#the waffles thing is so dumb imo

[iodotsys]

What is the best joke in the fandom? And which one the most overused? (In your opinion)

The best joke is Dib.

The most overused is GIR making waffles.

[icharchivist]

Oh, can I complain about something then?

This whole "destiny is fixed" thing from the Remake reminds me of the "fixed causality" they keep bringing up in GB Versus Rising

Lucilius can't beat Djeeta head-on because she beat him before, meanwhile he will always triumph over Beelzebub because he's beaten him before. This is mentioned multiple times in the story

It's determinism all the way down, it doesn't matter if you train, if you beat someone before and face them again, you will win anyway, even if you don't put in any effort

Now, Lucilius himself does mention that this is "lazy" and another sign that God can't be bothered with His creation

But imo it's so dumb

It feels pointless, just something to waffle endlessly about, but it destroys the concept of free will and it's sooo boring

You're welcome to disagree with me, but I personally hate this and I choose to ignore it

Totally, you can definitely complain, and i 100M agree with you.

I think like... stories about fates really need to be threaded carefully if you're going to do it, and understand that Fate, ultimately, is extremely rooted in tragedy in the Epic sense of, there is no other way it could have gone, the odds are against your favor from a God like perspective.

So unless you really have something to say about the cruelty of Gods, it's kinda unwelcomed, and it's especially unwelcomed imo when there are extremely antithetical themes in the center of the story you're reading about.

I think it doesn't work with ff7 for various reasons, one of which that one of the major theme of ff7 to me is "grief and the major negative impact of denial" or "you can't deny what happened to you because you're stopping yourself from healing and making yourself susceptible to being hurt even more instead", and it's why i find it extremely jarring to add a plotline about fate on top of that, where the whole thing is about "do not deny the hardships" and then when the remake ends up getting rid of the Specters it's so it can go "tee hee maybe things will go different this time ;3c", because the remake is forcing you in the situation of having to be in denial about the direction the game should take if it adapted the OG faithfully. If it's meant to add to the theme itself, i think it's just. genuinely insulting to insert it just to manipulate your audience because you don't trust the Original Plot to do it for you.

Granblue is in the same bag for me, and it's why, despite liking Cosmos' event, i really disliked the idea that the Singularity Can't Die Else It'll Cause An Apocalypse. I find it so damn jarring especially in the realm of how much of Granblue is about Free Will (that it's the main thematic linked to any Primal Beasts especially).

I think Orologia's event managed to balance this idea more on showing how the butterfly effect would affect things and all, and even there the Singularity managed to break from the fate Orologia had seen, and this is how you can deal with fate in a way that's interesting.

but Versus and the "Singularity Can't Die" plotpoints seem antithetical to the way Free Will shows itself.

And now with the addition of Sahar's FE recently about how his biggest crime was to refuse the Skydwellers from their Free Will, taking it away, the fact it is a Set Thing in the Versus Verse is just extremely jarring and i think goes against the way the themes have been built in GBF.

Stories about Fate CAN be done interestingly. I think FF15 for instance work it in a very interesting way because it starts out with a prophecy about the King of Light, who will bring the light again on a world that fell into darkness, and as the world is falling to darkness and Noctis takes on this path he's been propheticized, once it's too late and only then will the Gods make clear that they made the whole thing up and that they specifically made matter worse on purpose to punish the mortals who tried to find a loophole to their prophecies, and therefore you feel the fate as being the cruel game of the Gods itself. It can work well for tragedies like that. But it has to be baked into the plot itself (a Prophecy generally works) and the Gods at play being capricious beings who are the ones setting things into motion, and you're left having no choice but playing your part to finish it.

But ultimately, i think this level of Fate is totally antithetical to FF7 and GBF in particular and i find it jarring the ways they try to shove it into plots where it shouldn't exist.

[lonelyghosts-stuff]

Marvel’s What If Episode 7 Reaction

No no this is the opposite of what I wanted. More Loki! Not less!

If they don’t have Thor being an absolute idiot without Loki being his voice of reason I’m gonna be upset

Wait what the hell I saw Seth Green in the opening credits lmao??? Now I’m just thinking about Chris Griffin

DARCY

Wow they got Jane back too

Soooo how do they know about aliens?

“HOLY MOLY” lmao

Hey thor my life isn’t that dull… okay fine that’s a lie

Sooo Thor is a frat boy?

YOOOO I NEED A SCREENSHOT OF THAT ART WITH THOR AND LOKI

ALL OF IT

Soooo in this world, Odin was a good dude and didn’t kidnap Loki and gave him back to Laufey? (Didnt Laufey abandon him tho since he was too small? I guess in this universe they simply… lost their prince? Lmao?)

Thor didn’t have Loki as his voice of reason I called it.

Night night Odin

Lmao Chad Frigga dipping Odin as soon as he’s asleep

I wonder if they got Idris Elba back for Heimdall?

“We are going to the most backward, backwater planet that not even Heimdall pays attention to.” D,: Thor why you gotta do me dirty like that???

Chris Hemsworth is definitely a better voice actor than some others

Oh yo it be Skurge

Darcy into probing huh?

(Romantic Music Playing) lmao

Man I love Darcy

Poor Howard the Duck lmao (oh yea that’s Seth green)

Skrulls huh

Honestly surprised Thor knows all of these planets. Including the grandmaster??? In the sacred timeline he didn’t even know Sakaar existed.

Wait so, are the Asgardians on good terms with Jotunheim then? If so, I wanna see party loki. Or maybe he’s too reserved for that. I wonder how Laufey raised him? IF WE DONT SEE JOTUN LOKI IM GONNA RIOT

Thor destroyed a star. That sounds about right

“Now that was an excellent party. You know, we lost Fandral for three days. Found him in a barn, curled up next to a baby goat. It was classic. Isn’t that right, Fandral?” “I NAMED HIM GARY!” “Yeah, you did.” “YEA GOATS!” Okay. Screw everyone else in the MCU. I love Fandral now. He’s the GOAT, pun intended

Oh not a star, he killed a whole planet.

I thought Asgardians were supposed to be more advanced than earth but making a tablet is so complicated?

Howard and Darcy was not a pair I thought expected

Yo it’s nebula and korg? So where’s Thanos? How is nebula allowed to go partying with Thanos looking for the infinity stones?

Drax too? Isn’t he in prison? And then Valkyrie? Seems like a lot more than just Thor being an only child is different in this universe. Most of these dudes should hypothetically be in prison or on super serious missions. And I just thought, isn’t Howard the duck imprisoned by the Collector? What’s the timeline for this?

DARCY MARRIES HOWARD THE DUCK? GIRL YOU DESERVE BETTER THAN HIM AND HIS CORKSCREW WANG!

Aaaaaand Jane and Thor got magic and science tattoos. Mighty fast character progression.

Oh? Hookups? That took a turn.

Awwwww Fandral snuggling with a bunch of Chinchilla looking animals <3

Unknown caller?

Dammit Rumlow

Rocket???

Acting director??? What happened to Nick???

KORG NO

Damn everyone crashed at Jane’s

I mean, didn’t seem like too much of a threat

PHIL!!!

Lmao the world isn’t gonna be destroyed by parties?

Oh Carol Danvers?

Okay so…. Lemme get this straight..

Loki and an army of aliens attacking the world? Shield: “nah not a threat.” Robot with robot army threatening to destroy the whole planet “nah Carol has better things to do.” A partying dude from space with no ill intent but just doesn’t seem to understand consequences? “CALL CAPTAIN MARVEL WE NEED HER!!!” Yea okay Shield

Thor loves waffles

LOKI

JOTUN LOKI

HES HERE

LOKI!!!

HOLY CRAP HES HUGE

HE HAS ICE HORNS

See everything would be better without Odin’s interference.

(That’s what she said)

YAY THEYRE FRIENDS

“You’re my brother form another mother man.” YOOOOOO

Loki just sang “Brothers foreveeeeerrrrr!” I can’t—

Aaaaaand fart jokes… “did you boom?” “I never boom. I only boom in private.” Dammit marvel I hoped you were better than this.

LOKI MAKE A WISH

White snake? Lmao where did she get that name lol.

What’s wrong with a party tho? Is this really top priority? Yea they destroyed another planet, but you never explained how

Why doesn’t she sound like Brie Larson? She’s still acting for Marvel Studios so it’s interesting they couldn’t get her for it… unless it is her and I just can’t remember how her voice sounds

Was that punch really necessary? Dude wasn’t posing a threat to anyone.

“You know, there’s a Midgardian word for women like you.” THOR NO—

“PARTY POOPER!” Oh thank God

“This ones for fury” but it wasn’t even Thor that hit him? It was korg and on accident! Cmon carol, I had hoped you’d be smarter than this and more reasonable. Not resorting to violence when nothing has even escalated…

Haha hammer to the face

And the back of the head lmao

BAHAHAHAHA HE JUST SMACKED HER INTO ANOTHER COUNTRY

THOR DONT BOOP STONEHENGE

Dammit Thor

Lmao I love that the countries have their names on them.

Okay just stay and fight here away from civilian population

Marvel really giving us what we want with the most powerful characters fighting

Mary Sue Captain Marvel

Her lipstick has stayed perfect somehow

Fighting in a storm eh? Can’t see how this could go wrong

Haha hammer timeout

Lmao I wanna see Frigga put Thor in a timeout

They’re chanting pooper at her. Is this elementary school again?

Bruh I just realized, Thor is supposed to be acting king while Odin is in Odin sleep lmao. I bet Asgard is going to either be in the best peace ever without Thor or utterly destroyed.

Leave south and north Dakota alone lol

Lmao I love Darcy

YAY GARY THE GOAT WAS SAFE

Wow Jane used the L word fast

Kicking Jane out of the helicarrier? Yea smart move kicking off the person who actually knows anything about this albeit she is a little blinded by love

Giant Loki holding a tiny phone

BAHAHAAHAHA “hey earth girl, you haven’t got a friend, have you!” YES LOKI ITS ME. MARRY ME

Stop throwing phones lmao

BRUH HOW IS SURTUR NOT EVIL EITHER? AND STOP FLIRTING WITH THE STATUE OF LIBERTY.

NO HE DESTROYED HER ARM LMAO

There goes the power grid

NOT THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE

Lmao there he goes

WHY DID KORG HAVE A PACIFIER IN HIS MOUTH

Bout time Heimdall popped in

Aaaaaand Jane got abducted by heimdall

Seeing as Heimdall hasn’t said anything, I’m assuming they didn’t get Idris back lol.

How is shield so chill on murdering Thor? Yes he’s destructive but they’re resorting to killing him so fast instead of talking to him! No one has even told him he’s putting the planet at risk! Dudes too dumb to know on his own!

JANE STOP DRINKING

Damn Maria Hill I had higher hopes for you

Lying Thor

Okay so shield trusts Frigga to help, but still irks me that shield was so trigger/nuke happy… seems the opposite of what we’ve seen of them (ugh just gotta ignore it and chock it up to this being an alternate reality)

Ew Drax

Loki calling the other jotuns “ice bros” lmao

It’s also mantis and Yondu!!

wait how did grandmaster just teleport away like the bifrost?

Nice going thor. You big hunky dummy

“MY MOTHER IS COMING.” Good lord is this high school now lmao???

How do they all know Frigga and why are they all afraid?

Damn the bifrost takes a lot longer than I would have expected

No no Thor the tower of pisa is meant to be tilted—oh whatever

Wait, but I don’t see loki helping, is he gonna be up to something last minute to ruin Thor’s cover up lmao?

I don’t believe Frigga would be tricked this easily lmao

Thor you are such a bad liar

Lmao here comes carol

Hahaha how did mjolnir get so trashed

Wow thor is so much taller than Jane

Wow this Jane and Thor seem to have more chemistry than the sacred timeline version ever did

Wait I want resolve for Loki!!

