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obeymycok · 1 year

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MC acts...different in their demon form

Surprise surprise, MC has their own personality and doesn't necessarily act like the brothers when they take on their demon forms. Sins manifest themselves in many different ways so who's to say MC is the same way as the brothers? To make it a little interesting, here's an MC who's avatar demon forms differ VERY much from the actual Avatars of Sin.

Taglist: @trashlord-007 @asmos-slut @simpinginthecorner @thatoneweebsworld @q-ueue

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TW: Substance abuse in 4th and 7th part

Promiscuous Pride

Ok but MC giving Asmo vibes while rocking Lucifer's demon form is in my head rent free

MC who looks good and fucking KNOWS it

Morning Star Avatar of Pride MC has every right to show off and takes every chance they get

Not only is it an absolute slay but the reactions of the characters is what made me write this

Lucifer's in a tight spot cuz that's MC but it'S HIS FORM😡😮‍💨

Anti Lucifer League especially thinks it's hilarious because it makes Lucifer so uncomfortable and it makes up for MC not using THEIR form

Pompous Greed

Better believe MC shows off every bit of Mammon's power whenever they get the chance to

As smart as they are agile, with the power to control electricity, MC remains undefeated in this form only😎

Mix a bit of Medusa's stare and Midas' touch and you get the ability to turn any living thing into gold by just looking into their eyes

Everyone's jaw is on the floor including Mammon's

That's MC?? With Mammon's power????? low key scared shitless

The brothers are shook

Selfish Envy

Twitch streamer energy I'm sorry

I'd say they give a little Asmo too but mainly the Mammon energy comes out

Streaming mid battle, tiktok dances in the infirmary, really just not good ideas all around

That power tho👀👀👀 devastating

As long as there's water, you basically win

The ability to conjure up storms and hurricanes from a pond AND being able to control the temperature of said water

2 in 1 water and ice power Elsa wishes💅

Besides the display of incredible power, everyone pretty much sees no difference which makes Levi sob in a hole (how DARE they compare him to Mammon✋😔)

Unquenchable Wrath CHANGE

The only thing keeping Nightbringer Satan at bay is being inexplicably stoned (same tho😔💅)

My MC got pissed off after a battle, smoked the devil's lettuce(haha funny) and found ✨THE✨ coping skill

Clever and cunning as ever, this MC is definitely terrifying but most of the time just lacks the will to cause chaos

More often than not, someone has walked in on MC and Solomon just bullshitting with each other and dying of laughter when they were "supposed to meet at the arena 10 minutes ago honestly you should know be-"🙄

No fucks to give because if you lecture the embodiment of wrath for too long...well....👀

When Satan first saw MC lose it in his demon form he was embarrassed of them until he got his head out of his ass and realized "oh shit that me" and offered some of his coping skills for when the anger takes over🥺

Jealous Lust

This one's just a call out to everyone reading this including you and especially me for writing it

Don't get me wrong, this MC is a force to be reckoned with

Asmo's charm spell on top of the agility and strength it takes to swing around with chain swords is absolutely terrifying

Nothing to scoff at just cringe sometimes; at least 1 manga on hand at all times, frequent tumblr user, many things posted on AO3🫠

The brothers burst into the infirmary, MC is sobbing

Could feel the disappointment in the air when MC said their waifu/husbando kissed someone in the latest episode

Please touch some grass, Asmo is begging

Lethargic Gluttony

Right up there with Mammon's form as far as intimidation goes

This MC is definitely a glutton but not necessarily to food like Beel is (sex, substances, sleep, games, whatever)

Probably the most similar to their avatar counterpart compared to the rest of the brothers

Imagine having the ability to rain down a storm of hellfire and just not doing it because it's nap time (oh to be that unbothered✋)

MC does still have a few issues controlling their temper when the gluttony gets the better of them

If MC is in a demon form, Beel's might be one of the scariest, but it's definitely the most chill besides its appearance

Infuriated Sloth

In MC's defense, I would also be constantly enraged if I was always tired and forced to do hardcore anime training

Feral attic gremlin energy all over again, definitely takes some sort of stimulant to stay awake and smokes to unwind

The bad attitude mixed with the stimulants is giving nightbringer Satan on crack

Does the literal bare minimum simply because their weapon does most of the work

Not scary from looks alone but a pissed off MC using their Sloth form is deadly

If MC and Belphie were on bad terms before he worships the ground they walk on now (out of fear😈)

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me headcanons #obey me worldbuilding #omswd #obeyme #obey me swd #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me levi #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me asmo #obey me beelzebub #obey me beel #obey me belphegor #obey me belphie

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the-final-sif · 1 year

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Just for anyone in dtblr who doesn't know him:

5up is a creator whose actually pretty close with a lot of people on the dream smp, and he's a really cool guy! He's in/part of Pummel party Saturday w/Badboyhalo, skeppy, Punz (he's actually known Punz for ages, I believe prior to when 5up started streaming), and actually him + his group (crewfu/morning lobby) included Tina for a very long time (Tina has talked about thinking of him as an older brother, and one of my favorite series of interactions is the 5up-Tina marination saga). 5up is also a part of Salad Gang w/Karl, he's done a lot of stuff with George, including IRL bowling that lead to 5up having to wear the DNF skin for MCC Pride. 5up is also friends and plays a lot with Antfrost + Velvet, and they're hilarious together. He also plays Valo with Sapnap + Punz lots of times, among other games when they happen to be in the same places. He's done some gang beasts with Dream in Karl lobbies too!

