#by design i know just thats not my favorite plotline

[hyper-lynx]

Favorite TV show?

I really like The Expanse while it was going, so for recent shows it'd probably be that.

Including even non-recent shows... I'm not sure, there's too many. Warehouse 13 is a contender, though it's been a long time since I've rewatched it.

The TV franchise i most consistently liked was probably star trek (yeah yeah I'm a nerd I know), partly because it brings up good childhood memories and partly because space cool

There's a ton of other series I could shout out but I'm sure I'd miss some so I think it's best to leave some mystery...

(Supplimental: as for anime, Saiki K is fantastic (the season 1 dub being my favorite), and I haven't watched enough other stuff to really know my preferences in that space. Mandatory honorable mention to Beastars, which was coincidentally also how I found out that my sibling is also a furry)

[lunatic-fandom-space]

I just finished season 4 and unlike with the others I didnt have a whole lot to say as a was watching, mainly because I was actually enjoying myself and thought the season was mostly really good ? absolutely wild. Nevertheless I have some thoughts

I LOVE Alya and Marinette working together, its a delight. When I talk about "man can you imagine if MLB did like a magical girl show and focused on female friendships instead of catfighting" THIS is what Im talking about!! And Idgaf about how this affects the Love Square at this point, this is all Ive wanted! Also, I feel like Alya and Nino knowing each others identities cheapens the Love Square conflict more than anything but I cant fully articulate why so I'll just leave it at that

The Love Square is in a very strange place where, when the identity reveal finally does happen, its simultaneously going to feel like its too little too late (a la the destiel confession bc this fucking show is just straight queerbaiting) and rushed because like. what kind of development is there between these two. They barely focused on romance this season (which is definitely part of why I think its better lol) but I dont mean that in the sense that we had less catfights and Marinette making a fool of herself for no reason, I mean that in the sense that it barely felt like they interacted at all, atleast to me so thats kinda odd

In the past Ive complained about how the civillian plotline usually feels very disconnected from the superhero/akuma plotline and I think theyve done a much better job, my favorite episode of the season is probably Qilin both for tying the akuma into the civillian plot and for having a somewhat unique conflict resolution. In general, I liked that we had people rejecting akumas as well as preventative measures in form of the charms, although I do think it sucks that a few episodes afterwards Shadowmoth just figures out a way to circumvent them and then its back to business as usual. I feel like a better workaround would be that the charms can only protect you from one akumatization each, so like, the charm Ladybug gave her grandfather in Simpleman can only protect him from becoming Simpleman again, but if he turns into Bakerix, she needs to give him a different charm. But I do find the charms cute

The new heroes all suck tbh, the only design I liked was Purple Tigress and Pigella came close to looking kinda good but then they made it this intensely unflattering shade of pink, which I find impressive because Rose is already wearing an completely different intensely unflattering shade of pink in her civillian form. One thing that I appreciated about whatever Mylenes superhero form is called, Pigella and Purple Tigress is that they had more justifiable reasons for Ladybug to pick them than most of the heroes in the last season, who were mostly just picked because They Were There ig. And then Penealteam rolled around and we were back to doing exactls that kind of bullshit. great.

Also, Ive already talked about this in a seperate post, but if they absolutely insisted on looking for a replacement for the Bee, it shouldve been Sabrina and they shouldntve invented a whole new character for it

Adrien got a little more focus this season and we actually got some insight into his character when hes not either The Object Of Marinettes Idolization or Ladybugs Punny Sidekick Thats Slowly Becoming Obsolete which I enjoyed because he has a lot of potential from a dramatic standpoint what with being Hawkmoths son and all, but hes usually so bland that I dont really care too much so this was pretty nice. And it only took us 4 seasons for him to get some focus, yknow, the other superhero in the title? Well better late than never I guess

Speaking of Adrien, Ive made quite a few posts where I said that this season would be ruined for me the second the Sentiadrien reveal happens but it never did, we're getting that in season 5 and I am not looking forward it especially considering the small taste Ive already gotten of it with Adrien being very obviously controlled by that ring. Like, I'll probably talk about it in more detail when it gets fleshed out in the show but for now I'll just say it doesnt make the stakes higher like the writers seem to think, it make the story wayyyy less interesting and it feels like its supposed to be an explanation for Adriens behaviour towards his father when we absolutely do not need one beyond "hes being abused"

I know I said that I thought this season was really good and now Im just just complaining mostly like I always do but idk, Im not as good at formulating my positive thoughts as my negative ones. The last thing I'll say is that I loved Scarabella and I loved her design and I loved the whole episode she was in, as well as the entirety of Sentibubbler, Alya really served this season

Thats it, thanks for reading :D

[pop-punklouis]

speaking on strangers things; i am happy hop is alive, but they way the wrote him surviving was too obvious of plot armor. oh he just jump onto the lower level, no major injuries or burns??? Like there was always another level below the machine, in the season 3 finale you literally see like 4 of the bad guys in hazzmat suits on that lower level be turned to dust. Also it would been more interesting to see him stuck in the upside down instead. But i did enoy that plotline over all, specially the prison breakout, betrayal, and monster fighting. The hawkings crew had the strongest arc, but i did genuinely enjoy all of them. the Bullyying though...... that was fcking extreme man and hard to watch ngl. Like who on earth bullies someone for grieving their dead father 😭 the skating rink...... like i dont condone violence but like somebody had to put her down. Also the van and dinner scene right after that were so fcking funny to me. also least favorite character this season is that one dude thats basically the archice andrews of hawkings. i know they want me to find him cute, but he just bothers me ksjdhfhdh. Also i liked vecna as a villian more when we didnt know who he actually was, like idk i just like itd be better if he originated from the upside down, but i do see why the connected it the way they did. My adhd brain doesnt mind the 294848 different plots tbh and long episodes, but i do hope the last two episodes is everybody coming together and staying together for more than that one group scene they have every season. Also i know its likely someone will die, i just hope none of the kids, i cant handle that, srry to the adults but yeah... anways i rewatched the first three season after finishing the 4th and season 2 remains my favorite

i agree. i think it would've been more interesting to have him stuck in the upside down, but I'm not sure how good the CGI would've been able to hold up having him there practically the entire time. but his plot was one of the more interesting, in my opinion! i liked it a lot, and as I've said previously, i still think the prison break where he fights the demagorgen is one of the best scenes in the whole season.

the bullying was SUPER extreme like it made me hate angela with a burning passion of course lmao and i did not feel bad one bit when she finally got knocked in the face with the skate but the dramatic reaction from the cops? it was almost funny because it felt so absurd to me after everyone saw what was happening to her on that rink. like talk shit you get hit sorry :/

NOT ARCHIE ANDREWS pls its so real. every time he was on screen (that poor actor... his line deliveries were so bad) my mom and i cracked up lmao

and yes?? i was way more intrigued with vecna as a character when i assumed he was just another monster. not a great villain, in my opinion, as his presence did not rock me the same way the demagorgen, the demadogs, and the mind flayer did in seasons past, but he was alright. him being a human who morphed into this demon/monster hybrid that... preys on teens regrets and trauma or some shit is so dumb I'm sorry like what's the point. i wanted more also i wanted a better monster design he kinda just looks like a similar design to Predator

people keep speculating that steve might die, but unless joe keery wants to leave the show and pursue other opportunities, i don't see that happening. the blowback from fans would be unreal, so i think it might be a main character that isn't as present (like jonathan jesus he doesn't even exist here anymore tbh) but i don't think it will be one that's TOO beloved just for the shock factor idk

i actually was planning on going back and watching the first three seasons as well! season 2 will always reign supreme in my mind, but I haven't watched the seasons back since I did the very first time so it will be cool to watch it all over again knowing where the story is in S4

[magnetothehedgehog]

Dimension’s Ridge Announcement!

