#imo 'critical of my interests' seems like a substitute for 'I know the things I like have problems so don't get on my case about it'

[itstimetodrew]

Something about reading a carrd that has "I'm critical about my interests" listed is very funny to me. Is it a warning? A badge of honor? I'm gonna make a carrd where I announce how I've never had a critical thought in my life. I merely absorb and accept whatever information is presented to me without question and repeat it back like a parrot.

[rottingfacade]

With the being nice thing, letting people walk all over you and take what they want is not you being nice or kind or w/e. I get the thought process behind settling for whoever's available when you're short on connections or safe people, but at the end of the day, a relationship like that is going to drain you dry.

Setting and maintaining boundaries is not a mean thing to do. Anyone trying to convince you otherwise has a vested interest in you not believing that fact. Giving from your surplus is the only way you can go out of your way to help others without destroying yourself. And like you said, the only time you have the ability to give more than that is when you are in a secure position where you know you'll get enough in return to make up for it.

But from a pragmatic standpoint, is letting people overstep boundaries giving you any kind of power or advantage that you can later use to get out from under them better off for it? If not, you're just going to get thrown out when you're used up. Like a tube of toothpaste. IMO being mean is for when being polite and firm doesn't work. But you can't be polite without being firm or at the very least cunning. That's never going to work.

i am aware of the problems i just dont have options. left to my own devices without that social stability in real everyday life like normal people have, and instead having to contend with substitutes like social media and similar settings where other people are impossible to get through to, i will just become very mean or withdraw from interactions entirely to avoid having to be mean. and i already tried being withdrawn for a year. even directing genuine criticism and pushing away at people who deserve it and want to act that way makes me seem like an inherantly aggressive person to random observers or to the people who know them. issues with treatment, as a whole being a short minded disposablity of other people, are just too fundemental to avoid. its far too prevalent among a so-called community which is in reality just strangers held together by nothing but relationship drama, who have no other way of knowing eachother and nothing else in common and nothing else theyre willing to care about. if you try to communicate about anything else except sexual status you get ignored. its more like a historical force that's impossible to fight. the reason i cant apply your advice is that its a universal problem. i have to choose either to ignore everyone or get defensive and accusatory nonstop, and everyone knows everyone so doing either one would lead to more alienation.

[rp-academy]

not a newbie, but gonna speak as someone with over a decade of tumblr rp experience. my biggest advice for anyone starting out is a two-parter:

Roleplay is communication.

A huge pitfall of this hobby, not just on tumblr but in general, is this weird separation of roleplay from communication or this misunderstanding of where roleplay lies within communication. Roleplay is perhaps one of the most communicative hobbies out there, as its fundamental is based on, effectively, the grown-up version of playing pretend. At the end of the day, you're talking with someone. That's what the hobby is.

What this means is that the standards of communication still apply, and that roleplay is healthier if you step back and consider communicative etiquette. You need to check for boundaries and make your own heard. Always remember that there is a real person behind the screen. Read rules. If you are not interested in things potentially not going your way or having to acknowledge what another person may want out of roleplay, you aren't going to enjoy the hobby. You need to respect the other party's pace, and request respect for your own. Do not assume over-familiarity - mutuals doesn't automatically equal friends, and an rp friend is not the same as a friend who knows your trauma. If you're unsure or don't feel confident, talk it out.

I've noticed overtime that people seem to forget that rp is a form of communication, or, alternatively, that rp is an acceptable substitute of other forms of communication (like the sort of etiquette within an established friendgroup). IMO this has lead to a lot of the drama and stress that Tumblr RP is known for. I think remembering that roleplay is communication, but it's own unique form of communication that requires acknowledgement and respect of the real people engaging in it is critical to having a good rp experience.

2. You've GOTTA curate your own experience.

Tumblr RP is messy. You may feel obligated into following someone back, even if you're not sure about them. You may get overwhelmed if you fill your dash with strangers or feel impulsed to interact with things you don't want to for the sake of appeasing an illusory crowd. If you aren't using tumblr's tools to ensure the rp experience you want, you are going to walk into a lot of unneeded discomfort and maybe drama.

My personal advice: thoroughly vet someone from afar before you follow. Do you like the vibes? Do you have trusted friends you can get a second opinion from? Are you even interested in the other party's writing or character? Really, truly think about it. I promise you, trying to get more interactions is not worth putting yourself in spaces where you are uncomfortable. Be liberal with unfollows and blocking - it isn't an "attack" or an "admission of guilt/wrongness", it's you choosing how to engage the hobby in the way you want to. Filter tags. Consider if there's anything in the hobby that you don't actually like doing, you just feel pressured to.

A strictly curated tumblr rp experience is, frankly, the best tumblr rp experience (imo).

Sorry for the long ask, but wanted to help out by dropping in some RP Veteran advice as it were. Thank you for this blog!

