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#I hate when I see myself in characters I dislike o(-(#it’s probably some meta about me hating myself that’s why I hate those characters#but like#being aware of that doesn’t stop me from hating these characters tho!#like I hate this one characters design voice personality backstory everything about this dude honestly#he just shares one trait I deeply dislike about myself too#if he magically loses it one day I’m still gonna be a haterrrrr#negativity#this is about a random gacha game I’m playing#and gacha is about cast so I’ll give it two more patches til I never see his face again#ever growing cast I mean#no I gotta mald#rant#this character has interesting things going for him backstory wise but the fact they decided to design him that way?#to have weird choices design wise and performance wise#for a backstory like that? borrowing from an irl culture that he absolutely looks nothing like?#I wish it was plain dislike but there are just too many elements of his character that weren’t fully thought through#and it fucking sucks execution-wise and it led to an annoying subsection of fandom that love him uncritically#this is absolutely a me problem because my critical brain cannot turn off even for a brain dead gacha#my hater brain has muted every mention of this character#but I just cannot bring myself to unfollow my friends who do like him#I am muting like every account that they retweet into my feed with him untagged tho#it sucks that twitter’s algorithm is ass because I still get shown posts about him when I’ve done everything on my end to avoid him
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Magic Flute Thoughts
i liked nathalie stutzmann's conducting a lot more in this than i did for don giovanni. granted i am much less familiar with zauberflote than i am with don g so i'm not like hyper picky about tempi or whatever yet but anyway i liked her
flute soloist! glockenspiel soloist! FLUTE SOLOIST!!!
i just like lawrence brownlee man idk what to tell you. i think he's neat. i think he's singing something here in the winter and i'll definitely try to get tickets to that if so
i really liked erin morley as pamina! actually i thought all the main cast did a good job no one stuck out to me as being particularly Amazing or Bad. kathryn lewek got a HUGE applause (and standing o) tho and i mean kudos it was her fiftieth performance like damn.
interesting choice to play the queen as physically frail as she did; i think it works and the performance is very good, although the heavy age makeup sticks out a bit on hd cameras lol
the queen's three bitches. i'm free on friday (twirling hair)
also i hope those three kids who played the old men get to borrow their outfits again come october because they have the funniest possible halloween costume opportunity in the world now
VERY funny to me that papageno's costume makes him look like he's drenched in bird shit
okay speaking of costumes. do i 100% Get It with the like suits and colors and everything....not really but i don't think i can say that i Get a lot about this opera tbh. what i did get was the very obvious dark/light symbolism going on with pamina and tamino wearing white and the queen and her cronies wearing all black. and i think zauberflote does benefit from some heavy handed symbolism bc what else is this show about actually without that....then again the fact that sarastro and his priests or whatever are all in dark colors too kind of undermines that a little so 🤷♀️
same thing with the whole reason vs superstition thing too like...sure you can claim Truth And Reason as good all you want sarastro but the constant invocation of isis/osiris and Mysterious Rituals kind of undermine what you're going for there lol. i think my point is that i don't feel like i really Get what zauberflote is like...going for, thematically. i mean i get the Themes but not a clear Point. maybe if i was an enlightenment era freemason i'd get it lol but alas i am not
that said......i didn't go into this one expecting a rock solid plot and honestly who does....it's zauberflote....it is very obviously not designed to work or be interpreted on a literal level and i appreciate that it never tries to ground itself in reality. that its plot and characters exist in a completely fantastic realm works and it works with the weird plot and its vague theming.
which itself is of course accomplished through good design and holy SHIT. this is truly the shining strength of this production. the design is INCREDIBLE.
the orchestra isn't totally onstage but they are raised up in the pit to the point where they are fully visible the whole show. i love an onstage orchestra so this made me very happy. and it allowed for actor/orchestra interaction which i also love!! like tamino coming down into the pit to hand the eponymous magic flute to the flute soloist and bring him onstage with him (i was wondering during the overture why the flutes and oboes were swapped places seating wise -- it's so the flutist can easily get onstage! delight!!), or when papageno brings his glockenspiel to the percussion soloist to play (the player being 'missing' at his last solo, making papageno play by himself, and he enters late with a cup of coffee...lmaoo). also stutzmann giving a big ol grin and thumbs up to papageno during his duet with papagena at the end. so sweet
also blocking around the orchestra seating of the audience and up the aisles! so much fun we love immersive theater
the set itself had this big flat platform in the center hoisted at each corner by a cord so it could raise/lower/tilt in any direction. made for some very neat staging with levels and slants and i enjoyed that, especially since the production forgoes any kind of traditional set pieces
papageno's birds were done in such a beautiful way omg...they have an ensemble in black wandering around stage and following him about when he's doing stuff and they each have a 'bird' made of a folded in half piece of paper that they flutter about stylistically (some of the orchestra members have some too that they flutter during his entrance aria). description does not do it justice, this was a beautiful way to stage it...so simple and evocative.
the designer was saying in the interview between acts that this production was meant to combine the high and low tech aspects of theater to connect present performance practice with the opera as it was originally done (hence the visible orchestra) and i looove that philosophy. and it worked here really well i think
THE FOLEY AND PROJECTION ARTISTS. STARS OF THE SHOW. i am not joking
they get to be onstage (albeit off to the sides) the whole show too and i love it. i love that the cameras on the broadcast kept cutting to them periodically to show off their work.
the use of live projection art was really well done -- he managed to make Writing On A Chalkboard captivating!!
and the foley. the FOLEY!!! i've done sound design and a bit of live foley before so i have a soft spot but wooow she did an amazing job and it was SO much fun to see all the props she played with to make the scenes come alive sonically. plus her little interactions with papageno were very funny. give her a tony award
i do think there were a couple of small moments here and there that didn't entirely work for me or a scene or two that dragged out longer than necessary but overall it was a joy to watch. the beautiful and whimsical design of the whole thing totally makes it worthwhile even if the plot itself is a bit lacking.
easily THE coolest production design i've seen the met do yet, and the best lighting and projections from them for sure. when it comes on demand i am forcing anyone i can to watch it with me bc that SET! the LIGHTING! the SOUND! the STAGING! it ticks all my boxes it hits all my buttons it was MADE for ME SPECIFICALLY
#sasha speaks#sasha reviews#the magic flute#die zauberflöte#die zauberflote#if someone actually understands what the magic flute is supposed to be about feel free to enlighten me lol#i don't know exactly what i was SUPPOSED to get from that but the production was so fucking good i don't even care tbh#tldr: watch this if you're interested in theatrical design. go go do it now do it
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On Live MV outfits
One thing I never would have expected about Live Emotion is how important the costume choices are for the overall effect of the Live MVs. However, now that we're three group-costume-events in, I'm able to verify that this is a consistent phenomenon.
My first hint was how much harder it was to take my eyes off the ST☆RISH members during their event whenever they were in their proper outfits. Since I started with a bunch of HEA★VENS URs, don't whale gacha very much, and haven't loved most of the SR outfit options to date, it was the first time I'd changed over any outfits for MVs, and so that event left a big impression.
(Another clue was that, speaking of SRs...Ai looks good in the standard QUARTET★NIGHT outfit. He looks amazing in his Lavender King outfit. Generally, I want everyone to match outfits when they're in a group, but I will make an exception for Ai's Lavender King oufit because it leaves a serious impact and I was lucky enough to get one.)
So anyway, I ended up changing all the ST☆RISH outfits to the 1000% ones in all their videos immediately after unlocking them all, and I stand by that decision so much. It was amazing how much better their movements look once they were in fancy, asymmetrical outfits—and yes, it was more than just the exposed skin, thank you. (See Ai above: his outfit has a ton of coverage, but it's still extremely striking.)
I think the reason for this is not just the designs better suiting the characters, but more of a subconscious reaction...or rather the lack of one. See, I've seen people in various colors of suit before, and when I see figures in those outfits doing some of the dance moves in the MVs, it just seems weird. The dances seem stilted, awkward, and on occasion pretty silly-looking.
