#sure the series is evolving and maybe that's the direction it will take

[randomnameless]

It's crazy how SoV preluded 3H by making one of the protags have a tremendously contradictory mindset of humanity being better off without gods, while also relying on those same gods to fulfill their goals, the hypocrisy of which goes completely unadressed throughout the game; truly masterful foreshadowing

Who directed FE15?

lol

I've recently tried to think about this "gods BaD" shift in more doylist terms - especially since I've finally played a Squenix game recently and...

FE13 was the FE series last ditch effort, it will either work or end up as the F-Zero series, FE13 worked and FE14 followed suit.

Lolcalisation aside, FE14 had a nice plot and I engaging characters - to some people but not me, different tastes and all - but FE14 and FE13 were still FE games, as in part of the old FE series, aka a niche series. Adding dating sim/interpersonal relationship through avatars might have helped a bit, and yet, imo, it was still the "niche" FE series.

Comes FE15 where we basically have a remake, and can't add the interpersonal thing because Alm isn't an avatar (even if the game spends a lot of time praising his oranges) - how to make the game work? Sure, some weirdo fans of the FE series will buy it, and it was never supposed to sell as much as FE13/14, but if it was a 1:1 remake or just with minor adjustments? It might bomb like the Archanea remakes, and good luck coming after that - will they need another "FE13" to reignite the sales or??

And here I thought about it : FE15 was retconned with the "GoDs BaD" spiel, to make this game more in-tune with what I'd call "traditional" JRPGs where the protagonists often defy a corrupt church and "divine" being.

("Traditional" imo being the Squenix way, because while I didn't play all entries of this series, the Tales series never striked me as being particularly as, uh, vindicative against organised religion, maybe save for Symphonia 1 - Abyss' Church really wishes to help the people even if it is corrupted from within by some dude who doesn't want to let the world die and played by the big bad, Xillia has no church, ditto for Zestiria and Phantasia had Mint and... that's it? - compare this to Squenix's Triangle Strategy and Hyzante being comically EvIl and without any redeeming traits/points when all of the other major parties of the conflict have "token good NPCs" as forced as they are in the game, to make it very clear that they might have done questionnable things like invading and slaughtering civilians from a foreign nation who welcomed them at their wedding, but at least they have "MoRaLs" unlike those bozos in their desert...)

And this "let's make FE mainstream by kicking gods" mentality completely runs at odds with the rest of the FE franchise, and while I know RD basically ends like this bcs "uwu Ike defeated a GoD with the help of another who used the lead of that game as a soul jar and granted him exclusive powers to put her sister to sleep" the morale of RD's story - as seen in the perfect ending but in Ike's speech to Yune itself - is that everyone can and should try to live together, asking Gods not the fuck out to let Humanity alone, but to believe in them just like humans believe in gods.

So FE15 ends as this big, uh, mismatched clash of narrative directions - being a remake it cannot stray too far from the source material and Archanea verse : Dragons and Humans can live together (even if it means dragons must sacrifice part of themselves to do so because fuck them I guess) and dragons can help humans just like humans can, uh, not be asses and not target them because their ears are pointy or when they are weakened...

And we had the new Squenix direction where GoDs BaD and HuMaNiTy fuck yeah, which leads to FE15's hypocrisy : please trust and rely on us Gods/dragons and kindly help us when we're in deep shit, and at the same time "HuMaNiTy FuCk YeAh".

Interestingly, the Squenix direction loses in the post game campaign (the one where we discover Thabes) but is reintroduced in the official (tm) timeline, depicting basically how BaD Duma is and how much of a chad Rudy was, before his very tragic (bring the onions!) death.

But yeah, I agree anon, FE15 was crazy foreshadowing and I guess is part of the reason why Tru Piss has this message "Humanity doesn't need Gods" targeted at... Rhea, aka a Nabatean (while Supreme Leader got there thanks to Sothis' powers!!) because the "Humanity Fuck Yeah" narrative is a staple of Squenix JRPGS, and if FE has to become mainstream, I guess to some devs, it has to copy what sells.

That would also explain why FE16 went so off the rails and forgot the tradition FE series message about coexistence, because what the fuck do you mean by "Humanity doesn't need Nabateans", after parroting for the entire game "Nabateans are to blame for the irrational world we live in" and blame "Nabatean blood" for everything wrong in Fodlan, without ever acknowledging the "evilness that lurks in the heart of men" (who aren't called Dimitri) ?

In a series that, albeit hazaphardly at times (FE8's manaketes feel forced in the lore! and the less is said about Nowi/Panne in FE13 the better we are), tried to push the "coexistence between all inhabitants of the land is the key to peace!" card - this Squenix direction feels all kind of wrong, especially when friendship with the divine beings (dragons) have been a staple of the franchise (Y!Tiki's number of alts, imo, is telling : for better or worse, Y!Tiki is, along with Marth, the figure of the franchise. She is a dragon, and she's a kid who wants to make friends. Sure it brings the loli crowd, but all those dragon children in the different games? They are a direct throwback to Y!Tiki!).

In a nutshell, I'd say the first crack was FE10's writing that made things seem like the Hero defeated a goddess and its subsequent wanking.

But I agree with you anon, FE15's change in direction and retcons were absolutely gunning for that Squenix "GoDs BaD" while keeping the "traditional" FE message which resulted in hypocrisy that showed in the writing but I guess no one really paid attention because FE15 has other issues too (I didn't before happening on FE16... even if I remember wondering why the fuck the game kept on hammering how BaD Duma was when we had people being asses right and left on their own).

FE Fodlan completely ignored the "we can coexist" message - save for subtext you can have where the optional lords who win the war and aren't Supreme Leader can have half/quarter-nabatean heirs through Flayn but her heritage is never ever mentionned in the ending cards - by completely shitting/ignoring the local dragons, they're blamed for everything wrong and don't get their voice to the chapter.

Masterful writing lol

I can't wait for the next game, let it be a remake (pls not Jugdral!!) or a new entry (Engage was developped alongside Fodlan, not after!) to see if IS will continue with the Squenix developments or return to their roots, even if they seem milquetoast, of "humans and lizards can hold hands".

---

NGL anon, during 2020/2021 and the daily "Supreme Leader was right though" threads in SF, I kind of realised that what I took for granted, aka "coexistence between humans and dragons!" being the message of FE in general, wasn't, even in what used to be the most serious board/thing.

FE as a series came to the West through FE7 where Dragons and Humans were at war, but ultimately the cast learns that dragons aren't evil incarnate and the best ending reveals that the big bad went mad because his dragon wife was killed and he tried to reunite with their dragon-human children he hid away for their safety.

So it was kind of surprising to see long-time, or at least not "Fodlan introduced" members of SF parroting the "well they can't live together" by buying the most ludicrous headcanon/fanon arguments you'd find in other series like "different lifespans" - this argument is pretty much non existent in the FE series, and I've never seen it opposed to Miccy's rule in Daien when, as a Heron Branded, she will outlive her citizens, or what, are we supposed to believe that Myrrh shouldn't interact with humans and remain in her forest because she will outlive humans, or is too "different" from them thus wouldn't have the same considerations?

FE13/14 brought the fandom wars of "new fans" vs "old fans", but FE Fodlan? Brought "casual JRPG gamer" vs "FE gamer" which usually boils down to "Supreme Leader fans" vs "everyone else".

Sure, we had the religion hate boner because the dragons in Fodlan verse made a "Church" with catholic imagery which is a deadly sin to some - but the "dragon blood is indeed the reason why everything sucks in the world" being parroted? "Dragons cannot have power over humans because of the sheer inbalance"? What, are you implying Nergal was forced by Aenir to mate with her twice or what? Ninian was oppressing Pherae in the endings where she marries Eliwood, and humans were finally liberated when she died?

Kana is, by nature, someone who will oppress humans because they're part dragon and their blood will bring strife to the world?

So unless IS doesn't fully commit to one narrative - because yes, for all of its flak, FE Fodlan still takes time, when it remembers, to portray Nabateans in a relative positive light when it comes to them as characters and in the general background, it's just that, they're never given a voice when it comes to discussing about the plot - we're bound to have this hypocrisy :

Dragons BaD bcs Humanity Fuck Yeah

and

Dragons and Humanity can coexist and make babies for scalies/monsterfuckers out there because acceptance/diversity is a way for peace.

[xadianglyphs]

The Dragonscale Amulet: Theory

And finally... literally the reason I made this entire blog. Basically, back in March we had this:

Anyway, I dropped literally everything to catalog the entire breadth of writing, runes, glyphs, etc. in the series so far, all in order to figure out what the hell this means. One theory that has evolved in the meantime is that the symbol on the amulet represents an acorn or seed, but I would like to propose another.

First, let's look at the amulet and symbol, themselves.