There's a very small but vocal group of posts that get weirdly gross or act like 5up is somehow anti dteam or anti dream. A lot of this stems from the fact that 5up picks fights with the MCC subreddit, and a fair chunk of the MCC subreddit gets borderline queerphobic about 5up being a more feminine queer man. Speaking of which, 5up is Ace! That same group of people gets real fucking weird about 5up being ace, but also enjoying flirting with his male friends + calling them pretty.

Despite what those people will claim, 5up is actually close with a lot of dteam and surrounding creators, he's a really cool guy, and I'm very excited for him to team with Sapnap. The two of them had a lot of fun together last time they teamed, and they play well together in valo + other events. If you don't know 5up, please be careful about what you repeat about him and don't engage with the people being weird/queerphobic about him.

#sif speaks #dream team #sapnap #dteamblr #5up #5uppps #listen just gonna stick this out there #because there's some people who are fucking weird about 5up and I ain't taking that

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organ-market · 10 months

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Unconventional Detective Games

Return of the Obra Dinn, 2018

The maritime mystery game Return of the Obra Dinn by Lucas Pope is almost entirely subversive for a detective game. Everything in the game from its core premise to hyper stylized presentation, is all ambitious and experimental. Every person aboard the Obra Dinn has mysteriously died and you assume the role of an insurance investigator piecing together the horrific events using a magic watch that delivers to you a front seat viewing of a vignette of each person’s demise. Using these dioramas of death, you are charged with recording the manner of death of each and each crewmember and passenger aboard the ship.

Return of the Obra Dinn and its addictively satisfying detective puzzle gameplay left me hungry for more. Playing the game instilled in me a deep love for a good mystery and a desire to solve them. While I love games like Disco Elysium, which stars detectives as its protagonists, the investigation was never really the point. Moreover, a love for the unconventional detective was entrenched in my heart and as an interactive medium, video games are perfect for aspiring would-be detectives.

Overboard! , 2021

The year is 1935, aboard the S.S. Hook, Veronica Villensy throws her husband overboard under the foggy shade of night. In Inkle’s devilishly clever puzzle/visual novel, Overboard! you have eight hours before reaching the ports of New York and in that limited time you must relieve yourself from suspicion and guilt for your husband’s death at any cost. It’s a sort of anti-detective puzzle about getting away with murder which forces you to learn your fellow passenger’s schedules, plant evidence, and be consistently careful with your language lest your words betray you much later.

The DNA of time loop games such as Majora’s Mask and The Sexy Brutale is woven into the gameplay loop of Overboard! It’s a fairly short game taking around 2-3 hours to finish the story but at the benefit of allowing an immense amount of player agency. There is a wide variety of solutions to evading the mighty hand of justice, you are free to travel around the ship on a whim with no direction from the game itself. The only hint system is visiting the chapel and praying to God which is both cleverly diegetic and hilarious.

The nonlinearity of your objective incentivizes logical thinking and experimentation. The puzzle is rewarding much like learning each map and NPC routines in the Hitman: World of Assassination trilogy is. At first you clumsily trip over your words when Major Singh interrogates you but eventually you can get away with murder in style along with netting some pocket money from the life insurance if you pull it all off just right!

The nonlinearity of each puzzle in Overboard! is incredibly refreshing, it just feels organic and natural. Going achievement hunting in this game is its own little puzzle and I still haven’t figured out some of the little secrets it hides from us. It’s a game I can’t put down and haven’t yet been able to stop thinking about and I really recommend giving it a shot since it’s only $15 and only $6 if you catch it on sale.

Pentiment, 2022

Obsidian Entertainment’s Pentiment was my favorite game of 2022 and enraptured me for long nights as I obsessed over its rich dialogue and gorgeous medieval illumination manuscript inspired art. So much love and research was put into the historical setting, it takes place in 16th Century Bavaria within the town of Tassing is filled with life and character. You play as Andreas Maler, an artist working in an abbey on a hill and whilst attempting to finish your masterpiece, your co-worker and friend, Brother Piero, is falsely accused of the murder of a wealthy Baron who was staying in town. You are sprung into action as you only have a limited amount of time to clear Brother Piero’s name.

You are given a limited amount of time to wander around town, attempting to conduct interviews, deduce motives, and eventually gather enough evidence to bring the culprit to justice. Because of the impending trial, time is ever so precious in Pentiment and you will never have enough time to do everything you want at your leisure. Every moment dwelling on conversation or recreation is time you could have spent digging for answers. In order to pin a suspect you must hone in on what you think is most beneficial for your case like a true detective.

Brother Piero’s freedom is always at the cost of another’s conviction, in Pentiment you must push the blame onto someone else. During your investigations, you find that Sister Matilda, a nun at the abbey, had been assaulted by the late Baron many years ago. This is one of the clearest motives in the game but most physical evidence points in other directions, all the while every nun in the abbey will assure you of her innocence.

Saint John's Eve Festival Bonfire

Convincing the archdeacon (the head of the trial) of Sister Matilda’s guilt is perhaps the easiest of all the suspects to accomplish and Pentiment will not tell you outwardly that Matilda didn’t do it but it doesn’t have to. In a clever subversion, the game never tells you if you caught the culprit in the end. Pentiment, brilliantly, left me to wonder if I made the right choices as the totality of the lethal consequences of my actions weighed on my mind. You can easily convince the archdeacon of someone’s guilt but are you able to convince yourself?

