#and then i was like but the royal one arc was super cool too so i went back again

[mothpawbs]

more royal dragons, this time the ones from arc 2/3! these were really fun, and the previous designs helped me get comfortable with more detailed jewelry designs, so these are a bit more extravagant.

design notes under the cut!

RUBY: i didn't realize how young she really is when i read escaping peril the first time, i thought she was in her mid-twenties at least but apparently she's only 12/17? wild. anyways i made her ruby red with some orange accents to point to tourmaline. her tiara is meant to look like laurels, studded with rubies, and the gems on her brows and wings are citrine.

GLORY: i already had a design for her, i just touched it up a bit here. she's very pretty, but her scales are notably duller than my other rainwing designs. she has pouches she wears around her neck because she likes to be prepared and is trying to connect more to her culture. at least one of those pockets has snacks for silver. the flower on her ear is a plumeria india, one of my favorite flowers.

THORN: easily my favorite design in the set, oh my god i love how she came out. she has the same colors as my sunny design but desaturated, and almost the same markings. her jewelry is mostly gold with onyx and lapis lazuli insets. the design for the eye of onyx is inspired by @dragonsndoodles's design, which looks absolutely gorgeous and way more elegant than the graphic novel version.

SNOWFALL: i think i made her too round and soft-looking? idk i think she's cute though. i definitely had to get those pale sunset colors in there, and she has similar colors/markings to glacier. the tiara is one she found in the treasury after the racism crown™ was destroyed, and the shawl was a gift from luna as a thanks for helping her tribe. silk doesn't help much against the cold, but it sure is pretty.

WASP: SCARY BITCH. i had to mess with her colors a lot, i wanted to make her kinda greenish with red accents but it just was NOT working. i do like where i ended up though. i don't know that she would wear much jewelry, probably more armor than anything else, but i wanted to do hivewing jewelry so here we are. the neck piece was really fun to design. these are steel and gold with amber and peridot accents, and the cape is silk with gold embroidery. i have this headcanon of her having breath of evil growing out of her like a cordyceps fungus, and she uses the cape to cover the tendrils on her back.

SEQUOIA: ooo she was a challenge, i'm not great at designs with a lot of green or a lot of dark colors so she was fun. her colors are inspired by @daily-wof-designs, and the brown tones were pulled from pictures of giant sequoias. she wears braided leather straps hung with aquamarine, and the scarf might be silk? or some kind of natural fiber? i'm not sure. but it has leaf designs and is probably batik dyed (which is super cool btw look it up)

[shyficwriter]

This isn't really a fully formed idea but imagine being part of the Guardians of the Galaxy and having like lightning powers.

And like, when you get angry or frustrated an electrical charge builds up. Sometimes it's just static arcing through your hair. Other times you accidentally discharge the electricity into a metal table or something. Or you'll purposely reach out an grab onto a metal pole to make sure you don't discharge the lighting into whatever person is pissing you off (Rocket)

One day you discharge the lightning into a pole when you're pissed at Rocket and it looks like a transformer exploded. Rocket cockily asks "Was that meant to be intimidating?" and you answer, "No, that was to prevent me from electrocuting you when I kick your furry raccoon ass." *cue Rocket lunging for your throat and the others needing to break up the fight*

Also I imagine the following exchanges would happen: "Damn it! They've fried [electrical device] again!" --- "Sorry!" Or, "If you don't stop arcing my ship-!" --- "It was an accident!"

Because problem is you can't always control it, and once the charge builds up either you discharge it intentionally somewhere where you won't fry the electrical (or fry any of your friends) or it will just happen on it's own the next time you touch something- anything. Like static electricity shocks- but worse because it could either be a tiny tingle (if you're mildly frustrated or annoyed) or you could electrocute whoever comes in your path (if you're royally pissed).

Mantis has actually been forbidden from trying to use her powers on you after one time she attempted to see if you were angry and got blasted across the room when the electricity discharged (She was fine though, but you still felt real bad)

Obviously those who have metal implants are less than thrilled if they accidentally brush into you and you have a charge built up. (Nebula could have killed you the first time it happens, and Rocket legitimately tries when it happens to him- also his tail was singed for a week)

Eventually someone gets you a rubber mat to stand on to mitigate this, especially when the charge becomes too great. It's the only thing that allows you to discharge the electricity without electrocuting your surroundings. (Your rubber soled boots apparently weren't enough and you often get sentenced to go stand on your mat until you "cool down" when you're frustrated.)

It's not all bad though. Sometimes you get to see Drax's more playful side because the tiny shocks barely faze him- in fact they kinda tickle he claims. So sometimes you'll even sneak up behind him and give him a little shock just to make him laugh and every once in awhile he'll even chase after you if he's in the mood to be playful. Doesn't happen often, but it's still fun when it does- though he always catches you and gives you a playful noogie in retaliation.

It's also a real asset to the team. Lighting powers are super helpful with taking down big bad guys. You may have also even been convinced at least once to jump-start Peter's ship too lol

[styrmwb]

I beat Chrono Trigger

And I beat it like, nearly entirely unspoiled too.

For the longest time Chrono Trigger was "The most Styrm game Styrm has never played" and I felt silly cause my super cool ADHD brain never decided it was gonna decide to play it until now (I also had to get it done before FFVII rebirth or it was NEVER gonna happen lmfao)

So like, what are my onions?

The game's so fucking good, it stands up so incredibly well that I regret not getting to it sooner. The music, the story, the gameplay, the art (backgrounds and spritework), every single part of this game I absolutely adored. I can MAYBE think of like 2 things I would have changed about the game but they're so minor.

Characters

I loved every single party member. The ones with character felt so alive and enjoyable, and the ones that didn't really have much character were super fun to use in battle. Crono MIGHT be one of the most broken JRPG protags I've played as; I gave him a counter item for the whole game and he would constantly attack with high crits. Marle is one of my favorite characters; being all adventurous and shit, rejecting the stuffiness of royal society but like, not NOT caring? I like it. Plus she was instrumental in having me not die lmfao. Lucca had a really great character arc with Robo and her mother, and blowing shit up was super fun. Speaking of, Robo deserves the entire world; I would die for him. Unfortunately he didn't get as much use in my playthrough as I would have wanted, but I still dearly care for him. Ayla was a powerhouse even though i completely neglected her thief mechanic, and despite her caveman speak and relative lack of goal compared to the cast, I really appreciated her presence as I almost felt like she was a pillar For the rest of the cast. Magus was hype. I'll describe thoughts later down the list, but for his gameplay his magic annihilated battles, and the dude pretty much solo'd the Lavos boss rush.

Finally; Frog. The absolute best character in the game. His design? Creative. His story? Heartbreaking yet heroic. His gameplay? Essential. I loved Frog from the moment I saw him and he was with me through thick and thin. Something I really appreciated was that HE got Masamune rather than Crono. Sure, Crono is the main character, but Frog is the hero. I love my amphibious mans.

Lavos is super cool to me. It's not really a character (but kinda is?) and more like a force of nature. I also think it's kinda conceptually funny that the main villain of this classic game is the meteor that killed the dinosaurs. I don't think I FULLY understood what it truly was, but it's a concept that I very much enjoyed.

Overall, all of the characters in this game are great. Everyone has a role, everyone is enjoyable in their own way, and I really love seeing how the time travel aspect would let you see fates of characters and their role in history.

Gameplay

I loved the lack of random battles. Every battle felt planned and like its own individual puzzle, especially with the positioning gimmick; what enemies get hit by what abilities, how do I avoid hitting this enemy with the element that heals them with my super strong AoE ability. The idea of dual and triple techs enhanced this further: am I gonna use individual turns for heals or am I gonna just have Crono and Ayla fuckin decimate the entire area?

The aspect of time travel felt overall very well used. Past experiences affecting the future, but things in the future not affecting backwards; it feels like it should be obvious it works that way but it just felt like, well executed. this paragraph proves i need to get better at writing cause ultimately I just said I liked it

I also feel like the whole beginning section with the fair leading to the trial really makes you think harder about what to pay attention to and what matters: it teaches well without shoving it in your face. Might just be because I play a lot of RPGs and this is an older one, but I was able to discern the knowledge i needed easily.

Story

So to clarify here, I know there are multiple endings, but I got two; the Die To Lavos Ending not sure why i got this one nope and the real ending; I tried to do everything that I possibly could, so that was my experience.

It's great. I kinda loved how it was less a "party vs a bad time man" and more of a "party vs a natural calamity": I feel like that's not done often in games, there's usually a big bad (which I don't hate!) but it was a nice change of pace. I absolutely loved how each timeline had its own individual struggles, and the nature of time travel made them flow together very well in small ways (like defeating Magus makes Ozzie the worshipped one). Being able to go into it unspoiled really improved the huge moments, like Magus and Crono's big events (not gonna say in case there's someone like me out there), and I very much enjoyed guessing what would be next and what would affect what.

The Only Major issue I have is the 3 party limit, and character dialogue being locked to who you have. I feel like there would have been some really cool moments had everyone been there, like the campfire scene where everyone got their time.

Music

I mean, it's peak. I've already heard some of Mitsuda's work in later games, but hearing him here do (pretty much) the whole soundtrack was just a treat to my ears. The main theme is stuck playing in my head daily. The overworld and cutscene songs I think are where it shines, although I did really like the battle songs as well. and as always shoutouts to Uematsu we love that man.

Art

Again, a short section, but this game is beautiful, and I could tell that a lot of the techniques they used felt advanced for the time, like the time travel effect, or the car race; the spritework felt bouncy and alive, the backgrounds were beautifully detailed (Like Magus's Castle holy shit), and the entire game was a joy to look at.

Unspoiled

So yeah, I beat this game unspoiled somehow. I knew a couple characters like Crono and Lavos (the fact that they Existed), I've seen some backdrops like the campfire and Masamune in its sheath, and I've heard some songs; but other than that, I didn't know anything!

(warning for spoilers if you are like me and have gotten unspoiled don't read this)

Like I said in the story, it was really fun to figure out how things would be affected by the nature of time travel, naturally figuring out side quests like Fiona, and being hit by moments that I never would have expected. I didn't think my actions at the fair would affect anything until I saw the trial which made me question everything (I'm sorry old man for eating your lunch) (twice). I remember getting what i thought was the full party cause that's what the box art was, until I noticed what I thought was a 7th party member slot, leading me to wonder when this person would join and who it is; discovering Antiquity (also a surprise to me) convinced me that the person was here, and then that said person was Boy with cat that said I was gonna die, and lo and behold I was right! But not in the way that I thought. Seeing Magus be the final member was incredibly rewarding, and I probably wouldn't have gotten him if I didn't get reality checked by my actions mattering in the trial (although I do wish he had some more party interactions and dialogue). Also close to this: I did not know Crono STRAIGHT UP dies. Like, OBVIOUSLY he was gonna come back, right? But to have that happen to your main character? Felt revolutionary for the time. Didn't think Lavos was gonna be like, a humanoid creature, and I ESPECIALLY didn't think it was gonna have a phase 2.

(ok spoilers over)

Final

I could not be happier with my experience for this game. I can absolutely see why it is considered a masterpiece, and it's clearly going to stick with me for a good long while, the rest of my life, even. My negatives are incredibly minor, really only wanting more party dialogue and interactions (and to remove Golem FUCK that fight lmfao), and for that, I can probably consider it one of my favorite RPGs.

10/10, thanks for reading my ramblings if you did.