Hi everyone, With all the rise in Sonic media and the great releases coming up, such as The New sonic game in 2022,the sonic movie 2, sonic prime, and literally anything Idw has been releasing including their new side series “Imposter syndrome”, I am challenged to up my game and release information on my long running project in the works. Especially Since sonic prime and Idw is literally gonna blow out all the spoilers before I do if I don't start releasing stuff first. Since its been happening constantly, I gotta be a step ahead.

So, without further ado, I introduce you to the World of Dimension's Ridge.

Dimensions Ridge is My personal Alternate Universe that seeks to combine all aspects of sonic media. In fact, its super similar to the upcoming Sonic prime, archie and Idw Comics in this regard, with it possibly being a bit more ambitious, or at least equally as ambitious as Idw.

The Series will follow a number of favorite canon and non canon characters alike, but will also their universal counterparts and alternate universe selves.

The Main overarching plot line is that a Existence level Threat is putting everything in jepoardy. This Creature Known as an Existence Eater spreads its influence to a planet by releasing its minions into it, then after enough time, it comes to absorb the planet, thus erasing it from existence entirely, as if it had never been there in the first place. This has been happening for quite a while, until a few people caught onto it. They began leaving messages and warnings to others in a attempt to save them.

Being an existence level threat, this will take the combined effort of every Version of Sonic,Tails,Sally, Eggman and everyone else if they want anything to be left in the multi-verse. This Story is about how they all come together to do just that.

However that is the main plot. The story follows many minor or sub plotlines and stories that all connect and weave into this ultimate narrative. For Stories featuring Sonic and friends, Stories start off in the classic area and work their way into the modern area as the characters develop and mature, so we get to see and live their journey alongside them. For older characters and parents, I wanted them to have a  more staple involvement in the series, even if only at the beginning. Their Adventures as the World slowly slips into chaos can be read in War on Mobius.

While there are Prequels to the beginning of the story, such as the “Rift War.”, the main storylines that kicks off all the other starts is one of my current productions “War on Mobius.”This follows the economical and political collapse following the Recent End of The Rift War and begins the Egg Empire's rise to Power.I would like to mention that The Egg Empire Now consists of the collective versions of Eggman all working together as a family. Egg Fam for short. But we have Great additions such as boom eggman, Ova Eggman, Aosth Eggman, Satam Eggman, Russian Eggman,Eggette, and a few custom additions such as Omelette and Scramble.

Things That happen in War on Mobius will be seen effecting or influencing the states of things in my Classic Era Story “Classic adventures.” and others ones such as “The Freedom Fighters.”

Alongside canon appearances of less known or scrapped characters and designs, such as Tiara and Honey the Cat, Readers can expect appearances of my own characters, both as counterparts to main characters, and also as people who drive the story forward and show interesting and dynamic opinions of their changing world. A few Such ones would be “Tribal Ties” Focusing on the Tribes of Echidnas, Bayblonians and Pangolins Tribes, all of which play a part not only in Mobius history, but also will play a vital part in its future.

After Classic adventures, comes one of my long running claims to fame and a personal favorite of mine from my early script writing days. Zone Runners. This takes place after the Events of Classic adventures and as the world has been influenced by the political unrest in War on Mobius. It follows the Group of People on the East Side of the World as they try to fight back against the Egg Empire, Newly risen Oscillators Group, and The Very lack of Sonic and Freedom Fighter there. This series will also begin unraveling some of the mysteries behind the existence eater and the ultimate narrative. Originally this concept came from the Fleetway comics, and ever since I've been completely inspired to incorporate this into my own series. If anyone was ever on Sonic Amino, they might have seen me post things related to it back in the day.

I also wish to be a more character focused series as a whole, one who focuses on the people collectively as opposed to just Sonic himself. I want it to as if each character us actually a main character and can save the day, and that the day is only won because everyone has done their part, whether powerful or powerless.

To that End, I have many characters stories intertwine, or lead to one another. Some characters will have branching off stories, while others will be closely intertwined, and always interact with each other, regardless of who the story is currently focusing on.

A few I'd like to notable mention is, Shadow's Ark, Silvers Sanctuary, and Heir of Sol. Focusing on the characters Shadow, Silver, And Blaze Respectively.

While I have a lot of other Titles for the stories respectively, I'd just to touch on a few more before I close.

Worlds collide finally answers the question in sonic media about two planets and the dimensional connundrum of sonic rush and sonic 06. While also bringing together multiple characters who were on their own paths, for the collected purpose of setting up how everyone will be needed much later.

Dimension Forces is, a reimagined Version of Sonic Forces, including a whole new team of villains to take on the heroes from our prior stories. I call them: Forever Force. The Main Three Hitters Being the Villains Infinite, Eternity, And Enigma. In this Story we'll get to see Whispers team in action, and also get to see new stories involving Gadget and His Brother Widget, and a host of other rising heroes soldiers and returning cast members.

I also had this Idea that the wisps were able to use their abilities on their own, except in smaller weaker versions then when they had a mobians help.Thus you could call in drill air strikes and other things to help you in battle, and the flew alongside you rather than in containers. I had these idea way long ago, but what do you know Idw beat me to the punch again in rise of the wisps. However I would just like to say before they do it too, that I had the idea of the wisps combining their powers, as if anyone played Sonic simulator, you would know you can actually combine wisp powers. If its the same type, its twice as strong with a bonus effect. If its different, you can combine the strengths of two different powers. Think how eggman used cube with laser in the boss nega wisp armor.

Speaking of Sonic Simulator! Thats another Story I have plans for. Following alongside the events of Sonic colors, Sonic simulator follows the group of hedgehogs abducted from Mobius and sent to eggman's interstellar amusement park as part of an organic experiment to take out sonic. Suggested by The Leader of the Oscillators, These hedgehogs will now have to work together to prove their worth to Eggman and as worthy adversaries of Sonic! But what of their past memories? What will happen if they remember? And if they do, can they escape? Find out! Also its follow up story leads to sonic lost world.

I'd also like to talk about the Idw Verse Mini series I have been working on! Getting Art from the Talented CatRage and getting to voice my Ideas to My Friends as well as My sister, I present my own Miniseries! Mimic's misadventures!

