#Tagging as spoilers but none of this really shows up in the main story besides the third comic

[dunmeshistash]

Dungeon Meshi - Kuro & Mickbell extras

[nukenai]

i’ve played all chapters of Live A Live now except Distant Future (which I watched a whole playthrough for) and the Oersted shit so I will be giving my reviews and thoughts on all chapters in the order I played them below

I am not tagging this with Live A Live bc I don’t want people to yell at me but it’ll show up in search anyways whatever

There’s gonna be big spoilers if you care about spoilers about a game from 1994

PREHISTORY A bit of a slog but still a good intro to the game and a nice way to figure things out. I know it’s unga bunga cave people but juvenile humor does nothing for me so a lot of this was whatever. Music was nice! Shout out to Beru for just absolutely demolishing the final boss for me. Zaki is funny I wish he would keep his crotch lizard to himself though. So overall tedious at parts but still decently entertaining. It was fine. Fighting a T-Rex was amazing and hearing Megalomania in-game for the first time made me lose my fucking mind.

EDO JAPAN Oh my god. I was so excited to play this. I had so much fun running around the castle being a fancy little sneak boy. I did a pacifist run because that’s just who I am. BEAUTIFUL visuals I flipped out when I could run on the roof omg lookit Oboromaru’s lil feets go. Stunning, all of it. BUT. Jesus christ did I get lost 40000 times and have to backtrack 900000 times and oh my god. It took me 3 days to beat this shit because it was so exhausting. BUT. Overall it was really nice had great atmosphere and music and I think Oboromaru is just swell. Uh, the one random imposter guy going “POTATO” sounded like Kato and it scared me out of my skin. Also Ryoma being a fucking Londoner was so funny I almost fell out of my chair, I’m not sure which was funnier: a Japanese Samurai from the Edo period having a London accent, or him having A GUN AS HIS MAIN WEAPON. Fucking amazing. Made it all worth it.

PRESENT DAY I was not looking forward to this and tried to alternate shit I didn’t care about with shit I wanted to play. I was PLEASANTLY SURPRISED with this chapter, it was a ton of fun!! I know it was super short but I had a BLAST, the fights were interesting and engaging, having to balance getting hit with attacks with actually beating a bad guy. I really liked it. Masaru became The Best Punch Kick Boy, good for him. I expected not to care and I had probably more fun with this chapter than any of the others. No part was annoying or a pain in the ass.

IMPERIAL CHINA So, I didn’t care about this chapter either and it wound up being the one to emotionally affect me the most, second only to Distant Future because of course. None of the other ones did much for me emotionally, actually, other than whether I liked the gameplay or not. Holy shit. I... did not know the not-picked disciples get fucking murdered. I picked Lei first because I liked her spunk, but started to feel a little bad after the night time cutscene with Yun. And then he got fucking murdered. Little orphan sick grandma wants to be strong dies. I was legitimately sitting in my chair crying for 20+ minutes not knowing what to do. I was WEEPING. I felt like I had a DARKNESS IN MY SOUL that I could not reconcile.

...So I started the entire fucking chapter over again and picked Yun instead. And I felt at peace. Apologies to Lei for letting her die after all, but I’m at peace, and Shifu’s dialogue with Yun after the other 2 are killed felt like it was speaking directly to me after all this. The final battle was amazing, this chapter REALLY balanced gameplay and story super well and I was very, very invested and now get extremely emotional hearing any of the music.

WILD WEST Sorry to sound like a contrarian but I am wholly neutral toward this chapter. I know its focus was story over gameplay, but the story was... lacking. I knoooow it’s really moot to be like “it was too generic” bc that’s the POINT of all these but I just felt nothing for anyone besides hey Mad Dog is kinda nice I like that handsome lad. The gameplay felt more like a frustrating obligation with all the trap-planting and I didn’t really get invested... I 100% accept that it’s a Me issue. I just found the dialogue jarring and uninteresting, I get they’re going for rough and tumble yee haw cowboy times but I just got bored. Sorry.

NEAR FUTURE Please kill me lmfao. I have not actively disliked a chapter until this one. This will probably also make people mad. I just... i really hated it. Everything about it. The plot was so ramshackle and kept throwing in random, disconnected elements every 4 seconds. I was... actually pretty excited to play this one so I’m SUPER fucking bummed. I know it’s supposed to be 80s/90s anime shit but like... Akira is a whole-ass obvious 17/18/19 year old and is... still living at an orphanage? I didn’t get a real sense that he cared about the kids there because all he did was manipulate them and be a fucking asshole! He was really fucking annoying lol!!!! Green haired guy... I didn’t care. I didn’t feel a connection between him and Akira and the Big Reveal being only when he’s like dead and you gotta read his mind and it’s just an exposition dump... I just...

The plot point with the sudden factory kidnapping people and there’s a weird cult that is never mentioned before??? It just felt like a ton of shit was thrown at you with absolutely no groundwork or setup. There should’ve been some connection with the lab trying to unlock psychic powers in people (didn’t the guards have psychic attacks!?!?) or Akira’s dad should’ve been adoptive and he worked at the factory and ran away with Akira who was an experiment or something. I feel like it just took a wrong turn every time it could and nothing felt as connected as it should’ve.

Also I got to control a big robot and I did not give a shit and I was bored and I barely even cared when Megalomania started playing because the final boss was not established and felt totally disconnected from everything and the battle lasted 20 seconds. Holy shit dude... I am so disappointed this one was a mess.

Very important edit sorry I love the turtle he’s my favorite I love him and he is the only character worth shit in this chapter I love him so much.

ANYWAYS

I’m obviously going to enjoy Cube’s chapter bc I know what happens and I don’t need to spend the whole time stressed over whether Kato is going to die but boy am I still a little heartbroken about Huey bc I thought he was cute first and went to his wiki like let’s read more about him! .......oh. ok.

Oersted’s chapter is apparently the longest one and I already have a headache about it. I’m excited though, overall this game has been a great experience I’m just in a bad fuckin mood because I JUST beat Akira’s chapter and I wanna yell at someone about it because what the fuck. I wish all those orphans died when the orphanage burned down.

[telafel]

rambling about ff16 so far when i’m like 63% through according to my ps5

some spoilers below but I want to just rant

so like overall i am enjoying the game and it’s fun and all that

but like it’s driving me nuts how it seems none of the writers can actually write a woman at all.

Jill is the most frustrating to me because she’s barely given any space of her own, which makes it kind of annoying that she’s going to be the love interest. Like the writing keeps shoving it in your face- characters IMMEDIATELY assume that there’s this romantic angle between them even when by right that have zero idea who these people are or what their background is. and I swear they have the worst chemistry on the planet. It’s so weird when she’s not really spoke up for her own and just tags along beside Clive and just neutrally SITS beside Clive and Clive is like stonefaced and shows zero interest in anything romantic or physical and an NPC is like “ALRIGHT YOU LOVEBIRDS” it’s just WEIRD

like she does have her own motivations but it feels weird how she just immediately throws her lot in with Clive without really saying much and dedicates her whole life to this cause. And when she’s given her own story segment to like develop some- she DOES get to achieve the goal, but even when she’s super souped up with power in her Eikon form as Shiva she’s too weak to do anything but support Clive during a battle (like I know it’s probably a gameplay thing, but it feels shitty. if we can control phoenix in the beginning of the game why can’t we have sections where we can blast as another ally in their primal form???)

anyways, maybe I am missing something still, I know all her background I just still find it so hard that the first half of the game it feels like she has zero agency.

it feels like the most complex and potentially interesting female character is offed in the first major arc of the story.

and some of these characters just don’t really get any chance to shine on their own  really. like i know it’s Clive’s story but it feels almost tunnel vision at times that we get so little insight to some of the main supporting cast. There’s not even really that much of a ‘team’ most of the time it’s just Clive and Jill. There’s kind of supporting background characters i guess but IDK i just kinda wish there were more team members!

I dunno im up past my bed time and rambling

[jokertrap-ran]

(未定事件簿) EVENT! 「眷然恋影」 [Tears of Themis] EVENT: Zuo Ran Birthday 2021- Days to Re-Live Forever (4.26: Birthday Celebration)

*Tears of Themis Masterlist / Mobile Masterlist *Spoiler free: Translations will remain under cut *Will also be filed under Zuo Ran’s tag #Tears of a Lawyer *The tracking tag for ALL Event Stories will go under: #Tears of an Event

4.18 / 4.20 / 4.22 / 4.24 / 4.26 Messages / Investigations / Call

On the day of Zuo Ran's birthday, I asked sister Zhao Xing for her help beforehand to arrange his schedule so that he got off work right on the dot.

And, using the reasoning of "The volunteers need more hands to finish setting up the set", I invited him to the Film Museum.

I explained what I did as a volunteer along our way there, doing my best to avoid the topic entirely, for fear that he'd pick up on my intent.

Very soon, we found ourselves at the Live-action Studio.

☆⋅⋆…⋅─────────── ⋆⋅✾⋅⋆ ───────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

Location: Live Action Studio

Zuo Ran: Is the place that requires help still up ahead?

MC: Yes. Soon. We'll be there soon, just a little more!

I did my best to suppress the nervousness that nagged at me, turning at the curb together with him up ahead before reaching a did. I knew that what laid behind the door was none other than the set that I'd painstakingly decorated.

▷Choice: Push the door open

Tugging at his hand, I took a deep breath and opened the doors.

☆⋅⋆…⋅─────────── ⋆⋅✾⋅⋆ ───────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

Location: Set

MC: Happy Birthday, Lawyer Zuo!

I cheered right as we entered.

Zuo Ran: You… This...

All we could see around us were the streets that gave off a foreign vibe, the light shining through the windows comforting and warm.

This was the set I chose— This was where Mary and Tim had their first date after he'd time travelled.

In the film, Mary stood in front of the shop's entrance after dinner, asking if Tim could see her off. This was also where their story had truly begun.

Be it the signboard atop the entrance, the hanging plants, or the colourful street decor, it all made people reminiscent of that one beautiful, destined night.

Zuo Ran: This is the Restaurant on the corner that Tim and Mary had their first date at?

MC: That's right, I knew you'd recognize it at a glance!

Of course, I'd also done a couple of adjustments to the set itself by adding a couple of birthday decor.

For example, the row of lights hanging from the roof, the colourful flags the spelled "Happy Birthday", and the many gifts stacked beside the coffee table.

And hidden among those gifts, was the "Collector's Edition: The World-wide  Film Script Collection".

This made Zuo Ran, who'd remained calm and unfazed in the face of all that has happened, express a rare moment of surprise.

Zuo Ran: So, that's why you...

I knew that it was going to be hard to explain everything to him immediately, so I decided to sit him down first.

MC: Okay, okay, I know that you must have a truckload of questions; but first, have a seat and try the desserts and coffee that I made.

MC: I'll slowly tell you about the secrets of this place after that.

Zuo Ran: So, you recreated the scenes in the movie "About Time" because you saw how much I loved it…?

Zuo Ran's expression gradually grew fonder as he heard the reasoning behind how this set came to be.

MC: That's right! Besides, birthdays are meant to bring happiness to the birthday star, so obviously I'll have to choose the movie you love best!

Zuo Ran: Thank you.

He surveyed the surrounding decor, gently stroking the shop window beside him that had been fully decorated with plants.

Zuo Ran: Tim invited Mary away from the boring party, bringing her to this restaurant with a transparent window instead. 

Zuo Ran: Here, they had dinner with each other, shared their most heartfelt sentiments, and walked along this path after.

MC: Yes, that's a classic, and very memorable scene!

Zuo Ran: Even the small chef miniature on the storefront looks almost exactly the same. I never thought that you'd manage to recreate even that— To such perfection.

MC: You'll have to thank the Film Museum for those. They were the ones who made replicas of the original; all I did was to exchange for them with the points I earned.

MC: Oh yes, I've got another special gift for you apart from all of these. That was one of the main reasons why I'd decided to become a volunteer in the first place.

I handed him a small booklet.

MC: This is what the guests of the Film Festival have said about "Robin".

After obtaining permission from the Film Museum, I picked out all the answers pertaining to Robin from the survey and bound it into a small booklet as a special gift for Zuo Ran.

And now, I was eagerly anticipating his reaction to this gift.

Zuo Ran: ……

He tensed a little at the mention of "Robin".

Zuo Ran: "Robin"? Why are you giving this to me?

MC: Well… I felt that "Robin" was different from the other Film Critics out on the net that you'd probably find a little distasteful.

MC: His reviews all give off a vibe similar to your own. So, I think you're… Probably acquainted with him?

Zuo Ran: So you're saying that you really like this guy?

MC: Yeah. I've reread all of his reviews a good many times now. The only unfortunate thing is that he never did share anything about his person, and neither did he leave any contact details.

MC: And even though the organizer wants to invite him for the closing ceremony if the Film Festival, they have no choice but to attempt contacting him through online means. Otherwise, I'd really have wanted to know his true identity.

I scrutinized his expression, trying to find any tells that he might show when trying to debunk my guess about his other identity. But who would have thought...

Zuo Ran: ... I'm Robin.

He'd admitted to it, unwavering, driving his point straight home.

MC: So..  Does this mean that you admit to it?

Zuo Ran: And I'm presuming from your reaction that you've already long since guessed it?

MC: Yeah, I did.

Zuo Ran: Sorry, I should have told you earlier.

MC: I probably guessed it back when I saw the picture of the shadow puppet that you sent out.

MC: And then, I slowly came to realize that you and Robin happened to coincide more and more frequently, so much that the answer to it all was pretty much already set in stone.

MC: This present is the reason why I specially added questions about Robin into the questionnaire, and also because I wanted to know a little more about you.

Zuo Ran: You're the first person...

Perhaps it was the trick of the light, but Zuo Ran's face had a faint red tint to it.

Zuo Ran: You're the first person to have gone through so much trouble for me. This present gives me innumerable joy.

MC: Yeah, I'm glad you like it...

His eyes appeared soft beyond words, unconsciously sucking me into it's enchanting depths.

Zuo Ran: It was never my intention to hide it from you, but I'd rather my Film Reviews to be just that; a pure and unhindered exchange of personal opinion.

Zuo Ran: And that might be harder to achieve if my real identity becomes associated with my identity as Robin.

Zuo Ran: ...I've always thought that I managed to keep it well under wraps since I've never let anything slip with my real life, and neither did I post any personal info.

Zuo Ran: Even acquaintances. It’s hard to find even a single connection between any of us even if you tried.

Zuo Ran: I never thought that you seriously re-read everything I wrote over and over again that many times...

MC: I just...

Zuo Ran: I suppose that’s why you’re probably the only person who’s capable of finding out my other identity.

MC: Don’t worry, Lawyer Zuo. I won’t tell anyone about your identity as Robin. Just treat it as our little secret, okay?

Zuo Ran: Okay. Our little secret.

Suddenly, he gently held my hand.

☆⋅⋆…⋅─────────── ⋆⋅✾⋅⋆ ───────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

Zuo Ran: Thank you for preparing so much for me, for my birthday.

Zuo Ran: Recreating a movie, preparing presents, carefully planning everything up till today… I really like this surprise of yours.

Zuo Ran: It is only thanks to you that I truly know now, what “Every moment in life brings innumerable joys” really means.

Zuo Ran: “Every day of our life is a journey in time. All we can do is to do the best we can to cherish this beautiful and wondrous journey of ours.”

That was the same exact line of the movie that he’d just murmured ever so softly.

MC: Isn’t that Tim’s final monologue on “About Time”?

Zuo Ran: Oh? You still remember it? He finally had an epiphany, realizing the value of an ordinary life after his countless journeys through time and space.

MC: I remember. He finally understood that time-travel was not the most important thing in the world; but what was most important, was for him to cherish everything he currently had,

Zuo Ran: That’s right. Even if living life like this will give birth to some regrets.

Zuo Ran: I watch this movie several times a year; and every time, I’ll get a new experience through these lines.

Zuo Ran: I too, once longed to Time-travel just like the hero; to change the past that could no longer be turned back in time.

Zuo Ran: But I don't think so anymore. Especially ever since I met you.

His ears were slightly red, but the sound of his voice that had reached my ears were firm and as clear as the day. I felt my cheeks warm.

MC: ……

Zuo Ran and I both immersed ourselves in the scene of the foreign street that we were in for a while. The night waxed, the colourful lights shining bright.

And he'dheld onto my hand throughout it all; across the stars and till the end of time.

☆⋅⋆…⋅─────────── ⋆⋅✾⋅⋆ ───────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

Location: Home

After the Film Festival had ended, the popular and renowned Film Critic among the masses, named "Robin", turned down the interview for the column and ended up not showing for the closing ceremony.

But he'd still heeded the organizer's request, releasing a long article to express his thoughts about the Film Festival and its many different movies.

I carefully read through this article; and unsurprisingly, I spotted a particular line.

"Every moment in life brings innumerable joys."

So, "All we can do is to do the best we can to cherish this beautiful and wondrous journey of ours.”

