#but this show could've used a lot of extra in general

[anesidoraa]

i don't like the guy but i'm still annoyed that nothing about delling really was changed in any meaningful way. he did nothing in season 2, they just forgot about the dude. no, he never needed redemption, but he didn't get any sort of comeuppance either. i guess you can count his daughter destroying his empire and marrying the daughter of someone whose family and colleagues he massacred but we don't see him or the show reckon with his role in earthian oppression and how the holder system hurt miorine. we also never find out more about what he and notrette promised. this could be addressed in side content but i really would've preferred if this was all in the damn show. and considering how most side content so far have all been crack stories and pandering to the hetero ships...

(also i thought the va's other work might have affected his s2 screentime but i checked and naoya uchida has barely taken any work this year and last year and i'm not aware of any personal issues he's having. feel free to correct me if you know anything though.)

this show's writers forget a lot of things but it's disappointing that the rembran side of the family plot barely got its due.

[prettyoatmeal]

Love to Hate Each Other (König x Fem!Reader)

Hello!! I promise I'm not dead!!! I've been super busy recently and had some writers block but I'm doing better now!! I'll be finally answering the requests I've had and upload some more from my drafts :)

CONTENT WARNING: Smut <333 Hate sex, unprotected sex, creampie, size difference, enemies to lovers, arguing, pettiness, sexual and non-sexual degrading (receiving and giving).

SUMMARY: You’d been a part of TF141 for a while now as their best sniper, however, it was recently stated that KorTac would team up with you lot for a mission. You’ve been training with him since and got that little bit of extra skill in your possession, you have the upper hand which drives König mad. You were put in charge of him as to test your leadership skills however it doesn't go as planned.

Word Count: 2926

Masterlist here!

***************

The fucking nerve of him. Would it kill him to show you just a little bit of respect? It had happened all too quickly. The way his voice boomed at you could've killed you in an instant. All you could do was think back to the argument.

...

"Can you stop shooting at me for fucking once, König?" You'd sneered at him after getting to the safe house. "I know I'm a better sniper than you but you don't need to be all petty 'bout it." "I'm sorry, maybe if you weren't snooping around and staying at your dedicated post like you were supposed to, I wouldn't have shot at you." He wanted to slam the door but knew better than to create another loud bang, "and you're not a 'better' anything than me, your ego is just too high."

"Oh, really? Then why did YOUR commander put you under my supervision for this mission, huh?"

Those words made let out him growl under his breath. He knew the truth, though he was too stubborn to admit. You had skill, but he just didn't and to give you that satisfaction.

"Forget it, just keep your whiny voice down. Don't need anyone hearing us a mile away." His accent got thicker as he hissed his words out at you. "My voice down? Really? Maybe if you hadn't given our spots away every ten minutes, we wouldn't even need to be hiding here! You ought to fix that little issue of yours.”

And that’s what set him off.

“You know what I think your issue is, little miss perfect? I think your problem is that you’re not ready to being a leader, yet they put you in charge of me anyway and you go along with it, ja?” With each word he spat out, he took a step towards you. “I am fully capable of working on my own. YOU left your post. YOU put yourself in danger. You don’t get to be an incompetent little rat then proceed to blame me for it.”

With large steps he’d leaned over you. His piercing eyes felt as if they'd stabbed you, looking down at you with anger, annoyance, disappointment through his hood. You could hear those words become unfamiliar, fuzzy, distorted. Guilt set in.

"You may be a better sniper than me, but you'll never gain that role of leader. It was a mistake they made to put you in charge of me."

König was never one to take advantage of his height with his teammates, he wasn't like this in general. He had a lot of pent up anger towards you, and by god you were scared out of your mind. But you couldn't show that. Not now, you couldn't let him know how much he frightened you. But he knew. He could easily tell. And so you just stood there with an unchanging composure, taking any of the words he'd hurled at you.

"I don't need someone to tell me what to do, and especially not someone like you. Go sleep your bitchy attitude off, I'll take first watch." And with that, he stormed away from you.

...

The bed was uncomfortable. But you weren't sure if it was the bed or if it was the tension in the room. You couldn't sleep. So you just laid there on your side, the argument rerunning itself over and over and over again in your mind. You were uneasy, on edge around him, even if his attention wasn't focused on you. Just being in the same room as him was enough. Yet you still felt petty enough to need to have the last word.

"You're an asshole." Muttering it out made your heart race, but you couldn't care any less.

The rustling of whatever he was doing stopped and after a while, you heard him let out a groan of irritation, muttering something in German under his breath.

"Will you quit it? It's over and done with. Hush up and go to sleep."

The way he'd growl at you to quit talking sent goosebumps over your body out of fear, yet you couldn't bring yourself to keep yourself quiet.

"No, I'm not going to quit." You'd said as you sat up from that uncomfortable mess called a bed. "You're an asshole. You need to hear that." You'd shot him a look of disgust as his eyes met yours from across the room. The lights were dim, but you could still see him quite clearly. You could feel as the air became thick again, the tension between you two growing once more.

"What are you expecting out of bringing it up again, Miss Perfect?" He'd shot back as his eyes glanced back to god knows what he was that he was doing, you couldn't quite make it out.

You'd yanked your legs over the edge of your so called bed, "I think you're forgetting I'm still in charge of you. I'd certainly accept an apology."

He didn't even look back up at you, it was as if he couldn't care any less.

"For what? Hurting your feelings?" He teased.

"You were extremely disrespectful and-"

"And nothing. Go back to sleep." He’d groaned, feelings of annoyance filling his system. Cutting you off just like that. But you were taking none of it.

“What is your problem with me!?" You'd stood up, making your way over to where he was sitting. Your own lips curled to a snarl, pointing fingers. "You have no reason to be so pissy with me, I've done nothing to you!"

This wasn't a common occurrence. Not for you. But he'd really ticked you off. König was being difficult, and you were too, but that didn't take away from the fact that you had no idea what he was so upset about with you. What he was REALLY upset about with you. As terrified as you may be by the hunk of the man, you weren't going to let yourself be demeaned by him.

You could see his eyes narrow at your words. His figure rose, towering over you. Your heart pounded in your chest as you felt your knees getting weak at the sight of the beastly stature leaning towards you.

"You really want to get into this, sweets?" Hands on his hips.

"I'm not going to let myself be degraded by you! Let alone someone I'm supervising."

And so you stood there, staring each other down. The tension was thick enough to cut with scissors. König, the very person you'd been training with for the past few weeks, standing over you for the very sake of intimidation. You'd almost thought he'd raise a hand at you, but you knew that he'd known better than to do such a thing. The person you'd become good acquaintances with staring down at you, seething, fury in his eyes.

"You want to know why I'm so upset?" jabbing his gloved finger at your chest, he took a step which caused you to take one back. He leaned down, making sure you'd hear every last word which escaped his mouth. "You know how much it kills someone when someone has the skills with a sniper you could only dream of? When you've been in the game for longer than you could imagine, and some little girl who's barely been in the game suddenly has the upper hand."

You couldn't believe it. Your eyes softened for a second before your expression had contorted again, taking a hold of his wrist with an iron grip and pulling it away from your chest.

"You've got to be kidding me..." you sighed, "this whole time your problem was THAT!?"

His eyes stayed focused on you with no sign of leaving.

"God, I hate you so fucking much." You snarled with a sick chuckle. This whole argument could've been avoided.

"The feelings' mutual, Schatz."

His face was so close to yours, you could practically feel his hot breath through the hood he had been wearing. Your hand was still latching onto his wrist, though your hand was starting to give in from putting all your pressure into your grasp.

You had nothing else to say, so you stayed silent. You both did, eyeing each other down to the core. It took a good while before you two had taken glances to the side where you held his wrist put. It seemed you'd both had the same idea as your grip loosened before he mirrored your wrist with his, taking your wrist into his palm. It fit perfectly. The way his hand could so easily wrap around it, taking a tight hold. It made your knees weak.

Your breathing quickened as you kept your eyes on his. The tension continued to thicken, though not just anger this time. There was something else filling the air. The feeling of that intimacy lurked around you two. It was too intimate for your liking, but you couldn't bring yourself to pull away. Your cold eyes glanced back to König's, but he wasn't looking at you anymore. No. His attention was centred on your lips. Fuck. You knew what would be coming next.

One minute, you two were ready to tear each other's heads off, the next, you two were making out. His lips against yours, hungry. Starving. Forceful, but not, both at the same time. The way his arm wrapped around your waist and pulled you closer, before he made you take some steps back enough for your calves to hit the frame of that pitiful thing you have been calling a bed.

You pulled away to catch your breath, a string of spit still connecting you two before the fabric of his masked fell to cut that string apart. He'd pushed you back as if he was in a rush, like if he was catching a train in an hour, lifting your legs so they'd wrap around his hips.

"If you really hated me, you wouldn't let me all up on you like this." He let out a sly chuckle as his hands pinned your wrists to you sides.

"Shut your fucking mouth and keep kissing me." You ordered, looking away from him in a bashful manner.

"Yes, Ma'am." He replied as he guided your hand to push the fabric of his mask away, revealing his lips once more before they crashed against yours. You both needed to let off some steam, it seemed that this was the most efficient way for the two of you.

You let out a small whimper as König began to move his hips against yours, grinding against down onto you. It wasn't long before he'd removed your trousers and pushed his middle finger inside you. He'd sucked on it a little beforehand to coat it with saliva, but it wasn't like it was needed anyway. You were practically soaking by the time he'd pushed it in, and it wasn't long either until he'd begun to curl his finger inside you which made you whimper at the feeling. He felt so much better than your fingers alone.

"Look at you, so wet already. Think you're ready for another finger?"

You couldn't help but tighten around his fingers already as he pushed a second finger inside you. You'd muttered a small 'fuck' under your breath at the feeling, earning a small hum of approval from König. His fingers could easily hit against that bundle of nerves. He knew he found it once you let out that cry of pleasure, making him chuckle as he rapidly pressed against the same spot over and over again which made you let out a symphony of moans and whimpers as your wetness grew.