The brutality of the executions should not be understated. You look on helplessly as someone you convicted meets an unwieldy end as they plead, cry, and eventually die. The executioner’s sword rises and falls as it lodges itself into the neck again and again until the head breaks free from the neck. Whether you like it or not, your choices matter in Pentiment and the consequences stare you down with a harsh disposition.

While playing Pentiment I was continually reminded of a line from Rian Johnson’s murder mystery film Knives Out. The titular detective Benoit Blanc (he’s so me by the way) notes that, “...the complexity and the gray lie not in the truth but what you do with the truth once you have it.” The complexity of truth is captured beautifully by Pentiment. In many regards it is a conventional mystery but by weaponizing the player’s need for clear answers it infected my mind for many hours after the credits rolled along with the minds of many others. There are fierce debates and chatter surrounding who really did the killing. Pentiment wasn’t as well talked about as it deserved, with all the games releasing it was overlooked by most. Well, it isn’t exactly for everyone but for the price of $20 it gave me a wealth of dialogue to mull over and wonder about.

Phasmophobia, 2022

A multiplayer ghost hunting spookfest is not exactly what you’d think of when discussing detective games but Kinetic Game’s Phasmophobia is deeply investigative by nature. Intense inspection is at the beating heart of the game with an important twist. Where ordinarily a detective chases after a suspect after the fact, here your suspect is reacting to your every move and can (and will) kill you on a whim. In the game you and up to three other friends venture into a haunted house and gather evidence and clues to determine which of the twenty four ghosts in the game is currently residing in your location.

You and your team will wander out of the safety of your van and into cold, darkened rooms to find clues by checking thermometers, speaking into spirit boxes, and throwing salt all over the floor in hopes of getting the ghost to step in it. Not only can you gather evidence with your camera and UV lights but another layer in your investigation is the behavior of the ghost. Knowing how aggressive each ghost is or how fast it is, is a tremendous asset in your deductive arsenal. The more you know, the more you can whittle the possibilities down until you have your culprit.

But finding the ghost and gathering evidence is just one thing, surviving the ghost is another. Being in the dark and bearing witness to paranormal activity will deplete your sanity and eventually the ghost will target you for a hunt. The front door slamming shut marks the beginning of a hunt, the ghost will manifest physically and chase you down and kill you if you don’t hide in time.

Corpse of my friend, deceased. Moments before I run out of the house in terror.

Phasmophobia is a dangerous balancing act of facing your fears by delving into the darkness in order to find clues and trying desperately to find the ghost type as fast as you can so you can get the hell out of there. The reactivity of the ghost keeps you on edge as you wander the halls gathering data. Speaking into the spirit box may prompt a raspy whisper into your ear or the candle you just lit may be blown out moments after. More interestingly though, is the voice recognition AI that takes advantage of the communication players rely upon. Everything from saying you’re scared to a simple curse word can lead to the ghost favoring you as prey. Even players who stay in the van for too long get targeted by the ghost!

Within Phasmophobia is one of the most unique investigative experiences on the market and definitely a one of a kind multiplayer experience. The comfort of having a buddy to share your terrors with is stripped away when they stop responding to your radio! It’s truly unlike anything I’ve ever played and the developers are constantly updating it, two big thumbs up from the afterlife.

The satisfaction from my first time getting away with murder in Overboard! and the despair when I find out I had the ghost type completely wrong in Phasmophobia are some of my most memorable experiences in gaming! And Pentiment proved to be one of the most well written games I’ve had the pleasure of reading. I sincerely hope you check them out if you haven’t already! They’re all pretty cheap anyway. And once again begging for recommendations in the comments/reblogs so if you know any good, and hopefully weird, detective games let me know! Thanks in advance everyone and I’ll catch you on the flip side :P

-Ghost Emoji 👻

#organmart #om-ghostemoji #writing #video games #video game recommendations #detective games #return of the obra dinn #overboard!#overboard game #pentiment #phasmophobia

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archangel-lucerys · 3 months

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Honest question why people don't like Lucerys? I see greens liking Jacaerys and hating Lucerys áand it doesn't make sense in my head.

I for one don't know why they like jacaerys better, he is the most anti green and pro rhaneyra along with all velaryon boys. to the second lucerys maims him jace is the first one to be protective and immediately at guard, he knows his brother has done fucked up bad, he's the one screaming loudest again to defend lucerys who is extremely quite

At the dinner his first glance is at luke when aemond starts his speech, jace would burn down the greens to keep his family warm

And the fact he wants to fight aemond with daemon tells me he doesn't give two shits about blood and cheese only wants to avenge his brother, this was a huge debate in twitter.

