#the boxes at the end when he thinks he has overcome it and solved it. wait no this deserves better than tags i will make a separate post

[kerorowhump]

ive talked in the past about keroro's desire to keep things as they are, static, because it's the only way he can have both keron and earth, but while rewatching ep140b I realized it shows the opposite side of this struggle

that no matter his efforts, it's a futile attempt and nothing is improving because everything is staying exactly the same. he spent a week racking his brain for a solution but the episode ends by showing us that he doesn't find one. could it be because the whole time he was fighting alone?

(his voice breaks in the first screenshot...) this to me feels like the same motivation he would have for invading. wanting to leave a mark, making something of yourself, mattering.

chibikero is in shadow, like the gunpla's shadow. he's not real anymore but he represents all the expectations and lost potential on his shoulders. while the small gunpla is in light like keroro. that's the reality of it. but that's also how he feels. small. he hasn't achieved any of his goals. he hasn't lived up to anything he said he would, everything he based his identity on. he's a "pitiful invader". his desire to matter perfectly encapsulates his abandonment issues too.

this collection will outlive him. it will speak of his greatness when he's gone. it's as much his identity as the invasion. it's also his tomb in the exact same way.

he's so happy for a moment organizing his whole collection on the shelves that he thought were gonna solve everything, enjoying the moment as it was, but in the end nothing changed.

is it because he's expendable? easily replaceable, like by a clone? is it because he doesn't see his own worth, so he has to get some (the keron star, his collection, the invasion)? because if he's not useful, he'll be thrown out? or because he doesn't want to be forgotten and left behind?

and yet

he remains insignificant and his fight is fruitless.

[late-draft]

Some thoughts on S2 from a first-time watcher!

It's good that I saw a bunch of spoilers before watching S2 and S3, because after seeing how the plot arrived to some of these points, I feel like what I imagined would have worked better; useful for understanding one's own likes and writing.

I thought Toph would have been in bigger danger while in the metal box. In canon she's technically just being dragged back to her family, right? But the emotional impact of her success of bending metal (something believed to be impossible) would have been stronger if she was in a much bigger danger, in worse circumstances, for longer.

Long Feng was so quickly "taken down" at the start when the Earth King decided to stop following him! Yeah the Dai Li still answer to Long Feng but it felt like him losing outward power happened too quickly and he was actually scared that he had lost all power instantly. He even allowed the kids to try to show the king the truth. So which is it, do Long Feng and Dai Li have huge power, or little power?

I liked the plot twist with plot twist with plot twist with plot twist with plot twist with Azula and her goons in Kyoshi warriors' disguises, and the Dai Li still answering to Long Feng. This uplifted the plot part a bit that had been sunk in my mind just before.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Jet was actually ok in S2; he succumbed to a weakness of his by getting obsessed with "random" firebenders, but then he truly tried to be of help, he beat the goddamn brainwashing and did everything he could to help Aang and his allies. He was given a "heroic death" offscreen! Perhaps he survived, gravely injured but who knows. The writing portrays him as an ok person at the end.

If he was supposed to be an "evil version" or "irredeemed" version of Zuko, that could have been portrayed only if Jet had demonstrated more, and persistent negative traits that he would refuse to change. Before giving him an on-screen death.

It wasn't very believable to me that Iroh managed to follow Zuko so quietly and so well under lake Laogai; but from spoilers, I was convinced that Zuko had arrived to a moral decision to set Appa free and let go of his need to belong back at the royal family of the Fire Nation, all on his own. That might have been a bigger triumph of character, but... even coming to this decision because Iroh pressured him into thinking about choices (the fact that he had choices), doesn't diminish what he decided by a lot.

Fever was excellent lmao. Iroh gave him some ibuprofen But the subsequent very cheery behaviour feels like big and heavy Copium from Zuko to me!

Damn. Aang literally speedrun all those chakras opening. Guru Pathik seems alright to me and doesn't feel like a huge deus-ex mechanism considering many other elements the show has used. But I feel like the show would have benefitted a LOT more if separate episodes were devoted to unblocking the chakras. Those are supposed to be a big deal, something difficult to overcome for the hero. But also; Aang refusing to let go of Katara right at the moment when he sensed she was in danger, is actually a correct choice (from a narrative standpoint) - we aren't supposed to cheer for him to let her die. Of course we as the audience want him to try to help Katara! However what Guru Pathik had told him about attachment still stands in the writing (maybe it could have been made more clear that this attachment in question means a selfish possessive one). The writing still sets it up so that it seems like Aang WILL have to let go of the attachment in the future to successfully open the last chakra. Just... later, because this is not the right moment! ^^

Oh man. The best the writing could do for Katara was to have her make a dumb joke about Momo knocking over figurines in the war meeting? And the plan was just... "go forth and attack the Fire Nation during a solar eclipse"? This was the best the text could do?? No bits of additional strategy, problem-solving, no Katara being serious about it? And after that she decides to go for tea despite being on a crucial mission? And why would the delicate scroll requiring the Earth King's seal to set the entire army in motion be left to be carried around outside by one girl. Just so that she could run into Zuko and blow his cover, despite having last seen him as broken, crying over his uncle, fighting against his sister the Fire Nation princess. Feels like the plot really got super convoluted here just to get to points it wanted. Sadge.

[dotthings]

Gotham Knights 1x07 "Bad to Be Good"

Thank you to the writers, Allegre Rodriguez & Michelle Furtney-Goodman.

Loved this ep overall. Also bless this series for how it films Misha Collins. Who is himself a work of art.

Following on that theme from the past few eps, Cullen's concern about saving the painting from the black market, where it would wind up hidden from public eyes, is very community-minded of him. He also genuinely cares about the role of art. Steph also takes this up, as we're told they talked about "the importance of art." But also during their coffee and art talk, found a link to their immediate interests and needs.

Harper wonders why she or the Knights should care about works of communal value. She only gets interested when Steph tells them the paintings were all owned by Alan Wayne, which is a link to the Court of Owls. Harper needs a specific and immediate purpose link that involves self-preservation or protecting people she's close to before she cares. Cullen and Steph see a bigger picture but are also motivated by the specific interest and needs, they do both.

Carrie and Duela are a really fun chaos duo, opposites conspiring together and bickering the whole time. Carrie's judging-you-both faces at Eunice and Duela, the epic eye-rolls, Carrie regretting all her life choices, Carrie's thinking FML how did I wind up in this mess. And then Duela eye-rolling over Carrie. Comedy gold. The beginnings of that friendship was unexpected. They're demonstrating different points on the morality and ethics scale. This show has a lot of moral relativism. "Potato, tomato, little bird." Carrie was morally right, but wrong in this situation, Duela isn't ethical, but Duela's antics allowed them to save Detective Green's family.

Eunice stabbing Duela's hand with the ballerina from her music box was very hard core.

Turner seems like he's emerging as more of a leader in this ep. He's also using the bat-toys. Following his dad's legacy, but in his own way, not trying to be Batman.

I immensely enjoy how Misha plays every scene in this like the lead in a classic Hollywood noir or suspense thriller. He's got some great Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart vibes going on. That shot of the cordless phone ringing, looming ridiculously large in foreground, is also vintage Hollywood, Hitchcock kind of style. Misha has the range, the gravitas, and the camera adores him. And Harvey's a whole meal of a character here (on top of being an absolute snack), one of the few decent Gotham leaders, a regular guy in over his head, wondering if he's going mad, trying to solve the mystery, plagued by his inner demons, while being a good person, but shadows over his shoulder.

Lauren Stamile does a great job playing Rebecca March. Her role here is the femme fatale of classic Hollywood. Vulnerable, sincere, yet a touch dangerous. Doesn't mean Rebecca is lying. But anyone who's watched some of those old films knows there could be some plot twists. I wonder where this arc is going to lead.

Steph tending to Harper's wound outside the warehouse and in the end scenes. Their cute flirting. The little smiles. After Harper saved Steph from mobster bullets, Steph taking care of Harper's bullet wound. Enemies to reluctant allies to sorta kinda friends to lovers? Yes please.

Cressida going to Harvey for help...might be sincere. It's looking like all of Gotham is in deadly peril, so much so that Cressida's fear for the fate of millions is overcoming her fear for herself. If the Court's bigger picture plans are a lot more dire than just controlling Gotham financially and socially. Something has scared her badly. Or it's another ploy.

That's one of the fun things about this series, there's a lot of layers, and secrets inside secrets and things not being what they seem.