He soon decided you were ready, becoming rather impatient as he'd quickly slide down his bottoms to reveal his growing erection. Your eyes gawked at him for how big he was. How would it ever fit.

"You sure you want to do this? Can't guarantee I'll be able to stop once we're started." His voice was low, the arrogant undertones tied in with the way he spoke irritated you.

You nodded.

With no time wasted, he lined his tip against your pulsing cunt before pushing into you. You let out a long sigh in unison with him as you felt him stretch you out with a mix of pain and pleasure. It wasn't long before he'd started moving in and out of you, and soon your voices filled the room along with the slapping noises of repeated skin-on-skin contact, making your eyes flutter closed as your legs wrapped around him.

The way he moved inside you was different. It felt different. It wasn't like anything you'd felt before. Perhaps hate sex was your new biggest turn on. Oh boy. This definitely wasn't going to be a one time thing. You could already tell.

You could feel yourself getting closer, and you could very much feel the way König was throbbing inside you. The bed creaked non-stop, the room reeked of sweat and sex, with no feelings behind it. Just sex. And goodness, did it feel good. Mustering up the strength, you propped yourself up onto your elbows to take in the sight of the man pounding into you. And like that, your eyes met his once more. Half closed with the slightest distortion, he let out a low chuckle as he gripped onto your wrists once more and pinned them next your head. With a single, extremely forceful thrust, he was able to hoist your hips up further against him, almost like in a mating press. The new position allowed him to hit a whole other region, able to slam against your g-spot over and over again, causing a harmony of whimpers and moans to emerge from your throat which you just weren't able to hold in. You were so lost in the pleasure, as you almost couldn't comprehend what König was speaking. Leaning down to press his lips against your neck, he whispered to you;

"See, Schatz? You're so much prettier when you're not unnecessarily running your mouth."

That stupid nickname. That stupid term of endearment he used on you drove you insane. Well, did he hate you or not? You could never tell. The way his hands slipped upwards, unballing your fists so he could intertwine his fingers with yours, the way he'd pound into you as rough as he could yet he'd still make that time to hold onto your hands, the way his lips would brush over bruise and bite mark he'd leave on your skin. It was all so confusing. So mind boggling. It made you want him even more.

"Y-You don't- oh fuck.. -hold the hand... of the person you hate during sex.." You'd managed to choke out a single sentence between König's thrusts. And he was having none of it.

"Shh, shh.." He'd shush you, "Halt die Klappe, stop fucking talking... stop talking. Keep quiet for me, Schatz." His hips began to slam against you faster, making sure to hit against every nook and cranny inside you. Schatz. That word echoed in your mind.

You were in no room to argue again so you did as you were told, you stopped talking and let your moans continue to spill out. You could feel yourself getting closer to your orgasm by the second, and it was only a matter of time before he removed a hand from your wrist and moved it between your legs, his fingers moving against your clit in a circular motion. He knew what you wanted, and he was going to give it to you. You could hear your heart pounding in your ears. His hot breath hitting against your sensitive, overly bruised neck, the way his fingers circled your plump bud, the way his thrusts felt like there was still no end in sight was all too much.

Taking in a deep breath, you rolled your eyes back before squeezing them shut. You were unable to hold back that loud cry of pleasure as your orgasm hit you like a tsunami, coming fully undone to those fingers of his. You could feel yourself pulsing and throbbing against his fingers, your hearing gone fuzzy by the time. You squeezed tightly around König's cock, in complete euphoria as he made you ride out your orgasm. Your hips bucked against his as you just barely opened your eyes again.

"Oh, Schieße... (Y/N)!" He'd moaned out as he pulled away from your neck and crashed his forehead against yours, gripping onto the flesh of your hips as he practically pulled you into him with each slam. One more thrust and he'd let out a final moan before filling you up with his seed. There was... a lot. You could feel his cum oozing out of you before he even pulled out.

Your breathing was heavy, both of you coming down from cloud nine. The best sex, and best orgasm, you'd ever had.

"You don't hate me." You were the one to speak first. The fabric of König's mask was pushing up against you every now and again with each heavy breath he'd release, "you don't kiss someone and hold their hands like that when you hate them..."

His eyes opened, staring right back at yours,

"You seemed like the type to need that emotional support, I was simply just trying to provide it."

"So you do still care about me."

He went silent before he closed his eyes again, burying his 'face' into your neck.

"... Halt die Klappe,,"

***************

[tzilatza]

NATLA Review - spoilers

Woke up today still feeling annoyed after finished the Netflix ATLA remake last night, and I think I've figured out the core reason.

It's the fact that: If they had held truer to the original source material, we could have had a truly great show. I disagree with those calling it a complete disaster. The acting was good, great in some cases. The effects were very well done, the bending looked about as good as it can in a live action media. The scenery was lovely.

But what happened in the writer's room?! The way they just reveal all the back stories up front EVERY TIME is honestly insulting to the audience. It's like they're so terrified that smartphone culture has made the public so accustomed to instant gratification that they have no faith we will stick around and keep watching if they make us wait for anything.

They're also clearly terrified of complexity. One of my biggest gripes with this remake is Jet's story. They completely took out his plans to murder a whole town of innocents in order to get a few enemy soldiers. Now, Jet isn't my favorite character, but his story is so important. Because it is real. The world is full of people who have been so brought down by injustice that they lose their sense of right and wrong, and we need to see that on screen. If Jet is too complex for them, how will they handle Ba Sing Se in the second season.

This goes along the same lines as removing Sokka's sexist moments. They felt they had to do it to make him more 'likable.' Yet the writers themselves went full sexist on Katara's character. They've taken out so much of her spark, her righteous and justified anger, and they've done it because even in 2024, people expect women to be more passive to be palatable. Enough people have already commented on them removing Aang's choice to run away. Heaven forbid the main character not be an absolute paragon. Did y'all notice that they even made Hahn likable? Hahn?! What reason do you have for making Hahn likable Netflix?! His role in the narrative is to be an example of toxic masculinity that is clearly the bad choice compared to Sokka who has learned and grown out of his own.

Don't even get me started with what they're doing with the fire nation family, I'm not ready to tackle that. In general, I have no problem with Azula getting a little more backstory and humanizing, but why season 1? Throwing in all these extra scenes just sacrifices screen-time where they could've actually fleshed out the real season one plots instead of rushing through things at breakneck pace. (ex: Aang escaping Zuko's ship in about 2 minutes flat)

At the end of the day, the scenes I most enjoyed were those that held true to the original like the Blue Spirit sequences. They could've easily done more of this, held onto the important plot points and even more important character complexity, while maturing it for an adult audience. I'm not disagreeing with every change they made. Go ahead and take out the silly Nickelodeon gags, add cussing and more realistic violence to get your mainstream viewers. Go ahead. They could've easily made a darker more mature version of the show and still held onto all the old fans in my opinion. But claiming that you're making a 'more mature' version and then removing the complexity and subtlety because they didn't think viewers could handle it...

What makes me most sad is that there are a lot of people who will experience ATLA for the first time through this show. There are a lot of adults who are not willing to watch original ATLA because they refuse to acknowledge an animated series can be anything other than a kid's show. Those people will watch this and think it's the real deal, and that just makes me sad.

If you've read this far, a very sincere thank you for listening to my rant. If you're an OG fan who enjoyed it, I have no problem with you. It was a fun watch, I was just hoping for more. If you are a new viewer who has never seen ATLA before, I sincerely want to hear your opinions. Is it a great show to someone who isn't holding it against the context of the original? And do you plan to watch the original now?

[iid-smile]

#03 ୨ৎ ⸝⸝ ahri ⋆

hi! thank you for ordering, and kaji too! (my fav <3) fear not! your request is not weird at all! it's actually really cute. i think for 20 you can tell i went a bit overboard... i have a lot to say, okay? as requested, everything is headcanons!

#01 🍰 | first kiss

it was definitely on accident

in general, i think kaji would kiss you to stop you from talking for various reasons, so this was just instinct.

he's actually a mess afterwards. he can't speak, his entire face flushed and wide eyes. it takes him a bit for him to realise what he's actually done

shoves his headphones on and runs away like his life depends on it. if youve seen chapter 59, something like that

yeah... you wont hear from him for a while. if you do, it's kusumi and enomoto asking if you've messed him up, because he refuses to talk to anyone afterwards

some time passes one of them has to literally drag him out so you can get some alone time together. there's clearly something going on between the two of you, and they support it

he stalls for a bit, not look at you, keeps his hands in his pockets but eventually offers to redo the first kiss

he makes it significantly shorter, all because now he's actually aware of what he's doing

#02 🍰 | first date

in theory, the double date in question was the first

idk where people go on double dates, except for restaurants because thats what i see most. to make it interesting, i'll go with a cinema (the next most basic idea) the other couple would somehow have two extra tickets, and since theyre on a date already, it would be weird to bring a friend instead of a significant other

the two of you will be waiting for your bestie to show up as long as you can. even if you tell him they wont show up

he wont bail out on you, because thats just rude, so he forces himself to go on this little date alone with you

pays for any snacks or drinks you want, but he doest get anything for himself

he's not paying attention to the movie at all, and cant bring himself to face anywhere where he can see you

he'll put his jacket over your legs without you even asking if you shiver just a tiny bit. if it's really cold outside, then he lets you wear his hoodie so you arent too cold when you walk (he doesnt walk you home because he's shy </3)

when he gets back into the safety of his bedroom, he seriously cannot stop thinking about it, and he wishes he could've done better to be more natural

asks kusumi for help because he's the next best person for advice. he's actually kicking his feet in bed while he waits for his replies.