[doctorwyvern]

been feeling sick recently. anyway headcanon time!

totally not just doing this to avoid my wips

Kyborg (the mighty)

he keeps an author morgan style journal with little doodles and stuff. not saying they’re good but he does it anyway. definitely helped him keep track of everything when he was in the evirwinter woods

chronic pain haver

chronic pain DENIER. will push through it (even if he hurts himself stupidly)

so so painfully stubborn. dude you can take a break no one is gonna judge you homie stop being so tense

i personally hc that elves can choose to sleep or to trance and kyborg exclusively trances so never dreams

if/when he does fully sleep he has very vivid dreams

his hair is super long and he does his best to keep it combed and neat

however sometimes he doesn’t take care of himself and it can easily turn into a greasy rats nest

but most times he just keeps it down or in a half updo

and when he’s extra attentive he decorates it just like he and his family would.

worlds best social cue misser

sooo mentally ill. later on he talks with dr ahem and they develop a friendship. they meet up when not on missions and kinda just talk

this makes dr ahems confession a million times worse btw

professional hater

Mudd

SOOO AUTISTIC

and transmasc

never ever takes off his cape. it’s nice and heavy on his shoulders and back and he likes that

very expressionless and kinda blunt

also misinterprets social cues but instead of spouting nonsense hes confused by other peoples nonsense (does this make sense?)

runs from his problems (literally and metaphorically)

would rather die then ever confront his family ever

he is so neurological disabled to me.

he’s always had memory problems all throughout his life, but shaman seuss definitely messed up his brain worse with those memory rocks

has a hard time telling his fake memories from his real memories

sometimes forgets clay was never real because of his fake memories

chronic headaches. maybe from those enchanted rocks,? they get worse after his arc

his bag is soo full of random cool (non magical) rocks he finds

sometimes super loud (especially when he’s excited) and gets embarrassed about it

he was brought up as a royal and is sometimes too weirdly formal

hates loud sounds so bad. covers / pulls on his ears when it’s too loud

Bart! Bart! Bart!

coolest sideburns in the west

i know his canon design has him barefoot but i reject that. this man wears leather boots

hopeless romantic

soo queer. just in all the ways. pansexual and gender-fluid because he can’t decide for shit

Expert navigator! can get around anywhere

definitely nosy. digs into stuff that is none of his business

drama lover

scarily good with a dagger

also keeps a journal but mostly for doodling cool people he sees when he’s out and about

extremely patient. he’s like a saint

also loyal, especially to gum gum

when he was done sailing on the jebadiah he immediately set out to find gum gum again

he was fiercely protective of gum gum in the orphanage

doenst understand sheet music

but he’s a musical master. he can make up songs anytime with anything

very craft. after all he fashioned himself a little lute and taught himself to sing

tries to be very non judgmental (ahem ahem he’s like the only one who tries to be nice to slique)

for the longest time he thought his parents didn’t care about him but he was ECSTATIC to meat omar and tsimsun

Gum Gum!!!

has a big book of flowers (with pictures!)

knows how to hand sew and patches his own clothes (albeit a little haphazardly)

when he was younger he would genuinely believe anyhting you told him about his parents

that’s why he never looked for his mom because someone told him she died

constantly imagining what his dad could look like

honestly refuses to casually take his hat off

bart has to struggle to get him to take care of his hair because of this

he has super thick hair and hates to get it cut so he has a weird mullet going on

heavy sleeper + snores

sometimes he just likes to sit back when people are talking and listen

sometimes nonverbal

also autistic (perhaps med support needs?)

haates it when he thinks people aren’t taking him seriously

has a gnarly dog bite scar on his arm from when he was younger ( 👀 ! )

wears the same coat and hat all the time

picky eater

bart always helps to accommodate him and is patient when he tries to speak. this means so much to me btw. they are literally brothers

talks in a like funny way. idk how to explain this he just does this in canon.

sometimes repeats the words he hears

i forget what this is called

i have a fever as i’m typing this so i hope it’s comprehensive. OK BYE

[neos-schlond-poofa]

MY MCD HEADCANONS FOR THE 9TH ANNIVERSARY

i need to post SOMETHING to celebrate the best minecraft series ever but i dont want to do something too big because next year is TEN YEARS I AM OLD so heres my hcs and most are. just canon in my rewrite WHICH I REALLY NEED TO ORGANIZE ONE DAY. someone should make like a google doc layout template thing for us its a hard world theres so much stuff that needs to be rewritten. anywho.

LORD APHMAU

NOT the reincarnation of Irene. Or literally just Irene.

Instead I based her off of my friend's old theory from 5th grade (as a tribute, also my friend isn't dead it's not like an in memoriam tribute but its a tribute to an amazing idea) that she was a fallen angel. But. She isn't at the same time?

Instead, she's one of Irene's daughters. Kind of. ITS HARD TO EXPLAIN AND I DONT WANNA GO ALL INTO THE LORE HERE BUT THERES "SISTERS" OF HERS TOO AND VYLAD STILL SUMMONED HER.

She doesn't have those markings from rebirth; I like them in fanart, but realistically? Why would some random girl have that? Instead, she has weird scars on her body.

Knows the basics of writing and reading... but REALLY struggles with them still. She literally just spawned on this world. She doesn't know everything.

But her natural tendency to help people is in her blood. Like. Irene's whole purpose of these "daughters" of her were to try to fix her legacy in a way. She still struggles with a lot of things though, and all those changes to the village LIKE WHERE SHE JUST BUILT HUGE THINGS obviously don't happen.

She also didn't have good combat skills until she trained with Garroth. Then Zenix. Then EVERYONE. Her combat skills are a huge melting pot of every single person she's fought against or fought with. Of course, she prefers to just use her sword.

SUPER socially awkward but doesn't even realize it. After all, she doesn't have many things to base her social interactions off of; she just got here. But, she does have manners at least.

Can't cook. AT ALL. This is actually a headcanon based off the WORST FANFIC I EVER READ (I lied it was amazing but I was so shocked by the ending like it's the best fic ever but... it SCARRED me PLEASE read it).

About like. 24 years old.

Bisexual and genderfluid and polyamorous.

Endgame is ultimately Garrancemau, but she DOES have a relationship with Katelyn and Zoey during the series. Those will be expanded upon later.

Never has a romantic relationship with Aaron. Also will be expanded upon later.

Can't tell her lefts from rights (just like me) without using her hands.

Once she found out about her relation to Irene, she just felt TERRIBLE. Like. This super cool Goddess EVERYONE loves was basically her mother and she has to live up to that.

BUT OH IT GETS WORSE WHEN SHE FINDS OUT IRENE IS A TERRIBLE PERSON. Now, she has to struggle with telling the world or not, she has to exist knowing she was just created to be a solution to the problems someone who doesn't even care much about her caused.

Has mild generalized anxiety and ADHD. And. Naturally gets a lot of trauma over the series.

Knows how Joan of Arc felt.

GARROTH RO'MEAVE

Kind of an idiot in a way. Like. SUPER INTELLIGENT. But never thought about changing his first name when hiding in Phoenix Drop... he just always ignored people's questions about his last name.

In his defense, Garroth became a fairly popular first name after his birth. It's like when the royals have children and the names they give them become more popular.

Azura helped him escape to Phoenix Drop; they met when he was allowed to go to knight college or whatever its called I FORGOT GUYS!! And he was not in the same class as Laurance... but there any good knight is literally put on the list of Jury of Nine canidates. Like. It's not that hard to be considered. But to be picked? They do like the biggest background checks EVER and secretly watch you to see your strengths.

Naturally a very father-like figure to those significantly younger than him as a result of caring for his brothers and protecting them from his father. I made a whole post about it before. I'd tag it but I. Don't feel like it.

LEVIN'S FATHER!! DILFROTH IS CANON GUYS. But he doesn't know he's the father until after the timeskip.

He doesn't just wear his helmet to hide his appearance from others; he can't stand his appearance. He's a splitting image of his father, the man he truly hates. He hides all the mirrors in his living quarters, he can't stand it. Aphmau is the one that truly starts helping him love himself.

Although. After the whole incident featuring a betrayal, portal, and missing 15 years, he feels scared that he is turning out evil just like his father. He hates it. It haunts him everyday.

Also. HE WASN'T AWARE OF WHAT HE WAS DOING.

Firstly, I just need to say, I head canon Garroth to have depression. And I spoke about this a bit before, but seeing the two people he loved the most seemingly hide a relationship behind his back, instead of being open and honest with him just hurt. He fell into a depressive episode, like it was terrible. AND ZANE BEING ZANE used that to manipulate Garroth, having Lillian use magicks and potions or whatever to mind control him. He only broke out of it once Lillian died AND LAURANCE USED THE POWER OF LOVE!

He never truly figures out everything that happens until after he escapes from the Irene Dimension.

Speaking of which, he is SUPER injured after he escaped from there. I. Um. Actually don't know the specific injuries I'm giving him but all I know is he becomes a cane user. So like. Obviously something with his back but I need to like really get the logistics down that's just how my mind works with these things.

In love with Aphmau AND Laurance. He's so silly.

Bisexual masculine non-binary he/they autistic king that also suffers from depression, PTSD, and survivor's guilt.

Like most people believe, he has a dad bod. Like obviously he's muscular, but he's also chubby.

Can't cut his own hair since he doesn't look in the mirror. When he first revealed his face to Aphmau, she helped him out with his beard and hair (and almost braided his hair).

Around 26 years old.

A good singer, but only sang for Laurance while he was recovering. It's their small little thing.

LAURANCE ZVHAL

Okay so firstly, I'm not putting any Shadow Knight headcanons. That's too much.

However, as a result of being a Shadow Knight, he has poor temperature regulation. Like. He's very naturally warm, so he overheats a lot, but in the cold, it's the opposite. He's FREEZING and has to layer up a lot.

Has two gay dads. Which... is canon?? WHY DOES NO ONE TALK ABOUT THIS. He has Hayden and Joh. They are his gay dads and they raised him. And Cadenza.

Rarely can have a nice, peaceful sleep due to night terrors. He's haunted by the memories of the Nether, and the only times when those thoughts are subdued are when he's sleeping close to Aphmau or Garroth.

Actually the father of Alina. Because it's not Aaron (ew). And he never knows about this. Because he SACRIFICES himself to save Garroth and Aphmau because he loves them, and he doesn't want either of them to hurt or for himself to hurt them due to the calling.

Just to clarify, he and Aphmau did not intend for this by the way. They just had a silly night where they drank a little bit! And then woke up like a rom-com or something and where like "Oh. My. God." LIKE IT SEEMS TO BE SILLY but then it isn't.

Only knows how to crochet a single type of bear plush. Like. NOTHING ELSE.

He had to wash his orange hair like every single day. If he didn't it literally became so greasy and so crusty. And Zoey ended up having to do that while she watched over him. She was so close to just chopping it all off for him.

Garroth was his closest company while he was blind. He often asked Garroth to describe him what he saw in the village.

Once he got cured, he only partially regained his eyesight. He struggles to see a lot, and gets headaches easily. When he goes into Shadow Knight form though, his eyesight gets a lot better; but once he gets out of that form, he experiences so much pain, and his sight goes downhill for a while.

Can braid hair.

Likes to prank his friends a lot through really elaborate scares. SUPER happy once Malachi and Levin started getting involved.

Pansexual and polyamorous and 25 years old.

Sneezes like. Really cutely. Like he has one of those sneezes.

KATELYN

LITERALLY THE MOST MUSCULAR CHARACTER IN THE ENTIRE SHOW. AND TALL.