What surprised me was how much that effect goes down when they're in less conventional outfits. It might be because the overall impression is more dynamic, but I think it's also that, well, I don't have a baseline for how people typically move and look when they wear clothes like these, and so my cringe instinct hasn't been trained on it and gives it a pass.
Thus, changing the outfits makes the MVs much more enjoyable. I can focus on their strengths rather than being distracted by their weaknesses. And there really are a lot of strengths, from the choices of visual effects to flatter the performer to the care that's gone into crafting different motions for each idol to the genuine effort (reasonably successful) to make complex facial expressions during close-ups.
Now, movements-wise, it's basically only Masato's power-stance squat during Knight that reliably breaks my immersion.
#UtaPri LE#LE spoilers (kinda)#mv outfits#Masato I'm so sorry my guy#but maybe have a stern word with your choreographer
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Film form - critical reflection
Overall, I am happy with how our film turned out. When showing it at the crit, some people watching were genuinely scared which means we at least succeeded on that front. I was also surprised at the amount of things that the lecturers liked about the film, and that they thought our film had some very strong moments.
In terms of directing, I received some useful feedback, particularly regarding the ending scene, in which the creature approaches Eric from behind without him knowing. In the scene, Eric can’t sense the creature despite the fact that it is talking to him. However, in the previous scene, it had been established that Eric can interact with the creature and hear its voice. Alternatively, if we’re supposed to believe that Eric CAN hear the creature, but is simply paralysed by fear, this was not reflected in Frederik’s performance. This is something I did not consider when directing my actors. So, I’d say the most important thing I took away directing-wise was to think about the characters’ point of view in the scene - what they can and can’t interact with - and make sure it remains consistent throughout the film.
Another thing I should have considered more was how to better communicate the tone of the film. Our film’s intended tone was a dramatic horror with a few slightly comedic elements. The comedy wouldn’t be laugh-out-loud, but more dry and uncomfortable, with the humour lying in the absurdity and misery Eric has to experience. Paul praised the timing of the mother coughing, and the long pause where you think she might be dead. I was pleased with this, as it was an intentional choice on my part. However, Leo wasn’t quite sure if certain moments later on were funny on purpose or not. This is something that could have been made clearer by tightening up the edit, or keeping the tone in mind while giving directions to Frederik.
In terms of editing, the glitching effects were praised, as was the text on screen. The main piece of feedback related to the text was that there should have been more context. In the film, Eric’s friend Tommy sends him a message out of nowhere, and Eric clicks on it without questioning it. If we had included an extra line of dialogue or even directed Frederik differently, we could have hinted towards more of a relationship between Tommy and Eric. For example, Eric points out that Tommy always sends him weird things, or even smiles/laughs upon seeing the message. That way, the audience would be less confused and Eric would have a more solid motivation for setting the conflict of the film in motion.
As I was helping with sound, it was important to take in the feedback on the sound design.
One thing we should have added was a limiter on the mix. There is a part in the film in which the music is (intentionally) really loud compared to the rest of the sound - however, the difference in volume was way greater on the big speakers than it was when we were sound designing. Had we added a limiter, the difference wouldn’t have been as much of an issue, and poor Leo wouldn’t have had to turn the sound down halfway through the film.
Another issue with sound was the dialogue towards the very end. While again, it wasn’t quite noticeable while sound designing. This was down to mic placement, as, due to the shot being very wide, the boom microphone was quite far away from the subject. Zoe suggested to raise the levels of the dialogue, and remove. If all else fails, we could use a wild track and ADR where necessary. In future, we should use two microphone placements - a lav and a boom - instead of just the boom.
One small thing was the audio of the speaker. Looking back, it is quite clear that we recorded it separate from everything else. Zoe suggested we improve the speaker audio by recording it in the same space as the dialogue. As in, we use the same recording of the voice actress, but we play it in the bedroom, and record it playing using the boom mic.
Overall, despite the issues identified while on set and at the crit, I am very proud of our film. I thought we worked together very well as a team, were always there for each other, and I would love to work with my crew again. While the feedback given at the crit was very helpful, I thought the praise we got outshone our weaknesses, and that we achieved what we were going for.
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1653
This survey is blatantly designed to be a year-end one, but because there are no rules when it comes to surveys and I want to take this, I’m gonna go ahead and base this starting from April 2022 to today hahaha.
First things first, did you have a good year? It was pretty average. 2022 was a major transition year work-wise, moving up the ladder; I also had to cope with Kimi’s passing and handling his cremation. There were highlights here and there, but overall I wouldn’t be as enthusiastic looking back on 2022 as I would be with, like, 2021 which was just a lovely year.
How old did you turn this year? I turned 24 last year; will be turning 25 in a couple of weeks.
Do you feel your age? Not fully. It’s weird; I feel like a grownup in some aspects, but still like a clueless kid in others. In any case, I just think it’s good that I at least don’t feel ‘lost’ navigating my 20s. I kinda just go with the flow and make sure I learn as I go.
Did your appearance change in anyway? Yeah, I dyed my hair purple back in October although at this point it’s already faded back to a light brown and my roots are growing out like crazy. I’m planning to dye it purple again before my trip to Bangkok.
Post your favorite selfie. Eh, not really a selfie girl. I like how I look more when the photo’s taken by someone else.
If you traveled, where did you go? Just out of town trips. I went to Batangas (I THINK??? I already forgot haha) sometime in like November, then Zambales in December.
Which fashion trends did you love? Which fashion trends did you hate? I’m not a big fan of the whole space-y Y2K look; too bold for my liking. As for trends I liked and participated in, I’m really big on the oversized look! It’s definitely K-pop’s effect on me lol but anyway because of how idols dress and all, I’ve been stocking up on L/XL shirts and sweatshirts.
What was your favorite article of clothing this year? Post a pic if possible? The green trousers I got.
What song sums up this year for you? Hm, probably For Youth by BTS. The song was too painful to listen to for a time since I would associate it with Kimi (it came out the day he died), but over time I’ve warmed up to it and have gotten brave enough to listen to it more frequently. Now it’s a nice little nod to both my dog and the boys.
What album came out and has been on heavy rotation since then? For 2022, Proof, Jack in the Box, Indigo, Renaissance, This is Why; for 2023, Face. OMG this just made me realize all my faves released albums last year – ok, maybe 2022 wasn’t all horrible hahaha.
What was your favorite movie of the year? Didn’t really watch any in 2022 and haven’t watched a new movie this year so far either.
Did an actor/actress catch your attention for the first time this year? Wooshik, maybe? I’ve known him for ages but largely as part of the Wooga Squad, but I watched him in Parasite last year and I was obsessed with his performance.
Favorite new TV show? I watched Our Beloved Summer but never got to finish it; it’s got nothing to do with how I feel about the show though as I loved every episode I saw – my attention span for K-dramas is really just terrible to begin with haha.
Which new ship/fandom has taken over a lot of your time, attention, and tears? I stayed in Boraland throughout 2022 lol.
What food did you try for the first time? Hmmmm I got to try Sundays, which opened last year; I’m not really sure how to classify their restaurant since they kinda serve everything hahaha from pasta to wings to pizza to Filipino food to burgers...anyway I’ve always loved their food so it’s since been a fave hangout for me and my friends whenever we’re at the area.
Did you make any big permanent changes this year? Not really. 2022 wasn’t one for major changes.
Did you develop a new obsession? Apart from BTS, no not really lol.
Did you vote? Of course. I’d never take that right for granted. My vote ultimately lost but I’ll always be proud of my choice.
Did you move? Nope.
Did you get a job? Nah. I attempted to in the latter half of the year, even going so far as reaching a second interview with a potential employer, but I ended up sticking it out to the very end and ended up getting promoted in January.
Did you get a pet? We got Agi in April, but we also lost Kimi in June.
Do you regret not doing anything? Yeah, I’m sure we’re always thinking of stuff we could’ve or should’ve done.
Do you regret doing something? Sure.
Have you done anything that scared you? Sure, I remember feeling quite scared and antsy during that weird almost-resigned phase.
