#but it doesnt Mean anything to me beyond it just being somewhat interesting

[dandyshucks]

trying to tell other ppl about OCs is so hard and embarrassing, like yeah here's my automaton guy that I've been calling Empty Mask, yeah I nearly cried over the thought of him collecting broken porcelain dolls the other day, yeah he sounds kind of stupid but he's actually kind of a tragic character if u get to know his story,,,,,,

[phiniusandjelly]

Im so sorry im losing my absolute mind but please hear me out for a second.

Mild tw for implied SA - NOTHING ACTUALLY HAPPENED PEOPLE JUST THINK IT HAPPENED

You know the common misunderstanding au in the danny phandom rn about vlad being a creep and people thinking hes like a CREEPY CREEP and not just a supervillain creep?

Well imagine danny is going on break or something and his dad wants to bring the whole family up to vlads castle for whatever reason.

Danny, obviously, does not want to waste his ONE FREAKING CHANCE of getting some god damn sleep being tormented by vlad and his stupid birds. Plus, vlad will probably plan some big murder plot for his dad and danny CAN. NOT. HANDLE. THAT. RIGHT. NOW.

So danny decides to make a PowerPoint presentation about why he doesnt want to go.

Obviously he cant reveal vlad or his own halfa status so its mostly just really jumbled information about vlad being creepy.

He gets backup from sam, tucker, jazz, and even val. He also knows his mom already dislikes vlad and knows hes a total creep so all he really needs to do is convince his dad.

But??? As hes compiling evidence??? And rehearsing his presentation with hes friends??? He realizes that it sounds super fucked up???

And like, it’s mostly just bad without all the context. But he realizes that Vlad is actually kinda sick in the head. Danny knows he would never actually do something that terrible, but its supper concering how similar his actions are to like, actual bad people.

Danny isnt mad about it or anything, he’s actually just worried about it Vlad.

Danny is not perfect by any means. But Vlad is the only other member of his species besides, like, his fucking clone (which holy shit Vlad what the fuck) or maybe dan who is also fucked up.

Danny knew that Vlads death definitely messed him up, but he never really thought about Vlads actions beyond “obsessive fruitloop, at it again :/“ and is just now realizing that vlad might need psychological help. Which he feels pretty (REALLY) bad about.

Danny has no idea what to do, and no idea who to go to.

So he sneaks out, doesnt even go ghost as he takes the powerpoint to vlad who obviously freaks tf out because holy shit thats SO MUCH WORSE THAN ANYTHING HE COULD HAVE POSSIBLY IMAGINED. What if he had actually hurt daniel? What if he had hurt his precious Madeline?? He needs help like yesterday! How did he ever get so bad???!

So Vlad freaks, trashes his own house, apologizes to danny, and books it through the portal to find the far frozen or somewhere else he can get help.

Danny is somewhat shellshocked about the whole situation. It doesnt get better when people start investigating Vlads disappearance.

The state of the manor indicates foul play and the police look into it further. Find security tapes. They see danny, frazzled and paranoid, enter Vlads property, everything goes to static, and only danny leaves.

Hes arrested of course, and he and his friends/family are interrogated.

Everybody vehemently denies that Danny would ever do such a thing, but when they are asked if danny has potential motives everyone (except for jack) gets all squeamish.

Its practically common knowledge in Amity Park that the mayor and the weird Fenton child had beef. People just were unsure why.

I think it would be really cool to focus a story around the polices pov of the investigation/ random Amity Parkers interpretation of the events.

Danny being kinda creepy after the accident (because death) could totally make people assume he did it and that would be awesome.

We can also add in de-aged Dani/Ellie and or Dan for that extra spice.

Imagine the fentons finding out about Dannys supposed kids in the context that they are MOTIVES FOR THEIR SON TO MURDER THEIR COLLAGE FRIEND ( AND DANNYS OWN GODFATHER) WHO APPARENTLY GROOMED HIM???!? AND THEY DIDNT EVEN NOTICE??!?

This could totally be a crossover too. Lucifer tv show. Batman. Supernatural. All are good.

Anyway, thought this could be kinda interesting

Please continue if you want

[alchemicourtesy]

HEYEY! glad to see more people into vat7k!!! Would you mind sharing more of the insight n what your perceptions of the characters are? I saw your post about Hugo n Var as well as the involvement with Nuru in the tags and was wondering!!! No pressure ofc <3 also love your art it's REALLY AWESOME !

hi! thank you so much :] im rlly glad ur interested... as new as i am to this story and world i'm still ironing out my own opinions and headcanons and ideas so everything is in a rough place atm but i'd love to talk about what i Do have right now ^^

i'm sort of operating under the idea of what this would look like if it were a tv show rather than a comic only for the sake of structure and me being able to visualize it haha. doesnt mean anything beyond that.

i love the idea of there being 7 kingdoms, 7 alchemic laws, and 7 "lessons" for the characters to learn and id probably divide it through 3 seasons with the last season focusing on either 2 or 1 (heavy emphasis on what would be the "library arc") and allocating the extra "arcs" to s1. but anyways

mainly i like the idea of like. each of the group getting a chance to shine an equal amount. obviously they'd all have something to gain from every lesson but imo id put a particular emphasis on them all getting 2 each to hammer home their development and experiences. i havent ironed out who learns what and its not like...an exact science rn so thats a work in progress

nuru is interesting to me in particular bc i think theres a notable position she is in being a princess and wanting to be hands on. for her character particularly i feel like its important she be able to learn how to care for her subjects and hone the skills she needs for the responsibility she has but also allowing herself to understand herself as a person and an individual without having to sacrifice her duty to her people and her community. too many times i see in media where a character has this huge responsibility and they have to learn to care about and understand Themselves first and while thats important i feel like its not always possible or feasible and also it's hard. it's rlly hard to grapple with both of those things at the same time. and nuru being a princess she Wants to help her people. she Wants to have the responsibility to care for them but she still must learn what that will look like for her specifically and how she can be that person she wants to be without phoning it in or anything.

with yong i saw it was mentioned he has a huge loving family that supports him and wants to see him succeed, but he's just sort of wild and unpredictable in ways i think varian can relate to from when he was younger. there's nothing really "wrong" with yong, but he has to understand and learn balance and control where he struggles with it and that he can be the person he wants to be but there has to be instances where he takes his time and understands that progress isnt linear. which gives varian a good place to act as an older brother figure obviously bc thats shit he himself learned in tts lol

varian's arc Kind of began and ended in tts so i just see vat7k as a way of expanding on stuff he already has learned yet not rlly like. rehashing stuff he should already know

hugo is a little trickier for me bc i think there are a Lot of similarities he shares narratively with eugene (which makes sense given that he was said to have been acquainted with eugene in the past, at least somewhat). they're similar but they're not the Same, so i wouldnt want hugo to just be repeating the same beats that eugene already learned. in my opinion hugo is smug and he thinks somewhat highly of himself, but hes not a bragger. hes not snarky nor will he actively antagonize the group. what reason would he have to? he wants them to like and trust him and i dont rlly see that happening if hes always being a jerk to them haha.

thats all i got for now i think but feel free to ask me abt more stuff if ur interested : )

[ashyslashyy]

alright ive mentioned these headcanons before but since it is currently autism acceptance month and this show is my special interest i wanna go more in depth on my autism headcanons for the gravity falls characters!!!

dipper: obviously his interest in the supernatural can be considered a special interest, and he also tends to be very organized and gets upset when things dont go how he planned (best example of this is in double dipper). he also has trouble a lot in social situations and a lot of his behavior is stimming (like chewing on/clicking pens, chewing on his shirt, pacing, etc). also gf is a cartoon so its not too weird that he wears the same outfit every day but i am choosing to believe its because thats his routine.

mabel: very creative and eccentric i love her. she also stims a lot and tends to miss social cues, but unlike dipper she doesnt get nervous, she just tends to be a bit sillier and more outgoing in situations where it may not be appropriate. shes also pretty high empathy; she cares a lot about people and objects and in the hand that rocks the mabel its shown she has a hard time saying no because she doesnt want other people to be upset. she also wears the same outfit everyday (not Exactly the same but shes always wearing a headband, sweater, skirt, and the same socks and shoes).

ford: like dipper, ford also seems to have a special interest in the supernatural, as shown by the journals. ford is also a bit socially awkward and tends to only keep a few people close. he also gets stressed when things dont turn out the way he planned. ford is also shown to have trouble with empathy and understanding others, especially stan. he doesnt understand why he does what he does, and its hard for him to grasp decisions that arent logical.

stan: honestly i dont have too much to say about stan, hes a bit stubborn but beyond that i dont think theres too much explicit evidence from what i can remember. this one is less about actual traits and more just about vibes.

soos: hes interested in a lot of tv shows and games and has a somewhat unique sense of humor. he also has trouble in social situations, the best examples being in soos and the real girl. he also has interests in things that may be considered childish, which isnt an autistic trait in and of itself, but it is common. also soos is just awesome

wendy: once again this one is more about vibes. shes just really cool

fiddleford: i have less to go on for him, but theres still a lot. fiddleford very obviously has an interest in mechanics and technology; this strikes me as especially important as a special interest because even after losing his memory he still retains lots of mechanical knowledge and skill. hes also shown both in the show and the book to be stimming a lot, specifically bouncing his leg. he also gets overwhelmed easily, which is shown a lot more in the journal.

bill: HOOO BOY now this is where it gets rambley bc bills my personal favorite and we have quite a bit in common so i'll be listing off more stuff here. obviously bill cant really be judged by human standards because hes. not one. but personally i think he has a lot of autistic traits. number one his low empathy swag. bill is like ford and has difficulty understanding others and why they do things. he also gets thrown off when things dont go his way. his dialogue also tends to be pretty blunt (hes good at being vague about his intentions but in general he doesnt really use idioms and if hes not trying to hide anything he'll usually say what he means). his speech is also relatively flat; hes basically always yelling but beyond that he isnt super expressive with how he talks, at least not in comparison to some other characters. he also does a lot of stuff that can be considered stimming, which you can see a lot in sock opera (like ive picked up several stims from stuff he does in that episode). also, weirdmageddon is just what happens when you get understimulated. You know how it is

obviously these arent the only characters who i think are autistic, but these are some of the main characters that i have a decent amount of evidence for.