The amulet is composed of a dragon scale (allegedly, at least... we haven't seen dragon scales separated from dragons anywhere else) that is red, highly reflective (whether naturally or polished after the fact), and about palm-sized. By that scale, it probably comes from a dragon about Pyrrah's size or a little larger, unless it was carved down to a smaller size when crafted into an amulet. The scale is anchored in a gold setting, with a shape and decorations that have a fair amount of similarity to the Staff of Ziard. (Maybe we should have anticipated an Aaravos/Startouch association.)

As for the symbol, accounting for perspective (to the best of my abilities), we have this:

The symbol is etched directly into the scale's surface. Its lines are less smooth than the ones decorating the setting, which could indicate that it was added at another time (earlier/later) with a less precise tool, or just that gouging designs into dragon scales is hard.

In terms of similarity to other symbols we've seen so far, it could come from a similar system as the symbols in Infantis Sanguine. It also has similarities to a primal rune, though the sharp, wide corners are unusual. Either way, I think this is a pictographic symbol representing an item or concept as a whole, not an alphabetic character—this isn't Laurelion personally going around with a blinged-out "L" necklace.

So what could it be? Well, I propose that it's a heart. Like so:

My initial impression had the horizontal top "crossbar" as the pulmonary arteries, and the vertical center line as the aorta/vena cava, but you could also look at the crossing vertical and diagonal lines as dividing the space into the four chambers of the heart. However, I think there's another direction to go with that diagonal, so let's put a pin in that for a moment.

Why a heart? Because there has a sizeable amount of fairly convincing speculation post-s4 that the dark space in Aaravos's chest is either figuratively or literally representing his heart having been removed. @raayllum's are a lot more coherent, but I've also done my share.

I'm sure someone had this thought before I did, if only because I was super late to the fandom. But I had it!

... okay right, back to the amulet.

Aaravos's heart is also a key part of the "Laurelion and Aaravos are the same person" theory, in part because Laurelion's heart is the center of everything we currently know about them.

Laurelion's heart was pierced by either the as-yet-unnamed Novablade itself or a piece of draconic ivory (i.e. a dragon's tooth) that was later forged into the Novablade, after which "immortal Laurelion was no more."

Aside from creating an additional connection between Laurelion and dragons, making the dragon scale of the amulet even more interesting, let's go back to the symbol in light of the whole "pierced" thing.

Now, TDP has a fair amount of Christian symbolism and imagery to it, some purely because of how deeply Christianity is embedded in western culture but some also definitely intentional. Aaravos was initially framed as a Prometheus figure, but it became progressively more clear that he's a Lucifer one—a tempter, a rebel angel, out to destroy creation. They absolutely know what they're doing with things like the *checks watch* 2019 Aaravos birthday post:

So don't think it's completely insane to take that, Laurelion's death[citation needed], and the amulet symbol, and think of this:

Depictions of the Sacred Heart don't seem to usually show the spear, just the wound, but I wasn't raised Catholic so work with me here. (If you want to get even more Catholic, there's also the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which is almost always depicted with a sword piercing it diagonally all the way through because she's... sad? Look, I don't know.) The idea is that it represents the boundless and fervent love of God expressed through the suffering of Jesus, which... whatever.

I do think it's interesting, however, that we are primed to question Laurelion's "death" and concepts of mortality/immortality, death of identity, etc. in the context of Startouch elves because while there's definitely a possibility that an immortal being stripped of their immortality is a punishment, there's also... a lot of cultural precedent for that as a willing gift of love to a mortal/mortals, whether you're looking at Jesus, Castor and Pollux, or Arwen and Aragorn. So we'll see how that plays out.

Anyway, that's my weird fringe theory: the amulet symbol represents Laurelion's pierced heart.

Probably time to worry about Claudia. (As if we weren't, already.)

Bonus:

[thejujvtsupost]

Smitten: The First Date

It’s been way too long since I’ve updated this series and I have so many ideas for them coming up. Lmk if you wanna be added to the series taglist!

Notes: F!reader, first official date, anxiety and jitters, fluff. Just really fluffy.

“Satoru you’re already running late, I’ll be okay here.”

“The kids will understand. Do you want another blanket?” Gojo’s class started three minutes ago and he refused to leave his office until he was sure you were set.

You’d been taking up the couch in his office during the day for the last few weeks, it soothed some of Gojo’s anxiety about leaving you alone now that his energy was rubbing off on you.

You nodded your head and Gojo draped another throw over your body. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too much longer before your leg healed so you could freely walk; maybe then your boyfriend would relax. (Unlikely) “The kids rely on their teacher to be on time, but thank you. We should bring in a space heater tomorrow, how did you get by without having one in here so far?”

“You’re always cold, and it’s not that bad usually but I don’t spend much time in here; too lonely. You know I’m not far and text me if you need anything at all. I’ll see you for lunch?”

“Go be a teacher before Yaga decides to hire someone with better attendance please.”

“Kiss first!” He exclaimed and kissed your lips before pulling away with a ‘mwah!’ sound, leaving you laughing at his cartoonish display.

You just shook your head at him while reigning yourself in, “I’ll be here when you’re done.”

“Are you sure about this, Kugisake? It looks like a lot with the flowers on the table too.”

“Girls love surprises, Sensei. Last time Fushiguro poked his head in she was asleep, this is literally the perfect time.” Nobara was putting the finishing touches on the makeshift dining table, while Yuuji and Megumi plated the food- something they took surprisingly seriously. Really they just wanted to impress you. “You should go get her before the food gets cold.”

Gojo followed the directions given to him by the 15 year old girl and took the short trip down the hall.

You were still sound asleep, and he heavily debated on postponing but the kids were indiscreetly spying on him. He couldn’t back out on it.

“Hey, baby, it’s time for lunch.” He knelt down to your level and rubbed your shoulder until you stirred- he hated waking you up. He hated it a little less when you gave him your half asleep smile.

“Lunch?” The coffee table was empty, usually he brought lunch with him.

“We’re actually going on a little mission, you and I. So up you go!”

“‘Toru! Crutches!” He had you in his arms and out of the room before you could even reach for them.

“Nope!” What did he mean no? How long was he going to carry you?

“Ta-da!” Apparently not long. Your boyfriend sat you in a chair and did jazz hands at the display in front of you- you put together then that it was a date. Your first date.

It was all arranged carefully and the food made your stomach grumble. “‘Toru this is wonderful! You didn’t have to do all this!”

“The kids helped, they’d kill me if I didn’t give partial credit.”

“I kinda figured since there’s three mysteriously floating heads spying on us in the doorway behind you.”

Gojo turned around, shooed them away with only some complaints, before closing the door and returned to your lunch date. “I know our relationship hasn’t evolved in the most traditional ways but I still wanted you to know that I care about the normal stuff too. A lot has been going on but I hadn’t even taken you out yet.”

“I wasn’t expecting anything-”

“I know,” Gojo sighed. “But I pulled you into a world you never knew existed and now you’re stuck with my baggage too. I think you’re doing great by the way, you haven’t even tried escaping.”

“Tried escaping- you’re ridiculous sometimes Satoru. Your world isn’t baggage, I know it can be cruel at times but it’s not all bad. It’s just a different experience, but I feel like I found my place with you all; I’ve never had that before…”

“You always have a place where I am, always.” His tone was serious enough to make your heart feel warm. Sometimes Gojo catches you off guard with how much he cares. His silliness is only one piece of the puzzle that is your boyfriend.

“Well I guess it’s good that I wanna be where you are, always.”

You both smiled at each other, and if you chose to ignore the sets of peeping eyes through the classroom window; then that was between you and the first years.

Prev <- Index -> Next

Thinking about making a request? Check my bio and see if they’re open!

[ronearoundblindly]

Routine and Not yet for Hideout or Fools Rush In Steve :)

Love this mini series/ask thing you got going on. I ADORE the way you write Steve.

Oh. OH. THIS might break me. Oh daaaammmmnnn. But...but...AT WHAT POINT IN TIME ARE WE TALKING ABOUT???

*crisis*

[Younglings, you poor things, I promise to write something for you soon, but this too is MINORS DNI. The prompt is from this dirty ask game.]

Ya know, I think the two Steebs actually have a lot in common (although Fools is way in the future after his Nomad era) when it comes to being deprived of time with his partner--Nomad because he's still a fugitive, and Sketch after he was 'dead' and gone for three months--so maybe they develop similarly? Fools Rush In Steve, however, has been with Keeps for years by then, while Hideout Steve has barely begun to really get to know Tops.

R - Routine

No matter how I think about it, Hideout Steve can't really have a routine. He just has to make due with the random times he's around with reader at the motel. He can't really plan that, and it becomes more dangerous the more he tries to plan because it's somewhere where someone else (people looking for him) would know he'd be. He can't make promises. I think it eats him up inside, but he can't.

Now! Also no matter how I think it through, Sketch would likely only schedule sex to either avoid or take advantage of your cycle. Like if you're trying for kids, then yeah, he'll use all the basal temperature and ovulation monitoring apps in the fucking world. You can wear the stupid watch thing and just point at him when it's time or something. For sure. He can work like that. When duty calls, right?