I couldn't have said it better myself.

[corisanna]

Reposting an ask because Tumblr broke it and won’t let me edit.

Hmmmmmmmmmm.

I do think it declined, but not to the extent that it definitely should have ended after Aizen. That would have been a neat/clean ending, yeah, but the rest was salvageable imo. It was a matter of narrative choices. And I sympathize with Kubo for part of why they probably happened.

My thoughts on the later part of the Bleach manga always starts with thoughts on the IRL situation the author dealt with. That is always crucial to the product they put out and I do not want this to be a criticism of Kubo himself. So this will be in two parts. Also, it’s been awhile since I read the manga.

Author

The first thing to keep in mind is that Kubo continued (was pressured?) to keep writing despite multiple bouts of pneumonia or other illness with only short breaks. I remember the unexpected hiatuses of weeks or I think even a couple months at one point as chapters came out. It was like eight years ago, though. I’m having trouble finding undeleted sources about them. Example of one I found:

---

---

I write trash when I’m very sick. If I do write while sick, I do not share it until I can edit it while well. I got the impression at the time that Kubo was not afforded that opportunity. And I’ve only read parts of one of the after-manga novel Can’t Fear Your Own World, but it seems to me that he had a lot of the underpinnings to strengthen the story in his head and couldn’t get them out earlier. It’s what happens to me when sick, anyway. And also if I’m having general burnout.

A second problem is the pressure of deadlines. You know how fanfic authors often have irregular periods of time between posting because they have had interference from Real Life or they have writer’s block or they just aren’t happy with what they’ve written yet? That is a luxury of not being paid/contracted to write. Being able to tinker and tinker and tinker until you’re at least satisfied with what you’ve created is a luxury in serial writing. I’m currently sitting on a “complete” chapter of my fic in case I need to hop back and tweak it based on what the next chapter does because it’s an important point in the plot and I don’t want to break continuity. And I really am jumping back to change things. A couple years ago, I sat on like three complete chapters for similar reasons. Manga writers with deadlines do not have that luxury. If I had biweekly deadlines, I’d be posting continuity-breaking trash with terrible dialogue.  Hell, back in November I replaced every chapter of my big 400k word fic  with edited versions that strengthened character development and plot  underpinnings.    “Idk idk let’s throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks” is something both fic and manga writers do, but manga authors with tight deadlines don’t get to double back and pick stuff out.  

So. That said, here are my total amateur, in-no-way-an-authority, just-what-I-would-do-in-fanfiction  thoughts on the story:

Story

Ichigo in denial of struggling with powerlessness while trying to move on was good. Xcution was interesting, though it could have used more explanation that apparently came out in a novel after the end of the series. I think we should have heard more about Xcution’s motives in-story and how Ginjo became a substitute shinigami. Just... a more solid framework.

TYBW was a mess. It’s been awhile since I read it, though, so my memory of a lot of fights is blurry. IIRC, one of the problems was good guys explaining their damn powers to the enemy instead of having them do an internal monologue for the readers. Too many enemies were given ridiculous powers that required deus ex machina to defeat or had missed opportunities to be resolved otherwise with use of other characters.

Take Giselle for example. Once she took control of Toshiro, that could have opened up a horrified rage for Momo, who grew up with him. Giselle’s power of spilling her blood on someone leading to body puppetry made cutting her with a sword a Very Bad Idea. But Momo’s zanpakuto had been shown as having fire powers that she could integrate with kido. She could have fought Giselle without spilling her blood or cut her with her shikai, sword wreathed in flame to instantly cauterize the wounds and avoid spilling blood. That might also prevent Giselle from reassembling herself. This could be after or during fighting Toshiro. The whole battle would invert the protective fury dynamic between Toshiro and Momo and be an opportunity to show Momo’s post-Aizen growth, especially if she was double-teaming with her new captain. Perhaps Shinji could keep zombie!Toshiro occupied with his disorienting shikai on top of sword fighting so Momo could use her fire on Giselle. It also could have drawn minor attention to the two shinigami who had grown up together somehow getting opposing powers-- fire and ice-- and having to fight each other. Something could have been made of that. It was a missed opportunity for character development and showing another female character be strong instead of implying it.

The Soul King and YWCH stuff was a confusing mess to me. Too much wasn’t explained. As I said, it has been awhile, but I remember being in a state of “LOL idk what is happening here” for most King’s Realm chapters. It probably didn’t help that I read it as it came out, with weeks in between chapters. I should re-read it. Or just watch the upcoming anime and hope for clarification.

I think it suffered from what I struggle with sometimes: thinking that because I have been thinking about and planning something intensely, I already wrote it. I just had to make two connected edits to my already-posted fic chapters this past week because I discovered I had left out a key line of dialogue when I went back to quote it and it wasn’t there. But once a chapter of manga is published, it’s hard to take it back. Maybe in the collected volume-- I know of at least one manga that redrew several objects that the artist broke continuity with-- but a lot of people only read it as it comes out.

