think this is the first time I’ve seen it in full. Serious psychedelic vibes, especially in the smoking caterpillar and other “mad” characters.

✴️      

Disillusioned and uncompromising lesbian grandma Lily Tomlin is helping her cute granddaughter Julia Garner to get an abortion. 3 generations of females fighting for their rights in a road movie one day in Los Angeles. 7/10

✴️        

I re-watched Seven Beauties, a grotesque comedy-tragedy, a brutal struggle for survival, in a Neapolitan insane asylum, in war and in a concentration camp. About a clownish pimp obsessed with the notion of honor who has none. And in spite of the melodramatic flourishes, I actually found the graphic reality of the Nazi atrocities more ‘realistic’ here than most other descriptions (’Schindler’s list’, ‘Life is beautiful’, Etc.). The uncomfortable, jazzy opening sequence of course was brilliant.

RIP Lina Wertmüller.

✴️      

First watch: Greta Gerwig in Frances Ha, about a struggling 27-year-old dancer in NYC and her platonic love-friendship with Sophie, her “best friend”. A black and white love letter to the French New Wave, and Frances (”France”s...) is a character that could be in an early Godard or Truffaut film. 8/10.

✴️      

2 American documentaries:

✳️✳️✳️ Grey Gardens, my first (and last?) Cinéma vérité documentary by Albert and David Maysles. Spending 90 long minutes with an eccentric fiftysomething woman and her sick mother, living in squalor at a decrepit mansion in East Hampton, crawling with raccoons, fleas and feral cats. They were two mentally-different, reclusive cousins of Jackie Kennedy, but listening to their endlessly-rambling monologues felt exploitative, cruel and depressing.

✳️✳️✳️ Vivian Liberto was the first wife of Johnny Cash. Their love was intense, and they were married very young. After she gave birth to his 4 daughters, and he became a country music superstar, he left her for June Carter Cash, and subsequently she was written out of his ‘official’ biography.

In My Darling Vivian her 4 daughters, now older, re-tell her story. It’s warm and touching, and she deserved better from her husband, but there isn’t much in the documentary besides setting the record straight. 4/10.

✴️   

First watch: Alfonso Cuarón’s explicit love triangle  Y tu mamá también, about two teenage boys who take a road trip with a slightly older woman. The parts I liked the most though are the throw-away little background shots of the villages they pass through and the people they meet along the way.

✴️    

Voir, a new Netflix series of short 'Explainer’ video essays about 'Cinema’ produced by David Fincher, a sort-of continuation of Tony Zhou and Taylor Ramos of “Every Frame a Painting”. 6 uneven, and somehow shallow, episodes that try to appeal to living-room cinephiles. 5/10.

Instead I will watch Thom Andersen’s ‘Los Angeles Plays Itself’.

✴️      

Because of ^ Void ^, I re-watched 2 of the movies they discussed:

✳️✳️✳️ Jaws - The first summer blockbuster and the source of innovation of much of cinema language since. Still a perfect movie, full with a young person’s visions.

...”Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies.

Farewell and adieu to you ladies of Spain”...

✳️✳️✳️ 48 Hours though did not age that well. In spite of the Walter Chow episode above analyzing it as a profound examination of systemic racism, it’s still just a dated 1980′s action flick. 3/10.

✴️      

The New Tenants, (on Youtube), a short written by Anders Thomas Jensen (Another Danish film shot in The US!). With the Librarian from Erin Brockovich (Jamie Harrold) and Vincent D'Onofrio. A meaningless story that sill manages to end with a lovely street dance by the two boys, and a recipe for Cinnamon Buns. 2/10

✴️      

In The kitchen, 3 Hell's Kitchen mob wives in the 1970s take over their husbands' rackets after the mobsters are locked up in prison. Similar story to Steve McQueen’s ‘Widows’ which premiered at the same time, but absolutely not as well-played, well-plotted and as emotionally fulfilling. 2/10

- - - - -

Throw-back to the art project:

Alice in Wonderland Adora.