Did anyone/thing make you so mad it stayed with you for days? Yes, when I was stuck working on a major event with a 1-week leadtime for a client I absolutely HATED which happened to be the same week Kimi’s health rapidly deteroriated and ultimately died. I never viewed or respected that client the same way after that.
Did you lose anyone close to you? Yeah Kimi, my soulmate in every sense of the word.
Did you fall in love? Nope.
Did you fall out of love? Nope.
Did you start a new relationship? I didn’t.
Did you go through a break up? No, never going through that again.
Did you have to cut ties to someone? Eh kind of, just people from high school who had opinions I hated and wanted to stop seeing on my feed. I didn’t have to cut ties with anyone I had a highly emotional/close relationship with, at least.
Who was important to you this year but wasn’t important last year? Maybe my associates? I wasn’t working with them yet last year, but now I try to form a close bond with them so they can feel comfortable with me while also growing and learning in their careers.
Who wasn’t as important to you this year as they were last year? Not sure; apart from the two ^ I’ve kept more or less the same circle.
What was the best moment of the year for you? What was the worst? Best was without a doubt the Busan con. Worst was Kimi’s death.
What are you most proud of accomplishing? Apart from the usual ‘surviving the year,’ maybe planning an out-of-town trip for and with my friends for the first time.
What have you learned about yourself this year that you didn’t know in the years prior? I have to work on my patience and have to accept the fact that people have different learning curves and working paces.
What do you wish for yourself for the coming year? Not to get my ass fired.
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Happy 4/4 I finally sat down and wrote my 2000 word essay on Jhin’s gay coding and why he’s a gay gay homosexual gay
I think tumblr is still weird with links so I’m going to post it under the cut and also link in the comments.
IMPORTANT NOTES: 1. I am insane I know this thank you mwah 2. This is mostly unedited because I am tired so if things sound weird I’m sorry gdfhfs 3. This is not meant for argument I don’t care if you think he’s another sexuality but I don’t want to hear it on my post about why he’s gay. I will block you ❤️
The (Probably Unintentional) Gay Coding of Khada Jhin
Since his release in 2016 Jhin as a character has hexed and bewitched me, a humble homosexual. Jhin is to date still one of the most interesting characters in League of Legends in all aspects: design, theme, lore, and character wise. One thing that has also caught my interest about him in all my insanity driven frantic delving into his character is the very subtle gay coding that exists in the writings about him. Very subtle meaning of course, easy to ignore and in some cases perhaps not even canon any more, (such as background information that was given about him on old official riot boards that have since been taken down). The coding still exists, however, and I’m going to unearth it like an archaeologist driven by some divine madness to tell everyone why this pixel man is gay.
To start off, it’s important to understand what gay coding is as well as why and how it’s used. Gay– or the more general Queer-- coding is a type of subtext in media used to imply a character is LGBT+ in nature without explicitly stating it1. Historically it’s been used in times where creators are legally unable to confirm such things, or cannot otherwise because of moral taboos against queer people. The same is still true now, especially for big game studios like Riot who don’t want to confirm their character’s being gay due to queer content being restricted in some countries internationally. However, this phenomenon cannot be blamed by that alone, as it is still largely due to homophobia in League’s NA servers, and Riot’s cowardice. This is especially true for not confirming characters as gay men as opposed to the several lesbians and bisexual women riot has confirmed, but that’s a topic I’ll get into later. Now to explain how the gay coding works it’s very simple: Use tropes commonly associated with gay people. To explain how some of these tropes are used, we’ll look into Jhin’s actual character, quotes, and backstory.
Immediately looking into the backbone of Jhin’s character we find the arts. He’s very theatrical, even working in the theater for quite a while in his youth, and obviously obsessed with creating art. While these aren’t exclusive to gay people by any means, these are both interests that are highly prevalent in gay communities and used to make characters in media read as obviously gay. Theater and the arts are also seen as more feminine, flamboyant, and campy in nature, which is also tied to gay men. Obviously Jhin isn’t interested in theater like a character from Glee, but he certainly fits into the role of “flamboyant performance artist5,” just more nuanced and evil. Again, obviously not every man interested in theater can be typecast as gay. The flamboyant nature and tone of most of his voice lines and speech mannerisms2,6 that go with his theater background, however, make it very gay. I don’t even have a semi-academic or succinct way to describe how the tone and wording choices for Jhin read as gay (without taking 10 pages to discuss every line). I, as a gay man, simply look through or listen to the words he says and think “okay [SLUR REDACTED]” we get it, you’re gay. Moving away from the association with theater and flamboyancy as obvious gay signaling, there are some other bits of Jhin’s character that read as gay as well.
On his release or near it, one of Jhin’s writers did an AMA (ask me anything) about him and his backstory. Tragically, the original boards were deleted, but a summary of some of the points was made by a reddit user4 on a discussion of his backstory. Before getting into it, it is important to note that technically none of what has been said in the forums/reddit threads is official canonical lore, or could be easily retconned in future stories, but I will be discussing it anyway because I think it’s important to the character. In the thread the fact that stands out the most to me is Jhin’s strained relationship with his father. Even going so far as to say “his father never accept[ed] him for who he was4.” Which of course is probably in reference to a young Jhin’s budding fascination with death, but is also the most explicit, slap to the face instance of gay coding in his character. The exact phrasing of his father “not accepting him for who he was” is a sentiment gay men, and other queer people, can frequently relate to and is usually used in media to tell that a character is gay. Again it has the plausible deniability of being about Jhin’s interests instead, and being on a social media board instead of written into canon, but it’s some of the only information we have regarding Jhin’s younger life/relationship with his family at this point in time. Going along with that also there is a point in the thread about Jhin’s father forcing him to learn his method of fighting with chi-daggers as opposed to letting him learn his own way (and then him rebelling by learning his own way anyway)4. This point isn’t directly related, but it’s not unusual for fathers to try to force their gay/seemingly gay sons into more “masculine” activities (such as fighting in this case) as if that will steer them away from being gay. Moving away from the bits of technically unconfirmed backstory (for now), there’s more to explore in his canonical interactions as well.
Up to this point in my analysis most of Jhin’s coding can be interpreted as a general sort of queer coding. Everything mentioned could also be applicable to bisexual men or any other form of queer man as well, but Jhin has something extra that really pushes him into the category of specifically homosexual, in my eyes. In almost every instance of writing Jhin has been in, whether it be the Zed comic, or his short stories, or even his voice lines in the game itself, Jhin has shown explicit disinterest in women. The in-game voice lines are the most subtle of them for sure, and could probably be taken as misogyny instead of a nod to homosexuality. With how he comments on Miss Fortune “needing a wardrobe upgrade6” and Illaoi wearing “too much gold6” it doesn’t just read as him being rude, it invokes a couple other staples of gay tropes: 1. Being a catty bitch, and 2. Having an interest in and commenting on people’s fashion choices. This isn’t limited to the women either, he also comments on Tahm Kench’s fashion choices in two separate voice lines, so he clearly has at least a passing interest in fashion (gay). In the comic and his short story, however, his disinterest is much more explicit. He has, on multiple occasions, referred to women as looking “boring”-- In both the Zed comic2, when he is talking about a woman Zed has a crush on, and also his color story The Man With The Steel Cane3, when he is referring to a woman at an inn he’s staying at. Perhaps he is just talking about how boring conventionally attractive women look, but in a world where every single character is made to be beautiful and conventionally attractive I doubt there would be any women he doesn’t find boring. And also given his highly theatrical character, “boring” seems to be one of the worst things Jhin could find someone; how could he make art out of something boring, something devoid of inspiration? This also sticks out as disinterest in women due to the fact that it’s been said more than once, in what is technically two-thirds of the written stories for him. One could argue he is also not interested in men or any other gender either, and in fact the same message boards that gave us some of his backstory would agree with that. However, I am gay and I make the rules.