#20 🍦 | love language

physical touch

his actions speak for him

either he tries to keep the most distance possible, or he can't keep his hands off you; no in between.

you need to give him the thumbs up a lot before he makes his move in early stages of the relationship

he's actually SO gentle when he tries to touch you, because he doesn't want to accidentally hurt you. it's like his hand is just hovering over you more than anything

makes sure your hair doesn't get stuck in his headphones when he puts them around your neck

once he's comfortable, he touches you in the most unnecessary ways. patting your cheeks, yanking your shoulder, making sure you're pinned to his side while walking... stuff like that. he's protective and it shows

you're a victim of having his hand on your head a lot. sometimes when you just face each other randomly and not say anything, he looks down at you and firmly pats your head, as if it's the most normal thing ever. kaji may not be the tallest, but he uses his height over you to his advantage

gift giving

but not in the way that you think

whenever he has to say goodbye to you, he always shoves his lollipop in your mouth because he "doesnt want to finish it"

at some point, you'd get the same headphones that he has he even gets you a little charm that reminds him of you, and there's a 99% chance it's a cat.

always lets you keeps his shirts and hoodies, but he still complains about it. still, he insists to the point where majority of his shirts are his, not ones you bought yourself

hoarding

i know this isnt one of the official five, but i needed to say this

kaji has every single lollipop stick, receipts from dates, and notes from you kept safe in a box somewhere under his bed. perhaps a particular stick that has a ribbon attached to it is one of his prized possessions, and he doesn't have the heart to even touch it, in fear of your hard work unraveling

as for receipts, he likes to keep them when he can. even for the smallest moments you spend together, like going to the convenience store, he reads through what you bought so he knows what to surprise you with next time (and he insists he made a guess) also just for memories, so he doesn't forget any

when he has every note that you gave to him, he takes it literally. ever since he met you, even just useless ones like asking for a pen, silly doodles, or complaining about someone, he keeps them. it makes him smile when he rereads them, and he loves admiring your handwriting

he will never admit that he does this to anyone unless you find the box yourself. he takes the secret to the grave.

event masterlist

[raayllum]

Something I’ve been noticing a lot in my current rewatch is how Rayla and Soren are foils…Soren being the failed crownguard (“failed” in large part bc of his father’s choices) who ends up on a quest to kill his little king… Rayla trying to make up for her parents’ failures as dragonguards and going every extra mile to protect Zym but taking Ezran under her protection as well (sometimes FROM Soren)…, Soren runs Viren through for trying to kill Ez but he’s just an illusion, the real Viren is trying to kill Zym, and Rayla is prepared to die to stop that…then Rayla goes but Soren stays, and when she comes back he’s taken up her role as the moral center of the show, arguing points that she used to make

I tried to see if you’d written anything about these two being foils specifically but tumblr search is… you know lol. I would love it if you could point me to a relevant meta if there is one! If there isn’t, I hope my thoughts were interesting lol they make me emotional

Y'know funnily enough I don't think there ever was a dedicated Soren&Rayla from almost anyone (of course I could've missed it, but at least not from me) precisely cause from what I remember of early post-s3 arc 1 days, their foil relationship was just... a general fandom consensus of everyone going "Oh yeah that checks out" and kinda left at that.

After all, Soren is the princes' sworn protector who tries to kill them, makes his way back onto the right side, and then 'kills' Viren (his father) in order to protect them... whereas Rayla is their sworn killer who defects from her father in order to protect those same princes, and then she actually kills Viren (if Aaravos and Claudia hadn't intervened) in the same episode. More than that, they both leave behind their previous "hey kill these kids" roles in favour of being a Protector of their respective princes (Soren with Ezran, Rayla with Zym) respectively likewise in 3x09.

You're absolutely right that Soren and Rayla both rely a lot on their physical fighting skills, and this parallel in regards to failure always stands out to me in S3:

Soren: As crownguard, it was my job to make sure that nothing happened to him. No matter what. So when the Moonshadow elves came I did everything I could to protect him. But it wasn't enough. I just... don't want to fail you, too. Rayla: It's me, and it's all my fault. I failed them. I let them all down. They're right to reject me. I'm not good enough, and I never will be.

as does this one for Runaan-Viren, because Runaan may have brought his teenage daughter on an assassination mission, but she's never seemingly scared of him the way Soren is of Viren

even if both fathers take issues with 'fear born' weakness at least in theory

And of course there's some other parallels scattered throughout, which makes sense: 1x01-1x03 is basically Rayla speedrunning Soren's S1-S3 arc of perpetuating the cycle of violence to actively trying to stop it by joining forces with your previous 'enemy'.

I think in a lot of ways Soren was exactly the sort of human Rayla had prepared her whole life to kill -- he's proud, he lies, he's not a 'good' person (at first) -- but of course, now they're good friends and it's very sweet to see. Arc 2 has less direct foils, but it's still there, y'know? Just more quietly in the background.

For example, enough has changed since 2x07 that now in 4x05 their roles have virtually switched, since Soren is the one campaigning to save the dragon while Rayla, although not the aggressor, is saying to walk away. I expect S6 Rayla to take some of Soren's 'protector' quality on further in regards to "doing everything you can" when Callum gets possessed. Possible 5x08 parallels also stand out to me with the concepts of identities (names), ownership vs agency, and compassion against the enemy currently wailing on you through future possessed!Callum and Elmer parallels.

The two are also in for a real pickle since they're the most "these people are the bad guys, we're the good guys" in the show... and it's like sir your sister is evil and ma'am your boyfriend is going through a corruption arc, you're in for some rude awakenings. That said they do have their unbreakable bonds of love with Claudia and Callum respectively, so who knows. It'll all work out. (Eventually.)

On that note we can also see some parallels between 2x02 and 3x03 perhaps... Rayla accuses Soren of trying to kill Ezran but explains it poorly, so Callum gives her as much as he can but doesn't side with her in the moment (which to be fair it is Quite a leap so like Callum you're so valid) VS Soren poorly explaining Viren asking him to kill the princes and Claudia not siding with him. The difference is that in the face of more evidence in favour of Claudia + Soren, Callum still sides with Rayla, and in the face of more evidence against Viren ("You'll understand when you see the first to change" -> "Claudia, you're changing too"), Claudia still sides with Viren, but I digress.

I'd also argue that Ezran is the moral centre of the show (at least to me) simply because he's the only one in the main cast who hasn't entered the 1) you did terrible things in the name of love/protective relay and 2) he's pretty measured and compassionate 99% of the time (but I do love the 1% when he's not let me tell you).

I talked about it in this meta (which is 2+ years old jc) about how like a good moral line event horizon measuring stick is "how does this character treat Ezran" and if they're treating him poorly they're not doing the right thing, and if they're treating him well then they Are, but it doesn't go into S4 or S5 so like. Mileage may vary

Last but not least: I do have a Sorayla tag for headcanons edits brotp content in general so if you want more of them, that's what I'd recommend, with fics such as "flower crowns" (oneshot) and "if heaven and hell decide" (completed multichap, 60k) for their dynamic

[fantasygerard2000]

"The Seven Teens in Wish don't have much to do in the movie other than being a reference". A criticism that I both agree and disagree with. Like any other Wish criticism, this is one of the few that gets rebuffed if you watch the movie again and payed attention. While i do agree with the issue of a movie having way too many characters, of all the teens, Dahlia, Simon and Gabo are the ones who have the most prominent roles and are tied to movie's themes.

Let's start off with Gabo. While many others dislike him because he's a jerk, there's some merit as to why he's so pessimistic. While I don't like including info from supplementary material like tie-in books, they do have that extra detail that was lacking in the final movie. In A Recipe for Adventure (which will be used a lot in this post), the author speculates that Gabo is a disappointed optimist. Even though we don't have much to work with other from that piece of trivia, when can always think of something to tie him with the film's theme.

Gabo represents the disappointment in a system where few are given benefits over the majority. He always talks about Simon and Sabino's unfulfilling lives because they gave their wishes away and hoping they will be granted, suggesting that he has seen or what it's like to have an unhappy unfulfilling life. He assumes Asha applying for the role of Magnifico's apprentice so that she can have the benefits of having her and her family's wishes; "cheating" her way to get what she wants while the others are left waiting. Him being a "disappointment optimist" suggests that he had high hopes upon moving to Rosas but has seen how long the waited that his hopes are snuffed and has doubts about the system in general.

At the third act of the film, he decides to help Asha and Star free the wishes because Star reignites his hope for a positive future, one where people can live their lives happy and fulfilled.

Dahlia has the most screen time and lines of the teens, so obviously she has more character than the rest of them.

She's noticeably uses a crutch to walk. While Disney could've easily made her story about wanting to walk without her crutch, they chose not to. In Recipe for Adventure, her wish is to become the best baker in the kingdom, to which she has already achieved. She works as a kitchen staff in the castle, home of Rosas' founder and king.

This shows that she doesn't need magic to become the best baker, all she has is the effort to work for her dreams despite having a disability. This ties with the film's moral as well as a positive lesson for people with disabilities to overcome the struggles and achieve their dreams.

Also in the book, she has a grandmother who passed away and was the one who taught her about her passion for baking. Her and Asha meeting as kids and becoming close friends ties back to my previous post about Asha, mainly about her suffering from loss and that she and Dahlia supported each other going through their darkest moment.

Like Dahlia, Simon also has more character than the rest.

Simon was once an active person, loves going outdoors and horseback riding. I suggest the idea that since his wish is to become a knight for the kingdom, he had trained for the position.

After he gave away his wish once he became 18, all that passion was taken away as the once lively and active aspiring knight loses that drive and becomes a husk of what he once was.

There's a saying that Simon's sleepiness resulted from his wish taken away is reminiscent of depression, which I agree. Simon's joy and dream was to become a knight and help defend his people. When that joy was taken away and his dream unfulfilled, he feels he has no purpose.

Him ratting Asha out of his selfish desire to have his wish be finally granted may be stemmed from his desperation to get rid of the emptiness he has felt. Like how people with depression use "means" to feel that joy they craved which resulted in paying the price out of their own health; ie his mind being controlled by Magnifico and their friends and family's concerns; betraying his friends.

After Magnifico's defeat and Simon is out of his spell, he apologizes for betraying Asha, with his reasons that he "wanted to believe in Magnifico." This brings out a dark aspect of Magnifico's wish system, he takes away people's joy, making them feel desperate to beg to him that they'll do anything for him to feel that joy again.