Uh oh

WHAT

ULTRON VISION WITH THE INFINITY STONES?? HOW

No resolution for that??? Well then. Rip this universe too lmao

Damn I wanted more Loki

There better be a Loki centric episode sometime. If they didn’t it’d a huge missed opportunity from marvel

Okay yea looking at the credits, Carol Danvers wasn’t played by Brie Larson but a lady named Alexandra Daniels. Odd they didn’t get Brie Larson.

Probably my favorite episode so far even with how absurd it was. A lot more upbeat than the past few ones with a better resolve to the story imo.

Also, if anyone can provide me of screenshots of Loki from this episode I would be very grateful

[daggery]

Jesper for the ask game??

first impression: iconic “spell forgive me in bullets on your chest” quote. when i read soc i always notice how he has the least main character-y introduction imo. in his first scene he’s mostly there to make it more lighthearted and show the bond btwn the dregs. he stands out more than the minor characters, but he wasn’t the pov character like inej and he didn’t stand out the way kaz obviously did so i hadn’t immediately recognized him as a main character. i don’t think this is a bad thing though and when i realized he was a main character i was really pleased because he seemed like a fun character

impression now: i just? think he’s good? i mean. he’s GOOD. something something he’s a criminal something something HE’S SO GOOD. like his conversation with inej near the end of CK directly followed by him going to talk with his dad to tell him the truth. he wants to be a good person, he wants to take care and protect his friends and family, he’s trying and he’s struggling and. i love him so so SO much. on the list of soc characters i really want to give a hug to he’s somewhere up there. also he wears lime green and lemon yellow together because he can and i adore him for that too. asks for an explosives guy on every job. ate a literal trough of waffles in apple syrup because he was dared to. not just girls! gonna get wylan’s ghost to teach his ghost to play the flute to annoy kaz. that’s why we call him wylan van sunshine. his iconic moments are limitless (just like my love for him) (the audience groans)

favorite moment: as always there are always so many but right now i’m going to go with all his moments with colm because i’ve been thinking about them recently, and his relationship with his parents in general. “i’m dying anyway, da. i’m just doing it slow.” jesper feels so much guilt but also anger because colm tried to protect him but wound up hurting him but above all jesper and colm care for and love each other so deeply and i!!!!! 😭 i love love. also going to mention when he talked about the oil market for a whole hour to stall the merchers because lmfao. for show jesper the first one i think of is when he shoots the card in inej’s mouth in order to join the performance troupe. when i watched that, i just Felt So Much at that moment. also the scene where he beats ivan

idea for a story: idk exactly but i do have some general things i think would be fun to see. i would love to read thoughts about an au where kaz and jesper are university friends. i would also love an au where kaz and jesper are farm boy friends. i have no idea how that would come about but i’d like it lol. misc kaz&wylan&jesper crimes but make it funny, because of that one part in rule of wolves where wylan said something about kaz only ever showing up at their house when he wanted them to do something illegal. also jesper using his powers more!! in rule of wolves, iirc, zoya mentions how the materialki work around wesper’s house was amateurish meaning jesper’s been experimenting and practicing, so idk that would be good to explore!!

unpopular opinion: i have only ever seen ppl gush over this scene so im standing here like 🧍‍♂️ is it just me. am i being dumb. but i have mixed feelings about the goat in the show when it comes to jesper. it was amusing and it was cute. but when the crows crossed the fold, jesper freaking out and yelling “so this is how i’m going to die?” while needing to hug the "emotional support goat” to calm down felt jarring and out of character. sentence 1 of chapter 11 in six of crows: “jesper always felt better when people were shooting at him.” he thrives when he’s in danger! it makes him focus! that’s like half the point of his later character development.

at first it felt like the entire bit with jesper needing an emotional support goat was there for comic relief and to intentionally turn it into a big fandom meme at the expense of jesper’s characterization. like the fact that ppl are saying things like "the conductor knew that jesper would panic in near-death situations so he specially brought along a goat lol" ??? but like, would jesper?? would he????? but thankfully the scene turned out ok bc he did his badass volcra shooting thing. the way im choosing to read that is that he’s just dramatic and wanted to scream about how he’s gonna die before he saved the day. i love the huge grin he has when they clear the fold and he goes to sit back down.

but fandom still latched onto the goat thing. which like, emotional support goat = good! if petting and hugging the goat makes jesper happy, good!! but it still reminds me of the Bad Feelings i had about jesper’s characterization in that fold scene so i’m still going keep insistently pointing to six of crows chapter 11 sentence 1

favorite relationship: INEJ JESPER BEST FRIENDS BEST FRIENDS BEST FRIENDS. they are so good and i am so happy that the show gave us so much new content for them pre-SOC, and whenever i see inesper fanart i get so happy. also height difference. hc tallest crow and smallest crow!! they’re just bffs i don’t know what else to tell you. and wesper of course <3333 lol i’m on a jesper&inej&kaz kick right now because of s&b, but i can’t wait for wylan to show up

favorite headcanon: wesper and kuwei become friends after crooked kingdom! maybe three or four years after CK, they bump into each other again and at first it’s an awkward Haha glad to see you’re not dead because last time we saw each other we all almost died and also wylan threatened to push kuwei into the canal because kuwei kept hitting on his boyfriend Or Whatever Situation, but slowly over time they all become closer. it’s a chill, slowly growing friendship type of thing where one day, years later, they’ve just naturally become true friends who can confide and trust in one another. idk the details, i just think they should be friends!!!! they’re invited to each others’ weddings. ALSO give him earrings. he’s a hot bitch who deserves earrings

[tangledbea]

Honestly, I hated the whole "Evil Cassandra" storyline, mainly because she was directing her anger at the wrong people. She shouldn't have attacked Rapunzel simply because Gothel chose her over her own daughter. She shouldn't have attempted to murder Eugene or trapped Varian because she wouldn't listen to him.

I think the whole narrative could have been handled much better, in general. When Cass took the Moonstone at the end of S2, I thought it was a great twist, and I couldn’t wait to see the justification or how it would pan out. And then the premier of S2 just filled me with dread and disgust.

It should never have been about Gothel.

Even with Gothel as her biological mother (which she shouldn’t have been, that was a really dumb move on their part imo), Cassandra had been displaying reasons all along why she might do this, and those reasons, while touched on, were largely overshadowed by the scapegoat reasoning about Gothel. If Gothel had been the straw that broke the camel’s back, but then basically ignored for the rest of the season, I’d have been more okay with it. If Cassandra hadn’t waffled back and forth all season, but ultimately decided over and over that hurting Rapunzel was the way to go, it would have been a stronger story. If she’d owned being evil all along, I’d have been more than cool with it. But the whole thing was handled so sloppily that it gave me the opposite reaction than they wanted: instead of me feeling sympathetic towards Cass, I was just endlessly frustrated and annoyed at every move she made.

[dontjudgemebymykpoptrash]

Saw A.C.E in Chicago and Atlanta this week and had meet and greet packages for both stops (no I couldn't afford it, yes my bank account overdrafted whoops).

It was ammazingggg. LONG STORY AHEAD.

The question I asked was answered by Chan. Bless his heart he struggled so much to say my name and I was in the second row on the furthest side from him. I stood up and waved so he could see me. They asked how to pronounce my name and BK actually said it perfectly, I was so impressed!

The question that was chosen was "What hobby do you want to try that you haven't tried before". He said Cooking, cause he isn't good at it and Donghun won't eat his food.

When the item signing started, BK would interact with us a lot and the girls in front of us took the liberty of teaching him the phrase "Let's get this bread." His face when they explained that bread = money was priceless. Experiencing that magical moment will live with me forever since he has been saying it nonstop since then.

So since PLT I've decided my "thing" for each autograph I can get is making my dumb pun fans. Eventually I'll just have a wall of these dang things and I'm excited about it. I made one for each my friend and me. Here's mine.

The other thing I prepared for them I kept super secret because I very much wanted to see their reaction to it. I didn't post it publicly anywhere. In line with Choice teasingly referring to Junhee as a lizard much to the delight of the fandom and the rest of A.C.E while hysterically bugging Jun, I couldn't resist... I'd always wanted to give away cute things at concerts but since I'm also an asshole I used my exceptionally mediocre photoshop skills to make

These beauties.

I originally only had 150 to hand out and I was actually worried I wouldn't be able to get rid of them all. I thought people might think they're dumb and not want any. Then due to a print shop mistake I ended up with 650. Whoops.

Before the meet and greet they tell us explicitly we are not allowed to give them anything and if they catch us trying to sneak them something they'll escort us out. My plan to see their reaction was almost destroyed! But I was very graciously given permission to -show- them the card, not give it to them (don't worry. They each got two in their gift boxes).

A.C.E tends to always stand/sit in the same order, so just as I expected, Chan was up first. He understood the pun of my fan! He thought it was really cute and gave such a big reaction I was pleased. Then I showed him the card and it was even bigger. I told him it was Junhee and he full on kicked out a leg and hit the table as he laughed which made me happy. He shook my hand.

Up next was Donghun who was the most quiet. I showed him the card after he signed my fan and he asked who it was. I told him it was Jun and he laughed and probably judged me a lot but then he gave me a high five and interlaced our fingers for a moment so I didn't feel completely embarrassed. The person behind me was so excited they moved onto Donghun before Jun was ready for me so I was waiting in limbo for a few seconds.

Leader Jun in the middle, the reaction I wanted most. He signed my fan and then I put the card down for him to see. He asked who it was, he seemed surprised. I told him it was him and he laughed and tried to deny it. He asked what kind of lizard it was, I told him it was a giant day gecko because I think they're the cutest. I told him I made sure to give them some in their gift box, and that we would see him again in Atlanta. He shook my hand and then the person behind me got excited again lol.

Byeongkwan was next! This boy is an absolute doll okay? The first thing he said to me is that he liked my lipstick (it was green). He signed my fan, then I showed him the card and he was beyond stoked. He laughed so loud and even held it up to Jun pointing it out to everyone. I promised him he got two in his gift box. He asked if I made one of each member and I told him no, but promised him I would next year (me and my big mouth). He held my hand and interlaced fingers and was just so sweet until the person behind me encouraged me on again.

WOW. OKAY. So Sehyoon is my bias af I was VISIBLY SHAKING at this point and as I set my fan down it so obnoxiously tapped the table several times. He tapped his lips and pointed at mine and said "pretty". I thanked him and said it was green for "cactus". I'm not sure if he understood cause he just repeated "cactus" and cocked his head slightly before signing my fan. Then I showed him the card. He asked who it was and I said Jun. He laughed a little and then I told him he was my favorite. He had the quietest lil thank you, then took my hand in both his soft tiny bby hands and I think my brain melted cause I couldnt make eye contact anymore it was too much. Just thinking about it is making my heart hurt. (To be clear, I am in no way special, he held everyone's hand the same way).

After that, we did the pictures! I very shyly wanted to stand between BK and Wow. I didn't do anything special this time around cause the pose I wanted was done by two other people so I just asked for cute cheek pokies. They were having so much fun with people so that inspired my next photo request. As I was walking away from the photo BK told me again that he really liked my lipstick and I was over the moon.

I brought about half the cards with me to hand out hoping I wouldn't have extras and people LOVED THEM? I ran out and felt bad that I didn't bring more!

The concert was AWESOME!! They're so interactive with fans I had several moments with EACH of them, but my favorite is when Wow kicked up a heart and he saw me catch it all goofy instead of letting him hit the woah and he laughed and mimicked me. He also handed me two lollipops (I gave one to my friend) but I'm never gonna eat it.

For the hi touch Chan handed us our photo cards, and hi fived us. They were oddly out of order (chan, Donghun, BK, Wow, Jun). I managed to tell him and Donghun they did amazing, then BK told me AGAIN he still loved my lips. I was so excited I told him "it'll be BLUE next time" and he said "oh!" BUT BY DOING THAT MY DUMBASS MISSED THE CHANCE TO LOOK INTO WOW'S AND JUN'S EYES UGH I WAS SO UPSET AT MYSELF also I got yelled at by security (rightly so).

Next is Atlanta!

I started handing out cards earlier and got worried again cause there were quite a few people that weren't interested at all. Fortunately by the end of the show there were so many people wanting them I offered to do a reprint if necessary. Some people even said they were going through the hi touch holding it up which I LOVED.