He seems like someone who puts on a very perfect and calm facade, he's the 1st son, and hier so he has to pretend to be more nicer even if he genuinely does not care or wished to be crueler. And contrasting him, lucerys was supposed to be his vulgar and unhinged protector, I mean he kind of was too, but he never got to reach his full potential 😢

As too why they like him I genuinely don't get, they like him so much they think he'd be better off in tg, I'm pretty sure there's a poll it's hilarious

I get why they hate lucerys though, he's the only one whose very much harmed a green, and they hate him because generally people are very angry about his murder, call for vengeance, most already know whats happens and so they believe his murder does not call for blood and cheese or the war even. Its basically "why does this bastard gave this much impact on the story, on the people, why does his death cause such a tragedy when the so called pure blood one's didnt"

#house of the dragon #lucerys velaryon #hotd #house velaryon #luke velaryon #house targaryen #the house of the dragon #lucerys targaryen #lucerys targeryen #prince lucerys #jacerys velaryon #jacaerys targaryen #jacaerys velaryon #prince jacaerys #jace targaryen #jace velaryon #aemond one eye #aemond targaryen #daemon targaryen

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rey-jake-therapist · 2 months

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It's kinda hilarious but mostly sad for me that from the moment I muted the JohnLock tag because I was tired of seeing so-called TLJCers "meta posts" from 8 years ago and was looking in vain for Sherlock fans who had other interests than a non canon ship, I just... Don't see Sherlock related posts anymore? Except for a couple of Adlock and Sherlolly posts, but I don't engage with these ships either so 🤷

I took my Sherlock x OC fic off AO3 because I ended up losing interest. Never did I take off a fic from AO3 after only three chapters! And it wasn't even because it wasn't read: I was actually surprised to see it bookmarked, receive several kudos and even a couple of lovely comments. The kudos were anonymous for most of them but so what. It was nice to see the attention anyways. So it's not a case of "woman bitter because her shitty fanfic wasn't successful". Considering I had only three chapters online, it was a promising start.

Yet, I lost interest because my passion for the show wasn't fed by exchanges with other fans. I mean, I had a few very nice discussions, -I don't want to tag anyone but the three of you I have discussed Sherlock with several times should easily recognize themselves 💜-, but before I muted the JL tag I spent more time scrolling down than anything else. I think it's a shame because there was so much to this show than a ship. With my story I wanted to explore Sherlock's past, uncover a potential trauma caused by something else than Victor Trevor's death, open a discussion about this, about his relationship with his brother, his sister and his parents.... And I KNOW that Sherlock's relationship with John, wether it's considered platonic or not, is very important. I just wish I could find something else to discuss than Sherlock's feelings for X or Y, or his sexuality.

Some could say it's pretty much the same thing for the Hannibal's fandom: there's no doubt that if I muted Hannigram I wouldn't find any Hannigram related posts. Or I'd probably find anti Hannigram posts, ew. The big difference to me is that Will and Hannibal's relationship is at the core of the show. The show is called "Hannibal" but it could just as well be called "Hannibal and Will": even if you don't ship them, take the relationship out of the equation and the show has nothing left to say, like... Literally.

Don't get me wrong, Sherlock without the pair Sherlock/John would probably be crap, but it would still have Sherlock's relationship with his family to cover. And boy there's much to say, imho. While Hannibal has no one else than Will. Will has no one else than Hannibal. That's the story. Also Hannigram is canon. So it makes sense to me that most of the fandom's posts are focused on Will and Hannibal. It hasn't stopped me from starting a pre-Hannigram fic because I'm very intrigued by the professor Lecter had an affair/student Alana Bloom storyline they hinted at in season 2, but I know I won't lost interest in this fandom anytime soon, because I feel fed by it. And this weird/toxic/and yet very romantic relationship between these two weirdos keeps fascinating me, even after four rewatchings! Besides, most Hannibal fans are unhinged which is I must say, a quality I appreciate very much 😁

#Fandom rant #i'm sorry #Sherlock bbc #hannibal tv show #Hannibal nbc #anti johnlock #Anti Adlock #Anti Sherlolly #hannigram #Putting the anti tags here only to clarify it's not a pro shipping post. I don't hate the ships! I'm just not interested in them.#Hannibal series

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olderthannetfic · 5 months

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Getting into a certain fandom and seeing antis bend over backwards to justify their equally problematic ships while putting down others has been hilarious for so many reasons, but the incest debate is my favorite because it's all over the board.

While there is no actual incest, the series leans into SA metaphors for some scenes between the brothers; the manga has a few moments of it, and the anime has one very... notable scene. So, I've seen flat out denial, of course, but also:

"If you think this is incest, then you think sexual assault is romantic."

"Yes, there's metaphorical incest, but you aren't supposed to LIKE it!"

"This was added to the anime for the fangirls, the manga had none of it."

"How can shippers see it as incest and not abuse!? They hate each other!"

The end point is always thinking incest shippers are the devil, but there's just so many different routes there, and so many misunderstandings over the source material and over what incest is that I never know what I'm going to see. It makes me want to get into Hannibal or GoT or the other anti-populated "problematic" fandoms because this is so much dumber than I'm used to and it feels like I'm walking through a circus.