Much of this coding as well as a couple other things could potentially point towards Jhin being asexual, or even both gay and ace. Unfortunately I cannot find a good source, but I remember another AMA answer floating around of Jhin being called “gunsexual” when one of his writers was asked about his sexuality. Now, ignoring the minor homophobia of making a joke out of his sexuality, this can be interpreted in a couple ways. It can be interpreted as Jhin being asexual, and disinterested in anything aside from his gun, the source of his artistic expression. Or, it can be interpreted as dodging the question of sexuality because Riot cannot/doesn’t want to confirm characters (especially men) as being gay. I find it important to note that this, while a joke, does point to him being queer in some respect though, as I feel a joke would not be made to keep his sexuality vague were he just simply heterosexual. Going back to a previous point, I think Riot is dancing around Jhin being gay because they know announcing a champion, especially a popular champion, as gay will receive backlash. Looking again at characters they have officially announced as gay there are a number of lesbians (Neeko, Leona, Diana, Caitlyn, Vi possibly Nidalee), and bisexual women (Rell, Nami, arguably some in the lesbian category), but only one gay/queer man (Varus). This is because of a double whammy of homophobia and lesbophobia, wherein lesbians are more marketable to their huge userbase of cis heterosexual men due to prevalence of lesbian fetishization, and also gay men are reviled and would be seen as “ruining a character” due to the rampant homophobia of the same group. Which is to say, unfortunately I don’t think Jhin will ever exist as gay outside of just his subtle coding. That is a whole separate issue I could go on about at length, however that is not the topic of this essay.
Looking back at what has been discussed, it is incredibly clear to me personally that Jhin is a gay man. Possibly also an asexual man; though I personally feel that would be, in a canon sense specifically, a bad move for Riot to make him asexual. I do agree Jhin can be read as asexual and I appreciate ace Jhin headcanons from other fans, however, in the context of canon sexuality I think it would be sweeping all of his explicitly gay coding under the rug and label him as anything but gay. That, again, is another whole conversation to have in a place that is not this essay. Looking at Jhin’s backstory, his interests and mannerisms, his several accounts of disinterest in women, and other smaller details of his character, I feel it is fair to say this man is absolutely homosexual. He may be too busy with his art and murders to seek a relationship, but this man loves other men.
References: (version with links attached in comments)
1. “Queer coding”, Wikipedia, last modified on 28 March, 2022,
2. Shafer, Odin. Zed, Issue #2 (other issues referenced as well), Marvel Worldwide Inc, 2019-2020.
3. Shafer, Odin. “The Man With The Steel Cane.”
4. @la_goanna."Jhin's Family/ Backstory." Reddit, 2020,
5. TV Tropes. Performance Artist.(See also: All Gays Love Theater)
6. League of Legends Fandom Wiki. Jhin/LoL/Audio.
#League of Legends#jhin#khada jhin#character analysis#art of legends#sorry im insane about this fictional man do you still think im sexy haha#🎭
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TMBS Book 1 Brain Dump
~An Embarrassingly Long Post~
I don’t know why I’m writing this or why I’m so determined to do it. Maybe to finally assume my true form and become a mega dork on main, or maybe just for fun!
This is basically a compilation of all the main points running through my head after reading The Mysterious Benedict Society (2007) for the first time. Rather than posting a ton and spamming the tag, everything’s here in one neat package! (hopefully this gets it all out of my system rip)
Contents:
The Book Itself
The Book Itself, for real this time
The Characters
A Funny Parallel
The S.Q. Section
Lines & Scenes I Liked
Spoilers abound!
The Book Itself
Upon acquiring the first three books (don’t judge me pls), I was surprised at just how long they are. Like, they’re still pretty light being paperbacks and all, but these books are hefty lads.
The first book has this Disney+ Original Series circle thing printed on it, which is kind of unfortunate. Regardless, I love the cover illustration and yellow is actually my favorite color :D It made me weirdly quite happy whenever I saw the book lying around in my room
Also, it’s really cute how there’s a letter from Mr. Benedict at the end! (It only reveals that you can find out his first name if you “know the code”, meaning the bit of Morse printed below the summary on the back.) Shock and horror, though, as I realized I’m starting to recognize some of the letters
The Book Itself, for real this time
It’s wonderful how the tone of the book really shone through to the show adaptation. Something about the deliberateness of the aesthetic, from the set designs to the fashion to scene compositions, that really sells that particular style��� like it’s very clear that this story is being told to us, rather than one we’re seeing unfold, if that makes sense.
Where that narration style stood out to me the most was the first chapter. We are told (rather than shown) how Reynie gets himself to the point of the second test, and there’s this whole twisty time maneuver for that whole sequence of events that’s really interesting
A super secret fun fact about me is that I wanted to be a writer when I was younger! So this particular balance of show vs. tell is really neat, since it runs counter to my own tendencies. The sheer amount of commas in every sentence is also kind of comforting, since Ahah, I Do That in those few serious-ish attempts at writing lol
Overall this book’s style reminds me a lot of Roald Dahl’s books, which are very nostalgic for me :D The whole “kids are more competent than adults” angle helps a lot too haha
The Characters
Oh boy here’s where I get a little bit critical! Overall I did really like this book!! it’s just that that expresses itself in all this weird “”analysis”” lol
Reynie - much better in the books than in the show
It’s sort of a lukewarm take but I feel like show!Reynie is kind of boring? He doesn’t have a lot going on flaw-wise, and obviously since he’s the protagonist he can’t have too many weird traits or else the kids watching can’t project themselves onto him as easily
(I call it the difference between an aspirational protagonist and a vessel protagonist. Going off of the Roald Dahl vibes, think Matilda vs Charlie. show!Reynie is more of a Charlie)
Thus when we get to see him really struggle with the Whisperer and doubt himself it gives him a lot more dimension, at least in my opinion
It is a federal crime that the white knight scenes were not adapted into the show
Sticky - my son
I’ve long held to no one besides myself and my long suffering sister that Sticky is The Best Member of the Society
He happened to hit a lot of the Bingo squares of Stuff I Like In Characters: glasses, anxious, nice :), kind of a coward but ultimately is there for his friends, etc
For some reason I don’t talk about him nearly as much as you-know-who, but I love him just as dearly
Kate & Constance - I don’t have much to say
Kate is really interesting in this book! I like how we get to see more of her depths, in particular that one passage about her belief that she is invincible being the only thing that keeps her from falling apart? :c
Also her constant fidgeting is relatable lol
Constance is somehow a lot more tolerable in the book. I think I’m just one of those people with no patience for small children, unfortunately lol
(Some of) The Adults
It’s interesting that they had such an offscreen presence for most of the book. Giving them more time was probably one of the stronger changes of the show
However if that decision was made at the expense of the white knight scenes I think the choice should have been clear
I like the way Rhonda and Number Two are written
Milligan always on sad boy hours 😔✊
The “mill again” passage is touching but kind of messes up the pacing of the getaway, at least for me. Maybe I should read it again to make sure I didn’t miss something
Miss Perumal is much better in the show. We see so little of her in the book she doesn’t function well as an emotional anchor for Reynie, imo
The Institute Gang
Jackson and Jillson serve their purpose well, and Martina was surprising to say the least. I like the direction they took her in the show! I can’t imagine how funny it must have been to watch the tetherball subplot come out of nowhere lolol
These sections were written out of sequence, so random tidbit I couldn’t fit in The S.Q. Section: I like how he stumbles over his words. relatable
Mr. Curtain
While I think I know why they decided to not give Curtain the wheelchair in the show, we were totally robbed of Actor Tony Hale’s performance for the reveal during the final confrontation
Speaking of the wheelchair, it’s such a powerful symbol of his need for control or rather, his fear of losing it
The Contrast between him and Mr. Benedict. This point is expanded on in A Funny Parallel
Mr. Benedict
Oh boy, Mr. Benedict… How do I say this
I find it hard to trust Mr. Benedict, unfortunately
I mean to say, I do in the sense that I know he would never hurt the kids, thanks to knowing that a) this is a children’s book series and b) the meta (tumblr) states that he is really nice and lovable and stuff, but seriously. Why do the kids trust him at first?? I probably missed something somewhere
I like to think I’m an optimistic person, but unfortunately I’m also super paranoid. The premise of “a bunch of vulnerable orphans team up with a strange old man” is just so odd to me I don’t know how to explain it
I don’t know!!! I really want to trust Mr. Benedict
One of the strengths of the show is that we get to see him more often, and thus he gets to acknowledge more often that the plan is weird and that he feels really badly for putting the kids in danger and that he’s trustworthy and genuine
But his lack of presence for most of the book just makes him into something of a specter, invisible and unknowable, speaking only in riddles from across the bay
Which is why the white knight scene is so important!! I loved that scene ;-;
Because here’s an actual emotional connection! We can actually see it happening, rather than only being told that it exists
Reynie asking for advice and receiving encouragement, in words that demonstrate that Mr. Benedict actually cares about him and worries about him and agghh
It is a federal crime that the white knight scenes were not adapted into the show
But overall this whole issue didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the book at all! It’s just ->
A Funny Parallel
Okay, ready for my biggest brain, hottest take ever??