MC: (Yeah, I'll do my best to cherish what I have now too.)

My eyes lingered on this line for a long while, my lips curling into a knowing smile.

☆⋅⋆…⋅─────────── ⋆⋅✾⋅⋆ ───────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

Previous Part: (4.24: Exchanging Movie Reviews)

[aspenflower17]

Finding You (Part 12 of ??)

Hi hi! I’m hoping this update finds you all well and happy. I have a lot more time this coming week to write, so I hope I can get on top of my WIPs and get the next chapter out not late on a Sunday.

Anyways, for his chapter itself, I wanted to try something a bit different. When Mc was composing her song, I had a very particular one in mind, and so when the song comes up, I’m going to put a YouTube link there that you can click on and listen to the song while you’re reading. For people that have problems reading while listening to music, it is all instrumental and you definitely do not have to click the link. I’m just trying to get more across in my fics than I would otherwise :) I will also have a link at the end of the update that will link you to the original scenes where the two parts of the song are from.

I should also note, there might be spoilers in this for people who haven’t read very far in the main story in game.

For anyone who hasn’t read the rest of the updates, here is the link to Part One if you would be so inclined to read :)

Tags!:  @simpingforsatan @naimena @hachimochi @wrathandgreed @magi-minminxiii @rensphilia @a-dream-at-night @chloelikesobeyme @getbehindme-satan @theuglypugling @oofthelazyweeb (as always, if you would like to be added to the tags list, just comment down below or send me a message about it!)

Satan / F!Mc

Words: 2,404

Trigger warnings: None that I can think of, though if you had a bad experience with the movie the song is from, that could be a problem...

“Sorry to intrude. I just heard your playing and had to find out who was making such gorgeous music,” Satan was leaning against the doorway, a soft smile on his face, “Is that one of your compositions?”

“Oh,” Mc looked down, a little embarrassed, “Yes, but it isn’t finished yet.”

“It’s still beautiful,” Satan said softly, hoping she would allow him to stay.

“Thank you,” Mc answered softly, matching his smile.

Satan cleared this throat and looked down, blushing, “So, how long have you been working on this piece?”

“Honestly, a while now,” Mc sighed slightly, “It’s something I composed in the Celestial Realm, though it never sounded right. It’s only on the piano’s here in the Devildom that it’s sounded… right,” Mc looked up at Satan at that, and he nodded, his hand resting on his chin thoughtfully, “Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get further in the piece.”

Satan cleared his throat, “Well, if you play it again, I may be able to help. I have done some composing before, though not as much as you… Anyways, only if you want to. I would hate to impose…” he was blushing furiously now, wondering why he’d even offered.

“That would actually be lovely,” Mc admitted, her heart fluttering a bit at the prospect, “A fresh perspective might be just what I need.”

“I’d be happy to assist then,” Satan said, walking over to stand behind her.

Mc looked up and smiled at him, “Thank you.”

Satan’s heart stopped for a moment, fragments of memories flying through his mind of Mc looking up and smiling at him. He swallowed thickly, and gestured for her to play, not trusting his voice.

Mc was a bit confused, watching the sadness well up in his eyes. Despite the sudden emotion, she turned and started playing when he gestured. (This song)

Satan was transfixed by the music from the first note, wondering if this was the loneliness Mc had mentioned to him so long ago, put into the notes ringing through the air. If that was the case, he had to wonder why the Celestial Realm had kept her from him. He would have cured her loneliness, no matter what it took. If she had needed companionship, he would have provided it. If she needed kind words, he would have provided it. Absolutely anything she would have needed would have been provided. She would never have had to know such pain.

In that moment, he wondered what would have happened if Mc had come to the Devildom instead of the Celestial Realm. He knew she would have been grabbed from the upcoming souls, if not by him, then one of his brothers, Diavolo or Barbatos, her ties to the realm more to do with love and friendship, not sin and corruption. Assuming she had still wanted him, he would have followed her in wherever she would have wanted to go and helped her accomplish anything she would have wanted to do. If she had wanted to move out of the House of Lamentation, he would have made it happen, and if she never wanted to leave, he would gladly put up with whatever antics his brothers felt they needed to inflict upon him. He would even have put up with their constant flirting if it made her happy. If she had wanted to become a demon, he would have helped her, making sure any adjustment she would have gone through were as quick and painless as possible. 

He imagined they would have been happy together, seeing as how his wrath was more contained and muted with her around. She had shown him what love was, helping him realize not only that he loved her but that he did love his brothers and they him, though they all showed it in very weird ways. She had helped him cut through all his self doubt, making him feel less like a monster on a self inflicted leash, a shadow of the power and man that had created him, and more like an individual with his own thoughts and feelings, valid and special in his own right. No one had ever been able to do that for him, and he doubted anyone ever would again.

When the music changed, calm and desolate, he knew this was her loneliness without a doubt. Some part of his brain also recognized she was nearing where she hadn’t composed yet. Without thinking, he sat on her right, watching her practiced hands play. He felt the inspiration for the rest of the song start to well up inside him. He also felt his anger at the situation they now found themselves in burning behind it all as well. They had been happy together before her mortality had ripped them apart. The angels knew this, and yet they had kept her from him, even though she had obviously been suffering. She hid and dealt with it well, her art a testament to that, but she had suffered needlessly. He wanted to let Mc know she was not alone and he would help her. Even if she never fell in love with him again, this was her plea for help and he would not allow it to go unanswered.

The first couple lines he played were just repeats of hers, an attempt at solidarity.

Mc was surprised by his actions, though they spurred her on, the song actually continuing past the point she had composed. She had never actively composed with someone else, and she found the action calming in a way. It was if he could read her mind on what needed to happen in the song.

Satan suddenly started playing furiously, a bit of a call back to earlier in the song, though with more gusto. Mc couldn’t help but watch as he glared a bit at the keys as if they would provide the answers to the rest of the song. She felt inspired, playing the bottom hand as he played the top. She felt more connected to him than she ever had with anyone, the composition coming together better than she would have thought possible. Their hands even touched a couple times, as they fought for use of the keys they knew would help express the magic that was happening.

Mc started a chromatic scale, lost in the moment, adding flair as she went up. She didn’t realize what she was doing until she was at the top of the keyboard, trilling between two notes. She was leaning a bit into Satan, their legs and shoulders touching as she had scooted over on the bench to reach the notes. He was watching her, their faces extremely close. He was smiling softly again.

She pulled back into her own space, a blush dusting her cheeks though she felt happy, “Pardon my enthusiasm.”

Her blush and smile made him feel like he had accomplished something, “I like your enthusiasm,” he said, his voice only coming out in a whisper.

She smiled at him, “Well, I’m glad,” then, “Oh, I almost forgot. This is for you,” she pulled a letter from the air, Satan’s eyebrows raising in interest, “It’s a reply to the one you gave me.”

He took the letter and tucked it into his jacket pocket, “Thank you. That was an interesting trick you just did.”

“Oh, I’ve known it for ages now. I left a particularly embarrassing poem out once, and another angel read it out loud in front of a lot of other angels. It’s safe to say I keep all important things hidden now.”

“Glad to know you think this is important,” Satan half teased, making Mc flush slightly.

“I didn’t realize you were such an accomplished piano player,” Mc said, trying to move the conversation in a direction that wouldn’t make her heart race.

“Oh, well, music has been fundamental in helping to develop and understand new emotions,” Satan admitted, knowing Mc was the only person he’d ever openly admit this to.

“New… emotions?” Mc, remembering the conversation between Michael and Diavolo, she tried to keep the intense curiosity from her voice in an effort not to upset Satan or scare him away from the topic.

“Yes. I… How much do you know about my birth?”

“I… I’ve learned more about it since coming here, but I still don’t know a lot,” Mc admitted, trying to keep her voice as nice but neutral as possible.

“Well, I was born from Lucifer’s wrath. In the beginning, all I could feel was anger, though it wasn’t really directed at anyone. I knew why Lucifer was angry but most of that didn’t seem to matter much. Those acts had not been directed at me; why should I care? I was just angry, because that’s all I was. The first time I think I remember feeling anything besides rage was at Lilith’s memorial.

Huh? Who’s Lilith?

“I remember Lucifer sitting at the piano, pouring his grief into the song he was playing. Though I remember music from Lucifer’s memories, it was my first time experiencing it as an individual. The song had been Lilith’s favorite, though the piano’s of the Devildom and the slow tempo Lucifer played it had made what was usually a very happy song into a funeral march. In that moment, watching all my brothers with tears in their eyes, many openly weeping when the song started, I felt a twinge in my heart, and I teared up. I remember wiping them, staring at the liquid on my finger,” he looked down at his hands at that, completely caught up in the memory.

“I thought about that moment a lot. I rolled it around over and over in my head trying to figure out what it was I had experienced. It was at this time that I asked Lucifer to teach me how to play the piano. I thought the key was in the music itself, and I practiced a lot. Lucifer is not a forgiving teacher, so I was constantly striving for perfection, but from my own expectations of myself and his. Still, even as I became a better piano player, I still couldn’t get the emotion I wanted from the instrument, though I didn’t know that’s what I was looking for. It was the most wooden playing you could imagine.

“One day, I was very angry at my inability to play the way I wanted to. I was throwing things around in my room because Lucifer made it very clear I was never to destroy the piano just because I was upset, when Beel decided to look in on me. Most of my brothers, Asmo aside, give me a very wide berth when I’m upset, though I think they do it now more out of respect for my privacy than fear. Anyways, Beel came in and asked me what was wrong. I ended up screaming about how frustrated I was at not being able to play like Lucifer did at Lilith’s memorial. He was a bit confused as to why, and I explained to him that I needed to explore the strange sensation that had made me cry. After a bit more explanation, he smiled sadly and explained that what I had felt was probably either sadness or grief. He then went on to explain the emotion in the most blunt, truthful way I’ve ever heard out of anyone, and I’ve read a lot. It wasn’t flowery or dramatic. It was someone honestly and truthfully expressing how they felt. It was a lot like when someone puts so much emotion into their music and you can’t help but understand them. His words did the same thing for me that Lucifer’s playing had done, and that twinge came back. Experiencing it in the moment allowed me to be able to ask his confirmation on what I was feeling.

“Looking back on the whole encounter, I’m ashamed of how I acted, but I’m glad Beel came in and helped me when he did. It helped me understand myself a bit more, and recognize I can feel things that aren’t anger. Without his help, who knows how long I would’ve been floundering around in the dark. Ah, but you didn’t ask for my personal history. You were just asking about my piano playing,” Satan rubbed the back of his head, looking sheepish, “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

“Oh, no, it’s quite alright!” Mc answered, louder and more forcefully than she intended. He looked at her in shock, and it was her turn to act sheepishly, “I just… I’m glad you told me. I feel like I understand you a lot better now.”

“I’m glad,” Satan said, smiling.

“You’re at the piano huh? We were wondering where you’d gone off to,” a voice interrupted, making them both look over, “Lucifer wants you to come back because dinner’s almost done. I’m guessing you should probably head back with us,” the strawberry blonde smiled at Mc.

“Oh, you’re Asmodeus right?” Mc asked, proud of herself for recognizing him.

“Oh, you know who I am darling? Oh, who am I kidding? How could you have not heard about me by now?”

“Right…” Mc laughed a bit uncomfortably, “I also remember you from when you dropped off Satan’s letter to me as a child.”

Asmo’s eyes widened a bit, “Oh, I thought it might be you. I wasn’t sure though.”

“You weren’t sure? You had an idea though,” Satan’s voice was flat as was his expression.

“Oh, Satan, calm down. I didn’t want to say anything in case I was wrong. You can understand why, right?”

Satan sighed, “I suppose so. I guess it doesn’t really affect anything in the long run.”

“Glad you understand. Now, we really should get back. Are you coming with?” Asmo directed the last part at Mc.

“Sure. I should be joining Luke and Michael anyway,” Mc said, sliding off the left side of the bench, walking towards Asmo. Satan pushed the bench back when she was clear of it, and walked over to Asmo too.

Asmo grinned mischievously, “You know, you two make a cute couple!”

Mc flushed at the comment and looked down.

“Oh no need to be so bashful Satan. I’m only stating the obvious. If you have a problem with it though, I’d be more than happy to steal her away.”

Steal me away? What’s all that about?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi! So, the song I linked above is actually two different songs combined into one. It is from Corpse Bride a claymation film from Tim Burton. From that, you should be able to decide if it’s something you’d like to watch. I do think it was pretty well done and would recommend it.

The beginning is called Victor’s Piano Solo (Scene here) and the second part is The Piano Duet (scene here)

Part Thirteen

[panharmonium]

next round of in-progress naruto thoughts under the cut

[i actually haven’t progressed that far from where i was last time, honestly, but i could feel myself getting to a stage where i had some things i needed to write up.]

fyi, this one is a little more gripe-y than usual - still enjoying myself, but there are some things in the current arc that are bugging me.

[spoiler policy disclaimer first, as always: I am watching naruto for the first time and have only gotten to the point where naruto and bee break out of the island barrier and leave to join the war.  i am trying to avoid spoilers, so please don’t interact with this (tags included, because the notifications now show them to me automatically) with any spoilery commentary, including even general things like “oh i love this show but it gets less good after X point” or “X season is better than Y season” or any general assessments of quality/likability/etc re: future seasons.  Thank you! <3 ]

anyway, to go ahead with my grousing -

there are a couple things about this current arc that have me feeling "ehhh.”

1) too many dead people

i’ve personally always been lukewarm on the “revive/reanimate dead characters for the Confrontation Value” trope, which is probably due to me having been a comics fan for so long (i was pretty deep into DC-land during Blackest Night, and that’s not even the first/last time this sort of thing has been done there, so).  i’m not saying it CAN’T be done in an interesting way, but most of the time my experience with it has been that it’s kind of cheap/redundant storytelling.  it usually doesn’t add much to an emotional arc, for me, and when it retreads an emotional arc that did have a strong conclusion, i feel like all it does is weaken the original story.  

so like - places where i feel like shippuden does this well are with minato and kushina.  i found both of those scenes with naruto to be powerful moments that added something new to the story/to naruto’s development.  (but they’re not even part of the whole reanimation jutsu plotline, which is what i’m mostly feeling “eh” on, so it’s not even the greatest example.)

a place where i’m kind of in the middle is with asuma.  on the one hand, i really don’t think that this needed to happen, because the original story arc with him was SO strong.  however, they did kind of redeem themselves in a way by focusing the redux on choji instead of shikamaru, so at least they were still saying/exploring something something new.

places where i’m still pretty dubious are pretty much...everyone else.  i’m just not sure...well, i don’t know.  i can’t really say definitively how i feel about it until i get to the end of the arc and see how it ends, but at the current moment, i’m just not sure what we get out of seeing people like zabuza+haku, lady chio, itachi, nagato, etc....ALL of those stories had such powerful endings; it just makes me leery of these “resurrections” invalidating everything we saw previously/weakening the impact of what came before.