This story takes place between  the events of Idw's Bad guys, and follows mimic's operations and struggles as he tries to complete his missions, and deal with people of similar caliber to himself. Will this mercenary manipulate his way easily out of another situation? Or has the Octopus finally met the one group who will send him back to the ocean? Find out!

Currently, this miniseries has 5 canon issues and one undecided.

1.Ghost Of The North.

2.Into the Spiders Nest

3.Hunt is on

4.Jaws of a Predator

5.Belly of the Beast

undecided: 6.Seaside Escapade.

Currently I am writing the script for Part 1 of Ghost of the North and hope to finish up the Audio drama reading for it soon.

So this is all the stuff I've had in production for the past few years! Along with my co writer Pinky heart.

Please, Please! Reblog or retweet this. It would mean the world to me. Also please! Ask as many questions as you'd like. I'll answer as many as I can, and would love to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions, as well as questions and inquires involving the series.

[surpriserose]

Yooo I’d love to hear howd you fix some of castlevania’s problems if you’re alright sharing👀👀👀

This is gonna be soooo vague because i havent watched it in so long AND im just kind of doing it by the seat of my pants

Coming back above the cut after this is all written idk if i fixed anything i just kind of ranted but like idk thats basically the same thing in a way

Its under the cut warning for spoilers for every season obviously and rape mentions :(

Make isaac the main character im joking haha 😳 unless 😳😏

Season one is like it doesnt have actual problems its just pacing because it was supposed to be a movie or something so its a little janky and theres not much payoff until season 2 but like not really a problem

Season 2

Give the other vampire generals LINES AND VOICE ACTORS OMG it was soooo awkward as much as i love peter stormare LIKE it was just him and carmillas va like!!! Especially since they reused one of them for season 3 and she still didnt have lines LIKE!! they were cool tho

Okay like...i get they wanted isaac to be gay which like good he is he deserves a nice boyfriend but like the way they went about it was so 🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨 like they really should have changed it isaacs backstory was awful enough i didnt need it to be super gross too :(

Speaking of gross...I'll get to hectors plotline :(((( in season two its mostly fine but uh the scenes with carmilla went on too long to an uncomfortable degree like yes thats the point but also come on...its sucks and it just gets compounded by more and more bad shit as the seasons went on

Like overall the plot is fine especially with the nuance given to dracula and the way the cast expanded felt really natural and a good way to raise the stakes from just one town in one country you know?

Season 3

Whyyyyyyyy did the split up the main trio for almost two ENTIRE seasons like :( theoretically i dont mind it for half or even all of season 3 i think it was good to let sypha and trevor interact more as a couple without alucard and have alucard be this grim kind of keeper of knowledge and just like have some time to do some terrible coping mechanisms to deal with season 2 but god it just went nowhere because alucards plotline is sesson 3 sucked :(

I actually really liked sumi and taka up until the reveal i guess like!!! I think it was a good idea to be like hey! Its not just the fucking belmonts doing everything especially when you introduced vampires as a worldwide threat. And if you wanted to trim the cast down at the end of the season you didnt need them to betray alucard and die they could just...you know go back to japan with their new training and help people which is what they wanted to do like!!! Their deaths dont even really have any payoff for season 4 like apparently humans are still mostly chill with approaching alucard and hes just like a little more annoyed now so just like have sumi and taka be what they were introduced as! Fledgling vampire hunters!!! Give alucard more friends thats what you wanted to do in season 4 already like!!!!!!!

Also speaking of sumi and taka...this was not the way to tell us alucard was bi like everyone knew and all you had to do was have him kiss trevor and sypha why cant you do an lgbt thing in a normal way that doesnt end with murder besties

Isaacs plotline is mostly fine from what i remember like it was my favorite part isaac is a really fun and complex character and i love him and he gets to do cool shit unless im forgetting something so

Trevor and sypha hanging out with st germain was mostly fine? Like the creature designs were good and it had fun fights and effects....it did drag a little bit tho ALSO LIKE??? why was it a reveal slash why was anyone surprised when the mayor dude was a total freak he was an authoritarian from his first second on screen why did anyone like or trust him wtf like i think it was kind of an...unnecessary thing like there was already so much going on trevor and sypha should have just told him to fuck off and thats it and go back to their husband sooner

God....i don't even want to talk about hectors plotline its just so bad........scrap the whole thing or at least the uh you know rape scene that no one seems to want to call a rape scene like???,????? Even hector just seems like really chill with it in season 4????? Which ill get to but!!!!! Like scrap it burn it all because the writers didnt want to think about what they wrote AT ALL maybe if they did it could have been worth something but now just like swap it with some other thing or just you know keep lenores manipulation without the rape because holy shit why did that even happen at all why was any of this tied into a relationship angle besides lenore being a woman and hector being a man so obviously it needed to become sexual

The other vampires on carmillas council are fine theyre fine theyre wlw i can get behind that but other than that they just kind of...exist which would be fine except then all the focus is on lenore and carmilla instead of equal which it.. kind of felt like it should be idk like that seemed the reason the two of them got more focus in season 4 because the writers were like oh shit they just sat on their asses last season

I think thats it?

Season 4

Dude i looked up an episode by episode synopsis to jog my memory and i dont remember half of the shit trevor and sypha did until they teleported to alucard which is whyyy they needed to meet back up sooner especially since st germain abandoned them you still have a way to keep him apart from the main conflict and doing shit behind the scenes or whatever like!!! Alucard had to have no knowledge of st Germain or whatever so trevor and sypha couldnt be there and shit could be all twisty or whatever but like just write some more bullshit like idk or have it all come to ahead with him sooner

Does that make any sense i cant remember season 4 at all except for hector and isaacs plotlines and ppl being sooooo mad the writers introduced a love interest for alucard in greta and ruined their ships 😭😭😭 boo hoo sorry you dont think alucard can handle having two beautiful wives like i do

Anyways yeah greta is fine i dont really have a problem with her and alucards plotline except like it makes alucards whole deal in season 3 basically pointless but you know thats not gretas fault and the plot mostly works if im remembering right

ISAAC MY BESTIE GETTING TO FIGHT CARMILLA <3 ough it was so good wish he got to kiss hector or whatever but the writers decided to be like no you see hector genuinely loves his rapist he doesnt want her to die he doesnt want isaac to kill her shes just a cute misunderstood little cutie UwU like...die what the fuck why did thag happen why wouldnt hector be like yeah kill her especially when she just dies anyways like???? Like it makes no sense for hector and its so gross have hector kill her personally instead they dont have a complicated toxic but not really teehee because they love each other relationship lenore raped and enslaved him like??? Did hector just forget why were they just having nice little chats the whole season like?????? Wtf???? Also like he just cuts of the finger with the ring magically enslaving him so like...why didnt he just do that earlier if that was all it took why was that such a big deal

Basically just god anything to do with lenore is garbage get rid of it or you know actually let her be a terrible person and dont portray her like this lady whos manipulative but not really and a rapist but not really and a terrible person but not really i mean look at her shes so white and cute like they did like what the fuck

Other notes

Anyways that was heavy sorry heres some fun stuff

Make trevor Sypha alucard and greta all bi nonbinary and poly they are come on just say it like look at them

More scenes with lisa before her death like it just would have been nice you know?