The Road Adora.

Jaws Adora.

- - - - -

(My complete movie list is here)

[outfitpolls]

Round 4, Match 3

[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. 

[dreaminpeaches]

Hi! I actually want to know more about Casual Nexus since it was the first paracosm I saw when I was getting into the community so I would love to hear more about it!!

@dreamyblur

(CW: Final Fantasy 15 Spoiler)

Okay, so like I stated before Casual Nexus is a patchwork of all of my favorite pieces media (almost ever), its kind of like smash in a way but a slice of life instead of fighting to the death

My parame lives in a big house on a hill that over looks the city below, its kind of like the house from "When Marnie was There", she has a big house because sometimes some paras like to stay over for like a few days (or even weeks) and sometimes its a lot of them (which is always fun), they have their own houses of course but my parame's house is so far out and they usually end up staying over really late that its just easier for them to crash

Just about all of the paras in Casual Nexus that my parame knows is either slightly or completely based of a character from a tv, movie, game, etc.

I usually let the paras keep their memories of whatever event they just came from unless I just dont like how their story ended or they liked died in said universe, they'll live in this one and usually dont remember dying or any of the events/moments leading up to then and other characters who also knew said dead person in other universe, act like nothing bad happened.

The paras will also remember the events that happened in the daydream version of their original universe, my para me in that universe shares the same memories in Casual Nexus and the paras still see my Casual Nexus para me as (insert whatever universe para is from) parame.

Like for example, the main dudes from FF15 still remember the adventures they went on with the para me in that universe and to them, the parame in Casual Nexus is the same person and as treated as such, and they often make references and reminisce about the past adventures, of course in my daydream version of events they ALL lived at the end (spoilers for Final Fantasy 15), and the one that died doesn't have memories of his death.

How paras end up in Casual Nexus is just I'm usually like "Wow, I really like these characters I would love to see them in a casual setting or continue their current casual vibes they have going on" and like a puzzle piece the important plot buildings/places or buildings/places that I just think are cool are plopped in, and paras just load in and act as if they've always lived in the city

While Casual Nexus acts mostly like a regular city, there are parts of the area that are high fantasy like on the outskirts of the city theirs a candy land like area and strawberry shortcake like strawberry patch, there are other places that are modeled after Mario Party boards, and that's where my parame and paras go to play Mario Party (which usually happens when I'm playing Mario Party IRL..*cough*alone*cough*), other games like Mario Kart course also have an actual area in the city (so yes there is a floating rainbow road above the city where my paras go to play Mario Kart sometimes)

Games like Wario ware -- like the microgames take the form of dares and challenges usually at sleepovers or whenever a few paras crash for a night, which always makes things really wacky and fun when those happen.

Movies that I'm watching IRL (rather its one I've seen before or nah, usually movies that none of the paras are from or else that would be too meta for my brain to handle) are treated like Mystery Science Theater or any group of friends hanging out and watching movies together, a lot of commentary, sometimes laughing, sometimes crying, sometimes just pure confusion.

Alot of the food/restaurants in the city are based of fictional ones (of course) but some are based off of cool restaurants and/or food I seen on places like Instagram or tumblr (especially the very trendy and hip ones) that I would like to try someday...

The current group of paras I have recurring in Casual Nexus are from Final Fantasy 15, Fire Emblem 3 Houses, Sk8 Infinity, MySims (OG and Kingdom), Infinity Train (mostly book 4), and Fosters Home (ironically, but I've been rewatching that show I've never felt so seen as a daydreamer..oof) weird assortment of paras I know, but that's how my brain works, some characters from The World Ends With You Neo are probably going to become citizens as well I can JUST FEEL IT!

I like the idea of having a city because then I don't feel bad for not checking up on a para because I can just think like "Oh, (insert para name here) has just been busy with their life in the city and hasn't had enough time to come hang but once they get some free time, they'll hit me up"

Lastly, this goes with saying but I'mma say it anyways the Casual Nexus paracosm doubles as a modern AU for any paras that are from a medieval or past time period.