Simon's story may be applicable to people who have achieve their dream job out of their selfish desire to achieve it, like leaving their friends and family behind in order to get it. But once said dreams have strings attached, like working for a corrupted system that only hired you until you're "replaceable", you take it all back and feel disappointed for trusting all your hopes and dreams to an unfair system.

While the rest of the teens don't have the same character put in like Dahlia, Simon and Gabo, I feel like giving them their own arcs would have cluttered an already cluttered movie.

Wish has problems, but those problems aren't fixable by adding in things like an alien love interest and an influencer couple. Wish's issues is that the creators didn't put in the extra push it needed, hence why it feels "not enough".

[sblvrgg]

i'm so mad at gege after the last episode cause it made me start thinking about female characters in jjk so here i am.

(jjk anime and manga spoilers ahead)

nobara is such a great character, she looks like the usual "girl of the trio" for like the first two seconds you know her but she's so much more and SO BADLY USED IN THE PLOT EXACTLY LIKE SHOKO

everything about yuji/megumi/nobara is a sort of parallelism with satoru/suguru/shoko but it doesn't work out completely cause we know almost nothing about shoko and the little we do know it's mostly written in the extra volume about jjk characters and techniques, it's not like gege actually tells us more about her in the plot and he could have done that in the hidden inventory arc even if it was meant to be focused on satoru and suguru AND THIS MAKES ME FURIOUS

like okay you just want a female character with healing powers? great (not great, but let's not focus on this rn) BUT AT LEAST MAKE HER ACTUALLY HEAL SOMEONE???? I LOVE HER BUT SHE'S SO USELESS, EVERYONE DIES IN SHIBUYA AND SHE'S JUST THERE DOING NOTHING WITH YAGA BECAUSE SHE CAN HEAL BUT SHE CAN'T FIGHT??? HELLO???

in the hidden inventory arc she's not even involved in missions, we have more scenes of her in the opening/ending that in the actual episodes. i don't need to know her whole story but if you put her there as the only character (beside satoru and yuta) who can use reversed technique then MAKE HER ACTUALLY USE IT WHEN NEEDED

and no, i'm not talking about this just because i want our beloved satosugu back. as a suguru kinnie i'm 100% convinced that his death was the only right option for his character from the moment he left jujustu tech. i have some mixed feelings about gojo's death but just because i think gege could've handled it better, not because i absolutely need him back like some delulu maniacs in the fandom (no offense, i'm suffering with you all but some people are crazy). but in shibuya she could've been more useful, at least in helping the students.

nobara at least has a strong personality and a cool technique, she's not just another sakura or orihime (i hate orihime but sakura is great too ofc, i just mean that nobara unlike them isn't the girl put there just to heal her male companions and have a crush on one of them) or shoko herself (and thinking about it shoko is even more useless cause sakura and orihime at least help and heal their crush).

we know a lot about her past, i was crying like a baby watching her say goodbye to fumi and then... she dies, just like that. her goal isn't even that difficult to achieve, it's not some big dream like suguru's, it's something extremely personal and she's not gonna reach it cause gege killed her. i love nobara too but honestly she doesn't have that great development merely because she dies before she can actually become stronger. everytime she fights she gets severly wounded or is there to support others or she's the one who needs support. i feel like she doesn't have her big moment before dying (like maki does for example, i know she's not dead yet but i wouldn't be so mad if it happened cause she has a great development since jjk 0. i would cry like a baby again though, pls gege don't kill her i'm begging you).

and no, i don't think nobara's death is necessary for yuji or the plot in general either. yuji has already seen nanami die in front of him, sukuna has killed who knows how many people and he could do nothing about it, he was still mad at mahito for junpei so why kill nobara too?

gege doesn't even show her in the afterlife when gojo dies (and a delulu part of me hopes that's because she's still alive), like i know that in that airport there are people from his past and the focus is on them, his blue spring and whatever but damn she's one of his students too, he talks about megumi and the fact that he still had things to explain to him but he doesn't even mention her? (he doesn't mention yuji either okay i know, i would've liked that too but at least they have a cute moment before the fight against sukuna).

instead of focusing on those that should be the main female characters we have mei mei though. don't get me wrong, she's our mommy, i'm barking (respectfully) every time i see her on screen or in the manga but is all that screentime really necessary? do i really need to see her in bed with ui ui or walking like a runway model for minutes? mmmh i don't think so.

i don't know, maybe i'm the one missing something in this story, maybe i'm not getting it completely but still, as much as i love jjk i'm mad. i could go on for days about this and what's happened in the manga these last few months, but i'm gonna stop for today.

at this point i'm convinced that gege introduced too many characters and he can't handle them properly, unlike other mangakas like horikoshi who literally shows you the backstory of every single kid you see, even the one drawn in the corner of a panel in that one chapter that everyone forgot about (horikoshi has problems handling fem characters too, but this is a whole other problem and it's something that involves a lot of different animes/mangas).

that's it, going back at crying now, thinking about how my life could be way better if i put this same effort in my studies.

[novelmonger]

I wasn't expecting it to take this long, but after a million distractions, I'm back to going through the LotR audio commentaries and taking note of any interesting tidbits I haven't heard before.

Please enjoy my notes on the RotK design team commentary with Richard Taylor, Tania Rodger, Grant Major, Alan Lee, John Howe, Dan Hennah, and Chris Hennah:

They had to make Deagol's ears out of waterproof gelatin rather than latex because he was going to fall in the water, and the normal latex ears would have come off. I guess they must have done the same any other time a Hobbit got submerged, but they didn't say that.

The fish that Gollum eats at the beginning is made from some kind of edible gelatin so he could actually bite into it. They also had another prop fish that wasn't edible that they gave Andy Serkis to keep at the end XD

The little stone hollow thing where Frodo and Sam are sleeping for their first scene in the movie was a set they built with a removable back wall so they could get a camera in to shoot it from the back as well as the front. Why did I never think of that before?

There were a couple of extra shots they needed of Orthanc in the background to finish up the movie, but they hadn't managed to get the footage from the miniatures (and I guess the miniatures were gone by that point? idk). So they took one of the model collectibles Weta had made and took some photos of it out in the parking lot XD

Whoooooaaaa! Okay, so Alan Lee talks about how, in legends, they say that you have to kill a wizard three times for him to stay dead. And Saruman dies "three times" - first he's stabbed, then he's impaled, then he's drowned. So Saruman is dead dead. Dare I say it? This is...I think this is a better death than the one in the book ._.

They even put carvings on the crossbeams underneath the seats of the chairs in Edoras! You are never ever going to see them, but that was their dedication to making everything feel authentic. That's what sets this apart from so many fantasy movies and shows made these days.

Red in the costumes is meant to suggest royalty. That's why Aragorn, Boromir, Theoden, and Theodred all have red in their costumes - as well as Bilbo and Frodo! You're meant to look at someone wearing red and unconsciously think, "there's something regal about them."

John Howe points out that you probably wouldn't ever reforge a sword like they do with Narsil, at least not in the sense of putting the pieces back together, because it wouldn't be as strong as it was originally. (You could melt it down and start over again, of course.) But, he reminds us, these are the Elves, and it's more of a symbolic thing anyway.

The great hall in Minas Tirith was inspired by Charlemagne's chapel (and Byzantine architecture was one of the main influences on the design of Gondor in general).

The statue of the king in Ithilien was made out of polystyrene, which you would think would be pretty light, but it was so huge it was actually very heavy. They had to transport it to the location in three pieces: the base, the body, and the head. And to lift one on top of each other, they had to rig a sort of pulley system over the limb of a tree, using a four-wheel drive truck to pull it. But they discovered that the first truck wasn't getting enough traction, so they hooked a second truck up to it, and ended up pulling the first truck up into the air along with the statue!

They created fourteen new weapons just to put in the background of the armory in the scene where the Witch-King is getting ready for battle @_@

John Howe said that his inspiration for Minas Morgul was...getting his wisdom teeth pulled??? He describes a metal clamp digging into the perfectly healthy enamel of his tooth to pull it out, and draws a parallel to the metal pieces the orcs fitted to the top of the pristine white parapets, staining and violating them. Um...thanks, I could've done without that visual, John.

I can't believe I never thought about this before, but there's a little wooden roof over the pile of wood for the beacon that Pippin lights. The reasoning behind that is you need some kind of cover to keep the wood more or less dry for when it needs to be lit in an emergency. The beacon will burn away the wooden roof, but it can be replaced easily enough, and it's worth it to be able to quickly light the beacon.

A lot of the saddles they used were ordered from the Indian military, because they had a good, old-fashioned sort of look to them. Then they would add onto the saddles with things that would make them look distinctly Rohirric, rather than Indian.

Alan Lee's daughter worked on some of the figures in the doors of Minas Tirith!

John Howe goes off on this whole tangent about how there's no religion or religious structures in Middle-Earth, and why that might be, but the whole time I was just sitting there going, "...have you never read The Silmarillion????"

Because they had to make over a hundred suits of Gondorian armor, other than the hero suits, they couldn't make each one exactly the right size for the man who would wear it, so the casting department had to only get actors within a certain range of size. They also built the suits of armor with sliding pieces, so they could be somewhat fitted to different sizes.

The horses started out as being part of the art department's responsibility, but as time went on, there were just so many horses they had to keep track of (and the various liveries they would have to be fitted out with) that they had to make a separate horse department to oversee it all.

Because so much of the movie was filmed on-location, in some very remote locations, they had to make a sort of caravan of mobile repair stations that they could take with them. They had all the tools and crew necessary on hand wherever they went so they could repair broken props or ripped costumes, reapply makeup for gore and injuries, take nicks out of the edge of weapons.... It was really like moving an army around!

For the dream where the Evenstar breaks, they made a version of it that was five times bigger than normal, out of a very brittle resin. Then they made an oversized section of the floor and dropped it from a great height so it would completely shatter in a dramatic way like that.

Anduril was John Howe's design. He based it on a sword belonging to a friend of his in Germany, which to him is the ideal sword, the most beautiful sword. He also talked a bit about how Men were taller and bigger in the First and Second Ages, so their swords would have been longer.

John Howe: "Why do people criticize Tolkien for not developing his characters sufficiently? I cannot fathom that kind of criticism. I think it's done by people who don't read between the lines."