More weird shit j loved whatever that weird corridor shit was

Hector and isaac hold hands either as besties or partners and just have a fun nice time hanging out for the rest of their lives they need friends

Spin off with the wlw vampire ladies idc i want to see more of them they were absolutely wasted

[darlingkay]

ikemen opinion 7/?

it's me! i'm in the mood to write some more so i bring you yet another ikemen route review!! this week's suitor is... hideyoshi toyotomi from ikemen sengoku. hideyoshi was the first ever cybird suitor i ever romanced so i have quiet the soft spot for him. you know the drill, spoilers below!! i might add more to this later, i always have moe thoughts after posting.

i've decided to start leaving links to both the previous otome post and my masterlist! getting boujee out here.

previous post: yves kloss (ikepri)

otome opinions list: masterlist

*disclaimer* : please keep in mind that these are my personal opinions which will of course differ from others!! i’d also like to disclose that i do in fact pay to play, but i only pay for that i deem worth it. i don’t spend money on events or for chapter tickets.

character: hideyoshi toyotomi (ikemen sengoku)

route: romantic

rating: 7/10

overall thoughts: i liked hideyoshi a lot, he's very sweet and caring which is something i really like probably because of my daddy issues but that's irrelevant. there's just a couple things i didn't love in the route like his overwhelming devotion to nobunaga, but nothing too serious. honestly, a great starter suitor if you're new to otome games in my opinion.

highlights:

like i said before i do like how sweet and caring that hideyoshi is. i also like that you have to prove that you aren't a threat to unlock that personality trait as well, because otherwise i think it would be boring if he was like a doting older brother right off the bat, it just gives him more depth and shows how intense he can be. damn emmie, overanalytical much??

i loved his dynamic with mistunari. mitsunari is only a really great character, especially when you play kenshin's route, he really steps up as a supporting character.

although you all know im a hoe for a tsundere, hideyoshi is refreshing. he's cute, sweet and doting. i just like how sweet he is because he really does make you blush and feel cared for in his romantic scenes.

not really about the story but i love his design. he is so handsome and confident looking. he's just so good looking and put together. the colors they chose for him are just so nice and yeah i just love his design. 10/10 cybird.

even though mitsuhide is a rat i like that he was worried about hideyoshi's happiness and sent mc's letter to him. kinda doesn't make sense since he's a rat and all that, but it was still nice. wouldn't have the same effect if it was anyone else in the oda.

dislikes:

i don't hate that he was so devoted to nobunaga, i mean that's like his main personality trait. i think i just hate that he doesn't really overcome that obsessive dedication?? maybe that's just me i mean i don't wanna sound like i'm against dying fopr what you believe in but like,,, boi we can't raise a family if you're always taking an arrow in the shoulder for fun

didn't love the older brother thing. i know that obviously mc and hideyoshi aren't related, but when you insert that dynamic it's a little weird regardless.

sometimes the dynamic felt weird because of the relationship that nobunaga had implemented between mc and himself and then the obvious romance between mc and hideyoshi. just because of the whole "im oda nobunaga and i own you because you're my good luck charm" and "im hideyoshi and i'd die for you nobunaga, you breathe my air".. just that.

the whole plotline about mitsuhide confused me a little. i know thats accurate to history but it's just weird in comparison to the other stories because he isn't an antagonist in ieyasu's which i think is weird, but i know the stories are all going to be different. im just being difficult i think.

honestly the main reason hideyoshi doesn't rank higher is because of personal preference. im much more of a ieyasu type of girl. i havent played nobunaga's rout, but im sure i'd like him if i could get over his misogyny since hes such a dom like chev (ikepri).

favorite memory: i think my favorite memory is mmmm i don't know i really like it when hideyoshi is like girl how tf can i scold you if you're 500 years in the future???? or something like that. that premium story was worth it overall, sweet and steamy, just how i like it.

[thatfunkyopossum]

You’re watching Rebels??! For the first time?!! Rebels is my favorite! I know people hate the art style but part of why I love it is that it’s based off of the OG Star Wars illustrations by Ralph McQuarrie! (Sorry I must share my collected fun facts whenever possible esp in defense of my faves) I hope you have a good watching experience!

So okay I have technically seen rebels before! After I watched TCW for the first time several years ago, I found out that there was a second show called Rebels and dove into it. I only made it up to Darth Vader’s first appearance, tho idk when that is, and I remember being like “Darth Vader showing up is the first time I’ve been invested in this show.” So I stopped watching.

I’ve forgotten basically everything that I’ve watched, and i’m giving it another go. I know a lot bc i’m like....in the star wars fandom zone? but I don’t remember any plotlines and i don’t actually KNOW any plotlines. I know kanan goes blind and dies and he and hera have a kid. I know that Sabine left her family when they joined the empire. I know that the Chiss (thrawn??????) is a player in it and I know that ahsoka’s in it and that the inquisitors can fly with their lightsabers like helicopters. I genuinely cannot decide if that’s star war’s lowest point or its highest.

This ask prompted me to look into the work of Ralph McQuarrie, because I figured it would be interesting to see what was lost in translation from 2D to 3D and why the 3D aesthetic doesn’t work for me. I think I might have an idea?

My favorite pieces of McQuarrie’s that I have easy access to make bold use of geometric shapes in combination with organic curves and strong lighting/color schemes. There’s a beautiful play of texture in his work as well, on the rocks and trees and foliage, contrasted with the smooth and almost airbrushed quality to the inorganic materials. But he fills those smooth materials with ribbons of color and light, using reflections to describe the form.

Look at this piece here of Jabba’s Palace

The usage of light and texture is absolutely incredible. The figures are lit almost exclusively by reflected light from the outside, and yet the description of their form is incredible. You feel, looking at this what the walls would feel like and how cold they would be. You can tell how burning hot the sand is outside from the light trickling in. This scene feels like the underside of a rock in the desert. Its amazing.

McQuarrie makes fantastic use of pure black in his work to contrast with his lights. I think this is one of the things that works best in these pieces and lends them the depth and strength that they have. Despite this, Black in rebels is extremely rare. Tbh, the only place I seem to see it is in pupils? Which, speaking of pupils they seem to have taken all the saturation in McQuarrie’s colors and crammed them into the eyes of the characters which.... sure ok.

The people also look completely different so i dont know why they look so sandblasted :(

Mostly though, Rebels seems to lack the strong color schemes and usage of light and color of McQuarrie’s work. Even in promotional material the shadows are soft and nondescript. The light falling on the face feels flat and bland, the environments feel like they’ve been smoothed over. In fact, the only real similarity I see between this man’s work and the final product of Rebels is just the thin sabers and the general design philosophy to the constructed designs like helmets and armor.