In conclusion: The basis for a strong, compelling continuation post-Aizen was there, but suffered from external problems like illness and deadlines. IMO it just needs some tinkering to clean it up.

[necropsittacus]

I got a request for an Infodump Post on the Revelation imagery in King of the Monsters and tbqh one of my love languages is being asked about my Ghidorah opinions so Here We Go

note: I’m using the New International Version of the Bible, and also I have not rewatched KOTM for this (although I may end up deciding to do that) and am going on memories of my approximately three and a half past viewings. Other note: most of this is going to be me presenting specific Bible quotes and then talking about them a bit. Be prepared for that. also this feels super unfinished to me and shorter than it should be to treat the topic properly, and like i need to rewatch the movie and write an essay 

The whole movie, and Ghidorah in particular, is very focused around apocalypse imagery--the end of the world, the rebuilding of a cleaner, better new world, the breakdown of that attempt to rebuild a better world. This has to do with the Book of Revelation’s focus on the destruction of the world as we know it and the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven. 

except that here the attempt to destroy and remake the world (which, in Revelation, is an act of God, with the Devil as a major part of the narrative but not the prime mover) A. fails, and B. isn’t treated as a good idea to start with by the narrative. While the ending, and specifically information we get in the credits, does show us progress towards a better, brighter future for the world, it’s more “gradual healing” than “apocalypse and rebirth.” The burn-it-all-down apocalypse-and-rebirth style of fixing the world is rather associated with Ghidorah, and the people who release/awaken him. The human villains want to purge the world of humanity’s sins. 

This is one of those places where the religious commentary mixes with commentary on environmental/climate change issues...Alan Jonah’s plan is standing in for, well, y’all know what kind of environmental rhetoric, the “humans are the plague, burn it all down so the earth can heal” type. They’re making a point about the inviability of that kind of goal, that you can’t just kill everyone and start over and hope the earth will fix itself, because it won’t (and, here, trying to make it work like that actively makes things worse--Ghidorah has no interest in *fixing* anything), and that gets mixed with the religious imagery in fun ways. 

It could also have to do with the “false king of the monsters”/“Antichrist stands in the place of Christ” idea--Ghidorah is taking the role, as the one breaking and remaking the world, that in Revelation is assigned to God, but he’s more the Devil. 

And that plays into the image of Ghidorah as the false Christ, the false prophet, the Antichrist--releasing him is supposed to cleanse the world of “humanity’s” sins (and this movie doesn’t explicitly go into the problems with that kind of approach--that it’s not humanity it’s capitalism--but I might argue that it’s implicit--that killing off humanity as an approach is explicitly criticized, it doesn’t work, it fails spectacularly), it just...doesn’t work that way, actually 

Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” 

I’m inclined to link this (and the idea is repeated a few times in Revelation, and elsewhere in the New Testament, this is just the clearest example) with the “they were here before us and they’ll be here after us” theme in KOTM. 

One of the major things that happens in Revelation is the opening, one by one, of seven seals on a scroll, each opening followed by a new disaster. I’m inclined to link this to the unsealing and release from stasis of the Titans (supposed to be one by one, although of course Ghidorah disrupts this). 

The Storm Theme

Luke 10:18 I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning.

Rev. 11:19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.

Rev. 8:5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

It’s not clear from that quote, but what’s happening here is the opening of the seventh and final seal (mentioned above). 

While Ghidorah’s primary weapons were originally gravity beams, here they more resemble lightning or electricity (or that has consistently been my impression, anyway). This image is reinforced by his/their identification with a tropical storm. I may be reaching with this, but in context of what I’m talking about below I don’t think it’s unfair to bring up the Luke 10:18 quote in this context, as well as the storms and lightning tied to apocalypse more generally.

This is, or leads into, one of the places where I really like how the climate change apocalypse symbolism I’ve been assured by other people is in there is folded in with the religious apocalypse symbolism. 

Ghidorah represents both something that is unnatural, not part of the established order, a destructive force the planet is not prepared to handle (specifically in the form of destructive weather patterns--which has been pointed out to me as climate change imagery, although I didn’t initially pick up on it myself) and as both Satan and Antichrist from the Book of Revelation.

First, Ghidorah-as-Satan:

The motif of a fight against a multi-headed dragon is in itself arguable as Revelation imagery; Satan primarily appears as a dragon. 

Rev. 12:3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. 

...

Rev. 12:7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. 