[pinkhairedsniper]

(shitpost under cut about an au, extremely long)

me rambling to a friend : so y’see dadscout & overall what happens to scout in the sburb au is an interesting ableit highly conditional possibility of how scout could develop, like he’s a cool and extremely skilled superspy that pretty much terrifies the entirety of mann co and all and is known for not having a clear origin nor aging or anything- but behind the scenes he’s fucking spending hours upon hours of studying to get his intel (see expiration date !! the guy doesnt give up !! he works !!), time travelling everywhere n crap and just working around everything he can but /lord/ is it still work, he’s constantly scrambling to keep up with what he’s trying to do but god he doesn’t give up- that son of a bitch is simply the product of being put in a high pressure environment where his resilience and stubbornness are both strained to their maximum while really keeping out of reach true rewards, giving him just barely enough to make him keep walking, and keeping guidelines blurry & confusing while still giving him enough to figure things out and break the game, yeah ? like lack of guidance played a huge role in who scout is bc he always had to be self taught on everything, nobody had time for him, his brothers took everything before he could get his share for so long and all, spy wasn’t here n so on. the game just follows up on that. so there’s that and he’s given more ressources to boot But these very ressources have to be managed lest they flip right against him ? because time just is. dangerous, especially when you have eons of absorbed doomed timelines and even the alpha one to boot and that translates directly into raw power that pretty much puts him on par with lord english and possibly beyond due to how the thief class works- so he’s just sitting here with incredible powers that can make him fucking distort time, collapse the very fabric of reality, and the duty to fulfill this bigass timeloop so him & his team exist at all n all, but 0 guidance on what to do. to boot he’s basically *forced* to keep trying, because he simply can’t fail, it’s fucking rigged to hell and back so one version of himself (the alpha one) will surefire will succeed, but god at what cost ? it only makes it more tragic, he has no choice in any of this and it just killed his cute and cheerful, punchy side, replacing it with just this jagged edge- but the fact that it’s rigged just doesn’t help relax either, it just strains him with anxiety because it’s still conditional, he still has to work to earn it, it Must exist but he has to fight to be that existing success and not become a doomed failure- he has to still keep trying so he’s still his alpha self- he’s just constantly running because he’s running out of time no matter what he does, but he still gotta keep up the rythme and it’s insane he did for the +50 years it took to set up everything about mann co & all, watching the team and helping the admin & hating himself because Of Course being a god didn’t fix any of what he had, he’s still stuck with ADHD and dyslexia and everything and he hates all this fucking paperwork the admin makes him do between missions too and why does he have to fucking time travel to take naps and care for baby spy, he’s using his powers to live two, three, four, five, six times over and over the same days and he’s STILL short on time, trying to topple organizations AND get +500 pages of applications reviewed AND taking spy to school and whatever AND murdering a guy here spying on another there AND trying to eat and sleep AND- he can’t keep up with this, there’s too much going on and he’s lost his sense of real time to the point he asks spy what day it is more than four times a day (from the kid’s pov), normal rythmes don’t mean shit to him anymore, the only damn times he feels somewhat sane is when he just, “fuck it” and goes on a trip with miss pauling and yeets entire months back so they can just abandon work altogether, or exiles himself at the conagher ranch for a while a few decades back with radigan, or takes spy to the future in the medium in sburb- this man is at the bridge of having a nervous meltdown and he still has to look good and careless and badass so everyone thinks he’s this scary untouchable spy that doesn’t even need to try to make organizations fall appart- god help him if they find out how much he struggles, god help him if they find out he’s this much of a mess, god help him if people find out he’s weak and dumb as he is and only pulls through because he can time travel and can’t die, but god won’t help will he ? he’s stuck in this enormous timeloop and nobody is coming to help, and at the end spy will hate him because he knows he will, he was disgusted by everything he did in sburb and he constantly would call him out on being fucking lame and how not even being a god could fix his mediocrity as a person, for sure he’s gonna lose that admiration he had for him once he knows his epic superspy dad was awful, awful scout this whole time, it just haunts him, he’s still ugly, stupid and good for nothing scout, he’s running out of time, once the 50 years have gone past he’ll have to go back to sburb and face him and if he hates him there’s nothing he can do about it, can’t even fucking kill himself because of bullshit immortality, so in the meantime he’s just going to keep delaying that, keep himself busy with this hellsent timeloop, keep trying to keep up appearances and keep trying to live up to the shadow of the self he himself constructed and made everyone believe he was including his own son/father/whatever the FUCK why the FUCK did the game do that too this is horrible beyond words, he wants to fucking die already, but he can’t even do that, can he ? he’s that much of a fuckup, can’t even figure out a way to bypass this damn clock and this damn immortality and his own power’s fucking drain of it that force it to never give a judgement other than neutral, he has to live with being a fucking all-swallowing monster that feeds on the very fabric of the universe for the rest of eternity and Oh Fucking Boy, Is It Starting Nicely ! just showing him RIGHT FUCKING AWAY that everything he will ever love will eventually hate him & despise him and wish he could fucking rot away ! AND THAT HE HAS NO CHOICE IN IT ! IT’LL JUST HAPPEN, SUCKERS !!!!! all of that because no matter how much he tries, he’ll always be running out of time, he’ll always be ugly, incompetent and stupid scout, he can’t escape who he is and it hurts, especially when he has to fucking /pretend otherwise/ for the sake of this fucking piece of shit of a temporal inevitability !! all he can do is just fucking. hide in boxes in demo’s fucking basement and cry like the fuckup he is and accept his fate as both his punishment for sucking so fucking much and the proof of his incompetence-

so anyway what im saying is that if you torture scout he becomes hot and mentally ill

my friend :

[shyrose57]

Brothers anon back again. I had a sort of writers block for the last like 2 days which made it really hard to do some questions, but I got em done finally. Sorry about the wait. This one is split between the numbered questions, and next ask is the other questions you asked!

I think I accidentally skipped a question in the last one. I honestly don't completely remember but in case I did skip it by mistake, the groups first travel out of the city's limits and even further beyond in a carriage. When they reach the end of how far the driver is willing to go they then get out and start walking. With Jackie screaming about how their finally going on a adventure. 

1: It thankfully doesn't get to to bad before the others notice. And he immediately told them about Dream, wanting to be very clear with what happened and what they where getting themselves into. But they accepted him anyway and helped him. 

2: Isaac is the leader cause Cletus is too much of a wildcard and too impulsive to lead safely, Charles is too shy to lead, and while Benjamin is perfect for leading he doesnt really like leading and is more of a follower than a leader. But Isaac can joke around and gets along with everyone but also be able to take things seriously and know when something needs to be handled.

5: They do not, they last for a few minutes and unless its a healing or regeneration potion (in which it can take a few days for it to fully go away) they have no long lasting affects. They do know of eachothers past to an extent, they know enough to avoid triggers and enough to know what not to do when around eachother. They know through telling eachother, and they feel awful Grievous and Jackie had to deal with that, but leave it in the past and focus on making their current life better. 

6: Yes and no, while Jackie did mean to throw it at Ran, he ment for it to just hit nearby him, not directly hit him. It was ment to be more of a scare/intimidation tactic than anything else honestly. Grievous's luck is for basically everything, he has won the lottery twice before actually but only those 2 times, he's correctly guessed how many items are in a container more than a few times as well. 

7: I use the height charts and they help mostly for comparison, problem is I have trouble applying it to real world stuff and because of that I still have trouble knowing if something or someone is to tall or short. Jackie can get very mean, like he can make fun of someone who just lost a loved one or experienced a traumatic event at the worst. But he usually doesn't get nearly that mean, most he does normally is making fun of how someone looks or how they do certain things. The others comfort him the best they can when he gets sad, and when he gets mean they either encourage it (Grievous), or discourage it and stop him (Watson. Ran is between either encouraging or discouraging it).

8: He was! He spent most of his life adventuring actually! He misses it somedays now since he lives in Subbin, but he believes giving up his adventuring life for a family and friends who needed him is a more than far trade and would happily pick his family over adventuring again. For around 4 years after Ran left Mizu (including the day he left), Ran traveled everywhere, and learned how to survive himself and taught himself different things, like sewing. Ran has made new socks, fixed clothes, and made blankets for everyone at least once. Watson also designs bows and arrows for show, for top functionality, and for just simple (training) gifts to the others. Ran (and Watson) has visited the nether, though Ran tended to stay in it longer than Watson cause he could withstand the temperatures better. And while digging a new tunnel across the nether he ran into ancient debris, which he then messed with until he figured out to mix it with gold and coat his sword in it. He tried to find more ancient debris but sadly hasn't found any, leaving his sword permanently damaged and at risk of breaking. Jackie isn't good at all at painting, its more of a hobby he's trying out. They try to camp out there at least once a week, where Grievous will sometimes build a pillowfort and either force everyone inside or play a game of capture the fort with them. Sometimes Ran will also read during the pillowfort nights, but not to often. Jackie wants to vist a Snow, Savanna, Jungle,  Tagia, and if possible, a Ice Spike biome. He also wants to vist the nether but he'll have to fight Ran on that. Ran and Jackie's secondary titles are in Javanese!

9: Ran just kinda went "Hey Jackie, stand still for a second." "Ok?" And then he just picked him up and threw up. 

10: When he's first given dinner after already eaten lunch, he just kinda stares at the food. Then asks if they meant to give him food, and when the others say yes, he asks why because he thought people only ate once every few days. His answer shocked the others and they ask him to explain, and he explains futher that he was only allowed to eat and drink once every 3 days. Their horrified by this answer but explain to him how theres 3 meals a day and he can drink whenever, he doesn't believe them at first but eventually accepts it. 

11: When the fishermen first come to Ranbob about their worry, he expresses the same worry as them. But says that it's unlikely Ran will hurt the fishermen specifically, because Rans haunting are already friends with them, and Ran wouldnt risk breaking the friendship unless he deemed it necessary for their safety. 

12: Ranbob is sad that Ran goes to such lengths to avoid him and keep people away from him, but he has resigned himself to it. As he knew that if Ran was alive it was greatly unlikely that he would trust him and knew he would be avoided. Which is actually particularly why he believes Ran will never trust him again and why he views Ran as a kind of lost family member. One he'll never get back no matter what he does.

13: Their first stop is a nearby flower biome, and after that Watson has planned to lead them to a waterfall he found with a shattered Savanna somewhat close to it. They plan to travel for a minimum of 6 months, they can actually travel for as long as they want to, but Prokius made them agree that they must be back before the next General Pit Battles (which happens once every 5 years). 

14: He would 100% run himself into the ground until he's barely alive while searching for them. Benjamin compares Ranbob wanting to go back to Dream, to an abused person wanting to go back to their abusive lover. They believe they've changed and that they truly do love them and want the best for them, but in reality that's not it at all and others have to help them see thats not true and help them save themselves. So it doesn't surprise Benjamin or Isaac that much (it surprises Charles and Cletus though), and after its explained to them, their all more than willing to help Ranbob get over Dream and help him be himself again.

15: Oh definitely. Once they hear the Green-Eyed Enderman is back from hiding they all set out again, and after the group gets attacked and once word spreads that its in a group and there's another enderman with them, they all get targeted. With the Gladiators and Fishermen being targeted as bait or hostages to try to trick the enderman into following a trap. Ran wasnt affected like his brother was. Im talking about trauma and maybe even a bit of PTSD that came from Mizu, caused by Dream. Though both of the brothers have gained different amounts of trauma and PTSD from Dream. I may give the raven to either Watson or Ran, I think its fits both of them really well. I want to have them come across ruins of other Tales but im not sure which ones. Maybe they could find the remains of the Wild West Tale and the Haunted Mansion?

Glad to see you, Brothers Anon, and excited to read!

1: The perfect start to an Adventure. And a funny mental image. Imagining these two groups cramped into carriages is pretty amusing. How ready was everyone to get out by the time they could?

2: The fishermen are really great, and Ranbob is very lucky. I love them.

3: Isaac sounds like he’s a pretty good fit for it then. But nobody’s perfect! What are some flaws of his, leadership-wise?

5: Interesting. What makes Regeneration and Healing last longer? I suppose it’s not relative to the AU, but I am a bit curious. What’s the world’s potions mechanisms, if you don’t mind me asking? And that’s good! They may not know everything, but they know what to avoid, and that’s important. Everyone’s moved forward and are making the best of life, and honestly, that’s pretty cool of them.