Her true love was Jeffory. Nothing will ever change that.

When she dated Aphmau, her own grief over Jeffory held back the relationship from blossoming into something more. This applies to all her other relationships as well.

Her anger issues are just simply treated better here. Like. That's all I have to say about that.

Helped care for Aphmau the most (along with Zoey) after Garroth was freed from the Irene Dimension because of how depressed she was over everything. She became really close with Lilith Garnet during this.

Never gets drunk. It's kind of insane. She is wild at taverns and just. Never gets drunk. Her power at that is balanced out with her terrible seasickness.

Doesn't get the appeal of coffee. She hates it, like it tastes so bad to her. She's a tea girlie.

28 years old. But people never guess her age right, like ever. She's eternally youthful despite not having a single skin routine.

Okay this is actually a headcanon and it's based off of a friend I do have in real life. So like yeah I guess in modern times Katelyn is a One Directioner but I guarantee she would be a Deftones fan or something.

okay i planned to do more characters but i literally forgot all mcd characters and my hcs :( SO MAYBE JUST SUGGEST CHARACTERS AND ILL SAY THEM CAUSE THEYRE JUST NOT COMING TO MIND RN also im tired

ANYWAYS HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE SHOW THAT FOREVER CHANGED MY LIFE. without you minecraft diaries, i wouldve never become the insufferable person i am today <3

[domain-of-sentience]

ch 38 ramblings

in which this chapter managed to make me give a shit about every character involved which was completely unprecedented. but also what the fuck just happened

also filled with susannah feelings, damn.... truly a girlfailure who graduated to girlwinner

anyway this chapter started off pretty strong (esp with that sage fight) but i was pretty paranoid that they would make seele pull a kiana for bubble universe(s) #547887648 which was the only thing i didn't really care much for in this chapter. i guess it's bc all they've interacted with is faceless npcs and vita, but vita isn't a native so......

at least there was plenty of gay shit

side note, i was curious about the two new mobs: white sword of damocles and black wine of theramenes. the sword of damocles is a famous symbol but i couldn't figure out the symbolic significance of "wine of theramenes," which doesn't seem to be a thing? and i don't see any parallels between theramenes and the sage other than "figure centered between two sides (worlds)" idfk...

this was one of my fave moments in the chapter bc you very rarely see a "smart" character fuck things up royally and also try amend them, by a former antagonist no less. honestly i did not care much about misteln initially but they managed to humanize her (and prometheus) throughout this whole ordeal so that's cool

y'know she didn't have to defend fuhua here but she did anyway hehe 😳

also i noticed they modeled the shark teeth for niggurath which is kinda funny considering they were lazy enough to reuse hua's model and face, and this shit would be too hard to see on a phone.. but now i wish they would give hos shark teeth too 😔

Yay ❤️

i saw this a long while ago too but i still don't know what to make of it other than some potential space exploration arc

WHICH reminds me i'm glad they delved into the sky people a bit. sorry i cba to read the manga

this whole segment hurted ☺️ but it also reminded me of my friend's super good and famous sentihua fic. let it be known that she tackled this concept first 🫡

THANK You kira i wish i could beat this into the heads of people so they stop applying human rules to her. i forgor the timeline already but just because she came into existence a few years ago doesn't mean she's a literal baby-brained minor 🤓🤓 by that logic i would have to revoke your license to talk about misteln milkies or w/e

okay that was my 532327th rant on that topic moving on

and despite being inhuman she has plenty of empathy for people, chad moment

umm i stopped taking screenshots here but I LOVE SUSANNAH NOW.... like i actually teared up when she was so frustrated with herself but she pulled herself up by da bootstraps and ran that marathon against all odds. she's an S-rank valkyrie in my heart okay 🥺🥺🥺

also rip vita but i know this isn't the last of u. still dunno what's going on with her

i give this chapter a rating of sussy vita/10 not quite a steel chair moment but was quite close

[bardic-inspo]

Writer Interview

Tagged by the wonderful @electricshoebox 💜💜💜 Thank you, friendo!!

Tagging forward @vixstarria, @littlejuicebox, @ravnloft if you'd like to do this, too. No worries if not! 💜

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

16 (and counting!)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

351,099

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Red Heart indicates smut included somewhere in the fic (or will be included in future chapters)❤️

All are Fallout 4 fics except the last two, which are Baldur's Gate 3.

Bring the Gasoline (MacCready x Sole Survivor Longfic❤️)

No Rest for the Wicked (MacCready x Deacon X Sole OT3)

We Never Go Anywhere Nice (MacCready x Deacon x Sole OT3)

Worried Sick (MacCready x Deacon x Sole OT3)

Midnight Chimes (Astarion x Cursed!Tav longfic❤️)

Honorable Mention: Blood in the Mortar (Ascended Astarion x Vampire Bride Tav❤️❤️❤️)

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! I'm sometimes (very) fashionably late in doing so. But it's really important to me for a number of reasons. I don't ever want anyone who takes the time to read/comment to feel like I take that for granted (I absolutely don't). It is so incredibly motivating to know there's someone out there enjoying what I'm writing. I want any/all commenters to know I just appreciate them so much.

I've also stumbled into friendships through commenting back and forth on fics before, which was wonderful and unexpected and just opened a new dimension of fandom/community for me. Compliments are wonderful, but I mostly share my writing because I want to feel connected to that sense of community and enjoy that mutual love of whatever universe sprouted the fics in the first place. Responding back to comments makes me feel more in tune with all of that.

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I tend to follow a "more hurt more comfort" motto, so most of the angst I write is followed up by comfort (or at least, a comforting note at the end).

I'm gonna say Warm Bodies. It's an angsty Fallout 4 smut fic featuring Deacon x MacCready x Sole Survivor in an established (somewhat domestic) OT3. A close call with death rattles them and they have emotional sex about it. Although there's a lot of comfort with the angst, the ending note is slightly melancholy. It implies that either a) a pretty significant lifestyle change is in order for all of them, which goes against the grain of their characters or b) they'll have more close calls until, one day, it's really too close, and they lose each other for good.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

I almost always go for a happy/hopeful ending. It's hard to pick one, but it's probably gotta be one my fluffy domestic MacCready x Deacon x SoSu oneshots, Hungry Hearts. Ends with a big happy family moment.

7. Do you write crossovers?

Not yet, at least. I did once thoroughly outline and started drafting an AU that was basically the plot of Casino Royale with Deacon as Bond and MacCready as Vesper and other Fallout universe characters (like Mr. House) inserted in. I don't see myself going back to finish that one at this point.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Nah. I think I'm too small fry for that in terms of my audience size/reach and that's just fine with me. I'm cool tending this cozy little campfire over here.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yeah! I mostly enjoy writing smut with a ton of feelings/history to it, (Warm Bodies is a super emotional comfort sex OT3 fic; Blood in the Mortar is an evil power couple with an established dynamic relishing in some power play and spicy use of their telepathic bond). But I've also dabbled in some kink exploration in Follow Suit, which plays a little bit with dom/sub dynamics and very light bondage.

I'm really looking forward to writing upcoming smut scenes for Midnight Chimes. Astarion's relationship with sex is such a huge part of his arc, and I'm looking forward to writing the smut scenes in a way that shows his own individual progression with that, and also how his relationship with Naomi deepens/changes over time.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Also not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope! I am so feast or famine with my writing process/preferences, I don't think I would make a great writing partner at this point. Maybe someday!

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Ahh that's tough. It's really going to be, whichever is at the forefront of my mind at the moment. Currently, that's Astarion x Tav (especially my own Tav, who I'm doing a lot OC work/development for). But MacCready x Sole (Natasha) feel like, nostalgic, warm and fuzzy friends to me. I think my heart will always get soft when I think of them together (and with Deacon!).

Really, any ships I used to be more fixated on are just dormant and still have a space in my head/heart.

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I could very well come full circle and feel the pull to deep dive into Fallout again (especially if the TV show turns out to be good, or if they release a new single-player game in the series), but the only further Fallout 4 fic I see myself finishing at this point is Bring the Gasoline (most likely by hermit drafting the rest of it and waiting to share further until I'm done). I think the amount of ideas I had, unfortunately, outmatched my motivation/hyperfixation on that universe. I had a lot of ideas for fics showing the actual OT3 relationship "negotiation" that I've had vivid daydreams about, and lots of wild notes for, but I don't have plans to pick up again at this point.

15. What are your writing strengths?

I get a lot of positive feedback on my action scenes. Also a lot of feedback that my writing is really vivid/visceral/immersive. I think I'm good at putting the reader in the character's shoes/in the heat of a moment, and wrapping them into the character's thoughts/feelings right off the bat. I also feel like character work, generally, is a strong suit of mine (character voice, mannerisms, individuality).

Something that has been really touching to hear is how well people respond to my OCs. I've done a lot of work to make unique/compelling/flawed original characters that readers can get invested in. I am still absolutely floored by some of comments I've gotten re: Natasha (my Sole Survivor). And although Naomi (Tav) is a newer character in my arsenal, I've gotten to play with some alternate (evil) versions of her, and folks seem to be intrigued by both.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Echoing Riss on the crutch words and phrases. I do have some editing steps I use to try to mitigate this. In the past, I've also had a bad habit of transposing/mingling words from different fantasy universes (mirelurk vs. mudcrab; Storm Coast vs. Sword Coast) without even realizing I'm doing it. I'm hyperconscious about that, now.

I also struggle to be concise. I made a commitment to work more on this this year, and in doing so, am trying to strike a balance with it. Ideally, if I have a lot of words, there should be a certain density of ideas/information being shared. So, if a fic gets long because it's packing a lot of punch that way, I don't want to cut it off unless it's too much to share at once. If it's long just because I'm being wordy, well, maybe that comes down to self-confidence, and me needing to let my words stand on their own without so much hedging/propping up.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I've experimented with this (and now cringe about it in retrospect), but hey, I think it takes some trial and error to figure out what works. My general preference is to write the lines in the language being used for the bulk of the fic, but then add a phrase like "X character said in Elvish" after. I think the less the writer knows of the other language themselves, the more they should err away from writing a lot in it. I think short phrases or single words in a different language can also be to great effect (as long as they're properly researched/understood).

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Warrior Cats as a kid loose on the internet 😺

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

I want to write some Shadowheart/Karlach smut! I'm a little intimidated as I've yet to add F/F to my smut fic punch card, and I wanna get a free sub but I think they have so much angsty sweet potential and I already have a little outline for it!

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Bring the Gasoline will always be my baby. It's my first real fic, and the thing that got me through a lot of ups and downs. I poured so much of myself into it.

But for now, I have to go with Blood in the Mortar. I just had an absolute blast writing it. It gave me confidence back in a way I really needed. It made me feel like I'd grown in skills I'd been working on for a while (particularly with writing dialogue and smut, and character work in general). I got to write villains, really for the first time, and was surprised I had so much fun with it. It was the perfect blend of challenge and getting back into my element, and writing/sharing it felt really uplifting. Felt like letting my hair down, hehe.

[comicaurora]

Have you seen the new Willow show? It’s vibe reminded me about of Aurora since it’s a high fantasy show that doesn’t try to be super serious or edgy and actually has fun

I got most of the way through the first two episodes and might try and pick it back up. It's fun in places, but in others it feels a little shaky and the pacing's kinda weird. I can't decide if it's comfortably tropey or just a little too comfortable with its tropes. I laughed out loud when the old mentor guy got one-shotted literally seconds after crossing the barrier.