I think what’s lost for me is that for whatever reason, be it budget or time constraints or lack of illustrative understanding, Rebels failed to imitate what actually works about these pieces and why they look the way they do. 

Which is a shame! I would love to see a show that looks the way these illustrations do, but that would require so much investment in lighting, because thats what makes these shots work.

[edge-lorde]

hp update: its ur favorite tumblr user back at it again with another great post. thats right, as promised here is a more in depth look at the recent dragon themed time sensitive event!

this event takes place in year 6. bill is graduated but has been coming back to the school periodically to teach us bootleg DADA just like harry did in the books. it is on one such occasion that bill lets it slip that his next job from gringotts involves him going to the dragon reserve that we know charlie will eventually work at. bill had not told charlie about this job prior to this discussion precisely because of what happens next, which is that charlie wants to go.

this brings me back to year 4 days with the first charlie focused sidequest, where we scrounged up money to by what may or may not have been a dragon egg (it was not) from a strange man who had been seen trying to approach other unaccompanied minors walking around hogsmeade. this pure of dragon centric heart, but dumb of dragon centric ass quality was what made me start liking charlies character in the game in the first place. he begins negging his older brother in a way that is very familiar to me as a younger sibling. i as the mc of course jump on the bandwagon with charlie immediately. 

bill sounds very defeated in this part because he knows the negging wont end, and/or knows that he will eventually cave to charlies demands. “no you cant come.” he says with a sigh.

but well see about that, because charlie and i go ambush bill at work to ask again. 

as stated previously bill works at gringotts bank, which is run by goblins. i already had access to the location diagon alley, but before this event gringotts itself was closed to me. newly unlocked, charlie and i walk inside. unlike the hogwarts kitchens, it does not feel like walking into hell for me to do this. unlike house elves which only have 1 basic model used for every elf except for the 1 named elf, there is some variety in the goblin designs. there appears to be one basic goblin face that i can tell, but its paired with several different outfits and hairstyles, giving them the illusion of originality typically spent on unnamed background characters. there are also 3 named goblin characters with all their own stuff.  

the first is obviously griphook, the only real goblin character from the books. hes bills supervisor. in the books hes a pretty unlikable guy but here, though hes not nice exactly, he seems at least kind of chill. he doesnt kick charlie or me out for barging in and says its ok for us go on the mission with bill. its nice to see him unstressed. 

the other 2 goblins are the perhaps, hopefully, cool ones. one is younger than the rest and has some friendly dialog with you and his other named goblin friend, who possibly exists so the first one has someone to banter with. they dont do anything else this event but gringotts stays open after the event is completed so hopefully they will come back again and get their own plotlines. 

anyway, charlie and i harass bill at work for a bit. his boss comes in, hears our plea, and doesnt immediately tell us to leave.  instead he tells us the rundown of bills mission: a long time ago a goblin boasted that he could craft a golden dragon egg that would be indistinguishable from the real thing. he did, and it was. so much so that a dragon destroyed his house and stole it, i think he died in the process. 

“so,” says griphook, “that is why we must send you, 18 year old we just hired, to go to a remote location filled with dragons by yourself to rifle through their nests and bring back what is rightfully ours. no we dont know which dragon took the egg or even the type. yes you can bring your little brother and his friends.” 

sounds legit. charlie and i convince bill to not only let us come with him, but also our other classmates from his DADA class due to scheduling mishaps. we go gather the rest of the class to tell them about this but only merula, penny, and barnaby show up and so only they get to go on the field trip, which is convenient because otherwise wed have half the school out there and that would be entirely too many characters for the devs to write at once. 

we borrow the same tent the canon characters will eventually use in all their camping shenanigans in the book from hagrid and get to the dragon reserve via portkey. the reserve now appears on the stairs screen as a permanent new location, not a fleeting one as i once thought. theres dragons flying all around, majestic as hell. 

its too late in the day to start searching so we set up camp and settle in, roast marshmallows, barnaby tells a story about a vampire broomstick. then we go inside the tent and play truth or dare. im asked to pick at one point which of my friends id most like to have with me if i were to get lost in the woods. i pick barnaby because hes the one who asked, but really id probably want merula there more. barnaby is supposed to be into dueling but ive never seen him in a real fight. ive seen merula take a Cruciatus curse and then get up and walk. pennys whole thing is potions too. i thought this choice would be relevant to something in the event but it was not. 

in the truth or dare game, merula gets bill to tell some embarrassing stories about charlie as a kid. he talks about charlie putting wings on their rat and a dragon mask on their owl, pretending that they are real dragons. everyone laughs.  this his a cord with charlie though and he storms out. we wrap up truth or dare and go to bed. 

the next day we begin the search.charlie has not come back yet. we realize this and begin freaking out, start looking for him instead. we scare a mother dragon off its nest for unfathomable reasons. eventually we hear charlies voice coming from inside a cave. we go in, charlie is alive and uneaten, but has a broken leg. he ran off to find the egg by himself in order to prove himself as teen boys are wont to do. bill and i then realize the other 3 didnt follow us into the cave, and a big ol dragon walks in. i gotta fight it singlehandedly while bill heals charlie in the back. 

the boss fight was actually pretty hard. it took me like 5-6 tries to beat the dang thing thing. much enjoyment many high stakes. i put a sleeping spell on it to stop its attack at the end, though i had the option to use the Cruciatus curse which seems a little intense, game. then the other 3 run in and are like cool your safe! sorry we couldnt help u fight the dragon, there was a dragon. im like “yes, understandable.”

bill had given up on finding the egg at this point, but then charlie finds it! its a gold egg. in retrospect this egg might have been the egg that will inspire the gold egg stealing challenge in hp book 4 but i forget if that was inspired by a story or not. 

then we have a cool down level with bill and charlie, where they both apologize, and charlie says what he did was stupid, but i insist its wasnt stupid it was cool and good even though that is factually wrong because thats what i would say in real life regardless. bill and charlie promise to never speak of this trip again, especially not to their mom. 

the last level is us going back to gringotts and regaling griphook with the tale of our journey, including the marshmallow and truth or dare bits. he says “great job, teens!” and then we all jump up in the air and the theme song plays as we freeze midair and the colors fade to black and white. we all learned some valuable dragon based lessons today friends. it took me 2 full hours to write this and i have to wake up at 6 tomorrow. 