2) mixed messaging

this is my bigger gripe, and it’s something i’ve kind of had floating on the edges of my mind for a long time, but this season especially is highlighting it.

the one thing that is guaranteed to make me frustrated about this show (besides its obvious disinterest in female characters) is when it starts to lean super hard into the “Naruto Is The Only One Who Can Do It!” for every single task that needs to be completed.  and i know this is a stupid thing to complain about when the show is literally titled “Naruto,” but the reason it gets frustrating is because the initial message of this show was never “one super special person must do everything on their own and save everyone else.”  the original message of this show was teamwork.  

the very first lesson kakashi teaches the kids (and the foundation upon which the rest of the story has been built) is “you are stronger together.”  if you had all come at me together, you might have been able to take [the bells]!  he specifically criticizes naruto for working alone: “naruto - you do EVERYTHING on your own.  EVERYTHING.”  and that’s understood to be the Wrong Thing; it’s the reason naruto ends up tied to the stump.  but in the last few seasons especially (though there have definitely been previous moments where this has shown up before) the ONLY thing we keep hearing is how naruto has to accomplish everything by himself.  

it didn’t bother me in the Pain arc; i actually thought that confrontation was appropriate and necessary for naruto’s development.  but ever since then, it’s escalated to a point where now it’s like - “naruto is the only one who can fight sasuke!  naruto is the only one who can defeat madara!  naruto is the only one who can stop the war!  naruto is the only one who can erase everybody’s hatred!”  

and that’s the point at which i start to get frustrated, because my mind is like “okay, and the other characters are going to be doing...what, exactly?”

again, maybe it’s stupid to complain about that when the show is literally titled “Naruto.”  but i don’t think so.  title notwithstanding, this story at its heart was, in the beginning, an ensemble show with four main characters, whereas nowadays, the messaging is that only one of those characters can actually accomplish anything.  so i get kind of resentful, when i’m told that the other members of the team can’t do anything but step back and hold naruto up, because the essential message of this story has ALWAYS been “teamwork is more important than anything.  you are NEVER stronger by yourself.  we ALL have something to contribute.”

right now, the other characters feel like they’ve just been shunted off to do busywork.  none of them have grown or changed at all since the end of season 10 (and even the end of season 10 was starting to slide into the “only naruto can do anything about sasuke in the end blah blah” - yes it’s a huge pet peeve of mine but it is what it is; whatever; moving on).  we haven’t even SEEN sasuke since the end of season 10.  there’s been no consideration given to how kakashi is handling being drafted into a second war and being put in charge of 20,000 lives (and his clash with zabuza was just a vehicle for all the characters to reflect once again on how great naruto is).  there’s been virtually ZERO attention given to how sakura is handling things, minus that one scene where she’s looking at gory pictures from the previous great ninja war.  everybody is just marking time, punching a bunch of identical white zetsus until naruto can come solve the problem and wow everyone with his new abilities.

part of my annoyance might just be due to the fact that the timeline is so wonky due to filler arcs - it feels like ages have passed for me, but in-universe it really hasn’t been all that long.  but i also think there are legitimate reasons for me to be frustrated, when the show introduces things and then just unceremoniously drops them without any indicator of when they might be picked up again.  like - the uchiha genocide reveal was (i thought) a Huge Fucking Deal that should have Major Repercussions - but it’s just kind of.....disappeared as an issue???  and yamato - he’s been CAPTURED!!!!!!  but the show has not shown a single character reacting to this, or even being informed that it happened, and i think that’s shitty, actually.  yamato isn’t a minor character.  he’s been naruto’s personal guardian since season 2.  he has done SO MUCH for the kids, and he is kakashi’s friend, and i think it is shitty to have him get captured by the same people who experimented on him as a child and then not spend a second or two making it clear that other characters CARE about this.  

anyway.  this is just something that’s been creeping up on me as time goes on, and the last few episodes of “Naruto is the Savior of the Entire World” talk just made it feel more immediate, i guess.  plus the new intro (which i know may not be reliable; sometimes they show things that never happen) had a shot of naruto fighting itachi, and i think that tipped me over the edge, lmao, because you know what?  enough!!!!!  naruto can’t be the one who gets to do EVERYTHING!  some stories are not about him!  there are other characters who have relationships that are not about naruto.  there are places where other characters should be able to accomplish things naruto can’t do.  the other main characters should be allowed to complete their personal arcs, separate from (not just secondary to) naruto’s journey.

like - just - this is how i feel: this show started out as a story about a group of four people, and the root theme was “teamwork is everything.”  i don’t like how the show has slowly started to mutate into a story about naruto’s “solitary” quest to save sasuke, when we have seen MANY TIMES that: 

a) sakura was the first of the kids who even knew that something was wrong with sasuke, while naruto remained utterly oblivious all the way through shonen jump (and partway into shippuden, tbh)

b) kakashi in the past has connected with sasuke in ways that NEITHER of the two kids have been able to achieve

i just don’t like it.  i don’t like how S10 had sakura say the line “naruto...you were the first one to ever see the darkness in sasuke...” when she’s reflecting on their fight on top of the hospital, because that is a LIE.  it’s a blatant retcon.  of the kids, sakura was the one who knew from the very beginning that something was wrong with sasuke.  she was the one who was with him when he had that semi-dissociative episode during the bells test.  she was the one who was with him during all the curse mark stuff in the forest of death.  she was the one who knew something was off when he challenged naruto to a fight - naruto was just psyched that sasuke wanted to “spar” with him!  and SHE was the one who suspected that sasuke might do something as drastic as leave the village - naruto explicitly told her not to worry; that sasuke was totally fine; he would never ever do something like that!

like - the show already barely gives sakura anything for herself; now they try to take this away from her, too?  and give it to naruto?  to hammer in a kind of connection between naruto and sasuke that demonstrably did not exist??  (i’m not saying that naruto and sasuke don’t have their own important relationship!  but it is just provably untrue that naruto was the person who understood sasuke best.  shonen jump goes out of its way to demonstrate how clueless naruto is about what sasuke is really like and what he’s going through.  naruto is SHOCKED that sasuke would go to orochimaru.  he doesn’t realize that their fight on top of the hospital is anything more than their usual rivalry business.  when sasuke pops out of the coffin behind kimimaro, naruto waves and starts laughing, because he thinks sasuke is still on their side and is going to run right home!  and even in shippuden, when naruto hears that orochimaru is dead, he gets all excited and goes “so sasuke must be on his way back to the leaf village!!! :D”  like.  he just doesn’t get it.)

and i won’t really get into kakashi’s side of things here, because i would end up writing too much, but suffice to say that i am just...wary of the way it feels like recent parts of the show are trying to minimize or...push aside the real, textually-documented connections that kakashi and sakura had with sasuke in favor of “Only Naruto Can Help!”  it frustrates me.  kakashi made inroads with sasuke that neither of the kids ever achieved.  sasuke talks to kakashi in a more honest way than he ever does with either of his peers, even when he’s out of his head with rage.  and i would prefer to see this show taking the angle that all three of sasuke’s team members are going to be indispensable for saving him.  

you know.  like teamwork.

[vanilkaplays]

You know, I’m not familiar with the older Far Cry games. I’ve only played Far Cry 5 and Far Cry: New Dawn, because the subject matter of the previous games isn’t really that interesting to me and the lack of character creation can kiss my ass. I’ve also seen some video of the first Far Cry and I feel like I’m just better off without, thanks.

I picked up Far Cry 5 because ruining the life of a creepy Christian cult sounded kinda cool and I could make a female character. Yes, those were the two main decision factors for me for this particular franchise. And I like Far Cry 5 well enough. I don’t love it, but I like it. It was fun to play together with my boyfriend. You can pet dogs, a cougar, and a bear, okay? I like to hate the villains. Although I’m not going to go into how both games jerk off about Joseph and why it bothers me right now.

In general, I don’t think the writing in Far Cry 5 is particularly impressive, but it was enough to keep me in the game and keep me hating on the villains. Far Cry: New Dawn is something else, though. Story? What story? It’s just barely there. If you asked me what Far Cry: New Dawn was about, I’d be like, “Um... Well... There are some mean thugs... led by a couple of other mean thugs that happen to be twins... who make it difficult for the nice people to rebuild after the US were destroyed by some nuclear blast. We have to kill them all and restore peace.“ Or something. Having played both The Division and The Division 2, this seems to be the default post-apocalyptic state of the world for Ubisoft - great numbers of people suddenly turn into thugs and villains, just because, and they’re pretty much your main problem. I don’t know, but I suppose I could imagine more interesting challenges for an irradiated world that is starting over from scratch, but that’s just me.

(spoiler alert - tag: FCND spoilers)

I thought that maybe, just maybe, the game could explain Mickey’s and Lou’s backstories, so that we could understand their damage a little bit better, sort of like Far Cry 5 does it, but it just wasn’t there. The game keeps mentioning their violent dad but it never actually goes into it, never shows or says anything about what he did, why he took the twins away from their mother, why she had to allow it, why he was allowed to bring them up on his own to be vicious bastards, how they then took over everything after people’d started coming back to the surface, why does one of the Highwaymen mention that their dad was going crazy, what happened to him, etc. So many questions, none of them answered.

Do I think every villain has to be analysed and explained? No, of course not. But when it comes to Far Cry: New Dawn, you’re looking for story pieces with a magnifying glass. There’s a couple of quests of note... and a couple of actual notes scattered around... and that’s about it. The twins are obviously set up as the villainous stars of Far Cry: New Dawn, but there’s little we learn about them throughout the game, besides the fact that they like violence and mayhem, and they established a post-apocalyptic society of their own while intimidating and crushing all outsiders... just because they can.

Let’s just say that the twins really do love to wreak havoc and hurt people, just for the hell of it, or because they’re aggressively territorial for some reason and a peaceful settlement of other human beings with different priorities bothers them big time for some reason, or because they want their stuff, or whatever. I think the reason why they’re doing all that is still escaping me. It was at first established the mean thugs wanted the nice people’s stuff, so they raided them. But during the game? They just turn up once in a while to bully everybody and then leave. Okay? And why does the game point the finger at their dad without explaining anything? And why does it try to go all emotional on us at the end then as the twins have their last dialogue? Is that one brief intermission where we’re shown that their mother told them not to become like their father all that was supposed to make us understand them and feel for them? If not, why give us that sad attempt at “sad” dialogue at the end?

It feels like the game wants me to hate Mickey and Lou so, so much. (Until it wants me to feel for them, on the other hand.) It goes out of its way to show us how violent and cruel they are. Look, look, how they’re hurting all those nice people for no reason! They think it’s fun! Be angry! Be mad! They’re so evil! The game yells at me. But I couldn’t manage to be more than kinda mildly annoyed by these edgy teenage trolls, seeing as the game also gives them all kinds of plot armour and also baffling loyalty from their goons despite killing them when the mood strikes them. While our protagonist tends to act like a dumbass around them. As far as I’m concerned, they’re not very likeable and I can’t take them seriously enough to actually hate them, either, which made it difficult to feel any emotional involvement. Same applies to most of the NPCs. Oh no, I’m so worked up that they’re hurting and killing all these NPCs that barely register as human beings that the game barely bothered to introduce to me. In the world where I, the hero of the story, also attack all the Highwaymen on sight and slaughter through hundreds of them with extreme prejudice, probably making me little better than Mickey and Lou. I guess not taking prisoners and not extending their suffering through physical and psychological terror makes all the difference.

I just feel like the twins are wasted potential. I mean, they do look cool, as far as I’m concerned. Their mannerism and voice acting, that’s all pretty fine. But they could’ve been so much more. I keep imagining what if there was some intelligent reasoning behind their actions, what if they or at least one of them expressed some doubt or regret, what if they butted heads over it, and how much more interesting that could be.

And, yeah, I let Mickey live. Why? Just because I could.

Overall, Far Cry: New Dawn was... okay, I guess. It’s a game. Not good, not great, but not absolutely terrible. The gameplay itself is fun enough for a while - especially with a friend, even if rather repetitive. You are encouraged to redo stuff you’ve already done for resources and outfits, like some free to play MMO. Come to think of it, resource hunting is pretty much your primary activity - exciting! You need resources to upgrade your home base and you need to upgrade your home base to progress the story. The weapon system and selection are fine, though. The game is pretty to look at, but there’s little of interest to do on those huge maps. The music is kinda cool. There’s photomode for those of us who are obsessed with making pictures and gifs. But, as I said, the story barely exists, the characters can barely (How many times have I used the word “barely” throughout this post?) call themselves that, and the writing made me facepalm too many times. (And I’m usually easy to please!) That’s not to say that all the quests are crap and not fun, but the game certainly leaves something to be desired in that department, in my opinion. The protagonist still doesn’t talk - ah well. Unlike in the previous game, you can no longer take companions with you while you play with a friend, so you don’t get to enjoy whatever content they might have to offer in that case - lame. The special powers you’re “blessed” with later in the game don’t extend to your friend, which is a totally mind-boggling design decision to me, so my boyfriend didn’t even get to try them as I hosted the game. Don’t make me start about the AI, either. I don’t know how many people and animals we ran over just because their primal instinct is to run right in front of your speeding car instead of away from it upon seeing or hearing it. Then the game has the audacity to tell you not to kill innocent civilians... On the other hand, you can now kick Joseph in the face while visiting him in New Eden. 👍

[cometcrystal]

okay so i finished daybreak! heres my thots (spoilers)

under a cut because idk how to shut up

the bad (rep stuff first, story stuff second since those are two diff kinds of bad)

the black girl is aggressive and violent

the latina woman turns into a “crazy” gross witch after the apocalypse

anti-asian racism in a line or two

every line is eli’s dialogue is just aave but he’s not even black

the high schoolers have a weird amount of sex (it’s not shown on-screen aside from a couple shots of them making out, but yeah)

the r slur is used in one scene

one nameless bg character is said to identify their gender as a seahorse, which just sounds like annoying attack helicopter jokes

now for the story stuff. josh is a huge fucking dick. i don’t know why he’s the protagonist. the only aspect of his character i liked was his backstory with his father, but everything else was just him being a judgey hypocrite asshole

also, eli SUCKS. i took a quick look in the tag for this show, and he seems to be the fan favorite, and i have NO idea why because every word out of his mouth made me wanna strangle him. and then in the episode where he died, it started playing clips of him with sad piano music, as if every single clip they used wasn’t just him being insufferable. it made his death hilarious instead of tragic bc its like. wow they really expected me to care about this guy huh? when all he’s done is make lowkey bigoted remarks and call stuff gucci?

episode 8 sucked so bad. there wasn’t any apocalypse at all, it was just a 45 minute movie about josh treating sam like his manic pixie dream girl and her having sex with him anyway and then he calls her a slut

the grossout humor didn’t get to me too bad, even tho i usually hate grossout humor. but the uncensored shot of the mutant pug shitting in the first episode was way too much like come the fuck on

the good

most of the characters are really likable and well-written!! i loved almost all of the main ensemble, and the supporting characters were really great too. and the villain was fucking great, it was nice to just see a plain old cartoon villain, and a found family of kiddos + their weird aunt rising up to defeat him

actual gay couple! no gaybaiting here, for real this time! and it’s interracial too which is awesome. AND IT’S WELL-WRITTEN AND REALISTIC. 

the concept/setting is GREAT. an apocalypse where only people under 18 survived, and the teens have all split off into tribes based on their cliques in high school?? that’s really cool and funny. i might read the graphic novel after this to see more of it bc i love an apocalypse and i love a high school movie and this is both of those

josh is the protagonist, but it doesn’t put all the focus on him: it gives the backstories of the other main charas and some of the ensemble, too, and shows what everyone was doing in the couple days that lead up to the apocalypse. it makes for some awesome character-building, and you feel like you know these characters very well in the span of only 10 episodes

a LOT of this show’s humor is built on jokes that are like “millennials are woke now”. ex. instead of homecoming king or queen, they have gender-neutral homecoming royalty. this is in the “good” folder because, instead of boomer political comics, these kinds of jokes in this show, most of the time (not every single time, but most of the time), don’t feel mean-spirited. like i said before, it feels like a young person doing a parody of those jokes made by boomers, and it’s mostly done with love for millennials/gen Z. it feels more like an inside joke than mocking.

speaking of the humor, when the jokes hit, they HIT

the sets were fucking amazing. it really did feel like post-apocalyptic california

none of the cliques/groups are demonized in the end? the jocks are the “villain” group for a bit, but in the end, they’re on good terms with the heroes. 

going off the last point, the cheermazons don’t allow boys into their group, and they have a distaste for men, but there’s not that EXTREME unrealistic man-hate that makes them come across as a negative stereotype of feminists. and they help the heroes, too. i hate men, don’t get me wrong, but i roll my eyes when i see a group like the amazons from percy jackson that like have men as their slaves and shit like that. like sorry you hate feminism so much. anyway the only complaint i have is that, afaik, there aren’t any trans women in the cheermazons, and they should have shown some so that radfems dont get any fuckin ideas identifying w them. there aren’t any trans characters at all, besides the seahorse person mentioned earlier, so that’s a problem that needs fixed in general, but esp. in the cheermazons where there’s potential for a radfem to see them and be like :)

there was a deaf side character that used asl! there were also girls seen with hijabs, one of whom is a leader of the cheermazons along with the deaf girl

angelica is great i love this lil bitch. making weed slime.

mrs crumble has a lot of depth and i love her

im tired of typing now. all in all i give it maybe a 7.5/10. it’s a lot of fun but it does have its problems. give it a shot if you like apocalypse stories or found family, and you can stomach a few cringe-ass insensitive things in what claims to be a woke show

[twin-books]

MLB Episodes Retold by TB: Mr. Pigeon

Okay, today we’re doing Mr. Pigeon which was requested by a friend. They said I could choose between Reflekdoll and Mr. Pigeon. You bet as heck I’m doing Mr. Pigeon. As always, it shall still be tagged with spoilers because again, I let things slip far too easily. If you wish to request I do another episode, send an ask in my inbox! It can be any MLB episode from s1 to the Christmas special to s2 to s3!