[sshbpodcast]

Character Spotlight: Data

By Ames

It’s the man you’ve all been waiting for! He’s one of the most popular Star Trek characters of all time. He teaches us humanity and friendship and science. He’s the outsider character of his series and uses his unique perspective to open our eyes to the world and the people around us. And he loves cats! No wait, we already spotlighted Commander Spock. Just kidding. I’m, of course, talking about Lieutenant Commander Data!

It’s hard for us at A Star to Steer Her By to narrow down the best moments from our android friend because he gets to do so damn much between The Next Generation series and movies, and he’s also my personal favorite character on the show, but we’ve somehow managed it! So use your positronic brains to read on below and listen to our discussion on this week’s podcast episode (tricorder scan to 1:03:10) to see where we drew the line. Saddle up!

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

Best moments

You are fully functional, aren't you? As we mentioned in our Picard spotlight, “The Naked Now” has the strangest mix of great and terrible character moments, and I couldn’t not include the incredibly hot Data/Yar romance that it created. It’s just nice to know that Data is programmed in multiple techniques, a broad variety of pleasuring. And later, the physical acting we get from Brent Spiner in that lean and fall was great!

My thoughts are not for Tasha, but for myself While the rest of “Skin of Evil” and the anticlimactic death of Tasha Yar aren’t really our cups of tea, we do have to admit that the tribute scene at the end is moving and well done. And that final moment when Data and Picard talk (even so briefly!) about the point of the ceremony and how empty it will feel without Yar… I’m tearing up just thinking about it.

Tied game, we’re going into overtime I also have to give Data credit for all the times he uses his big android brain to solve a problem, an advantage he has over pretty much any other character. For example, when he busts Sirna Kolrami up in a game of strategema by forcing a constant stalemate in “Peak Performance,” it feels like a win because he thinks outside the fluorescent holographic box!

One android with a single weapon Every so often, we also see Data in command, questioning his leadership skills or having difficulty connecting with his peers (more on that one in a second). But when he’s the only one who can survive the radiation on Tau Cygna, he takes charge to get its colonists to leave by blowing up their aqueduct in “The Ensigns of Command.” Try withstanding Sheliak attacks now, losers!

Thank you for my life While some of us on SSHB didn’t care much for Lal, you’ve got to admit that all of Data’s actions in “The Offspring” are on point. From questioning why he shouldn’t be allowed to create life, to letting his offspring self-identify, to keeping her out of the hands of Starfleet, it’s all good parenting. But what takes the cake is the heart-wrenching farewell scene after he tries to save her.

He who dies with the most toys… is kind of an asshole While we don’t get the cathartic release of Data phasering the hell out of Kivas Fajo in “The Most Toys,” we do get to take some pride that he is capable of overcoming his ethical subprogram to do away with someone who really has no right existing. When Geordi says that he detects a phaser firing in the transporter beam, you know he just needed a fraction of a second more and Fajo would be toast.

Your request for reassignment has been noted and denied Like in the afore-mentioned “The Ensigns of Command,” Data has some trouble adjusting to command when he takes control of the Sutherland in “Redemption, Part II.” It sure doesn’t help that his racist XO Hobson undermines his every decision, but that doesn’t stop Data from single-handedly foiling the Romulans’ plan and telling Hobson exactly where to shove it.

I've never been to a better funeral When it’s apparent that Geordi has been killed in a transporter accident in “The Next Phase,” Data grapples with the loss of his best friend in a very touching way, similar to how he mourned Yar as we mentioned above. And before he solves the puzzle of the episode and saves them, Data throws the best funeral I’ve ever seen for La Forge and Ro! People are just dying for a funeral like that!

The most human decision you’ve ever made We gave Picard a lot of accolades when we discussed his standing up for Data’s right to live in “The Measure of a Man.” Data gets a similar moment in “The Quality of Life” when he refuses to trade the lives of the Exocomps for those of other beings. It’s a nice episode of paying it forward, and we also get to see the scientific method on high display when he and Crusher deduce the little guys are alive.

Radioactive. What does that mean? Speaking of the scientific method! Even with his memories wiped in “Thine Own Self,” Data is able to piece together why the radioactive materials are hurting everyone in the village on Barkon IV. And with that clear slate of mind, we see that in all forms, Data is curious, caring, and willing to help people who are in need, even if it gets him speared in the back a little bit.

Felis catus is your taxonomic nomenclature… We’d be remiss if we didn’t bring up Data’s beautiful relationship with his cat, Spot. As everyone on SSHB is a devoted cat person, we found it a treat whenever we saw Data interacting with Spot, testing which food she’d like, and writing cat poetry. The best might be when Data reunites with her after the Enterprise crashes in Generations AND he has the emotions to appreciate it!

Resistance is fully functional We noticed in our TOS spotlights that it’s in the movies that most characters get to shine, and First Contact is that chance for Data. His scenes getting tempted by the Borg Queen are dead sexy and you can’t tell me otherwise. And his betrayal of the Collective by purposely sparing the Phoenix and then fumigating engineering to kill Borg Queen are the climax we all needed. I’ll be in my bunk.

—

Worst moments

I am stuck Especially in the early seasons, Data got used to make bad fish-out-of-water jokes. It was a silly habit the show had of depicting him as naïve about human culture even though he’s lived in it for years (and has the memories of the Omicron Thetans when the show remembers). Seeing him get stuck in a fingertrap in “The Last Outpost” is just such an example of dumb sight gags to make him look goofy.

I can’t use contractions, sir This is just a pet peeve of mine that could have been fixed so damned easily. Listen, writers, if you’re going to make it a plot point that Data can’t use contractions in episodes like “Datalore” and “Future Imperfect,” then be consistent. Run an apostrophe search in Microsoft Word and replace them, because in episodes like “We’ll Always Have Paris” when he states “It’s me,” it pisses me off.

Take my Worf, please! Don’t worry, we’re not done pointing out all the bad jokes told at Data’s expense that we see throughout the series (oh god, and just wait for the movies). And it’s a shame because Brent Spiner himself has such great comic timing and delivery, but when you make his jokes so obviously idiotic like in Ames’s least favorite TNG episode “The Outrageous Okona,” we cringe so hard.

Is anybody out there? We mentioned this one in our prime directive chat before, since Data just tramples all over it, but “Pen Pals” has some good discussion on the pros and cons of the situation. But that doesn’t excuse Data for making the decision on his own to get involved with the Dramen people, much less to bring Sarjenka onto the bridge (for crying out loud), necessitating a Pulaski mind wipe!

One seven three four six seven three two one four… There are a handful of times in TNG that we find it a terrible idea that Data (or any single being) has as much power as they have, considering how often they get possessed by things or duplicated by other things. So when Data single-handedly takes over the Enterprise in “Brothers,” disrupting the mission to save Willie Potts’s life, because Soong hacked into his brain, we raise eyebrows.

Jilting by association While I could joke that Data ever introducing Miles and Keiko was a mistake (and I have!), there’re still a lot of bad moves he makes regarding their relationship in “Data’s Day.” When he gets stuck in the middle of their nuptial stress, he’s so clueless how to handle the situation and keeps making things worse when, frankly, Miles and Keiko should have kept things to themselves.

Who programmed the book of love? Moving on to even more lousy relationships: Data’s brief, unnecessary romance with Jenna Desora in “In Theory” proves to be just another example of too many “Data doesn’t understand humanity” jokes that we hoped the show was over by this point. But alas, he’s written himself a love program to basically treat the situation like a sitcom and we were done with it.

Point that thing somewhere else From the moment Data stands directly in front of Bashir’s mystery device in “Birthright, Part I,” it’s obvious he’s going to get zapped by it. Really, Data? You couldn’t have stood literally anywhere else than in front of what is clearly an energy beam? And the rest of the episode, we’re stuck going on a dream adventure, and you already know how I feel about those!

Stop it, stop it, stop it Like in “Brothers,” it just seems weird to have Data getting controlled by his kooky family members when it happens again in “Descent.” This time, Lore has given Data the emotions he thought he wanted all along, but it turns out the very first emotion Data embraces is sheer rage. When he takes pleasure in killing Borg, you know maybe emotions just aren’t for him, and yet…

Open sesame! …when we get to Generations, Data has a fully fledged emotion chip that really needed more testing first. We’re subjected to just way too many of those dopey Data jokes, from Open Sesame to Mr. Tricorder to cackling at a 7-year-old joke. And to add kidnapping and torture to insult, it’s when Data is having a particularly bad reaction that Geordi nearly gets killed by Klingons!

I have been designed to serve as a floatation device We’re not done yet with the Data humor (and just way too much humor in general that doesn’t land) in Insurrection. While this film really gives Jean-Luc his time to shine, the rest of the cast are treated like afterthoughts, including Data who seems to be around for punchlines, like remarking about how the women’s boobs feel firmer, and serving as a life preserver.