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torturedblue · 10 months

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All my thoughts and theories of this adorable clip:

Guys the soundtrack in the background sounds so good and epic, and I’m so loving the use of hip hop and rap in every trailer. You forget how effective black music is for action movies too considering how little it’s used comparatively. And it’s another thing about this movie that gives off Spider-verse vibes 👏🏽

Oml guys MM Leo is just like 2012 he’s such a dork and he gets all pouty all the time and the way Raph trolls him about it is just like the 2012 duo 🥹

I’m sorry the way Leo smiles so much while reciting that horrible speech??? 😂 like it doesn’t matter what Splinter tells them it is gold that he will gobble up even if it is objectively prejudice

Speaking of which, “I know that’s objectively prejudice but it’s what Dad taught us” line is so relatable to most kids today like yikes what a motto of the 21st century

But it really makes me wonder what Splinter’s backstory is going to be in this iteration considering no other version has hated or had a gripe with the human race as far as I’ve seen. I assumed he was going to be formerly human too, although this clip makes it seem that might not be the case, but if he still is I think that makes his speech to the kids much more interesting and honestly hilarious because if any of us were in his position would we tell them much differently? I mean come on that “they lust to murder that which is different from them” is so spot on. And honestly we already teach kids everything else he said too when it comes to strangers 😂 humans are bad, don’t say hi, humans are everything wrong with this planet, do not interact or you will die 👍🏽

“We wouldn’t have K-Pop without humans!” Wtf he’s so pure ugh

“I’d love to have a champagne brunch with Tom Brady” OMG GUYS HE’S JUST SO PROPER AND DORKY AGH

“Drake! That guy is the GOAT of all time.” I’m sorry did I hear that right 😂 sweet simple Raph ya gotta know what the terms mean if you’re gonna use modern slang

“Guy Fieri seems like a fun hang” ooooh continuing with the Mikey is the cook character trope maybe?

I really think this whole bit here is an interesting way of setting up the mutants vs human premise of the movie with the turtles in the middle of it all. Especially the way Leo recites that anti-human speech so whole-heartedly but also still acknowledges that they all disagree with Splinter about how cool humans are. Especially since they likely keep their own beliefs about it from their Dad, which again, so relatable to kids of old-fashioned parents today

“oOh i’M tHe lEaDeR. You sound like you have bronchitis!” They way they mock and roast him is just too much and too accurate 😂 also I just love their overlapping conversational moments

Other thoughts:

Also I gotta say in these released clips Leo is pouting or anxious half of the time while his bros are always having fun and I just gotta see how much that’s amplified in the entirety of the movie… Like it makes it seems like he must feel some kind of rift between him and his brothers sometimes and I want to see if that’s true

These kids are truly on their own… They at least start off keeping their fondness of humans from Splinter, they still can’t interact with humans either way, they find a group of mutants like them and seem to hit it off at first but then it just turns a whole fiasco where they have to defend humans from them, and at some later point we know when they do interact with/are exposed to humans it does not go well. I’m so excited to see how they tackle that post-climactic depressive section of the movie where the boys are really feeling the weight of all of it. Like, not too many clips have been released and there’s already so much isolation on their end. I’m glad April will at least be one positive outlet for them

#tmnt #ninja turtles #mutant mayhem #tmnt 2023 #tmntmm #tmnt mm #tmntmm mikey #tmntmm donnie #tmntmm leo #tmntmm raph #tmnt movie #mutant mayhem trailer

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breakfastteatime · 1 year

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Alrighty friends, here we go, Breakfast Tea's Battle Scars Review. Putting it under the cut because spoilers, and also my levels of spiciness are at maximum. Lots of swears ahead! I don't tend to write book reviews (hi, unpublished author over here) but, uh, this is for science!

For the record, I have NO IDEA how these tie-ins are commissioned. So, for example, I don’t know if the author came up with the plot and it was okayed, or if she was told “do something with A, B, C and D and make it a book” so I appreciate that she probably didn’t have as much freedom as a fic writer.

Also, yes, I did get to the point where I was skimming chunks of the book, so if I'm factually wrong, feel free to correct me, but know that it won't make me like the book any better because my issues are layered and numerous👍

Also also, this is pretty stream-of-consciousy so go with me, okay?

Finally, there’s *one* spoiler that I’m guessing will tie into the game re: Greez.

Okay, let’s GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Plot Summary (warning, I haven't done a good job summarising it hahahahahahahaaa)

The plot is - the crew go to break into a Haxion Brood base because reasons. While they're there they find a bunch of stormtroopers, one of whom is actually Fret, who wants to defect because she's sick of the Empire. Merrin is instantly attracted to her which, okay, sure, fine, to the point of becoming completely giddy around her. Also, Merrin's been struggling with her powers because of all her trauma from Dathomir (a very good a legit reason but, uh, didn't we do that with Cal in the game ANYWAY AHEM) but DON'T WORRY, SHE JUST NEEDS TO HAVE SEX WITH THE RIGHT PURPLE LADY BECAUSE SHE’S ANGRY AT THE EMPIRE TOO AND SEX WILL SOLVE ALL OF MERRIN’S WOES AND LITERALLY ALLOWS HER TO ACCESS HER MAGICK AGAIN WOO! Oops, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Fret then reveals she's not actually a stormtrooper but used that as a disguise to escape because don't you know it, she's got intel that will lead them to something called the Shroud, which will essentially make anyone who has it invisible. Think cloaking technology from Star Trek. That's the best comparison. So, if the rebels have this, they'll be able to undertake sneak attacks, but if the Empire has it, BAD NEWS. ANYWAY, the crew go to the person Fret’s working with who claims he’s anti-Empire too and he’ll use the Shroud for good and everyone agrees they’ll go get the schematics and bring them to him. Off they go and find said Shroud schematics after Merrin totally gets her powers back after receiving some sexual healing (no, really), only to discover the Shroud’s schematics aren’t written down but are instead secure in Fret's oops-not-dead lizard girlfriend Irei's head... and she's vaguely Force-sensitive because OF COURSE SHE FUCKING IS. Oh and the Fifth Brother is here too because he naturally wants the Shroud and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

The Mantis crew are all totally at odds with each other because it turns out despite living and working together for years they’re all after totally different things but have never said anything until now, which would be interesting if Fret wasn't there being all self-insert OC. And anyway, don't worry, the crew gets over it. Oh, and Greez loses an arm protecting Cal and Cere from the Fifth Brother about halfway through.