The characters also sort of oscillate between being too cool for school and bathos-ing up all their emotional moments, and being weirdly non-genre-savvy when it's convenient for them to be immersed in the plot. For instance, absolutely nobody reacted to the mentor dying in any way and the characters were quipping seconds later, making them seem Very Rad and Uninvested. But then when it comes to the frankly extremely tedious second episode where the entire premise is Elora sucking at magic, nobody points out the seemingly crucial detail that she passed through the giant magic barrier that keeps the entire kingdom safe. The rest of the gang know she didn't cross through the gate with them but don't seem to question how she got out, and she knows she moved through the barrier, so it feels very weird that the entire episode is spent with her constantly repeating that she can't be magic, she can't be the chosen one, she's just on this trip to rescue her boyfriend she's been dating since yesterday tops, etc etc. Sitting around waiting for the characters to acknowledge or accept or figure out something very obvious is tedious, especially when they have no reason not to.

Kit also stands out to me, because she's quite an interesting mass of contradictions, though I'm not sure if that's intentional characterization or indicative of the same inconsistent writing. She's introduced defeating Jade in a fight, who is herself a clearly extremely talented knight if the royal guard are willing to make an exception to accept her - and Kit says she wins because she's got skill and talent and that's what makes her better than Jade, which characterizes her as arrogant, but perhaps justifiably so considering her ability - after all, she is introduced as a better ass-kicked than the story's designated ass-kicker. Then Kit plans to literally run away to escape her arranged marriage, abandoning her role as heir to the throne because she feels trapped in her life - which totally tracks, that's all consistent. She's a spunky warrior princess who doesn't wanna marry some rando for political reasons, that's a very classic tale as old as time. But then as soon as the squad of bad guys show up and storm the castle, Kit is shown panicking and handling herself much worse than Jade, who also doesn't do particularly well in that fight - which is another stock story beat, the equivalent of the "home village gets torched by BBEG" event. This makes it seem like Kit, despite being prepared to win a sparring session, is not actually ready for a real fight. That's a good angle on this character, and it makes sense for a sheltered princess longing for adventure; she's trained, but that doesn't mean she's ready. She's arrogant, not because she's experienced, but because she's the big fish in her small pond. Okay, that's fair. Different than her introduction and not really highlighted in-story, but still workably consistent. It indicates that Kit will have an arc about becoming a more badass fighter through experience, maybe a bit less arrogant as she accepts that the "talent" she boasted about literally means nothing in a very dangerous world - maybe Jade will get more opportunities to shine as an actually experienced warrior who's seen more combat than her talented princess. Jade has also clearly had a less sheltered life than Kit, so that might be a good dynamic to explore as character foils now that they're experiencing a fraught adventure that is clearly much harsher than Kit was ready for. Then as soon as Elora is revealed to be the real magical chosen one this story is all about, Kit shifts to being the cranky lancer complaining about how Elora sucks and isn't important and probably isn't really the chosen one anyway and shouldn't they be focusing on charging straight at the main bad guy right now. She also calls out Elora on having never been in a real fight, which is either a very interesting bit of hypocrisy from one sheltered princess to another, or a bit of inconsistent character writing caused by Kit being suddenly recast as the lancer to Elora's de facto protagonist status. It also highlights another inconsistency, because if Elora is who Willow thinks she is - the chosen one savior one true queen who'll rule the kingdom - then Kit is free from that royal responsibility she demonstrably hates.

So either this is the messy behavior of a complicated, imperfect heroine suddenly experiencing a large amount of very stressful things at once - or it's inconsistent character writing. Schroedinger's storytelling.

There's a few other things that threw me. Some of the editing in the first episode feels really weird, especially during the aforementioned Bad Guy Invasion - which itself smacked of rough choreography, shot in a dark and foggy environment with a lot of camera-shake to seemingly compensate for a lot of very wide swings with swords and spears.

It was an interesting watch, and I might go back to it because of the bits that are rough around the edges. Seeing the parts that weren't working for me helped me identify the parts that were working and why. The show's certainly not awful, and there's a lot of solid stuff in it; it's just the shaky parts that are interesting to me, because they're the parts you can learn the most from.

[tommysparker]

one person asked me to share my thoughts on the Red White & Royal Blue movie and that’s all i need so here you go! spoilers below

Okay so let’s start with the things I did like:

Taylor and Nick had AMAZING chemistry. They did a fantastic job with what they were given and I can genuinely envision them as the book characters. All the cast did a great job.

The scene with Alex and Ellen was so heart touching. As a queer person who’s come out to their parent and not been accepted, I almost started bawling when I saw Ellen holding Alex on the couch and telling him how much she loves and accepts him. It was a beautiful thing to see and I’m so happy we have more of that kind of representation in media; a safe space to come out and be yourself. Also Ellen’s knowledge of all the different labels in the community and her saying “The B in LGBT isn’t silent” is super empowering.

On that note, Alex’s speech at the end about privacy and how it’s your choice to come out (if you want to come out). Again, a very important message for people to hear and understand. Seeing the effects of being outed hopefully will open people’s eyes and we’ll see less pressure for people to come out or label themselves. And also hopefully people will stop butting into celebs lives in general.

To end the short list of things I liked: the bit with the phone calls was done in a clever way. I thought it was pretty cool, although it felt too much like walmart Heartstopper.

Now, on to everything I didn’t like about this movie

The writing was SO. FREAKING. LAZY. 90% of the movie is exposition. All tell no show. They pretty much only payed attention to the sex scenes and even those weren’t very interesting.

THEY CUT SO MANY THINGS. When I heard they cut June and Rafael, I was disappointed but figured it was to save time and they’d combine their stories with Nora/Liam respectively (which is what I heard). To my absolute disappointment, neither was done and on top of that they introduced this new character named Miguel who is nothing more than a jealous ex hookup. Not only that, they erased Alex’s parent’s divorce and Henry’s mother, two very important parts of their character backstories.

Continuing on about things that were cut, pretty much any actual bonding time we see with Henry and Alex in the book was reduced to short one-minute scenes and cheap montages. Instead they were replaced with beats that were 15-seconds too long that were meant to say something but simply didn’t translate properly.

Also, they completely cut out Alex’s whole awakening and immediately jumped to him coming out to Henry when they meet up after their first kiss. I get it made for a cute little haha funny banter moment but COME ON. Part of Alex’s character arc is him coming to terms with who he is after denying it for so long, and seeing that process is so important to show for people who are doing the same.

The movie felt so fast paced. Every ten minutes a new important story beat happened without giving the audience any real time to process whatever happened before that. By the time they were in Paris I had no interest in them “making love” for the first time.

I’m gonna make an example of this before it stands out as the most annoying thing to me still. The museum scene is a masterpiece in the books but on the big screen it’s so…bad. Half of the scene was done in voiceover for no reason (once again going back to exposition) and the other half was so boring I could barely pay attention. And the “history, huh?” moment being a spoken thing between them, as opposed to through email like in the book’s completely erases the basis all of their supporters held onto in the books. All the signs, the t-shirts, the graffiti, the way they did it in the movie makes it so none of that could exist.

I really wish we saw Alex’s side of things when they got exposed, especially the way it effected his mother’s campaign. I wanted to see him he told he’s off the campaign and how badly it hurt him. Instead we got one scene of exposition and a single shot of him gushing abt Henry and saying he misses him.

From a cinematography perspective, there was some very pretty shots that were obviously made to turn into promo posters.

That’s pretty much all I got for now off the top of my head. I’ve been trying to cleanse my brain of the film for the past 4 hours lmao

If you have your own opinions, please share respectfully!! I want to hear what you liked or disliked about this.

[otakween]

Digimon Frontier - Volume 3

Happy to be wrapping up this bland, cash-grab manhua adaptation. Will digimon ever get a good manga? (Okay, that standalone one was decent...)

Ch. 15

I'm not sure where they got "Kerpymon" for the dub/this manhua, what the hell is a "kerpy?" Then again they don't really look like a cherub either so the naming sense here is questionable all around.

And suddenly they decided to call it "evolution" instead of "revolution" at the last minute...I can't

Ch. 16

And now Takuya is using Izumi's attacks somehow...

Sorry I just keep talking about the bad translation, but there's not much else to remark on if I'm honest. I got all my commentary out when discussing the anime. This is just a rehash.

Ch. 17

I think they actually forgot to explain why the rest of the gang isn't fighting alongside Takuya and Koji lol. Also, there was a panel of everyone screaming as if they were all fighting? Oh well...guess they were just cheering very loud lol

Going through all of the arcs again is making it really sink in how weak Frontier's writing was. If I had to pick 'best arc" I would probably say the Duskmon arc is the strongest. The villain warriors had cool designs but overall weren't super interesting. The Royal Knights arc is just repetitive as hell, so I'm gonna call that "worst arc."

Ch. 18

I think I'll actually be able to appreciate this part of the adaptation. They're gonna speed run the Royal Knights arc which is much better than the super redundant anime.

The panel composition was really nice in this chapter, I especially liked the part where it showed the Royal Knights stealing all the digicode from different parts of the digital world (represented by a globe cut into 4 with them zipping around it).

Ch. 19

Damn, they went through the Royal Knights stuff so fast that we didn't learn a single thing about them. Just...zero character traits. I know I just said that a speed run would be a plus, but that was even quicker than I thought!

The double page spread of Susanoomon was great and Lucemon FD Mode is looking super anime accurate (a challenging design to replicate, so kudos).

Ch. 20

Ah, it was nice not being forced to stare at Lucemon Satan Mode's butt for 5 minutes straight. I actually found his transition from Fall Down Mode to be a lot easier to follow in manhua form too.

Ch. 21

Lol Frontier's ending is so rushed and cheesy. Izumi's character arc ending with "and now I'm more cheerful!" is so lame.

I feel the same emptiness as I did with the other manhua adaptations. They're okay to look at...and that's about it. Done!

[numericalbridge]

TOH rewatch semi-liveblog. Season 2b part 1

episodes 11-15

Episode 11

- Good episode on itself, especially Raine's part is great on the rewatch. But still i can't let go of how Gus and Willow are treated - and in this case, while the scene between Willow and Amity is ok in isolation, i find it questionable within the context of Willow's treatment and Labirinth Runner's 'follow up'.

And, again, not sure about Luz's plot of desperately trying to help Kikimora as projection. I find it a bit too much, i think because by this point in the show the characters show more grounded/realistic emotions in serious situations, meanwhile this was very stylized, and then Reaching Out did similar concept much better.

- 1 second hint of interactions between Amity and Gus because he gave her a book /eye roll.

- Oh, Raine absolutely was trying to spy/get info out of Kikimora here:

- Kikimora makes it seem like Terra rarely emerges from her Greenhouse, so while it's clear Terra is dangerous, it looks like she is not necessary very 'active'. It doesn't seem like even she is a part of some royal court (And it makes sense that Belos would only let someone pathetic and desperate like Kikimora to be 'close', but would not trust super powerful, power hungry witches like Terra.)

- Hooty as the Belos float is so funny.

- Amity and Willow scene is, like, OK, i like that we see that Willow is not all that happy with the current situation between them... but then the follow up in LR just goes in a different direction? Also i hate that they again - albeit more subtly than with Luz and Gus in Glass Ruins - showed that Amity came to Willow because she needed the relationship advice, and Willow was the one who had to reach out and ask her to braid her hair, and then nothing is done with it. If this was the point of conflict in LR it would have been much better, and if not - just don't bring attention to Willow and Gus being afterthoughts for lumity.