Going out in a blaze of failure Finally, I need to criticize Nemesis yet again, as I am wont to do. It’s just… Data’s sacrifice for Picard is so unearned. I’d debate that it’s worse than the Kirk sacrifice in Generations that we put in that Worst Moments list too. Most of it is probably the abysmal script. I’ll sum it up by saying this: if you can’t make me care that my favorite character died, you’ve done something wrong.

—

Now that we’ve found Data’s off switch, we can wrap things up this week. Don’t worry, we’ve got tons more character spotlights for the coming weeks, so keep your sensors here, journey over to SoundCloud or wherever you get your podcasts to follow along with our Enterprise watchthough, break the Prime Directive with us on Facebook and Twitter, and delete that comedian holoprogram from the computer!

[missn11]

Hi friend Ask Box edition!!! While watching your AMV "The Mark," I was really struck by how different the two Akira's are. In the Devilman anime, Akira doesn't fight back much and protects a bunny, (which seems weird to me because the best way to protect a bunny is to let it run away, but maybe that's the point? He's trying, ineffectively, to protect something that doesn't need protection in the way he's offering). In Violence Jack, he's like, ripping people humans apart and reveling in blood. What do you think of Akira's changing relationship to violence? Why does he change so quickly? Is it just Amon's influence? What do you think Nagai-san is saying about the relationship among masculinity, patriarchy, and violence?

For the sake of sanity, let's assume the timeline is Devilman manga -> Devilman Lady + many timeloops until they defeat God -> the divine and the void fic series -> Violence Jack. Thank you!!!!

@badass-at-cuddling Oh yes, Akira goes through quite the transformation when it comes to his relationship with violence when he merges with Amon!

Yeah, in the Devilman The Birth OVA Akira is being over protective of the bunny cause he saw the other two bunnies' dead bodies inside the hutch and isn't wanting the bullies to hurt or kill the last bunny. Its also to show that despite him being a cowardly guy and very conflict avoidant, he is willing to stand up for others when the chips are done, which shows why he is able to overcome Amon's will enough to be in the driver's seat.

Of course that doesn't mean Amon's demoniac nature doesn't affect Akira and Akira's new found enjoyment of violence and fighting comes from that influence. And honestly I think that stays with him even after he's dead in DML's case and reborn in VJ, its just a part of him now. In my hc he and Amon(especially in DML) are almost so merged together that you don't always know where one begins and the other ends.

Its interesting to think what Go Nagai was saying about violence especially from a masculine/patriarchal view, as at first Akira is rewarded for him beating up the bullies by Miki

And her family are brushing off Akira's sudden change of character as him just being a young man getting out as much fight out of him (Boys being boys and all)

That's cause the violence he had committed by beating up the bullies wasn't horrifying, it appears heroic cause the bullies had it coming for haressing Akira and Miki, and Akira mostly just bruised them up, no-one was killed. So its easy to brush off any concerns they might have about Akira and that kind low key violence is normal to them.

And they haven't seen how into fighting Akira has become like Ryo has. Ryo has a front row seat to seeing how blood thirsty Akira has become, especially when he's in his devilman form.

Basically being in battle and feeling all of the adrenaline has changed Akira, now he knows what it means to kill someone, he can't go back to being the innocent conflict avoidant boy he used to be. Now he knows how many problems can be solved by violence. And also Akira has come to enjoy the rush of battle that even facing something possibly more powerful than he is excites him. Even after he got defeated and overwhelmed in volume four, knowing that Satan is the top dog (before he knows it was Ryo all along) makes him want to fight them, he's losing himself to the thrill of battle.

The Makimuras have no idea about that side about Akira until Ryo does the broadcast, even though he is killing demons in it, the violence isn't sexy or heroic looking, its just horrific and they are forced to face the same horrors Ryo once(when he still thought he was human) had to witness. and at first, scared, they reject him until he is able to convince that he is still human.

Which I think that's the point Go Nagai is talking about how war and violence warps people, turning them into the worst version of themselves, much how like fear made the mob rationalize themselves that they were justified in murder two teenagers and a little boy cause a demon once lived in their house. But also how most normal people are okay with violence as long they don't have to deal with the reality of it, its upsetting and scary to see and hear of it.

Like how people can be convinced that launching wars in developing countries are okay if there is a justified reason for it and you don't see the destruction it causes to the civilians of said developing country. But being faced with the reality of war makes those justifications harder to swallow, a reason why the war in Vietnam was so unpopular, the media coverage at the time was the first time normal people got to see how horrifying war truly was.

But back to Akira. By the time Devilman Lady or Violence Jack rolls around, Akira has learned to master himself when it comes to his violence, he still commits it and enjoys himself in battle, more so in VJ, but there is more of a purpose behind it rather than a desire for fighting.

In Devilman Lady, Akira fights to protect Jun and then fights alongside Satan to take down the Devilman verse God, the biggest oppressor of the Devilman verse(and Demon Lord Dante verse)

In Violence Jack, Akira/Jack fights the murderous gangs and the Slum King so the people of Kanto can see that they can stand up to their oppressors and fight back, and also cause he wants to free Ryo/Satan from his self-hatred. Of course, though he is embodiment of Chaos and Death, so he might enjoy his job a little too much XDD thought thankfully all those he kills are horrible bastards who are in need of a good stabbing.

So basically Akira/Jack is the hero/inspiration the Hellish place Kanto has become needs not wants, the world is rough and cruel and it needs someone just as rough but nicer to the innocent to help solve it! XD

Phew, that was a long one, I hope I've explained myself well enough, but this question gave me a lot to think about. So thanks :D

[lire-casander]

#16 trying to fulfill their wishes

trying to fulfill their wishess original prompt list here

Carlos has learned to remain chill due to his job. It wasn't a surprise when he announced he wanted to become a policeman — maybe to his father it was, given that speech about being too soft — but what had concerned his mother the most had been his inability to control his emotions. He'd never been a calm kid; his Tía Lucy still reminds him of that time he'd broken her favorite vase while attempting to dance the bachata when he was five. Truth is, he knew he needed to prove to someone — his instructors, his father, himself — that he could remain serene and calm.

He's actually mastered it. At least, most of the time.

It isn't the first time this week that he's come back home to find TK crawling on the floor, calling for Lou The Second to come back to his terrarium. Carlos has developed a seventh sense for patience — his sixth being what TK fondly calls his Carlos sense, the one he puts to work whenever there's a case to solve, the one that's saved Katie and Iris — but his patience is running thinner by the second as TK gets on his knees and huffs.

Carlos doesn't like reptiles. He likes animals; dogs, horses, cats if pressed. But reptiles are too much for him. He surprised himself when he stopped by the shop and brought Lou The Second home, but he chalked it up to him wanting to fulfill TK’s desire to expand the family. If Carlos couldn't give his fiancé a kid for now — maybe never — he thought he could at least compromise with a pet. So he chose the obvious one, seeing how excited TK had been when he'd brought Lou The Flesh Eater home from a scene.

"Ty?" he calls out softly when TK gets on his feet. "Has Lou The Second escaped again?"

"We were playing," TK explains, dusting off his jeans and turning to greet Carlos with a kiss on the cheek. "I guess he's too good at hide and seek."

"Especially the hiding part of it," Carlos deadpans.

He drops his bag on the floor, and the sound makes Lou The Second run from his hiding spot under the foyer’s drawer and right onto TK’s leg, causing Carlos to yelp.

"Hey, there you were," TK says lovingly as he grabs Lou The Second and places him on his chest. "Good game, pal. You're good at this too, Carlos."

Carlos nods, rubbing his chest to try to unknot the irrational fear that reptiles always cause in him. "Do you think you'll ever be able to let him stay in his terrarium?"

"But it's fun to play with him! You should try it sometime."

Carlos shakes his head. "I'm going to shower and then I'll start cooking. Please keep Lou The Second close to you. I don't want him to accidentally end up with the lettuces again."

"That he can do, stay away from our food, can't you, baby?" TK says, cooing when Lou The Second looks up at him.

Carlos shakes his head again, walking past his fiancé toward the bathroom. He thinks that maybe he's way in over his head about this, but when he remembers TK’s face lighting up when he saw Lou The Second in the box, Carlos realizes that his own dismay about reptiles can be easily overcome by his love for TK.

And maybe one day he'll be able to fulfill TK’s utmost dream — becoming fathers together.

[abeautifulblog]

payoffs, part 1: what I mean by ‘stories that fail to deliver’

It’s the emotional equivalent of plot resolution, or lack thereof.