Uuuuh what else….??? Oh! Right, Fret’s dealer dude. They realise he’s bad, they defeat him. Boom. Can’t be arsed to go into more detail than that (also I was totally falling asleep reading this part, my bad???).

Fret and her ex(?) get back together (kinda??), leave the Mantis after the whole Shroud thing and the Fifth Brother are dealt with, Merrin opts to not go with them and Fret’s like “Oh, yeah, I see what you have with Cal” and Merrin’s like “??? Cal’s like that with everyone.” Interpret that at your discretion.

OH OH OH and Cere totally goes off to find some Jedi circlet thing that is LITERALLY A VIDEOGAME ACCESSORY USED TO BOOST STATS which is (unintentionally??) hilarious but fuck that it’s so completely lost in the rest of it, as is a lot of Cere’s desire to create a legacy for the Jedi.

The Good!

Hooray for LGBTQ+ representation!

Fight scenes are good when the action is happening.

Cere's characterisation is okay???? Like out of all of them, she feels the most in character... kind of???????? I get her motivation, and it feels fairly close to what I think she's gonna be up to in the next game. But her decision to… wait… sorry, this was meant to be positive. ARGH! Alright, let’s move on…

I really like the concept that, since the end of the first game, they’ve all been on the run from the Empire and the Haxion Brood. Excellent concept! I’m guessing Survivor will give us more.

I also really like the concept that the crew all want different things.

SPOILER!!! Greez loses an arm. This scene was pretty good and believable – Greez wants to save Cal and Cere and he makes a terrible sacrifice to do so.

The Everything Else

👎 Wish that LGBTQ+ rep was in a better written book. I do read romance sometimes (or, more accurately, books in which romance occurs) and I am not opposed to instant attraction. But I like it to be a bit less fire-hose-of-HAWTNESS to the face. It basically feels that Merrin has a week-long relationship with someone in which sex solves all her problems??? There's a lot of stuff in this book about why Merrin can't go to her actual friends with this (she's a Nightsister, dammit, and no one can understand how she feels but Fret is angry like Merrin is, therefore instacrush, lust, sex and AAAAARGH), but wouldn’t it be much more narratively satisfying if the people who support her through her troubles are the ones she has long-term relationships with??? Near the end Cal does become this person to her but it feels a bit awkward. Almost like he’s stepping up because Fret left. 👎 Merrin’s struggles here, while absolutely understandable, feel like a rehash of Cal’s entire journey in the game… except Cal sorts his shit out one way, and Merrin shags her way to better mental health. I mean, get yours, Merrin, but it feels like an odd choice, because… 👎 Fret, Merrin's love interest, feels like such an author self-insert it actually made me uncomfortable. Lady, I don't wanna read your fantasies!!!

👎 The plot doesn’t have room to breathe because there’s too much going on. And while I’m here, the Shroud feels completely universe breaking because while the prototype they wind up making is a fake and becomes a bomb, the fact that Irei designed it to hide herself (she’s Force sensitive, remember??!?!?!) means it could potentially work and literally change the Star Wars universe... But Irei’s a total non-entity in the rest of canon sooooooooo this universe breaking macguffin is pointless, making the plot largely pointless??? Or did I miss something when I got to the skimming part? WHATEVER. The Shroud thing… Aaaah, I’ll get back to that later… 👎 There’s too much authorial voice masquerading as the characters. In other words, I didn’t hear the characters, I just heard the author coming through loud and clear. (and okay, yeah, every time I have a character suddenly be British makes me guilty of this too BUT I like to think it’s not as bad as this. HEY! LET ME HAVE MY DELUSIONS ALRIGHT?!). For example, Cal goes off on this whole *thing* about the Fifth Brother's hat, which doesn't feel like him at all. At no point in the game did he go off about Trilla’s helmet (which he compares the Fifth Brother’s hat to) or trade really petty insults. He has his whole bravado thing going on, but not “dude, your hat looks STOOPID.” Seriously, it’s about a page of him being uncharacteristically cocky and sassy (more on Cal’s characterisation later). This authorial voice tendency makes everyone feel the same, especially when you’ll read one thing in Cal’s POV, move onto Greez’s, and Greez will think the exact same thing. There’s very little differentiation in character voice. The banter is BAD. 👎I'm not saying JFO isn't funny because it has some lovely moments (“Wait, do you have feet?”), but they are light touches. This book's 'humour' is like having an anvil dropped on your head. This is the book where subtly came to die until the VERY end where there’s some nice moments with Cal and Merrin… except it’s ruined by Cal CONSTANTLY thinking about how he needs to protect his family… Which brings me onto… 👎 This book is so repetitive. If Cal referred to the others as 'Family' one more time, or someone else said they wanted to make a dent in the Empire’s hull, I'm not sure my e-reader would've survived. I actually counted btw – pg 77 of my ebook edition has the word family on it 7 times. SEVEN TIMES. The word crops up 39 times overall and once I noticed it, I couldn’t stop. The phrase ‘making a dent’ appears 9 times and again, once I noticed it, I couldn’t stop. Oh editor, where are you?