Alright, re-watching this theme song again. Still love it. Only problem I have is it is clearly focused on Ladybug so can we just change the title from Miraculous Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir to just Miraculous Ladybug? I mean, Chat Noir is clearly not a main focus of this show which is fine but the title is kind of misleading and annoying. It starts on the principal telling this one class about the contest Gabriel shall be judging. 1. They have such a cute background on the board to display this tiny slide show of examples. 2. Why the heck is Gabe judging this contest? Doesn’t he have other things to do? Who managed to convince him to do this? Why would he even do this? 3. Does the principal just go to every class individually and tell them this or is it just Mari’s class in this contest? Why couldn’t their teacher just tell them? Also, your probably wondering why I don’t call the teacher and principal by their names... It’s quite simple, really... I refuse to try to spell them over and over again. :D I like that the principal needs to clarify that Gabe is, in fact, Adrien’s dad. Like this whole class does not know that? And Adrien’s gonna model the winning design which is cool. So what are they designing? A shirt? Pants? A suit? Shoes? A tie? A jacket? Nah, its a derby hat... Okay... Do people even wear derby hats anymore, besides for cosplay? If so, where can I get one? Also, the principal says that this is THIS YEAR’S project so does that mean they do this contest every year? Does Gabe actually do this every year or do they get a different judge? If he does do it every year I bet Emilie got him started on it or Nathalie. Okay so Marinette is shocked by it being derby hats too. Cool, I’m not alone. Chloe is like teasing Mari for some reason? I get she’s supposed to be a bully but what is she teasing about? Her gesture is so confusing? She has a thumbs down while humming... I don’t get it? Anyway, so Mari flips through her sketchbook which is full of really cute little doodles that aren’t realistic looking but are still really cute. I personally love her style in season 1. But in season 3, if you noticed in Silencer, her art style drastically changed and yeah, artists are allowed to change their art style but the thing that bothers me about it is how in Reverser it is shown Nath’s art style got slightly less good? This kind of makes me think someone decided that Nath was out shining Mari and they were gonna have none of that so they gave his art style to her because it looks exactly like Nath’s from season 1. It’s kind of annoying. It’s like they are trying to tell me that a doodle like art style isn’t good and that is has to be realistic. Let Mari have a doodle style! Ugh... I mean, look at these cute designs...

THIS IS FREAKING ADORABLE!! WHY THE HECK WOULD THEY CHANGE THIS? I get showing her improving. Like perhaps she gets a bit better at understanding anatomy so her legs are all even in size as well as her arms. But changing her art style completely to Nath’s? Ugh... If it wasn’t clear, I’m an artist. I complain about this kind of stuff. Just wait until I do Syren and you see me complain about how much I dislike Aquabug’s design. :D So Mari’s all upset she can’t find a single derby hat design in her sketchbook and, I mean... Just... just sketch some designs then? I know that takes a lot of work but it’s gonna be pretty worth it, right? Anyway, she spirals into self-doubt and she thinks she’s gonna make a huge fool of herself. In her made up disaster story she hilariously thinks Gabe will show up in person to judge this thing. Heh. To be that naive. :’D Alya decided to flip through the sketchbook again and see if she can find anything. That’s when Adrien the ninja Agreste shows up and thinks Alya sketched them. He compliments the designs and Alya’s like, “I’m flattered but Marinette’s really the creator of these designs.” Mari had already fallen off the bench by this point because she was rightfully terrified Adrien showed up out of no where and I have no idea how Alya wasn’t the least bit startled. Adrien is all like, “You got some mad skills. Bet you have this thing in the bag.” As he continues to just pose dramatically every few seconds like he did in Oblivio and it never gets less funny to me. Luckily this is more smooth and less fast which makes it feel more natural whereas in Oblivio it felt like a joke. XD Mari fumbles a bit over her words but seems to actually have handled it very well. I really don’t know why she freaks out so much when she can’t speak. Adrien literally never seems to really care, he only gets confused occasionally because he’s waiting to be able to make something out. Probably because the boy has far more patience than almost every other character in this show combined.  So Adrien is pretty confident he’ll be wearing Mari’s derby hat for his father’s next photoshoot... He bounces. Alya is all like, “Get a grip next time, but Adrien thinks you’ll win!” She screams this.  The camera pans over to Sabrina and Chloe where Sabrina is like, “Did you hear how impressed Adrien was with Mari-” And Chloe cuts her off like, “Of course I did, Alya just freaking screamed it. Do you think I’m deaf? I’d be surprised if the whole school didn’t hear her!” Ugh, I hate having to stare at Sabrina’s outfit. It’s so hideous. QWQ Chloe plans to swipe Mari’s design so Adrien will convince his dad to make her the winner, I guess. Hee... she thinks Gabe would listen to Adrien... Oh I wish I was as naive as Mari and Chloe. Okay, so Mari has already wasted 2 of the 10 hours she needs to come up with this design... The real annoying thing about this to me is how unnaturally quick they think this will be? I think they could have at least given these kids a few days to put a hat together. Why would you make it such a short time span? That pretty much guarantees that all these hats will be slapped together. >.> But Mari heads off to her “secret garden of inspiration”, gracefully slamming into a wall. She’s fine though, no worries.  We cut to Hawkmoth who is seeking out negative emotions this time instead of just waiting for it. Adrien definitely didn’t get his patience from his father, that’s for sure. We cut back to Mari and now we get to know what her secret garden of inspiration is... You ready? It’s.... in front of the Eiffel Tower. I never would have expected that. Definitely secret worthy. Also there are like a million pigeons circling the Eiffel Tower and I get this is Mr. Pigeon but man... Mari sketches this pretty cute Eiffel Tower derby hat and instead of just crossing it out she tears the freaking page out. It hurts me... That’s one of those nice bound sketchbooks and she just mercifully ruins it. And she also wastes so much paper because she only drew this tiny sketch on this full paper and then she just rips it out. There’s a lot of space left on that paper. I know some artists do this but HOW? HOW CAN YOU DO THIS WITH SUCH CONFIDENCE? I’m fine if you don’t use a full page, I used to do that but WHY TEAR THEM OUT? To make matters more annoying she discards all these on the ground so now she’s littering. If she doesn’t pick those up by the end of this scene... SO HELP ME I’m not even a huge environmentalist I just find it extremely rude of people to discard their trash in public areas, not to mention I’m sure it is extremely illegal to do this in Paris any where near the Eiffel Tower... If it isn’t I’d be surprised. Tikki cheers Mari on and we see this nice flower derby hat sketch. It looks really cute. I would wear it. There’s also this cute bow one with a ladybug leaving a trail. That’s adorable. I want that. There’s this cute music sheet inspired one and then a gift wrap one (which isn’t as great but that’s what happens when your burning out). There’s another cute flower one.  Seriously, all of these are so cute. I took screenshots of all of them. I also noticed the whole time she’s covering the feather hat she will eventually decide on during this. They want us to believe she draws it later but you can’t hide that from me. >:3 Oh, at least she’s piling her papers next to her. That implies she’ll probably clean it up. Anyway, Mari looks up and sees everyone’s favorite pigeon man acting weird before taking  a seat on bench and blowing his pigeon whistle to call all the pigeons so he can feed them. Mari finds it adorable. I find it cute he has one pigeon named Edgar and he can somehow tell him apart from all the others. It now leaves me longing for an episode where Edgar gets akumatized because Pigeon man turned into Rat man and he is so distraught.  Everyone’s favorite policemen walks in, fed up with having to deal with this insane weirdo, and tells him he can’t be feeding the pigeons. This is supposed to seem like a really a-hole move coming from the cop but I know why they don’t allow that? It’s the same thing as littering... it ruins this amazing famous landmark because pigeons are really pests. But fine, boo hard working police officers, I guess. They also make the policeman kind of an a-hole which is really stupid. As if the police don’t get enough bad credit from all the stupid people that worked along with them, now we have animations treating them all like jerks. I don’t mind if you aren’t a fan of the police force but some of them really do a lot of hard work and we are constantly shading all the good officers. Many of these officers risk dying for us on a daily basis and they are normally payed very little. It’s really annoying how horrid they made this man act when he’s a pretty good police man the rest of the show. I’m just not a fan... Apparently, Pigeon man has been banned from every park in Paris so why the heck do we see him in the park in so many following episodes? But he walks off all sad because he can’t feed his pigeons. Mari is like, “Almost feel sorry for that dude.” Tikki mentions how he’s basically a pigeon, he just needs feathers to complete the look. This is what launches Mari into her brilliant idea and we finally get to see that feather hat. BUT NOT BEFORE HAWKMOTH TAKES ADVANTAGE OF POOR PIGEON MAN!! BEHOLD, MR. PIGEON IS BORN! Hawkmoth also says, “What would Paris be without pigeons?” Um... Paris? Does he think the P in Paris stands for Pigeons? I think the best thing about Mr. Pigeon’s design is he made himself absolutely jacked. XD Chloe and Sabrina are here to put Operation Steal Marinette’s Design into action. I feel like Sabrina could just walk over there and compliment Mari on her designs since Mari has nothing against Sabrina and then Sabrina could sneakily steal one of her other designs. Marinette, for some reason, holds her sketchbook up to look at her work... Why? I don’t understand why? The only reason she would do this is if she wanted Chloe to steal her designs and knew Sabrina was right behind her to snap a picture. Speaking of which, I want you all to look at this design... 

Okay, memorize that. Remember that because something happens at the end of this episode that’s kind of frustrating.

Someone please make this a meme... So Sabrina brings the goods over and OMD DID CHLOE ALWAYS HAVE THIS AQUAMARINE BUTTON ON HER YELLOW JACKET? HAVE I BEEN BLIND FOR 3 SEASONS? Chloe plans to make her dad pay someone to make this hat instead of making it herself so... she cheats x2 I guess? They also never show us Mari picking up all her garbage but considering the next time she shows up there they aren’t there, I’ll assume she took them with her, very awkwardly. I feel like she could have at least ripped all these perfectly good pages out at her own home. Cut to Mari building the hat in her room. It’s also canon whenever she is focused on designing she sticks her tongue out. She also pricked herself with a needle and Tikki is running on two legs carrying an apple for some reason so she trips on a spool of thread. She knows she can fly, right? Regardless, they’re cute, okay? I love them. Mari has pretty much completed it but begins to freak out because she forgot to grab a pigeon feather so she actually just books it back to her “secret inspiration spot” to grab a feather. I personally think the way she freaks out about this is for once, normal and she does not make me worry for her sanity doing this so YAY.  I saw her run up to the pigeons and immediately thought she was gonna pluck a feather off one but nope, they conveniently disperse and she gets a feather that when she will put it on the hat, will look nothing like that feather and be far larger than it is now. So she rushes off and bumps into the police officer, she apologizes and it makes him smile. GOOD! THAT POOR GUY MUST WORK SO HARD TO THROW SUCH A FIT EARLIER!  Sadly, he immediately captured by pigeons. RIP. Now Mari is on a bus, waiting to get home and it isn’t moving so she grows real impatient. What’s weird is she says, “Come on! Can’t we go any faster?” Implying that the bus is moving when it isn’t at all. She exits the bus, barely managing to avoid stepping on a pigeon.  So now were looking at Nadja giving the news, stating the obvious once again and then it says Mr. Pigeon wants to give his own message so let’s see what he has to say. Whoever writes these fake news headlines is a genius and we don’t deserve them because all it is is pigeon noises. Basically Mr. Pigeon says that the pigeons rule Paris now. Mari runs off to transform into Ladybug. We get some really dynamic camera angles of her running around on rooftops. Man season 1 is beautiful. Bless it.  She looks up and discovers the  pigeons are forming a bunch of war airplanes for some reason. It’s honestly really funny. That’s when Chat shows up in the “draw me like one of your French girls” pose. He then promptly sneezes himself almost all the way off the roof. He says he’s allergic to feathers but... he had no feathers around him at the time? Ladybug is like, “That sucks, man.” He manages to stifle some of his sneezing so he can tell us all the park keepers went missing. So I guess that policeman was actually a park keeper despite the fact for the rest of the series they treat him like a cop? They suddenly start speaking really fast for some reason. Basically Ladybug is like, “I have a plan.” Cut to the best scene in history where Chat is wearing a police hat (so I guess it is the police) and whistling waiting to draw Mr. Pigeon in. He gets bored and starts doing the Gangman style dance and moonwalking and did I mention I love him? Ladybug tells him to knock it off and “act natural” and he’s like, “What do ya mean? I am acting natural.” I LOVE HIM. A pigeon sees him and thinks Chat is most definitely a cop. JUST KIDDING! The pigeon tells Mr. Pigeon that Ladybug and Chat are totally in the park. For some reason Ladybug thought Mr. Pigeon wouldn’t show up if they were just themselves? Did she forget how Hawkmoth and akumas work? For this whole episode I’m going to pretend it is totally possible all these pigeons can band together and carry this grown man around. Unless he also asked to be as light as feather along with being jacked? Cut back to Ladybug wondering where the heck Mr. Pigeon is and then getting surprised when a bunch of pigeons sweep Chat Noir off his feet. Bet she’s just mad they did it before her. So she runs up to try and save him before he goes into epileptic shock. I know his allergy isn’t treated that seriously but he would still be getting pretty sick... She chases them all the way to Mr. Pigeon’s roost, I guess, pretending that Chat totally isn’t just dying in that ball of pigeons. Then they just dump Chat off and YAY HE CAN BREATHE AGAIN, THANK GOODNESS!! He looks around confused which, again, I love that expression on Chat. It’s so freaking cute. He’s surrounded by an army of pigeons and Ladybug just casually walks over there like she didn’t ditch him to see if he would get ambushed... >.> Chat wonders where the heck Mr. Pigeon is and then we just seem him fly up behind them on an even less number of pigeons than before. Hawkmoth is like, “Get rid of those morons and pigeons will rule Paris.” Mr. Pigeon thinks that sounds like a sound plan so he blows his whistle so the pigeons just start circling them. Okay, 1. Ladybug says, “Call me crazy, but I feel like bird seed all of a sudden.” Like, that line was clearly supposed to come out of Chat’s mouth, right? 2. Chat goes, “Got any bright ideas, Bug?” Which, I like him calling her bug, but again, this sounds like this was supposed to be Ladybug’s line? Wow... season 2 and 3 have ruined me... Ladybug is like, “You’re the cat! Don’t you eat these things for breakfast?” Did... did you not hear him earlier? No, of course not. He’s gosh darn freaking allergic. So the pigeons drop a cage on them and OH NO, THEY’RE TRAPPED!! I have no idea how they managed to coordinate that so well to where none of the fellow pigeons got stuck in there... >.> So Mr. Pigeon starts threatening them by having his pigeons bang on the cage and oh wow, that’s terrifying... -.- But then he plans to have them poop on our heroes and yeah, that will be gross but it’s not like their gonna die. I mean, Chat might, due to his allergies, but Ladybug will be fine.  Mr. Pigeon has so much sass in his body language... Wow... So he said on the count of 3 they will fire and he has already said 1 and 2 by the time Ladybug tells Chat to cataclysm the cage (like how did Chat forget about that?) and he somehow didn’t say 3 already? The pigeons disperse when the cage falls and now the power couple is freaking spinning their weapons with confidence. Mr. Pigeon is horrified, as he should be because he’s clearly doomed. He seems like he’s gonna retreat but he goes, “Me? I’m not flying away! I’m just killing two birds with one stone!” Before doing an epic backwards leap off the building and into his pigeons. What an awful choice of words, Mr. Pigeon? If I were those pigeons I’d let you hit the ground after saying that. >.>  They catch him, then throw him into the air, then form him a throne for some reason? He sends some after the duo so they book it off the roof and into the building and those pigeons somehow destroy a metal freaking door? They also immediately let go of the door afterwards, like they think the pigeons won’t trying knocking it in again? OKAY NOW HE’S JUST SHOWING OFF BECAUSE HIS BIRDS FORMED A WHOLE PLANE FOR HIM TO RIDE ON! So yeah, they actually do give up and fly off. Okay? Ladybug and Chat race down the stairs of the building and Chat’s ring starts beeping so he freaks out about his identity getting revealed and she’s like, “Yeah, you wouldn’t want to let the cat out of the bag.” He’s like, “Ha. Ha.” It’s great. Man their dynamic used to be the bomb. QWQ Turns out they are in the mayor’s hotel because they run into him freaking out about his business. Chat is now making motions like he actually needs to use the bathroom because he’s so freaked out about his identity. Dude, chill... you have 3 pads left. Chat says he has an urgent need so the mayor sends him to the sweet and thinks he needs to use the bathroom. He says, “There’s paper in there... but perhaps you would prefer... a litter tray?” And then laughs like its the funniest joke ever. It’s not. I didn’t really like it when I first heard it and I still don’t like it. It makes me chuckle from how uncomfortable it makes me for Chat... >.> Chat takes it in good spirits though and is like, “Nah, but could ya get some Camembert. Cool, thanks.” As the elevator doors close... which makes me think... why the heck didn’t he just run into any of the doors on the stairs and change in any random empty room he found? >.> The mayor is confused and looks to Ladybug who just shrugs like she doesn’t know why he would possibly ever need food after detransforming. On the bright side, she looks cute shrugging. Chat runs in there and slams the door the waiter knocks on it again to ask how he likes him Camembert and then he slams it again then this guy knocks again, already holding a tray of Camembert which Chat takes from and  thanks him for before slamming the door again and detransforming.... How freaking fast is this man?  So Adrien gives Plagg the cheese after Plagg gets done complaining about being tired and just waits for Plagg to devour this wheel of cheese. He’s so supportive too like, “Eat up buddy. Ladybug needs help.” Also, why does every time Adrien moves look like he is posing? Cut to Ladybug exiting an elevator. She’s on one of the top floors and looks through the windows to watch the literal balls of pigeon flying in the air. She’s like, “Odd, pigeons are flying in the same direction.” But that isn’t odd? That’s how birds work... Plus, of course there gonna all fly towards the same spot where Mr. Pigeon is. That’s kind of obvious. I think what would be considered odd is if they weren’t doing this...  Chat somehow knew what floor Ladybug was on. He knows her too well, I guess. We also get another nickname from him, LB. Man, I wish he actually used these nowadays... QWQ  They follow the pigeons to the large building where Mr. Pigeon is keeping all the park rangers in this comically small cage. Also, there was like a million balls of the pigeons and there’s only like 5 rangers in this cage? Also, also, where is Mr. Pigeon getting these cages? Chat nearly sneezes again, Ladybug catches him. They see no pigeons in sight but Chat nearly sneezed so we freaking know he’s here and the fact we just saw the pigeons fly in there and not fly out confirms it. Chat wants to barge in there but Ladybug is like, “Too easy, mate. No way the universe would be this nice to us.” I mean, DUH. So they run off to make a new plan. Unsurprisingly, Mr. Pigeon was planning a trap for them. Luckily Ladybug and Chat found a window right above him. The plan is for Chat to open the window, Ladybug to reel him in, and for Chat to snag the bird call so Ladybug can destroy it. It majorly backfires because they both forgot Chat is allergic somehow and he sneezes away the element of surprise. It also scares Ladybug into messing up, somehow... 