Examples of plot resolution would be: Solving the mystery. Winning the big game. Defeating the big bad. In romance stories, it's the blorbos getting together.

People don't often drop the ball on plot resolution; even novice writers don't just forget what the point of the story was. It goes without saying that if you introduce a villain and hype them a whole bunch, then there's gotta be a reckoning at some point. The villain can't just go out to buy cigarettes halfway through and never come back, while the narrative forgets that they ever existed.

Yet people do this with emotional threads all the time.

Here's an example I think we've all seen before, that's both been done well and done badly:

Blorbo is deeply insecure about something—perhaps he's uncertain of his lover's affections, or plagued by self-esteem issues, etc. These doubts are intensely painful for him, and he spends a large portion of the story angsting over them. They are, in fact, an obstacle to his happily-ever-after, because they're why he can't bring himself to fully trust his lover's feelings/believe himself worthy of love/etc.

Blorbo's insecurity is a problem. (A hurt that needs comforting, perhaps.) Whether it’s all in his head, or whether his lover needs to get his shit together and stop giving Blorbo reasons to doubt, it’s a legitimate issue that needs to be addressed.

Readers will be anticipating how that might play out—perhaps in a big emotional scene where Blorbo explicitly gets the reassurance he's been lacking. Where his lover tells him that Blorbo means the world to him, and gives all the reasons why he thinks Blorbo is amazing, and makes Blorbo finally believe (or start to believe) that he is loved and valued, that he is worthy. We are avidly reading along, waiting to see the payoff for that emotional buildup.

...Except then that scene never happens; Blorbo's insecurity just suddenly ceases to be a problem. No mention of when he stopped worrying about that, or why, or what it was that helped him get over it—the issue just gets dropped. The story moves on, or ends, and it doesn't come up again.

It's unrealistic, for one. Those kind of anxieties may be intangible, but they are entirely real. They don't just vanish without explanation, no more than concrete, physical obstacles spontaneously remove themselves.

It's also incomplete. The romantic resolution, the getting-together, may be the most salient goal of the fic, but this was also a story about how Blorbo was going to overcome his insecurities, and that subplot needed resolution too.

If you set up a problem, you need to provide closure for it.

Okay, so maybe Blorbo goes and sits on a park bench by himself and has a good long Think about things. He realizes that he has nothing to be insecure about, and voila! his worries are lifted. (Never mind that people talking themselves out of their own irrational fears isn't how that tends to work.)

Well, that's better, in that at least it recognizes the need to address the issue—but it's still an awfully underwhelming finale for a conflict that the readers have sunk a lot of emotional investment into. Blorbo-on-the-park-bench may check that box, in terms of tying up loose ends, but it’s not satisfying.

If the emotional subplot was an orchestral swell, that ending is a fart.

Moreover, readers want those big dramatic scenes. Those are what people have been looking forward to, what sticks with them after they've finished the story, what compels them to reread it. In this case, it's the catharsis of hearing someone say to Blorbo what we wish someone would say to us; or even if his issues are not ours, we're still experiencing this vicariously through Blorbo, and it's a triumph to see him get what he’s been wanting for so long. So why on earth would you cheat your readers (and yourself, and your blorbos) out of that transcendent moment?

The intensity of the payoff has to match the intensity of the buildup.

And that was ultimately what those fics had in common—that they set up these intensely compelling emotional/interpersonal issues, and then either let them stall out or dropped them entirely, and then declared that everyone lived happily ever after. But without proper resolution for those secondary emotional threads, the happy endings ring false. The blorbos didn't earn it. It doesn't feel believable.

Best case, it's disappointing—the itch of something that wasn't quite as good as it could have been.

Worst case, it's downright upsetting—because they hurt Blorbo and then never gave him comfort for that particular hurt. They're telling me it's a happy ending now, but the image that sticks with me with isn't that pasted-on happily-ever-after, it's Blorbo suffering—he's still in the thick of it, and always will be, because I never saw him escape it.

.

The insecure!Blorbo trope is a very common one, which makes it relatively easy to identify (and therefore address), but there are a lot of forms that these secondary-emotional-plot-threads can take. (And boy do I need a pithier term for it than that.) Oftentimes they're very subtle and context-specific—to the point that the author may not recognize that they've even set it up as a problem that needs resolving.

And being intangible, they're a lot easier to overlook than physical plot threads that get left hanging. But readers who are paying attention are going to wonder where those emotions went, and readers who aren't are nonetheless going to feel that disconnect, even if they can't put their finger on what's missing.

[lilianna-writes]

hi hi!! just out of curiosity, what's your favourite trait of zuko, ed and al? (maybe eren and armin too if you feel like writing abt them since i saw you tagged their names in your masterlist)

This made me realize how fast my interests change HGFHJGFHJF  answers under the cut because holy shit did i get carried away lmao

For Zuko, I know its cliché but i will say his entire redemptions arc is *chefs kiss* lol. But specifically, one of my favorite traits (honestly if you can even call this list a list of character traits lmao) of his is how passionate he gets about bettering himself and the Fire Nation. whether it was bettering his skills to capture Aang way back in season one, or when it came to stopping/reforming the harmony restoration movement after meeting Kori and her family and seeing the life all the elements made together, if he wants to change something for the better, he puts his heart into it and I absolutely love that about him. 

With Edward, I think my favorite trait about him is how driven and persistent he is. No matter what life throws at him he still keeps his heart set on his goals and does anything in his power to get answers, and him also passing the message along to Rose via “You have to figure it out. Stand up and walk. Keep moving forward. You've got two good legs. So get up and use them. You're strong enough to make your own path.” has seriously kept me going at times, especially when it comes to needing to advocate for myself, which did take me a while to start doing without needing someone to remind me to. Also his ending quote “There’s no such thing as a painless lesson. They just don’t exist. Sacrifices are necessary. You can’t gain anything without losing something first, although, if you can endure that pain and walk away from it, you’ll find that you now have a heart strong enough to overcome any obstacle. Yeah, a heart made fullmetal.” is so fucking beautiful i had to bring it up lmfao. 

With Alphonse, I love how he wants to see the good in people, even if those around him are trying to discourage his feelings. He goes out of his way to try to talk to the enemies, a heart to heart if you will, trying to understand their point of view to see if he could reach a middle ground, and all while being calm, patient, and collected. I think the biggest example I can give with his is how, after being kidnapped by greed and his companions (fuck greed for calling them minions. booo), Al pretty much lets them explain their side and while still disagreeing with the way to go about things, he doesn’t immediately jump into action to really stop them. After martel climbs inside his armor, he continues to talk to her like a friend, and even tries to shush her when they run into bradley. When he cares about someone (or something, him with cats make me sob) he does everything in his power to protect them. 

Now, i think the reason i don’t ask for SNK is because i read the manga and since it ended, i’m not on the hype train anymore. plus, of course the two characters i adore are the fandoms biggest issues lmao. So, i’ll include them in this, but i’m not gonna get into shit. y’all can find that on twitter lmao. this also may be shorter just because again, i'm not really into it as much as the other shows anymore. this will also be in past tense for that reason as well as it truly ended in my heart. 

For Eren, I think his determination has always been my favorite, even when i first started watching. From the first shots with him as a helpless 12 year old, to the final declaration he gives about saving his people and home of paradis, the way he would and does anything to save his friends and home is beautiful, though the entire “destroy the 80% of the world” shit is very :// dude lol

With Armin, I will say his smarts and how outside-the-box he is when it comes to making plans and trying to solve problems is my favorite part of him. I know a lot of people had issues with him vs erwin but dude,, even erwin had times where was like “lol idk what to do. Any ideas armin??” so. Also him making a plan to sacrifice himself without any hesitation so eren can get the upper hand with bertolt while erwin was riding towards his own death was really heart wrenching to me i absolutely love that episode. 

Since I added stranger things characters, here is why i love them briefly bc i do be tired lol

Steve- cmon. His redemption arc was just as great as, if not better than, zukos like??? He didn’t have to do anything to help everyone out but he does bc he cares :(( also him being jealous of eddie dhkjfslkfjdskl ALSO ALSO him and robin talking about boobs was so fucking great lmao. i love their friendship sm

Eddie- dudes just a silly metal nerd i cant not love him???? I love any man that can make me giggle for hours and eddie accomplished that almost immediately

[duamuteffe]

Stream of consciousness getting everything out below the cut.