Not on birth control for a while but not looking to get pregnant? Yeah, he can wait. F.R.I. Steve has just unbelievable control in that department, aided in no small part by immense guilt for how long it took him to come out of his shell and be physically open with you.

He has his spontaneous moments--more and more the longer you two are together,--but he still gets stuck in his head a lot.

N - Not Yet

I don't see Steve Rogers from any universe ever telling his partner not to touch themselves for a certain amount of time or under any circumstance. That just seems cruel, and he wouldn't do it. At very least, it would be for no longer than the time it takes him to set something up, like lighting candles or drawing a bath or setting up a sex swing, idk, just not long.

Steve's the type of man who would tell you to let him know every time you want to touch yourself or do touch yourself. That is...really great for him. He would also turn beet red at how frequently you let him know that, but he ain't gonna stop ya.

Hideout Steve--it's no secret--he needs to work on his own orgasm control. He's really overwhelmed very quickly, and the battle is sorta half-come-as-much-as-possible until his tolerance for stimulation tapers off and half-train-him/himself-by-edging.

All I know is a frustrated Steeb is a sexy Steeb, people.

If you don't believe me, welp, too fucking bad, I'm the writer. 😏

FRI Steve would need a lot of direction in terms of what the point of orgasm delay or orgasm denial is. In his mind...just why?? It's not as if it doesn't take a decent amount of time to get you both to your ends? It's not like he skips over foreplay? Why then would you be a jerk about or prolong a perfectly good love-making? (If you don't know this, Sketch is still very limited in his dirty vocabulary. His actions have evolved exponentially, but under zero circumstances--not even torture--will that man ever refer to your, or anyone else's, genitalia as a 'pussy.' I have pitched a tent near a stream on that hill; I am not leaving unless in a coffin.)

We have established, I believe, in both universes, that Steve Rogers enjoys begging in the bedroom. Very much. He doesn't overdue it. He's not mean about getting it from you. He just doesn't mind begging for himself and certainly doesn't mind hearing you beg.

The end. No delays lol.

Thank you for asking!

[Main Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

A/N: Okay, good news: I didn't die inside as much as I thought I would. Hope you still like it though!

[adobe-outdesign]

Sentret line review

Sentret's one of those Pokemon that isn't talked about all that much, but is pretty cute. It's a completely abstract animal, kind of like a meerkat crossed with a flying squirrel/tanuki, with a series of rings being its primary visual focus.

Visually, I like how the central ring is paler, which helps it to stand out against the darker browns of the body. The little ^ mouth is pretty cute, and the tail helps get the idea of it being on watch across. Adorable!

Sentret's biggest issue is really just that it's not that memorable—the brown color looks nice but doesn't stand out that much, and the surveillance idea is fun but not really built upon. If it had a different evo that really doubled down on that theme, I think it might've stood out more in the long run.

Speaking of evos, I misremembered this line as Furret evolving into Sentret rather than the other way around, which goes to show you how much of a sense of progression is here (that being none). There are visual elements between the two—the stripes, the nose-less face, the colors—but they ultimately feel like two unrelated 'mons slapped together in the early beta. Alternatively, I could see them being a split evo to a single pre-evo of some kind.

But as a regular evo? Furret doesn't really build on any of Sentret's themes, so you just end up with a pretty mundane 'mon—especially as it's not even a fantasy animal anymore but very clearly a ferret.

Now don't get me wrong, I do still like Furret for one reason: it's heckin' cute. I do like the patterning of the stripes a lot, its little face and whisker-like markings are perfect, and it just looks very cuddly. I don't think the tips of the ears quite fit with everything else, but aside from that, there's nothing wrong with it visually aside from just being fairly plain and forgettable.

My suggested fix would probably be to do a regional form for these guys. The Zigagoon line (i.e., the other racoon-turned-elongated-creature-line-with-distinct-patterns line) did this with fantastic success, and I think it could work well here to spice things up.

I'm not entirely sure what you could do with these guys, but the rings almost remind me of a target, and Furret's shiny is this lovely pinkish-red that really pops nicely. Maybe a regional could be a poison-type that entices other Pokemon to hit them, poisoning their predators when they come into contact with them? Idk, just spitballing, but the point is these guys could use something. An evo's not out of the question either, though these two are already so disconnected that it's hard to figure out what direction you'd take another stage.

Anyway, overall: I love how cute these two are, and Sentret's a fun little mystery animal, but the two stages don't feel connected and they don't manage to stick out much. Here's hoping they get something in the future.

[rawliverandgoronspice]

Random interesting concept? What if the Sheikah had been on Ganondorf's side initially, and that's why he's featured so heavily with Eastern weaponry and style of clothes. Bonus: What if it lowkey between the lines implies Ganondorf's paternal line being of Sheikah descent? Could also explain why the Sheikah weren't featured in the past, nor even mentioned. Bonus: If the Zonai were to have been slowly evolved into Sheikah, it could also have been an interesting view of the passage of time, and maybe the Sheikah rebelling against their ancestors and the dying race of the Zonai, by standing against Rauru. Maybe show the Sheikah as being against a ruling class, rather preferring to be free. Them viewing Ganondorf as the person to give them their freedom, no matter how bloody it might end up being, because they'd rather die than to submit to a King and Queen, no matter how #benevolent. Extra bonus: Would have been interesting to then show the Yiga as not being Sheikah who forsook Hylia, the Hylians and their royal family, but to actually returning to their roots as being against the oppressive force of a Kingdom.

Ohhhh that's a super interesting theory. Ganondorf being half-sheikah is such a juicy idea, all of these asks coming in with banging HCs about Ganondorf's origins!!!! I feel very blessed.

Yeah, you're right that it is pretty strange sheikahs are completely absent from the past. I did attribute this to the chronic thing of TotK taking sheikah space and feeding it back to zonai influence and kind of didn't even consider this is indeed strange in-universe since Sheikahs are still technically a thing (though removing the Goddesses and their divine role as servants of the Royal Family does make them much more regular guys than before, so, I think the game was okay to erase their importance and the role they usually play in the series, in spite of Purah coordinating everything).

It would be a very interesting twist for sure! In general, I really wish they had done more with the sheikahs and Fake Zelda in particular. Like having Fake Zelda slowly but surely hush them in the direction of becoming another branch of the Yiga as they increasingly question the validity of her orders while not actually daring to oppose the princess' commands. Would have been pretty interesting and tense, and I think keeping them only as archeologists whose discoveries never make them question anything is a little bland and even a little sad in my opinion.

[halcyon-witness]

@deathbycoldopen mentioned you on a post “I find it funny that so many people have pointed...”:

@halcyon-witness Thirteen’s defining trait was that she was constantly running away—from her companions and herself—which was precisely because she thought she’d known everything she’d done but she didn’t! and the flashbacks to Jo Martin’s Doctor show that Division was //militant// and inflexible and deadly, exactly what the Doctor runs away from within themself across all the recent regenerations.

​I don't want to blow up your notifications bc of reply character limit so putting this here as a post.

I do want to rewatch Thirteen's era sometime soon (there are in fact a lot of things I like about it) and I'm sure my opinion on this has room to evolve but my frustration is largely about framing. I'd generally argue that we as an audience can see the Doctor's hypocrisy during that era, but it's incredibly rare that it's actually framed as such. And I know that “framing” can be a pretty subjective argument but in this case I always felt that the Doctor's worst actions (outside of the domestic/interpersonal) were universally reinforced by their companions. 

Even when they initially disagreed, they always learned the same lesson about the Doctor's wildly irresponsible "pacifism" being right in the end, starting with the bizarre gun scene in The Ghost Monument and never really evolving from there. The end of Arachnids in the UK is an absolute horrorshow framed as “doing the right thing.”

Her contrast with the Fugitive Doctor was the only time I really felt the writing displayed any awareness of these flaws but I don’t think it actually amounted to anything in the text. That series ended with the Doctor handing off the trigger for the destruction of Gallifrey to someone else, and maybe we're supposed to take something more complex from this, but I can’t watch that episode and see it as being portrayed as anything other than a major moral victory. The music, the performance, the scenes that follow it… none of them point toward anything near a recognition of the Doctor’s flaws.

I don’t think Series 13 really did anything to reckon with this through the Division storyline or the Timeless Child. I think any mechanisms we have for understanding how the writing judges the Doctor’s actions (mostly through the characters closest to them but also how scenes are presented on a technical level) throughout that era point in the direction of being shockingly uncritical. In her later episodes we saw some of how the Doctor hurts herself and her companions by always “running away,” and in interpersonal contexts we actually got to see it as a tragic thing, but I personally can’t see at all that that awareness was ever extended beyond that. Maybe you can argue that it’s not the show’s responsibility to explicitly tell us right from wrong but neither RTD or Moff seem to have that much trouble with writing a flawed Doctor whose flaws aren’t ignored or glorified (a point where I'm sure plenty of people would disagree with me but I think it's true).