[opalgelance]

thoughts on steven universe future

td;lr overall opinion: steven universe future is better than most of the original steven universe, especially seasons 3-5, but there are still some real iffy plotlines in future

i hate that the diamonds were redeemed but at the same time, the happy clouds blue and yellow putting gems back together scenes were so pure

it simultaneously warms my heart and infuriates me 

but we finally got a blue diamond song, god i love her voice

EDIT: also steven basically tortured white diamond and nearly killed her and it was pretty disturbing bc steven is 1. in a really bad mental state, like way darker than i thought they’d show him go, since this is technically a kids show and 2. was also kind of trying to hurt himself, which both hit me really hard bc i had similar periods of blazing anger, wanting to self harm and harm others that i felt had wronged me when i was a teenager, but its also what white deserves

ncsndlljklkcndkls i want to enjoy this show so bad but,,, steven having ptsd makes him a violent douche??? diamonds killed who knows how many gems in their reign and never really felt bad about it in original su but now they’re supportive life coaches??? no thank you

on more positive notes, i loved how priyanka described mental health and how she treated steven throughout the entire check up, she was so nonconfrontational and whenever he felt stressed she deescalated the situation,,, it was so good

the animation is the best its been since season 2. the poses are clean, very well drawn, and on model. there are more action scenes than like 90% of steven universe and they’re animated way better, like theres actual fighting and motion asjksacbcbj no one is stiffly posed, no one has strange proportions, no one is drastically changing sizes in between shots (well besides steven in growing pains onward but when he does change size its supposed to be like that lol)

i liked seeing the real roses but didnt love it? i wish we saw more of the roses designs up close, and i wish they fit a little more with the other quartzes? it might be just because its era 3, but the roses were all way more unique than jaspers and amethysts generally seem to be. i like that they were more unique designs and had different personalities, but surely the diamonds wouldnt have tolerated that back in era 1 or even era 2, had the rose quartzes not been bubbled? also i get that they’re reminiscent of pink bc she created them, but hippie and superfan were so naive, more so than other quartzes. if each quartz group was slightly different, it would make a little more sense tbh like if quartzes were the entire gem army, but each group was slightly different. i always liked the idea that rose quartzes were either the defense or the healers of the gem army.

little homeschool and guidance were fun and genuinely enjoyable, considering not a whole ton happens in them. i wish townie episodes had been more like them. like you could replace the gems with random humans, but it would still be a fun episode? idk, maybe involving the humans in gem stuff wouldve made better townie episodes, like lars and the cool kids. it wouldve probably helped steven feel more “human” too, if the human and gem worlds collided a bit more in the series.

bluebird was... an ok episode, but im not sure how well it will fit into what i feel like the end will be, where every episode of future featured someone steven helped or affected in some way, and they all come together to help steven when he corrupts. or rather, i guess if bluebird did say something, it would feel more hollow bc steven didnt help them lol the gems and universes were just friendly to them, and thats it. it wasnt as bad as a very special episode (my least favorite episode of future), but it felt like a townie episode with no townies LOL at least we got a new fusion i guess

a very special episode was just,,, infuriating. there was that weird football scene where they just like,,, talk about screen resolution for a minute then play the full commercial for little homeworld we just saw last episode???? i did genuinely enjoy the rainbow scenes, but it just built up to not nothing. oh no, it was something alright. the whole episode was just future vision and then theres like a minute long psa??? it felt like that wacky randomness that would have happened in like, ok ko, teen titans go, or clarence jaskjcbkcjbskb

mr universe is tied with dear old dad episode as my least favorite greg episode. i get how both of them feel. greg wanted to tell steven about how he escaped from his miserable childhood and remade who he was, no longer a demayo but a universe. the problem imo was that greg became way too absorbed in the past. it reminds me a bit of s1 pearl, how she’d proudly recount gem battles and basked in the glory of fighting for their freedom, but she struggled when she had to recount the more unsavory parts of war. and that really affected amethyst, since she didnt fight in the glorified war pearl told her and steven about. amethyst was the byproduct of one of the bad parts of the war, and that became part of her identity, until on the run, where pearl finally realized that she needed to tell amethyst that she wasnt bad. amethyst’s creation may have fractionally hurt the earth, but that wasnt her fault. it wasnt her fault that she emerged too late to fight either. and it wasnt her fault that she existed. sounds familiar to to stevens rant in the van. 

steven didnt ask to be made. he didnt ask to be the half gem half human son of a diamond. but he grew up being told about how great his mom was, and that while no one would ever say it, she was gone because of him. to create steven, rose had to die. it was roses decision, but as the product of that decision, steven feels responsible. not only that, but being told constantly about his amazing mother, steven felt like he had to live up to her, had to be like her, had to replace her in the gems and greg’s lives. throughout the series, steven is constantly either trying to be like his mother, until he realizes its ok to be himself. but then the question is posed; is steven even himself? or is he still part of rose? and once he finds out that he’s steven, and has always been steven, he’s still reeling from the realization that his mother was pink diamond. and that really shows in future, where steven is becoming like pink. at first he doesnt even know, because besides the jungle moon dream, him and the audience never knew about this side of pink. this angry, short tempered, diamond who lashes out mostly physically. and unlike before, no one’s telling steven about pink (besides pink pearl) hes finding out firsthand, and this pink mode is basically being forced on him by his gem. steven has little to no control over this form. hes not trying to live up to his mother, or wondering if he is her, like before. now, he’s losing control to whatever programming is in his gem.

but back to mr universe. in the van, greg is going on and on about how lucky steven is, and how free steven is, but how can either of them compare their lives to each other? the similarities just arent there. steven is right, greg and pink were “raised” in very similar “households”. both had their wishes and desires suppressed by controlling, abusive parents. we know pink was abused mentally, verbally and physically (being physically dragged away from the screen by yellow in jungle moon, stevonnie being grabbed and thrown into the time out cell by yellow, when she still thought steven was pink), but greg at the very least was mentally assaulted. but they diverge from here. as greg said, he thought disco was back. rose started a war. you cant compare them any further. 

but at the same time, steven was raised completely differently. he was raised in a home with love and freedom, but he was also not given the opportunity to be a normal kid. theres a difference being forcing your kid to do something and not giving them the chance to try something. steven was never given the option to go to school (well in the comics he was but i guess thats not canon now since it seems like steven wishes he went to school?) he was never given the option to live in a house, or go to the mall with friends. the only other kids he knew were the boardwalk kids, but even then, he doesnt seem very close with them. for such an outgoing, friendly kid, steven wasnt given many opportunities to make friends. steven’s upbringing was very relaxed, yes, but it was too relaxed. he needed more structure, and more importantly, more humanity. i always thought it was weird, how little steven seems to have interacted with humans before connie, considering that his mother so desperately wanted steven to experience being human. yes the show is about gems, (and yes, i dont like most townie episodes), but steven was never shown doing a lot of “human” kid things inbetween episodes. the episode never started with him coming home from a friends house, he hardly ever spent time with friends other than connie in little scenes. like he was never called for a mission while playing cards with peedee, or coming home after an after school activity. any scenes like that were either just steven by himself, or with greg, and occasionally connie. but connie is a new addition to his life. how many years has he been doing fun stuff with only his dad for company, or by himself? yknow, “non traditional” childhoods and living situations are becoming more and more common in media, rather than the “two parents in a suburb house” thing, but steven’s life is beyond any unusual childhood any other kid would have. i mean he’s never even been to the doctor! which is probably for several reasons, like the fact that he apparently doesnt have a ssn, he can heal himself, has a damn gemstone in his stomach, and is half alien. but still, thats not something he has in common with other kids. no matter how much love and freedom he was given, steven was raised as an outcast.