Anyway, this time during the Meet and Greet I was in the front row directly in front Byeongkwan and Wow. I WAS NOT OKAY. I kept making eye contact and getting so shy ugh. Byeongkwan recognized me and tapped his lips and winked when he saw me (I was wearing blue lipstick this time). BK got my question (the interpreter said my name perfectly without me needing to tell her, I was so impressed!) I asked what concept they wanted to try that they hadn't tried yet. He said they had already done everything and I cocked my head giving him a disbelieving look. He then admitted that they hadn't done the cutesy boy concept and I lost it- I cant imagine them trying to pull that off.

For future Choice in my position- these boys have ears like BATS okay. There was one time Jun said something like "it's his choice." And I quietly said to the person next to me "no we're choice." And he looked at me and said "You're right! You're all choice!" I was shook.

Wow got asked what his favorite dessert to eat is and he said chocolate anything, then listed things "Chocolate cake. Chocolate ice cream. Chocolate rice." At this point everyone exclaims and he gets his silly lil smile and says "Chocolate fish." And everyone loses it. It was so funny and cute.

Later Jun was asked if he preferred pancakes or waffles and it was a really hard question for him. He said he had been eating more pancakes since coming to the US but he liked both a lot. He just didn't like Chocolate pancakes and I said "cause Wow eats them all?" And wow just very dreamily says "Choco pancakes...." I about died.

BK was asked if he wanted to go to the aquarium and he said he really hoped to. He asked if there were beluga and everyone said yes but I said "But they have WHALE SHARKS!" which imo is the coolest thing about the Georgia aquarium. None of them seemed to know exactly what I meant but they were excited by the concept of the words "whale" and "shark" together. (Spoiler alert: The next day they totally went and got pics with the whale shark).

Finally BK asked where people recommended they eat. Someone suggested sushi at first. I thought it was funny to recommend sushi when visiting the US. BK seemed of the same mindset so chicken and waffles came up and Jun loudly said WAFFLES! To which, Wow said in his same dreamy tone "chocolate waffles" and I looked at him and said "chocolate chicken?" embarrassing the HELL out of myself cause everyone was super grossed out by it and making a scene. I hid but my friend said Wow thought it was funny. I think she was trying to make me feel better.

So the item signing time comes up. My DUMB ASS forgot my album at home so the day before I had gone on a panicked shopping spree and decided on a pot for my cactus.

Chan was up first as usual. He recognized me and asked if I was in Chicago and I said yes! He asked what the pot was and I told him it was for my cactus plant. He was so adorable, while he was signing it he said quietly "grow well." So now it has to. This time he did not do a high five with me.

Next was Donghun. He looked so confused at my pot. I told him it was for my cactus and he just kinda nodded. It was very quiet because I had tried to learn a short phrase for him in korean but I got too nervous and I couldn't say it. I just thanked him. I'll have to keep practicing.

Jun was next and also asked me if I had been in Chicago and thanked me for coming again. I told him it was my last stop but I knew they would keep doing amazing. He asked about the pot and said it was so cute and signed super big. He shook my hand.

BK was next and he complimented my lips again. I asked him if he liked the green or blue better and he said both were good. He asked about the pot and signed it for me, he said it was cute and he liked it. He high fived me when it was time to move on.

WOW. AGAIN. okay so he asked about the pot and I said it was for my cactus and he mimed planting a cactus while looking up at me and I nodded while melting cause he is SO GODDAMN CUTE OKAY. Then while he was signing it I worked up my courage cause I had tried to learn a phrase for him as well BUT I MESSED UP I MESSED UP SO BAD IT WAS BAD OKAY. He was so confused and thank GOD the interpreter was right there and she asked "what are you trying to say" and she helped me say it. I was SO EMBARRASSED I had practiced so much and was saying it SO WELL up until that moment. Once I managed he smiled and said I did good then took my hand and said something which the interpreter translated for me and I just grabbed my heart with my free hand and then had to just cover my face I couldnt handle it. Walking away was hard but staying was harder.

Of course that just put me back in my seat directly in front of him.

Dont judge me, but I was trying to say, "You're so awesome it makes my heart hurt." And his response was "Then I'll prescribe you some medicine" and I KNOW its cheesy and overdone but I wanted that moment once for me so I took my chance. Anyway I looked like a damn fool but it was over.

The last dumb thing I did as the signing went on cause we kept making random eye contact and I got self conscious of always looking away. One of the times Wow and I met eyes I winked and shot finger guns and his eyebrows raised ever so slightly and I wanted to sink into the floor and die so I hid my face again. He looked so surprised like what WAS I THINKING WHY DID I DO THAT AAAAAAAA.

Anyway.

Here's my cute cheap pot!

Next was pictures. This time I had a plan. I asked them to pose ugly with me. They were surprised and asked for clarification twice, BK even asked me in english and I said "yes, ugly faces. If you can! If it's even possible." I wonder if it's the first time theyve ever been requested to do that. Anyway that's gonna be my thing too with the punny fan from now on. They did their best and it's absolutely adorable. Afterward BK walked up to me and wanted to see the pictures I took so I showed him. After he walked away it occured to me how fun and casual that was, that he just came over to look at pics together. I love this boy so much damb.

The atlanta show was amazing but the stage was so high up and far away there was no direct interaction possible. They made up for it with even more interaction! BK and Donghun each danced with me. I made a heart with my friend and Chan winked and laughed cause it looked like she begrudgingly made the heart with me when in reality she just couldnt hear me and couldnt tell what I was asking. Wow played a heart escalating game with me and he won so I made a dumb cute face and he laughed.

At hi touch I was determined not to miss Wow again. The order was the same except Donghun and Chan switched. I told them they did really amazing, a great show! Then BK said "Best lips!" To me and I got so excited but still didnt want to miss Wow, I loudly repeated "Best Lips!" While making eye contact and high fiving this poor man so hard, then for Jun I said "Don't forget!" And he was just so unprepared for me because I was unprepared for me but I WAS SO HYPED UP I LOST MY LAST BRAINCELL ITS STILL IN ATLANTA GUYS ITS GONE FOREVER.

So anyway that was a lot of unnecessary details about my specific adventures with A.C.E and I loved them so much and maybe one person will read this and smile but mostly I just want to try and remember as much detail as possible. I'll add things as I remember if I forgot something. Anyway dont be like me hahahaHAHAHA.

Also highkey if BK or one of the boys ends up with a bold lipstick color for a comeback or promotions in the next year or so I'm taking full credit.

[sole-cuore-amore-e-droga]

Tel Aviv 2019: Straight outta United Kingdom to Eurovision with a blatantly non-blatant Melodifestivalen reject

Yes, obviously, Eurovision: You Decide might as well be the safest NF to ever exist. We get that you don’t want to even try, the UK, but can you please act like you’re not in Big 5 for a year and ATTEMPT to try your hardest with the song??? I doubt that, despite SuRie’s bubbliness, “Storm” would’ve pulled numbers if it were in semi, unless the anti-neo-Nazi stage invader were to butt-in there and people would then send sympathy televotes the Brits’ way or something. Unsatisfying. (The man, that is.)

And so we have gotten another safe as ever British entry this year, performed by an excited personality that got a side-dish song and now is tasked to sell the side-dish as greatly as he’s possibly able to - the first season of All Together Now winner, Michael Rice! The dish is “Bigger than Us” and I’m neither glad nor sad the song has not enough factor to eat up Michael as a whole if it’s that much BIGGER. Not even the fact that it’s a Melodifestivalen reject (yes, the title IS correct, one of the song’s co-writers, whom I’ll name later, has possibly said it at some point, and he couldn’t keep it to himself anymore so he sent it over to another country!) could help this poor number out.

If you strip the singer off, you just get a stereotypical Eurovision-y ballad you overhear when scavenging through foreign NF catalogues, wondering which kind of rent-a-songwriter-program person contributed to it. Well John Lundvik (yes THAT one) doesn’t sound like THAT kind of name you’d hear when you think of songwriters of such shtick but Laurell Barker is, so there you go. These are just the two masterminds behind this one, as there are more but icr their names and honestly idc to.

And there’s nothing wrong about these typical ESC NF shlocks. Only when you’re young and dumb enough to enjoy these kind of songs, but I had to unfortunately grow up and see just how “useful” they are... n’t. I mean, it’s great for the artists whose big dream is to taste Eurovision and NOT as a backing singer, but most of the time the singers that get these songs can’t even slightly relate to what they sing, and thus we get people like Bishara entering Melodifestivalen and Isaiah entering Eurovision.

Maybe Michael did get to experience the kind of love that’s BIGGER than him and his partner, idk. I certainly don't want to bother asking him. And frankly, it's only me overthinking this issue, because ain't nobody in the world really got time for that, definitely. Well, at least the relationship’s going on nice! (except for when Mike sings “‘cause I can heare the universe when I’m feeling you breathe”... spooky. o.I)

Anyway, time to get to talk more about the song. It's actually not THAT bad, just a little too typical and unextraordinary, where in the current times the Eurovision has to not be predictable in sound and to excite the viewer with... well, anything that can excite anyone. Be it the visuals OR the song. OR both. What's so special about "Bigger than Us" that can keep the viewer on toes? Probably just that keychange. I wish there were more things about it but not every commentator out there would have enough time to let them people know Michael works in a waffle shop, let alone the time that "HE WON A TALENT SHOW'S FIRST SEASON BUT THE SHOW ISN'T THE X FACTOR OR THE VOICE ZOMFG!!". Let alone people even listen to any Eurovision commenting these days, lol. It might be a charming little piece for some people though, but I don't see them voting for people selling their songs vocally much more than songs that draw in viewers with different ways. It's just a standart talent show winner song for a standart talent show winner that sounds like it's slightly too stuck in the mid-to-late-00s-early-10s rather than the 90s, which is warm and cool and all, but it's likely gonna not do the cool lad Michael the justice he'd need, just like SuRie's song for SuRie. Mayhaps a top 20-ish, or, in Lucie's case, even a top 15, is possible (although it's mostly thanks to the juries - they're the only ones eating up big voice ballads. And anything Maltese. And anything Australian. And anything Swedish... that only represents Sweden. Sorry Lukas Meijer), but when the British optimism levels are set in a deep deep ditch by default every year when the BBC comes with their platter of choices for EYD, what else could be there to raise them up after even Lucie hasn't done that amazing enough for everyone to believe that the UK are capable more than just always finishing last with 0 every year? Of course, a better than average song, but does BBC care about even pulling one out of a songwriting camp? These kind of songs are too shite for their taste, apparently, so with songs they send like these, it's probably yet another meander-er.

Which is a shame, because once again, it's not bad. It's just too plain Jane for Eurovision anymore. It's like everyone dressed up gorgeously for Miss Universe's National Costume event and you went with a cheap-ish designer dress that is decorated by small details that are notoriously known as the country's symbols just to count as something "national". It's like everyone brough their best baked (and dare I say extreme) dish to a dish competition and you only brought in a nice looking baked cod and circled the fries around it. It's like a prom night where everyone dresses casually and you come up all in a dull olive colored jacket and jeans with torn out knees. There might be something hidden in its niceness that can conquer (nice piano, nice chords, nice vocals, nice chorus, nice song formula, nice choir, nice keychange, nice message)... but with everything too nice, it just feels like that the UK are not feeling like getting a 'nice' result. Unless there's something that can make Michael do a 'male Lucie' and launch it around the 14th-19th place at best, but...

And here's the section where I repeat myself some more of what I think of the song as a whole and chances as a whole:

Approval factor: Eh I'll probably have to approve this but only reluctantly somewhat, maybe because I felt positive on the first listen unlike these people who wanted UK to dare to do something else than safe... yeah lol

Follow-up factor: It’s rather marginably favourable song than SuRie’s and only because I like it despite its ‘blandness’. “Storm” is just a song that I don’t really care about. Provided Michael gives all out personality-wise though and the revamp’s not gonna suck balls (if there’s one), this is a decent step in a decent direction for the UK... hope Michael’s not getting stage-invaded by anti-Israel people!