6: Welp, Jackie, it seems intimidation tactic failed. However, you have managed to anger Ran, so..there’s that. He won the lottery? Dang. Well, if they ever need money, they can just send him to the nearest casino, I suppose.

7: Aight, so I may have a solution for you there. Whatever height you’re going for, find something in real life that’s just about the same height. Like a tree, or something. Or not, we can always just leave it at short enough to be tossed and tall enough to be the tosser. Jackie sounds like he knows where to hit to make it hurt, honestly. It’s good that they comfort him, though I am curious why they all react as they do to him being mean. Why does Grievous encourage it? And is it more of a depends on the day thing for Ran, or a depends on what was said to Jackie, and what Jackie’s saying thing?

8: Nice! What kind of places did he go? Does he have any particularly interesting knickknacks from that time period? And Ran personally sounds like he knows what he’s doing. Watson’s weapons sound really cool, where did he learn to make them? Is visiting the Nether not a common occurrence these days? Or is it simply that the others never got around to it before? Well, hobbies are always fun to try. Does Jackie keep at it and get better or get bored and try something else? How does Capture the Fort go with these guys, considering they’re gladiators? Why does Jackie want to visit those particular biomes? Is there a reason, or do they just sound cool to him? And why would Ran not want them going to the Nether? Because of the danger?

9: FDXGHJ- He just- tossed him?? No warning?? Oh my gods, I’m dying. How did Jackie react to that? Heck, how did Porkius react to that? I doubt anyone was expecting that display.

10: Oh, no. Now I really want to punch Dream in the face. What the heck, Dream?! He legit asks if they meant to give him food...If one of the fishermen or gladiators doesn’t eventually find a way to punch Dream, I will be forced to travel realities and do it myself. 

11: Kind of sad that Ranbob was equally concerned about it. But hey! He won’t have to be, one day!

12: Poor Ranbob. I hope he’s proven wrong, eventually. Do the fishermen know that he thinks this? If so, how do they feel about it? Or does he kind of just keep those thoughts to himself?

13: Flower biomes are really pretty. What did everyone think about it? Did they bring any flowers with them? So this roadtrip could possibly go on for a few years. Did they leave just after a General Pit Battle, or do they have like, less than five years? Speaking of General, is Jackie still the General in this AU? Does he have extra duties because of it? Or is that not something that happened in this AU?

14: Yikes. Reactions to this? Why does Ranbob believe Dream’s changed, as you put it? Is Dream still able to talk to him, or is it because he just misses being there? So Benjamin and Isaac aren’t all that surprised about it. Do they take the reins in helping out? And how do they all do so? It’s good that they’re helping him though.

15: Well, this sounds like it can’t end well. They try to use the hauntings as bait? Is anyone actually captured? Rescue missions? And alright, that makes a bit more sense. I can see how they’d both be effected differently, and honestly, they’d probably both have very different perspectives of the event, all things considered. Ravens for the win! And it’d be really cool for them to come across the ruins of old Tales buildings. Can you imagine the kind of things they’d find? Diaries, faded photographs, moth-eaten clothes, blood stained floors...Like a walk in the past, but they’ll never know what came to be for the people of that time.

[739337369137371082]

Hey so I found u thru the Halved Live Funnies and I gotta ask... whose Leon? What series these dudes from?

i got this ask and then forgot about it for like 2 days. anyways.

IVE ANSWERED THIS BEFORE BUT. GOD. LEON. ok so like....... long story short last year was when i first played resident evil........ bc we got a copy of re2remake in and.... jesus christ. i hyperfixated so fucking hard for the better part of a year going on into this year. and then i watched hl/vr and well. we know where that went. but now i am once again hyperfixated and now im back to where i was in like.... june of last year LMAO. but anyways i am once again going to ramble under the cut about them <3 (seriously. its very long and doesnt go much of anywhere. also spoilers)

tl/dr:

OK. SO. resident evil. the last time i answered this ask i either hadnt played some of them or just completely forgot the plot of others LOL but now upon beating/playing a large majority of them (besides 6 which i have not touched yet, and 7 is first person and im not rly interested in it rn)...... well others have said this as well but if you like cheesy b action movies you would love resident evil!!! 

the orig 1-2 are more survival horror which is what i like the most. 3 is where it starts branching into more actiony stuff but is still survival horror. but 4 and after is just like..... cheesy action stuff which is fine but not really like.... my thing. altho i do think that they are fun in a “this plot is hilariously bad” type way because i do enjoy horrible things. but people who like resident evil dont like it for the plot they like it for the characters. and for me i latched the fuck onto leon kennedy and tyrant t-00 aka mr fucking x

listen.......... you guys know me relatively well enough to know that i have a type......... and i would define leon as not really fitting under it usually because he is 1. under 6 foot 2. human and 3. very much not a villain. but something about (mostly remake) leon hits fucking different!!!!!! hes kind and means well, thinks about others constantly, looks like an actual fucking person in the in game graphics instead of being some manufactured perfect model, nice voice, etc....... i fucking care him so much. also gameplay wise i find his weapons to be more enjoyable than claires so i always end up playing his route/2nd route the most compared to hers. but i do also like claire :) shes nice and epic

i dont really like the newer leons (4 and afterwards) as much.... i mean a lot of it has to do with trauma and general “growing up” after what happened in re2 but hes just so constantly... snarky? jaded? constantly spouting lines to make him seem cool? when in my head hes very much like... a loser LMAO. i mean dont get me wrong hes a badass. he survives a fucking zombie outbreak and nearly gets murdered dozens of time. thats the definition of badass. but also you cannot change my mind that hes also a anxious loser twunk. there is literally nothing you can do to convince me he is “cool” like the games and movies want to think. this is probably heresy to re fans but this is my truth

https://youtu.be/aVZWuSfGStk?t=129

here is a vid of his cutscenes. obvious spoilers in there but you can skip around and see how cute he is. also yes in his first cutscene he is listening to butt rock. i switch between thinking hes just listening to it because nothing else is on the radio or his taste really is that terrible

also you literally CANNOT convince me that he is straight. the games try SOOOOO hard to get you to ship leon/ada or leon/claire but like...... i cannot see it. he has one of the gayest run animations i have ever seen in re2 remake and i mean... he just radiates gay trans man energy to me. also please look at this small scene from one of the animated movies where a licker jumps on top of him and he wraps his legs around its hips and lifts it off of him to not die. gay king

https://youtu.be/d-VNikxYBPw?t=9

but yes ive basically decided to ignore all characterization from re4 and onwards regarding leon at least. every leon after that is not my leon (except in special cases when im thinking about something like leon/jd from re damnation..... they did jd so dirty and they should have fucking kissed. or how cute he looked in vendetta sometimes)

ANYWAYS. MR X

so basically there are these enemies in resident evil called “tyrants” that are manufactured by the evil capitalist company umbrella that are near indestructible save for like.... rocket launchers or super heavy artillery that youre not buying at your local gun store. and in re2 one of them get sent to the police station where leon and claire are and is told to wipe out all witnesses. (i also do think that 2 or more were sent there... or at least in the area when this happened due to some very obvious plot hole stuff on each route no matter how you play, even tho the devs have come out and said that only 1 existed in the game and that each route is like “a parallel dimension” to each other. i wont go into it more than that but i choose to ignore that)

and well. when i first played it i knew of mr x but didnt like... know much about him other than that he was a monster and Tall (like 7 or 8 feet tall) and that he chased you around. that already sold me on him but then. well. you first encounter him because he lifts up an entire goddamn helicopter and then proceeds to chase you. and it was then that i knew i was in deep shit because he fucking stomped his way into my heart and never left.

mr x basically has serious Side Character Disorder where (even tho the remake made him very cool and epic and did him really well compared to nemesis in re3 remake which is an entire different can of worms) he has LITERALLY no personality or like. thoughts. or anything. hes only there to chase you around and be on screen for like 10 seconds for a couple of cutscenes and then not show up again until the very end of the game for you to fight on leons route. but god. he means so fucking much to me. 

you know how people latch onto random side characters that have no personality and essentially flesh them out more than the creators ever will? thats me with mr x. its gotten to the point where certain songs come on on my spotify and i actually get EMOTIONS or even TEARS because they remind me of him, but its not even really HIM, its the fucking ideas that ive come up with regarding him because all he ever does in game is chase you around and punch you and then die and is never brought up again

but anyways. mr x is a tall monster who chases leon and claire around in their routes but mr x is leons main monster in the game (claire has a different one). he chases leon around, literally never stops looking at him as he chases him, gets hit by an entire fucking car which then explodes BUT THEN chases him down into the sewers and into a secret underground lab just to get to him like a fucking bloodhound who, once he has the scent, will never stop chasing him

(you can see why this made me kind of insane)

just. AGHHH. the tyrants in this series get treated so dirty. i desperately want capcom to give us some sort of tyrant that can actually fucking like.... go against orders and brainwashing or whatever and actually have emotions and thoughts!!!!!!!!!! but capcom would never do anything with it cause its a rough and tough action series and people arent here to see tyrants have some sort of thought process beyond punching and killing and people only want to shoot guns at them instead of thinking about the possibilities of a tyrant that goes against its programming.

i so desperately want an au where mr x got the transmitter shot off of the side of his head (and while capcom never mentioned this ever many re2 fans have since decided that it is what feeds info/orders to him. i flip flop between thinking that it either is near controlling him and prevents free will and thought or that its just giving him orders and that hes just burying/hiding/not showing free will and thought in fear of being killed. either that or someone at umbrella is “piloting” him but also the whole point of tyrants is that theyre supposed to be smart enough to think for themselves somewhat so... eh). GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!

ive explained a bunch of this stuff in my other ask about it but just...... xleon means so much to me when it should not and will never be actually canon

anyways please play re2 remake at least, you dont have to know everything about re1 to like it, just go into it knowing that a few months ago in the mountains outside raccoon city claires brother chris and a few members on his team went to a mansion where they discovered umbrella doing shady zombie shit there. re2 remake was hyped up for years for a reason and it is really good, even if its short (altho i do appreciate short games in this day and age cause not every game needs to be like 60 plus hours long). 

maybe one day when its not late and i can actually think i will explain all this better but todays not that day <3

(EDIT: ALSO RE DAMNATION TYRANTS ARE 14 FEET TALL. AND CHASE AROUND LEON AND ACTUALLY FUCKING RUN. FUN FACT! anyways while i do think jd in that movie and leon should kiss i also want leon and a tyrant from that movie to kiss. bye)

[ravenaveira]

Okay I get why you might not like Alisha from ToZ, but you hate /Luke/?????? I cannot understand. Why do you hate Luke I gotta know

Ok Im gonna be honest and admit Im a little biased when it comes to Luke, and when I say little I really mean ALOT lol I’ll explain

First off he started off pretty bad but I could already tell he was going to develop as his journey went on and I was right, I was really proud of his development and growth. But then he got all those people killed, ignoring everyone who tried to warn him because of his arrogance which caused everyone to hate him for a short time and rightfully so, hell I was pissed at him still even AFTER they forgave him.

But after he cut his hair and really resolved to change and actually put in the effort, I started to like him again, I really admired his growth and that he acknowledged he screwed up instead of continuing to make excuses for it, he effed up, he realized his mistake and took responsibility for it and worked hard to change. It reminded me somewhat of Zuko’s redemption arc in Avatar with how he kept messing up at first but then realized where he went wrong and did his best to change, I respect that.