[natlacentral]

Avatar: The Last Airbender star sets record straight after fury from fans over ‘sexism’ row

One of the stars of Avatar: The Last Airbender has cleared up speculation about his character following fury from fans over the apparent removal of ‘sexism’ from his storyline.

Almost 20 years ago, an animated series about an individual with the power to harness the four elements was released, introducing the world to the titular character Aang, as well as fan-favourites including Katara, Sokka and Zuko.

Netflix is now launching a brand new live-action version of the action-packed tale, with Ian Ousley joining the cast as Sokka, the leader of a water tribe who joins Aang on his mission to try and end a war that’s been raging for 100 years.

Metro.co.uk recently had the chance to speak to the members of the cast, and asked Ian about the debate that’s recently been sparked about Sokka, after it was claimed that ‘the element of how ‘sexist’ his character was in the tale had been taken out.

Many fans were angry about this claim, as they argued that Sokka’s sexism is a key aspect of his character development, as he eventually ‘learns how stupid his sexist views were’.

When asked about this topic of conversation among fans, Ian stressed that fans who fear any drastic changes should not be ‘worried’.

‘I think that the essence of the character that Sokka is, is 100% the character that is portrayed in the live-action version of the show,’ he said.

‘I think the fans are a little worried that there’s going to be changes in who Sokka is, and I don’t really think that’s been the case at all in our show.

‘Obviously it’s different from an animated show to a live-action in those ways, but the heart and soul of the animation show is the breath that we’re all playing into.’

The 21-year-old continued, outlining how Sokka’s attitudes do evolve as time goes on.

‘I think that we’ve turned those in different directions in the way that… we can’t fit every single arc of every single thing from the animated show. But the essence of him is still there,’ he stated, as his fellow cast members Gordon Cormier, Kiawentiio and Dallas Liu nodded in agreement.

‘He’s an overprotective older brother, and that’s kind of shown in the way that he doesn’t really trust Katara maybe at the beginning, feeling like he’s the in-charge guy of Southern Water Tribe.

‘[He] definitely still gets humbled in ways and learns that women can be powerful. I’m just excited for people to watch it and get their own take on that particular thing that I know that people are worried about.’

During a recent interview, Kiawentiio, 17 – who plays waterbender Katara, the sister of Sokka – said: ‘I feel like we also took out the element of how sexist [Sokka] was. I feel like there were a lot of moments in the original show that were iffy.’

Ian had also told Entertainment Weekly that he wanted to make sure that Sokka came across as ‘funny’, adding: ‘There’s more weight with realism in every way.’

In response to the remarks about Sokka’s demonstrations of sexism and how that might have changed for the live-action series, an X user called @WellHiddenKai stressed that Sokka’s sexism is an ‘intentional character flaw that the show acknowledges’.

Another fan going by the handle @TheViewFromMyR1 added: ‘Sokka’s misogyny early on not only led to extraordinary character growth, but also made every subsequent female fighter seem even more impressive by contending in a world where sexism is so prevalent.’

Avatar: The Last Airbender is due to premiere on Thursday February 22 on Netflix.

[felixcloud6288]

Higurashi: Festival Accompanying Recap

And with this, the story is concluded.

As the final arc, Festival Accompanying needed to make sure to answer every remaining necessary question. Going into this arc, we know Takano is responsible for Rika's deaths, but we don't know her reasons. We also need to know how the Irie Institute ties into this and whether or not the series of murders leading up to June 1983 has any connection to Takano.

Back in Atonement chapter 6, Takano said the series of murders were either people, curse, or coincidence. And we could probably say it's actually all three. Every death had something to do with Hinamizawa Syndrome (curse), almost every one of them just happened to fall on the Cotton Drifting (coincidence), and they each had a greater story beyond just the deaths themselves (people).

At the end of this arc, a miracle happened because everyone believed and everyone worked together to make it happen. The first half of this arc showed us how every character came to be involved with this story and the second half is about how they worked together to finally achieve that golden miracle ending where no one dies and no one has to be the loser.

Festival Accompanying doesn't fully answer every question and there are several loose ends, particularly with respect to Nomura and Tokyo in general. But a story doesn't need to answer every question and resolve every thread to be a good story. This is a story about Rika attempting to defeat an organization trying to kill her. The lead-up to that conflict is relevant, but after that is not nearly as important.

Maybe Nomura's involvement will be discovered. Maybe Hinamizawa Syndrome will be eradicated. Maybe Satoshi will recover. These are all things I'd like to know happen, but they're not central to the core story.

And similarly we're not given the full details about certain aspects of the story, particularly the divine and supernatural elements. We know Hanyu's backstory and how she became a god, but we don't know the full extent of what she is. Are there other gods and if so, do they have any involvement in this? Is Frederica Bernkastel a god or a side effect of Hanyu's power? Was there actually a god testing Miyoko or was everything just coincidence?

I know there are series like Umineko and Ciconia which expand on the greater world Higurashi takes place in, and there are a few direct sequels to Higurashi itself so these questions might have answers to them. The point is it's fine for a story to not explain every last detail. If you ask me, the best stories are the ones where people like me can pretend to be really smart and clever by finding parallels and themes that aren't really there and trying to find meaning in meaningless things.

This is the third arc Karin Suzuragi provided the artwork for. I had to make a graph showing the sheer difference in volume between her involvement vs everyone else's. Apologies for how sloppy it is; I didn't properly label it. The first bar is the number of pages by Karin Suzuragi, the second is Hinase Momoyama, the third is Yutori Houjyou, and the fourth is everyone else.

As you can see by this graph, Suzuragi drew more than twice as many pages as Momoyama or Houjyou, and in fact drew more than both of them combined. Overall, Suzuragi probably drew about 45% of the entire series.

And Suzuragi's artstyle definitely changes over the course of this series. I don't know how best to describe it but I want to say that Abducted by Demons felt more loose in how everything was drawn while Festival Accompanying had a generally tighter feel to it. I also felt like the cast in Atonement looked slightly more cartoony than they did here. I don't have any background in art design or anything like that so I really can't explain this properly. She also added more detail into backgrounds over time. I'm just trying to say that this series is a time capsule to how Suzuragi's drawing methods evolved over a six year period from 2005 to 2011.

I'd say her artstyle even changes drastically over the course of Festival Accompanying. One particular effect I enjoyed during the latter chapters was using a light filter over certain dramatic scenes like when Tomitake refused to talk to Takano in chapter 29 or when Shion was asking Irie if she can visit Satoshi in chapter 31. And somewhere between chapters 19 and 24, they way she draws several characters seems to shift to a degree. The most obvious thing I noticed was that she drew womens' breast in a very ridiculous fashion earlier in the arc but by the end of the series, they were drawn in a more relaxed way. Also, Okonogi's ears seem to grow longer over time.

The one thing that seemed to stay consistent throughout the series was the way she drew hands. Suzuragi tends to draw fat fingers and the characters hands are always a little too big whenever they're clenched into a fist.

For my favorite panel of the arc, I want to give it to this one:

The artwork of the whole arc uses a fair bit of light and shadow. The first half of the story generally uses darker tones than the second half does. This scene is on the cusp of that transition. The sun is shining brightly and Ichiro sees two children playing in the brightly lit field. Before this, the entire scene was just gloomy. Overall, this panel is still on the dimmer side of when it comes to overall shading, but we're starting to see things become brighter.

Also, I really like the work that went into making the background.

With that one out of the way, I want to also give some other panels I really liked because I REALLY liked how lighting was handled through this arc.

Now for the final instance on the summary of mysteries, characters, and history.

Bold text is new info.

Character Info:

Keiichi Maebara: He moved to Hinamizawa three weeks ago. He was a generally average student but excelled when he started cram school. However he became frustrated and his father decided to move to Hinamizawa after some things happened. The stress caused Keiichi to assault little girls with a toy gun, causing one girl to suffer serious eye injury.

Rena Ryugu: Birth name “Reina”. She had moved out of Hinamizawa when she was younger. At some point she assaulted three boys with a bat and smashed every window in her school. In her psych evaluations, she frequently talked about Oyashiro-sama as if she is possessed by it. She moved back to Hinamizawa a year ago. Her mother had an affair and left Rena and her father leading to her behavior and decision to rename herself.

Mion Sonozaki: Leader of the group’s after-school club. She has several misdemeanors due to her actions during the village’s protest against the dam project. She’s the heir to the Sonozaki family and lives with her grandmother. She has a demon tattoo on her body. She was born as Shion Sonozaki but was forced to become Mion when she was given the demon tattoo.

Satoko Hojo: Related to the second and fourth set of victims. She and Rika live together. She had a bad relation with her step-father to the point she falsely accused him of abuse. She relied heavily on her brother when they were living with their aunt and uncle. She believes herself cursed because she had damaged the statue of Oyashiro-sama a few years ago. Satoko once had L5 Hinamizawa Syndrome which may have caused her to kill her parents in 1980.