Mr. Benedict and Mr. Curtain…. are… the same
I mean obviously not entirely, given that one is benevolent and kind and the other is… Mr. Curtain
But seriously. Genius old man seeks out children (mainly orphans) to enact a plan. Said children often end up incredibly devoted to his cause and deeply admire him this is a little flimsy
Undoubtedly that’s intentional and is supposed to show the difference between them, like some kind of cautionary tale? “Let yourself be vulnerable and let others help you, lest you turn eeeeviiillll”
I guess that’s where the aforementioned epic contrast comes in. You get Mr. Curtain, strapped into his wheelchair and hiding behind those mirrored sunglasses, terrified (but unwilling to admit it) of ever showing the tiniest hint of vulnerability, vs. Mr. Benedict, who can let himself fall knowing that someone will catch him :’)
Anyhow I have nothing against the parallels, I just think it’s funny
The S.Q. Section
The S.Q. Quarantine Thread so it doesn’t leak out everywhere else <3
I’d like to meet the emo angstlord genius who read this book and decided to make SQ into Dr. Curtain’s son. What in the world
Okay I should probably preface this by saying that I absolutely adore both book!S.Q. and show!SQ with all my heart. Somehow, despite being a completely different character in both mediums, he has managed to be one of the best characters in either and certainly one of my favorites (besides Sticky of course) in the entire franchise, despite the fact that I’ve only read the first book/watched the show so far. I am confident in this statement.
But seriously! How?? Why?? I could probably write a whole other essay about why show!SQ is such an interesting character, and the change works so incredibly well. I’m just. Baffled
Okay, focus. book!S.Q. is such a sweetheart, oh my goodness. Like, 100% one of the most endearing characters in the book. Poor guy. I don’t even know where to start!!
He just seems to be a genuinely good guy at heart, despite being technically one of the bad guys. He’s genuinely happy for Reynie and Sticky when they became Messengers and helped Kate when she “fell” and was concerned about Constance when she looked sick and how he was in that meeting with Mr. Curtain and Martina?!!? aaahhhhghgh ;-; he just wants people to be happy TT-TT
Comparing him against literally every character at the Institute is probably what makes him so endearing tbh. When everyone else is so awful to the kids, it really makes him stand out. Like a cheerful little nightlight in the worst, most humid and rank bathroom you’ve ever been in
It’s kind of pointless to theorize about a book series that’s already concluded (I think?) but. Is the implication of S.Q.’s forgetfulness supposed to be that Mr. Curtain used him in brainsweeping experiments somehow? The timeline probably definitely absolutely doesn’t line up but like. How did he get to being a Messenger being the way he is now, given how cutthroat the process is? And then of course Mr. Curtain keeps him around as an Executive because he’s fun to mess with and presumably his loyalty. I’m very curious as to how their relationship develops in the other books, if at all. Those are probably where the seeds of the “let’s make them family” logic were planted
But wouldn’t it be hilarious if the reason we don’t know what “S.Q.” stands for in the books is that he just. Forgot
Another thing that occurred to me. Given that he and the other Executives were Messengers at some point, what were their worst fears? What is S.Q.’s worst fear?? Inquiring minds need to know
One last horrible little anecdote: I was thinking about book!S.Q. while eating breakfast, as one does, and suddenly it hit me.
I want to believe The Author Trenton Lee Stewart had the name for a character, S.Q. Pedalian, and was like, “Hm! What sort of quirky trait should this young fellow have?” Because, of course, in this style of fiction every character has to have at least one cartoonish or otherwise distinguishing trait to stand out in the minds of children. (For instance, Kate has her bucket, Sticky has his glasses, Constance is angry, and Reynie is Emmett from the Lego Movie)
Anyhow, he looks around the room, searching for inspiration. Suddenly he comes across a jumbo box of plastic wrap. Completely innocuous in design, save for one line of text. 300 SQ FT.
“…large… S.Q. …feet? THAT’S IT!” i’m sorry
Lines & Scenes I Liked
In no particular order!
Sticky quotes Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Evil combination aerobics/square dancing in the gym with the Executives
Everyone being happy at the end :’)
Everyone partying after Sticky reunites with his parents, and later finding Mr. Benedict asleep at his desk from the moment they shook hands :’’)
Literally any scene with Sticky in it
Any time Kate says “you boys” or “gosh”
[“Um, sir?” S.Q. said timidly, raising his hand. “A thought just occurred to me.” / Mr. Curtain raised his eyebrows. “That’s remarkable, S.Q. What is it?”] clown prince of my heart </3
S.Q.’s determined monologue about searching for clues after he bungled up the first time
Literally any scene with S.Q. in it (please refer to The S.Q. Section)
Reynie trying to resist the Whisperer.
[Let us begin. / First let me polish my spectacles, Reynie thought. / Let us begin. / Not without my bucket, Reynie insisted. He heard Mr. Curtain muttering behind him. / Let us begin, let us begin, let us begin. / Rules and schools are tools for fools, Reynie thought.]
NO MORE HURTIN’ WITH CURTAIN
Milligan showing up on the island!!
Remember the white knight hhhhhh
“controle”
A Super Secret Bonus Section
I would be extremely surprised if anyone read through all the way down here lol. Regardless, here’s a little acknowledgements section :D not tagging anyone since I don’t want to bother all of these people
Special shoutout to tumblr blog stonetowns for unknowingly yet singlehandedly demolishing my reluctance to read the books by posting a ton of cute quotes. Thank you for your service o7
Thanks to the two OGs that liked the post I made right before this one, for being my unwitting enablers and for sticking around despite being a) technically an internet stranger (hello!) and b) someone I haven’t spoken to irl in literal years (hey!!)
Last but not least thankz 2 my sister for putting up with me ranting about the book when I first got it and for asking about “CQ” sometimes lol. (i desperately hope you’re not reading this orz)
#the mysterious benedict society#this took me like three days to finish rip#it’s worked though! i feel less of a Mighty Need to think about this stuff constantly now#however!!! today through some conniving i have gotten the Second Book#now I’m at 3 out of 4 infinity stones. muahahaha#was going to include my villain origin story about why i like show!SQ so much but cut it for being too long and irrelevant. however#if the words jeff naomi and Sweet Dreams are Made of These mean anything to you please hit me up. it’s kind of a funny story
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Kida’s third design!
One of the major inspirations for Disney’s Atlantis the Lost Empire was Angkor Watt. It’s a beautiful, ancient series of ruins with a commanding/awesome (inspiring awe... it feels weird to use that word properly) presence and a wonderfully unique silhouette.... that the artists cited in the documentary as one of their main architectural inspirations. The water, the tropical overgrowth (get it cuz it’s overgrown), and the tall-dome shapes.
I’m not sure there’s a reason for using Angkor Watt for their designs other than the aesthetic? Supposedly this is happening on a lost continent submerged/swallowed by the Atlantic Ocean.... so I don’t know how the Khmer dynasty connects? Not to mention the Khmer Empire & Angor period are hundreds of years (depending on when easily over a millennia) too late to be included in the pre-sinking of Atlantis. But it is a concept that the canon-movie rolled with AND I have a suspicion that they also used some of the Khmer fashion to loosely inspire some of the Atlantean fashion choices. Especially with the sharp shoulders on some of the fancier robes.