Richard Taylor said they had a lot of fun gathering up all the skulls after each take in the Paths of the Dead to put back up at the top so they could be poured down again. Apparently Viggo liked to gather them up and try to throw them at the crew members! "Many hours of skullduggery was to be had," as Richard put it XD

Apparently, they'd made dozens of really finely detailed silicone heads to be lobbed over the wall of Minas Tirith, but then all but one of them were stolen! So they had to quickly put together some crude latex ones to use in the shoot instead (one of which the mayor of Wellington threw). They didn't talk about this, but I'm assuming the one good head that was left is the one that gets a close-up. You have to wonder who out there was sitting around with a bunch of highly realistic latex severed heads in his basement or something....

While most of the siege towers are miniatures or CG, they built the top third of one and put it on tracks so they could move it up against the wall. They built the set with breakable ramparts for when the little drawbridge thing crashes down.

They had the same trouble in Minas Tirith that they did in Helm's Deep, with the battering ram being too heavy for the stunties to lift. But they never actually explained how they got around that problem, if it was the same solution or not :/ All they said was that they had replaceable panels in the doors, in case they were damaged by the battering ram.

In order to make Shelob's webs, they had to heat up two polymers and mix them together to make the stringy, sticky material. In order to mix them, they had to be heated up to 220 degrees C, but if they got up to 228 degrees, they would burst into flame @_@ After they were heated and mixed, they would dribble the mixture on top of a vat of water, where it would cool in spiderweb-like shapes. Then they would lift it out on a frame, and they could carefully place it on the set. One time, the polymers did burst into flame, and they were running out of fire extinguishers to put it out! O.O Eventually, they did call the fire department, who said they'd done everything the fire department would have done. They got the fire put out, but it was a nerve-wracking moment, because the room where they were making the webs was connected to the studio, so it could have been disastrous D:

Bernard Shaw apparently got the idea to do that whole bit where he knocks his sword against the row of spears when he saw the collection of spears all lined up in a row in the art department.

The "oil" that Denethor pours over himself and Faramir is a mixture of glycerin and water. (I always wonder about these things, so I'm really glad they mentioned it.)

When they were filming the pyre scene, they had a silicone dummy for Faramir on the burning pyre. Apparently somebody on the crew brought "David Wenham" a cup of coffee over because they thought he'd fallen asleep on the side of the set, only to discover that it was a dummy! XD

The horse rig they made for close-up work of people on horseback got affectionately nicknamed "the Phony Pony." The first day they brought it on set, Peter Jackson got up on it and "rode" the horse, making the whole crew laugh XD

One of the ideas that Peter Jackson came up with for the mumakil in a brainstorming session (which Richard Taylor says he's still not sure if PJ was serious about or not) was that they could suck up several riders in its trunk and then fire them out like bullets. I'm...really glad they didn't go with that, whether PJ was serious or not <_<

Alan Lee says that the first time he saw the dead mumakil that Weta made for the set, the body was hollow, and some of the crew had set up a TV inside it and were watching a rugby game XD

The last miniature they built for LotR was the Minas Tirith docks where the Corsair ships come in. It kept getting put off until almost the end of the shoot, so they only had five days to put it together! @_@

All of the dead horses are fake, of course, so Weta had to make them all. They were made of lightweight material, so each day you'd see the set dressers just kind of casually carrying in a whole dead horse and then picking one up from the battlefield afterwards like it's no big deal. They had to do a lot of repairs to the dead horses, because the legs and ears kept falling off or getting bent the wrong way XD

The stone Watchers in Cirith Ungol have Maori influence in their design. I wish they'd talked about that in more detail, but it was just mentioned in passing.

They were concerned about the various copies of the One Ring being stolen, so they kept it in a lunchbox that was labeled "Screws."

The scene where Frodo and Sam join the orc convoy was filmed on location up on a mountain, so they had to deal with a whole bunch of extras in extensive prosthetics and armor, which would make them sweat while they were moving around, but then when the camera wasn't rolling, it would be a challenge to keep them warm. The way they did most of the orcs was that they wore a rubber mask and then a helmet, and they would need to take them off at regular intervals so the actors could get some air. So in between takes, after the director called, "Cut!" there would also be a cry of, "Heads off!" That meant the dressers would have to rush into the crowd and quickly take off the extras' helmets and masks XD

Because the crew was committed to not damaging any of the flora and fauna in the places where they were filming, even in the location that became the plains of Mordor that Frodo and Sam struggle across, there were little flowers and moss that they wanted to protect (and it was a national park). So they would lay down carpets on the ground for people to walk on, so they wouldn't damage the plant life. I'm sure that made for a strange sight, Frodo and Sam struggling in tattered clothing over rocks and boulders, surrounded by perfectly ordinary rugs XD

To do the decapitation of the Mouth of Sauron, they had a headless dummy sitting there, and Viggo would swipe his sword where the head should be. Then Weta Digital put in the head afterwards.

The lava in Mount Doom was mostly a miniature (except for the set where Sean and Elijah did their part), made from methyl cellulose and other things to make it look like lava. They set it up on a table that they would tilt so it would flow down around the model boulders made from urethane.

Richard Taylor said that, at that time, no one had really done a very good CG bird, so he was especially pleased at how the eagles turned out.

There were about 400 people working in the art department total, and most of them had never worked in the film industry before! @_@

Ngila Dickson's philosophy for the Elves was that none of their "crowns" or headpieces would go upwards, but would fit close around their heads and then go down. That's one of those things I've subconsciously noticed all these years, but never really thought about before.

Apparently, a little bit of the graphite used on Aragorn's armor in the coronation scene kind of puffed out when he and Arwen go in for their kiss, and got on Arwen's dress D: And some well-meaning person tried to rub it off, but only succeeded in spreading it around further, thus ruining the dress. And most of the female characters only had one copy of each costume, because all except for Eowyn don't see battle and thus don't need different versions with varying amounts of wear and tear. They're just made to wear in one or two scenes of them looking pretty and walking through a room. But alas, that lovely green dress was ruined.

They didn't have much time with Sir Ian Holm, so they only had a week to get a mold of his face and make the old-age prosthetics for the Grey Havens. But then word came down that he didn't want to have prosthetics, so they were to just make him look old with makeup. They were really disappointed, but then on the day, Ian Holm saw the prosthetics sitting off in the corner and asked what it was. When they explained, he said it wasn't true, and insisted on them putting the prosthetics on instead.

One thing that was really impressed upon me during this whole commentary (over all three movies) was just how much love and joy all of the crew had for the project. Sometimes you watch a movie or read a book that really means a lot to you, that's changed your life, and you wonder if the people who made it fully grasp what a beautiful thing they've created. These people know. They were fully aware, from start to finish, that they were making something truly great and worthy of praise. And I think that's beautiful.

[mofffun]

«Rita of Gokkan» Ch.19

eng translation by me

ch: [tag] [2-3] [4-6] [7-9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]

timeline: ep5 (Toufu ch1)

Rita and Kaguragi test each other on what the other knows.

contains TV SPOILERS past ep5, assumed reader is up-to-date at ep43

*If you are a newcomer and wanted to read the manga along with its corresponding episode, you will only get context for what's hinted in this chapter much later in the show.

t/n:

p4: This bugnarok is pronounced "by-EH-jim" not "bae-jim" ... based on a fly (ha-EH)

Kaguragi addresses everyone as "-dono" but sometimes Rita as "Sovereign Rita". I'm putting Rita-sama and Rita-dono both as "Justice Rita". Normally I'd be inclined to keep the honorifics but since I already used the English form before I should stick to that and subs group conventions. ("-tono/-dono" is an antiqudated suffix that is only used in official documents nowadays. In history, it meant respect for those above you but nowadays it's used by the higher-rank to address those lower politely. Genderless, lower than '-sama'.)

Something about Rita's speech pattern is they tend to use a lot of kanji, as part of their solemn personality and regular legal jargon. I lack the context to evaluate how advanced Rita's kanji are to the average Japanese but the general sense of Rita having a more archaic/complex vocabulary is evident.

holding my urge not to put a ! in every Kagu speech bubble

p14: Kagu's reation to hearing Rita saw Suzume's figure: ……はて？ -> long pause, [lit. 1. well; let me see; now​ (used before sentences expressing a doubt) 2. dear me/good gracious]

ch19:

t/n part 2:

p9: わざわざお出まし恐縮（きょうしゅく）です [lit. my apologies for making you come all this way.] -> What an honour to have your persence!

Here it is! the east/west cultural difference! Keigo is a big challenge for me as a learner already, let alone a translator. There's no direct dictionary substitution and it really depends on your intuition with usage in either langugaes. The keigo here is humble-type, while to make it sound natural in English, instead of reflecting your own incompetence, you are flattering the other party. In the next line, Kaguragi says because Rita came unannounced, they were inadequate in failing to preapre a welcoming committee. I think the scarcasm is there in English too, but I just feel it's more insulting to imply Rita is not exactly welcome while initiatively taking the "weaker" side (Kaguragi's gaslighting, what's new).

p13: learner's note: the royal kitchen is called 厨房(chuubou) while the word for kitchen I knew was 台所(daidokoro). Research shows 厨房 is a professional kitchen like in a restaurant and 台所 is the one at home. Katakana Kitchen is also in the vocabulary to mean a modern, western-style industrical kitchen. Chinese has lost the distinctioin and uses 廚房 (note!: an extra dot above 厨) for both home or workplace.

p16: I interpret Rita's first concern is in maintaining equality between the kingdoms. A duo alliance between ❤🖤 is only detrimental to a five-kingdom one they are working towards: small circle, and increased hostility from 💛💙 if they believe ❤🖤💜 is their small clique. Yet it is interesting Rita raised the question out of personal curiosity. Remember in the beginning there was this, feeling, ❤🖤💜 are seniors and they've known each other for longer? Now we know Kaguragi is actually Rita's junior in terms of order of sucession. Now they could've what he was like prior to taking the throne. Notice how they never describe him as a liar. Maybe Rita does find it odd a man of his capability feels the need to bootlick Racules.