Rika Furude: Related to the third set of victims. Rika is the head of the Furude family which is one of the main houses of Hinamizawa. She’s in charge of the priesthood. Rika is believed to be the reincarnation of Oyashiro. She has the power to see the future and foresaw the murders as well as her own imminent death in 1983. She’s able to communicate with Oyashiro and has been aware of the repeating cycle of events. She has existed for about 100 years. Rika has been repeating the timeline for 100 years trying to survive past June 1983. She is a descendant of Oyashiro and is the only person who can see Hanyu.

Shion Sonozaki: Mion’s twin sister. Shion lives in Okinomiya with their parents. She’s the manager for the Hinamizawa Fighters baseball team. She loved Satoshi and has been trying to uncover the truth of the series of murders after he vanished. She was born as Mion Sonozaki but was forced to become Shion when her sister got the demon tattoo.

Hanyu: Known as Oyashiro-sama. Hanyu is a spirit who only Rika can see and interact with. Hanyu is responsible for the recurring cycle in 1983 as she lets Rika jump to an alternate timeline whenever she is killed. Long ago, she offered herself as a sacrifice so that her people and the people of Onigafuchi could live in peace. She became the guardian deity of Onigafuchi as a result.

Curaudo Ooishi: A detective with the local prefecture who wants to figure out the cause of all the deaths. He suspects a group within the village is behind the deaths. The villagers call him Oyashiro-sama’s messenger because he’s interacted with every victim prior to their deaths. He has dealt with the Sonozakis in the past and has a scar because of it. He was friends with the dam project manager.

Jirou Tomitake: A photographer who visits Hinamizawa several times through the year. He died by scratching out his throat. Jirou Tomitake is not his real name. He works as a liason between Irie Clinic and “Tokyo” and was killed as part of Takano’s plan.

Miyo Takano: A nurse at the local clinic. She’s interested in studying the doctrines of Hinamizawa. Takano faked her death as part of Operation Apocalypse. She is the mastermind behind Rika’s murder and the Great Hinamizawa Disaster. She was originally born as Miyoko Tanashi but was later adopted by Hifumi Takano. She swore to make his research on Hinamizawa Syndrome be known to the world. She was manipulated by Nomura to enact Operation Apocalypse when her research was going to be discontinued.

Kyosuke Irie: The main doctor of the Irie clinic. He is also the coach to the Hinamizawa Fighters. Irie is secretly studying a localized disease called Hinamizawa Syndrome. Research was originally directed toward use in bio-warfare, but has since transitioned to treatment study. He was framed as the killer as part of Operation Apocalypse and was killed and his death declared a suicide. Irie is driven by a desire to study effects caused by changes in the brain after his father became a violent man after a head injury.

Zouen Okonogi: Leader of a task force called the Wild Dogs. They work under Takano and provide services such as espionage, sabotage, and disposal. Okonogi was behind the kidnapping incident 5 years prior and is working with Takano to complete Operation Apocalypse. He's secretly working for Nomura during Operation Apocalypse

Satoshi Hojo: Satoko’s older brother. He used to be part of the after-school club. He disappeared a year ago. Prior to his disappearance, he started carrying a bat and practiced his swinging. He also became distant from the club. Satoshi may have been the one who killed his aunt. It was believed that he had been saving money to buy Satoko a doll, but then he withdrew the money and vanished on her birthday. However the doll Satoko wanted had been purchased that day. Satoshi bough the doll he'd been saving u for, but Irie was forced to put Satoshi under an indefinite treatment when he entered L5 Hinamizawa Syndrome. He is currently in the Irie Institute.

Mamoru Akasaka: A police officer from Tokyo. He came to Hinamizawa in 1978 to investigate a kidnapping case. Rika warned him to return to Tokyo and later told him about the imminent series of murders and asked Akasaka to save her. Akasaka heeded Rika’s warning and would return to Hinamizawa in 1983, but he did not help Rika. Akasaka works in the Special Investigations Division and discovered funds were being laundered through the Irie Institute. He came back to Hinamizawa to investigate and repay Rika for what she did for him.

Nomura: Someone from Tokyo. Nomura is likely not her real name. She approached Takano with a false offer to help her and convinced Takano to go through with Operation Apocalypse.

Village details:

Hinamizawa was originally known as Onigafuchi. The residents were believed to be descended from demons and the nearby villages offered tribute out of fear.

Oyashiro-sama is believed to be a god who gave the demons human form so they could live amonst humans

After the war, Mion’s grandfather, Souhei Sonozaki, used black market funds to bring great prosperity to the village.

There are three main houses in Hinamizawa: The Sonozakis, the Kimiyoshis, and the Furudes.

The villagers have a strong sense of unity and will work together to cover up any crimes a villager has done. However, this has allowed someone to slip into the village and commit murders unimpeded.

Because of their mistreatment of the Hojos during the Dam War, the village has had a lingering sense of fear that someone is always watching them. However, that has been broken thanks to Keiichi’s actions.

There is a localized parasitic infection that can induce a sickness called Hinamizawa Syndrome. Symptoms tend to be heightened when infectees leave the village or are under extreme stress.

Onigafuchi was originally visited by Hanyu's clan who are notably not human. The existing villagers and Hanyu's clan were constantly hostile to each other. Hanyu ultimately offered herself as a sacrifice to bring peace to the village.

Murder Mystery details:

Since 1979, someone has died each year during the Cotton Drifting Festival.

The first death was the director of the Dam Project. He was murdered and dismembered by several people. The person who took the right arm is still at large. was abducted by the Irie Institute and dissected to find the pathogen responsible for Hinamizawa Syndrome.

The second death was Satoko’s parents. They fell off a cliff. The wife’s body was never found. Satoko may have actually pushed them off the cliff while she was suffering from L5 Hinamizawa Syndrome.

The third death was Rika’s parents. Her father died of an illness and her mother drowned herself in the swamp. Her body was never found. Rika is certain they were killed by “Tokyo” to continue their research. They were actually killed by Takano and Okonogi when Rika's mother wanted Rika to no longer be involved in their research.

The fourth death was Satoko’s aunt. She was beaten to death. Satoko’s brother Satoshi also went missing around that time. While a drug addict had been convicted for the murder, it may be possible that Satoshi was the actual killer. Satoshi killed his aunt and it caused him to enter L5 Hinamizawa Syndrome. Irie took Satoshi into the Institute for treatment and had the Wild Dogs frame someone else as the murderer.

The fifth death was Jirou Tomitake. He clawed out his throat after apparently being attacked by several people. He was killed by Takano as part of Operation Apocalypse.

Every death has a pattern of one discovered death and one missing person. People in the village refer to the disappearances as the person being “demoned away”.

The villagers refer to the series of deaths as Oyashiro-sama’s curse due to the connections to the dam project. However, each new victim is less and less connected to the project. Tomitake had no connection at all, and Ooishi suspects the murderers are just targeting outsiders at this point.

Oyashiro-sama’s Curse and other mysteries

Rika Furude was found disemboweled outside Furude Shrine. She was killed by Takano to as part of a plan to inflict a “curse” upon the village

“Tokyo” killed all the residents under the belief that Rika’s death will drive the villagers insane and to cover up their research into Hinamizawa Syndrome. They covered up the mass murder by pretending it was due to a gas eruption.

Rika has lived through the series of murders multiple times. However, she did not foresee the destruction of the village.

Many relatives to the villagers went mad after the disaster and several died under mysterious circumstances.

The village was closed off for 20 years after the disaster.

Onigafuchi swamp was sealed with concrete early in the containment, supposedly to seal the poison gas.

As part of a political power grab, Nomura manipulated Takano into forcing Tokyo to use her emergency manual to prevent a mass outbreak of Hinamizawa Syndrome. The plan was to kill Rika to get the approval of Tokyo to kill everyone in the village. The operation would be covered up by claiming the villagers died because of poisonous gas erupting from Onigafuchi swamp.

Thanks to the help of her friends and several others, Rika was able to stop Nomura's plot.

The World as a whole:

Hanyu is Oyashiro. She is able to functionally rewind time by taking Rika to parallel timelines whenever Rika is killed.

Each timeline is governed by the Three Rules. However, Rika’s actions have broken the Rules going forward.

Who knows what happens next?

Operation Apocalypse: Tokyo:

“Tokyo” is an organization of influential figures. They’ve been funding Irie Institute to research Hinamizawa Syndrome.

One aspect of the research states Rika acts as the Queen Carrier to the disease and her death will cause everyone in the village to go insane.

If necessary, “Tokyo” has an emergency protocol to kill all the villagers in order to cover up the research.

Takano led Operation Apocalypse to force “Tokyo” to have to use the emergency protocol. She and the Wild Dogs killed Rika and framed Irie for all the murders than happened.

Takano’s motivation is to become Oyashiro by performing a grand action that people would call the curse of an angry god. The motivations of any of her affiliates in “Tokyo” are unknown.