Here specifically we get the notion of a malevolent, multi-headed (and crowned--this one’s more metaphorical but checks out with the “false king” thing) dragon being thrown down from the sky, and also the forces more sympathetic to humanity triumphing over the dragon. Also, there’s more “star(s) falling from Heaven” imagery elsewhere that feels at least as relevant, but that gives me feelings. 

Ghidorah as Antichrist

It’s not explicit in the Bible verses I’m working with (or particularly anywhere in the Bible), but I should have a little bit here before I start talking about it too much about what exactly the Antichrist is. The Christian concept of the Antichrist is someone who opposes Jesus and sets himself in the place of Jesus/God, and thus leads the world astray. 

Wikipedia: “Antichrist is translated from the combination of two ancient Greek words αντί + Χριστός (anti + Christos). In Greek, Χριστός means "anointed one" and the word Christ derives from it.[6] Therefore, an antichrist opposes Christ by substituting himself for Christ.”

I want to point out the “substituting himself for Christ” piece here especially, in relation to Ghidorah’s status as the “false king of the monsters.”

Also, it should maybe be noted that a lot of interpretations don’t have one singular Antichrist figure (or even two), but rather an institution, a group, or many people can be meant by the Antichrist (e.g. in a lot of heretical and Protestant traditions the Catholic Church may be Antichrist). Here I’m treating the term Antichrist as referring to one singular figure, who is interchangeable with the Beast, because in the movie we get a specific character in the role. ALSO, the term “Antichrist” is never actually used in Revelation, and may or may not refer to the same thing as “the Beast;” my interpretation, a fairly standard one, is that the Beast is the Antichrist, but YMMV on that. 

For convenience’s sake, I am going to be using “Antichrist” or “The Beast” interchangeably

and “the False Prophet” for the other beast; the terms are a little wigglier in actual usage. Additionally, the figure I’m calling the False Prophet is often conceptualized as a second, lesser or “mystical” Antichrist whose coming presages the “great” Antichrist (the Beast).

One of the slightly off things about these parallels is that while in Revelation there are three separate figures, Satan/the dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet, in KOTM there are only two, Ghidorah and Rodan. Thus, Ghidorah derives his authority from himself alone, and not from an additional external figure (which also jives with the Satan connection, IMO; Satan’s whole thing in some interpretations is claiming authority for himself).

I’m going to repeat the introduction we get to the Beast here in full. There’s not a ton of physical similarity between the description we get of the Beast and Ghidorah besides the multiple heads, and, as mentioned, Ghidorah grants himself authority, not any external power, but there are other significant parallels:

Rev. 13:1 The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. 2 The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.  

13:3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast.

We get this explicitly, which is the first piece of Revelation imagery that was pointed out to me--Godzilla bites off Ghidorah’s third head, which regrows (right before he claims the throne fully). 

 4 People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?” 5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7 It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.

This is, again, Ghidorah fully claiming the title of king, and being obeyed/followed by (most of) the other Titans. 

Rodan as False Prophet

Rev. 13:11 Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13 And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people.

Here we do get something for the physical description; I think it’s interesting that KOTM Rodan doesn’t quite resemble older material!Rodan (who as far as I can tell, and certainly in Jurassic City which is the other thing I’ve seen with him in it, tends to be basically just a weird red giant Pteranodon, “giant bird” comments from characters in-universe notwithstanding) as much as the other non-original characters. For the most part they just made him a lot birdier, and I don’t think “match the Bible description of the second beast” was like, a driving force in that, but he does sort of have horns. That’s mostly beside the point, anyway; if we’re taking Ghidorah-as-the-Beast as a given, Rodan is clearly the other Beast acting as essentially a second-in-command and herald to the first one. The fire coming down from heaven thing is significant; you could also take “coming out of the earth” to apply to his emergence from a volcano. 

14 Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.  16 It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.

Most of this doesn’t really say anything new for the parallels I’m reading into it, and there’s no equivalence to the idolatry or the Mark of the Beast, I just really like the false prophet as a figure, and it reinforces the “given authority under the first, higher-ranking Beast” thing. 

Miscellaneous other things

Thessalonians 2:7 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming. 

“The lawless one” is another common descriptor for Antichrist. I want to point out “destroy with the breath of his mouth” in context of the ending and Godzilla’s atomic breath. 

Additionally, Godzilla’s own rise from the brink of death (after having been nearly killed while acting in a capacity helpful to humanity (fighting Ghidorah), at that) parallels a very central motif in Christianity (the rise of Jesus from the dead). 

Rev. 5:15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 

This gives me feelings re everyone who can going to hide in bunkers.

I’m not going through the whole movie again looking for illustrations for this, it’s probably long enough as is, but I have this one saved anyway and I think it makes the Christianity theme REALLY blatant:

Just the framing of the shot here, the cross in the foreground, and Ghidorah’s pose kind of mimicking it, is telling.

I also want to point out this verse in terms of the visuals here: 

Rev. 8:12 The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night. 