Again, someone please make this a meme. They begin to attack and Mr. Pigeon starts using the pigeons as fists, for some reason? Doesn’t he want to protect these things? He throws Chat at the cage, probably giving the poor guy a minor concussion. Will Chat ever catch a break? He also throws back Ladybug but she doesn’t hit the cage, somehow.  The cops are like, “Save us, Ladybug.” Yes, because that helps her so much. She calls for lucky charm and gets a coin. Ladybug asks the same question she always does, “What the heck am I supposed to do with this?” She looks around and sees support railing and a vending machine. Your guess is as good as mine, guys.  Mr. Pigeon tries to attack but she dodges, slides under him, wraps her yo-yo around his ankle, jumps on the high up support railing, flips around it to wrap her yo-yo string around that, runs to the vending machine to stick her coin in, pulls out a bag of popcorn, and then just yeets it at fast recovering Chat Noir whom promptly destroys it with his baton so all the popcorn fly out and onto Mr. Pigeon so the pigeons run in to eat it. If you saw that coming, good for you. She then yanks on the yo-yo string and now he’s hanging from support railing. The bird call falls of his neck and Chat grabs it before sneezing so it goes flying. Ladybug lets go of the string which immediately lets go of Mr. Pigeon (which proves my point in the Animan one) and they all rush over to get it. Mr. Pigeon’s hand lands on it first, then Chat’s, then Ladybug’s. Ladybug then promptly grabs Chat’s hand and smashes it on top of Mr. Pigeon’s which breaks the whistle. I feel like she could have just pushed Chat’s hand out of the way and smacked Mr. Pigeon’s hand down on it but whatever...  Chat rubs his head because it hurts, as it should... Ladybug just keeps sort of screwing Chat over in this episode. XD Mr. Pigeon faints. Ladybug captures the akuma and everything goes back to normal. My question is... how did she get the coin out of the vending machine so fast? What the- HOW? Mr. Pigeon turns back into Pigeon man as Ladybug and Chat Noir pound it. Hawkmoth curses pigeons and Ladybug (is Chat chopped liver or something). I guess he has a right to be a little upset this time. He actually told his akumatized victim to do stuff this time.  Cut to Mari back at her place, finally finishing her hat. Admit it, you forgot about the hat. I sure did. Alya tries calling Mari but she ain’t answering. Juleka and Rose have a steampunk derby hat which does look like it was just slapped together. There’s literally no other contestants besides Chloe and Sabrina and Kim and Max (which btw, they have a lovely little flower hat. It looks so nice). Shocker....-.- Unsurprisingly, Nathalie showed up with Gabe on a tablet. The principal asks where the heck Gabe is and then she pulls out her tablet she had behind her back for some reason. I know its to “reveal” this but... was Gabe just looking at her butt this whole time or was she holding the screen outwards so all he could see was people’s legs? Gabe asks Adrien to lead Nathalie around, because she can’t navigate this small courtyard by herself, are ya crazy? They look at Juleka and Rose’s hat while Mari finally rushes onto scene with her hat.  Alya isn’t too thrilled because Marinette’s hat looks exactly like Chloe’s hat. Mari is like, “WHAT? THE GIRL THAT HAS BEEN BULLYING ME FOR YEARS AND TEASED ME ABOUT THIS CONTEST JUST EARLIER TODAY AND KEEPS COMPETING FOR AFFECTION FROM THE GUY I LIKE DECIDED TO SABOTAGE ME? *LE GASP*” Why is she even freaking surprised? Chloe begins to tell Gabe who she is, as if he doesn’t know because this is his son’s childhood friend. Alya asks if she should take care of it but Mari is like, “No, I got it.” And let’s take a second to pause before we get to this massively stupid climax... Mari’s sketch wasn’t colored... so how did Chloe get the exact colors down to a t? Seriously, nothing is different. I get assuming most of it will be black but even the lining is gold? Whoever Andre payed to make this for his daughter must have had some seriously good insight. >.>  Okay, back to the stupid climax. Gabe looks’s at Mari’s and is like, “Hey, that’s the same as Chloe’s.” Chloe starts playing victim. Mari is like, “Yo, quite your crying. I can prove this thing is mine.” And how does she do this... Are you ready for this? On the hat ribbon is Mari’s name upside down. Scroll back up to that sketch, try looking at it upside down... It doesn’t freaking look like Mari’s name at all. It looks like a bunch of squiggles... Even if it did work, HOW THE HECK DOES SOMEONE NOT NOTICE THIS FORMS OBVIOUS LETTERS? I’m starting to think Andre payed Mari to make this hat... So Mari wins even though he never saw Kim and Max’s hat... I call that unfair. But Mari is excited. Adrien grabs her hands holding the hat and is like, “Awesome job, Mari.” She blushes. Gabe says Adrien will be wearing this hat in their next advertising campaign, though the principal said in the beginning it would be Adrien’s next photoshoot? Nonetheless, this doesn’t have until near the very end of season 2..? Adrien tries putting on the hat but ends up sneezing, which cuts off the romantic music nicely. Mari is confused and Adrien says he’s allergic to feathers. She’s like, “hmm... what an odd coinc-” JUST KIDDING! She barely bats and eye and is just happy and blesses him. Adrien thanks her before walking off to die. Then we get my personal favorite endcard. 

Everything about this endcard is perfect. You can’t change my mind. Anyway, that’s the end. Hope you had fun!

[enixamyram]

I need to address the top three criticisms I see repeatedly for Captain Marvel that are all just pure nonsense.

So there’s no actual spoilers under the tag as far as I can tell - I don’t talk about specific scenes or anything just the whole film in general. But I’ll put it under a read more anyway just in case.

“It’s anti Men”/”Brie hates white men”

This is incorrect. Not only is there no male bashing at all, the men - like Nick Fury - play a strong role beside Carol and kick only a little less ass than her. I don’t see how it’s anti men unless you’re pissed that none of them saved Carol or played an especially big role in the final fight. In which case, get over it. It’s her movie, not there’s. She’s allowed to be the star. Also, Brie never said she hated white men. She simple voiced a strong urge for more diversity in media and she is 100% right. And her point is only proven more when the main people who are hating on her so badly are all (surprise surprise) white men.

“She’s Wooden and doesn’t show emotions”

Again, this is just blatantly false. Carol is being brainwashed by the Kree to not have emotions in order to keep her in check but even with all that happening, throughout the film she is still constantly laughing and smiling with everyone. She’s cheeky and teasing with Nick, and even smirks and torments some of the people she’s fighting against - not to mention even at the very beginning of the film (when she’s meant to be blank) she’s messing around with Jude’s character. And he even tells her off for not keeping her emotions under control. In fact if anyone came across as very “blank” in the film, it’d be Jude for the most part yet no one is jumping on him for it. I generally don’t see where this criticism has come from. I loved the film so much because of how fun Carol was, how she was a delight to watch and how just her laughing made me laugh. And unlike other characters from other films/TV series, her cheeky comments can’t even be classed as “mean” because they’re all so light hearted.

“She’s overpowered and there was no fear she’d lose”

I know. And thank God for that! This is part of what makes me love the film so much! Because it skips that bullshit! This is an origin story, we know she’s gonna be in Avengers, we know she’s gonna be fine, we know nothing’s going to happen to her. So why pretend like there’s any danger for her when we know it’ll work out? There’s no point! So thank the heaven’s that Captain Marvel skipped that cliche and just went straight on with the film. As far as I’m concerned, this isn’t a problem with the film. It’s one of it’s saving graces! (Note; this isn’t to say she defeats everyone in a matter of easy seconds, because she certainly doesn’t - the fight scenes are still really cool! She simply just doesn’t have a scene where it’s overly dramatic like she might not wake up or she might be killed off or anything else we obviously all know isn’t going to happen.)

[thegreenwolf]

Nature Sacred As It Is

Originally posted at my blog, A Sense of Natural Wonder, at http://www.thegreenwolf.com/blog

So last month the largest spinning ice disk recorded formed in the Presumpscot River in Maine. It’s a pretty rare phenomenon caused when a piece of ice breaks off a frozen river surface near a bend and is spun around like a record. This one, being so incredibly large, attracted a lot of attention.

Unfortunately, not everyone could just appreciate it for the natural wonder it was–and I use “was” deliberately. Some dude decided that the ice disk wasn’t magnificent enough by itself, and that it needed a peace sign carved into it. Spoiler–he broke it. Now I can get behind his idea that peace is a good thing, but there are better ways to advertise this much-needed concept than to spoil a very uncommon and ephemeral natural feature.

Humans have spent thousands of years deciding that nature wasn’t good enough on its own, and that it needed our influence to be truly perfect. Much of that has been in the service of material exploitation, that a forest won’t maximize its potential until its wood has been made into houses and furniture, its minerals into coinage, and its water into an engine for electricity. There are all too many people who look at a wild place and only see dollar signs.

It’s almost more defensible than the actions of this person and others who decide that something awe-inspiring in nature must have their personal mark on it because somehow they’re important enough to make that statement. At least houses and energy have practical applications that can improve people’s lives in concrete ways. The same can’t be said for graffiti on natural features, even well-intended.

“What harm is there in breaking a big ice disk, or carving initials into a tree?” one might ask. Well, sure, there’s no price tag on the ice disk, and chances are the tree will survive, though there are plenty of cases where that sort of damage led the tree to die from disease through the breach in its bark. Painting on rock formations may be mostly obnoxious rather than harmful to the rock, though some of the paints can be toxic to the local ecosystem.

Part of the issue is the concept of intrinsic value. I value nature for itself, rather than just for what I can get out of it. The very fact that I am surrounded by a vibrant community of biological beings, inhabiting a planet ever-changing through geological, hydrological, and climatic forces, never ceases to fill me with awe and wonder. I don’t need to then overlay that with my biases to make it pretty.

This may seem odd coming from someone who routinely takes bits of nature and imposes personal meaning on them through art. After all, it would be easy to defend the peace sign on the ice disk as art. However, scale and permanence play a big part in things. If you make a snow sculpture in your backyard, no one’s likely to feel they missed out on the unmarred snowfall. But a lot of people who wanted to see the ice disk, whole and undamaged, had that ruined for them by one man’s actions. He destroyed the shared experience.

Moreover, he seems to have come at his project without really considering the intrinsic value of the disk, only valuing it as a canvas for his idea of art. Good art involving nature will show appreciation for that nature, rather than just using it as an object to display human biases on. It’s what I try to do with my own artwork, asking the hides and bones what they want to become and trying to focus on their beauty. I appreciate them as they are, and then do my best to do them some justice even as I impose my arrogance as an artist upon them.

Obviously we’re never not going to leave our mark on the world, until there are none of us left anyway. There are too many of us, and we’re too used to taking, taking, taking. Few of us in industrialized societies would want to move to a quality of life that involves strict subsistence. I just wish people would think more about something besides themselves, sometimes besides their own wants and needs and priorities.

I want people to be able to look at rare, amazing things in nature and not have their immediate thought be “I need to change that!” I want more people to be able to have the appreciation for nature’s intrinsic values that existed long before we ever did. I want us, just for a moment, to stop corralling nature in with our economic and religious beliefs, and just let it be its own thing, massive and terrifying and magnificently beautiful from the tiniest atom to the entire universe. Stop telling stories about how much money you can make off of it, or how it has all these supernatural properties that we can exploit, or any other ways in which nature supposedly revolves around us.

Just take a moment, and breathe in the reality that we live on an incredible planet that has giant disks made of frozen water, and long-limbed animals who thunder across grassy plains with hooves of keratin, and tiny bryophyte forests housing a myriad of springtails, worms, and bacteria aplenty. Appreciate the marvel that is your own body, created from molecules parted out from the food you have eaten over a lifetime and which is made from the many minerals and nutrients of a thousand soils. Touch the grass and realize that its family–Poaeceae–first sent forth blades in the last days of the dinosaurs.

Yes, we need values besides the intrinsic. But we do need the intrinsic, too.

Did you enjoy this post? Consider helping me keep the bills paid and the blog posts coming by picking up one of my books or some of my artwork, or even becoming my Patron on Patreon!

[quilloftheclouds]

11/11/11 Tag Game

I was actually tagged twice for this one, so it’s actually 22 instead of 11! Thanks to @marlettwrites​ and @inexorableblob​ for the tags, and apologies for the lateness of answering! I have quite the backlog of tag games. ^^’

Rules: Answer eleven questions, tag eleven people, and ask eleven questions!

1. What book has most inspired you to write? (could also be a tv show, podcast, song, whatever!)

Oooooffff, I need to get back into reading real books. Honestly? I know The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell was one of the inspirations from my childhood, but there are likely so many more that I’m not remembering.

2. What do you like to listen to while you write?

The range of genres of music I listen to is astounding and often completely random! If not, the music typically matches the atmosphere or mood of the scene I would currently be writing.

3. Favorite genre to read and/or write?

I love me some good ole fantasy. Right now I’m writing a historical fantasy, which is something I never thought I would do, but it’s been a whole lotta fun! I also really like writing and reading sci-fi! (I may or may not have another wip idea in the works that’s sci-fi HELP)

4. What are five aesthetic things for your WIP? (sounds, smells, feelings, colors, whatever floats your boat)

can I answer “the ocean” here or is that not allowed?

The smell of the sea, the smoothness of fish scales, the prickling of static electricity, the salty tang of blood, and creaking timbers of a storm tossed ship.

5. How did you come up with the idea for your WIP?

One Siren’s Soul was originally just a pirate au I shoved a bunch of previously created original characters into. And then the characters started changing to match the story and an actual plot started forming and it got out of hand. -u-

6. What initially inspired the creation of your MC(s)?

Ah. This is. Um. I’m a nerd. They’re all originally gemsonas. Steven Universe. Whoops. (Any guesses as to what their gemstones originally were? Celestine doesn’t count.) I basically was inspired by the metaphysical meanings attributed to each individual stone when creating their personalities and designs. Just to be clear, though, their characters have shifted dramatically from what they used to be.

7. Do any of your characters have pets? If so, what are they?

None of the characters have a pet at the start of the novel, but that ain’t gonna stay that way.

8. Are there any tropes that you absolutely despise?

Hmmm. Hm. I don’t really have any specific ones, but often negative stereotypes based solely on culture are big tropes I tend to really dislike. Sure, the people you’re depicting definitely do exist, but is it really necessary to portray a culture as being the exact same negative traits so many times? The detrimental effects of this are terrible, but that’s a rant for another day.

9. What are the main themes of your WIP?

... I’m never really the best with these. ^^’ Let’s see... I mean, there’s your classic enemies to lovers, tons of betterment of self stuff and adapting to and understanding one’s own flaws, lotta communication themes, family, change vs. tradition, a big chunk of power and corruption... Yeah. I guess. I need to get better at this.

10. What motivates your antagonist (or if it’s man vs nature, how did your protag get stuck in their sticky sitch)?

NyehehheehHEHEHEHEHHHEEEE oohhhhh isn’t this such an interesting, spoiler inducing question. First off, who exactly is my antagonist? Captain Io? Rose? Dione? The Scientist? Clearly it’s Colin. Has to be.

So what motivates this so-called antagonist? He wishes he could make friends with everyone and obviously it’s because Celestine refuses to be friends with anyone.

(Okay but jokes aside this is a major discovery in the book, so I can’t quite reveal that yet. ^^’)

Context-less spoilers: Someone’s really not impressed with their sibling, and someone else wants someone because they’re a meanie jerk.

11. If your MC were to buy ice cream, what flavor would they get? (I had to finish it off with a fun one)

This is a cute question! If any of my MCs actually knew what ice cream was: Celestine would get the sweetest thing offered, like cotton candy or bubblegum, because she’s a gigantic sweet tooth; Colin likes your classic puppy paws; Dione is boring and would get something like French vanilla or strawberry; and Phoenix loves chocolate way too much.