Big 5 factor: Thanks to all this pre-partying kicking in heavily as I put out these reviews (and actually having finished), it turns out that Michael is one of those people that clearly works his hardest to sell this typical British averageness (like he sells his waffles), with his live being so decent enough he was thought of to be a perfect EYD winner this year, so, if he keeps building up his vocal strenghts and rehearses a lot (and stays well and such), he’s actually likely to at least achieve something above bottom 7! Yes, yes, John Lundvik is still the master that will beat his pupil in the end, but that wouldn’t seem that excruciating for the UK anymore if they happen to have a place that’s not bottom 3 or anything. Just for the Michael to do his utmost best out there, and if he does, the UK won’t be in an extremely bad position this year - just not a very high reacher, because at the end of the day there are more nations that run straight with their A-game and therefore continue leaving the common-appealers in the dust. Only Sweden (and Australia until 2018 or so) usually excels at their safeness. The others must outstand to survive. And to wrap things up on this factor section, imo the UK just meanders in the safeness for another year - but at least the good enough safeness that might even be able to qualify if it were sent by a semifinalist country! (apart Sweden ffs, of course Mr. Lundvik would qualify with this one if he kept it to himself, jeez)

NATIONAL FINAL BONUS

Thankfully EYD didn’t really stink this year, because of certain key factors:

• There’s always this one or two act(s) that acts like a saviour each year. Bianca and Dulcima (or Darline idk) from 2016, Holly and Salena from 2017, Asanda (and maybe Jaz? or even Raya??) from 2018 and... ponder no more, Kerrie-Anne’s got you covered in that spot! Her version of the two one’s of “Sweet Lies” was arguably the greatest possible choice for the NF (or, in this case, the “very least bad”, and eventhough it’s incredibly reminiscent of Sigala’s “Sweet Lovin’” (vocals provided by Bryn Christopher, who - controversial opinion - is probably my fave male singer of all time), which makes it “dated” (to a 2012-2014 pop radio degree, yes), it still was a bop that I’d want to dance to in rollerskates (if I had any!!) and spray the colourful smoke things that... well idk what it is but the said video of “Sweet Lovin’” demonstrates the action. Get back to me to let me know what’s that, anyone reading this. K-A lowkey underperformed though (just like Asanda from last year) but the bop remained AND she was rightfully included in the British televote’s superfinal trio! ^^

• The hosts were, yet again, the ever-so-loveable comedienne of Lithuanian roots, Mel Giedroyc, and the witty-ass Eurovision 2015 winner Måns Zelmerlöw. The duo is charming as usual and delightful to see on the Beebs when there’s the Eurovision case. If I didn’t know him better I’d even say Måns is a native English speaker. When there’s at least the drought of the ever-so-good entries in an EYD, we can look back at the hosts provided us some entertainment we’ve probably been missing while trying to find some on those competing entries. My favourite moment throughout that evening was the “next up is” jokes, all randomly stringed together, all in one row - all of those “next ups” were so hilariously random (until one hit the point - I think it was something about adverts or another performance being next up).

• The postcards were lovely too. With the format of EYD upgraded to make it as a three-song duel between two different versions of each one and the juries deciding on the best one for each (one vote per version), we got to see some nice friendships over there (I mean, a postcard for two people who did duel over whose version is the best - they had to listen and compliment each others’ versions) and some nice things the artists said themselves on separate postcards. Like the time when the only band of the competition of the year’s, MAID, named Buranovskiye Babushki as one of their girlband idols (a ‘so random yet glorious‘ answer) and the victorious Michael confessing that he’s “never been to Tel(iv) Aviv”... that’s true Michael, I believe ya. You’ve so never been there that ou struggle to even say it right! Not to mention that the postcard setups were cozy, too.

• Can we all just kind of agree that at least the jury for EYD made THE BEST CHOICES POSSIBLE??? I mean, yeah, it’s a biT cruel they’re the ones to choose the superfinalists without the audience’s interference, but they still made the best choices possible, at least imo. Anisa’s “Sweet Lies” was a godawfully dreary sex slow-jam (no really, I can’t not imagine a scenario where you can’t use it anywhere other than a sex scene in a movie, or a steamy hot shower scene. Call me crazy-minded but it’s true), MAID’s “Freaks” was godawfully too creepy, strange and unbearable, and Holly Tandy’s “Bigger than Us”... well... while much more chill and way less overbearing (also with not enough “BIGGER” memes potential), it would have probably not stood out all that much - just written off as a Kygo remix rented for a cheap price of half a pound (but still co-written by John Lundvik though!!). So thanks to Rylan and the other two for picking the superfinalists reasonably, unlike A Dal jurors this year. It still wrenches my gut whenever I think about it, ugh.

• What even would be an appearance of Måns if he didn't try to remind y'all of his enthusiasm for Eurovision. No one really cares he won Eurovision 4 years ago, if anything, I dread that he's only being remembered as the "male singer guy of Love Love Peace Peace song" by the newer fans. At least Pepperidge Farm I remember how Måns really wanted to get to Eurovision (even if he didn't participate in that many Melodifestivalen editions). So in this year's EYD he went all out to be a part of the Eurovision best (British?) songs medley (and we got Katrina and the Waves later in the show, performing the nation's last winning hit, 22 years later... and that wasn't even a fully British-branded win, if yanno what I mean!), and it's all courtesy of the Melodifestivalen's best known scriptwriter and an occasional Eurovision commentator (and Melodifestivalen's narrator too), Edward af Sillén. Or at least I remember it being written that he has written some stuff for Måns to do in EYD, IDK. Eitherway, it was kind of a fun thing, the interlude. Just remembering all the nice Eurovision entries out there, even including Gina G (whose ESC entry was also sung by another person in another NF whose review will be up next I suppose!).

• Heyyyyy, wasn’t it all kinds of nice to see SuRie doing an interval act and a reprise of her own run-of-the-mill entry “Storm”? I applaud her of doing a tremendous piano rendition of it, with even singing some notes a little higher than in the actual song. Maybe THAT version could have done so much better in Lisbon - showing off SuRie’s vocal decency, intimacy and... idk about the intruder part, hopefully he’d have had no way to wrestle the mic out of SuRie’s hands that time. At least SuRie had just enough support from Eurofans to be wanted to represent the UK one more year in a row, with a special EYD designed for her, where the songs could be mostly composed by her and not by the useless songwriting camp. While it’s a nice idea for some British and non-British people to get to know each other on these camps, the end results barely end up satisfying because the artists barely get involved in the songs they’re singing - not even a song line, not even a hum of contribution! Why can’t you at least take examples from German songwriting camps... (except for the time “Sister” was invented, that one could have been a perfect contribution for an EYD (not necessarily in this year’s format but still)

All in all, this may seem like an improvement of things, but I still am really hoping that BBC will give into a decent internal selection... afterall there are good names that are down to do Eurovision and didn’t even say it will harm their ‘reputation’ (*cough* Paloma Faith *cough* Hurts), and yet BBC refuses them somehow, not thinking that Eurovision is more than just a SONG contest (while ironically not even having their songs sounding THAT ‘great’, oops)? Or at least reformat EYD big time and make it exciting a la Australia Decides is (you know you suck when even your colony does better NFs than you). For now, I’ll just grit my teeth and nicely wish Michael Rice all the best in Tel(iv) Aviv. You’ll need it, chap! And in secret I hope that you’ll get it xx

[vaguely-gestures-to-the-void]

Hindsight: My thoughts on Loki (2021)

Spoilers below. Please correct me if I slip up. I am in no way shape or form educated on ANYTHING to do with the making of films, how to critique this stuff etc, this is all just my opinion. If I haven’t covered a scene, it’s probably because it’s already been covered much better than I can. This is my extended episode 1 review.

Episode 1: GLORIOUS PURPOSE

Pre-title scene

The scene titles looking like a train station combined with the scrolling through time is such a cool stylistic choice.

The music is familiar, but followed by an alternate shot of Loki as Cap. A different perspective of something known, how fitting. FYI, I’m going to mention music a lot.

Love how no one questions the Hulk terrifying people.

This is the last time Loki will hear Thor call his name, or speak to him. Oh darn, I made myself sad.

Marvel studios logo

The Marvel logo changing colours + Loki theme finally taking the centre stage. I love it.

The comments made on Loki soundtrack videos saying ‘I see that the Mandalorian soundtrack has become a genre’ are so accurate it hurts. Shout out to Ludwig btw, he deserves all the awards for his soundtracks.

My thoughts so far: This part is setting up the general shift in tone from what we’ve seen in past Marvel projects, even the other shows. It reaffirms the audience’s subconscious that whilst we are familiar with the characters, there’s new twists up ahead, subtle hints to oncoming mischief. Props to the entire team behind the series.

Gobi Desert Scene

As much as I liked the opening bug crawl, the following interactions look a bit CGId. I’m being picky, they really are gorgeous. It’s also difficult after having seen the Mandalorian, but that show really paid attention to scenery as it was an instrumental part of the story, whereas here it’s just one scene and all the others are stunning.

The parallels to Tony in the desert. Loki immediately rips off the muzzle (?).

I just watched the scene and yes, Tony rips off the mask immediately.

Also I think I would have definitely had a crush on young RDJ.

And Gwyneth Paltrow (GOOP LADY) if I didn’t know her now.

Props to Tom Hiddleston’s acting. Loki’s face when he sits up is just pure confusion but with the signature hint of indignation that I’d expect from his characterisation at this point.

The rock lmao.

THE MUSIC WHEN B-15 (MY QUEEN) APPEARS. HELL YEAH!

Also props to the supporting cast of minutemen, where does Marvel find these people? They’re so well choreographed, they all move perfectly and it’s a joy to watch.

Love the time doors honestly.

I couldn’t have been the only one who thought that the temp pads were Samsung phones for a sec right?

Lol is that unintentional foreshadowing about the TVA? Jk I’m just clowning.

Has anyone spoken about what the Temp pad showed?

My theory is that ‘Units’ refer to a predetermined rate of change [e.g. m/s] where one unit = one increment of change.

The steady rate of change here is interesting. I’ll talk about it more at the end of the next episode.

I love the music, just the slow ticking increasing in pace and the dramatic flares brought on by the strings (I think), simply divine. Natalie Holt got it spot on and props to Tom Hiddleston and literally everyone involved for understanding the importance of good music with this series. I’ll talk about this in depth in the next episode, just wanted to mention it when it first started that I noticed.

In retrospect, I can definitely retract my critique of the background in the scene. It holds up well now that I’ve rewatched it.

B-15 doesn’t get enough love. Shout out to Wunmi Mosaku, she’s a trooper and I’m here to hype her up.

Also y'all I just checked the cast list and ???? Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner and Tessa Thompson are on it?????? MARVEL TF IS THIS WHAT TOM MEANT BY EP 4 BEING WILD I-

Tom’s acting chops: The face moment. You know the one. It’s pretty incredible.

Theory from me: the reason that Loki doesn’t see the hit coming is because B15 was moving unnaturally fast.

It’s the immediate change in the music to reflect the audience’s reaction at the standard fight scene taking a strange turn for me lads.

B-15 doesn’t smile, which I think is in character for her.

She’s seen this shit wayyyy too many times.

We’re not even five minutes into the first ep and a) I’ve waffled this much, Gods, and b) the music has changed at least 3?? Times to reflect what’s happening. I love it.

My theory about resetting the timeline: the reset charges get rid of anything in the immediate vicinity of the branch, pretty much a mini-apocalypse of the timeline. If everything is erased, none of it matters. Does that make sense?

Taking away the Tesseract while yes, it serves a purpose with showing Loki the might of the TVA later on, also reflects how nitpicky the TVA are about their time-keeping. They do everything in a very orderly fashion, but as we see later, the outdated nature of things is very human.

The TVA - the elevator thing

Man I love the TVA’s look. Someone (and I’ve heard that Kate Herron was also very particular about the set design) went to extraordinary lengths with every single scene, not just this one, but the one before as well.