- And, again, nothing in this episode would have prevented Willow and Gus from joining the action.

- Amity's abomination glove(mittens?)-weapon is cool, i guess

- Ok, but why is this episode - where Terra is introduced - is the one where Eda suddenly uses plant glyph magic so extensively? I think it's the first and only time?

(i don't think it means anything, it's just amusing)

- Interesting how Terra says that Kikimora hurting Luz and Amity ("a couple of children") would cause a riot. Obviously it's not the entire truth behind her intervention since Belos needs Luz, but it is something that is considered a reasonable argument by Terra (and we know how she feels about hurting children) and is accepted by Kikimora. So it seems like hurting children is something that would cause a stir in the general population... so it's interesting how it would affect Darius' behavior in ASIAS. I think it fits with my reading of Darius's thought process in this Post.

- So the exact date for DoU was just announced?

- "Utopia free of wild magic" - but how does the Human Realm factors in this, or was this aspect just abandoned by season 2b?

- Also what does "free" mean here? Like, destroying the wild magic as magic or killing the wild witches? I guess, killing isn't likely because of the children. But this would make a much better villain motive for someone like Odalia rather than her knowing that the draining spell would kill most of the population: if for her DoU was about sacrificing a few wild witches for the sake of the paradise, and she just couldn't believe that 'proper' witches like she and her family might be affected and hurt, so she wouldn't trust even her children.

Episode 12

- Love Philip's parts and Eda's part but greatly dislike how Lilith is characterized and where the accents are placed in her arc.

- S2b can be so fast-paced when the plot needs to move forward, lol. It is actually weird because in a lot of ways the writing is much stronger, but then the pacing is like that (which is understandable because of the shortening but still gives an odd impression when watching).

- Conflicting thoughts about the Collector. I thought they were added after the shortening to replace something the writers couldn't fit anymore, and so his plot seemed fine as a replacement plot (except the puppets😡). But apparently Collector and the Archivists were always planned, and idk how i feel about it. I think this is something so big worldbuilding-wise that it would need to be introduced much earlier in some way (even just brief mentions here and there of some legends), like the Titan was. And i really didn't have much feelings about Collector's introduction when i first watched, but if i was watching it without the knowledge of the shortening then introducing a major player like this, out of nowhere, might have weirded me out.

- Oh, no, actually i remembered while editing - i think at first i thought the Collector would be some sort of a Machine.

- Ah, forgot that 'cool aunt Lilith' was Luz's idea. Tbh Lilith trying to be cool to make up for her past behavior and ending up cringey would've been better. But yeah, this episode was the perfect opportunity for some conflict or at least awkwardness between the two to be resolved by the end.

- Like, Lilith trying to find her own path and replicate the feeling of power and control she had in her Coven only to realize that she doesn't need it and can have fun with her nerdy architecture isn't a bad plot, actually it would've been cool, but why is a brown woman presented as a bad, corrupt historian specifically to contrast Lilith? Yes, you can have villains of color, but there is context to some of the roles that makes this iffy. And considering the way Lilith behaved around 'mysterious exotic' ruins in King's episode in s2a?

- And does Flora also have slightly darker skin than the character she is supposed to be parodying?

- Also, Lilith's arc could've been connected better to Oh, Titan. And idk, putting the accent so strongly on her trying to be cool and adventurous, it just makes Lilith seem too immature in a very specific way that i dislike. Yeah, you can say it's the point that she is immature, many characters in toh are, and i even said that if Lilith was acting like that because of the awkwardness between her and Luz i woud've liked it. And i liked when Lilith and Eda acted immature around each other in s1 too.

But her writing in this episode reminds me of the trope i personally dislike (you see it in comics) of a white woman who did some questionable things being softened by the writers into a less interesting character whose whole arc becomes about her own 'uplifting' personal journey in a very hollow manner; and while Lilith's case is not as bad, it sours me to this characterization. For me she would have been interesting if she was very gradually softening up and opening up to her nerdy side, but instead it feels like: "look, she is a huge dork now!!!" It feels manufactured. And in contrast, i think s2a had a good balance for Lilith.

- Ok, Eda started calling Gwen 'mom' between seasons. Also King calls Dell 'granpa'.

- King had never met Dell before.

- Lilith's arc and the focus in this episode is just off. I like that it does touch the false propaganda of Belos's regime about the Savage Ages, but, imo, this should've been a bigger focus in Lilith's arc, compared to other stuff. The episode should've challenged her views more (remember the 'degenerate' comment?).

- And also Lilith in s1 was looking down on the humans more than any other character. Even more than school bullies like Bosha. And that's not Belos's doing. But it just never comes up again. She wasn't just repressing her nerdy, dorky side in the Coven, she had some bad beliefs and unhealthy attitudes, and all that is reduced to an almost throw away line in Oh, Titan.

- Anyway, this episode should have been the start of her arc of challenging her views, to be finalised in Oh, Titan in a serious manner.

- And then her seeing through Philip's lies works mostly fine, but it would fit even better if there was more about challenging the attitudes of the EC and the Emperor's influence and unlearning it.

- Also Lilith being a damsel in distress with the Stone Sleeper? This is another thing that makes me feel like her dorkiness is forced in this episode. Yes, she doesn't have her magic, but she is still an ex Coven Head, why was she pulled by her hand and protected by a 14 years old? When she was initially ambushed and taken by surprise - sure, but why after that? She has her palisman, her physical training. She should be the one protecting Luz to contrast the first season.

- And Luz's "should've listened to you!" doesn't work when they had only 1 single one-sentence scene of Lilith trying to warn her about Philip. Meanwhile it would've worked so much better if there was an actual conflict between them that made Luz not listen to Lilith initially. It would've benefitted both of their characters if there was some edge, some complications.

- Why again anyone thought Philip/Belos would be some misunderstood meow meow after this episode? He is a fun villain, but?

Episode 13

- OK, ASIAS here we go... Actually, there would be 1000 more metas by me about this episode so this would be rather short. A note made while editing this: i lied.

- I always headcanoned that Darius and Eber had stayed behind to snoop around.

- Sorry, but Hunter was also clearly rude when he didn't even greet them, instead straight up demanding answers.

- Darius clutching at his cloak x2

- Like, even at his worst Darius is not nearly as bad as the fandom paints him to be. Even after he is set off by his mentor's sigil he is not as mean as the fandom thinks he is. There are two really mean/bad things he does: 1. grabbing Hunter's cloak to mock Hunter's sewing - and still it won't be out of character for s1 Eda, and 2. taking the cloak 'hostage'. But imo i think he would have returned the cloak eventually regardless of what Hunter did, even if out of mere self-preservation. And then in the episode he does return the cloak as he promised when he collects the kids - and if he was as irrationally hateful as fandom portrays him he wouldn't have done it. It makes more sense if he realized by that point he had fucked up.

(And nothing in the episode indicates, of course, that Darius knows about Belos's abuse - and considering even Terra doesn't seem to be close to the Emperor - none of the Coven Heads are - most likely the Coven Heads barely interracted with Hunter in the first place. And no way Belos himself would even get witches get close or be privy to his personal life or break his benevolent granpa mask in public.)

And if you look at the episode as a whole, if you look at Darius' emotional response and at Hunter's own reactions - to me it looks like this was not Darius' usual behavior. Instead it is an extreme thing he did after he got very upset. And, yes, it was a bad thing and maybe, if not for the events of the episode and the power of Willow (who might have parallels to Darius in his youth) reaching out to Hunter - maybe Darius wouldn't have realized how low he had almost stooped.... and it's still just a common trope when a generally good person nearly becames a worse person, but luckily 'the events of the episode happened.' Nothing so exceptional to warrant the fandom's reaction. And sorry to edgelords, but to me it's more interesting narratively too, if it is an extreme episode that pushed Darius too far and not his usual self.

And going back to him mocking Hunter's sewing - rude, but we dont see how the scene would have ended, maybe Darius would've given him some pointers in a slightly mean way if he did not see his mentor's sigil. And, anyway, if that was some dungeon whiteman the fandom would be cooing how he saw his special interest and had to correct the mistakes and rant about it. And then his PTSD was triggered so actually he did nothing wrong.

- Even Hunter's behavior in the scenes with Darius doesn't fit the supposed constant bullying. He doesn't behave like he does with Belos, and he doesn't behave like he does with the adults who are hostile towards him or his friends like Kikimora, Alador, Graye, even the abomination teacher during the flyer derby match. Hunter isn't agressive, always expects some reasonable response from Darius, doesn't gloat like with Kikimora. Yes, in real life it would be more complicated, but this is a narrative in a story.

- Also, while i don't think Darius has the greatest emotional intelligence (but i read it as him having most trouble interpreting his own emotions), my reading of the opening scene is that he realizes that Hunter is causing unhealthy emotional response, that's why he flips from trying to go away while clutching his cloak - which seems to be his gesture of hiding his upset emotions - to a very agitated response when Hunter keeps bothering him, that to me looks like bottled up emotions spilling out rather than outright intentionally directed anger:

(his body language is different and more erratic compared, for example, to his friendly-annoyed reaction to Raine's team name or his more controlled reaction to the Abomaton in ER)

- And he still doesn't cross some lines - he walks by Hunter, but he doesn't shoulder him for example. And that's when he is the most upset and at his worst. Yet certain fans were writing Darius as physically abusive for a supposedly fun 'dadr*ius' event.

- Bosha's part was funny, but the Azura book plot is even worse on the rewatch. Luz and Amity could have just gone on a date or to do research with Lilith as a follow up from the previous episode, or do something with King and Eda so Amity could bond with them. Instead it just eats the limited time that could've gone to Willow, Gus and Darius, doesn't bring anything meaningful to lumity, and it isn't even dumb fun for younger kids, instead just a pure fanservice for fandom adults from social media. (also Matt is basically exploited by a known scammer?)

- Abomination teacher seems to be made into a over-the-top jerk just for the sake of the plot.

- Darius sending the scouts to collect the kids rather than leaving it to Hunter makes sense considering what Terra said in the previous episode about a riot over hurting children. Like, the best case scenario - Hunter just can't convince anyone, but even then, as far as Darius knows, Hunter might tell Belos about the kids not obeying him and who knows whether Belos would want to punish them and their families, or whether the Golden Guard would hold a grudge. And he might still take their palismen. And if Darius was so pragmatic and unfeeling - for the rebellion it would not be a bad thing if the Golden Guard hurts some kids and causes mistrust from the general public or if his actions cause a rift between the Emperor and his 'right hand man'/potential heir.

- Skara straight up cries, but that's not a problem apparently? Imagine if someone made Hunter cry and it was played for laughs?

- Yes, the palismen have to be with Darius for the plot to work, but in the in-universe headcanon reading, Darius could've left the palismen behind - as a consolidation prize for Hunter, since he didn't know Hunter changed his mind, or even as a threat for the kids or because he just didn't care and couldn't bother to take the palismen with him. And if Belos got his palismen snack he might be in a good mood and not even question why Darius overrode the Golden Guard's decisions!

- Willow's scenes in this episode, especially her scene in the cell are so good, but the way she only gets an episode in s2 when it's for Hunter's development, meanwhile the similarities between her guilt and Luz's are never explored? Or that Gus is shown to be protective when it suits Hunter's plot, yet we still don't see a friendship moment directly between Gus and Willow?