Onomatopoeia words this week:

スッ(Suu) an action done suddenly without sound

ボコボコ(boko boko) 1. sound of hitting a hollow object 2. uneven (surface) 3. to cause damage with full force

バキバキ (baki baki) hard objects shattering/breaking/cracking ポカ(poka) 1. repeated hit with something heavy i.e. fist/bat 2. feeling of warmth

よろよろ (yoro yoro) (adv., not a sound) staggering

もがく (moga ku) (v.) struggle/wiggle impatient -> here means eating frantically (because food is too god)

ずいっ (zui) (adv.) straightforwardly, readily, without hesitation

alternate translations:

p9: No careless msitakes… -> Better keep my guard up… / Better stay alert…

p11: No way any of that is true. -> What a load of crap. (intuition lol)

Script:

p1 (18lp) p2 「バサッ　バサッ」 「ガクン」 すみません～… バエジーム お騒がせしております～ 「ゴゴゴ…」 くそ…　バグナラクめ… どこにでも湧（わ）いて来る… p4 うるさくてすみません～　そして… 「ブ　ブゥン」 死んでいただけると助かります～ 「ス…」 「タッ」 p5 「ガッ」 「ボコ　ボコ　ボコ」 待ち伏（ふ）せていたのか p6 「ドドド」 「ガガガ」く…つ 「バキ　ゴ　ポカ」 p7 ギヤ 「ズンッ」 トウフ国の黒子軍団…！ 今だ！ p8 撃（う）たせていただきます 「パ　パ」 「タ　ドッ　タ　ボッ　ボ」 「タッ」 ギャ 「よろ　よろ」「ブブブ」 てっ…　撤退（てったい）です～！　 p9 いやいや…　素晴らし腕前 さすがリタ国王 わざわざお出まし恐縮（きょうしゅく）です 前もって言っていただければ迎えの用意いたしましたのに カグラギ‧ディボウスキ… こいつはラクレスと通しているようだが… 油断（ゆだん）は禁物（きんもつ）だ… p10 p11 して　ギラという男 強盗団（ごうとうだん）の親玉（おやだま）という噂がありまして 毒虫（どくむし）食にしている化け物なんていう話も もういい そんなわけないだろ もしやそのご様子まさかギラの正体（しょうたい）をご存じで…！ 調査（ちょうさ）中だ たとえ王でも外部の者に話すわけないだろう p12 さすがは絶対中立の王　素晴らしい！ 察しますに最高厳罰（げんばつ）処分（しょぶん）ですね …ただ一つ言えるのは…… おお！？言えるのは！？ —いや 調査の結果は法廷（ほうてい）で明らかにする 危ない…どうもこいつの前でもしゃべりすぎる… ラクレスに感づかれては厄介（やっかい）だ うまい…　「もが」 はっはっは　そうでしょう！ このトウフには世界中のあらゆる食が揃っております p13 ただ… 聞いたことない食事は出ませんが … そういえば　リタ殿 以前（いぜん）コーカサス城の厨房（ちゅうぼう）で 調べごとをされていた…とか 調べもの見つかりましたか？ 個人的な調査だ　結果を話すつもりはない そういえば　あの時… p14 お前とよく似た着物を見たが ！ ……はて？ ラクレス殿にご挨拶にうかがったときでしょうか？ p15 いや…　もっと小柄（こがら）な… それはリタ殿の見間違いでしょう なにか　隠しているな… お前はなぜラクレスに付き従う（つきしたがう） ラクレス殿は素晴らしい志(こころざし)をお持ちの方 であれば協力するのは当然です それにしてはまるで主従(しゅうじゅう)のようだ p16 国同士は対等（たいとう）な関係のはず… それに前王イロキの悪政（あくせい）から解放したのはお前の独力（どくりょく）だ それは… リタ国王！ これは仕方がないのです…！

[lightofraye]

Food For Thought

Fear not, I am still working on the next review of Wales Comic Con. I'm wishing there were close-ups of the convention so I could have a better look of faces, but it may have to be what it is.

But that's not what this post is about.

AustinCon--SPNAustin/SPNAus/Whatever the acronym--is already starting and we've heard and seen some rather inappropriate commentary from Kim and Briana (dear gods, please, develop some class!), Matt Cohen... being peculiar... a group karaoke that largely consisted of the "extras" (as they're often called), and the BBQ with Jensen and Steve (aka Radio Company).

It's been a trip watching the photos and commentary by fans. Or stans. Or is it both?

Of course, I didn't forget Jared and his book event with Genevieve (well, her book event). They were cute together! I keep forgetting just how freaking tall he is until I saw that full length photo and just stared. I'm above average for a woman myself--5'9"--and something tells me he'd give me a crick in my neck just to talk to him.

Out of all of that, the one that disappointed me a bit was hearing the BBQ with Radio Company lasted only an hour. For more than $300, I'd expect it to last at least a couple of hours.

Not for the first time, I wonder about the financial problems that may or may not be plaguing the Ackles. There's a lot of things not adding up and the BBQ event was a "last minute" addition (like just a month ago). Unfortunately, it's all speculation and I have so many theories spinning through my mind. Pieces of a whole, missing key points that may never be answered.

However, as I've been musing, I recalled a conversation with a follower. A quick message, a comment. They mentioned a recent Meet and Greet with Jensen. Of course, with the Non-Disclosure Agreement, they couldn't go into details. But could, at least, give me a general gist:

"In a recent meet and greet, Jensen shared information that convinced me that he is home often. Little things, but also one main piece unrelated to kids or wife that proved he spends significant amount of time at home."

This may be true. The mansion has three floors plus a basement. It's certainly huge enough that he could quite literally have a whole wing to himself, an aspect of separation without the legalese involved. The blueprints of the mansion showed it was entirely possible.

But... it still niggled at me.

In discussing it with a few others, one person chimed in. "That basement is large enough to fit a bedroom, office, gym, and so much more!"

And it hit me.

They had the equipment of a gym back in Austin, when Jensen was trying to bulk up for Soldier Boy back then for Season 3 of The Boys. We saw the videos, the photos. I imagine they moved the equipment with them. So why did we see several photos of Jensen at an outside gym?

It's not for a trainer, though the exclusive gym he went to could've provided one. Or, with his money, he could hire a private one to attend to him at the mansion!

So why outside the mansion?

The answer is altogether too heartbreaking: he can't abide to be at home.

It's safer, and healthier, to be away.

Then I remembered a discussion I had with one of my... I'll call them 'industry experts'. Meet and Greets are where actors 'test' stories, see how they land and then use the 'successful' stories in later conventions. With the NDAs, fans wouldn't be able to say anything without risking a lawsuit, expensive ones at that.

It'd certainly explain the weird shifting of stories that don't always ring true or change too fast. Like when he was in Rome, Jensen said Danneel liked cooking Italian food. Later, in France, it was French food and French music. How many fans would listen to every single one of those conventions and match stories? Or even care that it changed too much, too fast, and with gaping holes that felt awkward?

Pieces of a whole. Generic stories, nothing specific. Not of Danneel asking him to try something new that tasted incredible. Or a burnt food accident that smoked out their kitchen. Or the kids enjoying one of the songs.

Get what I mean?

The pieces don't fit. He says one thing here, another thing there, and it doesn't match.

If he's still persistently trying to build the Family Man Image... if Gersh has someone monitoring keywords (GERSH! GERSH! GERSH! Does it work like Beetlejuice?), I'd advise them to tell Jensen to stop. It's not working. Maybe for a small section of a dying fandom (oh god, please don't kill me), but for the rest? We're not buying it.

And for his mental and emotional--and hell, physical!--health, I'd say he should try to go for the divorced dad image.

Lots of things stirring in my mind. Far too much.

This week was hard. Seeing the ongoing put down from people who don't understand the mindset of someone in the middle of abuse, the insults, the demeaning comments ("weak", "pussy", "not a man", and so forth) really got to me. Broke my heart.

Then there's the controversy surrounding the movie, "It Ends With Us", and the inaccuracy of the ending that had me headdesking repeatedly.

It seemed the theme of the week is Domestic Violence.

For survivors, who got away. For the victims, who are still trapped. For those who think it's normal, because they don't know any better (yes, this is a thing; if a person's baseline is well below what should be considered okay, what makes you think they'd know differently?).

It's emotionally draining. It's exhausting.

But every so often I get a message of support, of people who are grateful for me speaking out.

And then there's my son, who I am desperate to keep safe.

Breaking of cycles have to begin somewhere.

Let it start with me.

[yesiknowlahee]

I have A LOT of thoughts on Dawntrail. Do not open this if you haven't finished it.

Seriously if you go below the cut and haven't finished, it's your fault. I tagged it. I warned you up top. Warned. Extra warned. W A R N E D for spoilers.

Okay so let's begin.

My RUNNING MAJOR, ABSOLUTELY BIGGEST GRIPE is that the game plays Show and Tell. And I would like to *do*

The biggest one is that- so this expansion we are a side character. Very rarely do the events circle around us, we are pretty consistently supporting someone else. And that is FINE. I am more than okay with that. BUT it means that we do miss out on seeing and experiencing certain things.

An example is catching the Llama at level 90. A quest Wuk Lamat goes on off screen. I would've loved to have gone either with her, or played as her, and had the opportunity to try it for myself. I think that would've given us an opportunity to appreciate her journey as a character more, and been more engaging than the cutscene we got. And realistically, we could've had both.

Another point at which I would've LOVED to have seen or interacted with, was finding out a trade agreement had been made with Radz at Han, and the dragons coming in, and generally, the defense of Tuliyollal during the second invasion. Literally getting to interact with any of that. I would've been fine if that had been a VERY long duty or two consecutive duties, just to experience that aspect a little more.

Inb4 "but development time, they can only do so much" I am not willing to give concessions to this big a company with some of the most popular games in the world. They have had concession and patience from me for four years. Now, I am going to have critiques.

Another point at which I would've liked to DO rather than being shown- the train scene when we're shooting at things. COME ON. GIVE ME A LITTLE POINT AND SHOOT MINI GAME. Cutscenes are cool, but I want to play with what you're showing me and feel immersed.