This past week has been the damndest yoyo. I finally got all my books in storage (aka my folks' basement)

There's 83 boxes of them, plus the four I'm taking with. We wanted to leave by the end of April but that's coming faster and faster and there's still so much to pack. I can't get Fi's strangles vaccination until the 27th unless I want to pay an extra hundred dollars for the farm call. My mother and uncle are selling the land I spent half my life on and love more than any other place on earth because none of us have the money for the property taxes. I was gutted. I've bellowed and sobbed. I've read Pema Chodron endlessly until I stopped thinking about jumping off roofs. (Mine still needs a coat of tar before we can sell. We need three days without rain to do it. How are we ever going to get out of here by the end of April if we can't get it ready to sell?)

"Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.”

I'm finding comfort in the oddest places. The Allegheny Mountains are older than the rings of Saturn. They were the height of the Himalayas before the evolution of bones. Losing access to 92 (beloved precious) acres on the top of one mountain won't alter the power of a chain of hills 480 million years old. It's everywhere down there. I can follow the river and feel it everywhere (maybe someday we'll have the money for a little camp past Nebraska Bridge so I can smell the trees and earth and not have to be close enough to the Farm that my heart threatens to break again) Every inch of the place is inscribed in my memory in full 3d and surround sound

I will carry the place for the rest of my existence. And then my mother says there was a rifle stashed away for me - eight years since my grandfather's collection went to auction because my grandmother's sanity broke down in the wake of his sudden death and all of us kids were left without the (antique, carefully selected) rememberances I knew he'd wanted us to have. For eight years I had thought them all gone, just the memories of shooting skeet with my grandmother's 20 gauge (should have gone to Suz, they loved her as their grandchild as soon as I brought her home, and man was she good at tagging clay pigeons with it, there's photos of her at my wedding in her pretty dress showing how it's done) and plinking at soda bottles full of water with lever action Winchesters that were carried on saddles in the Old West (the boys should have gotten one each, the heaviest for Pat, the middle for the Doc, and the lightest for my amiable ex) They were all gone, I was told, but someone stashed one away for me. She's had my step-cousin-in-law bring it up so I could have it. The oldest one, and the most beautiful; 1760's or thereabouts, stock made of solid tiger maple from back when the trees were four feet across. Barrel forged by a patient smith. Carried to hunt for food when this country was still a colony. Too fragile by far to fire but one of Pappap's favorites; I remember how tickled he was when I told him the one I saw in the Royal Armouries wasn't nearly as nice.

I asked if the same step-cousin-in-law could be asked to bring Pappap's canoe up to my folks, and if my mother could grab a few small items from the house and she said yes, so I don't have to go there to the house where Bummy and Pappap aren't and haven't been for a few years now, and walk around in the places they're not, and have to deliberately choose a last time to stand in the field and then leave forever. The last time I was there it was a good day. It was sunny and spring and the leaves were just out, and a good friend and I were clipping small new branches from the apple trees for her to try and root (those 150 year old apple trees, will the new owners keep them? The one tree still gives the best pie apples ever grown and the russet tree gives crisp tart apples that are best after a hard frost. They could live another hundred years if tended.) I can live a lot easier with that having been inadvertently my last visit. I don't think I can go there ever again now, knowing it's the last time.

We're going to another farm to try and keep it going, I remind myself. If I can't keep my own best place I can do my damndest to help friend-family keep theirs. It's so beautiful there. There's so much to do. I'll have meaningful work again. No more retail hell. A garden. A couple of goats. Some bees. Two dozen horses to help care for. My mare, with all the turnout her little feral heart desires. Maybe she'll recover enough from the fractured hip by Fall for me to ride her again. I saw Mrs. Edwards in a dream and asked her and she smiled at me. I'm taking it as a good sign. There is so much awaiting us once we get unstuck from here. The Doc can hunt in the Fall. We can fish all summer in spare moments (Pappap said he was going to teach me to use the old spincasting rods he had from his father; they run differently from modern ones, and we didn't end up having time but I can learn online.) Unless my brother contests we're getting Pappap's canoe, and we'll haul it up with us and put it on the lake. It's sturdy enough to go fishing from. There's so much yet to do.

"When you see the Southern Cross for the first time/You understand now why you came this way/'Cause the truth you might be runnin' from is so small/But it's as big as the promise, the promise of a comin' day"

We're going to be okay. I repeat it a lot. We're going to be okay. "Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.”

It's falling apart. It's coming together. There's so many moving parts, so many ducks not in a row. But we're going to be okay.

(Knock on wood)

[times-eclipse]

Persona 6 Dream - Phantom Thieves and a Circus Troupe

I had a bit of a nap earlier and ended up having a dream about Persona 6. For whatever reason it also involves the cast of Persona 5, but it at least took it in an interesting way. It's kinda a long description, so let's see how I do.

There was an anime-style OP, as they do, but I don't really remember much about it by this point. It introduced a few dream-specific characters, as well as the Phantom Thieves. I was a little concerned why PT was there, as I worried it might mean it can't stand on its own.

I seemed to be playing the game with a friend, but I only saw the game visuals in the dream. The camera was low-down and close up like I was in the game itself, but seemed to also have running commentary like I was watching/playing it.

The game starts off with some other party going somewhere in some town. I don't remember anything about how they looked, except for recalling the protagonist's design - like a cross between Makoto Yuki P3 and Ren P5. He had short, slightly curly-wavy hair like Ren, but it was a dark blue like it was a mix between Makoto and Ren. He was shown in an outfit that seemed... almost playing-card magician themed - alike the P5 Joker outfit, but with more reds and whites, slightly anime-outfit extravagant but not too much. He also maybe had Joker-mask-styled glasses.

The party end up going to a movie theatre. Two characters from the OP that looked like circus ringleaders - dressed in white blazers and pants, one man with a tophat and one woman with a baton - are all "HEY who wants to rule a Palace?!" and pull out of the fabric of reality a weird cog-spike thing. The cog-spike is heavily black-and-white styled like it's part of P5's UI, and is apparently called a "key".

One party member, the Ryuji/Junpei-type (he even looked rather Ryuji), gets extremely hyped for it and ravenously goes after it, as do some others in the theatre. I (in the background) are all "oh I think I see the story loop here". When he grabs onto it, reality falls apart and everyone is falling through a red void, and the Phantom Thieves are there?? The thieves are all "who the heck is this lot?!"

The party and PT are eventually standing in a garden/flower field sort of area. I don't remember exactly the conversation, but it's said/implied basically that the party has been caught up in some Cognition thing, and the PT are here because they've been solving such events in the background. Akechi is there too. The Junpei-Ryuji guy that grabbed the "key" is nowhere to be seen.

The game seems to inherit from your P5 save file and called Joker "Juurou" here, like my previous playthrough with my friend. This is like the one point the dream tried to be a bit more game and brought up a dialogue box, only to get all "lived" again and me there, in the dream is all "OH HECK YEAH IT'S JUUROU, woo!" and patted his cheeks and confused everyone.

I think the idea in the dream was that these two circus ringleader types were going around showing people the Wonders of the Metaverse, and people exposed to those "keys" suddenly became overcome with power and desire. If you touched the "key", you'd form a Palace right there for that area, as it happened for The Junpei-Ryuji. The dream implied each party member would go through this, even though your entire circle of friends was practically introduced right at the start.

In this situation it would be almost comical after like the fourth dungeon to see party members still fall for the ringleaders' trap.

Regardless, once at the flower garden area, this is about when I woke up. The P6 party was congregating together but unsure what do, and PT were heading off on their own, and then... I don't remember anything else. There was an aside all "hey wait a sec when was P6 supposed to come out again" and then remembered going to a store to get it, and the release date on the trailer being all 2023.04.13 and it was apparently like, the 17-18th in the dream..?

But regardless, aside from the frankly marketing powered inclusion of the Phantom Thieves, the general conceit of the dream was kinda cute. Also if we end up with a P6 trailer announcing it for release on Homestuck Day, you heard it here first folks.

[lenabob]

Hello, hello! I saw that you you're taking ship requests, so why not give it a shot?

Let me just thank you in advance and all the luck with starting now with the content <3333

She/her / I'm 5'3, pake skin, skinny, REALLY long dark brown hair with curls and dyed red at the ends. I'm an INTP, introvert, I have adhd and i love to be alone. I'm pretty defensive at first, but then I can be pretty funny and blunt IF i trust the person/people that I'm with. I'm not very good at showing my feelings, but I care a lot. I have anger issues and I sometimes takes me a little accept other people opinions. My friends say that I'm intelligent and a good leader. My love language is acts of service and I believe that my friends are my only family. My hobbies are writing, reading, drawing; I listen to music all day and I love history. I love boxing and I think I have a pretty good gun shot. Also, my palette is dark red and black.