- "Can you?" Literally my favourite Darius scene, and when i first watched it, it made it so clear that he had his own morals and was not 100% on the Emperor's side, because there was no point for him to lie here! And the way he acted so serious in a subdued way? Compare him to Terra - who also 'encourages' rebellion, but she always acts the same, there is no emotional substance behind her encourangement. Meanwhile Darius becomes serious and subdued when he is disappointed, becomes more playful (compare how he carefully lowers the cloak in the Blimp scene vs throwing it at the end) when Hunter saves his friends.

- Steve was really barely there until this episode (i couldn't even remember who this was supposed to be the first time). This is the first real development for him, but he was still better received than Darius and got a proper conclusion to his arc in Oh, Titan☹️

- Yeah, i don't actually like how the episode concludes in regards of Darius and Hunter. Not because i think Darius did anything irredeemable and needed to self-flagelate, but because the episode gives an impression that there will be more development between the two, and this is just the start. But if no development was planned/could be fit into the shortened seasons, then they should have had some narrative conclusion to it right here, like Gwen had in her episode, or Steve would have in Oh, Titan, or Alador has the next episode (and then in the Clouds, but even if Alador never appeared again after Reaching Out there was a still narrative conclusion to his and Amity's plotline).

But then, there is no conclusion to Willow's part of the episode either. There was time for a scene of her team cheering her up, but it seems that once she stopped moving Hunter's development the focus just faded away.

- Gus says Hunter types even worse than Perry.

- Would be a good episode, but Azura book plot is such a waste of limited time, and as usual Willow's and Gus's treatment is dragging everything down.

Episode 14

- I'll be honest the first time i watched this, i've skipped through 90% of it because Amity's family annoys and bores me. Luz's plot is good, though.

- My problem with Alador is less about what happens with his development plot-wise and more about 1. The way in the Clouds Odalia was written in such a cartoonishly evil way to make him seem better (problem is not that Odalia is worse, but how it was written - Belos is written as evil and abusive without being like that) 2. Yes, i am bitter that Alador got 2 episodes for his development and both times he verbalized his thoughts and the lessons he learned, while Darius wasn't allowed even one scene of properly explaining his thoughts and motives. And then, ever since the first season Willow and Gus have been constantly pushed aside while the Blight twins got a lot of attention for tertiary characters + the Blight parents' treatment of Willow is just never brought up after s1. 3. Alador is exactly the type of white character who attracts the fans who infantilize him and treat other characters badly.

(Also I just think Alador would be more interesting if more attention was brought to how he used to buy into the ideology of putting the family first, and how he was oblivious to others - like trying to play with Bump's palisman. And by being called out on the treatment of Willow and getting to know Luz and King he would then become better and would be willing to trust the children, while Odalia would stagnant and refuse to listen to anyone.)

- Ok, i admit, compared to what i've remembered Eda does spend time trying to figure out Belos's plans.

- I like how you can see in this episode that the old hexsquad had become a thing when Eda happily brings up Alador while she never even hinted at knowing the Blight parents before, lol

- Yes, i like the progression of Eda opening up and trying to mentor the kids who she barely even knows, but i still hate that her relationship with Willow and Gus - still somewhat present in s2a - is just dropped completely by this point, and instead she gets to mentor Edric. Meanwhile no one among the main adults ever comforts and encourages Willow or Gus like this.

- Luz's plot is great though, and makes more sense than with Kikimora in episode 11.

- I get what they were doing with Amity in the episode, but her getting upset at Luz was so fast-paced.

- Speaking of infantilization - it is spelled in the episode that Alador loved the Brawl, it was good for him, he was not some helpless nerdy baby. Not only it is racist when the fandom turns Darius into his one-dimensional strong protector, but also it's just another case of the infantilization of neurodivergent characters and the screwed whumpified view of abuse survivors that dictates that only a certain kind of person can be an abuse victim worthy of sympathy, and any character who doesn't fit the mold is either ignored or has to be turned into the same stereotype, stripping them of all nuance.

- Sigh, it's a good episode thanks to Luz's plot, but it should've centered her more and focused less on the Blights other than Amity.

Episode 15.

- And yet again Luz clearly says she misses her mom, and the previous episode made it clear how important to her is visiting her father's grave, but no, the fandom really thought her abandoning the Human Realm for good would be the best scenario.

- Faust and Terra are terrible, but so funny.

- Again, Bump and Eda is such an interesting dynamic. And Bump's negative development between the flashback and present day/start of s1 is also so intriguing.

- Ah, yes, a random Black kid is jealous of Raine and acts adversarial, and Eda has to save them. Idk, seems like a weird choice to paint the white child as more virtous in the context of the on-purpose unfair game of "us vs marginalized them". And i've read that Raine was initially supposed to be white too (possibly even a white woman?) before they casted the voiced actor.

It doesn't even work from the pure plot/character perspective, because Eda is not the one to bend under the peer pressure, there is never a plot line where she is tempted with the 'reward' of getting accepted by others to the point that she might turn on Raine. She doesn't seem to be affected by the 'us vs them' aspect of the game that much. Yes, the episode is trying to show the dividing mentality of us vs them, but since it doesn't factor in Eda's decision that much, she isn't tempted by it, it was ok to leave it as the background, the point was already clear enough. So there is no reason to make those kids into adversaries in this way.

Eda is not even shown to be caught up in the competition and her desire to win and show that she is the best (which would have worked better if they wanted to explore her flaws).

Meanwhile the focus should be on whether she is willing to sacrifice her chance for the ribbon and being with Lilith at school to help Raine, who needs the scholarship. Adding those kids for one minute just messes it up.

- You can see that when Terra 'encourages' rebellion there is no change in her behavior, she is still her same happily cruel self, while Darius either becomes more serious when disappointed or softer and more playful.

- Raine's scene at the end is so iconic, just such a good twist.

- It's Mallow time!

- I like how everything here is so beautifully hand-drawn and neatly written, but then a part of the text is just scribbles:

- Idk how i feel about the episode, the ending scene is great and iconic, there was some nice flashback stuff, but it wasn't that great overall.

----

Conclusion:

Overall these are all pretty strong episodes. There is a shift towards very fast-paced openings / starting points because of the shortening, and sometimes it feels off, but i think most times the show handles it pretty well, sacrificing the opening moments but leaving more breathing room for the middle and serious scenes.

Still i don't like certain characterization choices and where the show's priorities are (for example, the Blight family prioritized over Willow, Gus or Darius); and well, some choices are just baffling like the Azura book subplot eating up the already limited time, and the show continues to be really iffy when it uses minor characters of color as adversaries for the white characters.

[etes-secrecy-post]

Hi, before I explain my post, I want to say something important.

• What you see my blog has become a major overhaul. And despite the changes, I decided that my 2nd account will be now my artwork blog with a secret twist.

⚠️NEW RULE! (W/ BIGGER TEXT!)⚠️

⚠️ SO PLEASE DO NOT SHARE MY 2nd ACCOUNT TO EVERYONE! THIS SECRECY BLOG OF MINE IS FOR CLOSES FRIENDS ONLY!⚠️

• AND FOR MY CLOSES FRIENDS, DON’T REBLOG IT. INSTEAD, JUST COPY MY LINK AND PASTE IT ON YOUR TUMBLR POST! JUST BE SURE THE IMAGE WILL BE REMOVED AND THE ONLY LEFT WAS THE TEXT.

⚠️ SHARING LINKS, LIKE POSTS, REBLOG POSTS, STEALING MY SNAPSHOT PHOTOS/RECORDED VIDEOS/ARTWORKS (a.k.a. ART THIEVES) OR PLAGIARIZING FROM UNKNOWN TUMBLR STRANGERS WILL IMMEDIATELY BE BLOCKED, RIGHT AWAY!⚠️

😡 WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT EVER LIKED & REBLOG MY SECRET POST! THIS IS FOR MY SECRET FRIENDS ONLY, NOT YOU! 😡

Okay? Capiche? Make sense? Good, now back to the post…↓

Take a Taste: with a Can of Royal Crown Cola - 1905 Edition [Jun 2nd, 2024]

Hello! It’s time for another “Take a Taste”! The series is about delicious food with my two paper dolls.

And today, I will quickly review this cool "1905 Edition" of the "Royal Crown Cola", shortly known as "RC Cola"! 🥤😊 Unless, if you say "Remote Control Cola", then you're absolutely wrong, buddy. ❌ Nonetheless, will it taste better than the regular RC Cola? 🤔 Let's find out! 😁

IMPORTANT NOTE: You know, I was gonna submit my next topic from April of 2024, but I decided to post my recent photos.

If you haven’t seen my previous episode, then please → [CLICK ME!].

IMPORTANT NOTE: No #OnThisDay throwback post for this date, only exclusive post on the "Super Secret Blog".

So, without further ado, let’s get started:

1st to 6th Image(s) 📷📲: ↑

• [1st to 4th Images] First off, let's appreciate the look of this cool Royal Crown Cola design. It has some little information about the man (Claud A. Hatcher, Pharm.) who made the "RC Cola" today, since 1905. It may not be as famous as say "Coca-Cola" or "Pepsi", but you could tell that this cola had made of its own by copying the traditional recipe from the aforementioned two soft drink giants. Although correct me if I'm wrong, the can itself should be reflected in the first two colors of the "Royal Crown Cola", as well as the logo's inception. 🟥🟨🤔

Fun fact: The "ARC Refreshment Corp." was started in 2002, and they licensed the "Royal Crown Cola" (or RC Cola) from the "Keurig Dr. Pepper" company in the US for the Philippine consumers 🇵🇭🥤, a time when Pepsi bottles and Coca-Cola cans sold well and they need another competitor in the Cola wars 🥤💥. As of 2024, they're still producing "RC Cola" in the Philippines, with one "weird" controversial commercial that was already axed in the public, and you could only watch it on their RC Cola Philippines' official YT channel. And if you want see it, then here → [CLICK ME!].

• [5th & 6th Images] Nonetheless, I have my clear glass right here to see what color of this classic RC Cola. And of course, how can we not forget our beloved paper dolls to taste the classic "Royal Crown Cola"! 😁 Can't wait to see the taste, eh you two? 😊

7th to 11th Image(s) 📷📲: ↑

• [7th to 9th Images] Okay, the fizz was opened, and here's what it look like from the glass. The can itself is empty when I transfer it. I should be more careful when I holding my hands on a fill liquid glass. That said, it is a typical cola color. Nothing special here, but, what about the taste? Let me sip, then... 🤔

• [10th & 11th Images] *sipping* Mmmm... I'd say, I never tasted this super sweet soda before. In my comparison with the regular RC Cola, it doesn't taste like the 1905 version. I'd say, this is a different kind of soda taste for at least once before I drink a single bottle of mineral water to wash my sweet cola off my taste buds. Hey, would you like to drink the rest of my cola, you two? It's all yours. 😋

Overall:

• Well, this is A-Okay I suppose? 🤔 Although it's already too late for me to make a comparison with the "New Coke" from the 80s, or that special limited edition collaboration with the "Stranger Things" show on Netflix. All that aside, I'm not a fan of the Royal Crown Cola 1905's sweet taste. It doesn't suit my taste buds when I'm eating something, only Coca-Cola and Pepsi, or maybe a normal "RC Cola" should do the quench. So, overall, is worth the ₱30 💵 price can of "Royal Crown Cola 1905"? Maybe. 🤔 In case I'm tired of drinking the aforementioned iconic soft drinks in favor of a different approach. I should try the "No Sugar" variant, plus I'll get the normal RC Cola, too for a comparison, someday. In the meantime, I'll stick with nice clear water. 💧🥤😊