So how did I grow to dislike Luke after all that? well as I said Im very biased against him for one reason and one reason only.

Asch

Now from the very beginning we know theres more to Asch than meets the eye, theres a reason he and Luke look so much alike but we just dont know what yet, then when we find out things only get worse from there as we slowly find out his backstory and what happened to him. It was so bad it actually made me dislike Luke because he essentially took literally EVERYTHING from him, although unknowingly the fact is he still stole Asch’s entire life.

His fiance, his kingdom, his best friend, his parents, even his name, literally everything. Asch was kidnapped and forced to go through agonizing experiments to create that replica Luke that they used to replace him and take over his life while Van continued to use and abuse Asch for his own gain. And what happens when Asch finally escapes and makes his way home? he sees his family and friends all moved on happily with his replica, that was beyond sad and hard to watch.

So where my bias comes in is that I like Asch more than I like Luke, why? because Asch is the original and he also just has a way more interesting backstory and personality compared to Luke who pretty much had it made his entire life and took it for granted, replica or not Luke still had it far easier than Asch did. His only real struggle was trying to have his own identity while Asch was trying to cope with having his stolen, which was a far more compelling dilemma in my opinion that I felt could have used more focus.

There was even one point in the game where everyone was against Luke and spent time with Asch in his place for a while and it just felt awkward, Guy and Natalia were originally friends with him, not Luke but at the end of the day, Guy sides with Luke and basically ditched Asch for the copy, which Asch even says he expected him to do. Even so, Guy siding with Luke over him clearly hurt him since that WAS originally his friend, even Jade points it out.

Yes its understandable since he spent more time with Luke after Asch was taken but at the same time it just felt like nobody really gave much thought to Asch’s situation and that somehow Luke was just far more important than Asch even though he’s the original whose life was stolen from him. To me, Asch was just treated beyond unfair and he just accepted it because he felt like he was inferior and had no place with them now. Just the charred remains of who he once was.

Natalia at least made the effort to reach out to Asch more than anyone else did and understood him even though he pushed her away, at least she was the only one who truly tried to console and reach out to him over the ordeal whether he accepted it or not. Luke did too but to be honest thats the LAST person he wanted to listen to for obvious reasons.

Yeah Asch pushed them away but nobody but Luke and Natalia actually took the time to see things from his perspective and tried to empathize with him, he was literally all alone through everything so its understandable why he has such a hard time with ‘teamwork’.

His attitude, like Lukes, is completely understandable when you look at their upbringing. Luke was royalty and behaved like an arrogant spoiled brat because of his privilege and lack of knowledge about the real world, so him being an asshole at first makes sense.

Asch was cold and impersonal at first because he was being groomed to be the ruler of Kimlasca but was also treated coldly by his father, then he was kidnapped at a very young age and experimented on to create a replica that completely highjacked his life and took all his friends and family away from him. So for him to be cold, distant, apathetic and rude makes total sense given what he’s been through, why wouldnt he be resentful towards Luke especially but everyone else too? he felt abandoned and forgotten and worst of all replaced, who wouldnt feel bitterness after that? in many ways, he even felt inferior to Luke which only rubbed salt in the wound.

But even with all of that, ALL OF THAT, I still liked both but just liked Asch more, however, something happened that made it impossible for me to like Luke anymore and forever hate him for it.

Asch dies, and Luke lives, that is unforgivable.

Now listen, I know it was foreshadowed but there were several things that happened that made this impossible to accept. Starting with the fact that near the end of the game all the replicas were supposed to die, keyword ALL so that includes Luke, so it was also foreshadowed that Luke would die as well. Asch from the side effects of the replication and Luke because replicas tend to be unstable and fall apart eventually which is why formicry was banned, yet in the end, only Asch dies and in one of the worst ways possible

He lived in constant pain and suffering both physical and emotional and now he dies in excruciating pain and suffering too, why? protecting Luke, and not just that, but from an experiment he never signed up for and was forced to go through, that was beyond unfair and unforgivable.

His whole life he has lost and sacrificed everything, EVERYTHING because of Luke, not only could he not live his own life but he couldnt even die his own death either. Luke got to live his life and got to escape his death and he’s the friggin replica who was supposed to die with all the rest, make that make sense to me.

The original dies but the fake lives even though its said replicas are unstable and doomed to fall apart eventually and we see it happen to every single human replica except for Luke, I just cant accept that.

They even have the nerve to leave the ending ambiguous where it sort of seems like Luke and Asch fuse and its left open-ended where you could assume its Asch or Luke but we all know its Luke because he goes directly to Tear in the end which doesnt make sense for Asch to do if it was him so Im just…UGH!!!!

So you wanna know why I dont like Luke? because he got to have everything Asch lost, he took everything from him and Asch literally gets nothing in the end, everybody moved on, Asch couldnt go back, Asch was slowly dying anyway from the experiment and Luke just gets to have everything in the end. He stole Asch’s life and in the end, he gets to keep it while Asch just dies protecting his copy, I just cannot accept that.

Its just unfair that Asch had to give up everything and Luke has to give up nothing, he really doesnt lose anything in the end, only Asch does. I know that sounds weird and a little sadistic but it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth ya know? the original dies having everything taken from him while the replica lives on with virtually everything? did Asch really get anything besides suffering in the end? no, thats where my hatred stems from.

So yeah my hatred for Luke stems from my bias for Asch, its not so much that Luke did something BAD that made him unlikeable but more like the ending the creators chose made me dislike him because I found it unfair and wanted Asch to have a happy ending too after all he’s been through but in the end, he dies because of something he had no control over and was forced to go through while Luke gets to go on living happily with everyone in the life Asch will never have, that is unacceptable.

So yea sorry this is so long but I wanted to go over how my admiration and respect for Luke turned to hate, its really of no fault of his own but the ending itself. I also hate that the fandom prefers Luke over Asch or even hate him when he’s the victim of so much but eh to each their own, but that just saddens me that even amongst the fandom Asch gets the short end of the stick while Luke gets all the praise.

Long story short this game just destroyed me lol which is why its my favorite Tales of games in the entire series despite my hatred for the ending, it was such a rollercoaster of emotion and pain that it really stands out from all the other Tales of in the series and IMO Tales of the Abyss is the best out of them all thus far and will always remain one of my top favorite games of all time. It’s such an underated gem.

[xhuliotm]

。· . ˙ ☀   ⌈   tommy   martinez +   cis   male   +   he   /   him   +   the   firestarter   ⌋   yo   ,   have   you   meet   that   KOOK   ,   𝐱𝐡𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐨   𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬   ,   yet   ?   —   no   ?   well   ,   to   give   you   a   little   heads   up   before   you   do   ,   they’re   a   TWENTY-THREE   year   old,   SOCIALITE   AND   BUSINESS   STUDENT      and   have   been   coming   to   coston   for   FIVE   YEARS   .   since   i’ve   known   them   ,   they’ve   reminded   me   of   𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠   𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬   𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡   𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬   𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧   𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥   𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬   ,   𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠   𝐚   𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞   𝐨𝐟   𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭   𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐝   𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬   ,   𝐭𝐨𝐨   -   𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦   𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬   ,   𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬   𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜   𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫   ,   𝐚𝐧   𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐝   𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧   𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡   𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫   𝐚𝐧𝐝   𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬  .   usually   they’re   quite   𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐   &   𝑓𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠    but   just   make   sure   you   keep   an   eye   out   for   them   around   town   because   i   heard   can   be   quite   𝑚𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑛   &   𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠   as   well   so   here’s   hoping   they   aren’t   the   ones   to   undo   this   whole   peace   pact   they   have   going   on   this   summer   .   but   just   between   you   &   me   ,   i   kinda   hope   it   all   falls   apart   .   the   rivalry   keeps   this   whole   boring   town   interesting   .

xhulio   is   the   result   of   both   parents’   third   marriage   and   is   the   youngest   in   a   legacy   of   five   children   with   nearly   a   10   year   age   gap   between   him   and   his   next   sibling   .   both   parents   being   immigrants   from   venezuela   ,   his   mom   built   a   hotel   empire   and   his   dad   was   an   ambassador   for   the   US   to   south   america   .   their   marriage   lasted   a   total   of   maybe   10   minutes   and   ended   before   xhulio   could   even   remember   .

his   parents   both   went   through   a   minimum   of   two   more   spouses   before   he   hit   middle   school   with   no   intention   to   slow   down   .   raised   by   nannies   and   seeing   his   birthgivers   on   the   odd   time   here   and   there   ,   his   childhood   was   the   typical   to   be   filled   with   material   goods   to   make   up   for   a   lack   of   parental   presence   —   and   to   be   honest   ,   xhulio   didn’t   mind   it   .   as   a   fiend   for   attention   however   he   could   get   it   ,   coming   to   school   with   the   newest   designer   coats   or   most   exclusive   video  ��game   system   made   him   something   of   a   god   among   his   peers   ,   a   sensation   that   became   buried   deep   into   the   recesses   of   his   mind   and   emotions   as   a   sensation   he   favors   .

a   perpetual   case   of   favorite   child   syndrome   ,   his   father   in   particular   noted   the   unbridled   potential   in   his   son   .   intelligent   ,   charming   ,   and   somewhat   of   a   bully   ,   he   saw   xhulio’s   aggression   as   a   tenacity   that   would   make   him   successful   in   his   life’s   approaches   beyond   belief   .   he   taught   his   son   how   to   use   his   charm   to   his   advantage   and   be   less   outright   forceful   about   his   engagements   ,   using   manipulation   rather   than   brute   force   to   make   his   way   into   whatever   he   wanted   ,   a   skill   the   boy   capitalizes   on   .

his   mother   babies   him   to   no   end   and   makes   him   a   brand   ambassador   for   her   company   ,   having   him   join   her   on   retreats   to   mingle   with   the   children   of   other   investors   .   xhulio   ,   dangerously   well   -   versed   in   how   to   get   what   he   wants   out   of   people   ,   makes   easy   work   of   flipping   each   of   them   to   bend   to   his   very   whim   .   living   the   life   of   a   socialite   ,   in   all   its   glitz   and   glam   ,   is   something   he   thrives   off   of   .   his   father   begins   to   try   and   one   up   his   mother   ,   bringing   him   along   to   government   functions   and   allowing   him   to   brush   elbows   with   senators   and   congresspeople   alike   .   luxury   on   his   mind   ,   xhulio   goes   for   an   ivy   league   business   education   that   makes   the   most   of   his   talents   .

his   mother   buys   out   a   small   hotel   property   in   this   beachy   town   called   the   coston   resort   and   brings   xhulio   along   over   summers   to   oversee   the   renovations   .   enjoying   the   terror   he   can   enact   in   the   town   with   little   to   no   consequence   brought   upon   him   ,   he   comes   back   along   every   summer   to   see   what   more   buttons   he’s   able   to   press   .   finding   the   divide   between   the   pogues   and   the   kooks   has   been   perhaps   one   of   his   favorite   pastimes   to   exploit   ,   seeing   no   reason   to   seek   peace   when   he’s   already   so   entertained   by   the   prospect   of   only   widening   this   riff   .   this   ends   in   an   even   greater   conflict   ,   when   he   gets   into   a   fistfight   last   summer   that   leaves   him   with   a   vendetta   against   the   pogues   that   he   thinks   rather   plague   the   area   .