Take you time, take care and if you need anything let me know, xoxo 🖤🥀

Ok this one took me awhile to choose between Lipton and Winters, but I finally figured out that you would go perfectly with Lipton. Also, I don’t do palettes, but I hope you don’t mind. Sorry if I wasn’t clear.

HOWEVER, ON WITH THE SHOW…

Lipton would honestly love that you are an introvert due to him being quiet himself

He would be the best hype man. Did you see this man when he hyped up Speirs and how much he respects him?

Lipton would probably fawn over your art and your drawings. Like this man would be bugging you to tell him about the next story you are writing.

However, he understands your need for space and respects it.

As well, when you get mad I see him not getting mad. Like he would try to solve the problem with you instead of starting a yelling fight.

Also, if you ever need to relax he would probably take you out boxing because he as well likes to workout to cool off.

Even though he’s quiet, he is quite a romantic individual. He will worship you and treat you like the queen you are.

He’s the type of man he will get you anything just to see his love be happy.

He thinks you only deserve the best and will try his damn best to give you the life you deserve

In Saving Private Ryan I would ship you with… Private Daniel Jackson

Ok, ok, ok, hear me out… he may seem mean and scary but I believe he’s just a quiet, serious person.

He totally understands your need for space and liking to be alone because he is the exact same way.

When your mad, he probably get ticked off but he will get over it pretty fast and try to overcome the problem with you.

Also, he would love to take you to the gun range with you and see who has the best gun shot.

Also, he would love you to read your stories to him because poor soul can’t read for life. If you know then you know.

You would probably be the only person he has a soft spot for you and will get you anything.

Also, he is a Southern boy so he will probably try his best to make you feel a part of his family.

I hope you enjoyed the ships I gave you💕💕

[sarah-dipitous]

Hellsite Nostalgia Tour 2023 Day 155

Party On, Garth/The Curse of the Black Spot

“Party On, Garth”

Plot Description: Garth needs the Winchesters’ help on a case, battling a Shojo—a Japanese creature sent to seek revenge on enemies

(WHY DID MY PHONE TRY TO AUTOCORRECT SHOJO TO SHOTO. Also, doesn’t Shojo just mean young girl??)

Would I Survive the First Five Minutes??: I’m not going camping, I’m good

I will never not love Garth. He’s fucking great

Yeah I’d be overcome with guilt if someone I loved as horribly as that guy’s brother…oh. He’s, uh, he’s dead too

Oh no. Not the little girl. Nope. The mom got got…

Bro had ONE beer and is INSTANTLY drunk. Precious precious Garth. I don’t care what Dean and Sam think, I would LOVE to hang out with Garth

HE HAS A SOCK PUPPET TO HELP TALK TO CHILDREN OMG

Oh that gift was not a forgiveness gift

I WAS wondering how much it would take for Dean to actually get drunk anymore

Omg I thought the manager got ganked but it was just Garth with a taser

This poor chef. He’s a liar if he says he wouldn’t worry about it. He just shoved the box into Sam’s hands and he is VISIBLY shaken

(A/N: this is the point where my spn thoughts got deleted so I’ll be watching at an increased speed after dw to try to recreate what I thought)

At least they compensate him for his help

I half expected Garth to have the thing that would kill it (a samurai sword with a Shinto blessing on it)

Garth thinks Bobby’s haunting them 🥺

Garth’s actually so smart, he’s just…unconventional when it comes to being a hunter

Can you imagine being this chef and Dean comes to you to bless the sword he found…….somewhere

It’s a fun fight because you either have to be drunk or be guided by someone who’s drunk to land any hits on the Shojo

Nah dude, you should have ran so much earlier

They are getting their ASSES beat

Oh. Ohhh Bobby IS helping them from the beyond 😭😭😭 he wants them to see him so bad. I can’t.

“The Curse of the Black Spot”

Plot Description: The Doctor must solve the mystery of the disappearance of a pirate crew

I really don’t get why they’ve started putting a summary about how Amy knows the Doctor at the beginning of each episode…why start at season six??

Let Karen Gillan have more swords challenge 2k23

Yes, Rory, you are correct. Amy should dress as a pirate more often. Could we get a pirate movie with Karen and Kierra Knightley??

Isn’t the twist that she (the siren) is actually some sort of medical something or other??

I think the reason the RTD era has better rewatch value is that they just dropped hints to the overarching plot for each season along the way but don’t confront it til the end. So you get more out of rewatches than the Moffat era which starts with a big question and meanders its way to the end

The way…the captain is just like “a ship’s a ship” when it comes to the TARDIS. Amazing.

This poor kid who’s just finding out his dad’s a pirate

Damn. Rose from Titanic has NOTHING on the Doctor when it comes to throwing treasure overboard. She threw one diamond. He threw a whole ass treasure chest full

Ugh. That lady checking in on Amy again…

He’s such a child sometimes, wiping the alien snot on Amy’s sleeve

I was right. She took them all to some sort of med bay. She only took the sick and injured for a reason

The number of times Rory either dies or almost dies is kind of ridiculous

Like the only time it’s still gonna be effective is the episode where they’re like on differing timelines…

I love how this old timey pirate crew is now commandeering a space ship

[polhrecipe]

The faceless double

#The faceless double full

・Bonus room (After clearing the game, you can experience a wealth of sub-stories and their respective elements) (Failure to avoid obstacles will cause damage to be incurred, and the game ends once your HP hits 0.) Take advantage of the various faces you’ve acquired to clear these events. There are also some parts of the story in which action game-like events containing puzzle-solving elements will occur. (Giving a wrong answer will cause damage to be incurred, and the game ends once your HP hits 0.) If you’re able to properly fulfill the inhabitants’ requests, you can acquire their respective faces as a reward. Throughout the story, the inhabitants of the strange lands you visit will ask you to solve various puzzles and answer riddles. The choices you make will directly affect the protagonists’ futures. Throughout the story, you will be prompted to make a wide variety of choices. on their adventure and help them to overcome the dangers and problems plaguing each land they visit! Simply put, this is an adventure game in which you advance through the story while solving various puzzles and riddles that pop up along the way.ĭouble and his crew will travel to a variety of strange lands on the quest to find God, and will have to take on the various challenges these lands currently face. The following items are currently being planned for inclusion in the game. Recognized by an extremely unique manner of speaking, that tiny little body moves in ways you’d never expect to be possible. Secretly following Lutchiana on his journey, he regularly sends reports back to Lutchiana’s father.Ī small “person”* whom Double and Cloena encounter while trying to leave the forest. While she comes off as somewhat cold, she also offers helpful advice to Double & co., who are undertaking their first adventure.Ī butler-cum-bodyguard employed by Lutchiana’s family. She stands out with her entire body glowing white. He offers help throughout Double’s journey to find God.Ī young female adventurer with robotic legs.

#The faceless double full

He embarks on a journey to seek out God in order to remove the curse that has been placed upon him.Īs long s he has a vessel, he can also turn into other people.Įnergetic and full of vigor, Cloena is a young boy who thinks of himself as Double’s little brother. His name can be changed.Ī young man who currently consists of only a soul. When Double awakened, he had lost his previous form.Ĭloena proposes to Double that they embark on a journey to seek out God, in order to remove the curse. The people of this world called the comet “God”. It is said that the comet will grant any wish – however, payment for a granted wish takes the form of a curse. Continued abuse of our services will cause your IP address to be blocked indefinitely.In this world, there sometimes appears a comet that grants wishes. Please fill out the CAPTCHA below and then click the button to indicate that you agree to these terms. If you wish to be unblocked, you must agree that you will take immediate steps to rectify this issue. If you do not understand what is causing this behavior, please contact us here. If you promise to stop (by clicking the Agree button below), we'll unblock your connection for now, but we will immediately re-block it if we detect additional bad behavior. Overusing our search engine with a very large number of searches in a very short amount of time.Using a badly configured (or badly written) browser add-on for blocking content.Running a "scraper" or "downloader" program that either does not identify itself or uses fake headers to elude detection.Using a script or add-on that scans GameFAQs for box and screen images (such as an emulator front-end), while overloading our search engine.There is no official GameFAQs app, and we do not support nor have any contact with the makers of these unofficial apps. Continued use of these apps may cause your IP to be blocked indefinitely. This triggers our anti-spambot measures, which are designed to stop automated systems from flooding the site with traffic. Some unofficial phone apps appear to be using GameFAQs as a back-end, but they do not behave like a real web browser does.Using GameFAQs regularly with these browsers can cause temporary and even permanent IP blocks due to these additional requests. If you are using Maxthon or Brave as a browser, or have installed the Ghostery add-on, you should know that these programs send extra traffic to our servers for every page on the site that you browse.The most common causes of this issue are: Your IP address has been temporarily blocked due to a large number of HTTP requests.