Round two!

1. Would you rather adapt your WIP to TV/streaming or Film/Movie?

In personal experience, I’ve typically preferred movie adaptations to TV series ones. Plus, the story is very dependent on specific plot points that need to follow very closely consecutively, and I feel splitting that up into individual episodes would really chop up the flow.

2. Who would Sean Bean play in your WIP?

Uuuhhhhhhhhhh I have no clue mate. The closest character appearance wise to him would be George?

3. What in the real world besides books/media has inspired your WIP?

The ocean. I am a maritimer from birth and shall always be! Also my family took a two week road trip across Newfoundland one Summer and it was so fun and so pretty and I loved it so much I put the setting of One Siren’s Soul there. So yeah!

4. What authors do you avoid?

To be completely honest, I haven’t been reading much lately! But I’m sorry, I never did really like Veronica Roth’s Divergent. So... maybe her?

5. If you had to hide a secret message in your WIP, how would you hide it?

Heh. Who’s to say there isn’t? In the chapter titles and how they correspond to the text? NYEEHEHHE

6. Would you rather have an OC of yours make you breakfast in bed or do your laundry?

... Breakfast in bed. Slight spoiler: Phoenix is an utterly amazing cook.

7. Do you learn better from experience or instruction?

I really do appreciate instruction but for me it’s typically experience! Either that or learning by example. By example is often the best way for me.

8. What is the grossest thing you have ever seen/smelled/tasted/touch/heard about?

Ever taste dandelion blood? I was a dumb child.

9. Wallpaper or paint?

My mate, wallpaper is so pretty if you’re going for the fancy older house aesthetic, but it’s super expensive and inefficient. You can do just as well with paint and pictures/furniture pieces.

10. What would the Devil try to tempt you with? Money? Power? Love? Boots?

More hats for my collection.

11. If you attended your own funeral, what would offend you most, People not showing up, or people faking emotions, or something else?

I think it would be people only being there to take advantage of others somehow? Like... money or... yeah I got nothing. I would prefer a celebration of life to a funeral, though.

What a last question for that one! XD Here’s my own eleven questions for some other people!

1. What flowers would be used in a flower crown for your MCs?

2. What kind of scenes are your favourite to write?

3. What three words would you use to describe your wip(s)?

4. Which of your OCs is most similar to you? Least similar?

5. Are you a plant or animal person? What’s either your favourite plant or animal?

6. What would be your favourite classic AU for your wip(s)?

7. If you had to choose one song to be your own theme song, what would it be?

8. What was your very first wip?

9. Who is the most patient of your OCs? The least?

10. What would be the pet each of your MCs would get if they had the option to get anything?

11. How would you describe your writing style?

Taggin’ taggin’ time (I’m a rebel and won’t tag 11 ‘cause I don’t know that many people yet ^^’):  @imaghostwriter​ @alinakerrin @bookish-actor @scottishhellhound 

Have fun if you want to do it!

[jokertrap-ran]

(光与夜之恋 Light and Night) Main Story Chapter 2-10: 时间针脚 The Patchwork of Time Translation

"Put your back against the wall, bend your knees. Feet to the ground, heels up. This will help lessen the impact you're bracing for.”

*Light and Night Master-list *Spoiler free: Translations will remain under cut *Join the Light & Night Discord (＾▽＾)~ ♪ *Main story tag will be #For Light and Night

Brother Mao: Do you think my hoodie’s too plain? I think it doesn’t quite highlight my amiableness...

I’d just returned to the office, only to see Brother Mao turning left and right in front of the mirror, observing himself with a deep crease between his brows.

Zheng Lin: It’s just a simple succession ceremony. I’m sure you don’t have to go dressing up like a Christmas tree.

Brother Mao: (Y/n)! Quick, give me your opinion! Do you think I should wear something flashier?

MC: I think you’re pretty good just as you are right now. Is something important going on?

Zheng Lin: It’s the new CEO’s succession ceremony this afternoon. Brother Mao heard that the media was attending and think that he’s not dressed well enough for the cameras.

MC: The new CEO?

Brother Mao: You don’t know!? Looks like it’s time for me, the jack of all trades, master of none, to take the stage once more.

Brother Mao: According to a reliable source of information, this new CEO is Director Lu Ting’s nephew.

Brother Mao: No other details about him could be dug, other than the fact that he’s from the Lu Family. Hell, no one even knows what his full name is!

MC: Huh…

Brother Mao: And judging from your expression, I guess it's safe to say you don't know anything about the Lu Family, don't you?

He got more and more excited as he went on, completely forgetting his prior plan of changing his image. He even brought a chair over, and sat in a manner as if he was doing a storytelling session.

MC: I have a feeling that you’re going to tell me something that only appears in TV Shows…

Brother Mao: This is loads better than a TV Show!

Brother Mao: Last time, it was said that Warson’s original heir was actually Director Lu Ting’s brother! Aka, the new CEO’s father!

Brother Mao: In the end, no one knows what happened, but the position of heir ending up falling to Director Lu Ting.

Brother Mao: To reclaim his family business, this new CEO has been concealing his strength and biding his time overseas, only recently making the return to this country!

Brother Mao: The war between uncle and nephew is imminent, and he went and hired Sariel Qi. Checkmate! The first round's the CEO's win!

Brother Mao: I hear that trying to get him to come out of hiding is as difficult as trying to move Mt. Everest to Guangqi City.

MC: ……

Brother Mao: So, it looks like this new CEO man’s dashing, warm, gentlemanly; and not to mention, extremely capable!

Zheng Lin: Have you seen him before?

Brother Mao: 'Course not! But that's what everyone says.

MC: Isn't the succession ceremony only in the afternoon? Why does everyone know about it already?

Brother Mao: I hear that the new CEO has already been in office since last week, albeit secretly.

Brother Mao: They say that a colleague accidentally ran straight into him while knocking off in the wee hours of the morning and toppled over in her hurry.

Brother Mao: The CEO helped her up and even gave her a band-aid along with a bruises spray.

Brother Mao: And that was when news of him began to spread.

MC: Getting off work in the wee hours of the morning? Now that’s just exaggerating...

Brother Mao: That's beside my point here, missy. I'm talking about the CEO!

Brother Mao: Though, speaking of working overtime… All the breakfast stalls in Guangqi City are already open and ready for business by the time the CEO leaves the office every day.

Both Man’man and I let out shocked noises of disbelief.

He got really into his explanation, but just as he was about to continue… The telephone on Zheng Lin’s desk rang with a shrill cry.

Zheng Lin: Hello, this is Zheng Lin speaking. This afternoon, correct? Yes, that won't be an issue.

Zheng Lin: (Y/n), are you free now? Team A has a meeting slated for the afternoon. Can I leave you to handle the fabric catalogue book?

MC: Of course.

❖☆———————————★❖

Having done the same thing earlier this morning, I was able to pick out the required fabrics a lot faster. Soon enough, I was done.

Ding!

The elevator doors slowly opened. I ran a final check through the catalogue book as I stepped into the lift.

❖☆———————————★❖

??: Which floor are you headed to?

MC: 21st, thank you.

The doors of the elevator slowly closed. I froze, turning my head around in disbelief.

Those eyes, hidden behind gold-rimmed glasses, watched me with rapt interest. It was only when our gazes connected that I managed to make out the gentle smile hidden within its depths.

MC: Evan!?

Evan: It's been a long time.

MC: It has. I didn't recognize you at all just now.

Evan: I sure do hope you'll be able to recognize me at first glance next time then.

I nodded, feeling slightly bad for not having recognized him.

MC: Definitely.

Evan: Congratulations on entering Warson.

MC: Thanks. What a coincidence, though. We're now actually colleagues.

Evan: It truly is. You look pretty busy. Have you gotten used to things around here?

MC: I'll get there. How about you?

Evan: I'll be a little busier today since I have to prepare for this afternoon's succession ceremony.

I didn’t expect him to be one of the employees involved in the succession ceremony. I was just about to ask him something when the smile on his face suddenly disappeared.

Bzzt, bzzzzzt!

Loud static noise sounded as the elevator blinked out of life, its screeching akin to countless nails raking across the blackboard.

❖☆———————————★❖

My heart lurched as my eyes immediately flickered to display where the current floor should be showing. It was pitch-black!

Ker-thunk!

The slowly-descending elevator jolted as it began to drop further at an increasingly faster rate.

★Night choice: Attempt to break out

Panicking won’t solve the problem! The most important thing right now is to find a way to save ourselves!

Recalling the emergency measures I’d once seen on the internet in the case of something like this happening, I tried to stabilize myself, ambling towards the panel where all the elevator’s buttons were at.

Evan was already beside me by the time I reached out. We wordlessly understood each other as we stood side-by-side, pressing all the buttons and lighting them up.

He pressed the emergency alarm button right after. However, the alarm that we’d been expecting to hear never came. All that reverberated in the air of this confined space was the deafening roar as the elevator plummeted.

I hesitated for a split second before grabbing onto his hand.

Evan: ……

MC: Don’t panic, Evan!

MC: We just have to put our backs to the wall, bend our knees, and plant our feet on the ground with our heels raised!

MC: We’ll be able to reduce the impact that way! It’ll be alright!

Evan looked at me, the initial surprise colouring his features morphing into a faint smile of understanding.

Evan: Okay.

He stood beside me without any questions, holding tightly onto my hand.

Evan: I’ll listen to you. No panicking.

The lift made another loud thunk the moment the words left his mouth. And after a violent jolt, it… stopped. 

 Red numbers flickered to life on the black display. The lift had stopped on the 11th floor.

MC: Phew… Good that it stopped. Are you okay?

I turned, only to find Evan curiously watching me.

Evan: Can I take it that you were trying to protect me earlier?

MC: It was an emergency, so I…

Our hands were still clasped together. The warmth of a palm pressing against mine made my cheeks flush.

I subconsciously attempted to withdraw my hand, only to realize that I couldn't.

MC: …...?

Evan: We can't be sure that it's completely safe now. The elevator might continue plummeting again at any moment, so let's not let go of each other just yet.

He was right. I nodded and stopped fighting against him. Although, it felt as if my cheeks had just gotten hotter.

Evan used his other hand to retrieve his phone. He tapped the screen.

Evan: There's no mobile signal.

MC: Then let's—

However, before I could finish, the lights within the elevator flickered. Once. Twice. And then, they completely blinked out of life.

My brain had yet to register what happened when suddenly, a surprisingly strong force tugs me over, enveloping me in a protective embrace!

☆Light choice: Yell for help with all your might

Just as your mind blanks out on you, a warm, yet strong hand tugs you over.

Evan: Put your back against the wall, bend your knees. Feet to the ground, heels up. This will help lessen the impact you're bracing for.

Evan: Don't tense up. Relax.

I quickly did as he instructed. Suddenly, I realized that we could have just pressed all the buttons of the elevator to stop its descent. I turned to look at the button panel, only to realize that Evan had long since pressed them all.

He leaned against my frame, still holding onto my hand. His expression was one of utter calmness.

The elevator made a loud noise of protest after a violent jolt as it finally jerked to a halt. The panic I felt from the free-falling weightlessness finally released my heart from its clutches.

Red numbers flickered to life on the black display. The lift had stopped on the 11th floor.

MC: Phew… Thanks.

Evan: You're welcome.

I let go of Evan and looked towards the buttons of the lift.

MC: The elevator has stopped. Let's hurry and contact the people outside.

I pressed the emergency alarm button, but the alarm I was expecting to set off never came. The enclosed space was eerily silent. I took out my phone, but the icon at the top of the screen denoted that there was no signal here.

We had absolutely no way to contact anyone outside. Looks like there’s only one option left…

MC: Evan, let's just directly call for someone outside to help us.

MC: If someone hears us in passing, then they should be able to find a way to get us out of here.

MC: We might not be able to catch anyone’s attention, but it’s still better than doing nothing.

Evan: You make a fine point. Together, then?

MC: Yeah.

Evan: Can anyone hear us!?

MC: Is anyone out there!? Anyone outside!? The elevator broke down!

I didn’t dare to bang on the elevator doors. All I could do was to yell at the top of my lungs, yet… we didn’t receive even the slightest response from the outside.

Despair slowly spreads its tendrils within my heart. I stopped yelling, but just as I was about to think of another way to seek help, the lights within the elevator flickered. Once. Twice.

And then, they completely blinked out of life.

I raised my head, blinking dumbly at it. Suddenly, a surprisingly strong force tugs me over, enveloping me in a protective embrace!

❖☆————— ⊹ For Light & Night⊹ —————★❖

Previous Part: (Chapter 2-8) | Next Part: (Chapter 2-13)

[bluerosesburnblue]

Liz Liveblogs Bravely Second: Final Thoughts

Alright, as promised, let’s take a deep dive into my experience with Bravely Second. I’ve done the postgame, not really much to talk about. All it really is is unused dungeons that appeared in Default, but not Second, repurposed to hold missing enemies with a set encounter rate. Game’s been 100% completed besides some of the Ba’al bestiary entries, which I’m working on. (And by 100% I mean all Bestiary entries completed, all item/equipment journal entries completed, all character levels and job levels maxed out, all songs unlocked in Chompcraft, and all Titles collected.) So, now that there’s nothing left to do but hope for the best at Fort-Lune, I’ve taken some time to organize my thoughts and gone back through the liveblog to see if any of my opinions have changed

Speaking of the liveblog, I saved it in a word document when the Tumblr purge happened, just in case, and that thing ended up being 98 pages/53823 words long. So wow. That’s more than the entirety my college thesis paper. Kinda nuts how much I can write when I’m motivated. So now I’m gonna write EVEN MORE

Major spoilers for Bravely Default, Bravely Second, and also Undertale follow below

I suppose I should start this post by talking briefly about my history with the series, since I only liveblogged Bravely Second and don’t think I’ve said much about Default before

I beat Bravely Default about three years ago (shortly before November 8, 2015 if the email I sent to my best pal anheiressofasoldier, who I will not tag as she’s avoiding Bravely Second spoilers, is any indication). I binged the game while at college, because I wanted to be able to play Bravely Second when it came out (...whoops). Around the time I really started getting into the game, indie darling Undertale came out, and I spent a lot of my time bouncing between playing Bravely Default and having Undertale playthroughs going in the background while doing schoolwork/grinding in BD. I learned one thing about my tastes during that time: I really love meta plots in games and the way that they both utilize the system’s capabilities to mess with the player and integrate the player into the story, expanding the lore and fostering the sense that you, behind the screen, really are a part of this story and a member of the world of the game, just like all of the other characters. It is a fascinating story mechanism, and it’s a surefire way to get me invested in the narrative

Makes it kind of funny that the Undertale spiritual sequel/AU, Deltarune, came out just as I was finishing Bravely Second. I guess the two series will always be tied together for me

For those unaware and who also don’t care about spoilers, Bravely Default and Undertale are both RPGs with similar twists at the end. Namely that you, the Player, are a full-blown character and active participant in the world of the story. And also that saving the game is an in-universe thing. Bravely Default reveals during its final boss battle that another realm exists, the Celestial Realm, and when it’s depicted the game uses the 3DS camera to show the player’s face, creating the narrative that the villain, Ouroboros, is attempting to break out of the “game” into the “real world,” and the entire plot of the game has been revolving around this fact. It is also revealed that “The Celestial” has been keeping Tiz alive and guiding him, and when he severs the bond between himself and the Celestial, he collapses and the game ends. You, the player, lose control of the character because he breaks your bond, which means you can’t play anymore

The first hint that there may be more to Undertale’s story of a human falling into the Underground land of monsters is during the final boss of a Neutral run (necessary to get the Pacifist ending and the first ending most people see), where the main villain, Flowey, abruptly crashes the game. Booting it up again causes the intro to glitch out and the save file to show what appears to be Flowey’s own save file. When accessed, the player is loaded into a black void with nothing but a save point. Accessing that causes Flowey to delete your save file (not unlike what Providence tries in Bravely Second), which begins the final fight against him. During the fight, he makes use of Save States to reload you back into the way of his attacks. This messing around with the player’s save data is only the first part of the game’s meta twist. Another reveal happens at the end of its Genocide route, where the player actively guides their character into eradicating every last monster in the Underground. You have to actively stay in each area of the game and kill everything you see until every enemy encounter becomes a blank screen with the message “But nobody came...” There’s no way to just accidentally end up on this route. Like, I cannot stress that enough. Very few people actually see the Genocide route, but its reveal is integral to understanding the overarching story