i agree with the notion that both greg and steven were both right and wrong in mr universe. i guess they both have that in common with rose lol 

greg should have read the room better, realized that his pep talk wasnt the support and apology steven needed to hear. but steven shouldnt have acted out in the way he did. i get that’s the “theme” of steven’s spiral, maybe for the younger audience to better understand how steven is acting? but crashing his dad’s van that gregs been living in for like 20 years? fucking SHATTERING jasper? that’s going way too far to prove a point. it would have been better to maybe mirror story for steven, where marty and greg are arguing, marty is watching the road and they narrowly avoid hitting a car. but crashing the car could have been pretty serious, especially for greg. now jasper, that episode shouldnt have been approved. steven should not have shattered jasper. he fucking killed her. rose/pink didnt even shatter anyone. and if it wasnt for steven getting another superpower out of nowhere, jasper would have stayed that way. he should have just cracked her gem, poofing her in the process. the rest of the episode wouldve played out exactly the same.

anyways ive been writing this for like 2 hours but i feel better letting it all out. if you enjoy future keep enjoying it! it’s definitely more like a B+ compared to season 3-5′s general C-/D+. but please take into consideration future has some themes that people personally relate to, like mental health, and that you shouldnt shit on someone elses opinions that are based on their own personal experiences. especially if you dont have mental health issues, dont keep pushing your opinion and telling people that personally relate to future’s themes that they’re wrong? thats fucked up man

[silenthillmutual]

Hey! For the ask meme, 5, 9, 12, 16, 21 :) Is that too many???? I think that's too many but oh well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

(actually i dont think its too many but ily you anyway!!)

5. what makes you feel validated?all my family members (except my mom) not even asking when i change names, just saying “hi [insert new name]!” like i do wish they cared a lil bit more than they do about what’s going on in my life but that part at least!! feels good

9. what does your name mean?tbh, weeb ass got it from noriaki kakyoin initially just as like, an rp nickname? bc i used to rp kakyoin a lot. but i dont want to go by noriaki since i’m white and i know ‘nori’ by itself pops up as a name or nickname in other cultures, although outside of japanese & arabic i can’t find it right now.

tbh i really like that it just sounds like ppl are calling me seaweed, although i’ve also seen that depending on the kanji used it could also mean doctrine/belief. i wish i could find the use of it in other cultures but scrolling through baby name websites is both nauseating and unhelpful, although one person said that in lithuanian it means “wants”

i was going to go by kieran as a middle name until my mom ruined that (like she did with luke) but atm i’d rather accept link - like from legend of zelda, since link was designed to be androgynous and a lot of trans ppl relate to him (although ppl trying to find a deeper meaning to the name on baby name sites is hilarious - ‘lincoln’, really? just admit u like video games) - or cas. cas is apparently dutch for “imperial” but i just took it from the character castiel on supernatural, and his name is probably derived from the archangel cassiel. ‘cassiel’ has a ton of different spellings depending on which religion’s texts you’re reading and which translation, but that name means “speed of god” or “god is my anger”, according to wikipedia. he’s sometimes depicted as the angel over saturn, or the angel of saturdays. he’s not depicted in the bible, but shows up in jewish/islamic/christian mystical and occult texts.

(i think its also worth noting i had a hard time finding these names on baby name sites and like, i do live to be difficult!)

12. favorite trans headcanon?

there are just so many good ones!!! danny fenton & timmy turner (made esp great by the fact that butch hartman just fucking hates it) being trans, that cow from the barnyard show on nickelodeon, reigen arataka, mob (as either trans masc or trans fem), link - and for that matter, any character when you see them shirtless and they don’t have nipples? they had top surgery and elected not to have the nipples put back on. 

i think sam porter bridges from death stranding could easily be read as a trans man or trans woman, and i like both. on the one hand, he needs an stand-to-pee device (literally, that is a part of your equipment); on the other, the game has heavy themes of motherhood and he is able to use technology to be connected through what i can only describe as an umbilical cord to the bridges baby. and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the gender commentary was entirely intentional on kojima’s part. for that matter, i also love trans solid snake and trans hal emmerich in metal gear solid. 

i also think danganronpa deserves a special shoutout, not just because you can pry canon trans girl chihiro fujisaki from my cold, dead hands and i’m sick of seeing cis bootlickers harassing ppl online over that transphobic as fuck storyline, but for real? nobody’s birth name actually spells out “diamond” with their sibling so mondo and daiya oowada are both trans (it’s also one of the only ways to make any part of case 2 make any goddamn sense), yasuhiro hagakure and celestia ludenberg having plotlines where where they have to reveal those aren’t their birth names? congrats they’re both trans now. 

i wish there were more headcanons about characters being trans women that didn’t rely on stereotyping. i know thats a big problem wrt seeing muscular or tall women and ppl focusing their trans headcanons on them, so i actually kinda head canon aoi asahina as trans and wanna eventually write that for fic w sakura ogami being cis bc people tend to look at sakura and go “well obviously shes trans bc shes muscular” (and then they do the opposite when it comes to trans men, but i’ve seen a lot of trans masc hcs). i also don’t see a lot of nonbinary hcs being given to amab people…. we need to fix that!! but alas i have already rambled a lot so thats a post for another day.

16. song that gives you Big Trans Feels?

if we’re not including music that is literally about being trans (like “transgender dysphoria blues” by against me!) then, “twin size mattress” by the front bottoms! the lines “it’s no big surprise you turned out this way / when they closed their eyes and prayed you would change / and they cut your hair and sent you away / you stopped by my house the night you escaped / with tears in my eyes, i begged you to stay / you said, ‘hey man, i love you, / but no fucking way’“ always sounded like he was talking about a trans girl friend of his, but i dont know enough about the band to say for certain what that song is about. it probably helps that i felt that song extra hard when i was first coming out and w how my relationship w my mom was like.

21. what makes you feel euphoric?

back when i first started going by luke (and then later by nori), my dog bingley would just blink at you and not react if you told him to go get [deadname]. he only would come find me if you told him to go get luke / nori.

he’s such a good boy. i hope somebody steals him from my mom.

thank u for asking!!!!

trans asks

[baconpal]

so heres the long super paper mario post

strap in for why super paper mario is fucking bizarre and why that’s pretty much awesome

gonna be a good amounts of spoilers, so if you’re on desktop then hit that read more, and if your on mobile, then here’s your punishment for using this god awful app

super paper mario is a game that is incredibly difficult to put into words, but it leaves such a powerful, lasting impression on me and i can’t come to say anything first other than I love it so much, and if you havent played the game, please just go do it now, even if you have to pirate or emulate or something, just let yourself play this game. It’s one of those games that I really feel I can just recommend to anybody

it’s difficult to think of where to start with dissecting this thing so i’ll just start with the art since lookin at things is pretty easy