Heck I just want to appreciate how much of a visual feast this series is. Good on ‘em.

The shots changing angle is also very interesting. They switch it up between one-takes, close-ups of differing extremities and it just keeps the flow fast-paced, ya know?

Watching Loki run was hilarious.

“Sounds dumb.” - Casey, Null Time Zone.

This weird robot is what I think of when the TVA is mentioned. Advanced tech mimicking a retroistic 70s feel.

The cat’s adorable.

The clock. The cup. The placing of props. Impeccable.

The clock’s hands don’t move whilst they’re on screen.

The realisation on his face when he eyes the stack of papers.

Why is the wall so badly scratched???

I love that the signature is in character. I have a huge thing for attention to detail lmao.

Again, why are all of the walls so scratched? If they could talk, I’d presume it’s just a set design choice but it’s interesting that they did that.

Does anyone else want a TVA sweater vest?

Tickets

The opening zoom in on Loki combined with the consistent brown-orange colours of the set makes the room look uniform and encompassing. I love how the lights are always placed in a repetitive manner so rooms are given the illusion that they go on forever.

Lighting here creates depth, but whilst the lights form a ceiling, we can’t actually see how they’re suspended and I think that’s neat.

The posters. Yes.

This is the first time I noticed the different minutemen uniforms. This one’s half orange-red and black. Pretty cool imo.

Shout out to Tara Strong and the entire animation.

The butterfly was a nice hint to the butterfly effect, and the music is perfect as always.

The wooden walls in the background of this shot. How very 70s.

The reflection showing the guy getting pruned is pretty cool.

Again, another clock with no movement on the wall.

The first 11 minutes are up and we’ve made it to the title! If you’ve read this far, congrats.

1549 Aix-en-provence, France

Just speculating, we’re in a church with an initial high-angled nearly bird’s eye view and then a cut to one looking up at Mobius. I guess it means even if we think as viewers our perspective is omniscient, we’re not spared from the mystery in this series.

Who’s in the stained glass window?

I love how they tie in a detail as small as the gum. It just goes to show when you haven’t got much time, every character interaction is meaningful.

Props to Owen Wilson, he really sold Mobius to me.

Mirrors in a church showing the devil behind Mobius. Or on his side.

Time court 37

The time court 37 really reminds me of train stations.

The chairs remind me of pews. They sure are reverent of the Time keepers.

The lighting is a cool, bluish tinge for the first time I’ve noticed. Especially on Ravonna (MY LOVE!).

B-15 knows Loki’s clowning lmaooo.

Ravonna isn’t here for it either.

Ravonna’s nailpolish is a very nice shade of brown.

Theory: Resetting is ‘being brainwashed for the TVA’. Not very original, but it’s interesting that the TVA thinks that Loki would be useful as a worker, unlike the guy who got pruned earlier.

The TVA exterior is amazing. It also extends forever in all directions, even down.

Time Theatre 25

What is that elevator music??

“I thought you didn’t like to talk” Ragnarok, anyone?

Loki reading the ‘Time theatre’ sign whilst rambling. Gotta give it to him, he’s always aware of his surroundings.

The little TVA logo on Mobius’ shirt.

Shout out to whoever did the costuming. Personally, I liked the shirts with no collars, and the armour of the minutemen and Hunters came off to me as practical but not ignorant of the branding that the TVA likes.

Theory (bear with me): Once you’re a part of the TVA, you’re not collared anymore, though there is an appearance of that on the shirts.

Seriously tho, what are those shirts like? Mobius doesn’t have a collar.

Why do the ties just… end?

Neat details:

Holo projector 35.

The lights being reminiscent of skylights but still leaving the characters in the dark. “The sun will shine on us again, brother.” Not yet.

The reflection of the projector in the table/on the ground.

Loki: *turns away.*

Mobius: *sips Josta.*

Seriously, the lighting is great. Loki moving in and out of the shadows? Great way to show his mistrust/ unease of the situation.

The illusion speech is the last time we really hear 2012 Loki in my eyes, mainly because Mobius really gets into the cracks of who Loki is and then there’s action.

The ‘I was- I am” Freudian slip is perfection.

Side note the music’s changed yet again. It’s definitely setting up the more mournful tones for seeing his mother’s death.

I find it interesting that the door is partially in the shadows.

Doors are symbols of opportunities, barriers and both death and birth from what I remember of high school English.

From what I know in interrogations the person being interrogated is allowed to sit with their back to a door. Initially, both Loki and Mobius are sideways, equidistant from the door. When Loki wants to run, he edges closer to the door, even if it is just to make a point. Excellent blocking in my eyes.

Oh man, Mobius’ little gestures.

“Always so perceptive about everyone but yourself.” I really don’t have to talk about the significance of that line, do I?

Frigga being stabbed in the back. Little solace to a dead man? Ouch. That hurt me too.

Loki’s wounds heal unnaturally fast, because he’s no mortal.

Mobius really drives home the last point. Who says ‘like you did your mother” ??? Owen sold how Mobius can influence Loki's mind.

The ‘best versions of themselves' line and showing Thor must have hit Loki hard. He spent two movies trying to prove who he is, measuring himself against Thor. And then he sees them both working together and being equals.

Loki’s escape

Wunmi and Owen’s line delivery is unforced and charged, completely in character.

Mobius looking under the table is hilarious to me.

The music.

The tidy cubicle = healthy timeline is a bit contradictory because they’re supposedly in the null time zone but okay.

Is no one going to mention the taxidermy ferret?

Loki just had an identity crisis. His ‘gut you like a fish’ seems in character.

The dude’s really questioning everything he knows lmao.

Casey’s ‘what’s a fish’ was really our first hint that not everything is what it seems to be at the TVA.

It amuses me that Loki’s on his knees when he gets the Tesseract.

I’m sure someone’s pointed it out already, but given that Loki takes back the Time Twister, it’s possible he could have stolen an Infinity stone.

Again, point’s already been made but Loki seeing the Infinity stones is what sells the power of the TVA.

Please, the rest of the office not giving a damn when one dude’s having some drama is hilariously on point. They really said ‘not my problem’.

Loki’s future

The screen on the table showing what he’s rewinding as it happens.

Btw if you pause any moment during that, you’ll see a scene.

A quick note on Loki’s characterisation:

He’s been through a lot in a very short period of time, quite literally finding out that his actions don’t have any consequences. He’s lost all autonomy, especially as a god who probably believed he was not as restrained as mortals. More on this in later Eps.

I really liked Ragnarok because it showed Loki and Thor’s maturity; they had to step out of legacies that were thousands of years old and come to terms with a universe that was much bigger than them. It also fleshed out their relationship as brothers, but not at the expense of who they were. Loki still is a schemer, and he talks more because he has less to hide in my eyes. He’s no longer just a villain, and that can’t be shown by just actions, especially in his own tv show.

Loki’s little laugh when Thor talks about giving him a hug. Man that was sad.

What shouldn’t be forgotten is that Loki doesn’t know how it ends. He doesn’t know whether Thanos gets defeated. For all he knows, he died in vain and left behind a brother with no family.

The collar says DANGER.

This is the scene that really nails it home to Loki that his purpose in life was to cause pain. He found out his glorious purpose in that timeline, he’s conflicted as Sylvie points out in Ep 3.

When Loki talks to Mobius, they’re both in medium shots. They’re on the same page.

Loki’s delivery has changed when talking about the 'illusion' but Mobius hasn’t. That may change in the later episodes.

1858 Salina, Oklahoma

Others have covered this better.

Sylvie’s theme is similar to Loki’s but not identical.

It’s got sinister tones which change throughout the series.

I love how you can see the images of the minutemen’s past and future as they walk through a time door, they literally step through time.

I’ve got a whole other post on the end credits scenes. Cheers if you read this all lads.

Ep 1 review

All in all, this was a scene-setting episode. One of my friends texted me and said ‘Loki really went through ten years worth of character development in minutes’ and I think that sums it up pretty well. It’s a great set up, but the next episode is where the plot begins to progress. Really enjoyed it. There’s not too much that was aided by what we know from ep 3 besides Casey’s fish from what I caught.

See y'all next time, if there is anyone reading this. Look after yourselves!

[alwayshinee]

it's such a good album. here are my thoughts on each song which are less a review of each song and more me just making dumb comments:

shinin': honestly this is the only song im gonna listen for the next week. it makes me both happy and sad, but it's such a good, good song. kinda makes me wanna dance~... while wearing a geometric jacket and heart sunglasses.

only one you need: the lyrics are truly something else lol. really reminded me of "get it". another good song. i really loved his voice in this song, and i really liked how it picked up at the chorus.

(waffle) #hashtag: calling it waffle was so clever?? the lyrics seem really... relevant? and a few of them are pretty witty. it's a chill song and i love it... it's also making me crave some waffles.

grease: the Ultimate Break-Up Song. like "only one you need", i loved loved loved his voice in this one. i like how powerful it is. definitely one of my favorites on the album.

take the dive: i think the lyrics of this song are really really pretty. the beat is really good, too. definitely "take the dive" and listen to this song. good song to listen to when you just want to relax.

sightseeing: my favorite song on the album. i havent seen the translation for this yet, so i cant speak about the lyrics, but the general sound is very much my style. it's catchy imo. gonna be stuck in my head for a whiiiiile.

rewind: oh honey. him counting to 3 in spanish? good. french? good. german? good. english? him just counting in general? amazing. his voice is pretty sensual. it sounds like a good song to listen to on a low volume when you're studying or doing work on something. definitely pumps you up.

just for a day: my 2nd favorite song on the album. it makes me wanna spend the entire day running around with my s/o doing incredibly silly things. i really like the guitar in the background (...it is a guitar, right?). the beat makes me wanna jump around.

i'm so curious: oh, i'm curious, yeah~ this sounds like something they'd play in f21. i like that funky wavy background (if you already couldn't tell, im not very good with music terminology...). definitely a song that i would play on long road trips. it's chill, like #hashtag.

sentimental: i thought my earphones were broken in the beginning lol. really good beat. i love the way he says "sentimental". i feel like i could fall asleep to this song. it's calming. also a good song to listen to on a low volume while taking a bubble bath with rose petals, candles, and an expensive bottle of merlot with a sheet mask on.

before our spring: i cried but honestly who didnt expect that to happen lol. if you thought his voice sounded good in the past songs, you haven't heard anything yet, especially towards the end where you can hear the rawness and passion in his voice. the lyrics are beautiful. it's a gorgeous song.

album rating out of 10: ∞. spectacular. brilliant. magnificent. awesome. grand. i could listen to this album and only this album for the rest of my life and i would not be upset. it shows how jong can pull off any sort of music. every song is worth listening to at least 10 times in a row. when my copy arrives, it's gonna be straight up displayed in a glass case.

[maxwelljacobfriedman]

gimme that commentary on “night #183” 😩 your choice on which 500 words! love, ur fave daddy kink anon 😊

My favorite anon! I hope this is an okay choice.

Jerry crouches down in front of him. There’s a rip in Charley’s pants from the fall that frames a skinned knee. He curls a hand around Charley’s calf and pulls his leg up off the ground so he can lick at the scrape. There’s only a little bit of blood for him to taste, and then his lips purse there like Charley’s mom used to kiss his boo-boos better, a flash of tenderness that makes Charley’s chest seize and threatens to send him spiraling into an anxiety attack.

I really waffled on the word choice here because “boo boo” makes my lip curl in disgust, but I kind of wanted that weirdness. I think there is an age regression aspect to Charley’s Stockholm Syndrome, and even though Jerry’s not playing the daddy role this particular night there’s still gotta be undercurrents of that dynamic, duh.

It must be obvious, because Jerry immediately hauls him to his feet and then pins him against the side door with a hand on his throat. “Listen, baby boy,” he says, “you misbehave and it’ll be years before you go outside again. Got it?” He grinds the heel of his palm into Charley’s Adam’s apple until Charley nods. “Good,” he growls, and then grabs Charley’s arm to lead him forcefully out of the alley. The thrum of street noise gets louder, and then they’re on a busy block of bars and clubs.