[crystalelemental]

Alright, this upcoming week should be datamine. Here's the bingo board, because I am bored.

Psychic with Fast Ramp - We are two years running with the bait units being Psychic types with Fast-ramp. This feels very assured.

Victor Alt - Feels like a safe guess. Unless there's a wild swing from nowhere (PLEASE), it's Victor.

Paulo Playable - There will be at least one event outside of Galar VA, and the safest bet is Paulo Resolution. It's been a while since an OC got into the game, and Paulo is long overdue at this point. Feels very likely we see him added.

3* Flying Gear - We've gotten a new one every month lately, and I want that trend to continue. Do Flying next, cowards.

Legendary Gauntlet - Been a while. We were supposed to have one this month, but nope.

Variety Scouts - The worst possible outcome of whatever happens that isn't Galar VA.

No Select Scout - When did we last get a Select Scout? Masters is going the way of FEH. No guarantees, but here's some bullshit in a randomly assigned pick. Paid gems only. The game is getting worse about this.

Shadow Rider Calyrex - I feel this is very likely, at least on thematic focus. They tend to skew legends, and Shadow Rider Calyrex is a really cool option, because of Spectrier. I don't particularly care who gets it, so long as it's not Victor.

Nessa Dynamax - Like how Brendan got his mega, I think it's time for adding Dynamax retroactively. I realized after finalizing this that she's actually Gigantamax, but I'm not going back to fix it.

Peony Gaming - This is the wild swing. Bring Peony in to talk to Rose, let him be the second half of Galar VA. Just give me the olds. Peony, Opal, and Kabu. Please. I want this more than Gloria. I'll whale for it, DeNA, you can trust me.

Opal Time - Same as above, but more critical. Do you know how jarring it is to go through a Neo Champion event, where Hop and Marnie get to be close with the people most connected to them, and Bede's mentor isn't even in the fucking game? DeNA, fix this.

Hop Second Potion MPR - Grid expansion theory. Hop is going to be Sonia-esque. Patch up what she does that he can't. Double Potion MPR is the most critical aspect of this.

BAIT - I mean. Anniversary in September.

Leon Alt - Feels relatively safe, though please consider Peony.

Hoenn Appears Nonetheless - This goes hand in hand with Variety Scouts, and is at least likely. Maxie heralds further Hoenn focus. So far, we're 3 for 3 on the rerun Master Fair predicting the next set of alts. Will there be a fourth?

SS Leon Grid Expansion - The antithesis to Leon Alt. SS Leon really needs the expansion, just like Gloria. He's not...great.

Gloria alt - The single most likely outcome. Consider Peony.

Raihan Gigantamax - He'll be the PokeFair lodge rotation unit, because he gets Gigantamax.

SS Leon Rerun - Ties with 16. He's never been rerun. Almost 2 years.

Hop TM Barricade Buddies - This would be the swap. Sonia does speed, Hop does mixed bulk. I'd like to see it.

Corviknight - Fully expected. If we get 3* Flying Gear, it's guaranteed. Corviknight is a very popular Pokemon, and if Hop gets an alt, possibly even his Lodge alt (though I'd like Wooloo for that), Corviknight is destined.

When Drasna? - If we get another event, maybe it can be the Kalos E4 finally showing up. Sincerely, where the fuck?

Regidrago - In the Gloria/Victor/Leon timeline, this is the Regi I'd rather see. Eleki is less interesting, and we don't need Electric.

Caitlin Alt - The good outcome is that this happens in the style of a Dojo Gloria/SS Korrina event, just before anniversary. We know Caitlin sold well in her Halloween alt, DeNA. She's profitable, just do it. The worst outcome is Variety Scout.

Valerie EX - There are no Galar pairs lacking EX. It has to be a story mode pair. Please, DeNA. Please. My girl is suffering so badly, and you will not help her.