he   is   one   of   those   obnoxious   smirky   boys   who   is   genuinely   convinced   he’s   a   blessing   to   the   earth   he   walks   on   .   an   entitled   af   childhood   will   do   that   to   you   :/   genuinely   is   of   the   mindset   that   the   world   is   his   and   other   people   just   habitate   it   with   him   .

well   aware   of   how   others   feel   but   just   cant   be   bothered   to   give   a   shit   about   literally   anyone   else   !   is   appallingly   self   -   interested   and   expresses   near   -   disgust   to   be   associated   with   any   form   of   expressed   sensitivity   or   insecurity   .   truly   believes   he   is   a   mini   god   on   earth   .

probably   just   genuinely   doesn’t   feel   sensitive   or   insecure   bc   he’s   never   been   taught   how   to   !   kwjehrwer

manipulative   as   hell   and   will   exploit   everything   around   him   to   get   where   he   wants   to   be   .   he’s   meticulous   about   how   he’s   percieved   and   doesn’t   like   being   seen   as   weak   or   disorganized   .   he’s   obsessive   about   upholding   his   reputation   and   holds   power   and   status   as   two   v   important   qualities   to   him   .   he’s   pretentious   as   all   hell   and   rather   spoiled   so   has   rarely   had   to   work   a   day   in   his   life   .

drips   w   sauce   and   we   hate   him   for   it   !

he   likes   material   goods   and   enjoys   his   lifestyle   less   because   of   the   actual   topics   but   more   so   because   he   gets   to   socialize   while   being   treated   like   luxury   .   his   lowkey   dream   would   be   a   job   where   he   doesnt   actually   do   anything   and   still   gets   2   live   like   a   prince   aka   trophy   husband   but   his   parents   are   too   up   his   ass   giving   him   opportunities   for   him   to   squander   them

likes   2   instigate   shit   for   fun   :/   genuinely   has   nothing   better   to   do

if   for   whatever   reason   u   can   get   past   the   whole   crazy   heartless   psychopath   thing   ,   his   pretentiousness   and   his   drive   mean   he’s   incredibly   straightforward   about   his   desires   and   pursues   what   he   wants   without   second   guessing   himself   .   he’s   generous   and   giving   when   the   mood   strikes   and   isn’t   above   showering   a   romantic   interest   with   lavish   gifts   and   non   stop   attention   even   if   they   show   0   interest   at   first   .   he’s   not   very   trustworthy   but   can   surprisingly   be   reliable   in   a   pinch   —   usually   just   when   it   benefits   him   best   tbh   .

inspired   by   klaus   mikaelson   from   vampire   diaries   and   mark   sloane   from   greys   !   talented   dancer   n   will   take   any   opportunity   to   show   it   ,   likes   2   make   people   intentionally   uncomfortable   bc   its   funny   to   him   ,   has   an   encyclopedic   knowledge   of   old   film   ,   loves   any   excuse   to   throw   a   huge   party   at   the   clubhouse   !

[tomiyeee]

finished the story quests for bl3 (but barely any of the side missions yet) and i got...Opinions(tm)

(sorry if this doesn’t cut on mobile! also if you want to hide spoilers i’m tagging all my bl3 posts as “bl3 spoilers” so ny’all can blacklist it)

in no particular order:

i honestly wanted to give gearbox some slack and try my best to like this game bc i know people had probably unfairly high expectations for this game given all the build up, but they really just kept letting me down in everything but the graphics

said this before but overall, the characters are all Quite lackluster

^^ tyreen and troy included. adding the word "bitch" to every sentence does not automatically make it funnier

that being said, i super love their backstory + relationship with typhon/nekofeyo-whatever

the character designs are equally boring. moxxi was the only one who got a real improvement imo. lilith and maya are okay. rhys...i dont think i have to explain. lia...i dislike her hair; the black felt like it balanced out her design better and the white streak was interesting and cool but full white just looks bad tbh. zer0 feels less sleek and more bulky which doesnt fit him much. tina lost her pretty color palette and cute outfit. where are all the bright pretty color palettes in general???? there are other colors besides brown and black???? use them?????

ending of pre-sequel: “you will need all the vault hunters you can get” me: “ooh does that mean all the vh’s from previous games are back? i can’t wait to see everyone meet each other! :D” bl3: only nine of them come back, 3 of them die, the rest are involved in maybe one mission at most

boss fights. super. boring. and tedious. i mean this could be partly because i was playing on ps4 which made it extra not fun but if the only reason the fight is difficult is because they have a lot of health...it's not fun or challenging. i want fights like handsome jack with interesting mechanics. i want fights like angel with emotional impact. i want fights like the pre-sequel final boss that i forgot the name of with variation that isnt just "now they have an attack that shines bright lights in ur eyes, covers the whole arena, and can knock you down in one hit im looking at you traunt and killavolt". tyreens fight was the only one that i somewhat enjoyed because of this. all the others were just like "ughhhh again?"

im really enjoying melee amara playstyle. taking out badass enemies in four hits is my jam. this is just my fallout 4 playthrough all over again babey heck yea

typhon just wanted to be a good dad!!! he called tyreen starlight which is adorable!!! he did the best he could and tyreen hated him for it!!! i don’t blame either of them for that tbh, it makes sense from both their perspectives. tyreen definitely should have been more understanding, but she’s a dick so :/ (not saying this is a writing flaw, just a character flaw)

hammerlock needs higher standards in men but i really appreciate the undeniably in-your-face "fuck you" to all gamer dudes

i really. hate. how little the player character seems to matter in the story. in pre-sequel the vh's all had unique dialogue AND npcs would respond, sometimes even with character-specific lines. even when it was the same across vh's, it still felt like the npcs were interacting and speaking directly to them. the player character felt like a character of their own, rather than just a vessel for the player to do quests and kill enemies with or an errand runner for the important characters. i thought that was the direction they were going in with bl3 too but this just feels like bl2 only worse. there��s a separation again between you and the story and it feels like you’re just watching things happen. now ur not just a silent protagonist, but instead your a speaking protagonist who gets completely ignored. whats the point of including unique dialogue if it's not even acknowledged beyond an "uh-huh, moving on"?

sometimes the logic just feels kinda dumb. the twins killed/disabled maya and lilith in a heartbeat, they can literally disintegrate the most powerful beings in the universe, but the vault hunters? absolutely not. they must fight them for 40 minutes and then die.

after the fight with troy, no one even touched tyreen. there's no way they could have thought "yup she's definitely dead, no need to shoot her in the head or anything just to make sure. we didn't do anything to even hurt her, we just assumed." turns out she's 100% alive and gets up to start the apocalypse. who'da thunk! i know they wanted the end to seem more dramatic but it just seems stupid that they could have stopped tyreen like 5 missions earlier had they even the slightest bit of common sense.

lilith was one of the biggest threats to tyreen and troy's whole plan. of course they should leave her alive and simply steal her powers. let's kill the monk siren instead.

i know they didn't include this to give all players a fair experience instead of favoring sirens, but it kinda sucks playing a siren character and it's just completely ignored outside of ur action skill. tyreen and troy are sapping siren powers left and right, but they choose to leave you with yours. when you enter the eridian place with typhon tannis starts glowing because it has "something to do with sirens". what about the one standing right next to her? this applies to bl2 as well...jack i would willingly charge ur vault key for u pls why do u take lilith instead :'(

oh yeah speaking of tannis! i LOVE that she got angels powers. for some reason it just makes me really happy. maybe it's bc i think it's sweet that part of angel survived. maybe it's because it makes for cool fanart. maybe it's just cool. idk. also like that we got a solid explanation of what angel's powers were (influence over technology). i always thought her having control over it in bl2 might've been cuz it was hyperion tech and she had access to it same as she had access to the satellite from bl1. it wasn't super clear since it seemed like she could also materialize things like the ammo during her fight.

that also reminds me: all the dramatic reveals in this game felt kinda badly done.

the very first one with zer0/katagawa. like the whole time i was walking around looking for him i was trying to think why he might've turned/something must have happened to him or rhys. everyone was saying it was undeniably zer0. i finally meet him and take one look at his bright ass maliwan armor and its like. really. you couldnt have made it anymore obvious that thats not zer0. and then his helmet gets knocked off and surprise! it's not him. i totally didnt already figure that out with one glance 10 seconds ago. (maybe even earlier when you got glimpses of him around the building but i always missed it cuz i was looking at the fish tanks n shit)

also the tannis reveal. she was speaking to me in the same way that only known siren characters could. weird unexplained things were happening and seemed to be related to tannis. i wonder if she's a siren? surprise! she's a siren.

tyreen and troy knew about the great vault through some unknown means. typhon was talking about having a son and a daughter who he told stories about the great vault. typhon calls tyreen his daughter a while later and lilith acts surprised like honey ur a little slow, i figured that out several lines ago.

basically i'm not saying they were so obvious that i knew from the beginning of the game; i only figured them out a little before they were outright stated. but it was enough that it kinda ruined the effect and the characters acting surprised only when it was blatantly spelled out for them just made it annoying.

i feel like most of this is pretty negative, but i don’t mean that i hate the game and was miserable playing it. it was honestly okay...like i said i wanted to like it, but gearbox hates me specifically and killed/ruined all my faves just to spite me sooo...*waves hand back and forth in a sort of “ehhh” gesture*. i think my opinion on bl games from most to least fav would be: tftbl, bltps, bl2, bl3, and bl1. so it’s not the worst, but deeefinitely not one of my faves. i mean jack’s not in it (or if he is he doesn’t have a big role) so it’s already at a huge disadvantage. the ending was ok, it was all dramatic n stuff and it kinda makes sense i guess, but it was just about as okay as the rest of the game really. i don’t hate it but it’s not great either yknow?

[minijeong]

thoughts about the vote manipulation issue?

my thoughts before things were confirmed

the tldr of below is that i wish people would actually sit and think about the whole situation and all perspectives before running their mouths. the results of their anger will ultimately only hurt people who are working earnestly toward their goals, not the ones who were actually in the wrong.

tbh my opinion doesnt change… im not surprised there was vote manipulation because their synergy was too good to be true… tbh i didnt really get into wanna one even after watching pd101s2 bc i didnt feel the teamwork on stage and it felt like 11 individuals instead. i dont get that vibe with izone at all. 

unfortunately, life isnt fair… and esp for a group that is for 2.5 years or 5 years, it’s no longer just a project group. the careers of a LOT of people are on the line, not just the trainees. a songwriters success, a choreographers success, makeup artists, videographers, management staff, etc. so theyre obviously going to do what they can to make sure the group has the highest probability of being successful. this includes choosing people that will work best in a concept, that have the most potential, that have variety skills, that balance out the other members. these are things that a lot of the general population dont see and dont realize are a huge part of what makes a group successful, and you cant rely on them to vote on that lol. this is the main reason why i chose not to watch pd48 at first. if they truly went with the votes i knew it would have a lot less of a chance of being successful beyond just having individual fans. but they won me over so i guess the vote rigging worked for me lol? im not saying that it was right for viewers to get cheated about this, but i mean that people should try to understand the professional point of view, because they see a lot more than we can. 

i also dont mean to say that the people who didnt get their places bc of the manipulation didnt deserve to debut. i think everyone who works hard enough to get to be on a produce show or anyone who works hard enough to debut in a group, no matter how obscure the company, deserves to debut. even when people audition for professional dance teams, it’s not just about skill. you could be really good but if you dont have synergy with the rest of the team, you dont get in. it’s not to say you dont deserve to be on the team, but it’s best for both you and the team that you aren’t in it for the long term.

while it doesnt mean that the people who didnt get their places didnt deserve to debut, it also means that the people who got their places because of manipulation still deserved to debut. i stand by my opinion that anyone who works hard deserves success. people arent realizing that them being against izone at this point is punishing the girls more than anything. they only have 2.5 years and people are putting out all this hate to cancel comeback showcases and appearances. this is like… youre working your dream job in a somewhat sketch company but your work is getting a lot of recognition and youre finally seeing the success youve been reaching for for 10 years. it’s the kind of high risk job where you have to take any opportunity you get. then all of a sudden, you find out your boss had a tax evasion or something. so then you, and everyone around you who is honestly working toward their goal, gets punished, while the boss is going to get a slap on the wrist because he’s rich as hell anyway.

anyway… i always thought the first nation producer they had to win over was always the pd, so idk why people are so surprised lol. just look at the screen time. guess who decides that after seeing all the footage and choosing what’s interesting?