What I did... was an odd combination of Kida’s movie costume and clothing inspired by Khmer fashion. With so much already inspired by Khmer culture it would be odd not to explore Kida in a Khmer-inspired fashion even if it is “too late” time wise to be relevant to the sinking of Atlantis. (This is where we’re back at that “Mother Civilization” that just uses whatever is visually inspiring & claims it ‘was done there first’ to explain everything with some handwaving. Which, sure... but I don’t think they asked anybody in Cambodia if using Angor Watt was acceptable...)
So what we have here is a skirt with a “belt” of fabric that falls into pleats. But it is a lot shorter than most of the historical skirts (and isn't tied the same way but that’s why this is inspired & not “Historical”). Her in-movie top is technically included though in the Khmer Empire or Angkor period it would be more historical for her to be topless. But that wouldn’t fly in a disney movie, so we’re decorating her existing clothing instead with the over-one shoulder drapery. (I would call it by it’s real name & it’s worn a lot in traditional dance performances with the pleated skirt but my brain must be too mushy today to visualize the lists of descriptions of traditional clothing names... because apparently having pictures to describe would be too easy. I think it’s called chong pok style, but quote me on nothing because the words are swimming.)
Thus a very fictionalized Khmer-fashion-inspired outfit to pay homage to the original movie inspiration, Angor Watt.
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I am the artist!!! Do not repost without permission & credit! Thank you!
#kida#atlantis the lost empire#the great princess redesign#the great disney redesign#Disney Princess#historically accurate heroines#Historically Inspired#costume design#Character Design#holy shit I'm unsure about these designs#risky but we're doing our best#milo thatch loves kida#digital art#Digital Illustration
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Two Halves - Chapter One (Zuko x Reader)
Word Count: 3,700
Author’s Note: I decided to set this a few years after the war, when Zuko is Firelord. I didn’t want to stray too far from what was canon in the series - what with Katara being the only bender left in the Southern Tribe and also trying not to add extra family members because that always feels weird to me - so the reader in this story is a girl from the village who lost her parents to a raid and was essentially adopted into Sokka and Katara’s family; she stayed behind to watch after the tribe when they left to help Aang, and now, as the chief’s surrogate daughter, is arranged to marry the Firelord to help bring the two nations together. Chaos and sweet, tender romance ensues. This is also going to be a mini series! I have no real plot and no idea how long it’s going to be, but that just adds to the fun of it all. Stay tuned.
~ Muerta
“You can’t be serious.”
Sokka, seated beside you, instinctively offers you his hand, which you willingly, eagerly take, gripping it tightly in your lap. You can’t decide if you feel anger or fear; the two mix sourly in your stomach.
“I am,” Chief Hakoda says. His tone is even, and infuriatingly understanding. It makes you want to scream. “Your presence in the Fire Nation will be key to unite the nations in peace once again. They’ve been closed off from the rest of the world for too long - you’ll be an ambassador for our people.”
“Then make me an ambassador,” you snap. “Marrying me off to the Firelord is no better than letting him come here and colonize us.”
Hakoda glowers sternly at you. You shrink back, Sokka giving your hand an assuring squeeze.
“Firelord Zuko has made great strides to restore what his ancestors destroyed in the years since the war,” Hakoda scolds. “He’s an honorable, respectable man. I expect you to treat him as such.”
You look back up at him, letting out a heavy, defeated sigh.
“I don’t have a choice in this, do I?” you ask softly. Your voice quivers, revealing the terror behind your rage.
Hakoda’s expression softens as he stands. He helps you onto your feet, holding you gently at the elbows and looking apologetically into your eyes, one of his hands reaching to brush your hair behind your ear.
“Just because the war is over, it doesn’t mean the need for sacrifice is,” he tenderly says. “You’ll do great things as the queen of the Fire Nation. I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t trust Zuko to treat you well.”
In Hakoda’s eyes, you see the man you knew as a child, the man who brought you into his family when you lost your own to a Fire Nation raid. You love him as much as you loved your own father, and know he loves you as much as his flesh and blood children; you trust that he would never put you in harm’s way.
Hakoda leans forward and kisses your forehead, holding you close for a long moment before letting go, breaking contact with you completely. The pain on his face tears a gaping hole in your heart.
“You leave in three days,” he tells you. “You’ll be in good hands - I promise.”
Though you know it isn’t for the last time, leaving the Southern Water Tribe hurts so much you think it might kill you.
You cruise across a calm ocean in a Fire Navy ship; luckily Sokka was allowed to come with you as emotional support, as well as to represent the tribe at your wedding. The presence of Zuko’s uncle is also calming to you, despite how little you know him, and how not long ago you would have considered him an enemy. There’s just something about Iroh that makes you feel safe, and you only hope the same holds true when you meet your husband to be.
“Zuko sent me to ensure your safe passage,” Iroh told you when you first boarded the ship. “Think of me as your guardian spirit.”
You stand on the deck, basking in the newly warm weather and taking deep breaths of fresh ocean breeze. The peace of the moment helps you lose yourself, forgetting your fate entirely, if only for a moment.
“How ya feeling?”
Sokka sidles up next to you, placing an assuring hand on your shoulder. You reach up and curl your fingers around his, sighing.
“Awful, now that you’re here,” you tease.
Sokka chuckles.
“I could still make good on that promise I made when we were kids,” he offers, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you into the side of his sturdy, familiar body. “I don’t think Suki or Dad would be really happy about it, though.”
You let out a huff of laughter, remembering all the times you used to play together before the war brought you closer; you used to have intense crushes on each other, and Sokka always promised that he would marry you when you both got older - plans that changed when you effectively became siblings. You lean your head into his shoulder, finding comfort in his presence.
“I’m just scared,” you tell him. “I always planned for great adventure in my life, and to help people, but… this doesn’t seem like the right way. It feels like I’m being taken prisoner.”
“They say that having too many plans for one’s life keeps one from finding their true potential.”
You turn, meeting Iroh’s gaze as he crosses the deck to where you stand. You part with Sokka and bow respectfully, trying to hide the embarrassment that heats your skin.
“I apologize, General Iroh,” you greet him. “I didn’t mean any offense.”
Iroh tuts at you, placing a hand on your shoulder to gently straighten you up. He meets you with a kind gaze and a soft smile.
“Fear is to be expected, my dear,” he says. “You can’t have a great adventure without also facing a great fear.”
He turns and peers out across the water, inhaling and releasing a deep, contented sigh.
“The weather is lovely today,” he notes. “Why don’t we all enjoy it together, with a pot of tea?”
And so a tea set is brought, along with a table and cushions, and you and Sokka join Iroh as he demonstrates how to brew the perfect pot of jasmine green, generously serving each cup. He toasts to your being together, and you drink heartily, savoring the exquisite taste of his famous tea.
“I understand how you must feel,” Iroh addresses you once you’ve all settled. “Coming to a strange country, among people responsible for so much of the pain you’ve experienced; you’re exceptionally brave for doing what is best for your people.”
Iroh takes your hand, cradling it between both of his.
“I am sorry for how my nation - my family - has hurt you,” he says. “My nephew and I only want happiness for you with us, and we will do all we can to ensure it; I give you this vow among his.”
He squeezes your hand tightly, and you grip back, accepting his promise. You bow again, lowering yourself so that your face is almost level with the deck of the ship.
“Thank you, General Iroh,” you reply. “Your generosity means everything to me.”
When you sit up, Sokka places a hand at your back, giving you a comforting smile.
“Zuko’s a good guy,” he assures you. “I really think you’ll learn to like him.”
Your arrival in the Fire Nation, much to your surprise, is met with celebration. As your ship pulls into port, army and navy officers in full ceremonial regalia perform displays of their bending, a traditional band playing cheerful, joyous music to welcome you to shore. A procession of military vehicles escorts you through the streets of the capital to the palace, citizens emerging from their homes and businesses to catch a glimpse as your carriage rolls by. The people who manage to see you are elated, if not curious, staring at you with wide eyes and rapt attention; Iroh explains that many of them have never seen a foreigner, as travel to the nation is only just starting to become somewhat commonplace. You’re confronted by the beauty and grandeur of the city - the tall, elegant buildings with their ornate details are far from anything you’ve ever seen in person, even with the rapid development of the Southern Tribe.