Takano originally had Tokyo's support in her research on Hinamizawa Syndrome thanks to Koizumi. The research originally was focused on military applications for the disease.

After his death, his faction decided to pivot research into treatment and wanted to cover up their research into bio-warfare.

Other factions within Tokyo saw Hinamizawa Syndrome as an opportunity to destroy the influence of Koizumi's faction. They plotted to force Tokyo to have to destroy Hinamizawa and destroy their influence because of it.

back

[mrultra100]

Ultra's Ramblings- Pokemon Legends: Necrozma

As of me writing this, we’re only one week away from the recently-announced Pokemon Presents presentation, along with the Nintendo DIrect Partner Showcase airing tomorrow. Given how the Switch is basically nearing the end of its lifespan, part of me has a sneaky suspicion that the next console could be revealed at this Partner Showcase. The reason why any of this has anything to do with Pokemon is because after the way Scarlet and Violet ended with its last wave of DLC, there might be anymore big main series games planned for the Switch… or any major 1st party titles at this point. After 7 years of chugging along, it kinda feels like the Switch’s run is almost over.

Now that we’re possibly seeing the end of the Switch, it might be possible that the next Pokemon game being cooked up by Gamefreak could be the first one for whatever this new console could be. Now, it should be absolutely stated that I feel like TPC and Gamefreak should really slow down on their development. People have already been through this. This is the largest media franchise in the world that we’re talking about, they’re already making loads of money, and they really shouldn’t rush these damn things out without taking some more time in the oven. 

If there’s only one (and I do mean one) idea that, despite how both parties have been guilty of rushing the Pokemon games out, I want the Pokemon Company and Gamefreak to make and give more time towards… it’s this

Given how Pokemon Legends: Arceus was one of the more beloved titles in the franchise’s recent memory, it’d make sense for fans to ask for another game like it to evolve on the concepts presented in Hisui. Plus, we haven’t seen either the Ultra Beasts or Ultra Space in a while, so it’d be a great way to bring those two aspects of the greater Pokemon multiverse back.

Now, a Legends game set within Ultra Space isn’t the most common idea for a sequel game, since people have also asked for games set within ancient Johto or Unova, along with how a setting this futuristic and alien wouldn’t fit with the whole gimmick of the last game (I.E. going back into the ancient past to a time where people aren;t used to catching and being around Pokemon). However, using the Ultra games from Gen 7 allows some insight that could help as a work around.

The various dimensions of the Ultra Beasts seen so far are hostile, untamed, and largely unexplored beyond the areas that the player can go in USUM. That sounds just like how the different areas of Hisui were in Arceus

The Ultra Recon Squad have stated that the idea of using Pokeballs is new to them, similar to how the people of Hisui were only starting out with them as well.

With all of that said, I’ve been thinking of ideas and mechanics that this game could not only take from Arceus, but also some improvements from it as well. I’m not sure if a future Legends game could do some of the new ideas presented here (Hell, that extends to future mainline Pokemon games in general), but the thought is nice.

Parts of the Ultra Recon Squad being split into two separate teams (Similar to the Diamond and Pearl Clans from Arceus)

Have the player be an actual character with a story arc and a personality, instead of being a blank slate (Maybe someone like Lillie or some sort of descendent of hers joining the Ultra Recon Squad?). And that could be extended to the story being written better and more involved

Give quite a few UBs their own Ultra Burst forms, just like with Ultra Necrozma. Alongside that, have them be boss battles in the same manner as the Nobles from Arceus, along with the Totem Pokemon from Sun and Moon (And those were already ‘Mons filled with energy from the Ultra Wormholes, so why not?)

Either have the starters be Ultra Variants of already-existing Pokemon, or have them be Poipole and Naganedel (along with two new starter lines to round out the trio)

Have the Pokedex be a mix of Ultra Beasts (The 11 that we already know, alongside a whole bunch of new ones), Ultra Variants of existing Pokemon (Probably “UVs”?), and some regular Pokemon that could be found within the Ultra Wormholes (USUM already made that canon. And maybe a good chunk of returning Pokemon could be Ultra Variants)

Have a level-scaling system present. Any of the area could adjust to the level of a player’s team, from literally just getting their starter, all the way to having a late-game team of fully-evolved ‘Mons

Bring back abilities, along with expanding on them for the Ultra Beasts so they don’t just have Beast Boost as their only ability

Probably make the Z-Crystals like the Plates from Arceus, not only having them play out their original purpose of letting the player do Z-Moves, but also play a much more important role, gameplay-wise. Also have the Z-Moves act faster and more like the Agile and Strong Style moves from Arceus

Have Ultra Wormholes act in the same way as the Time-Space Distortions from Arceus, bringing in Pokemon from other parts of the game that aren’t normally found in the area that the wormhole popped up in

Bring in the Pokemon Storage System from SwSh and SV, mainly to avoid the grind of going to the Pasture from Arceus multiple times

The player is allowed to do anything in any order. Again, level-scaling is a huge element of that 

Voice acting… maybe? Seriously, how has that not been added at this point?

Will any of this ever happen? Probably not, but it feels nice to explain my thoughts on the matter. As much as I wish Gamefreak allowed more development time on game-making, I’ve always had a soft spot for Gen 7, especially with the concept of the Ultra Beasts. As unlikely as this entire idea is, it’s the one idea for a Pokemon game that I wish will happen someday. Maybe we’ll see it be announced next week? Until then, I guess.

[tegu-the-tegu]

Would you become a random pokemon in the mystery dungeon setting, if given the opportunity? Like the player characters in the series?

Because yeah, being turned into a pokemon sounds pretty fun, and NO ONE is having an objectively bad time in the setting, but when you are saying "yes, obviously!" You are thinking of being a lucario, or a grovyle or something, but that's not gonna be the case, most likely.

I get it, you can do pokemon moves, you can have a life of exploration and adventure, you can make new and interesting friends, you can live in a world that has none of the flaws of our own, where everyone (for the most part) is kindhearted and happy! But there is one VERY important thing you're forgetting: not all pokemon have opposable thumbs. In fact, most don't.

Not just thumbs, too! Quite a few don't have arms, or legs, or other objectively useful body parts! Sure, some of us would be lucky enough to have telekinetic abilities, or some kind of dextrous extremity with which to manipulate the world around us, but how are you meant to tie a knot, or write a letter when you roll pineco?

What I'm saying is, for every one of us who lucks out and gets a blaziken, there's got to be another poor soul who has to get used to navigating life as a wailord.

And even if you DO luck out and get a species with hands, feet, and the like, you think you're gonna be able to adjust to hariyama's built-in oven mitts? Or gallade's blade arms? Or excadrill's drill claws? You're gonna take out somebody's eye with those things!

And that's before you even get into the poor metapods. Because that's right! A small chunk of us are going to get stuck with a shape that doesn't actually have built-in locomotion options!

Then you have pokemon that come pre-built with awful ailments. Psyduck has chronic migraines, komala is in a permanent coma, I'm pretty sure the galar fossils are biologically incapable of surviving, and are closer to sins against nature than actual pokemon. I'm pretty sure a couple can't see, which is definitely less than ideal for exploring a new world.

And your move pools! Imagine being a beldum and thinking "ok, if I manage to get to metagross, I'm looking at psychic powers and pseudo legend statlines- but wait! Good bloody luck getting to level 45 when your level up move pool consists exclusively of ramming your face into the target. Every hit you land, 50% of that damage is coming right back to you. Then you have folks who roll pyukumuku, with zero direct damage options, or wobbuffet, which I'm pretty sure is biologically closer to a punching bag than a living creature.

And that's assuming evolving is even an OPTION! Mystery dungeon has a bad habit of not allowing you to change to a less scuffed form until you've beaten at LEAST three demigods in a fistfight, and I doubt the poor sod who is stuck in the body of a severely concussed beldum is up for the task.

This is all to say, if I woke up one day and found I'd traded my human body for a mildly weaponized pancake like stunfisk, arceus better find SOMEONE to pray to because, as soon as I figure out how to flop my way over there, he's gonna have to meet me outside for a few minutes. Come to think of it, is that why stunfisk learns revenge by level up? Probably.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still taking the deal, but I'm gonna be making it my life's mission to make it arceus' problem if he has the audacity to make me a nosepass or something.

On a side note: what happens if you become a falinks, or a maushold or something? Do you just become one, and have to find your own squad? Or do you get cloned? Maybe a hivemind situation? And what of multi headed ones like doduo? Imagine if you and your second head don't get along!

[the-plural-of-cris-is-crises]

Strange New Worlds Spoilers

So how far in the future were the Romulans from in this episode? Is it from Picard era? Is this another Romulan time travel thing blaming Starfleet for the Supernova like what created the Kelvin Timeline? (Nero specifically blamed Spock though)

Are they from the Temporal Cold Wars explored in Enterprise? Which was definitely farther in the future than Picard but not as far as Disco S3+. The thing she used to kill herself reminded me of the thing the Tal Shiar/Zhat Vash officers did in S1 of Picard except not quite so weapon-y. I know this isn't Zhat Vash I'm just saying it reminds me of Romulan tech from around the supernova and beyond that period of time which could lead back to Nero and the supernova (plus I mean they covered Khan in the Kelvin timeline although clearly differently than they do in this episode).