[princess-sora]

Review: Phantasy Star IV

Some History

Phantasy Star's a series that's been near and dear to me for over half my life. I first got into it via the Phantasy Star Collection for Gameboy Advance, a 2002 collection of the first 3 out of the original 4 games. 1 and 2 were good games for their time, and while they were mechanically rather archaic, their aggressive combination of fantasy and sci-fi captured my 13-year-old imagination something fierce. I'd never seen a setting like it. 3, though... some of its ideas were interesting to me, but not only was it mostly fantasy and very little sci-fi for most of its story, it just plain wasn't very good. I largely left it alone. I never beat any of the games, but they left a massive impression on me.

It wasn't until several years later that I'd discover that I was missing something. They'd cut Phantasy Star 4 out of the collection, presumably for cartridge space/budget reasons... and in doing so, I've since learned, deprived my young self of an incredible experience. When I first learned about Phantasy Star 4, I no longer had the ability to focus on an RPG long enough to complete one. Over multiple tries at it, I only ever got about a third into the game before drifting away. But, now that I can focus on things again, I decided to give it another attempt.

The Review

At its core, Phantasy Star IV is a traditional JRPG, with random encounters, turn-based battles, and a storyline with essentially zero player choice or agency. But it's an exemplar of the genre. Scenario design is overall very well-paced and conveyed; at no point did I feel like I wasn't advancing, or didn't know what to do or where to go. Aside from one specific point near the end of the first third, I didn't feel like grinding was ever necessary--if I felt like I hit a wall, there was some sort of side content to check out that'd get me back on track.

On the subject of side content, Phantasy Star 4 has plenty. The Hunter's Guild has a list of sidequests that open up as the plot progresses, which are a source of money more than anything, as not all of them involve combat. The Hunter's Guild quests are probably one of my bigger quibbles, actually. Like in a lot of RPGs, money ends up being essentially meaningless near the end, so it can be a bit of a gamble to tell whether you'll get anything worthwhile (read: experience or equipment) from the experience.

On top of that, a few of them have remarkably unsatisfying conclusions--off the top of my head, one ends up costing you exactly the amount you later get paid as a reward, and another gives you no money at all, though it does involve a boss battle. I still recommend doing them, however; there's a story to every one, sometimes amusing, and it all serves to make the world feel more lived-in and real.

There are a fair few side dungeons, too, beyond the one or two you visit as part of guild quests. They're optional as well, but almost always worthwhile, giving lore, good equipment, new skills for your Android characters, and often, challenging and lucrative boss fights.

Dungeons, on the whole, are very well-designed. They're generally a bit mazeish, but dead-end branches generally have something interesting at the end of them, and they're never particularly long. Where they really shine, though, is in their structure. The way that they're built gives a sense of place, that despite their gameplay-oriented layouts, they are actually the sort of structure thy claim to be. Caves and some underground dungeons don't quite fit this as well, but for the most part, it's a very strong point. One of the midgame dungeons--an ancient castle built on crumbling, deteriorating foundations--is my favorite example of this. The winding halls feel, in some way, like they were once the grand halls of their ruler. There are dead ends that are simply overlooks from the castle walls, or areas that would present paths if not for the ground crumbling away. They don't have anything at the end, but they aren't long enough to be annoying; it feels like they're just there for versimilitude, to add to the idea that this is a place, something more than a construct for the sake of gameplay.

The game's presentation is top-notch, as well. Sprites on the overworld are clear and well-animated, with cute little touches like every character's walk cycle being a different speed based on height or bulk, and in battle, backgrounds and sprites are *beautifully* detailed, with both party members and enemies having various different animations depending on what they're doing.

The sound design is especially excellent. The sounds of battle are satisfying and impactful, and along with the animations, this gives fights a fantastic "game-feel" that helps keep encounters from becoming stale. That's to say nothing of the music. This is some of the best music to come out of the Genesis' sound hardware, hands-down. It's (mostly) a far cry from the "electro-farts" some people describe the Genesis' sound as, and when it is, it's with a very clear purpose. The compositions are musically complex and fun to listen to, particularly the dungeon and battle themes, whose catchy, interesting tunes do a lot to make up for the fact that you'll be hearing them a lot.

The battle system is presented in a fairly standard style--you see your party members from behind, facing down the enemies, you queue up all of your actions, and the turn progresses roughly in order of agility. Your characters have a wide variety of abilities available to them, divided into two categories, Techs and Skills, both learned as characters level up. Techs draw from a character's pool of TP (basically MP), and are essentially this game's version of magic. Skills are a bit different--with a couple of exceptions, each character's skills are unique, with their own effects or gimmicks, but with the caveat that each one only has a certain number of uses until your next visit to an inn. The game itself, regrettably, doesn’t tell you what techs/skills do what (I suspect that’s in the manual), so don’t be afraid to look them up online.

There's a "macro" system in place, too, allowing you to set up specific sequences of actions for your characters to carry out during a round of battle. At first blush, it'd seem like a more complex version of the genre-standard auto-battle system, but there's another purpose: combination attacks. Certain techs and skills, cast in the right order without enemy interruption, can combine into a more powerful move. As an example, three characters casting the basic fire, ice, and lightning techs together on the same turn will combine to cast "Tri-Blaster," which does higher damage to all enemies. They need to be cast together without being interrupted by enemies, however, meaning you need to keep your characters' agility stats in mind when building and sequencing your macros. There are 14 combo attacks, total, and the game doesn't tell you any of them, so don't be afraid to look those up, either.

The story is fantastic--probably one of the best out of any game I can think of. It was meant from the start to be the end of the story, and it's a tribute and a love letter to the franchise's legacy, while still managing to be accessible and engaging for an unfamiliar player. It deals with death in a way that's rarely been matched, and it raises the stakes from 'investigating monster attacks' at the start to 'destroying ultimate evil' by the end in a way that feels about as natural as you can make that kind of escalation. The protagonist grows visibly over the course of the story, and while most of his his companions are somewhat shallower, there was hardly anyone among the cast I didn't care about, by the ending. The setting feels lived-in and even a bit alive, thanks to guild quests, incidental dialogue that's actually interesting, and various other worldbuilding touches throughout.

The Conclusion

I'm not gonna give this a number. But I will say that Phantasy Star IV is the first RPG I've actually felt driven to beat in years, and I recommend it with absolutely no reservations. In fact, it's on Steam for $1 USD. Buy it. Play it. You won't regret it, I promise.

[magicalusuki]

progen dragon sharing, inspired by a post by @goannafr that ive had in my drafts since may 12th of this year! wow i am good at being late

varsha- custom progen

so the colors i chose for varsha.... well, i didnt choose them. which is fully. i was in school in the middle of a movie in health class, and id snuck onto my phone and made an fr account because the registration window was about to close and i was going to be busy the rest of the time it was open, or maybe i was just too impatient.

i didnt realize you could even change the colors of the dragon- i just chose the breed and my flight (wind), and actually moved to ice almost immediately after because wind was such an impulse decision. 

i actually hated her colors once i realized that i could have picked them myself, because i would have probably made a seafoam/rose dragon. but now i love her. it might have been cool if she at least had a different blue for the wings, so if i could remake her (and assume she got the same tert) i would give her storm wings. it brings out that gray tert in a really cool way and just makes her a biiit more interesting. i mean, look at that! it look great with her apparel, too.

i chose to make her a fae, because i though that they were cute. i didnt like any of the other starter breeds when i joined because i was a coward. i wanted the cutesiest dragons ever, which is funny considering now varsha is super badass

i had like... the vaguest clue of what fr was, because i was in the neopets community and a ton of the blogs i followed were into it, but i didnt really understand it in depth. fun fact! my original username was twinkling. 

exaltation

so when i first joined fr, from what i remember we had... very few tert options. i believe we had basic, crackle, underbelly and circuit? and with varsha’s tert being grey, and yukienne’s being denim... basically nothing looked even slightly decent.

on top of this, i really wasnt in the forums or community much at all- so i wasnt aware that maybe exalting your progens wasnt a great plan, and how special they can be. and i certainly wasnt thinking about future genes. i mean, its been 5 years and STILL the best tert for varsha is stained and i dont particularly love any i have for yukienne!  ive grown to like stained on varsha, but for real. even irishim couldnt save that grey tert, and i used to be OBSESSED with irishim

.im not against geneing yukienne fully and i have a few options planned, but denim is not.... its not an easy color to work with, which sucks because sky and violet work together so well, and then you have this random greenish-grayish blue. why. which is why he is not gened at all because oh my god. please fr give me something that makes denim purpley ill die for you

this is his current most likely scry but im still... not sold... at least sky is one of my favorite colors on site! hes still a pretty lucky random progen all things considered, i know some people were truly cursed. they also have a pretty okay range, so thats nice! i brought these guys back as quick as possible and was so excited i got the option so do so.

lore and clan roles

in the end, exaltation gave my progens a lot of character- although i was so upset about having done it for literal years, lol. my clan lore felt super weak up until bringing them back.

varsha is clan leader, but im undecided about yukiennes role- all i know is that he did essentially abandon varsha in exaltation and didnt actually fight to earn his right back to this plane, and she resents him for that. i can imagine they did talk initially about him rising up the politcal ladder rather than being involved in the war itself, and i imagine initially he was actually quite gentle and perhaps a bit skittish- she had more pity for him then, and understood he wouldnt fare as well. maybe she even thought it would help his confidence. but seeing him live a bejeweled life as she fought endlessly.... well, thats just not great. on top of it, he sees himself as responsible for their return, not acknowledging varshas efforts, and he does this despite the fact that there was no evidence of it.  so yukienne likely doesnt do much in the clan, and i imagine varshas bodyguard- nevara- keeps an eye on him until or if varsha decides hes trustworthy to help. in the end, he doesnt especially want to do things for the clan anyways- he doesnt feel the dedication that varsha does, and though varsha doesnt realize it hes worn himself. hes tired of lies and a political lifestyle, and i dont imagine hes as confident as he might come off- its likely more a force of habit, and in saying it was because of him they got home, he just more than anything wants validation that his suffering was just as painful and he worked just as hard as varsha. but she really cant see that. in her eyes, hes still sitting on a pedestal, lying and spoiled rotten. even if now hes just lost and tired more than anything else.

varsha obviously is very strong willed and stubborn, and sometimes has difficulty empathizing with others- particularly those she perceives as having caused her harm. shes not especially friendly, and a bit paranoid. still she cares a lot about others, particularly her clan members who she views as her responsibility, and so she pushes away her own feelings best she can. shes more prone to trust those from wind than from any other flight, and is working on her distrust of those from ice. 

she has a close bond to nevara due to her wind heritage and time spend together on the battlefield, and trusts her deeply. she also deeply trusts aer, the very dragon that first found her and yukienne, and the only from the clan at the time that did not know of her exaltation until it was too late. she appreciates the effort on her behalf to keep the clan in order and understands aer was also very hurt by what her clan members had done, and is glad to have someone from that time who had missed her. 

varsha also finds amaryllis sort of cute and charming.the wind heritage probably helps yet again in this case, but even beyond that, she appreciates someone so unfit for the role trying their very hardest to play leader to keep their clan together in her absence. she sees her somewhat like a little sibling, despite not having a large gap in age.

since mako worked so close to both amyrllis and aer during her absence, she was one of the first ice flight members in their clan that she warmed to. with her optimistic and free spirited attitude, and the fact that shes still willing to work in a political position (unlike amaryllis, who was happy to retire) she helps to balance out varshas negative views of people and also is very useful in giving intel and helping create strong bonds between their clan and others, since varsha... would probably never do so on her own, but does see the necessity.

yukienne, at this point, lives a fairly solitary lifestyle. being rejected by the person he admires most as well as feeling he betrayed and failed her, he sees himself unworthy of deeper relationships. at the same time, he is stubborn and unwilling to discuss and feels he doesnt deserve sympathy or to explain his side. all interactions and relationships he has are shallow. at the very least, he is genuinely very proud of his appearance, so thats probably the one thing he has actual confidence in.