Well, that's all for now. 😊

If you haven’t seen my previous episodes, then I’ll provide some links down below.↓😉

Take a Taste:

○ 2021 Food Reviews: ○

• Popeyes U.S. Spicy Chicken Sandwich [Dec 6, 2021]

• Jollibee Chick'nwich & Crisscut Fries [Dec 21, 2021]: Part 1 [CLICK ME! #1], Part 2 [CLICK ME! #2]

○ 2022 Food Reviews: ○

• Mini Stop Chicken Fillet XL Sandwich [Feb 7, 2022]

• Minute Burger Cheese Burger(s) [Mar 1, 2022]

• Pepper Lunch Teriyaki Beef Pepper Rice w/ Egg (& Honey Brown Sauce) [Mar 5, 2022]

• Bacsilog’s Sulit Combo Bacon-Tocino & Samgyup Day’s Pork Herbs [Mar 12, 2022]

• Burger King Whopper w/ Sides & Drink [May 6, 2022]

• Marshmello’s Limited Edition Coca-Cola Zero [Aug 26, 2022]

• Cheesy Burger McDo with Lettuce & Tomatoes Meal [Recorded: Sept 16, 2022]

• Mcdonald’s PH McSpicy & Apple Pie (featuring their World Famous Fries) [Nov 14, 2022]

• Mcdonald’s McCrispy Hamonado Sandwich [Dec 31st, 2022]

○ 2023 Food Reviews: ○

• Foods from Delicious Restaurant & 1919 Grand Cafe [Jan 8th, 2023]

• Homemade Churros by my lil’ bro [Feb 12th, 2023]

• Lugaw Sisig from Mang Boy Alfredo Lugawan Restaurant [Recorded: Feb 18th, 2023]

• La Prato Stakehouse [Recorded: Apr 10th, 2023]

• Salt ‘n Light Snack Shack’s Cheesy Bacon Burger & Fries [Recorded: Apr 14th, 2023] (Published on May 5th, 2023)

• Delicious burger meal at Tokyo Tokyo Restaurant [Recorded: May 6th, 2023]

• Delicious meals at the Valenzuela Food Fiesta Christmas Bazaar 2023 [Recorded: Dec. 10th, 2023]

○ 2024 Food Reviews: (Chronological) ○

• Mang Inasal Pork Sisig [Recorded: Jan 10th, 2024]

• Mr. Shaw Shawarma Rice [Recorded: Mar 24th, 2024]

• Mang Inasal's Chicken Inasal - Pecho (Chicken Breast) [Recorded: Mar 26th, 2024]

• Uncle John's Chili Con Empanada and Sprite Lemon Plus [Recorded: Mar 30th, 2024]

• Chowking Spicy Chao Fan [Recorded: Mar 30th, 2024]

• Samgyupsal dinner night at the Samgyup Mukbang restaurant [Recorded: May 12th, 2024]

• Meals from the Next Door Noodles by North Park [Recorded: May 19th, 2024]

[oakdll]

my favorite palaces in persona 5 royal ranked !! (MAJOR SPOILERS FOR PERSONA 5 ROYAL)

1 - Maruki’s Palace

This is easily the best in the game, Maruki is such a wonderful character and he works fantastically as an antagonist. The palace uses its time to let you in to Maruki’s mindset, showing you cassette tapes of his key memories and forcing you to answer questions the way he would. You really understand his psyche by the end, and his boss fight might be my favorite in the game. The first phase is surprisingly difficult, even when I was using Izanagi No Okami Picaro, and the story in the next phases are phenomenal. Maruki’s defeat and the cutscene of him grabbing the snowflakes as they fall is gorgeous, and having the palace end with Maruki and Joker having a flat out fistfight is a stroke of genius. there’s so much emotion with Maruki, and he has so much depth as an antagonist, he honestly puts other palace rulers to shame. It’s perfect. Also the checkmate cutscene is amazing.

2 - Futaba’s Palace

Futaba’s palace is tied with number three for me, as someone who has dealt with literally the exact same things Futaba has (loss and agoraphobia) this palace is so interesting. The fragile state of her mind, the puzzles of her memories of her mother, and the aesthetics of the pyramid are so well done. The only things I don’t like is how Wakaba’s death was treated. It actually is a good decision story wise on a larger scale, but in terms of the emotional core of the palace, having her be murdered in a government plot feels much less personal. It definitely is a good decision for Shido’s arc, but it ruins some of the relatability and emotional resonance in Futaba’s palace.

3 - Sae’s Palace

This is tied with Futaba’s palace for me. I’m including the whole aftermath of Sae’s palace in this ranking, and everything with Akechi’s betrayal was done perfectly. The gameplay of this palace is phenomenal, and the aesthetics are INSANE. Whims of Fate singlehandedly brings this palace up a spot on the list. The casino visuals are gorgeous, and this palace being the one from the beginning sequence is ingenious. This palace is the culmination of everything P5 was building up to, even more than Shido’s and the Depths of Mementos in my opinion. Seeing everything come together was phenomenal to see. The only issue I had was how the Phantom Thieves were able to plan the whole fakeout death with Akechi so perfectly. I don’t mind the complexity like a lot of people do, I just feel like there’s no way this group of high schoolers would be able to plan something as elaborate as this. Still, phenomenal palace.

4 - Kamoshida’s Palace

This one is just a phenomenal opening palace for the game. Kamoshida is probably the single most hate-able villains in the series, and they did a great job establishing that. The library puzzles were actually a lot of fun for me, and the gameplay was much more challenging because of how early in the game it was. I was really only playing P5 for the story, so I was just using Izanagi no Okami Picaro the whole time, but in hindsight, the palaces before you could just buy Izanagi were definitely more interesting gameplay wise. Phenomenal opener for the game, and it sets the stage so well.

5 - Shido’s Palace

The penultimate palace in the base game, and the primary villain throughout the series. Shido’s palace was a lot of fun for me, Akechi’s betrayal is a great story element added to the palace, and the idea of having to beat all the 5 bosses before you can progress is super cool. I don’t get the hate for the rat puzzles, they definitely drag on too long, but they weren’t a bad concept from the start. It was pretty fun doing the rat puzzles the first few times, I just think they were too long and there were too many of them.

6 - Madarame’s Palace

I might be in the minority for enjoying this palace as much as I do. I really like Yusuke and his arc, and the gameplay behind this palace helps that even more. The laser puzzles and paintings of Madarame’s pupils added a lot for me. I honestly really enjoyed Madarame as a villain, the story and gameplay behind this palace was great and the only thing I don’t like is the puzzles inside the paintings. I also didn’t mind the Sayuri puzzles either, they weren’t super difficult and it makes a lot of sense for Madarame.

7 - Depths of Mementos

I really wish this palace was longer, but I get why it isn’t. Qliphoth was honestly kind of boring, it was just a bunch of enemies with no challenge, especially at this stage in the game. I could 1 or 2 shot every single mini boss, mostly because I had Myriad Truths, but even with more balanced attacks these fights were too easy. The final boss fight and Sheriruth carry this palace for me. I did enjoy the light floor puzzles and the concept of the palace, although the light floor puzzles were too confusing at times. There were some puzzles that were physically impossible to do until I did something else and sometimes the game just never told me, I had to look it up and realize I missed a button. The Yaldabaoth fight was a lot of fun, and the ending with fighting god with satan was definitely corny, but it was thematically resonant and entertaining, so it gets a pass. A great finish to the base game.

8 - Kaneshiro’s Palace

I didn’t love this one as much as some other people. I understand this is Makoto’s arc, but she wasn’t super involved with Kaneshiro really, she only got involved to help the Phantom Thieves with their change of heart. As a result, Kaneshiro feels kind of removed from all the main characters unlike every other palace in the game. I ended up paying 20,000 yen to open a door and I still don’t know if that was mandatory or just an optional solution to the puzzle, but I had the money to spare so it doesn’t matter much. I thought the gameplay was a lot of fun until the final massive lock puzzle. Having to use all those codes to unlock it was super boring, I just looked up the answers and I thought it was way too dragged out. Everything else was great though, and the reveal of him viewing all of Shibuya as his bank was super interesting. It really did feel like the Phantom Thieves taking on a larger force than before.

9 - Okumura’s Palace

Yeah, Okumura’s palace still is the worst in the game. The whole arc of Morgana leaving is still the worst part of the game, and this palace being Morgana’s arc instead of Haru’s really takes away from her as a character. The gameplay is pretty boring compared to the other palaces, the airlock puzzles aren’t super fun, and the story isn’t as interesting as every other arc. This is not an unpopular opinion, but I still think this is the worst palace. I also think the airlock puzzles are as bad as people say. I got stuck on the last room for a literal hour because every time I messed up I had to spend like 10 minutes getting back to the start so I could reset. The solution isn’t even that hard, you just have to spend so much time resetting in order to finish it. Still, Okumura’s palace is by no means bad, and I still think it’s underrated. No part of it is super great, but I still don’t think any of it is outright bad, just worse than the rest of the game.

[unohanadaydreams]

I think it would’ve been cool if Yhwach had sleeper agents in the Seireitei. Like, he’s not above using Arrancar so I think it stands that he wouldn’t have a problem also using Shinigami (or even just some random souls in high enough station that they were likely to live a while longer than most, but ideally Shinigami.)

I just think it would’ve been neat to also see that Tosen and Aizen weren’t the only ones taking advantage of the crumbling infrastructure of the Seireitei. And that maybe even being used as a vehicle headed toward the revelation that the call was coming from inside the house the whole time. But on a grander scale than the first arc.

The 12th is destroyed from within just as much as from out. Yhwach didn’t just walk into Aizen’s cell, he was let in.

Not only do I think it could add to the terror of realizing the Quincy were in the shadows the whole fucking time. But it would also grind Squad Zero’s gears SO hard. They knew what Aizen was doing. They knew the nickname of the hollow that would try to overcome Masaki, so the knowledge seems extremely intimate.

Which implies they knew what Aizen did to the Vizards and they did nothing. Like, to put that in perspective Kirio was pulled into the Royal Guard and watched on as Hiyori was transformed and exiled. And either through complacency or coercion by the other Guard, she did nothing. As an organization they sent no warning or sign to the Gotei 13 or Central 46. They just watched.

And it would be super neat to see this ineffectual system of surveillance with no follow through until it’s kind of too late highlighted by moves supposedly being made by Tosen & Aizen’s underlings actually being made by those under the thumb of the Quincy the whole time. And they just let it happen.

Not just delicious for the Royal Guard but also for Shunsui and Nanao who are inheriting this whole fucking mess mid-war and are aghast at the depths of non communication that lead to all the leads being buried until it was too late. (I mean they kind of do this anyway but Even MORE)

[spacedykez]

Helluuuu I wanted to answer your ask answer but the finale threw me off into a frenzy sooo YEAH - I still can't believe Martyn really won!! I'm so happy!!! AHHH THis ask will prob be super messy bc I still am processing ksksks

I haven't watched any Trafiic!Scott before now so I really REALLY want to know more (and ofc watch LOL) so it's very cool and convenient for me that you know him so well!! And yes the being lonely and scared of being left again - that also got me very into it NGL. (why is the projection so strong with him, hm? q.q /pos). But also as a Martyn viewer that was one part that drew me in for him which is that Ren just picked him up in 3rd life and damn if that isn't smth to project onto as well for me ksksks - but yeha enough stuff about me!