I really hate ‘Adam’s apple’ grammatically. Yeah, whatever, Adam is a proper noun, but it always looks wrong to me. How funny would it have been if I used ‘laryngeal prominence,’ though? 

It’s crazy how whiplash fast Jerry can go from scary to appropriate-for-public. There’s a blankness that falls over his face, and his grip shifts - still firm, but he’s holding Charley’s hand now instead of nearly wrenching his shoulder out of its socket. Charley wants to hate it, but all the open space and people are overwhelming, and it’s almost comforting in that moment to know Jerry isn’t going to let go of him.

That first line comes from always finding this scene funny, and also the thought of how creepy and gross the idea of Jerry holding hands with anyone is. Jerry trying to mimic normal behavior and failing because he’s just too creepy to pull it off is a concept that I fully support.

Basically what I was thinking for every part of  writing this fic was how great Time of Death was, and how could I tie this in, and if that’s Charley at nineteen months with Jerry, what would be a sort of middle point? If Phase 1 is Jerry kidnapping and isolating Charley and taking everyone away from him, then this is Jerry starting to test how things are going, like is this kid still dumb enough to try to escape (spoiler alert: yes).

Jerry wants to be able to take Charley out imo, so he can play his weird games and they can go on hunting trips and such. Have I told you how much I like the idea of Jerry taking Charley to a bdsm club so he can show him off? Omfg it’s so tropey but I would love it. Jerry would wear ridiculous leather pants.

ask me for fic commentary

[locatie]

2019 Gaming Year in Review

This year I beat 21 games! Last year I beat 38, but this year was a little rough on me in many ways, and I had to go a few months without really committing to anything.

I’m going to go through my list of games and jot down a few thoughts I had about them! Spoilers ahead, naturally.

Rating System:

5⭐: An absolute favorite! A game that’s going to stick with me for a long time. Regardless of any flaws I found, I fell deeply in love with these games. 4⭐: A pretty good game! I really enjoyed my time with these ones. They’re not quite perfect, maybe a few story beats or mechanics I couldn’t jive with, but I did still love these as well. 3⭐: A decent game! I didn’t fall in love with these games and the good and bad felt fairly equal. I don’t regret playing these games, but they had a lot of room for improvement. 2⭐: A bleh game. Most of these games were very ‘miss’ rather than ‘hit’ for me. Good concepts are probably buried in these ones, but I struggled to get through them. 1⭐: A terrible game. There is very little about these games that I find redeeming. I probably played them wishing they’d be done already. That I finished them at all is a miracle.

In order of when I beat them, starting with the beginning of the year:

Gris by Nomada Studio

4⭐

A visually gorgeous game. The mechanics were satisfying and made puzzle solving enjoyable, and I adored ‘unlocking’ the colors of the world to restore it to its former beauty. The game only got more beautiful as time went on, and the level design was very memorable to me. Also the soundtrack is one of the best of all the games I played this year, and I keep it on repeat a lot.

Best Part: The art in general. A treat to look at, and it makes for the best desktop wallpapers. Worst Part: The ambiguity in narrative. It’s not too bad, I just wish there was a little more to it.

Pokemon Let’s Go Eevee by Game Freak

4⭐

Despite this feeling like the millionth time they’ve focused on the Kanto region, and the blatant baiting of nostalgia, I appreciated this game. I’m a sucker for having my Pokemon follow me or being able to ride them. Much more accessible than going back and replaying the original R/B/Y games, which I can’t seem to enjoy anymore due to the QOL features that newer games have, so if I ever have a craving for Kanto, this will satisfy me. Not the best Pokemon game though just because Kanto was a pretty boring region visually and they stayed true to that, haha.

Best Part: Pokemon following the player! Riding Arcanine was a blast. Worst Part: Being in Kanto again. Really wish it was Gold/Silver for the double Johto/Kanto region thing, because Kanto alone just isn’t worth it.

Kingdom Hearts Final Mix by Square Enix

3⭐

I liked this game a lot as a kid and was interested to see how I would feel about it as an adult. It’s... something. There’s something always very off when JRPG localized dialogue is voiced -- it’s extremely cheesy to listen to in English, and this game is no exception. Still, I enjoy the sheer absurdity that is mashing up Disney and Final Fantasy characters anyway. The platforming is not remotely fun at all and the story is ridiculous, sometimes not in a good way. Thank god for skippable cutscenes or I wouldn’t have survived the end of this game.

Best Part: The creativity of the worlds. It was such a unique and ambitious concept for its time. Worst Part: The dialogue/story. This might be the only JRPG where the whole ‘friendship makes us stronger’ angle makes me want to strangle a fictional child.

Dear Esther by The Chinese Room

2⭐

I do enjoy walking simulators, but apparently not ones by The Chinese Room. Not as bad as Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, but still...not very enjoyable. I couldn’t seem to process what was going on as it was narrated to me -- I liked how it was written, and I was interested in hearing it, but I dunno. It meant nothing to me. I might replay it and try to grasp it again, really focus on it, but as it was presented to me on the first playthrough, it didn’t grab me. This is what I get for expecting something really good of a game where I wander around aimlessly for a couple hours

Best Part: The writing style is really neat and I enjoyed reading along and being fascinated by the prose. Worst Part: The ambiguity of the narrative. what the fuck is happening. why am i in a cave. who was that i just saw

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey by Ubisoft

4⭐

Not the first AC game I’ve ever played, but the first I liked enough to beat! It’s essentially an action rpg more than ever -- stealth is completely unnecessary if you so choose. I loved Kassandra so, so much, and exploring Greece was extremely fun for me! It was gorgeous and I often found myself wandering around towns and cities, soaking in the sights and feeling pretty dang immersed. I haven’t played the DLC yet but hope to some day. Not a perfect game -- while a lot of side quests are fun, the charm wears off after a while because the gameplay loop of sneaking in and murdering everyone got stale finally after 50 hours. Still, I’d love to go back and replay it some time.

Best Part: Kassandra. Everything about her. I would die for her. Also Greece in its entirety. Worst Part: Every goddamn time Deimos opened his mouth.

Rose of Winter by Pillow Fight

3⭐

A pretty cute but simple visual novel! I liked the protagonist quite a bit and a couple of the romances, but I wished it was longer/more fleshed out. I liked the universe it took place in and the concepts it presented (time travel! Race relations/the variety in cultures!) and would’ve happily played a longer game about these things. The romances leaving me wanting more was a good and bad thing, in the end.

Best Part: The protag! I love this chubby pink-haired knight! She is SO cute and lovely. Worst Part: Lack of depth in the romances. I like drawn-out romances, and these take place over the course of a couple days, and that’s not my bag.

Celeste by Matt Makes Games Inc.

4⭐

My review on this game is a little skewed. I was very bad at it, in the end, and very tired of dying literally hundreds of times in some areas that I had to give myself extra dashes. I had to keep toggling them on and off after giving myself a certain number of tries, because I really wanted to see how this game would play out. The gameplay and design and soundtrack give it the score it has, but the writing it was knocks it down from being a 5 star game. The concept of the story is good! Madeline wanting to reach the top of the mountain for her personal reasons was really lovely but the delivery of it felt very flat. The writing itself didn’t do it justice for me! I only ever see people talk about the gameplay itself and not the story/writing and maybe that’s why.

Best Part: The fact that the developers added accessibility options to people who aren’t very skilled at games, like me, can enjoy a game like this, even if we’re not playing “as intended.” Worst Part: Madeline’s reflection. As a narrative device she’s good, but the dialogue between the two characters was kinda mehhh to me.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt by CD Projekt

5⭐

There’s nothing I can say about this game that a million other people haven’t already said. I loved dad!Geralt. I loved Geralt in general. I did enjoy the first two games but who he was as a character in this game was my favorite. Yennefer was also great, as was Ciri, and the family dynamics were The Best. Also probably the best side quests in any rpg I’ve ever played! None of that radiant quest bullshit or fetch quest nonsense that pad a lot of other WRPGs I’ve been into :/ I still need to finish Blood and Wine, but so far it’s incredible, as was Hearts of Stone. Ugh I have so much to say about how much I loved the music, and Skellige, and Novigrad (Novigrad is one of the best video game cities as a worldbuilding device, imo), but I’ll keep this all brief. Don’t like Gwent at all though!!

Best Part: The entire portion of the game where you have to be a Good Dad or else you get a bad ending. Worst Part: The fact that Iorveth and the entire Scoia’tael subplot was cut entirely yet Roche got to stick around. I hate Roche. Iorveth was way better. Bring back my boy.

Persona 5 by Atlus

5⭐

holy shit. I haven’t beaten a JRPG this good in so long. This game changed what I want out of a JRPG. The soundtrack is phenomenal, the design of everything is impossibly stylish and I never got sick of any of it in the 96 hours it took me to beat the game. I adore Joker, Yusuke, Haru, and Ryuji as characters!! I don’t really care for Akechi and Shido as villains, but the proper final battle was very tense for me and the cutscene that followed felt so good. BIG GUN. Sometimes the palaces were a little tedious, and it took me a really long time to actually finish the game from when I started, because I needed big breaks after chunks of the game, but once I got into the swing of it after Makoto’s introduction as a Phantom Thief and that palace, I was pretty sucked in.

I will never forget my desperate struggle to max my stats by aggressively eating giant burgers until the endgame.

Best Part: The entire ‘student daily life sim’ portion. Managing my time and my relationships was very fun and I loved getting closer to my friends and choosing where to go, how to spend my time. Worst Part: The occasional sexism and homophobia that I had to sit through. Giving Ann agency after the first palace, but then trying to convince her to get naked really sucked, and then those two predatory gay men. Ugh. Oh and Ryuji looking at Ann’s boobs all the time. Seriously? are you for real??

Nier: Automata by PlatinumGames

4⭐

I waffled between giving this 4 or 5 stars, but I think 4 is right. I adored this game to bits, but admittedly didn’t do everything in it that I wanted to. I loved the world, the music, most of the characters, the combat, and that fucking ending. I didn’t like Adam and Eve (their dialogue...was so dumb...), and I was a little eh on route B, since it’s a lot of the same as route A, just from 9S’s perspective. At first I thought it was asking a lot to make me essentially do all the same shit over again, but when everything started changing in the third route, that’s when I was getting really invested. I mean I was already loving it during the first route, I was just slightly skeptical about having to replay a lot of the same things.

Ending E fucked me up though. Hearing Weight of the World didn’t hurt me until that ending, after all I’d been through, and then accepting help and hearing the chorus of voices. Ugh. No ending has ever been like that in a game for me.

Best Part: Sacrificing my data to help some stranger out there, because people do want to help. Humanity can be good. The message that there is worth in having feelings and being alive and real and loving. Worst Part: we really out here sexualizing 2B and looking at her panties a lot, huh.

Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage (Reignited Trilogy) by Toys For Bob

4⭐

This is the Spyro game I played the most of as a kid, and this remaster is incredible. All of the Reignited Trilogy makes the Spyro games look the way that I felt they did when I was a child. Seriously, it’s gorgeous and I can’t believe how true to the originals it is. I had a blast playing this one; it doesn’t get 5 stars, though, because I wouldn’t say this is like a ‘favorite’ game or anything. It’s wonderful, but not mindblowing.

Best Part: Getting to run around the hub worlds and drinking them in -- they’re where I spent hours as a child, and that nostalgic really got to me. Worst Part: the fucking TIMED FLYING PORTIONS

Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon (Reignited Trilogy) by Toys For Bob

4⭐

I was really excited to play this one because I didn’t get to beat it as a kid, and it was impossible to emulate because every rom of it didn’t work. Not as good as Ripto’s Rage to me, personally, because I didn’t love the levels where I was the penguin or the monkey. There were a lot of gimmicks, so to speak, in this game that I could do without. Skateboarding didn’t add anything to the experience either, ehh. Still, 4 stars because what Toys For Bob did with the trilogy is amazing and it made me wish games there had been more Spyro games that were like this.