[deltaengineering]

Winter Anime 2019 Part 4: That’s all, folks.

Over already? This is a pretty thin season with not a lot of shows, so it’s not that surprising that there’s not many good ones either. Still, a weak showing. Oh well, let’s get it over with. There were a few decent ones in the last batch.

Circlet Princess

What: Dimwitted schoolgirl is good at some vaguely defined virtual fighting sport, changes school based on it, finds out relevant club has been abolished. Forecast says: 5 member plot incoming.

❌ I think it’s already clear this show isn’t very ambitious, and not very well written either. A game adaptation at its laziest.

❌❌ Man, this girl is STUPID. What the hell.

❌ The rest of the cast are less stupid (which isn’t hard), but that just means they’re so forgettable they might as well not exist.

❌❌ It looks cheap, and by that I mean really really cheap. The character design is ISO standard anime and it’s mostly on model, but that’s as good as it gets. The animation just sucks. That’s a death sentence for an action/sports show with terrible characters.

Bermuda Triangle - Colorful Pastrale

What: Japanese Spongebob, as in cute mermaids. Doing things optional.

❌ To make this quick, this is almost exactly Pastel Memories, only every problem is just a little less extreme. It has fewer characters, it’s looking slightly better, there’s a tiny bit more going on, the setting is mildly more interesting. That still means it is:

❌❌ 1. A boring mess in which a handful of samey girls do nothing of much interest in a location that should be unique, but isn’t.

❌❌ 2. Conspicuously cheap. It even has the same sightline problems.

❌❌ 3. Featuring a character model sheet that is “off” even under the best circumstances. This time due to the very offputting decision to give everyone blobby triangular irises.

❌❌ Unlike Pastel Memories (which was an ad for a mobile game) this is an anime original, so it really has no excuse being this lame.

♎ I find it amusing that Pastel Palettes are providing the OP for an anime, and it’s not the one currently airing that they’re actually characters in.

Endro~!

What: Kiraralike comedy thing in a generic JRPG setting.

♎ Namori character designs, so it’s like Spyce in that it just seems like the Yuru Yuri cast cosplaying a genre. But hey, Namori character designs do look good.

❌ I’m not as done with generic JRPG settings as with generic isekai settings, but it’s still a real problem since the former is now a subset of the latter. Mildly making fun of it does not improve things much either.

✅ The tone is cutesy and pleasant. I find this much preferable to something like Mahoujin Guru Guru, which is pretty much the same thing but with abrasive, high-intensity slapstick instead.

✅ It’s backing that up with generally high-quality, agreeable pastel looks.

❌ Not being annoying is a start, but beyond that this seems very middle of the road and predictable. I don’t get much out of the genre “parody” and simply being cute is still not an unique selling point in anime.

Grimms Notes The Animation

What: Did someone say JRPG? This is a mobile one, vaguely based on fairy tales as the title implies.

✅ This universe runs on the idea that every NPC’s fate is controlled by a preset story they’re aware of. You could make a good story about that if you took it seriously. It even does that somewhat, but only to the degree that you’d expect from a throwaway sidequest in a moderately well-written JRPG.

❌ And the reason for that is that it has to make room for being a JRPG, of course. Read: It’s irritatingly mechanics- and combat-focused. Stuff like the characters changing form when in fights just seems overly complicated and adds nothing.

❌ Said combat looks competent, but not good enough to make up for detracting from what could have been an interesting setting. Merc Storia did this aspect far better (by usually not doing it at all).

❌ So it ends up being better than expected, but then that only amounts to a disappointment.

Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai / Kaguya-sama: Love Is War

What: Kaguya and Miyuki are in the student council of a prestigious school and HATE HATE HATE each other. Specifically, they hate the part where the other one won’t just finally admit their love.

✅ The joke here is that it’s operating on full intensity at all times, over the most simple matters. It’s pretty much Kaiji, only about dating - complete with hammy narrator. This is another one of those shows where I can’t say with certainty that it’s solid, but I had a blast during the first episode.

✅ Regarding Quintuplets, I made it clear that I love me some sparks in my romantic comedies. It doesn’t get much more explosive than this.

✅ The characters are comparable to Quints too: Smart scheming upstart vs. rich scheming ojou, with a simpleminded girl in the middle that ends up winning more often than not simply by not overdoing it.

✅ The visuals are just as over the top as the proceedings depicted. Occasionally a filter massacre, but mostly cool.

♎ The long-term viability of this show depend entirely on whether they can consistently come up with scenarios that work, which isn’t a given. Also, this is so intense it might become tiresome - I already felt some fatigue towards the end of the first episode. We’ll see, I guess.

Kakegurui ××

What: Some weirdos think they can crash the party at Hyakkaou with an intent to scare the daylights out of Yumeko and Midari, of all people. Let’s just say they were not as prepared as they thought.

✅ As you might have guessed by me watching the sequel, I liked Kakegurui. It has its problems, but if you’re down for some crazypants madness, this show delivers.

✅ This is one of the better episodes of it too, because it gets right into it and the game they play is dead simple. Kakegurui was never about smart moves or strong characters, so not having anything detract from our girls deriving the entirely wrong sort of pleasure from danger is a plus.

♎ Sadly, the OP is a step down (though still great) and the ED is simply an inferior, overcomplicated version of the magnificent original one. They seem to know this too, because they play the OP cut of Deal with the Devil in its entirety for a montage. The rest of the production is on par with the original though, so it’s fiiiine. Oh well.

❌ It got Netflix’d again and the subs situation is dire. Since this is one I actually like, I might have to wait for the official release.

Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai / The Magnificent Kotobuki

What: Piston-engined fighter plane pornography.

✅ This delivers where Girly Air Force failed: Close to zero exposition, the majority of the episode is just planes dogfighting with barely any talking either. And that part is executed really well. I think the plane startup sequence alone is as long as the total of Girly’s airtime.

✅ Guess what, it’s Tsutomu Mizushima, previously known for unbridled panzer (und girls) pornography, and boy can you tell. However, this cuts out a lot of GuP’s bullshit: A plane doesn’t have the cast of K-ON in it, it’s not over-the-top zany, and whatever this universe is, it can’t be as insipid as GuP’s. The classy milwank exists you guys, we found it.

✅✅ The music really helps here, sky pirates vs zeppelins just wouldn’t work without some classic swashbuckling orchestra background. Fat sound mixing on the dakka too. It’s great.

♎ Can’t really say much about the narrative because we kinda skipped that in this episode aside from the obvious, but Mizushima’s Shirobako collaborator Michiko Yokote is writing it, and that’s a good sign.

❌ Now we’re getting to the elephant in the room though: There’s no way the planes wouldn’t be CG in 2019, but the characters are CG too, and their animation is mediocre. Also, they did the KADO thing where they 2D-animated the side characters that aren’t important enough to model. This has the funny side effect that you can tell who’s going to die real soon by them looking better. It’s far from great, but probably a worthy tradeoff if the mechanical side is this extensive and also delivers.

✅ This is definitely not for everyone, since you have to have more than a casual appreciation for those magnificent girls in their flying machines. I do, though.

revisions

What: A chunk of Shibuya gets teleported to the dystopian future, local doomsday prepper gets handed a large robot because he’s special.

❌ A Goro Taniguchi joint being a poorly conceived scifi mess? Say it ain’t so! I especially dig the tryhard English jargon (mecha: “String Puppet”, monsters faction: “Revisions”, particular monster, I think?: “Civilian”, tacticool operetah: “Balancer”).

❌ Works very hard to characterize the main character, to the detriment of everyone else. A for effort, but you made an unlikeable asshole though.

❌ This is another full CG show, with the quality of the animation being curiously variable. Sometimes it’s well above average and sometimes it’s painful. There doesn’t seem to be much method to it.

✅ Tries to establish stakes by being mondo edgy and graphically murderizing some poor bystanders. It’s adorable.

❌ If you’re really jonesing for some mecha, you can watch all of this on Netflix right now. It’s not like you have any alte- wait, Egao no Daika has mecha too. Well there you go then. That’s a better show.

[gogoakechi]

just finished outlast II so putting this under cut for spoilers

so....... for the sake of this post im gonna specify “The Ending” as the part when you rejoin with lynn for the final time and beyond

i really dont know what to say? or think? i mean i guess a summary of the few thoughts im having in this blank state of mind is: wow, that was kinda anticlimactic and unsatisfying. it left so many things unanswered and vague.

the first thing is like???? lynn’s death felt somewhat emotionless. it was already kinda weird how quickly she gave birth but like....... the way she talked and acted didnt really have anything emotionally connecting. there were no final last words to blake or anything unique to lynn as a person. she was just a lady dying from  a very quick and awkward childbirth. lynn deserved a much more emotional and dramatic death. 

another thing was knoths death. like???? after all this shit he does and what hes put you and your wife and a hundred other people through, HE GIVES A SHORT SPEECH I DIDNT UNDERSTAND AND THEN SLITS HIS OWN THROAT?????? I DONT GET TO KILL HIM??? HE DOESNT RECIEVE A BRUTAL DEATH???????? HE KILLS HIMSELF AND THATS IT?????

it also felt like the ending came on too fast. i literally didnt know it was almost over until blake suggested they head to the chapel.

AND THE VAGUENESS

my two main concerns are what happened after jessica was r/ped and how blake feels deep down. i get that they were trying to work backwards in jessica’s thing but i dont know what happened to loutermilch and i dont know what happened between jessica getting r/ped and her suicide. i dont know how much blake was actually involved in it. i dont know if he tried to help her AT ALL. hell i dont even know if LYNN was involved. i know the three of them were friends but i dont know who they were to each other or how much they placed themselves in each others lives.