We very much do tend to get dark sky.

Rev. 8:7 The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. 

this feels like More Rodan Imagery Things

Rev. 8:8 The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. 10 The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— 11 the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter. 

The first part of this, and the bitter waters, feel reminiscent of the Oxygen Destroyer idea (though that was taken from the original Godzilla, so I don’t think they stole this bit outright so much as they found a place they could mix Bible parallels with the older material they were working off). Also, there’s a volcano, probably. And “star falling from heaven” is again always a Ghidorah vibe for me, given the whole “alien descended to earth” thing; same thing with this next line:

Rev. 9:1 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 

And also, I can’t remember if the thing about his responsibility for the K-Pg extinction event I’ve seen around a few times is a fandom thing or suggested in the movie, but if it is canon--that’s another place that folds the Biblical imagery in with the scientific mass extinction imagery. 

Rev. 9:19 The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury. 

This isn’t necessarily actually a Ghidorah vibe but “tails like snakes used to inflict injury” does make me Feel Some Things in that regard. 

There’s also some other stuff I Think might be readable in that direction, but I’m not as certain about any of it and this is really long as is. 

My conclusion is basically just...they went fucking ham with the Revelation imagery in this movie, both to play into the more major theme of environmental destruction, and I honestly speculate as a response to the criticisms of some other American Godzilla stuff as “taking the God out of Godzilla”--if that’s the case, they’d be putting a sense of spiritual reference into the movie that would be more familiar to a lot of Western audiences compared to the hints of that in the original Godzilla. and i love it and i’m always a slut for the book of revelation 

Thank you very much for reading.

[derekscorner]

Between KH2 and KH3, which game did you like more, both story and gameplay-wise?

Ah is this that KH2 vs 3 debate I hear is ongoing? Well if you’re in for a sit I can answer that.

Gameplay:

From this angle I quite bluntly find KH2 Final Mix more fun. I’m not going to argue what was arguably better or worse, gameplay preference is a matter of…well preference no matter how many wish to deny this fact.

Not that you do but I”m sure some lover or hater of one will see this and try to retort. o3ob

Anyway; I felt Kh2 final mix was more technical and “harder” if I had to describe the feeling. Like 3 KH2 is normally overly easy but when put on critical mode it’s technicalities shine.I had to learn tactics, I couldn’t spam X or △, and I learned uses for summons. Which I found ironic since the 2 summons are far more useful when you dont initiate their moves.

Like if I let Stitch wander the screen he’ll deflect projectiles and keep my MP full. Chicken Little is a great early Magnet substitute and Peter Pan+Tinker Bell gives you a Phoenix Down.This was an improvement to KH1 in which only Tinker Bell was a spell with decent combat use. 1′s other summons had more supplemental uses imo.

KH3′s summons were nearly win buttons I felt. Simba in particular, while damn spectacle, felt broken. I never bothered to learn them as I didn’t need them. Which I’m sure they have their own uses but I’m not really fond of many control schemes for them so I opt out of it.

In terms of the magic system I felt 2 and 3 were opposites. In KH3 magic is far too powerful, something many have noted. And while you dont ‘have’ to use it that’s not an excuse for a problem. You should choose not to use it not force yourself to ignore it for challenge.

KH2 on the opposite spectrum made magic nearly useless I felt. Many enemies didn’t stun nor have elemental damage. Fire’s AOE animation was good for early Critical game and Blizzard helps that first Hollow Bastion visit but many enemies shrug the base spells off later.In contrast, KH2′s Magnet and Thunder spells can be OP. Reflect in of itself is practically the only spell you’d ever need to use due to it’s nature.

So while many have long rants on either’s magic system I dont really think one trumps the other. each one is equally flawed with issues I dont see ever being addressed.

In terms of keyblade combat I preferred KH2′s because I felt like Sora was automated in 3. I spam X cause I’m a scrub at timing presses (DMC5 is helping me overcome that) and due to this I noticed real quick that Sora’s combos just felt really automated.

Like I’d press X for one hit and get three. In contrast, KH2′s combat is harder. Sora animates combos as fast as my lazy ass can spam X and I’m not floating around like a final fantasy god.

I’m not really sure how to put this feeling into words but I do feel Kh2 keyblades are funner or snappier to combo whereas in KH3 I’m playing a watered down FFXV with it’s hold/press X for combo string.

Both games are so similar outside this issue that I dont see no reason to list likes or dislikes. If anything, from here, KH3 had great quality of life changes. The menu system was easier on the eyes and I’d be a damned soul if I didn’t admit I like switching keyblades mid-combat.

I also really appreciate KH3 finally using Re:Coded’s keyblade ideas. It’s been there since that DS game yet no one every expanded on making keyblades unique since. It was a very foolish step backward to me.