Best Part: I finally got to beat this game after so long and it felt like a childhood wish of mine came true. Worst Part: I never want to be that stupid monkey ever again. Most of these side characters do not feel like they belong in a Spyro game, even though I know they were just trying to innovate the formula.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses by Intelligent Systems and Koei Tecmo

5⭐

Ohhh my god. I was nervous about another mainline Fire Emblem game, ever since Fates burned me pretty badly with how much I hated that game. Three Houses gave me nearly everything I wanted out of a Fire Emblem game, thankfully. No stupid explanation for offspring, no wasted dialogue between characters that didn’t need to have supports! I fell in love with so many of the NPCs and while the story isn’t perfect, it was a blast to go through and see the multiple sides to the conflict.

I went Golden Deer first and watched most of Amy’s playthrough of Blue Lions. I was in the middle of a Black Eagles run when I got a little burnt out and put it down, but I’m super excited to eventually see what Edelgard’s side of the story is, seeing as I don’t like her in the other routes but I’m shrimpterested in what her possible justification for anything is. Can’t wait for more story DLC whenever it happens!

Best Part: The support dialogues between characters. Also Claude von Riegan, destroyer of racism. Worst Part: the fact that there’s barely any time between Dimitri finally being nice to Byleth and the end of the Blue Lions route. he’s such a growly ass for so long.

Genital Jousting by Free Lives

2⭐

Obviously this game is a self-aware joke and isn’t meant to be much. The reason it got 2 stars instead of 1 is because I played it at a time that I really needed a laugh. I streamed it for my friend and for a while I was happily distracted by the story mode, even if it mostly involves hopelessly sticking my dick head into butts. The narration gave me Stanley Parable vibes, which was amusing, but yeah. Obviously this wasn’t gonna be some game of the year shit

Best Part: Playing with friends and yelling “GET OUT OF MY BUTT” at the top of your lungs. Worst Part: You can only enjoy sticking your dick in butts for so long before you don’t wanna do it anymore

I Love You, Colonel Sanders! by Psyop

1⭐

Yes, I am ranking this game as worse than a game about wiggly dicks. I didn’t have any hopes or expectations for this game, as it was always obviously meant to be a giant advertisement for KFC food, but that’s not even the part that bothered me. I didn’t care or mind the blatant product placement, the millions of mentions of all their herbs and spices and their gross bowls of corn, potato, and whatever.

I was so damn disappointed because it just wasn’t a good visual novel. I spent the whole time comparing it to Hatoful Boyfriend, which is an actually good parody of the entire genre. ILYCS felt more like “ha ha see how fucking weird dating sims are?? See how stupid and absurd the things that happen in them are?” rather than any kind of remotely interesting subversion on the genre. I don’t know why I expected that ILYCS would bother to do that, but I figured if a pigeon dating sim could surprise me, maybe this would too. Bleh.

Best Part: I did succeed in making Colonel Sanders love me, at least. Worst Part: Literally everything else.

The Outer Worlds by Obsidian Entertainment

4⭐

I’m giving this 4 stars, but this game gives me conflicted feelings. I love the companions in this game a lot, but some of them do have slightly disappointing arcs -- Ellie comes to mind for that one. The writing for the dialogue is great, but some of the main quests are just OK. The flaw system is really cool in theory, but I definitely didn’t think of them were worth the perk points, though they’re great if you’re serious about roleplaying.

I did have a lot of fun, but the ending felt very abrupt to me. I got to Phineas and we spoke for a minute, and then the credits rolled. And capitalism sure was bad! That was very heavy-handed. I enjoyed my time with it a lot but I am not itching to replay it. If there’s a sequel, though, I will definitely be on board with it.

Best Part: The dialogue options. They’re so fucking funny. Obsidian is the champion of snarky/witty dialogue. Worst Part: The ending made me the leader when I didn’t really feel prepared for that, I didn’t feel like that was the narrative I built for my character. The ending came at me so fast, it felt wrong.

Tyranny by Obsidian Entertainment

4⭐

If nothing else, Outer Worlds made me crave more of Obsidian’s writing flavor. This is the first CRPG I’ve ever committed to and beaten, and I do not regret that choice. I had tried to play it before but stopped very early on because it’s a lot of reading -- the entire opening has you do so much reading to make choices to kind of build your character’s backstory.

I loved playing a bad guy and accumulating power. My character was so loyal to Tunon and I loved the active development I got to have as someone who was so devoted to being a cog in the machine to someone who realized that they are special, they can be a conqueror, they can shape the world however they want. I know it’s possible to undermine all the bad guys and use your power for good, but eh, this is a game about being bad! It’s wonderful! And it was just long/short enough that it was great for someone just getting into CRPGs.

But. Like Outer Worlds, the ending felt rushed in Tyranny, though in an even more egregious way. Just as the story starts truly kicking off -- you have all this power, I had succeeded in making my superiors bow to me -- the game ends. It seems as though they ran out of time or money to have you actually face off against Kyros, the obvious next step in your plan for domination of whatever flavor. Maybe it was always the plan that taking down the Overlord was sequel material, but the way they built it up, it doesn’t feel right. And the game didn’t do well enough, or so I’ve read, so there will never be a face-off against her. I had such a good time with this game, but the ending left a real sour taste in my mouth.

Best Part: Really feeling like I had earned the power I got by endgame, by ‘playing’ the system. Defeating Tunon by manipulating him into bowing to me had me on edge and I was terrified until I walked out of his room. Worst Part: Knowing I will probably never get a resolution for the fight against Kyros. Really felt like all the cool stuff I did meant nothing.

Pokemon Shield by Game Freak

3⭐

Biiig mixed feelings about this one. I know Pokemon games are not known for their storytelling prowess, but even this one felt insultingly stupid to me. I know they can be good and interesting and posit cool concepts based on the worlds they’ve built. I didn’t like the gameplay of Black/White but I guess since that one tackled the ethics of Pokemon, Game Freak doesn’t want to try making any more challenging storylines.

The world also felt so empty. I never really noticed it in older Pokemon games, but SwSh has all these houses and no one has anything interesting to say. The NPCs aren’t worth talking to except when they give you items. Problems like that are common in Pokemon but I really hoped that bringing it to a home console meant that the game could be bigger and more full of content. The post game is almost nonexistent. For the first time ever, I don’t feel compelled to play long enough to complete my dex.

Best Part: The Wild Area, and doing raid battles with Amy. Playing alongside her and battling together was fun, and it was nice to cut down on the time it would’ve normally taken us to grind. Worst Part: Hop, Leon, and Bede. Worst characters in any Pokemon game, hands down.

Pillars of Eternity by Obsidian Entertainment

5⭐

I had initially tried this game out last year or so, but couldn’t get into it. Beating Tyranny finally made me feel able to tackle this one, and I’m so glad I gave it another chance. For most of the game I was meticulous and did almost all of the side quests, and I felt extremely rewarded by the narrative for doing so. Most of the companions were a joy to be around, and the lore of the world really drew me in.

Thanks to PoE, I think a whole new world and genre of games has opened up to me! But I’ll always feel like this is the first one I really loved.

Best Part: Eder!!! Ok also the themes of the game, especially in White March. Almost a month later I’m still thinking about the meaning to some parts of the game. Worst Part: That part in White March part 2 with the debate I couldn’t win. I understand why it was like that, I didn’t hate it or anything. Just the prerequisites to get the good outcome are bananas and there’s NO way I could possibly get the “good” ending of that dlc without following a guide WAY ahead of time. Oh well!

Katamari Damacy Reroll by BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment

2⭐

I didn’t play the first game when it came out. Instead I played the sequel, and that’s the game I have fond memories of, so unfortunately I spent this remake wishing they’d remade that one instead. The controls are more frustrating than I remember, and the level design is kind of meh. I do like that the town gets bigger with (almost) every level, until you’re rolling up adjacent towns and cities, but it wasn’t as fun as the paper crane level or the flower level or the zoo level of We Love Katamari :/ I absolutely pushed myself through this one as fast as possible, no replaying levels for the fun of it.

Best Part: The creativity and absurdity of Katamari as a whole. Rolling around a little Japanese town and finding very Japanese items is fun. Worst Part: The controls. Trying to climb up things is a nightmare and I ran out of time during some levels purely because it was so difficult to climb sometimes.

A Plague Tale: Innocence by Asobo Studio

3⭐

I didn’t know a whole lot about this game going in. I didn’t think the narrative was as incredible and resonating as reviews led me to believe, but it was alright. The first half of the game was very interesting to me -- the perspective of children running away from the Inquisition during the plague was exciting and I feared for these children as they never seemed to be able to get a moment of rest. I did like that Amicia and Hugo needed to build their bond from scratch, and it was full of missteps that I could understand children would make.

However as soon as things got supernatural wrt Hugo’s blood, then I felt like it lost a little bit of the charm for me. I liked the ‘found family in an unforgiving world’ aspects, but then suddenly blood powers happened and the vibe of the narrative changed. Oh well.

Best Part: The progression of power in the game. At first I felt very nervous when sneaking was the only option I had, as I am bad at stealth, but then gradually being able to kill people with my sling and solve puzzles with fire and light and being nearly unstoppable was really cool. I felt like I had earned Amicia’s strength. Worst Part: Hugo’s RAT POWERS and that final boss. just. what.

Untitled Goose Game by House House

2⭐

I wanted to close out the year with something fun and short, but I didn’t expect just how short this game would be. Although, ngl, if it were any longer I think I might’ve gotten rather tired of it anyway. The memes and whatnot that Goose Game gave the internet were worth more to me than the game itself. $20 for roughly an hour of gameplay just feels... bleh. I don’t even normally believe in that whole “$1 per hour of gameplay” stuff that many gamers like to throw around, but this felt like a rip-off. Still, it’s kinda fun to be a wretched little goose.

Best Part: Being a naughty little goose is cute and amusing, and bullying that Griffin McElroy looking boy into the phone booth is the highlight of my experience. Worst Part: It’s a hilarious concept but I don’t feel like I got to harass people half as much as I expected I would. The objectives to find a series of items and dump them somewhere else is just boring.

[greenguy57]

Someone asked me a 150 question ask list.

Here’s Part 1, time for Part 2! (Long post warning btw)

47) Ever been high?

Nope, no intentions of doing so either.

48) Ever been drunk?

Nope, same as 47!

49) Have I done anything recently that I hope no one finds out?

Kinda? All the people that need to know, do, and that’s all I’ll say! 😜 (And no this wasn’t anything criminal or illegal)

50) What was the color of the last hoodie I wore?

Green, big surprise! 😂

51) Do I ever wish I was someone else?

Not really! I’ve been lucky enough to have a solid life.

52) One thing I wish I could change about myself?

It’s gonna sound stupid but if I could have super powers I would do that. I’m lucky that I’m happy with myself and I’m very grateful that I’m at this point! ☺️

53) Favorite makeup brand?

I don’t have one!

54) Favorite store?

I don’t really have one of these either. I have a lot of favorite restaurants and chill spots but nothing store-wise.

55) Favorite blog?

  My boi mimikyutie-chan! She’s always supplying me with some solid memes and quality posts!

56) Favorite color?

🤔

57) Favorite food?

Homemade chicken noddle soup 🙏, also traditional ramen and my brothers, girlfriends, mothers banana pudding! 👌👌

58) Last thing I ate?

Turkey sandwich on Italian white bread with cheddar cheese and mayo! 🥪

59) First thing I ate this morning?

Reheated leftover chicken and waffles!

60) Ever one a competition, if so, for what?

I’ve never won an official competition, I’ve probably one some small ones in the past, but I can’t really recall.

61) Ever been suspended or expelled,if so, for what?

I have not!

62) Ever been arrested, if so, for what?

Nope, I am an innocent man!

63) Ever been in love?

Yes, and currently still am! 💙

64) What’s the story of my first kiss?

Alright. So I went over to my friends house with my first girlfriend after taking her to homecoming in high school. Her parents came to pick her up and before she left I kissed her in front of the door. Then she left and I get picked up soon after!

65) Am I hungry right now?