ACTUALLY WHY DID BLAKE HAVE THESE VISIONS IN THE FIRST PLACE?? WHAT IT JESSICA ASKING FOR HELP BEYOND THE GRAVE??? WAS IT A PRODUCT OF BLAKES OWN GUILT????????? I NEED ANSWERS

AND SPEAKING OF BLAKES GUILT

i feel like i was left with only an imprint of what blake really feels. this whole time i was waiting on him to say hes so sorry but all i got was “its not my fault” alongside excerpts from a conversation inside his own head. it all made sense once, what they were trying to illustrate with blakes guilt, but now im just confused. and not in the good “so many interesting things could come out of this” way, but in the simple bad writing way. because honestly???? if they had explained blakes feelings correctly and to the extent they needed to be, it could EASILY have wrapped up the whole jessica thing.

another thing that makes me mad about them keeping blakes feelings super vague is that hes so easy to sympathize with and love!! being vague was good up until a point but then they started throwing other shit in and it got so confusing that right now it feels like he could either be a man so full of guilt and sadness that hes consumed by denial OR hes a bastard that denies any responsibility because he doesnt want to have to deal with potential consequences.

and i guess the problem with it being vague is that just one line could tip the whole narrative?? these were the last few lines that kinda fucked it up for me

(...) We'll be okay. It's not my fault.

(...) Lynn said Jess was like her little sister. I don't know what I'm supposed to do.

The priest dies. You didn't have to do anything. You were a child, nobody could expect anything of you. None of this is my fault.

they spend a lot of time cutting him out to be someone that feels so fucking bad for what happened, to the point it affects his mental health, and then flip it with dialogue that kinda just makes him sound bratty. he sounded angry, which would make sense if he was approaching a total mental breakdown, but we didnt get that. what was bubbling up inside blake throughout the game was not let out and did not come to fruition. and it sucks because these sentences where how you knew ANYTHING about blake as person or the whole thing with jessica.

they had such a great and emotionally connecting thing going on with blake but they cut it just short of it meaning much at all. it feels like i went to see a concert that i was totally stoked about and loved all the opening bands but when the main band shows up they just say “hey thank you for coming out to see our show tonight :)” and then leave

it wouldve been so easy to put in an “I’m so sorry” as his final words and have it all click together. if they made him have a full breakdown at the very end with crying and screaming about how he shouldve done something or how sorry he was or how jessica was just a little kid, that wouldve fucking ideal. it wouldve made the ending so much fucking better and tie up any lose ends regarding blakes personal narrative. not to mention it wouldve left a greater emotional impact and would simply just fit the tone of the game better.

and as for temple gate????? everyone just Drinks The Koolaid i guess?????????

admittedly i liked that it closed out with the sun shining powerful beams of light into light into blakes face or even fuckin Exploding in a weird supernatural way, because it left a mystery that SHOULD be there! it makes you wonder if their god’s powers are still at work or if the apocalypse really DID happen. it allows for some fun theories and speculation on what happened after temple gate.

another thing i liked about the ending, and whats probably its strongest component, was the final line:

She's going to be okay. You have her. She'll get to grow up. She'll do everything she was born to do.

based on his previous dialogue, we know hes talking about both jessica, as if he was still in high school, trying to comfort himself regarding her trauma, and about his newborn daughter. its really fucking sad watching blake continuously try to reason with what happened to jessica, truly believing theres more time. you watch blake lose more and more of his sanity as the game progresses, eventually believing that he can still save her, even though she died a lot time ago. it literally drove him insane due the sheer amount guilt and desperation. i guess its kind of hard to explain without straight up showing you these dialogue pieces but, fuck, at this point hes completely lost his connection with reality. and it makes me so fucking upset seeing him this way.

but, on the other hand, this line was also about the baby. the people of temple gate are dead. no ones out to kill her anymore. she can live a normal, healthy life away from all of this. just doesnt have to die. and this is blakes only comfort. his wifes dead, hes witness and experienced unspeakable acts, has trauma to last him 16 lifetimes, and has completely disconnected from reality, but his daughters okay.

i know im gonna have more to say as i process this whole game but its 5 am so i guess ill give my closing statement

outlast II is an absolute mess of a game. its confusing, has way too much shock horror, kind of sporadic at times, and left me with little closure and an anticlimactic ending.

HOWEVER

i had a lot of fun playing this game. the characters were all interesting and unique and connected with one or more of the many emotions within me. visually, it was amazing!! and even though the shock horror was very unnecessary and took away from the game, it was still awesome to see in the same way people love watching gory slasher films.

one of its most notable qualities is how they merged the plotlines of st sybil and temple gate together. the way they started off separate, but gradually became the same reality in blakes eyes was a really cool narrative!! they were two very different stories that came together through nothing but blakes short dialogue lines. 

AND FUCK

BLAKE

BEAUTIFUL DARLING BLAKE LANGERMANN

honestly blake alone makes this whole fucking game for me. he just...... loves to deeply. and it gets me so fucking emotional thinking about what he mustve felt and thought. that the grief he held was enough to tear him apart like it that. and all the things he wishes he had done and how he wanted it so badly that he fell into a complete denial that allowed him to believe she could still be saved.

not to mention it affected him enough that he blocked it all out. he didnt even start remembering until after that dream about jessica he had on the helicopter.

and its like???? blake wouldntve done all this shit for lynn or had been so fucked up over jessica had he not loved them both so fuckin much. and i know this is just my own tastes but i LOVE sad stories, and blake is just....... so fucking sad. he didnt deserve to go through all of this. he doesnt deserve to blame himself. he didnt deserve to lose what was dearest to him. now all he has is his newborn daughter, birthed by a now-dead mother as part of a prophecy.

as a video game protagonist, hes easily one of my favourites. definitely my new favourite outlast character, at the very least, and thats saying a LOT. this mans turned out to mean a lot to me, and is character i think ill keep coming back to, even if i dont like outlast anymore. and being able to keep something in the mind of your players long after the hypes died down is how you know you did it right.

all that said, i know things are gonna make a lot more sense once i read up on the wiki and lore and shit. i just really wanted to get my thoughts down beforehand, because i dont think players should have to dig into anything beyond the game itself (and the murkoff account) to feel satisfied with the story, which i unfortunately was not. i wanted to write down my raw, unsupplemented experience. this is what outlast II handed me and im not about to credit the shit i learned on the wiki to it.

but yeah i guess thats it?? for my “i finally beat outlast II” post, at least. scrolling back up its long as hell but thats what you get by typing about something you love for like two hours.

its nearly 6 am now so Final Thoughts:

outlast II was a convoluted wild ride in every sense but DAMN I LOVE OUTLAST

[kendrixtermina]

Haha for real. 

One of the first thing I did after reading the Lukovich book is compose a thank you message to dear old mom for keeping our family somewhat cohesive, making it something ppl want to be part of & keeping in touch with me after I moved out etc. basically doing a lot of so related stuff that I never really appreciated or valued. That was late last year but I don’t think the full significance sank in until way after. 

Cause had it been up to me I defo would not have kept in touch nor expected them to. I always expected to leave and never see them again. When they left the federal state I’d been living in while I was finishing my degree, I think my ex  minded their absence more than me. 

As an adolescent, I had tried to get into a boarding school,  attempted running away and even begging a social worker to remove me from the family. I wanted to be free of the bullying and my father’s abuse, but I would have been cool with never seeing my mother or siblings again. 

In fact I long regretted what I saw as the mistake that did not get me removed. In some ways I still do though there is no way to know what would have happened, being in foster care would probably have sucked in a whole different way. 

My bro was the only one I would have said I was remotely close to pre-moveout, but probably in the last 10 years most the interactions we had is because the social-havers invited us both to the same event, if it weren’t for them we prolly would have scattered to the winds. 

I was touched that they wanted to keep in touch with me & that my mother helped me out so many times over the years and was more patient with my lack of professional progress than anyone could have asked her to, so that’s how we actually ended up growing alot closer as adults than we really were before. (it helps that I’ve cut off all contact with my father so he is no longer there to triangulate everything.)

I certainly never thought that I’d ever be deliberately moving to the same town as my mother & siblings. I mean in a sense I’m still doing it ‘cause I have no reason not to & it doesnt really matter to me what city im in so long as it is big, but I guess that’s more than zero. 

I’ve been here several weeks and I’m still being spontaneously glomped by my mother “Im sooo happy youre here now and im seeing you more than 2 times a year, im sooo happy to have all my babies living nearby” & siblings are all exited & wanna do stuff with me that’s just so weird. I haven’t even done anything useful to merit this, these ppl should be beyond tired of me and my bullshit.

but, if all the evidence says they arent it would be silly and irrational to contest that. guess ill just count myself grateful. 

the coup de grace was hearing that apparently the youngest rejoiced when she heard i was coming because I apparently “always talk about interesting things” - that’s such a contrast to, like... i didnt read half as much stuff lately as I would have liked to. i didnt do anything. i never have anything to say or tell about. i want to hide away so nobody asks me. I’m so void of any novel useful content that you can hear the wind blowing through me. Or so I would have thought. 

I’m probably sounding as silly as those ppl going “can I still be a 7 if I have only one social outing per day” or “Can I still be a 9 if I made a displeased face at my mother once” (actual questions ive gotten on reddit)

its one think to acknowledge that it will never “feel enough” and that thats not a good guage, but then what is one? Thats not so obvious, which makes it all feel like thin ice. 

But maybe I’ve come somewhat closer to making the step from “ignoring social completely” to “it has to get in line behind the other 2 things but is at least somewhat on the radar. ”

I hate to be agreeing with that darn Lukovich especially since sneered at that cliched woo-woo sounding line of when I first read the book, but you really don’t have a grasp what the blindspot really is at the beginning. 

IDK on some level I still don’t want to care about that too much & much of it still seems silly and I worry that I’ll lose whatever clarity I have to see through arbitrary bullshit. though you at least wanna be aware that it exists, because not seeing stuff that exists is not clarity either. 

eh i dunno. still gotta think about that. dont have it quite sorted yet. but if mom wants me to go have ice cream with her once in a while cause talking cheers her up thats a discount price for all the free help shes given me for no reason, i guess. i still fell that if i ever came to any money, i would have to pay her back somehow, at least for everything that was done after i turned 18. but she probably wouldnt want money, per se. 

maybe us all living nearby really is as great of a dream as she makes it out to be, but really accepting that reality is precarious, cause, am I then taking that away if I wanted to fuck off and move away for some reason. it seems very important to have that freedom. but insisting on that would carry a price tag, i guess. 

uh. this got a bit beyond the scope of just the instinct thing but i think it is illustrative nonetheless. 

Hey, it's me again lol

How you doing? I was on the bus having q complete crisis over something. And I thought something like "I can't even take care of myself"

You have say multiple times that you don't even think about your IV that's blind.

But you don't came to start to thinking about it when you discover your IV stacking?

I'm most likely an sp blind, since I discovered it I have feel bad about it. Because I came to the reality that I don't take care of me whatsoever, so I'm thinking bout it sometimes. But in that way.

Is that possible?

To oneself become more self aware of what's lacking on the iv. Not like becoming good at it. Just starting to notice it.

I don't know if that even makes sense sorry lol

It's more that confronted with someone who prioritizes your blind spot, you cannot relate to them at all or go "eww, who would care about that enough to make that the most important thing in their life?" Blindness is not "I can't do it at all," it's "these other things take up so much of my focus, I neglect this third one most of the time."