They mentioned Temporal Investigations which we know existed by DS9 era, although I got the impression they were much less getting-involved-y. Less "protect the timeline by actively preventing changes" and more "investigate time travel incidents of Starfleet officers to make sure they upheld the Temporal Prime Directive to the best of their ability" at least from how they were in Trials and Tribble-ations. Much less Crewman Daniels Time Agent-y where he goes around trying to preserve one specific timeline. Which means the Department of Temporal Investigations could later shift into the people fighting the Temporal Cold War stuff seen in Enterprise and this is an in-between state kind of?

Are the Romulans who the Future!Federation (what the Federation evolves into at least) at Daniels' time the main or one of the main enemies to Daniels' people during the Temporal Cold War? Does it have any connection to the Romulan drama going on in Picard era? We know from Disco that the Romulans and Vulcans reunify in the future after the Temporal Cold War(s). It seemed implausible that they were the main antagonists during that war to me. And the fact that Kirk was born in space like Kelvin!Kirk (but obviously not the same as AOS) and the Romulan thing kind of points to another Nero-like thing? Maybe?

How does this connect with like, Tallinn's people from Picard S2 that is implied to be the same time travel people as Gary Seven from TOS? Also I know Prodigy is canceled and probably won't have anything to do with this but I wouldn't mind seeing the Prodigy time travel mystery tie into this

Also, when did this take place in the past? Obviously early 21st century but like did they ever say a year?

Wasn't there an episode of TNG I think where there was some kind of time travel organization but it turned out the guy they encountered was lying about being a part of it and he stole the equipment from someone from the future but he was from the past? I don't remember that episode clearly enough to remember if the people he got it from could have been tied into this thing or not. I am way too tired to remember so many details about Star Trek's time travel stuff across all series.

[hey-michael-young-history]

December 7th, 2021 2:09am

While I was writing Further Risks and Complications, I was going to add a collection of snippets of life in the Lin Kuei, in hopes of maybe catching some fluffy moments between the boys as they supported each other from adolescence into adulthood. But it quickly turned into Bi-Han slowly losing his sanity and humanity, and I had enough sad emoji faces in this series. And when I write Omega Kuai Liang too much, he ends up soft and OOC.

This one I may come back to someday - it was part of an idea that was going to evolve into something longer than I had time for. Once again, just a first draft that never got finished.

Lunchtime!

“Sub-Zero is bringing Tundra with him,” Cyrax announced.

Smoke raised an eyebrow, but Sektor didn’t look up from his food.

“You mean… here? Out in the open? With other people around?” Smoke asked.

“Yup.”

“Did he forget what a disaster it was last time he tried this? I don’t think I can take another meal restriction punishment,” Smoke complained.

“He’s not doing it because he wants to. Tundra is fifteen. He’s going out on his first solo soon, and the elders want to be sure that he can handle himself around other people,” Sektor explained.

“Well, here comes our favorite ray of sunshine and his little cloud now,” Cyrax said with a sigh. He couldn’t see this going well, but even Sub-Zero couldn’t ignore direct orders from the elders.

Bi-Han approached with Tundra behind him. He glared down at Sektor and demanded,  “Move.”

Sektor rolled his eyes but got up and sat next to Cyrax so the cryomancers could sit together.

“Sit. Now.” That order was directed to his brother, who obeyed and kept his head low as he rubbed his eyebrows.

The pheromones they were both releasing were stressful.  The angrier Bi-Han grew,  the more fearful Tundra felt. Smoke could see that his right eye was bruised, and there was a swelling cut on his cheek. His hands stumbled as he peeled his orange, and he dropped it. His brother almost crushed it when he retrieved it and slammed it back on the tray.

Cyrax didn’t know what Tundra had done to piss Sub-Zero off, but he couldn’t help but feel sorry for the kid. It didn’t take much to get Bi-Han annoyed or angry, and Kuai Liang took it personally every time he was subjected to it. Cyrax’s attempts to bring this up had been… less than successful.

“Did Sub-Zero do that to you?” Smoke asked, touching his cheek. He had reached out before he even thought about it, and it got him a disapproving look from Cyrax.

Tundra jerked his head away at the contact and immediately turned to Bi-Han. “Could I return to our room?”

“You can’t fall apart every time an Alpha touches you,” Bi-Han snapped. “Answer his question.”

Tundra looked down at his food. “Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, Bi-Han-”

“Sub-Zero.”

“Yes, Sub-Zero hit me.”

“And why did I hit you?”

“Because… because I didn’t respect your time,” he mumbled, rubbing his eyebrow harder.

“He’s your brother. Did you really have to hit him, Bi-Han?” Smoke asked.

Cyrax sighed, and Sektor just shook his head. Another round of Sub-Zero and Smoke arguing over Tundra. This was exactly what led to them all being put on meal restriction punishment the last time Sub-Zero had tried bringing his brother with him.

“Kiss my ass, Smoke. I know what works and what doesn’t with him.”

“Well, fuck you, Sub-Zero. All you know is locking him up and punishing him.”

[bellmo15-blog]

Well, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet have been out for over a week now, so you know that means? New Poke Waifu season is in its full effect now! While you are all fantasising about Professor Sada (who I sadly will never see in my game because I picked Violet version) and instantly putting yourself on an FBI watch list with Iono, just by looking at this pic I had XJKenny draw for me you can already guess who my Gen 9 gal is. The head of the Paldean Pokemon League and now host to everyone’s favourite Marvel Symbiote Venom, Geeta. You know where I’m going with this! The moment I saw Geeta for the first time I instantly feel in love with her design. There’s just something about her design with the black outfit and blue gloves paired with her long black hair with blue and gold highlights and those gorgeous blue eyes and yellow… iris is it? I could be wrong about what that is since I know about anatomy about as well as Imortan Joe in Mad Max Furry Road is at knowing anything about Norse Mythology. Regardless of whatever they are Geeta is a beauty and I love her. Let’s be real, most of us knew she was going to be the champion before Scarlet and Violet even came out. You don’t have a super pretty girl like her in your game without her being the Champion thanks to previous examples like Cynthia and Diantha. Or even being a villain like Lusamine.

And now she has the Venom Symbiote! Not only giving her Venom’s powers of web swinging, super strength, and shapeshifting into different clothing (seriously, how many of you forget the symbiote can do that?) but she looks just as appealing as she does in her normal outfit. And can even be Paldea’s new vigilante super heroine if she wants. Considering half the crap that happens in this series from manipulative criminal’s guilt tripping everyone to release there Pokemon, narcissistic terrorists trying to restart the universe, two groups of eco terrorists almost screwing up the eco system fighting each other and a group that genuinely wants to commit mass genocide the Pokemon world sure as hell could use some superheroes! Paldea’s already got one with Symbiote Geeta! Or just lounge around in it looking sexy! Personally, I’d take advantage of the powers it would give me and go web swinging!

Artist is XJKenny. Since I’ve gotten a commission of a character from it and have been playing it since launch last week and I am known for being a Pokemon enjoyer, I guess I could give my brief thoughts on Scarlet and Violet. Not a full review but maybe like a minute or two of my thoughts. *Deep breath. *

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Let’s just get this out of the way right now. This game is broken! Like, really broken. Granted, some of the really awful bugs people have reported I’ve been lucky not to get but I’ve still seen Pokemon spawn in trees, gotten stuck on geometry while riding Miraidon, had the game ask me if I wanted to respawn even though I’ve only walked down a small flight of stairs, NPC’s walk though my Pokemon in one story vital battle I can’t talk about because spoilers and even had my game crash after a gym battle! Granted it was a Gym battle I sweeped pretty easily with my fully evolved grass starter but still. I haven’t played this game in co-op yet but apparently the bugs are worse there! I get why this game is as broken as it is. Gamefreak were essentially trying to make a game three times as big as Sword and Shield and Legends Arceus but either didn’t have enough time to iron out some of these issues or it was just two ambitious for the team who might not of worked on a game this big before. Personally, I feel like they should have just taken the L and delayed the game by a few months to iron out the bugs so that it could be as polished as it can.