[interfeadmusic]

Review: The Thin Silence Side-Scroller Game

Two PM Studio’s The Thin Silence is a gloomy side-scrolling adventure game. The pixel art style and soundtrack invoke feelings and emotions that are depressing but hopeful, ugly yet beautiful. This game is said to be so depressing that there is even a warning label that suggests the game’s strong theme of “depression, suicide, and negative mental health.” No doubt the keyboard and mouse controls are indeed mentally ill. Arrow keys to move, with A and S being the action buttons? I guess I’m using a controller for this one unless I intend to play cross-handed.

The Thin Silence follows the story of Ezra on his journey of self-exile and shame. The main protagonist knows something the player doesn’t, intriguing them to keep on playing in order to figure out why Ezra is where he starts at. The man is so broken with crippling depression that even his jumping animation is melancholy. Hey Ezra! You wanna maybe move your arms for better momentum so you can jump to your desired destination? No? Cool.

What a beautiful family.

Evident by the fact that Ezra only walks, this game is all about taking in the atmosphere. Its gloomy but surprisingly diverse visuals are coupled with the somber yet hopeful piano and violin lead soundtrack. The waterfalls in particular are very pleasing to look at. They almost look like they were drawn with a marker, in a good way. This juxtaposition of beauty and ugliness really drive hope the game’s theme of hope overcoming fear.

Death is also aptly handled. Ezra is more likely to fail from getting stuck in a pit rather than being crushed by a boulder or drowning. Because of this, the player usually decides whether he or she has failed and is given the option to restart the level whenever desired. If you give up, Ezra starves to death, rots, and dies. But if you have hope, you can move forward.

The Thin Silence brings forth a fresh take on the old school point and click adventure genre. This can be both a good and a bad thing, as these games can feel immensely rewarding, they can also be tedious at times. Overall, the pacing of this game is actually pretty well done. Even more so considering the fact that Ezra only walks when you control him. Although, there are a few moments of padding here and there.

https://secretlabalternatives.tumblr.com/

For one, if Ezra climbs something, he will go all the way up and the player will have zero control. This can sometimes be frustrating if a ladder is accidentally clicked or if one desires to step off it mid-way through. In one particular puzzle, I immediately felt resentment when I realized I had to backtrack a considerable distance in order to get to my goal. Lo and behold, something unexpected happened, and I retracted my feelings and became drawn into the narrative than I was before. This moment is an excellent example of “story presented through gameplay.” Although, the last few puzzles of the game do involve some tedious backtracking.

As Ezra ventures forth, he will find various items to help him. The item and crafting system is simple, familiar, but also uniquely presented. Ezra can take multiple items and combine them into something else. Some items can be combined more than once, further increasing crafting possibilities. It’s a great way of encouraging the player to use their imagination to solve puzzles. However, the issue some may have with other point and click adventure games are present here as well. If you are stumped, you will resort to mindlessly trying every single item combination on every single intractable object until the puzzle is solved. This usually grinds the pace of the game to a halt, but the rewards typically become all the more satisfying.

Ezra will end up with a plethora of crafted weapons at his disposal. Some are more useful than others. Some I never bothered using. There is only one way to solve each puzzle. Some solutions to puzzles feel awkward and forced. The crafting system clearly encourages outside the box thinking. Unfortunately, there isn’t much variety in solving puzzles. There is little reason to revisit the game if you are more invested in the puzzle solving rather than the narrative. Conversely, optional story segments are sometimes uncovered by solving puzzles.

Much of the game’s lore is uncovered via hacking, and it sucks. Hacking usually consists of finding a word in a cluster of letters, or some kind of number matching pattern. I can definitely relate to Ezra’s PTSD with regard to my Alien Isolation flashbacks, and it’s similar, boring hacking segments. Thankfully, hacking is mostly optional. The rewards are often data logs that provide more backstory.

Most of the puzzles are extremely self-explanatory, but there were a few that invoked some creative and abstract thinking. This is a game that requires the player to be in a certain mood in order to fully enjoy. The game can be completed in a couple hours on first play through. Taking into account the time needed to flesh out the story by finding all Chapter Notes and hacking all computers may stretch the game from 6-10 hours.

https://www.hangrygamergear.com/

The Good

Gorgeous environments and soundtrack that really add to the atmosphere and theme

Interesting story that keeps you guessing and gives you the feels!

Intuitive and simple crafting system

Clever puzzle designs

The Bad

Some moments of tedious backtracking from the middle of the game onward

Lack of diversity in puzzle solutions is a missed opportunity

[superhero--imagines]

Etsy Store Here l Ko-Fi l Commission Info

Part 2 Here!/ Part 3 Here! / Playlist Here!

* Sorry guys but this mans been living in my head rent free

* So the first time you see Satoru it’s with those black specs he likes to wear and you get a glance at those GORGEOUS eyes

* He meets your eyes for a second before looking away, it’s the briefest of interactions

* But your heart is racing and you can feel the familiar heat of attraction starting to lap at your face

* ‘He looks just like a prince’ you think

* You find out pretty fast the ‘prince’ similarities stop at appearance

* “Ah it’s not my fault you’re so weak~” You hear him say with the princely smile as he teases Utahime

* It looks like he’s held something so high she can’t reach it

* “Try your best, if you drink plenty of milk I’m sure you’ll be tall enough one day~” he says before laughing with that same princely face

* “You shouldn’t pick on those that are weaker than you” Geto intervenes, somehow making the entire situation worse

* You watch as Gojo laughs

* You’re starting to think he might be the real curse you need to exorcise

* You continue watching him as Utahime tries to kick him in the crotch

* “You silly girl, did you forget there’s an infinity between us?” Cue Gojo’s “A-hahahahaha” laugh

* Yeah, he’s definitely a demon

* You keep your distance, Gojo’s beautiful and all, but you’re not dumb, you’ve heard about the Satoru clan.

* “Hey Geto-Kun, who do you think would win in a fight me or a lion?”

* Besides that guy is way too reckless, you’d rather not get all mixed up in that if you can help it

* You watch as Satoru takes his shirt off, his well defined chest glistening

* Still, you’re grateful for the show

* Little do you know the famous Gojo Satoru has taken note of you as well

* Naturally given his ability he notices everyone, but he especially takes note of you

* It’s not because you stand out, quite the opposite

* You blend into the background easily, supporting others when needed

* But not to the degree where you unable to defend yourself, or you’re sacrificing your own life for someone else

* He grins

* Looks like he found something interesting

* You’re at the vending machine eyes racking over the drink selection

* But there’s another thirst quenching sight right next to you, their hand resting on the vending machine, that princely smile aimed right at you-

* “So what do you say?” Satoru asks, and you start to wonder if that princely smile seems just a bit wolfish “Do you want to be my lover?”

* You’re kind of annoyed

* What an impetuous question, you can count on one hand how many times you’ve spoken to each other, and you only need both hands to count the words said in each of those encounters

* “No”

* You turn your attention back to your drink choices, it’s pleasant weather so you don’t want anything hot.

* Anything carbonated is out of the-

* Gojo moves closer, peering into your face with that grin

* Ugh does he have to stand so close

* “Why ‘no’? I know you think I’m attractive”

* “I also think you’re a womanizer with a god complex”

* And really why shouldn’t he be?

* He’s probably the most beautiful man you’ve ever seen in your life, not to add the sheer power he contains in that body of his

* But just as he has the right to be a womanizer with a god complex, you have the right not to take part in that narrative

* He backs away, leaning back against the wall

* So he’s not going to deny it

* Well, at least he’s somewhat self aware

* Those clear blue eyes catch yours again, and you have to fight against every human instinct from showing any human reaction

* You turn back to the vending machine making your selection when a smile lilts onto his mouth

* “Friends then”

* “Just colleagues” you reply, grabbing your drink

* But as you walk by you push a canned beverage into his chest.