I love that keyblades level up, I love that each one has a preference and the only way that could’ve been better is if they adapted Coded’s system entirely and gave each keyblade (or most) it’s own unique combo.

KH2 quite frankly just falls short in a hindsight perspective since keyblades were “stat sticks” and you only ever chose weaker ones for an ability. Which, back then, was a huge step up from KH1.

So KH3 wins in this area I also dont really hate on Kh2 for it since KH2 is a product of the era. This idea of keyblades growing with you didn’t happen till Re:Coded.

As for Shotlocks…I dont like them. I hated them in BBS and I hate them here. It’s not even a comparison to KH2 type of opinion. I hate Shotlocks, I never use shotlocks so I’m going to skip those.

I mean sure, KH2 had limits but the only limits I use are Knocksmash so I can’t exactly praise KH2′s half of that either.

And when it comes to Forms vs Transformations I think both have pros and cons the other lacks. For example, some Transformations are really cool, I love the hammer weapons or the dual pistols.

I also believe the staff transformation is what KH2′s wisdom form should’ve been in terms of how it does magic or basic attacks.

That said, I also really dislike many second forms keyblades have. I never evolve the pistols into the bazooka, I never turn the hammer into the drill, I have those second forms. It’s to the extent I prefer keyblades that have one form such as the staff.

I’m also not fond of the Kingdom Key’s 2nd form change. It’s a neat throwback and I love the outfit recolor but I dont find it fun to use.

Between the two games my favorite forms are Valor Form, Anti-Form, and the Staff Transformation. Odds are I wont use anything else unless I feel particularly bored.

I might use others more often if KH3 forced me to rely on them for tactics but as of right now it does not. This may change with 3 gets it’s Critical Mode DLC. Similar to how KH2FM forced me to rely on forms I hate like Wisdom or Final.

As a concept I will admit that I dislike transformations. I dont like the idea of keyblades becoming magical swiss army knives. KH3 pulled the idea off better than I expected but I dont like it all the same.

The only, and I mean only, thing I felt KH2 did better was tie forms to a meter. In KH3 the commands appear randomly (and often) and I dont gain consequences for using them.

In KH2 this was tied to your Drive Gauge. You had to plan what you used and this is an issue I felt KH3 had as a whole. Rather than shotlocks, I’d have preferred that Focus Gauge to be reserved for my summons and forms so that I could have better control of what I picked and to reduce how broken they are in-game.

The rest is miscellaneous opinions so I’ll rapid fire:

Gummi Ships: always hated them, BBS did Gummi Ships best. Point goes to KH3 here since I can at least skip most of it.

Minigames: I’ve never found a KH minigame fun. No one wins here

Worlds: KH3 wins this aspect too. World towns have actual people in them and when it uses original plots the worlds are quite good. I also appreciate the power to explore and soft platform again. It gives me a more immersive feeling than later titles ever have. (although I feel KH1 was still better than both here)(entirely because of how many small details/cameos/secrets a KH1 world had compared to sequels)

I dont really have a more technical opinion than that. I do however think Arendelle was a horrendous world and I hate to even be there. For a myriad of reasons….reasons that would be a rant post of it’s own.

Lil Chef: I never use the food. I dont care if it’s a good spot for ingredients. If I want to cook stuff I’ll do some irl or play FFXV.

Enemies: KH3 used nobodies more than KH2 did and I find that a damn crying shame. I also felt Unversed were underutilized. KH2 still takes the point here due to the combat points I mentioned above.

KH3 fodder is prettier and can be more elaborate but KH2 is funner to play and destroy them in so KH2.

The Disney Rides: I don’t use them, they break the game. I do like the choo choo though since it’s situational to specific battles. KH2 has nothing akin to these so there’s no comparison, I just wish the rides could be disabled or that they worked more like the train. (set to key fights)

KH2 vs KH3 Commands: Eh both aren’t that good. KH3 spams you commands to shift through and KH2 has so many for spectacles sake that the games get easy. There is no winner here, if anything KH2 should’ve restricted these like KH3 restricts the Train ride summon.

Final Fantasy: I dont like FF games but I consider the ones of Kh1 part of the main cast. Their alternate KH selves are important to me. The lack and fading of FF over the years is quite honestly something I dislike and 3′s total lack of them is inexcusable to me. KH2 takes this point since I got to at least meet Leon and crew again.

Then there’s the story.

Anyone that’s followed the blog or met me knows I strongly dislike the direction of KH’s story. It’s not a matter of things others debate, I do not like it. I hate it and I’m still teetering on quitting.

I wont even go into the points cause I’ve made a whole series of posts about my story gripes. I wont link them since this isn’t a shameless plug, I just want to iterate that my issues with the story has driven me to make 20+ tangents plus the older more angry rants.