👎 It’s also inconsistent in its storytelling. For instance, there’s a moment where Merrin and Cere go off on a mission together and Merrin reflects on how well they always work together… and then later on she goes off with Fret and is like “It’s so nice to not be alone for a change!!!” And while this is probably in reference to how her and Cal tend to approach missions from different angles (literally – above and below), it’s one of those instances where something here needed editing – e.g. actually Merrin and Cere have never done a mission together, therefore that’s nice, and so when she goes off with Fret she can be like “wow, twice in one day! I could get used to this!” It’s shit like that made the whole thing so frustrating. 👎The structure is bad. Midway through an otherwise good action scene, the POV character will stop to think for so long they would have been killed. It really disrupts the flow of the battle. The pacing just screeches to a halt. It’s the same whenever the characters reminisce on the events of the game, but I’ll come back to that. Stick a pin in it! 👎 The book also does a several days later flashback that wrecks the pacing. We’re at this moment of tension – they’re about to break into a compound but oh no – the access codes from Merrin’s girlfriend don’t work because GASP she lied about abandoning the Empire! Cue tension! Cue drama! Cue… romance in a ‘several days earlier’ flashback. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH. Honestly, poor, poor Cal the first time he gets to use his own room again. Echoes EVERYWHERE. He’s gonna go as red as his hair every time he looks at Merrin and everyone’s gonna get the wrong idea. Sorry, what was my point? OH RIGHT! Pacing! Pacing BAD.

👎 BEEDEE WUN. Get. In. the. Fucking. Bin. 👎 Speaking of our beloved BD, he is here, but he's referred to as 'Cal's droid' or Cal is referred to as his master, which... no. Absofuckinglutely NO. At one point, Merrin (who presumably has known BD for 2-3 years at this point), thinks of BD as Cal’s ‘strange but cute little droid’. WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?! They are friends. Best friends. Cere, when thinking of the crew, her family, states there are "four and a half people" on the crew. BD IS NOT HALF A PERSON, AND ALSO OH GOD THE HISTORICAL CONNOTATIONS OF THIS ARE SO BAD, HOW THE HELL DID AN EDITOR NOT PICK UP ON THIS?!?!?!?

👎Cal's characterisation is NOT good. He is so inconsistent outside of I MUST PROTECT MY FAMILY. MY FAMILY, THE CREW OF THE MANTIS, WHO ARE MY FAMILY. I WILL DIE TO PROTECT THEM, MY FAMILY, THE ONLY PEOPLE LEFT TO ME THAT I LOVE, THE MANTIS CREW. Which, for the record, works as a motivator for him, but not when it’s done with all the nuance of a sledgehammer to the knees. When Merrin's busy having sex in the engine room (you know, where Cal sleeps, the guy with psychometry), he is initially naive to the point of stupidity. “Oh golly gosh, Merrin’s sealed the door, I guess that means her powers are coming back!” He was on Bracca for 5 years. I think he knows what goes on behind closed doors. When he realises what's happened, he is both totally blasé (the Jedi don’t have relationships so he’s never thought about it), and also jealous in a way that can be interpreted in one of two ways, depending on your shipping leanings. He's either jealous because Merrin is HIS woman (oh, no, sorry, I mean GIRL. Fucking HATE it when adult women are called girl), or he's jealous because Fret is inserting herself into HIS FAMILY, THE CREW OF THE MANTIS, THE FAMILY HE WILL DIE FOR when she’s a lying liar who lies. He’s *so* petty he refers to Fret as a ‘gal’ which, again, UUUUUUUUUUUGH. Oh, and he's seen an echo revealing Fret to be a liar, but he's not going to disclose it to the others because he doesn’t want to hurt Merrin when she’s finally happy and able to use her magick again and yet Fret might be about to kill his family, the crew of the Mantis, the people Cal will literally die for. Because they’re his family. PICK A MOOD, CAL. Actually, wait, I’m not done with what’s been done to Cal…

His characterisation makes me want to weep. He gets annoyed with Cere for wanting to find a Jedi relic despite... the entire... first game... being... about... this... exact... thing????? I think the author was going for “well, Cere wants to create a legacy for the Jedi so their history is not lost to time!” whereas Cal wants to (say it with me!) ‘put a dent in the Empire’s hull’ which, okay, there’s an interesting contrast, but Cal is someone who is inherently linked with the past so why is *this* the conflict between these two? It’s not quite working for me, probably because it’s just not central enough to the plot. If *this* was what we dug into, it would probably work really well. Unfortunately, we’re not here for that.

Cal also says shit like “What’s the problem here, team?” like he’s in middle management.

👎 The book is set somewhere between the two games and is purposefully vague, which *would* work if these characters *felt* like they'd spent years together instead of the author telling us they have. Relationship-wise, it feels like we're maybe a couple of months out from the game because the book wastes so much of its word count going back over events from the game… which happened years ago at this point! My guess is it was written with people who hadn't played the game in mind, which again just makes the pacing suffer. Plus, we’ve got five people who’ve lived together for years (they’re a family, a crew, they love each other like family, they will DIE FOR EACH OTHER!!!!!!), and yet all of them see their mission differently. Y’all have been at this for YEARS but it’s only now that you realise you’re not united?! This would work if we were closer in time to the original game… but years down the line?! And again, this is a GREAT concept! SO much to work with there… except we’ve got sexy purple lady and lizard lady in the way of what could’ve been an amazing character exploration of CHARACTERS WE KNOW AND LOVE. STICK ANOTHER PIN IN IT!