* It’s a can of green tea

* It’s his favorite drink

* He looks to you seeing a bottle glinting in your hand

* So you didn’t sacrifice your own thirst, but you also didn’t ignore his needs

* He feels that same wolffish grin curl onto his mouth

* “What an entertaining person”

* After that if you’re anywhere within a 50 feet radius of him he’ll go out of his way to get your attention

* “Oh wow, looking especially radiant this morning (Y/N/N)” he’ll say with a playful seductive wink

* When you don’t respond he tries annoying you instead

* “Ah you can’t reach that? Here let me-” and then he’ll proceed to hold it even further out of your reach

* He’s expecting you to jump up and down, or at least give some sort of response but you just walk away

* Well that wasn’t what he expected

* He feels that grin spread across his face again

* Very interesting

* His attraction to you is pretty shallow

* He’s interested you because you’re entertaining

* And you’re entertaining because you aren’t interested

* Which only makes him that much more interested in you

* Its a paradox

* You watch him flounder around, annoying Utahime for a giggle

* Well it doesn’t matter anyway, you know how he is, he’ll get bored soon enough and lose all interest in you

* He’s not the strongest {f*ckboy} for nothing

* You see him turn to meet your gaze, offering a boyish smile and a wink

* You make sure not to give any reaction, turning to listen to something Shoko is telling you

* You hope he can’t sense the twinge of heat you feel on your face

* You’d be lying if you said you didn’t find the attention a little flattering

* I think for the most part you’re right, Satoru is mostly playing around-

* At least at first.

* You’re just something new and fun no one knows about, and wildly entertaining since you never respond the way he thinks you will

* You’re kind, but not at the expense of yourself, and he likes that

* Besides you’ve got this quite sort of consideration for others-

* It’s not flashy, it’s so subtle most people hardly notice

* It’s in the way you bring an extra snack for Utahime when she’s running herself ragged training

* “They were having a two for one special”

* Or the way you’ll get your teacher a plushie you saw at a shop at the station because you know he needs more

* “I just thought it was cute, but I haven’t got any room for another one”

* You’re quiet, someone who hears things and she’s things, but never says anything about them

* A wallflower

* But you’re not weak

* There’s something about those two things put together in the same person that entertains him to no end. Like a paradox or a puzzle he can’t seem to solve no matter how hard he tries

* Satoru’s had at least a hundred lovers, and a great many of them had provided him with their own brand of kindness and consideration

* But he’s never felt something as warm as when he see’s a lunch box in his dorm after he hobbles back from a mission that lasted a little longer than expected

* He peers at the note attached, it’s not even signed but he knows it’s from you

* “I know you think you’re god or whatever, but even gods have to eat”

* He doesn’t know why, but he’s overcome with the urge to cry

* He gulps hard- it’s not like this a lunch you made by hand or anything, it’s just something from the convenience store

* And it’s not like this note is particularly affectionate or special either, he’s gotten entire love letters from his previous lovers

* So he’s not sure why he saves your note, placing it behind a picture frame where only he’ll know it is , or why he thinks that convenience store lunchbox is the most delicious thing he’s ever had

* Even though he knows he cares about you, and that he’s grown quite fond of you -

* I don’t think it clicks for him

* And part of that is because well, he’s Gojo Satoru

* He collects lovers like some people collect photographs or memories

* They serve their purpose, and he lets himself be entertained by pretending all the feelings are real, and then he moves on to the next one

* It’s just what he’s used to

* And this whole paradox you two have going on could go on for a few years until something finally shifts

* He went a little too far with one his half-flirting-half-tormenting pranks

* And for the first time you give him a reaction, it’s only for a second, but annoyance and anger mar you face

* And then just like that, it’s gone and you turn and walk off in the other direction

* Sh*t.

* He went too far didn’t he?

* It should be fine right? You’re not too mad at him right? You’ll get over it-

* Right?

* But for the next few days you don’t speak to him, and you don’t make eye contact

* It bothers him more than it should

* Normally he would be annoyed that his toy would have the gall to blatantly ignore him like this-

* But this is different than that.

* He’s-

* He’s feeling regret

* He shouldn’t have acted that way to you, maybe if he had just done something differently, or said something differently-

* It’s not like the way things were between you two was ideal or anything,

* But at least then you would at least speak to him

* ... and every once in while he would get to see you smile

* It’s never at him, it’s mostly when you’re with Shoko or Utahime

* Occasionally when you’re with Nanami or Geto, who you’ve been talking to more recently

* He’s pretty sure you three are talking about him, just one day away from forming a “down with Gojo Satoru” club

* Still that smile when you laugh-

* The way you look so carefree and young and so full of life is worth all the slander in the world to him

* He needs to see that smile, to know something that wholesome and kind exists somewhere in this cruel world

* Satoru’s thinking about how to go about apologizing to you

* He’s caught between buying you a Lamborghini or buying you a special grade tool when he ends up running into you

* “Ah, could you help me with something?”

* He would quite literally give you the clothes on his back right now if you asked

* You stand up on a a chair holding a glass of water

* “Apparently this is supposed to help with concentration or something” You say pressing the glass full of water to the ceiling

* “Can you hold this broom?” You ask and Satoru nods, holding the broom handle steady as you make sure it’s pushed against the glass holding it steady

* You nod approvingly down at him

* The rest happens pretty fast, you’re off the chair, carrying it away

* “The broom is actually a special grade tool, so cursed energy won’t work on it”

* You grin

* “Have fun figuring how to get out of that Baka Prince!” You say with a laugh

* And Satoru is dumbfounded

* But not because you just pranked him into a holding up a glass of water with a broom

* But because as you were rushing away, you showed him your teasing grin

* It’s the first time you smiled at him

* And as he looks up at the glass of water, a smile slowly spreads across his face

* It’s not the wolffish smile he usually has when he’s around you, or the princely smile he uses when he’s trying to get something

* It’s a genuine smile

* Ah, so that’s it

* He’s fallen in love with you

* If you’re not the one entertaining him, then he’s just not interested

* Ah geez

* He was so focused on trying to get you to fall in love with him that he really didn’t see this coming

* Well he’ll have to start being serious about pursuing you now-

* Though for you to pull off something like this on him tells him you’re his ideal match without a doubt

* A wallflower with a mischievous streak, he likes that.

* He scratches his head with his free hand

* “I wonder how I’m supposed to get out of this?” He muses looking up at the glass full of water

[notsogreatgamer]

Lightning turns so soft to Hope in the Gapra Whitewood and in the Nurticulture Complex. She opens up to him, tells him about her emotions, her sister, and her struggles with finding hope. 

When I first began playing these games, I played them out of order. I started with FFXIII-2 and then LR. I didn’t play FFXIII till I found it in a used game shop. So, I didn’t get the full emotional impact of what Lightning meant in LR when she said Hope and she were partners and why his dismissal of their moto of sorts made her so sad. 

Aside from the moment with Snow where she reassures him not to give up on Serah, this is the softest we’ve seen her and the most we’ve seen her open up to anyone. With Serah, earlier in the game, we saw her desperation and fear for her little sister but none of the softness.

She becomes so invested in Hope’s safety and you can practically see the “oh shit” moment when she realizes that Hope was spiraling down Revenge Road and embracing his rage. He isn’t coping; he is pushing the feelings he needs to process down into a box. It isn’t until Lightning ends Operation Nora that we see a bit of his grief again. (And the voice acting there is A+.) He’s so desperate to have something to hold onto, someone to blame so that he doesn’t have to face the reality of his mother’s death; it’s a very understandable feeling and one Lightning knows all too well. 

She hurts for Hope but doesn’t know how to reach him. So, she decides she’ll keep him alive, even if it costs her own life. 

I believe she got so invested in Hope because Hope reminded her of herself both in the now and in the past. She can see that he is trying so hard to section away a part of himself--the grief over his mother’s death--and focus on something else. She wanted to keep him from feeling the same pain she felt. 

The datalog provides a deeper look into Lightning’s thoughts as she travels with Hope.  

“Lightning soon realizes her mistake. Her lecture to abandon compassion was intended as a warning against the hesitation she fears will be his undoing, but he has clearly interpreted it as a cue to hurl himself headlong into harm’s way. Regretting her words, Lightning continues on through the Whitewood.”

 “Though she feels responsible for his newly acquired recklessness in battle, Lightning finds herself unable to say anything. She is afraid that if she prevents Hope from fighting, he will lose the drive he needs to keep going and succumb to despair. Not knowing how to reach Hope, Lightning rescinds her earlier decision and suggests they visit the boy’s father in Palumpolum.”

“(...) Thinking of a future without hope would be too much to bear, so she made the Sanctum her enemy and sought to lose herself in mindless combat. But it was all just a way to avoid facing reality. And now she’s got Hope doing the same. If he loses himself in revenge, he may gain temporary respite from the horror of his predicament--but it will solve nothing. Overcome by guilt, Lightning tells Hope to abandon Operation Nora, much to the boy’s disbelief. If he gives up on revenge, what else is there to live for?”

“Her mind made up, Lightning shoves Hope at Snow, then charges the enemy soldiers, intending to cut a path through which they can escape. She may have failed to give him hope, but the least she can do is keep him alive--even if it means sacrificing herself.” 

That last bit is a kick in the pants. The found family aspect of this game is so real.