Finally, as someone who is an omnicrafter at 90, that is acknowledged all of ONCE. I realize not everyone is, but a lot of us are. It would be INCREDIBLY cool if they gave us a temporarily optional quest in which we got to help repair the ini'hana float, like a custom delivery. Or something that they found to be within reason. Just, a little more to let me interact with the classes I have at hand. It would be a really great opportunity to immerse me as a player. Same goes for when we're cooking. I'm glad I got to help but maybe a little mini game would be nice.

Overall I unfortunately feel our questing is a bit of a stale slog.

If you've read this far, you're probably thinking,

"Okay you're bitching, so what did you like???"

The cultures. I thought it was absolutely beautiful and wonderful, the first half of the expansion- I had an amazing time. I LOVED the journey we went on with Wuk Lamat. I liked trading with the Pelu Pelu. I loved ini'hana. I got to develop a love for the people with Wuk Lamat, and I really appreciated that. Tural was wonderful. I had a lot of fun in the first Dungeon. I didn't hate the others, but because I loved the beauty of the Turali aesthetics so much, I felt disappointed the further we got into Alexandrian sci-fi vibes, and when we went to Shaaloani. The game even acknowledged we'd seen this before. It wasn't really fresh. And while it laid important groundwork, I feel it could've been more interesting.

Meeting versions of people from across reflections feels a little lazy to me.

Other things I take issue with, the game is *too* formulaic at this point. The expansions follow the same formula. The dungeons. They bring the same characters from different worlds back from across expansions. Come on. Deviate. Please.

This is our THIRD FINAL BOSS IN A ROW where the final dungeon is their memories. And we go through a world of their lost people for the final zone. Come on. C O M E ON. It was cool for Emet. I tolerated it for Sad Bird. I cannot do another glowing white girl that numerous problems coalesce around. (No I am not implying that Emet is ShBs Token glowing white girl, that is Ryne. Who is just *Minfilia again* )

And in us getting that key and them setting us up for interdimensional fusion, I fear that we may be on the precipice for more laziness. And that is really disappointing to me.

So, let's end this on a few positives. Because I didn't hate dawntrail. But there were a lot of decisions made that I am concerned by or disappointed by.

Gulool Ja, I am his guardian. Wuk Lamat said we're family. Imma be his aunty and we're going places. Love that kid. Enjoyed the motif and discussion of family that stayed at the center of this Latin America centered expansion. That was beautiful and I enjoyed it.

Bakool Jaja. ;)

SEEING THE ADOPTIVE PARENTS AND THE BIRTH PARENTS AND THE CLOSURE THE CHARACTERS GOT AND HOW THEY PROCEEDED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE. OH MY GOD I LOVED THAT. THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL. I CRIED SO MUCH IN LIVING MEMORY. SO. SO. MUCH.

Koana's growth brought me A LOT of joy.

Sena Bryers performance was delightful.

A lot of the character designs were wonderful.

I'm looking forward to further interacting with the world they've built.

They almost made me like Solution Nine. I'm sorry but we cannot keep ending the expansion in Scifi fuck nowhere guys.

Also if you come in to these comments and rts and try to defend ANYTHING with "Well in another final fantasy--" no. Make it stand on its own. A GAME SHOULD STAND ON ITS OWN. ESPECIALLY A MULTI EXPANSION MMO. PEOPLE SHOULD BE ABLE TO ENJOY JUST THE EXPENSIVE ASS MMO. References? YES. GO FOR IT. but no defending bad writing by saying it is a nod to another game. I don't care what you're nodding to. I care that your nod can't stand by itself.

H o p e f u l l y I'll be able to come back to this years from now and be able to appreciate it as a foundation for other expansions, like I do appreciate Shaaloani more *after credits rolled* than I did when I was doing it.

Side note I'm pretty sure my fiancé's colleagues heard me SOBBING over Erenville and Cachiua's goodbye in their meeting this morning. Whoops.

You see how long this post is? I wrote it while the credits rolled. They're STILL rolling.

TL;DR I want to interact with more of the stuff in the immersive world they're creating and I would like them not to do the same thing *over and over* as far as flow and the nature of the final bosses and zones go.

[lullaebies]

pls don't take this as a hate anon or something, i am just curious. what the reason that has made you very interested in helaena? she is basically a non-character in the show , a walking talking spoiler if u may and in the book grrm never focused on her and just made her gone mad with grief.

Not taken as hate, anon! I myself have said several times the points you made in my more critical asks and posts about hotd. But well, let's put it like this; Helaena maybe doesn't get much from the show (or the books, frankly) but what she does have is potential. When I first watched the show, I liked her in in a normal, Helly is sweet and cute and deserved better kind of way. Most people agree about that much I believe. But over time when I kept thinking about her, the hyperfixation set because I realized her character and relationship's themes can be so much more elaborated on! Helaena, especially with the themes of feminism in a feudalistic society, especially with her place as the overlooked sister in her childhood, who gains the liking of the smallfolk later on (whether it be because she conforms to society's rules or things GRRM never told us - and both can be true at the same time), especially with how interwoven her relationships with her brother and children to the crown and how it can be explored in so many different ways - it's just so interesting to think about. There's so much tragedy in it! Let me ask you questions, anon, that may bring forward things that could have been done with Helaena - what if being regarded as the less comely sister did get to her? Why did she go out and claimed Dreamfyre when she was younger; for such a meek sounding girl, claiming the largest dragon in the dragonpit wouldn't be a lot? What if she actually thought of fighting the war with Dreamfyre? What if she was so shattered by her children's loss because she thought the taking the crown would save them, similar to what has been told to Aegon? What if her taking the crown was about emancipation from the shackles of fear and feeling helpless for her, only to fall back into it later on, realizing the crown did nothing? The show's addition of her being a dreamer, can be a point of its own of extra themes added to her (Cassandra of Troy theme) even though I didn't enjoy how they did it in the show (spoiler machine thing). So basically, what I'm saying, is that in the right hands, a character like Helaena could be so much more elevated. I genuinely think there is so much to explore in her. She could've been an interesting foil to Rhaenyra as the green queen and a mother if they wanted her to be. All they have to do is to make her a character of her own, let her speak her own thoughts, even if they can't see it in themselves to give her true agency. She is a character that could add so much to the feminism, gender roles, and Targaryen cycles of generational trauma discussions in the show, and they just really skipped on it for no reason at all.

[bthump]

Sorry if you’ve answered this before but you know how you say femto is just the worst darkest aspects of Griffith’s character brought to the surface and the good and humane parts of him burned away, wouldn’t that contradict how the apostles work in general because we see that a lot of them still are able to act good? Or do you think Griffith is also still capable of acting good too? (Though wouldn’t that then make all the bad things he did e.g. what he did to Casca so much worse in a way?)

Enh I mean I think it's a distinct personality change, and one apostles also undergo. It doesn't necessarily literally mean that they're incapable of feeling any kind of positive emotion or taking any kind of positive action, it's more like it gives a power up to their dark side, imo.

I'd probably assume that godhands get it extra hardcore, while apostles likely retain a little more of their capacity for positive humanity. My reasoning for this is that we do literally see Griffith losing pieces of himself as he transforms and finding it odd that his emotional responses are blunted/gone, and the Idea of Evil says his heart is frozen. And on the other hand, apostles have a physical range from nearly-human to full monster, which seems like a solid reflection of their emotional states as well.

It also makes sense to me because these transformations are literal fantasy versions of like, trauma responses to stuff, right? Becoming a monster after sacrificing your loved one who betrayed you is a heightened, symbolic version of, say, the mundane typical human thing of being hurt and shutting people out and becoming kind of a dick in response.

The fantasy metaphor doesn't work as well, imo, if it's just the usual human response + cosmetic monsterism. It's a metaphor for that negative emotional reaction, so in the fantasy equivalent it's heightened, as a magical personality shift that blunts some emotions, like empathy, and makes others more powerful, like rage.

I consider Guts and the berserker armour to be another illustration of this concept. We see from his perspective when the armour takes over, and we can see that Guts' humanity is no longer in the driver's seat, and he's been taken over by his negative feelings like rage. The armour is probably a more extreme version since he loses his ability to reason, but I think it's a good comparison that can show us what happened to other monsters in terms of their emotional capacity, and how they stop viewing humans as fellow people and start seeing them as lesser exploitable beings. Victims, food, servants, etc.

SO basically I think Femto technically had the capacity to not rape Casca, as in he could've just killed her instead, but he's not gonna be consumed by guilt the way Griffith would've been as a human. He's a different version of Griffith, with his positive/empathetic feelings blunted (though presumably not fully gone since he hesitates and lets Guts escape, though whether that's a glitch in the transformation or part of the usual end result is up in the air) and his negative feelings heightened. To blame Griffith for raping Casca would, imo, be the equivalent of blaming Guts for trying to kill his friends while the armour has taken him over. We can blame Guts and Griffith for wearing the armour/succumbing to it and choosing monsterism, but once that happened their human minds and feelings aren't much of a factor anymore.

All that said I definitely do think NGriff is capable of doing good because we see him do it, but whether he's capable of real altruism or only doing good in service to his greater goals is up in the air. I figure we'll probably never find out, since his ambiguous capacity for emotion is probably going to be pretty focused on Guts, rather than on morality.

Thanks for the ask!