Others liking it is fine I think, I get easily annoyed if someone tries to excuse something out of nostalgia or adoration, but generally anyone that likes it while admitting faults or agreeing to disagree is fine. (you do you folks)

If I had to rank them I feel KH2 is where a lot of issues started and I feel a lot of issues got worse after since the sequels tried to “fix” that mess. If left alone KH2 would’ve been a poorly written entry and a good stopping point for any disillusioned fan.

KH3 as a contrast tied up everything after 2 up til 3 itself. I do not consider the story good, the pacing is very jarring because it lacks a mid point, it’s weighed down by all the BS prior to it.

I do not feel attachment for the “trios” of the series, I find the repetition of them annoying. I find it a shame most have more dev time than the originals they’re cloned based on.

And I frankly dislike Xehanort as a villain. He’s not interesting, his motives seem to switch with several report entries and I dont eve get the satisfaction of ending him like I did Xemnas or Ansem.

I was entirely indifferent to the entirety of this game’s narrative as I played it. Something that worried my friend @blackosprey because I was so tired I could not even care enough to hate it.

I did fine the trios reunions well done. I dislike them for a list of reasons but they were coming back anyway, their fates sucked prior, so those were well done. I finally felt hype when the LW appeared (only to vanish, fuck you nomura) and in the final battle.

The ending was confusing to me. So many got a happy ending so I fail to see the logic of Sora vanishing. The Luxu reveal, which I found fucking hilarious, was the only sequel bait needed.To have Sora just up and die felt like a stupid decision and I’m sure many more found it insulting.

And when mentioning Luxu I dont mean it in a sarcastic fashion. I genuinely find him funnier in retrospect due to this retroactive change. Nearly every line or scene he’s said is now funny as hell because he’s this ancient troll. I consider it the first legitimately earned twist Nomura has made in ages.

Still, KH2′s writing and story isn’t great either. I could rant why, I have ranted why, but despite it’s flaws it was an “ending” to me.So if asked 2 or 3 I will pick 2. The writing in Kh2 is bad for lots of reasons but if I ignore the Ansem reports it’s no a story about Xehanort.

Ignoring one KH2 report let’s me live this simpler story of Sora and a scientist gone mad and the journey to stop him. It had a lot of stupid things or one of the worst “twists for twists sake” moments ever in the ‘two ansems’ reveal.

But still, I can play Kh2 and be in a KHverse where Xehanorts, Keyblade Wars, Ceremonies, timelines, sleeping worlds, data world abuse, and clones upon clones dont exist.

It’s not nostalgia so much as everything I came to dislike was post KH2. KH3 was all about these things I dont like. My favorite for key and nostalgic reasons is KH1, my pick of the question is Kh2.

KH3′s best assets that can’t be contested was it’s graphical evolution. I played KH3 three times back to back due to this, I came away from KH3 wishing KH1 or 2 looked like this. No game prior contests the look.

So all in all, as I reread this, it’s largely a mixed bag. Neither game is grand but I prefer KH2 because combat is more fun to me and it’s not tied down by a narrative and mythology I’ve come to hate.

I can play KH1, CoM, and KH2 and never be annoyed about something I loved going in a direction I hated.

[joannalannister]

How do you think Joanna would have treated Tyrion's relationship with Tysha? Would she have respected his love for the girl or do you think she would have forbade it as Tysha is still a commoner.

Prologue - rape tw:

INT. - LORD’S APARTMENTS - DAY

TYWIN: “Tyrion is an ill-made, devious, disobedient, spiteful little creature, Joanna. This marriage was a deliberate defiance.”JOANNA: “The boy didn’t know, Tywin. That treacherous whore tricked him.”TYWIN: “Ignorance or malice, Tyrion needs a sharp lesson.” JOANNA: “Do what you will with the whore, but leave him out of this.”TYWIN: “You have the soft heart of a woman. I will teach my son whatever lessons he requires.” JOANNA: “Your son? Touch him, and we shall see just how hard my heart can be.” TYWIN: “And when he brings home another whore?”JOANNA: “You need not worry.”

Dissolve To: INT. - REDCLOAK BARRACKS - NIGHT

JAIME: “…time you had a woman. Maidens cost double, but you know how much I love my family.” *Jaime’s smile dies half-formed.* “A lie, well meant–”JOANNA: “You see, sweetling? It was a kindness, what your brother did. But a whore cannot be a wife.” *Joanna holds out her arms to Tyrion.* “Come to Mother. Come sit in my lap.” *For once Joanna’s gentle smile does not falter at Tyrion’s every waddling step.* TYWIN: “Bring her in.”JOANNA: *speaking sweetly in Tyrion’s ear over the screaming* “You shall stay right here with me, my sweet one. Always. There’s no other woman in the world for you. Who would have you? Only me.”