ART/WORLD DESIGN

every world in SPM is completely unique, not just in what type of environment, but it’s art style, and this is premised with the fact that none of these worlds are capable of existing together and are completely separate, and NOT part of a cohesive universe (LOOKIN AT YOU ODYSSEY I STILL THINK YOU LOOK STUPID)

The hub and the first 2 worlds are mostly just slight variants on the same general style of simplistic shapes and colors, with world 1 delving into more linework type aesthetics, and 2 focusing more on impressions and silhouettes, 

world 3 changes this completely with what is obviously an 8 bit kind of style, but instead of jarring over sized pixels, the world is composed of detailed tiles arranged to look like pixel art that imply a more real world, and not a gamey one, 

world 4 focuses on patterns and big patches of color to give the impression of the vast emptiness of both space and the surface of a barren planet, before giving you the “Whoa Zone”, with a striking mix of wire frame and futuristic UI style to it

world 5 takes the idea of nature being crude and simplistic and humanity being sharp, angular, and extreme and flips that on its head, with humanity and the space they occupy being these absolute memes with no sense of depth, and the plant life existing in a system of clean cut caves with futuristic technology and elegant historic values

world 6 simplifies a kind of colored Japanese painting aesthetic, down to the funny cylindrical cloud clusters and brushstroke trees

world 7 depicts what is essentially hell (yes there’s hell in this game keep your pants on) as a squarish blur of bright greens and warm reds and purples, and depicts heaven as fluffy land of clouds and Greek temples

and lastly, world 8 is inverted greyscale, where light is black and darkness is white, its simplistic and striking and i couldn’t think of a better style for the final area of a game so focused on the concept of light and dark

MUSIC

I’ll just try and keep it simple, the musics fucking cash money

The game makes great use of motifs when it needs to, where specific themes and instruments are used in other songs to suggest relationships and put battles and travels into perspective

And when it ISNT doing that, it’s just fucking funky stuff, with a weird trend of BOING and PLOP and SPLISH noises in the percussion because fuck you i guess

There’s a lot of good songs that do lots of interesting things, any of the like 5 final battle songs are great things to point to, but i’ll just go ahead and say the main theme of world 8 “Castle Bleck” is one of my favorites that isn’t super highly rated. It brings in the types of instruments that have been associated with the villain the entire game, but also throws in 2 very important things; a sudden triumphant burst of almost JRPG styled chiptune that pushes away the constantly building tension, which is then followed by the sound of a clock ticking, which is a musical motif only present in the songs “Memory” and “Promise” which is played whenever the memories of the player’s little guide thing and the main villain’s past lives together are alluded to. This one song holds a lot of weight, as well as simply being a fucking cool song.

GAMEPLAY

This is, sadly, the one place I’ll not mince any words and say the gameplay is not amazing by any standard, it’s pretty much a classic mario game if it had RPG stats, items, and random abilities granted through the character and partner systems. The 3D flipping mechanic is nothing astounding, though it is very interesting to see how worlds are constructed

One of the biggest flaws people will mark the game for in its gameplay is that it’s tedious, and while I have to agree, that’s because I’ve already played the game before, and the tedium only comes from not being completely invested in the experience anymore. I’ll get some specific examples in a bit, but there’s a few cases of “tedium” that i believe are 100% intentional and drive the story in an interesting way

STORY/WRITING/GAME DESIGN

Thats a fuckin broad section, but its pretty much everything else i have to say on the game, and where the most spoilers and random praise is gonna be

I’m not actually gonna talk about the whole story, more just the strong parts of it, under the assumption you’ve already played it or understand a story as simple as “villain wants to destroy world, hero wants that to not happen”

The writing and characters are just flawless, everyone is fun to be around, especially the bad guys, who you see more antics of than your own party. There’s goofy running plotlines about O’chunks and mimi essentially getting grounded and being forced to write essays about why they fucked up at beating mario, and big stinky brother dimentio teasting and bullying them and sneaking them out to do his bidding when The big Count Bleck is away

The game is full of referential humor to not just mario itself but all kinds of games, there’s skeletons in hell who are clearly just Marios from the mainline games who died in stupid ways, there’s an actual dragon quest turn based boss battle in hell too, and chapter 3 has an otaku villain who tried to get with peach in a simulated visual novel

but the humor exists not just in references, but in simple good scenarios, with things like “Having a game show in a bathroom when everyone's life is at stake” and “locating an ancient manuscript to use as toilet paper” or “flying through black holes to find a convenience store” and things of that nature

It also interacts with the players emotions in many interesting ways, one of the more lauded being chapter 2-3, where mario is forced into working off a massive debt of fictional money, and is required to do hard, boring labor. There isn’t anyway to avoid doing both the hitting a block 100 times and the running on a treadmill for a few minutes thing, but the constant feeling of “there has to be a faster way to do this” drives the player to prod around, find the secrets, and slowly discover how to break the system wide open and get to the end, and i love it for that

This entire game is some sort of bait and switch, to put it simply, while it’s already a bit of a departure from both mario itself and the paper series, the first 5 worlds are pretty fucking tame stuff, other than the void, which is a giant black and purple spot that sits in the sky, always, every single world has the void growing in its sky, and it does grow, every chapter it gets bigger and bigger and takes up the sky, but where this truly culminates into the “switch” part is chapter 6, which starts itself by presenting you with the most TEDIUS sounding chapter possible, fight 100 enemies in a row, and nothing else, and for 25 straight fights, that is all it is, so you’ve locked yourself into it at this point, you know whats up, but the void in the background begins to grow to the point of being the entire fucking background, and every enemy you face speaks as if they know they’re all going to die, and by the 30th fight, one of the villains comes to stall for time as the void completely swallows the world, and the party is sent back to the hub. When they decide to go back in to world 6, its empty, the entire world is a white void with a single black line making up the ground, and colorless destroyed structures occasionally peaking out of the ground.

and you walk on this white void for so long and you just feel nothing but regret and fear and no matter how fast you make yourself go you feel like you’ll never find anything, but you do eventually get your plot item and escape

then, Dimentio, one of the villains you’ve seen the least of, appears in the hub world, the safest place in the universe, and kills mario

he just fucking kills him

he puts mario in a box and fills the box with explosions and mario fucking dies and goes to hell because fuck you mario

then you go through all of chapter 7 just to escape hell (called the Underwhere cus how could we possibly be allowed to take hell seriously) and join up with your full party before confronting the final world, which i’ve already stated i just love the design off

the game just takes the comfortable ride you’re on and throws it into the fucking sun and burns you alive and i love it so much, even the very end of the game doesnt let up, where the main villain is overtaken by that absolute madman Dimentio (Whose name is a play on both Dimension and dementia), who clearly was powerful enough to have done the whole “ending of the world” himself, but did it this way for the theatrics of it

there’s a lot i could still say about the game, but this post is absolute rambling and its 2 in the morning but as usual, i just wanted to shit my thoughts onto the internet to people could maybe learn somethin about either the game or me and how i think and look at and respond to stuff, and as always, anybody who read this whole thing is cool and i love you a whole heck of a lot