Okay, putting the glitches aside do I think Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are good Pokemon games? Yes, I do! I love the direction they decided to take with the game this time opening up the game world to explore fully after getting though the tutorial area. It’s actually a lot like Zelda Breath of the Wild in a way. You can’t go straight to the final battle from the start like you can in Breath of the Wild but your free to explore the Paldea region. The trainers do have set levels though so you can’t just go to say, Eri who’s the strongest of the Team Star Bosses, and expect it to be easy. I do kinda wish the trainers would adjust to your level to really make it feel like the game is giving you more freedom but with how I played I did most of the stuff in the lower area of the map first and working my way up. That’s another thing, there are three separate paths you can take as well. Victory Road which is the classic Pokemon experience of fighting 8 gym leaders to take on the league, Starfall Street where you fight to take down the five bosses of Team Star and my favourite The Path of Legends not just because of the story around it but also because it’s about fighting Titan Pokemon which are stronger and bigger versions of normal Pokemon a lot like the Trials in Sun and Moon and as some you all might know already, Sun and Moon are my favourite mainline Pokemon games. Actually, I liked Starfall Streets story as well but it’s a reason I can’t talk about without spoiling why. Victory Road is fine, and the Gym leaders are great two but, and this is no doubt going to piss off a lot of people, but I actually think Sword and Shield had the best gyms in it because of how they were like this massive sport that the Galar region was super into and how the Gym Leader fights had crowds of spectators.

I’m a little mixed on the new Pokemon they introduced. On one hand I love the starter Pokemon and their evolutions, hell one of my favourites this gen is Sprigatio’s final evolution Meowscarada, the Legendries and some of the Paldein forms. On the other hand, there’s also ones like an actual tumbleweed and literally a car made of rocks and the incredibly phallic Paldein Dugtrio. Not to mention the new art style for in game. Not the official artwork for the game itself, that looks fine, I mean the models in game of the human characters. Sometimes they look fine to me other times they look off to me and I’m not sure if that’s a common thing to think but it’s how I feel. Again, gonna trigger people saying this but I think Sword and Shield has way better character models. Although, performance issues aside Paldeia looks quite lovely. I wouldn’t say this is the best-looking region nor my favourite but it looks good enough that I can’t help but say “Yeah, I’d take a vacation here.”

So anyway, that’s just my brief thoughts on Scarlet and Violet. It’s a great game with great ideas that really just needed a bit more time to be polished but hopefully as I’m writing this, they are working on patching this game. And hopefully it doesn’t take them a whole year or two to patch it and fix it! I’m looking at you Rockstar Games and the GTA Trillogy!

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | Wolfen (Wadleigh, 1981)

Albert Finney in this movie gives off the aura of a walking hangover. Surly, frown-faced, grizzled, the kind of person who might as well be using stale booze as cologne. And there’s a reason for that. Because he’s a not quite recovered alcoholic cop who’s returned to the force after personal troubles. I think one could step back from this character and see their background as a shortcut to giving the movie gravity, but there’s an undeniable lived in quality to his performance. Anytime he takes a sip as the case gets stranger, it carries a certain weight. (Apparently Dustin Hoffman lobbied for the role, but I think Finney was exactly the right choice.) And I think that’s pretty essential to the power of the movie, where we see a murder case take turns that begin to challenge his preconceived notions, and shake him to the core. The movie devotes an unusual amount of attention to the subject of Native American politics and identity, and in part this is the story of Finney’s character evolving how he engages with these, from a studious law enforcement perspective (he rattles off bullet points about the American Indian Movement) to coming to terms with a belief system that upends his own. I admit I’m not the most knowledgeable around this subject, but I was compelled by the movie’s curiousity about this subject.

And while this would likely be a good movie were it just the Albert Finney show, I think there are a number of very good supporting performances. The best is Gregory Hines as an animated coroner, who may seem like he’s having too much fun with this case, but makes a nice lively counterpoint to the more sullen Finney, and if you squint, you can see that he’s using humour to cope with what’s otherwise a pretty grim job. This is a movie with a very heavy atmosphere, but seeing these two work together is a lot of fun. Also, he shows off his karate moves, which pushes this into automatic good movie territory even if we put aside all the movie’s other virtues. There’s also Tom Noonan as an eccentric zoologist whose expertise is key to cracking the case, but whose curiosity maybe gets the better of him. I also perked up when I saw James Tolkan, who has a more jovial demeanour than usual but otherwise is his expectedly flinty self. There’s also Edward James Olmos as a Native American ex-con, who challenges Finney with his resolve. This is not a werewolf movie, but Olmos briefly pushes the movie in that direction, going beast mode as he runs around buck naked and flailing in the middle of the night. If anything, Diane Venora as Finney’s partner is saddled with the most thankless role, as she’s a bit of a sounding board for Finney, but I still found her performance pretty engaging.

This is directed by Michael Wadleigh, best known for another hairy classic, Woodstock. One might be tempted to draw his sympathetic hippie portraits in the earlier movie with the offbeat character detail and sense of cultural flux, but what’s really surprising about this movie is how surely he takes to the horror genre. Much of the movie is set in ruined sections of New York intended to be cleared for new development, and the sense of decay creates a certain graveyard atmosphere, where death hangs over the proceedings. It’s interesting to see pre-cleanup New York provide a very different sense of atmosphere than the crime-infested sleaze movies often mine it for. But this also feels in sync with the rhythms of the city, where one wonders how much stranger these events are than what usually goes down here. (It feels similar to Q: The Winged Serpent, another recent viewing of mine thanks to the Criterion Channel’s ‘80s Horror series.) But lest we think this is just slow and brooding, this is also coloured with a pleasing sense of forward momentum, punctuated by roving tracking shots with a thermographic effect that anticipates the Predator movies (this is basically a less racist Predator 2), a pleasing amount of gore, and a climax with maulings, severed body parts and a very satisfying explosion.

[dreamingsushi]

Blue Birthday - Overall Review

It did take me a long time to complete this drama, as I didn’t have much time for watching and reviewing anything when I started working again. So I feel my overall review might be incomplete, but I still wanted to make a post on my impressions for whoever is unsure about wether to watch or not. I will try to be as objective as I can, even though my memory might be a little failing.

Plot

The story revolves around a woman named Oh Harin who went through the traumatic event of losing her best friend and crush Ji Seojun during high school. Someday, ten years later his passing, she receives his old camera and a film of pictures he took. Or maybe did she get both the pictures and the camera? I’m not sure about the details anymore, but it isn’t really relevant at this point. Anyways, she ends up discovering that by burning the pictures, she can travel back in time. Even though years have passed by, she still hasn’t had closure with Seojun’s death. She can’t believe it was suicide, so while in the past, she decides to investigate to save her friend whom she missed all those years. So the whole series revolves about time travelling through the pictures and figuring a way for Seojun to live, while finding out the reasons of his death.

For me, the plot was solid until we hit the middle of the series and then it kind of went astray. It was pretty consistant before that and while not being super innovative, it was still a little different than what I have seen in the past. Unfortunately, I would say the direction they took for the last eight episodes ran in circles far too long. There weren’t so much explanation where it was needed and to me that was a very poor choice because there was a lot of material to be exploited there. There were too many clichés for me. If only for the first half, this drama would have got a pretty good score plot wise, but I can’t give it more than a 6/10 with the way it turned out.

Acting

Since I watched most episodes with long periods between them, this will be based only on the last six episodes or so, I really can’t remember the acting from the beginning. Without being extraordinary, it was very decent. The characters were annoying when they had to, cute at the right moment. Big shout out to Kim Yiseo as Ji Hyemin, she really made me invested in her character even though the script wasn’t doing justice to her. I have been disappointed by this character, but really not because of the acting, because she was fantastic from the beginning to the end, even though when it made no more sense. As for Yeri and Yang Hongseok, they both did a pretty good job, they got me emotional at some points in the story thanks to their skill and I appreciate that. I give it a 7/10.

Other

I won’t be commenting on the soundtrack and the visuals of the drama, as I don’t have an overall view of it since it took so long and it would be unfair not to judge it on the entirety of the series. However, I would like to mention that I really liked the short format of the episodes, the story had a lot of rythm thanks to that and there were no moment that was slow paced.

Do I recommend or not?

I can’t really make my mind on that topic. I really liked the beginning of the drama, I was super invested in the story, the plot was enticing and it was overall quite interesting. However, it went downhill when we reached half of the series and it felt more of an obligation to watch than something I really wanted to. Maybe that’s one of the reasons watching dramas weren’t a priority even though so many came out and I was interested into seeing. There are a lots of good points to this drama, but a even amount of failures too. Since it’s short episodes too, there isn’t much time for character growth. They do evolve, but they are pretty much the same from the top to the end.

I would say I would recommend it if you are looking for something to entertain yourself and that goes by quickly. Each episodes are only 20 minutes or so, so it’s really easy to watch it in a one sit if you don’t write reviews as I do or to start before going to work. You don’t need to be too concentrated to watch, because even though the subject is a little dark, the storyline isn’t too complicated. So it’s a good story to have your brain half relaxing, half active in my opinion.

However, this wouldn’t make to my absolutely must watch list. Had I known how the story would unravel, I probably wouldn’t have spent the time on it. It isn’t that it’s poorly written, it’s just that I was really disappointed with how much potential it had to be great and how much they took the safe path instead of exploiting everything great about it.

Overall, it’s a 6/10 for me on this series. I hope this review helped you see clearer about it and let me know your thoughts if you ever watch it or if you felt the same way if you already did!

List of full recaps

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / Special