Dissolve To: EXT. - THE MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON - NIGHT

TYRION: “A mother is a poor substitute for a lover.”BRONN: “Why not leave her?”TYRION: “I couldn’t do that. Who would look after her, with my father always away? If you love somebody, you wouldn’t leave them, even if they treat you badly. Do you understand? I don’t hate my mother. I hate what she became.”

ADWD: “Matricide is probably the most unbearable crime of all… most unbearable to the son who commits it.”

And yes, I did paraphrase Psycho. I’m not here for Lannister relationships that aren’t fucked up. 

The idea that Tysha would still be raped if Joanna lived isn’t a popular one, but I can’t get the image out of my mind of a little wooden stool in the corner of a big, dirty guardroom barracks, with soiled rushes on the floor, and the incongruity of Joanna in pristine silks and satins, with Jaime standing over her in his armor, and she beckons to this tiny, tiny 13 year old boy – a disabled boy no older than Sansa is in AFFC – and Joanna looks like the only place of safety in this whole room, hell, this whole damn section of Casterly Rock. So it drives Tyrion into Joanna’s arms, for the human love and affection he so desperately craves. And it’s horrible and abusive what I imagine Joanna doing in this scenario. It’s really, really terrible to hurt and gaslight someone using love as an excuse. 

I think of Tywin and Joanna’s relationship as a give and take, a negotiation, a long series of compromises, and I think for the Tysha incident, the gang rape still happens because Tywin needs (“needs”) that to happen to satisfy his disturbing issues about prostitutes (even though Tysha isn’t a prostitute), but Joanna keeps Tyrion from being forced to participate in it. He’s still forced to watch, because both Joanna and Tywin have a lot of unresolved issues about Tytos’s mistresses, imo.

My reasoning behind this scenario is as follows:

I don’t think any parent from a Great House would consider it an acceptable match for their trueborn son to marry so far beneath them, and this goes double for House Lannister, who considered themselves on par with the Targaryens. For example, look at Duncan Targaryen, who married a commoner, and Aegon V, who did everything he could to have the marriage undone. Other lords criticized Aegon V as “half a peasant” himself but he still opposed a match between his son and a commoner. Westeros is an extremely classist society, and I don’t think such matches would ever be considered appropriate under normal circumstances (ie no ice zombies). Tysha would definitely have to go and never come back. 

And for House Lannister, smallfolk are like cattle. Tywin’s ready to feed his smallfolk levies into a meat grinder after he invades the Riverlands. There is little regard for their well-being. Even Jaime, who is generally not an utterly despicable person, didn’t particularly give a fuck about Tysha the night he and Tyrion found her; Jaime was more interested in seeing the outlaws punished for the insult to Casterly Rock. 

And something else I think we have to remember is that Joanna grew up under Tytos’s weak rule. While Tywin was off playing cupbearer in the capital, Joanna had a front row seat to his lordship’s follies and the resultant lawlessness of the west. While I don’t think Joanna had anywhere near as many issues with prostitutes and sex that Tywin did, it’s very hard for me to believe that she would be totally fine with an up-jumped commoner secretly marrying her way into House Lannister. House Lannister under Tywin is very hierarchical and classist with everyone in their “proper” place. Allowing transgressions of established societal boundaries is what caused so many problems for Tytos, so why would Joanna want a repeat performance? 

And another thing to consider is that Westeros is very ableist. Even Jaime – Jaime, Tyrion’s big strong brother – thought that Tysha could never love Tyrion and that she was just a gold digger, because who would love a dwarf, truly? Joanna isn’t immune to the prejudices of her society; there is every reason to believe that she too was ableist, and that she would therefore perceive Tysha to be nothing but a gold digger who married Tyrion for his money, even though that wasn’t what Tysha was, even though Tysha truly loved Tyrion.

I know it’s common to say that Joanna would never have let the gang rape happen, but something to consider: Joanna doesn’t seem to have intervened to stop Tytos’s mistress from being paraded around Lannisport naked for a fortnight. Allowing the psychological / physical torture of smallfolk doesn’t seem to have been beneath Joanna. I also don’t think that Joanna had total control over Tywin, despite the quote “Joanna ruled Tywin” but that quote is a subject for a whole ‘nother essay which I really need to write. Suffice to say, I don’t think patriarchy flew out the window when Tywin looked at Joanna. Like I said, negotiation. I think the gang rape got Tywin’s rocks off (rapists commit rape because of power issues) and I think Tywin was going to do that regardless. And I honestly don’t think Joanna would give a fuck about a random common girl, particularly not one insolent enough to marry her son. 

I think Tywin actually believed Tysha was Tytos’s Mistress 3.0, like, he actually believed Tysha was a gold digger, like, one step up from a prostitute, and I could I could really see Joanna believing that too. Jaime believed it. I can see Joanna blaming the whole thing on Tysha.