👎 The author struggles to integrate game mechanics into a n ovel. BD-1 will just randomly hand Cal stims because hey, I guess that’s what he does in the game????????? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 👎 The author hasn’t heard of show, don’t tell. Stop bloody telling me that Cal loves his family and show me – give me a scene where they sit down for a meal together. Give me a scene where Cal sits with Greez after he’s injured. ANYTHING that shows me rather than smashes me over the head with one of the 39 uses of the word family.

👎 Cere really randomly refers to Cal as her Padawan when he’s busy getting his arse handed to him by the Fifth Brother. Cal’s honest, he knows he didn’t beat Trilla because he was stronger than her, but this is YEARS later. Has he not gotten stronger in that time? SIGH. Also, Cal might be mentored by her but he’s not strictly speaking her Padawan? Okay, now I’m just nitpicking… 👎 WAIT, ONE MORE! Cal refers to Master Tapal as Master Jaro. That just irritated me.

How I’d Rewrite It

So, let’s take the pin out and examine the lack of character exploration (except for Merrin who we do get to have a good look at in a weird way). The main issue I have with this book is Fret and Irei get in the way of what could have been a really good character-building piece for the five characters we know and love from the game.

So, wanna know how I’d write it? Simplify and FOCUS:

The Mantis crew are infiltrating a Haxion Brood base because they’ve gotten their hands on a precious Jedi relic that the Empire are also after. While there, Cal and the others find the relic but are attacked by the Brood and the Empire. A defector (Fret) finds them and says the Empire is using the Fifth Brother to hunt for the Shroud’s schematics and its inventor (Irei), who’s in hiding. Fret gives them the name and location of the broker who will pay the crew for retrieving the Shroud and Irei – a man linked to the Rebellion known as Luthen Rael. He’ll also give them Irei’s location. While trying to escape, Fret gets shot and killed by the Brood or the Empire or WHATEVER and the crew feel somewhat obligated to carry on with her mission because the Shroud is a double-edged sword. Cere’s hopes of starting her great Jedi legacy have to be put on hold, Merrin’s still worried about her powers because she’s lost and doesn’t know if she’s getting the vengeance she seeks, Greez thinks finally Cal’s going to stop going for bigger and bigger gambles, Cal’s excited to be doing something really important, and BD-1 is happy to see a new world and meet new people. Also, there’s no breaking into anywhere without him, and they need to move fast.

Great, we’ve got our ticking clock – get the Shroud before the Fifth Brother!

However, because the crew’s been run ragged due to being hunted by the Brood for so long, they’re starting to make mistakes and Cal’s taking bigger and bigger risks with little pay out, so the crew goes into the mission at odds with each other. After BD hacks his way into the systems and locates Irei, Merrin gets her to safety. Cal and Greez get hurt when they go up against the Fifth Brother because Cere, convinced she needs to try and save him from the dark side because he too was once a Jedi like Trilla, tries to save him and it backfires horribly. They all manage to escape and get to the Mantis, fall out because they all want different things. They take the time needed to figure that out and reunite, take Irei to Luthen (they get out just in time when the Fifth Brother comes back again), Cal and Merrin fight him off together because Merrin’s got her powers back because she has a purpose again (working for the Rebellion) and off they go to the next adventure.

Your subplots are essentially the same:

Cal wants to stick it to the Empire and help as many people as he can, while keeping his family safe, however he needs to understand that doing this randomly is essentially pointless (which… okay, I have issues with this too but if I go off on that you’re never getting the next chapter of the Big Fic. I’m working with what I got, friends!!!)

BD-1 is just happy to go wherever Cal goes so long as he gets to scan new stuff and slice new systems!

Cere wants to build and protect the Jedi’s legacy by gathering everything she can of their history. She *is* tiring of the seemingly hopeless battle against the Empire and *wants* to put down roots, and she *needs* to be honest with Cal about this (who, once he got over his “you can’t leave me, Cere!” initial reaction would be absolutely fine with this??? HEY, WORKING WITH WHAT I’VE GOT!)

Merrin wants to regain her powers, and she needs to come to terms with the terrible trauma she experienced, but she can do this not through what is ultimately a fling, but by being honest with Cal, Cere, Greez and BD and working through it with her family. You tie it into the plot by having them working for the Rebellion, which means Merrin finally feels a purpose because it’s through the rebels she sees that she’s not the only one who suffered great loss and, like them, she can do something about it. And hey, maybe she hooks up with Irei in a much subtler and less SEXUAL HEAAAAAAAAAAAALING way because she wants to.

Greez wants to stick with his family, but he needs to be honest with Cal and say if they’re going to keep doing this whole kicking it to the Brood and the Empire, they’ve got to be smarter about it.

Basically, by cutting out all the OC bullshit, you focus on the crew we all know and love from Fallen Order without some rando OC being there to FLY THE MANTIS. Get the FUCK out of there! If I didn’t think Fret was a self-insert before, her getting to fly the Mantis sealed it for me.

There is a GOOD CONCEPT buried in the depths of this book. It’s just, y’know, not to my taste.

Alright, I think that does it for now. PHEW! That feels better ^_^

#battle scars spoilers #the spice must flow

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