Nope, just ate that sandwich from that earlier question! 👍

66) Do I like my Tumblr friends more then my real friends?

Most all of the friends I have on Tumblr I’m friends with irl.

67) Facebook or Twitter?

Facebook, I don’t really use Twitter.

68) Twitter or Tumblr?

Tumblr, for the same reason above.

69) Am I watching TV rn?

Nope, I’m listening to Super Mega as I answer this! 😂

70) Names of my best friends?

Tess, Nick, Adam, Kayla, Cam, Ruth, Callie, Kate, Matt!

71) Am I craving something, if so, what?

Not really craving anything right now, I’d be down for a pay check from work and a good lay though! ✌️

72) What are my towel colors and how many pillows do I sleep with?

My towels at school are just white, at home they’re all sorts. As for the amount of pillows, I usually sleep with 3.

73) Sleep with any stuffed animals?

I do not, but I sleep with a small blanket and use it as a head pillow.

74) How many stuffed animals do I think I own?

I have a ton in storage from when I was a kid, but I do have a few stuffed Kirby’s that I have around my room!

75) Favorite animal?

Great Danes, though I’m also a big fan of sharks and the Pistol Shrimp! 🦐

76) What color is my underwear?

Black, Gray, and varying shades of blue. Currently wearing blue! 😉

77) Chocolate or Vanilla?

Chocolate!

78) Favorite ice cream flavor?

Chocolate Fudge Brownie... 🙏

79) Color shirt I’m wearing rn?

🤔 (I wear green shirts every day)

80) What color pants am I wearing rn?

Light Gray shorts!

81) Favorite TV show?

Avatar: the Last Airbender. 🙏

82) Favorite movie?

Right now, it’d be Avengers: Endgame. Such a great film! 👍👍👍

83) Mean Girls or Mean Girls 2?

I’ve only seen Mean Girls so the OG gets my vote.

84) Mean Girls or 21 Jump Street?

Mean Girls is definitely more iconic and funny imo so gonna say Mean Girls wins yet again.

85) Favorite Character from Mean Girls?

This list really likes Mean Girls huh, I guess the main character cause I don’t really remember any of their names! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

86) Favorite character from Nemo?

Um, the stoner sea turtle, Crush was his name I’m pretty sure.

87) First person I talked to today?

My girlfriend. (Wonder how many time’s this will be the answer 😝)

88) Last person I talked to today?

My brother.

89) Name a person I hate?

I honestly don’t hate anyone specifically, but I guess I’ll just blanket statement say I hate people how are outspokenly hateful and ignorant? Also rapists, pedos, nazis, all the freebies.

90) Name a person I love?

My girlfriend! Also my family and the best friend I named earlier! 💙

91) Is there anyone I’d like to punch in the face rn?

Not particularly.

92) In a fight with someone?

I am not, no. I’m not one to stay in an argument or fight for a long time.

93) How many pairs of sweatpants do I have?

Just the one, and they’re very comfy! 🤙

94) How many sweaters/hoodies do I have?

Just one hoodie and I have one v-neck sweater.

95) Last movie I watched?

Sherlock Holmes! The one with RDJ and Jude Law. 👍

96) Favorite actress?

Big fan of Dichen Lachmen and all she’s been in!

97) Favorite actor?

Can’t honestly think of one! Though my favorite voice actor is Nolan North, love his voice work!

98) Do I tan a lot?

I don’t. I’m pretty pale and I can’t really tan.

99) Do I have any pets?

I do, he’s a big dumb Great Dane named Neo!

100!) How am I feeling?

Feeling pretty good! Having a good time answering all these questions for any follower to see! 😁

101) Do I type fast?

Not really! 😅 I also still have to look at the keyboard when I type.

102) Do I regret anything from my past?

No I don’t. I have a life mantra I live by where even if I’m not proud of things I’ve done in the past, I try to learn from it and not regret the experience. Regretting things doesn’t help better your life so why do it?

103) Can I spell well?

W E L L, as for the quality of my spelling, I can spell alright but I tend to cut corners when typing since auto-correct is so common.

104) Do I miss someone from my past?

I mean, yeah I suppose. But like I said before, I don’t really dwell on it!

105) Ever been to a bonfire party?

I’ve been to many, my friends and I often did bonfire nights over the summer.

106) Ever broken someone’s heart?

I sure have, and it suuuuuucked. But sometimes it be like that and gotta move past it. And the faster you rip that band-aid, the faster both parties can move on and get to a better place!

107) Have I ever been on a horse?

I have not, no.

108) What should I be doing?

Checking the dryer to see if the towels are done, so I’ll actually do that rn. **

109) Is something irritating me rn?

The towels still aren’t dry, so that’s kind of annoying. 🙄

110) Have I ever liked someone so much that it hurt?

I few times in my life, I’d so yeah.

111) Do I have trust issues?

Not really, I feel like I answered this in part 1, but I generally trust everyone unless given a reason not too.

112) The last person I cried in front of?

I think my girlfriend? Though it may have been one of my friends though.

113) What was your childhood nickname?

Never had a childhood nickname, having a short name like Seth doesn’t give kids much material.

114) Ever been out of my province/state?

Yes! I’ve been out of my state plenty of times, but only out of the country once.

115) Do you play the Wii?

Not recently, I do own a Wii and played it a lot. I also got a Wii U with all the 3 games it has.

116) Am I listening to music rn?

Nope!

117) Do I like chicken noodle soup?

I don’t, I looove chicken noodle soup!!

118) Do I like Chinese food?

Yes, my favorite of chinese food is probably orange chicken, fried rice, and egg drop soup!

119) Favorite book?

Not much of a reader, I do read comics though! My favorite comic book is The Amazing Spider-Man: Issue 800. It’s such a great issue!

120) Am I afraid of the dark?

Not really. I get a bit tense walking in city streets at night, but I’m not really scared of the dark.

121) Am I mean?

No! 😂 Being mean isn’t fun and I always apologies if I make a mean joke.

122) Is cheating ever okay?

Nope, it’s not cool and no one should ever do it no matter what.

123) Can I keep white shoes clean?

Shoes are meant to get walked on so they’re going to get dirty if you actually wear them no matter what. This is definitely the weirdest question to be so far.

124) Do I believe in love at first sight?

No I do not. Infatuation at first sight exists, sure, but I don’t think you can fully fall in love with someone without getting to know them at  least a little bit first.

125) Do I believe in true love?

Yes I do. True love definitely exists imo!

126) Am I currently bored?

Not really! Typing these answers are keeping me occupied!

127) What makes me happy?

Hanging out with good friends, playing games, good food, great sex, and sleep. I am a man of simple needs! 😂

128) Would I change my name?

Maybe my middle name, but I’m a fan of my first and last name so I’d like to keep both.

129) What’s my zodiac sign?

Pisces. 🐟🐟

130) Do I like Subway?

It’s pretty good!

131) My best friend of the opposite says that she likes me, what do I do?

Continue to date her! 😜

132) Who’s the last person I’ve had a deep conversation with?

I’m pretty sure I’ve answered this question, but I’m pretty sure it was either my girlfriend or the friend that drove me to my last exam!

133) Favorite lyrics rn?

I got nothing for this. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

134) Can I count to one million.

I could, I don’t know why I’d ever do that. Never been that bored!

135) Dumbest lie I’ve ever told?

Must’ve been so dumb that I didn’t remember it. I also don’t lie often so there’s that.

136) Do I sleep with my doors open or closed?

Closed! I don’t like  sleeping with my doors open, that’s just weird.

137) How tall am I?

5′ 7″

138) Curly or straight hair?

I don’t really have a preference, but curly hair can be pretty cute on people!

139) Brunette or blonde?

You know, I used to think I had a thing for brunettes, but I’ve been with about the same amount of blondes so I guess I have no preference here either.

140) Summer or winter?

Summer for sure! I prefer heat over cold.

141) Night or Day?

Night I guess? I stay up late playing games so that’s my pick.

142) Favorite month?

I guess July? That’s when my anniversary is and it’s mid summer so it’s prime vacation time!

143) Am I vegetarian?

Not in the slightest, love me some meat! 😋

144) Dark, milk, or white chocolate?

Milk chocolate, though dark chocolate is a close second!

145) Tea or Coffee?

Tea, 100%. With lots of sugar too.

146) Was today a good day?

Today was alright, spend most of it sleeping and mowing the lawn, I did enjoy answering all of these though!

147) Mars or Snickers?

Snickers I guess? I haven’t eaten a mars bar before.

148) What’s my favorite quote?

“Life is a lot like this tunnel, you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you keep moving, you are sure to find yourself in a better place!” - Iroh

149) Do I believe in ghosts?

Not at all. Never seen solid enough proof for me to believe in them.

150) Find the closest book to me, turn to page 42, what does the first line say?

“After the tests were done, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon...”

And that’s all the questions! Thanks to whoever asked literally all of them and I hope this shows that I mean business when I reblog ask lists! 😂

[goddess-aelin]

4x10, 4x11, 4x12, and 4x13 rewatch

-oh yes, it’s the episode when they kill off all of their good characters 😭

-tis the season of clarke being right and everyone shitting on her and choosing the wrong decision.

-Bellamy’s cute little spy glass

-FUCK YOU EHO. ILIAN DIDNT DESERVE THIS YOU DUMB WAFFLE

-did Octavia love Ilian? Probably No. But damn if that wasn’t fucking sad as hell

-just do it bellamy, just finish the job. She deserves it

-roan telling e*ho there’s no place in the bunker for her is HOT

-ROAN

-NO

-THIS IS SO SAD

-I’m sorry but there is just no way that Luna would not have won that.

-so really skaikru didn’t have anyone fighting for them in the conclave and Clarke was right to take it

-jaha shut up! Why would you tell bellamy it was her idea

-well onto the blarke angst ep

-clarke is legit crying when they lock bellamy up

-this slow mo bellarke chase is iconic

-she literally could not kill bellamy for the entire human race. Damn

-oh no. Jonty. Noooo no no nononononoooo

-ah fuck Chris Larkin is such a good ass actor

-HARPER CHOSE MONTY AND LIVING ANS I THINK THATS BEAUTIFUL

-damnnnn raven! She’s so strong

-ahh yes, onto the next ep, blarke makes up and commits vehicular manslaughter

-bellamy is totally listening in to clarke and Abby’s convo

-sorry but it isn’t fair that emoris name would be put into the skaikru pool. Same with niylah

-it’s the scene

-listen, I just need them to talk in s6 and have both of them understand why they did what they did. Because imo, neither needs to apologize because neither did anything wrong

-I really fucking hate e*ho and hate hate hate that she took the place that was supposed to go to clarke

-clarke Griffin is the most selfless character in this show, comparable only to bellamy blake. the ONLY time she has EVER been selfish is s5 to save HER 12 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER!!

-the scene where Kane and jaha use Clarke’s list is chilling

-David Miller didn’t deserve this

-last ep, lets gooooo

-honestly this hug is my favorite!!!!!!!!

-OXYMORONS

-I GOT YOU FOR THAT!!!! I FUCJING GOT OU FOR THEGAHSIDKSKSKSLSLALSLSLS

-murphy/monty, the pair we didn’t expect but fully deserved

-hurry

-clarke is internally freaking the f out

-clarke shouldn’t have to do this!! She shouldn’t have to!!

-bellamy was hoping that she would show up st the last minute and she DIDNT fuck my heart

-this entire episode is just an ode to how much bellamy loves clarke

-I left her behind and we all die anyway. Shit shit shit

-ShE PrOvEd HeRsElF oN tHe riNg DoZens Of TiMeS by doing this one thing that anyone would do

-so how did raven go from “she saved us again” to hating Clarke’s guts? Because I don’t get that disconnect there

-literally when I first watched this and saw the 6 years 7days later sign, I wanted to throw up. Clarke didn’t deserve this

-ELIZA IS SUCH A GOOD ACTRESS FUCK ME UP

-that ending, shit

Conclusion: every season finale so far has been SO SO solid and amazing. Jason really is an amazing storyteller despite being an absolute turd at cons and on social media.