[skaruresonic]

Feel like you're taking 06's unfinished mocappedness over actual characterizing, though fans do the exact same in overly making him seem noble just cuz of taking the last scene OOC, and ignoring everything else

-He curtly tells Rouge he simply was rescuing her, which, kinda rude/blunt

-Mephiles he immediately calls BS

-Sonic he pushes back at the "don't be late" comment

-While he could've joined the others in simply going back to the present after Iblis, he remained out of his own volition of finding out WTF Mephiles is

-Silver he kicks and calls him misguided, rather than be proactive

Shadow isn't really misled or acting out of confusion/vengeance unlike earlier games in 06. It's a culmination of past char dev, along with different circumstance. So he doesn't have much to rib off of

Even then, in game there are a lot of quotes showing his ego. My fav is "Hah! There's no strength in numbers!" When he encounters hordes of enemies in later stages/Hard mode. The scrapped audio of him and Sonic having an Extra mode highlights more his attitude, though not to exaggerated levels like what the fandom does

And then Rivals 1/2, games literally written by Iizuka, was released a couple days later, and he very much is combatitive there to other chars interferring. He's not "softened" or "edged up", he's a very tempermental char depending on context/char interaction. Shadow's ego is very much "tell and show", so if nothing needs to be shown, he won't say as he's generally a reserved person

Later games are similar in that he doesn't have much to go off of in char chemistry for being "bratty", contrary to what fandom says. I'd argue the only bad use of him is Free Riders, cuz he legitimately has no reason or drive to participate in that contest

TLDR: I find fandom stupid, but I find your dismissal of 06 Shadow to fall in the same trap, for different reasons

My bad, I forgot '06 implied Shadow has an IQ of 200. xP

While I get what you're saying, my objections are more that fans call '06!Shadow peak Shadow without considering the fact that '06!Shadow looks like he's dissociating in half his scenes... Even more than the game where he's actively suffering PTSD flashbacks.

In addition, '06's canon status begs questions of just how much weight we ought to be giving it, when other games have largely tackled the same subject matter. We knew that Shadow will fight the world if necessary, since you have the choice to fight the entire world in ShTH.

I honestly don't know what '06 could say about his character that hasn't already been said. Because it seems to me the game offers more insight into Rouge and Omega's views on Shadow than Shadow's views on them, you know what I mean?

Rouge confirms her loyalty towards him and Shadow just stands there. It's not like in Battle where he begrudgingly calls her ally, or SA2 where Rouge's goading compels him to justify himself with "I came back for the Chaos Emeralds."

To say nothing of how the "I'd choose you over the world" sentiment loses a little of its luster when you realize it's not limited to just Rouge in her attempt to make Shadow feel better; Amy and Elise say it to or regarding Sonic as well. So it's not even particularly unique to Rouge and Shadow's relationship in this game anyhow. Compare these scenes. There's no real back-and-forth.

You also read the post where I said I feel the only thing Maekawa seems to think to do with Shadow is stuff him in a capsule, right? I don't really give its inclusion in '06 quarter for being an old game because A.) if folks are calling this portrayal peak, then I'm going to hold it to a fairly high standard, and B.) it's a recycling of the same plot we've seen over and over again, and suffers the same pitfalls of reducing Shadow to a plot device. We already had an evil "mastermind" try to manipulate him in the previous game.

'06 saying "Shadow won't fall for the chessmaster's tricks" is kind of a redundant point to make twice. Mephiles attempts to mess with his head a la Black Doom, but even that conflict falls flat if Shadow doesn't at least buy into it a little.

I've read analyses of '06 Shadow before. Half the scenes people analyze consist of him staring blankly into space. And I get the point they're trying to make, but it's hard for me to overlook the fact that, compared to other iterations, '06!Shadow has no real discernible personality. It's not like in SA2 where he's simply quiet; he's inscrutable in a way that makes him seem dead inside.

He has the exact same look on his face as when he kicks Silver in the head as when Mephiles drops the bombshell on him that the world will turn against him as when he's staring at Rouge's boobs. And I'm not sure if calling this Shadow peak over all over iterations is any better than the accusations that Pontaff-era!Shadow is an edgelord. Because it's like okay I guess, you can overlook Shadow appearing to have no affectation at all, but don't like it when he displays personality in other games?

And then Rivals 1/2, games literally written by Iizuka, was released a couple days later, and he very much is combatitive there to other chars interferring. He's not "softened" or "edged up", he's a very tempermental char depending on context/char interaction. Shadow's ego is very much "tell and show", so if nothing needs to be shown, he won't say as he's generally a reserved person

I wasn't contesting that, lol. xP When I say Shadow's an asshole, bear in mind I'm not saying that's the only thing he can be, of course. I know he is also reserved and isn't always "fight me" depending on the context. But at the same time, I feel like folks don't like to acknowledge that he does have rough edges and a sometimes unlikable temperament.

[edgepunk]

Cyberpunk 2077 Question(s) cos I've played it about 7 times already and I wanna hear your thoughts on stuff:

So...I hope I'm not the only one who may have noticed this but like...doesn't it seem odd that V, despite all that they can do and develop to, and all that they are capable of, through whichever lifepath the player chooses that like...V doesn't have the full character agency that they should have?

Like instead of "they wouldn't not say that", V actually would...and it's just...not there? For example: there's some dialogue choices that are in line with how V is, but it feels like...some of those choices and the way they're worded like...could've been more, or like...where V would've really said something that like...would've been like "Yes! They would say That! Why aren't they saying that?" And I'm not talking about like getting really aggressive, both physically and verbally (though there's moments where I would rather see that happening), but like... there's times where I feel like V should've used their background on the topic to resolve of what they need even if it still the answer or reciprocation of what V said turned up useless.

I widely generally know there was a lot cut from the game, but like...with 2.0+ showing what the devs wanted out the game...I kinda wished the dialogue was something they'd flesh out even more, for better or worse for V's predicament with the Inevitable.

Thoughts?

If I understand this right, you'd want more dialogue options for better role-play? Because I agree.

While I think the writing is one of the strongest aspects of this game (not free of criticism, of course) the role-playing part is very limited. Similarly to Mass Effect, choosing your background has little impact on your character besides a couple of extra dialogue options and some side quests. I feel like V's background should've opened up more unique dialogue options that could've lead to certain quests ending up slightly differently. I dunno, I felt little difference between playing a Nomad and a Street Kid. Ironically, I noticed that Corpo has the most dialogue options that do make small differences and can even benefit you during certain quests.

I think some of the skills should also have more impact on the dialogue options. I'm currently playing a Netrunner build with maxed Tech and Intelligence, and sometimes V doesn't get the option to say "yeah I know how this works" instead I'm given dialogue options that make V seem like they've never touched a computer. It's kinda sad.

And I get it's difficult to write a character with so many dialogue options, especially when it's a voiced character, which comes with a heap of limitations because time and money. You get much more freedom with silent protagonists like The Courier from Fallout: New Vegas, which gives you an insane amount of freedom in terms of role-playing, and the majority of your skills unlock brand new dialogue options that can drastically change how a quest ends or how characters respond to you.

It might also come to the fact that CDPR isn't used to writing a fully customizable character, and didn't know how exactly to approach V compared to Geralt who already has an established history and personality. Though, I'd be lying if I said that game Geralt is 100% in character with book Geralt. They had to take some liberties with him for role-playing reasons, which is why some of the choices are very OOC for book Geralt. But the point is that they don't seem to have enough experience with a customizable protagonist, or perhaps it can also be chalked up to the horrid working conditions and impossible deadlines. Maybe if the execs weren't putting so much pressure on them, they could've had more time to develop a story with more paths and branching storylines.

[marinsawakening]

also because everyone was clearly wondering (sarcasm), here's my loz opinions so far:

A Link to the Past: Very good, can definitely see why it got as popular and influential as it did. Really loved exploring the overworld and the dungeon designs were strong. Unfortunately I am bad at video games and this game made me use an invincibility cheat and also clown music (to avoid gamer rage) to get through it. Like it was a genuine hit to my self esteem. So yeah I could've enjoyed it more than I did.

Link's Awakening DX: Perfect 10/10 no notes (lie). OK I feel like this game in many respects feels kinda unpolished; maybe it's just bc I was emulating it but some of the controls were a goddamn nightmare and I didn't find most of the dungeons particularly memorable. That said, the VIBES in this game are immaculate. From the Mario/Kirby cameos to the setting and story this game is deeply charming. Though I have my issues with it, I find the story a lot more compelling than I have so far in the other games, though obviously that could change once I get to the entries that focus more on their story. Also Marin is my daughter and I am obsessed with her.

Oracle of Ages: The dungeon designs in this one were surprisingly strong imo; this game has my fave dungeons of the series so far, and some of the items (like the seed shooter and mermaid's tail) are really fun. Unfortunately I found the rest of it pretty mid. Like it's still good, don't get me wrong, but it lacks the pizzaz that A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening both had. The story is very generic and I don't find any of the NPCs particularly compelling. Labrynna as a setting just doesn't grab me. The time traveling gimmick isn't particularly interesting to me, especially since I have a sneaking suspicion Ocarina of Time is just gonna do it better. It's not bad but I can see why it's one of the more forgotten LOZ titles.

Oracle of Seasons (so far): I haven't even gotten to the second dungeon yet so grain of salt lmao but I'm enjoying it much more than Oracle of Ages. I find the changing seasons gimmick a lot more interesting, the setting, story, and NPCs so far more fun than in Ages, and (although this is not Ages fault in the slightest and works in its favour), the connecting games gimmick is really coming into play now and it's fun.

Breath of the Wild (so far): I'm pretty solidly in the mid game I think? I have thirteen hearts, two extra thingies of stamina, the entire map is unlocked, I've acquired the Master Sword, I have about half of the photo memories, I've killed the big metal lizard and am set to kill the big metal bird and big metal elephant at any point I'd like to. I've been playing it off and on in between the other games bc this one and its sequel are much longer than the others and have a different formula. Anyway. The world is very impressive and beautiful, I think some of the story elements (the ones playing with the typical destiny angle) and Zelda as a character are very interesting, and this game's addictive in the sense that I can easily play it for like eight hours on accident. That said I don't think the shrines and koroks are particularly fun to get, which is a problem because they're probably the most important progression mechanics in the game, and it made especially the early game feel like kind of a slog. This game also drives me up the fucking WALL with its storytelling and worldbuilding because both are just woefully inadequate and it's INSANE to me because at several points they show that they CAN do it well they just. Don't. Most of the time. I had to cut an entire rant about how much it annoys me where I actually source these claims bc it singlehandedly made this post twice as long as it is now, so source: just trust me bro. It drives me INSANE and it's a serious damper on my enjoyment of the game.