The final boss of the Genocide route is designed to actively screw with the UI (which is what I referenced when fighting Providence). His attacks change the shape of your action box, where you’re intended to dodge attacks in bullet hell segments, around. Some of his attacks are in the menu, hitting your icon in the text box and the buttons to select your action for each turn, constantly damaging you. There’s no downtime in this fight. You have to always be moving, because now he’s attacking your safe zones, just like Providence’s Bravely Second attack. There is no safe place from damage against these bosses. The trick to beating Undertale’s Genocide boss is to wait him out and dodge his attacks until he’s tired, and then use the time he’s asleep to move the action box into the menu to access your commands. Then, at the very end, you’re taken to a void and speak to a child you’ve never seen before, who informs you that you’ve both been controlling the main character of the game, Frisk. In a Neutral or Pacifist run of the game, this child is content to let you take control, and in fact may not even awaken as an entity possessing Frisk at all. In a Genocide run, however, they get so gung-ho about killing that they take control from you at various points. Noticeably, in the Genocide route, “Frisk” seems to act on their own a lot in cutscenes, something that they only do occasionally in other routes. The Mysterious Child informs you that they are the Fallen Child that the player named in the beginning, and that they also believe that they are some manifestation of... I don’t know how to phrase this. Game addiction? Completionist tendencies? They call themself “the feeling you get when your stats go up” or something along those lines. They ask you to destroy the world of Undertale with them and move on to the next game, where you’ll do the process over again together, killing all enemies and the “beating the game,” over and over until there’s nothing left. Accept their offer and the games ends there, the game’s world is erased. Refuse, and the Fallen Human informs you that you were never in control and attacks the player directly, causing damage numbers to be displayed across the screen and the game to crash instantly after. Booting it up again in either situation leaves you with nothing but a black screen with wind noises. 10 minutes after booting up that screen, the Fallen Human will offer to reset things so long as you sell them your soul. Accept, and every time you play a Pacifist route again the happy ending will play, before showing Frisk abruptly becoming possessed by the Fallen Human

I’d hazard a guess that what takes Undertale from being a goofy, lighthearted game with fun jokes and a lot of emotional moments into a ridiculously fascinating game to analyze is that reveal. The realization that the Player is a character takes that game’s story from good to great in a very short amount of time. Everything changes. And that’s exactly what happened to me with Bravely Default, which suddenly went from a cute throwback game to nostalgic RPGs (of which I have played none so there really isn’t any nostalgia there for me) that I genuinely enjoyed both the story and gameplay of to a brilliant game that I couldn’t get enough of. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that seeing that plot thread in Undertale is what made me appreciate its appearance in Default and hope that the lore there would be taken up a notch in Second. And honestly, I’d say it did. Gameplay-wise, it doesn’t go nearly as hard into it as Undertale does, but I don’t think it really has to. It’s not the same game, it just draws on similar themes, and I think it does that really well with the 3DS hardware. And to the Bravely Series’s credit, its integration of the Player into the narrative is done very well

So with all that said, what do I think of Bravely Second as a product? I had expectations, obviously. I expected to get more lore about the Celestial and the Celestial realm and was not disappointed. I went in spoiled on quite a few things, namely:

Anne is Airy’s sister, and is evil and works for a purple-ish pyramid named Providence

Ringabel is in it. Or at the very least, Alternis takes his helmet off. But it was probably Ringabel

The Kaiser’s real name is Denys Geneolgia

Obviously I knew who the asterisk holders were, since I had a list, so that spoiled Yōko as an antagonist to an extent, as well as a few tricky methods to beat bosses, namely Rev

A general overview of some sidequests, mostly Profiteur vs. Holly, Barras vs. Einheria, and Khamer vs. Alternis. You know, the controversial ones

Tiz/Agnès, Ringabel/Edea, and Yew/Magnolia are endgame ships

There is one time loop in the game. Not a world change, but a genuine time loop

I didn’t even pay much attention to pre-release info for Bravely Second, but try as I might, I can’t ever seem to completely avoid spoilers 😓. Oh well. The good news is that none of them really ruined the experience for me

Bravely Second is something that I haven’t seen in a long time: a good sequel. Good GOD have I seen games ruined by their sequels. Maybe I’m just bitter about the sequel hook in TWEWY Final Remix, which makes it seem like the writers have no idea what to do with a sequel, despite having a rich world to set it in. SO MANY sequels just rehash the first game, contradict its ending to get rid of everyone’s happy endings, or else try to explain things that didn’t need explanation (and explain them poorly at that). Bravely Second completely destroyed any of those worries for me. Everything feels like an expansion of the world and characters, done tastefully and with nothing but love for the first game that it’s expanding the lore of. I really felt the heart that went into making it while playing the game, and I have so much respect for the people who made it

Now, it does hit some similar plot beats, like the betrayer fairy who turns out to be working for an extradimensional being looking to mess with both the Celestial Realm and Luxendarc, but I love the twists it made to the formula. Bravely Default was a deconstruction of nostalgic JRPGs, where the helpful guide turns out to be working for the villain and tricked you into doing their dirty work, and instead of saving the world you were dooming it. Bravely Second then takes that plot and flips the perspective on it. They make the person being led by the fairy to open the Holy Pillar the villain, and he believes that he’s saving the world just as vehemently as the party did last game. Which almost makes him the perfect sympathetic villain, since he serves as a counterpoint to the main party who can understand exactly how he got into that position once the full extent of it has been revealed

At no point did I feel that Bravely Second’s added lore hampered the game, or ruined what I knew from the first game (I can easily ignore how silly it is that “oh all of the asterisk holders you killed last game were actually alive!” because I understand how much extra effort it would have been to design all new holders for old asterisks just to justify their inclusion in the game. It also might backfire for fans of the original characters who’d want to see their old favorites included.) Bravely Second’s lore expansions are only ever beneficial to its narrative. The expansion of the Celestial lore and the Plague, largely footnotes in Default, are turned into driving parts of the narrative in ways that only seem to make the world feel larger and older. Lived in. I can only hope that Bravely Third, or whatever it end up being called, keeps up the trend

And Bravely Default didn’t have the happiest of endings, with Ringabel getting a second shot to save his version of the party, but at the cost of abandoning the friends he’s made on this journey. Tiz is comatose, Til and Olivia are still dead, Edea is alone, and Agnès is left to reform her entire religion while fully believing that one of her friends is gone forever and the love of her life may never wake up. I am extremely grateful for being able to take that bittersweet ending and make it a happy one

On top of the amazing graphical upgrades, which stay true to the feel of BD while making everything feel grander, and the tweaks to the battle system to allow for minor enemy variation and the Another Round feature, which gives some incentive to carefully managing BP consumption, and some really fun new jobs, and I’d say I like Bravely Second even more than Bravely Default! (And browsing the internet, it seems like that’s an unpopular opinion. Dunno why, might be the fact that Second is goofier in its first half than the overall tone of Default and relies less on nostalgia for old RPGs). Bravely Second is where I feel the series went from a neat homage with some interesting gameplay innovations to a real adventure with its own unique world and story to tell

So what about the main characters, then? I’m gonna consider the main characters Yew, Magnolia, Edea, Tiz, Altair, Denys, and Anne, as they’re the ones who arguably drive most of the plot

Yew Geneolgia is the character that I was most worried about when I started playing this game. I was really expecting him to just be “Tiz but Younger” and I was happily surprised by what I got. If the liveblog didn’t make it clear, I LOVE YEW. He is such a genuinely sweet boy, who’s chipper and nerdy and so dedicated to his loved ones and I can’t help but relate to him. He’s like the perfect little brother I always wanted (I love my actual younger brothers but they ain’t perfect). His growth is incredible. He goes from a scared kid singing off-key to himself in the woods to keep calm to staring down the god of the realm of people that act as gods to him and telling him to get lost, all without ever losing his kind and dorky nature. He learns the importance of taking your mistakes and growing with them. His sense of familial duty is so wonderful to see, and he serves as an excellent foil to last game’s lead character, Tiz. We went from a low-class farmer and dutiful older brother to a high-class noble and dutiful younger brother, and the flip in perspective with the lead characters only serves to highlight the flip in perspective on the story as a whole. Yew is a Good Boy™ and I couldn’t ask for a better lead character in the game, especially since he’s not even on the cover of any version of the game? Bravely Second is Yew’s story and it’s a damn good one

Magnolia Arch is... honestly kind of underwhelming? She was marketed as the big female lead of the game, she’s the star of the teaser at the end of the international version of Bravely Default, she’s on the cover of some versions of the game! And I... uh... I like her just fine, but I don’t feel like she really served much purpose. She’s got a nice design, I like how sweet she is and her sense of curiosity as a newcomer to Luxendarc, but I don’t feel like she had much... point? She really feels like she was just there to introduce the major plot point of the Ba’als and be a love interest for Yew. I just can’t think of anything she really contributed to the game besides that. I don’t hate her by any means, I just wish there was a bit more to her than minor worldbuilding, especially with all of the buildup she got

Edea Lee is the person I would call the actual female lead of the game, just a different part of the game than Yew is. She’s the protagonist of the sidequests (sans the Yōkai quest, where she gets slightly lesser billing than Yew, but is still a major focal character.) Also, like Yew, she had little marketing. I really respect what they did with Edea. She was one of the most developed characters last game, having her whole arc where she learned to see the shades of gray in morality. So where do you go from there? How do you keep the character interesting without contradicting or repeating their character development from the last game? And my god did they do it with Edea. I love how she legitimately seems to have grown up in Second. She’s learned to see the complexities of situations and acts as a mentor figure to Yew, while still retaining her spitfire qualities... in the main story at least. Her development is actually about taking what she learned in the last game and applying it to a leadership role (which is what the sidequests are supposed to do, but really fail at in execution. More below.) She gets a different arc that complements her arc from last game, where she takes what she learned and now has to figure out how to apply it to a new role. The focus is less on learning to be a decent leader and mediator. It’s a continuation of her character, and it works really well. Ultimately, I’m happy with what we got of Edea (in the main story not... not necessarily Sidequest Edea, who may as well be a different character impersonating the real Edea for how much they have in common)

Tiz Arrior has a similar dilemma to Edea, and a different solution. What do we do with a character who’s already had a full game to be developed? Edea got a new arc that extends off of her first one, taking it in a new and mature direction. With Tiz, however, they decided that he would remain flat in Second, since he got the development in Default and seems content with where he is, personality wise. Like Edea, he’s placed in a mentor role, which I do really enjoy, but Tiz’s real strength in this game is how they used him for worldbuilding. He’s the perfect avenue to explore more of the lore surrounding Celestials, being the closest character to them thanks to his bond with one in the last game. So what does Bravely Second do? What it does best. It takes plot beats from the original and flips the perspective to give the player a new and better understanding of its world and characters. In this case, they take Tiz’s Celestial bond from the first game and give him a new Celestial to bond with, who is more than happy to exposit on his world and the world of Luxendarc. Like Magnolia, I feel like Tiz is much more of a worldbuilding device than a character in Bravely Second, though unlike Magnolia I can excuse this since Tiz already had a whole game that he was the main character of to be developed. We already like Tiz, so he has nothing to prove to us, and it feels good to see him get his delayed happy ending. Weird, though, how the two characters shown on box art for this game have the least impact as characters, though I suppose you could argue that they’re both tied to the main plot though other means. Other means such as...

Altair. Oh, Altair. You weird vegetable-loving alien man. He really grew on me, actually. I find it really interesting that despite constantly stating that the player is a Celestial and implying that the real world is the Celestial Realm, Altair comes in and almost seems to contradict that. Through him, we learn more about the Celestial Realm and, by extension, who and what kind of entity the Player is in this story. Is he aware of who we are? Who knows! He’s a good avenue of lore that I’m fond of. And if Yew is the emotional heart of the main story, then Altair is the emotional heart of the climax. His bond with Vega is what drives a lot of the overarching plot, and it’s a sweet romance. I dunno, I like Altair. I wish he was a little more meta-involved, and gave a little more info about the Celestial Realm, but he did good for what he needed to be. Team Dad’s good

Denys Geneolgia is tied for my favorite character with Yew and I’d talk about him but I already did and nothing’s really changed about my opinions since then, though the rewritten talk with Anne might need to be changed since she apparently doesn’t even know the player exists on the second loop, somehow. Oh well. I wouldn’t be upset if he was a party member in Bravely Third though *wink* *wink*

Anne is cool. Anne is a good foil to Airy, and my rage at realizing that she’s been playing the player since the beginning of Bravely Default is definitely a highlight. She’s a good foil to her sister from the last game. I mean she’s basically Airy taken up to 11 and without the pretense of being a good guy in this game. No, she got that out of her system last game and is in full blown Manipulative Bitch mode this game. She’s a fun villain to have on screen. Very punchable. I’m not sure if there’s much more to say about her, though. I would have loved to see her interact with the player more than the one scene where she taunts us. Just really rub it in that even though we’re a god in Luxendarc, she still managed to deceive us. Maybe expand on her relationship with Airy a little more, focus a bit more on her status as a foil to Denys. She’s a good antagonist, I just would’ve done more with her

We’ve covered the good, so what’s the bad? The sidequests. I’ve gone on a lot about the sidequests but I cannot stress enough how much I disliked all but the Chapter 6 sidequests. They are so formulaic, and that formula actually hampers the story they’re trying to tell with them. The sidequests are Edea’s spot to shine, and I can so clearly see what they were trying to do with them. They’re training Edea for her role as the Grand Marshal of Eternia, where she will end up facing two forces that oppose each other and have to make a decision about her nation’s involvement, which becomes evident during the Templar quest, which all of these seem to be leading up to. The problem, though, is that they’re trying to set up Edea as a mediator and then outright contradict that by having her just choose a side with no thought of compromise, desperately try to validate her choice as the only correct one, frequently claim that the other side’s argument has no merit, and then beats them down to make them agree with her. I mean, what!? That’s not mediating! That’s not my Edea!

By forcing us to make a binary choice, they completely gloss over any moral ambiguity in the situation, and the epilogues always focus more on how Edea feels about her choice, and not the impact that the choice has on the world as a whole. I can somewhat understand why they wanted to implement a choice system into the sidequests to make use of the second loop, but good gracious does it NOT WORK. And it doesn’t help that at least half of, if not 2/3 of, the sidequests try to make a situation morally ambiguous that really shouldn’t be? Or that has a clear correct answer? And all the rest are just really petty disagreements and none of them expand upon the world or characters in any meaningful way. Edea’s sidequest story of becoming a great mediator to make her father proud and grow into the role of Grand Marshal could have gone somewhere if that was a consistent thread between them and not a concept that solely exists in the Templar quest that tries to make the rest look good with hindsight. They really were the worst part of the game. The narratives weren’t enjoyable and the gameplay was just repetitive. Meet two bosses from the last game, listen to grievances, go through old dungeon from last game, pick a boss to fight, meaningless resolution. Rinse. Repeat. But in all honesty, the poorly written sidequests are my only big criticism of the game, and they’re entirely skippable to the average player. (I don’t recommend that you skip them because they offer useful jobs, but you certainly could if you wanted to)

Overall, I’d give Bravely Second a solid A. It is, unquestionably, one of the best games I’ve played in a while. Which is almost word-for-word what my final verdict for Bravely Default was in the email mentioned at the beginning of this post. This series consistently manages to suck me in and keep me invested in its world and characters. I adore it. I love the Bravely series so much and I’d happily buy whatever they come out with next so long as they never try that sidequest stuff ever again. Ever. (Though playing the game is probably gonna mean buying a Switch. Mmmm.)

Moving forward, what are my hopes for the hinted at Bravely Third? Ringabel’s certainly been teased a bit, so I’d hope to see him make a return. Especially as a playable character. I’d love to see his role with the Planeswardens expanded on and what their impact on the lore is. I could easily see Magnolia returning as a playable character, too, just for that little bit of extra development that she desperately needs and her implied relationship with the Planeswardens. I’d really love it if they brought Denys back and made him a playable character, finally giving him an actual, well-crafted character arc. Not to mention that his ties to both the Sword of the Brave and the Eye of Foundar make him an excellent candidate for the plot that the end of Bravely Second teased (also gives me more Geneolgia brothers content).

Story-wise, Bravely Default was centered around parallel worlds (or space), and Bravely Second explored the concept of time, so perhaps we could see alternate Realms/dimensions in Bravely Third. It would be interesting to see them expand upon the lore of the Celestial Realm, especially now that there are characters aware of the Player’s existence, such as Denys and Magnolia. Having Deneb around could also be an interesting choice, as she’d certainly know what the cataclysm in the Celestial Realm was and the capabilities of the Celestial Beings, since she is one. I’ve seen the idea of Deneb as a party member thrown around, and I wouldn’t be against it. Maybe if the whole party was made up of people aware of the Player’s existence, we could have more Player-party interactions. Dialogue choices in cutscenes for us, maybe, where we can talk directly to the party

I wouldn’t be against a Ringabel-Magnolia-Denys-Deneb party. I think that could work really well. Just a team composed of blond boys and silver-haired girls

I love Yew Geneolgia to death, but I think I’d keep him as a side character. He’s already had his story, though a look into what he did after Bravely Second would be much appreciated. Show me my son who reformed the Crystalguard and became the most well-loved member of House Geneolgia in history! At least give me a good sibling reunion! Give me the hug between Denys and Yew that I was robbed of in Bravely Second!