In the palace, you’re immediately whisked away to your own wing, your quarters designated to a set of quaint buildings circling a scenic courtyard. Tradition dictates that, from the time of your engagement, you aren’t allowed to see the man you’re meant to marry until you’re both at the alter; the first few days of your time in the Fire Nation are spent in seclusion, resting off the fatigue of travel and acquainting yourself with the new culture you must now call your own. Though you have to keep your distance, you’re relieved when, on your first morning in the palace, you find a letter on your doorstep, scrawled in a refined, graceful hand and addressed from the Firelord himself.
Hello, it says, Zuko here.
I wish I could introduce myself in person, but unfortunately, this will have to do for now. Sokka has told me much about you in the years we’ve known each other, and he always speaks of you highly. My uncle is also already enamored with you, and tells me he already considers you family, so I hope this brings as much comfort to you as it does to me. I don’t think I could have chosen a better woman to rule at my side.
I have to admit that I’m nervous about getting married. I still feel like I’m too young, and still just figuring things out. But I guess if I can lead a country and make peace after a hundred years of war, I can have a wife and make her happy. I hope I do make you happy - I hope we can be close friends and lead the nation strongly together, for the better of both our homes.
Please write to me if you need anything. Sincerely yours, Firelord Zuko.
The candidity and awkwardness of his writing makes you smile, your mind at ease being able to put a voice to his name. You decide to write him back immediately.
Hello, Zuko, you write.
Your letter has already made me feel much better. Your uncle is a very sweet, very wise man, and I’m thankful that you sent him to watch over me - he makes me feel like I already have a little piece of a home and a family here. Meeting the man who raised you, I have faith that you’ll be a good husband to me.
I’m very scared because, unlike you, I’ve never led a country or had to negotiate peace - getting married is the biggest responsibility I’ve ever had. I want to help people, though, and if I can help people by leading them out of the darkness of war, I’m very happy to do it. It isn’t as terrifying knowing you’re also nervous; I’m glad we can be nervous together.
Please write to me as much as possible until the wedding. It would be nice to get to know my husband before I marry him. Sincerely yours, the bride.”
For the following days, you and Zuko exchange multiple letters; you have one waiting for you every morning, receive a reply by midday, and end each night wishing him pleasant dreams. You learn that he’s very intelligent and, though quite subdued, has a sense of humor much like your own. He has a passion for weaponry and the art of combat, as well as for storytelling and music (he tells you that dancing has recently been unbanned in the Fire Nation, and wonders if you’ll be able to teach him any Water Tribe dances; you promise to help as much as you can). The more you write to him, the less daunting the idea of your marriage seems, and you find yourself feeling excited by the idea of finally meeting him.
The day of your wedding starts early. You’re woken at dawn, fed a breakfast of tea and jook (both prepared by Iroh, and sent on a tray beside a polished wooden box - inside is a traditional hair comb and a note from the old man, explaining that the comb was given to his mother by his father on their wedding day; the gesture sends you to tears), then sent to the palace baths to be buffed and primed for your wedding attire.
You’re stripped down and steeped in multiple perfumed liquids, scrubbed with an array of soaps and exfoliants, and washed so thoroughly you think your handlers might have exposed an entirely new layer of skin. They wax every single hair from your body as well; you only attempt to draw the line when they reach your nether area.
“Please don’t,” you request, firm but not commanding. “I don’t think I’ll need it.”
The beautician scoffs at you, pushing you back onto the waxing table and forcefully spreading your legs apart.
“Foolish girl,” she huffs. “Of course you will. Royal marriages must always be consummated on the wedding night - the Firelord will want as many heirs as you can give him, as soon as possible.”
Her brute words make you sick to your stomach, and as she rips away the hair between your thighs, tears roll down your cheeks from both pain and horror. You want to believe the man who’s been writing to you for the past five days would never force himself onto you in the name of tradition, but it dawns on you once again that you don’t truly know him, and can’t anticipate his actions.
Once you’ve been wrung out from your time at the bath house, you’re sent back to your sleeping chambers, where you’re pleased to find not only lunch waiting for you, but visitors as well.
“Katara!” you cry, flying across the room and into her arms. She laughs, hugging you so tightly you can hardly breathe.
“Oh, I’ve missed you!” Katara cries, whirling you around a few times before setting you back onto your feet. “You already look so beautiful! How do you feel?”
“I’m terrified,” you tell her, “but so much happier now that you’re here.”
“Don’t forget me!”
Aang waves from behind Katara and you shout with glee, greeting him in the same manner you did her. He also crushes himself against you, and when you pull away, you cup his face between your hands.
“You look older!” you exclaim, squeezing his cheeks. “You grow every time I see you!”
Aang laughs, pushing your hands away with a pink blush creeping over his nose and ears.
“I’m a grown man, and the avatar,” he says, teasingly poking your shoulder. “You can’t keep treating me like I’m still twelve.”
“I can and I will,” you jest, lightly punching him in the stomach. He cackles and puts you in a (gentle) headlock, rubbing his knuckles into your skull to tangle your freshly washed hair.
“Hey, kids, that’s enough,” Sokka scolds playfully as he enters the room. “Let’s eat, otherwise I’ll be way too tempted by the spread at the reception tonight.”
Lunch with your siblings is the last moment of relative calm you have before the wedding and its reality truly start to set in. After the meal, Sokka and Aang leave to help Zuko with his own preparations, Katara staying to help you with yours. Your handlers navigate you into your dress, a traditional gown and robes made of many layers of fine silk and embroidered with dragons and native Fire Nation flowers; the train and sleeves fall so far behind you, you worry about tripping or scuffing the fabric. Once you’re dressed, your face is painted white, your features then outlined as if they were being drawn anew into your skin. You hardly recognize yourself once the handlers are finished with you, the anxiety you felt upon learning of your engagement returning with newfound ferocity.
Katara is the one to style your hair. Keeping with custom, she knots a portion of it atop your head in a tight bun, using the comb Iroh gave you to hold it in place. She then takes the remainder of your hair and braids it into two sections on each side of your face, the way it would be worn in the Water Tribe; she laces each braid with a string of beads from home, crystalline blue totems to ensure happiness and long life hanging at the end of each, contrasting beautifully with your gown. She cries when she steps back to look at you, carefully dabbing at her tears so as not to ruin her own makeup and dress.
“You’re so gorgeous,” she tells you. “I’m so glad Sokka never married you like he said he would, he would look awful at the alter next to you.”
You laugh, opening your arms and hugging her tightly, forcing your own tears back for the sake of the effort that’s been put into your costume.
For the last few minutes before the wedding, you’re alone; you stand outside the doors of the palace’s grand courtyard, flanked on both sides by guards, listening nervously as Iroh (who’s officiating, per his nephew’s request) praises you and recites a poem in your honor. His sentiments are exceedingly affectionate and should move you, but all you can think of is Zuko; what will he think of you? Will he like you as much in person as he did in writing? Was he just pretending to like you for the sake of your union? What if he didn’t think you were pretty? What if, like the beautician said, he forced you to sleep with him tonight, simply because it’s what’s meant to be done? You chew at your nails, biting them so hard that some of them start to bleed.
Music swells from inside the courtyard, and suddenly the doors before you swing open. You hold your head as high as you can, stepping forward with as much grace as you can manage and beginning to traverse the impossibly long aisle to the wedding altar. You breathe deeply, scanning the group of people standing before it - you see Katara first, and she nods encouragingly, looking like she’s about to cry all over again. Your eyes sweep over to Sokka, standing beside her, and he seems somewhat shocked by your appearance - not that you blame him, seeing as you look like a complete stranger, even to yourself. Iroh gazes at you from the center of the altar, wearing the expression of a proud father that makes you wish Hakoda were there. Aang stands beside Zuko, and you can tell from his face that he was bored by this whole display until you emerged from hiding; you stifle your laughter at his predictable, endearing disposition.