I find it super funny and amazing that you're super into 3L and DL and here I sit with still brainrot from LL B) I just love how different each series feels to everyone and we all have such valid favs/favours!!! but yeah I love how u can see those parallels and now even with the parallel in the battle royale between Martyn and Scott - I feel like scratching my eyes out the parallels are too strong and too good!

okay I def need to watch flower husbands (and maybe empires s1 too ig??) myself but tumblr osmosis told me a bit BUT AHH THE PROTECTION THINGY SCreAMING!!! in this season the "i love you" took me out in the best way q.q scott felt like he was ready to blow it all for jimmy something something

Also as a valid and verified Scott viewer: do you think he purposely tried to not win this season? i'm not sure about this but he was giving lives away so freely (esp in the end) and i feel like I've missed a reasoning there)

and ohHHH yes I'm so happy you watch so much scott that's so cool and all i'm super happy for u!!! wanna watch him more too now for suuuuuure - also I'm so excited for martyn's lore/q&a stream today I am vibrating and also it feels sooo so good when your fav won??? like??? i am unser how to behave now bc i didn't actually think it'd happen and now he's just in line with grian, scott and pearl and I'm just like "ahhh that's my shitty /pos blorbo i picked up bc he's just as rootless/homeless as me <3" (not actual homeless but more so the moving around a lot and not havung 1 dedicated home stated by themself) and so yeah I really think u got martyn down well and that makes me scream so much /pos

!!!! hihi im super happy the ending was like. pretty much could not have gone better ngl. i loved it. literally perfect tbh.

oh yay that is convenient!! yeah im more than willing 2 brainrot abt my blorbo. like i said i never really got into LL but i've watched 3L, DL, and now LiLife. also it's the sad dramatic theater gay vibes. my silly little blorbo <3 i don't know how many of scott's series you've watched but osmp scott is literally the guy ever for angst like. im not starting on o!scott because i WILL ramble for YEARS but he is so SAD and i love him 4 it. and esmp1!scott is on his elsa kinnie arc (INCLUDING the trauma <3)

THE PARALLELS W THEM... THEYRE SO STRONG. talking abt Scott there are SO many parallels between martyn & jimmy; the pufferfish, the blond hair, the protectiveness (just reversed), and more i'm sure i'm not mentioning.

from martyn's pov... i don't know. i feel like i have martyn wrong. sigh. he's just! as a first time viewer of martyn he seems to me very loyal but also haunted by the watchers/listeners/narrative- i don't KNOW most of martyn's lore !! and i was never EXTREMELY into treebark like i was w flower husbands. its just. im trying to figure him out but i still feel like i have him all wrong and the moment i think i've got him figured out someone tells me i'm wrong. trafficblr was all "omg martyn loyal hand killing scott like he killed ren" and im like YEAH YEAH!! and then he wins and its like "no youre fucking wrong he was never loyal ever" and im just like bro wtf. its just ive not WATCHED martyn a ton before LiLife (i watched a few of his 3L & DL videos but not all of them and not anything else outside that) and i'm still trying to get his characterization down and tumblr isn't helping because i was like yeah yeah okay loyal hand this lines up with what i've seen from him, this makes sense, i've got him. and then the finale happens and all of a sudden it's "no you FUCKING IDIOT he's NOT loyal FUCK you"

...sorry if you read that whole rant. anyways!

yes. from a meta perspective: yes. scott DOES NOT want to win again, especially not a third time in a row. yes, technically pearl won DL, but a lot of people do count it as a joint pearl-scott win, so if he won LiLife it would be a third scott win to them. to be honest, scott is just really good at the game and at surviving. he doesn't seek out conflict a lot, tends to stay in his own little area building and surviving, and because of that he usually doesn't engage in a ton of the fighting until later episodes. he's also in a LOT of series & events (cough mcc cough) and he's just good at Minecraft. traffic!scott as a character does not want to play the game, isn't trying to win, and he is kind. but also, yes, cc!scott does not want to win this game. he gets ENOUGH hate for winning mcc, and the amount of hate and negativity certain groups would give him for winning a third season in a row would be AWFUL. also i'm sure he (cc!) wants to give his friends a chance to win, because he's a nice person. but there is DEFINITELY that element of if he had won twitter would be FURIOUS.

YEAH!!! if you want to watch more scott i am here for infodumping hes one of my favorite youtubers genuinely and i love his videos and everything he does. also yeah i like seeing my guy win!! its fun when that happens. and i'm glad you think i've got martyn down because i am definitely not very confident in my characterization of him.

[pbear]

Ranking Black Clover OPs

This is a personal ranking. All of them are actually solid OPs and I think Black Clover consistently makes good ones.

Max of ten videos to a post so the bottom ones link to the OP.

13. Stories by Snow Man (OP 11)

Not bad but it doesn’t do too much. A little basic. Kinda checks all the normal boxes.

The shot of the map is cool

You flash through a bunch of characters.

Group Black Bulls shot.

I thought they were showing flashbacks but there are episodes that revisit Kahono and Kiato, Zora’s backstory, and the Queen of Witches which is nice.

Awww Loropechika :(

Some magic and fighting shots

Yeah, it’s not outstanding

12. Eien ni Hikare (Everlasting Shine) by TOMORROW X TOGETHER (OP 12)

Starts off with some cool shots of squad members against shots of their captains (expect Yami ofc because you couldn’t fit all his kids)

Yuno finding himself surrounded by his friends in the Golden Dawn is really sweet.

Some magic fighting with the captains this time which is super cool

Asta and Yuno growing up as they run together is sweet too.

Not much that I found interesting but it looks nice

11. Gamushara by Miyuna (OP 5)

Solid but doesn’t stand out too much.

The song has grown on me from when I first watched the arc.

I was intrigued that in the opening shots of the Black Bulls, Vanessa and Finral are in different shots when they’re shown together a lot of the time. I think that’s because this point in the story is when their individual stories start getting focused.

Back to the illustrations in the grimoire which is cool.

Vanessa seeing Rouge for the first time is so touching as she realizes the power she holds.

Ending shot of the squad is always good.

Definitely more of a static OP

10. Grandeur by Snow Man (OP 13)

I love the song for this one.

The surprise watching it for the first time is that you find out Asta becomes even more buff.

And then he goes sword surfing.

Good action

Amping up the threat of the Dark Triad well

The hints at Nacht and Liebe are nice

Actually doesn’t show too many characters. The Black Bulls (as a squad) aren’t really there.

9. sky & blue by GIRLFRIEND (OP 8)

I thought this song was not appropriate for this point in the series the first time I watched it. Like, the elves are wreaking havoc and we’re having this nice little calm tune. It is a good song though.

Good action in this one.

Lots of elf trauma.

I didn’t notice the brief shots of Leo and Luck until I rewatched it to make this list, but they’re appreciated for their moments during this arc.

Lots of Asta and Yuno focus.

I feel like I don’t have much to say about it.

8. JUSTadICE by Seiko Oomori (OP 7)

I like the symbols of the squads in time to the song

Great group shot of the Black Bulls

I wasn’t sure why Grey and Gordon were both screaming but once you know, it’s great.

Mimosa in the spotlight because she’s important this arc being on a team with Asta.

Cool Zora shot.

Elf trauma.

Yami being super sus about William and William also gets this creepy shot where black hands grab him.

HENRY REVEAL

Everyone coming towards Mereoleona at the end to form the Royal Knights is nice.

Screaming Black Clover at the end is such a moment

7. rakugaki paige by Kankaku Piero (OP 6)

Lower down in terms of song for me but the visuals are damn good.

Love some of the transitions in this one.

The opening shots of different wizards in environments similar to their magic type is cool. Then, they all fade to black which is where Asta appears. Very nice.

Interesting that Asta and Yuno are reaching out to each other instead of their normal fist bump.

Lots of action in this OP and it’s great.

The transition from Finral and Langris in red to Noelle and Solid in blue is satisfying. The parallel of sibling issues.

Zora seeing his father is a good transition too.

That shot of Langris angry is scary but it transitions to Finral opening his eyes to see his friends protecting him :’)

6. Paint It Black by BiSH (OP 2)

This OP changed as the arc went on. I was skipping it on some episodes and when I decided to see it again, I had to take a step back. Then, I watched it almost every time.

I was excited for this arc because Luck was getting attention and the OP reflects this but at the split shot of him half crazy and half as we normally see him made me think “That’s concerning”

I like the red, blue and black throughout it. Very reminiscent of the rustiness of Asta’s sword too.

Watching the arc, I liked trying to identify everyone’s grimoires as they flew past at the beginning.

5. Haruka Mirai by Kankaku Piero (OP 1)

Start of the show so it’s mostly Asta and Yuno based which is fine because you haven’t met many characters yet but I prefer the ones that include more of the characters

I like that the shots of the Black Bulls and Captains are like illustrations in the pages of a grimoire.

I remember this OP making me think Magna was going to be more important than the other Black Bulls because there’s a shot of him riding on Crazy Cyclone with Asta and Noelle. Like, I thought they were going to be a trio or something.

This is the OP that they play during scenes in the show so it has some nostalgia as the first one and it shows how much Asta has grown.

Being the first OP, it hits different and has a special place, but I think there are better ones down the line.

4. Black Catcher by Vicke Blanka (OP 10)

Cool OP because there is a drastic change between its two versions

Song is really good.

The first one fits that point in the story well because it’s colorless and raining and everything seems hopeless.

Secre flying through the air as the past plays out and then a shot of Asta shows how she’s been around for years.

Cool action fighting the devil.

When light breaks through the darkness and Secre cries :’)

As for the second version…

Secre falling through the sky but she has the Black Bulls cloak on now is nice.

I like Asta running through the illustrations of all these people he’s met. It’s recalling all the adventures he’s had so far.

Creepy shot of Gordon’s family which probably jumpscared me the first time I watched it

I want to punch Damnatio in the face

Some cool action

More foreshadowing ooooooo

Another good ending shot of the Black Bulls

3. RiGHT NOW by EMPiRE (OP 9)

Hype OP which is good for this arc

DRAMATIC LIGHTING

More elf trauma

Interesting that the first shots of the Black Bulls don’t show their faces really

I like how they show the backstories of Finral, Luck, Gauche, and Noelle on backgrounds that look like their grimoires.

Really good action shots

Mereoleona and Fuegoleon are going feral

Asta breaking through the black is cool.

Oooooo foreshadowing

2. Black Rover by Vicke Blanka (OP 3)

OH BOY

This was one of the openings I already knew before watching the show and I could not wait to get to it. Having the context just made it better.

Never skipped this OP. Ever.

Song goes so hard.

I was so excited that we were going to see Yami in action

There’s also a small fight with Magna, Luck, Asta, and Noelle against these cloaked figures you assume are the Eye of the Midnight Sun. They’re the characters we mainly know so far and it’s a cool bit.

This is the OP that I feel sums up Black Clover as a series the best. Like, I would show this to someone to try and convince them to watch the show.

Guess Who Is Back by Kumi Koda (OP 4)

YESSSSSSSS

An OP I never skipped

This song goes so hard.

While Black Clover is the OP that I think sums up Black Clover, this is pure Black Bulls awesomeness. It’s so hype.

I like shots of the grimoires. They’re fun.

I love their dramatic ass poses at the beginning with the lighting shifts.

The shots of Asta, Magna, Luck, Vanessa, Finral, and Noelle going from rougher sketches to more vivid and dimensional (I don’t know how to describe this). I want to scream at this part, it’s so good.

Then, the group shot at the end as they face Vetto.

It’s just so so so so amazing and gets you excited.