Don’t undo any of the happy endings everyone got. Tiz and Agnès are happily married and retired, and Ringabel and Magnolia make it back home safe to their significant others post-Bravely Third

I guess I’d also kinda like to see a good Cryst-Fairy around at some point. I like the idea I’ve seen around of the Player having their own fairy servant. That could be fun to play with. Maybe with those Party-Player chats I mentioned our dialogue choices could be telling our fairy what to tell the party. Speaking through our own, personal Cryst-Fairy, if you will. Though again, if we’re still expanding the lore, maybe they could go into the state of being of Cryst-Fairies more. Anne gave us a bit to work with, so I suppose I just want more elaboration on how they’re all siblings, how they feel about being siblings, etc. Maybe there’s a good fairy and a bad fairy in the same game and they bicker like real siblings

Also, can they give us confirmation as to whether Yōko was a Luxendarc native or not? And if not, can we see her home realm? That’d be cool. I’d like to see the Yōkai world please

I guess that’s really it, though. For now, that’s all I have to say on the Bravely series! Again, I’d like to give a huge thanks to everyone who’s read through the liveblog and/or commented on any of the parts of it. Seriously, you guys rock and I don’t know if the liveblog would’ve gotten as big as it did if it wasn’t for you guys and the support you provided. If any of you guys want to chat, don’t be afraid to hit me up. My ask box is always open

So! I’ve been Liz, this has been Liz Liveblogs Bravely Second, and I hope to see you all again if/when Bravely Third drops so we can all get lost in the world of Luxendarc together one more time!

[ganglylimbs]

Analyzing the Gay

Ok, seeing rumors that there’s going to be another lgbtq+ character induced in the next volume of RW/BY, so I decided to go through who it most likely is and what I personally hope for (spoiler, reality and what I hope for don’t come anywhere near each other). 

Assuming it’s not going to be a new character induced into the show, judging by how they introduced Ilia, and how they’ve talked about how they want to handle LGBTQ+ characters, my guess is that they’re going to introduce them via relationship/relationship talking

And (I hate saying this because I dislike being rude to the writers) but we can probably forget about the LGBTQ+ character being the TQ+ part (honestly, I’m crossing my fingers for the B part but even then it’s 50/50). 

The top contender is the Bees becoming canon, especially because Barbara was the one to announce it. The only reason I can think why it’s not them is that (didn’t see the tweets/news myself so I don’t know if Barbara said character or characters) it would be introducing two lgbtq+ characters and the announcement was for only one new character (?) I know, it’s a nitpicky point, but if we’re just analyzing, then let’s analyze. 

I honestly think they are going to have the bees become canon because 1.) Barbara was the one to say it (implying that it has something to do with Yang) and 2.) if it’s not the bees, the Tumblr side of the fandom will riot. It’s a small, but, unfortunately,  loud group that will raise hell. I guarantee that if, with this announcement, the bees don’t become canon, there is going to be cries of queerbait. No matter who is announced as queer, they will claim that they were queerbaited.  Because there is a certain side that is obsessed with RWBY being queer-but only certain characters.

Here is the problem with that. First off, as certain as I am that the bees are becoming canon, I’m even more certain that Yang is the queer character. Like, no doubt in my mind, Yang is 100% queer. There is just so much evidence (even if you want to discount the songs, which I understand) there’s still a mountain of evidence that Yang has gay feelings of something. So let’s get that out of the way. Yang is queer in some sort of way and I 100% think she has a thing for Blake.  

If I were to make Yang the queer character and touch on the Bee subject, I would have Yang confess to Blake but Blake rejects her (ideally because Blake is aromantic. Not going to happen because, again, I doubt we’re going to get anything but LGB. Also, following my own nitpicky rules, that would be two queer people). So instead, to make it flow with the show, she says she’s not ready for a relationship (if, by some miracle, this all does happen this way, please let this be the excuse. Please, I beg. Because the other reason would be that she’s in love with Sun and even as a Blacksun shipper that would be bad. Bad, bad, bad. Just. Please don’t go that route.). So Yang is heartbroken, but they move on (because friends to the end and group as family, please and thank you). And what’s this? A relationship forms between Ilia and her? They form a kickass team? Ilia helps get Yang’s fire back and Yang introduces Ilia to all these great things that she was kept from while in the White Fang. They protect each other and it’s awesome.

You may be asking, why go to such lengths to shoot down a relationship already built up in the show, just to have one of the people get into another relationship?

Because, meta, I hate ship wars. I think they are a disease on fandoms and honestly, I’m tired of going into the tag and seeing posts about how x ship is better than y ship, or how y person is “abusive” so shipping them with x makes you abusive (which, hey fandom, we should probably discuss what is or isn’t someone being abusive. Your favorite character being sad or angry at someone is not them being abused). I’m sick of seeing posts about why one ship will not be canon or why one ship is better than the other. I’m tired of it.

And unfortunately, there are only two solutions to this problem (a third would be, as a whole, fandom holding each other accountable, but that will not happen because neither side can admit they are part of the problem. It’s always the other sides fault for the toxicity of the fandom, an easy excuse for people to continue being shitty.). So either both parts of the ships end up together in a poly ship of some sort (not going to happen) or neither ship happens. Which is what I prefer. (Especially to the god awful 4th option which is a love triangle. please. Just no.)

Anyways, none of that will happen because the fandom will riot, so I’m pretty sure the bees will become canon. In the story, I’ll love it because the two have great chemistry, a mountain of reasons why they should be together, and it’s a good love story. Out of canon, the fandom will be insufferable and I’ll hate it.

If I could have my choice for how queer Yang ends up (besides what I already wrote)  either she ends up with Ilia or with Weiss, because they have a budding romance there and I’d love to see it more. Or they introduce a new character in to be her love interest. If I could really get my way, despite the writer’s inexperience with lgbtq+ people, she’d be in a polyamorous relationship with two characters. 

Next is Blake. If Blake turns out to be the new queer character (and they don’t do bees) my guess is they build up her relationship with Ilia. 

Which brings me to something else I would like them to explore. Anime (and most stores with teenagers in general) tend to be focused on The One. On one hand, I totally get it. It’s a story and you have a limited time to focus on relationships. If it’s a romance book, people tend to not want to read about the main character constantly breaking up with people. In film, time is even more limited, so the main character falls in love with B and that's it. They live happily ever after. 

Except that’s not what happens with teenagers. 

So if I had my way, it’d be both Ilia and Blake falling in love with several other people before finally falling for each other. But if books and T.V. are limited for time, then wew, RWBY is even more limited. This isn’t a big sticking point and I honestly would love to see a relationship between Blake and Ilia. Especially a story of Blake helping Ilia heal and introducing her into a more loving lifestyle. 

(Actually, if I really had my way Blake would be aro, not only because it fits her perfectly, but because how great of representation would that be? An aro who has a loving relationship with her family, has a loving relationship with her friends, is a protagonist trying to get shit done? It would be amazing).  

If Weiss is the new queer character, I would think they will either try to build up Yang and her’s relationship, introduce a new character, or try to make Ruby/Weiss happen (which, for personal reasons, I rather they try to make Yang and her happen or the new character). 

But definitely, please, for Yang/Weiss. Because really, the building blocks of Yang/Weiss are there, even before vol. 5. There is a real connection there, and I’d love for them to explore them. 

And if I could really have it my way, I’d have them make Weiss trans too. 

If it turns out that Ruby is the new queer character they would either do Ruby/Weiss or this could be the reintroduction for Penny. I would be more than ok with that, especially if Penny 2 doesn’t remember Ruby and Ruby has to work at being friends again. And then that blossoms into a relationship and I love it. 

Really, if I could have it my way, I’d hope they make Ruby ace/aro. Again, a great representation with loving friends and family. 

Other possibilities for who the queer character is, are them introducing a new character into the show. Which I’m ok with, but I feel like that would get more complaints about how there are too many people in the cast. 

They also could reveal Winter as queer since they’re going back to Atlas and Weiss would want to reunite with her. I’d love this actually, especially if it involved Winter flirting with Ilia. 

Emerald is a great contender too. Her breaking down over Cinder and revealing that she loved her in a fit of anger? That would be great. (Another con is I’m pretty sure the fandom will do her dirty like they did Ilia when it was revealed that Ilia had feelings for Blake. Despite, you know, the fandom as a whole deciding both were queer beforehand-and this goes back to that small loud group only wanting certain characters to be queer.) 

A few more (admittedly cracky theories) could be them bringing back Scarlet (with the rest of team SSSN) and having him revealed as queer. 

If they want to make the fandom implode, have Jaune revealed as the queer person. While probably not, it could work to introduce someone who can help him process Pyhrra’s death, and not really heal him, but get him set in the right direction. Again, probably not because there’s already talk about him having too much screen time (which...could probably be another rant of mine) and because he already had a relationship and I feel like people would hold that against him. 

Out of left field is going to be Sun as the queer character. This is mostly just me wanting my boy to be happy and if the bees are going to happen, I want him to be with someone too. 

Another left field one is probably Oscar, which I think it would be interesting to explore. Like him already having all these problems to deal with as well as having a crush on someone? That’d be so interesting. I also wonder if this will get so many people going “uh, uh, uh, this boy can’t have any sexual/romantic thoughts at all because he has Ozpin in his head and that makes this pedophilia.” 

A few more is Qrow or Tai being queer. Ozpin, maybe? 

Anyway, after all of this, in conclusion, what most likely will happen is the bees become canon. If they don’t, I would love for Ilia to build up a relationship with one of the girls. Or have that Yang and Weiss’ relationship continues to develop. 

[zoeology31]

On Star Wars: The Last Jedi

So I saw Star Wars last Sunday. Between critics bowing down to it and plenty of people on here mourning it’s train-wreck qualities, I was pretty apprehensive, but I wanted to at least see for myself.

The verdict: Most of the movie is a giant mess and I’m glad J.J. Abrams is coming back for IX, but it does pack a punch in some parts. Once my life gets a little less busy, I’ll probably join the growing number of fans and write a fix-it fic.

Major spoilers below. Seriously, I’m about to spoil pretty much everything.

I get that this movie was trying to comment on the hardships of war and how people have to keep their priorities straight and make sacrifices, but did they have to kill so many people? The bombers, all the X-wing pilots except for Poe, the Resistance leadership, everyone who wasn't on the main Resistance cruiser, half the transport vessels, and half the skimmer pilots? None of those were even a fair fight, because they couldn’t fire back. It was just slaughter, and it got painful to watch after a while. The deaths that had the most meaning were the individuals who directly chose to sacrifice their lives for the rebellion: Paige, Holdo, and Luke.

Speaking of fair fights, where were my iconic Star Wars battles? The only fighter-to-fighter combat was at the very beginning and ended with the bombers destroyed and Poe demoted. Rey spent more time fighting Luke than the actual main bad guys, and while her tag-team with Kylo Ren against the guards was cool, I couldn’t really enjoy it because I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. And of course Luke’s battle with Kylo Ren, while awesome, doesn’t really count.

A lot of moments felt unnecessary, if not extremely uncomfortable, and took away from the story, including: Rose electrocuting Finn (she could’ve just waved the taser in front of his face and let him explain the tracking situation, with the same overall result), the porgs, the pointless alien nuns, Luke milking the alien seal slug thing, Luke’s comment about Jakku being “pretty much nowhere”, Luke slapping Rey with a leaf, shirtless Kylo Ren in high-waisted pants, 90% of the shots of Kylo Ren looking sad, Rose and Finn (again) getting electrocuted for a parking violation, that opera alien at Canto Bight that looked like someone’s fetish, BB-9E, 75% of DJ, Hux slapping Finn with no consequence, BB-8 driving the AT-ST, Leia slapping Poe, Holdo saying “Godspeed”, Holdo stroking Poe’s face, that thing with Rey and the time dilation in the cave, Yoda’s weirdly corporeal Force ghost, the golden dice from the Falcon, Poe saying “you’re not dead”, that one dude tasting the salt on Crait, Rose kissing Finn, and the awkward introduction between Poe and Rey (weren’t they introduced at the end of TFA?).

What happened to the Force in this movie? The whole Force bond idea felt incredibly shoehorned, and since we don’t find out that Snoke was behind it until much later, we’re expected to believe Rey and Kylo Ren share some “special connection” because plot. It did wind up being pretty cool when Luke used it at the end to trick Kylo Ren, but I’m not clear on why he died immediately afterwards. Was it too draining? Did Kylo Ren running his projection through have a physical effect on him? Did he just voluntarily stop existing? And if Force ghosts can summon lightning, what’s stopping them from intervening further in the world of the living? Why hasn’t Anakin just showed up and killed Kylo Ren? Then of course there’s Leia floating through space despite never demonstrating any abilities beyond emotion sensing before.

Kylo Ren. I am unimpressed with the movie’s repeated attempts to create sympathy for him to the detriment of other characters. Your uncle drawing a lightsaber on you is not in any way an excuse to try to kill him, burn down his temple, and murder all his students who refused to join you. Besides, doesn’t this contradict canon in Bloodline or something? He’s still just as whiny, manipulative, and flat-out evil as in TFA, but now he’s responsible for even more deaths (remember, he fired the shot that blew up the X-wing hangar).

How are we supposed to buy Rey suddenly believing “there’s still good in him” or whatever when Kylo Ren killed her father figure, gravely injured her best friend, tortured her, and is in the process of racking up an even higher body count? TFA Rey is too smart for that, and she would never compromise her new family for the tiniest chance of redeeming a grown man who’s clearly made his choice and whom she owes nothing to. Luke didn’t start trying to redeem Vader until after he learned Vader was his father, what excuse does Rey have? Not only does Rey Nobody make no sense in the context of this movie, it ignores all the parallels and setup of TFA and turns Rey from the rightful Skywalker heir to some random girl who is arbitrarily powerful and arbitrarily the main character.

Because Rian Johnson lives under the delusion that Kylo Ren is somehow the male lead, Finn was forced into an extraneous sideplot and romance that repeated his character arc from TFA. Between getting electrocuted twice, falling into racist stereotypes at the casino, needing Rose to explain everything to him, getting slapped by Space Hitler, and being cheated out of a full-length, emotionally emphasized fight scene against his lifelong oppressor, Finn generally suffers some of the worst treatment of any character in the movie. The casino plot was tedious and its moral felt forced, and the undercover scene aboard the Star Destroyer was disappointingly short and ended in failure. Being sidelined meant Finn wasn’t written as wildly out of character as Rey or Poe, and John Boyega’s acting ensured we still saw the Finn we all know and love, but it was still an incredible disservice to his character.

Even though he got quite bit more screentime, Poe was almost a different character in this movie than in TFA. In the movie, comics, and tie-in novels, he had very clear strengths and flaws: charismatic, selfless, loyal, and an excellent strategist, but too willing to sacrifice himself and not good at thinking long-term. This is all thrown out the window in TLJ, making Poe instead a stereotypical Latino hothead who’s reckless ideas cost dozens of lives and who constantly battles his (white female) superiors. When he mutinies, we’re expected to agree with Holdo and be happy when she lectures him about hope and honorable retreats, but Holdo’s smarmy attitude and refusal to tell Poe the plan makes him seem like the reasonable one. Not only was Poe’s arc a lesson he didn’t need to learn, it was insulting, frustrating to watch, and poorly executed.

The three new characters were unnecessary and stretched the story too thin. DJ was practically useless and his verbal tics were more annoying than quirky. His only role was to show the grey morality of the war, but it would’ve been smoother for Finn to just observe and make his own comments, rather than have DJ and Rose give clunky exposition. Rose was a sweetheart, but her character was completely static and acted more as Finn’s morality pet than an independent person. Her tasering Finn at the start and kissing him at the end was probably supposed to be character development, but both felt forced. Holdo was a terrible leader and difficult to root for until her death scene, which was incredible but would’ve been more impactful with a character we had time to get attached to.

There were some things I liked about the movie. The cinematography was gorgeous when sets were properly lit, especially on Ach-To and Crait, and it had some truly stunning scenes, like Holdo wrecking the First Order fleet, Luke seeing the twin suns on Tatooine, and Rey lifting the rocks for the Resistance. The main cast was as attractive as ever, helped by some top-notch costuming. Despite exchanging zero words, Rey and Finn’s strong relationship was clear as day, and their reunion was fantastic. When Rey swooped in on the Falcon to give the skimmers cover fire and Finn cheered, that was my “I’m watching Star Wars” moment.

Luke’s arc was comparatively decent; he was too surly and irreverent at the beginning, but his criticisms of the old Jedi order made sense and his stand against Kylo Ren was the closest this movie got to iconic. Luke and Leia’s reunion was one of the most emotionally touching moments, and it doesn’t surprise me that Carrie Fisher wrote it. I liked the ending; everyone was together and getting along, the Resistance was safe aboard the Falcon, and Rey literally shut the door in Kylo Ren’s face. Even with the weird sympathy track, it’s clear he won’t be redeemed and it’ll be interesting to see him as the main villain.