Finally, your eyes fall on the groom. The first thing you notice is his stare, cutting into you as he watches you approach; his chiseled, angular features have fallen into an awed expression, one that causes a giddy tickle in your chest. He’s tall, slim, with broad shoulders that carry his wedding robes proudly - his clothing matches yours, the only difference being the armored sheath across his chest that signals his status as ruler of the Fire Nation. You’re reminded that his father wore it before him, and a shudder runs through you as you recall all you suffered at his hands; you push it from your mind, climbing the altar steps to stand beside your betrothed. He gently takes your arm, a warm, timid smile breaking across his lips.
“Spirits,” Iroh addresses the crowd, “we gather before you to join this man, this woman, and our two great nations in a union of peace and prosperity. With your blessing and guidance, their souls will form two halves of a great whole, coming together to foster a new era of love and commitment not just for their people, but for each other. The bride and groom will now recite their vows.”
Iroh nods towards you, and you lower yourself onto your knees, bowing before the Firelord. You clear your throat, hoping that the entire country doesn’t hear the quiver in your voice.
“My lord,” you begin, “I give myself to you as completely as I give myself to my tribe. I swear, from this day forward, to walk confidently by your side in all your endeavors, to uphold the honor of our nations and families, and to be a guiding light into the future for every citizen of the Fire Nation. I will be your support, your comfort, and your ally in all aspects of our life together, and will serve you as loyally and dutifully as you serve me.”
You stand, taking one of the rings that sits upon the altar and slipping it onto Zuko’s finger; his skin is warm, his palms rough, and he shakes as violently as you do.
“I give you this ring as a symbol of our union, to represent the bond that holds us for all our days.”
Once you finish, thankful you didn’t stumble over your words or forget them completely, Zuko kneels, mirroring the way you bowed to him.
“My lady,” he recites, “by my word, I will serve you honorably and affectionately for all our time together. If you should ask for my compassion, I will give it; if you should seek after my heart, I will offer it willingly; and if I should stray from my path, I will follow you back onto it. I vow to you my devotion, and to bring you happiness and freedom. I trust in you the power to lead and govern my people as justly as I do.”
He stands and takes the other ring, delicately placing it as you did his.
“I give you this ring as a symbol of our union, to represent the bond that holds us for all our days.”
In most weddings, this would be the moment when the bride and groom embrace each other in a devoted, passionate kiss; instead, Zuko takes your arm and you face the court of respected leaders and diplomats from across the four nations, gripping each other tightly - you hold each other as if you’re the only support the other has to keep standing. Iroh’s typically soft, pleasant voice booms from behind you:
“I present the lord and lady of the great Fire Nation.”
Everyone in attendance folds onto their hands and knees, bowing as the band once again begins to play. You descend from the altar, your head feeling like it’s floating miles above your body, and exit through the doors you’d been shivering behind only minutes before - this time, with your husband beside you.
#muerta's works#two halves#zuko#zuko x reader#zuko x you#prince zuko x reader#prince zuko x you#prince zuko#prince zuko fanfic#zuko fanfic#zuko fanfiction#prince zuko fanfiction#atla fanfic
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20210317 Nintendo Switch News Interview with Ishida Sui for Jack Jeanne’s release
This interview was posted exclusively in the Nintendo Switch News section for Jack Jeanne’s release. Highly recommend reading it, as there’s new content regarding the production for JJ!
[Jack Jeanne] Exclusive Interview with Ishida Sui!
Hello! This is Chami from Nintendo’s Otome Game department. This time, we have an exclusive interview with Ishida Sui, who served as the general supervisor for Jack Jeanne!
By the way, the image above is from the early stages of development. How cool is it to see how different the characters look from their appearance now!
This special content is only available here, so I hope you continue to read 𝅘𝅥𝅮
The game’s core revolves around a tug of war battle between school and performing.
How did you come up with the core of the game when the project was first launched?
At first, the offer I received was solely for the character design.
I accepted it because the boy revue theme seemed interesting to me, but the character profiles BROCCOLI came up with were a bit too far-fetched for my liking...which is to be expected from a company that makes otome games. “Can I really do this...no, I can’t, but I still want to anyway,” I thought.
So I decided to try proposing character profiles I thought I could work with, and it’s probably from the moment I created those profiles that Jack Jeanne’s core development began.
To create the characters you need the school’s background, and for that you need the history of the area, you also need to keep the game system in mind, the music for the performances has to be a certain way, the dances need to give off this feeling...the scope of my proposal grew and grew, and before I knew it, I was organizing the entirety of this project.
At any rate, I was only working on bits and pieces in the early stages of development, so I reviewed the balance of the entire project, thinking it would collapse if the game’s core values weren’t consistent.
There aren't a lot of works revolving around acting and performing in the first place, so there wasn’t much I could refer to, so it was a matter of trial and error. I read a ton of books about acting, singing and dancing, and manga-wise I used “Rising!” (Author: Himuro Saeko, Illustrator: Fujita Kazuko) as a reference in particular.
I tried to create the story from beginning to end in my mind, and after getting Towada the scenario writer to put it into writing, we got rid of any problems and unpleasant developments that arose...I spent an entire year laying down the foundation for Jack Jeanne.
After finding a good balance between the seasonal performances and the everyday lives of Univeil’s students, the path to creating Jack Jeanne finally became clear to me.
While working on this project, I slowly came to the realization that the game’s core revolved around a tug of war battle between school and performing.
I gradually realized that the core of the game was the tug of war between school and performing.
This is the player’s story.
Are there any particularities of the character design or script that’s unique to the game?
How important the player’s choice is.
One of my favourite parts about the game is that the player decides how the story goes.
I believe the appeal of this game is that you can have different outcomes depending on the choices you make, events occurring at different times for each player, and thus have different experiences.
The biggest difference if you compare it to manga, is that there’s only one story from start to finish in manga, but games give players a choice.
Because this is an adventure game*, at times it was really difficult creating a wide range of choices while maintaining consistency, but I tried to widen the range of consequences for each choice as much as possible.
[T/N: Adventure game, or ‘ADV game’, is a visual novel but with more gameplay elements that gives the player more agency.]
I’ll be vague since it might be considered a spoiler, but after a certain point in the story, the effect of this particularity becomes stronger. It’s like even though you’re doing the same thing, it’s still a different story. It took a lot of work to make it happen.
Writing as if I was possessed by the character.
You were also responsible for writing the lyrics. What kind of feelings did you put into them?
I specifically kept in mind the character’s situation when the music is playing, how the play’s worldview is expressed, and so on. I also asked myself if it felt good to sing, and I had a lot of fun incorporating weird and silly things into it.
After that, I tried to write as if I was possessed by the character. The character Neji-kun is supposed to write everything, but I actually wrote the lyrics with that thought process in mind. Neji would use these words, or Neji would do it like this, stuff like that.
It’s difficult for me to write the lyrics for the students as myself, so I used the characters to help me on that front.
So, rather than writing the lyrics myself, I wrote them while keeping Neji’s thoughts and feelings towards his classmates in mind.
This is not the colour of Ishida Sui alone.
Please share with us your recommendations about Jack Jeanne’s fun and appeal.
That it’s not the colour of Ishida Sui alone.
Since my name is in the forefront, no doubt I’ll stick out like a sore thumb, but I think the appeal lies in the fact that it’s not just myself who worked on this game.
The story, the cast acting to convey those words, the music playing in the background...all these colours blend together on the game screen to create a single work of art, which I think is the greatest appeal of all.
The appeal of manga is that it’s as close to monochromatic as possible, but I think the fun of combining different colours is something only a game like Jack Jeanne can offer.
Jack Jeanne is a gentle story.
Please leave a message for everyone who’s excitedly awaiting the release of Jack Jeanne.
If I were to do this again now, I’d like to write a gentle story. I was depressed about a lot of things prior. But I wonder if this story I’ve been working on for several years turned out gentler than I expected.
I worked hard to create Jack Jeanne. I hope you try playing it in your spare time.
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no one asked but here are my thoughts on the new met don giovanni from today. tl;dr: a couple of weird choices made but overall Quite good i liked it
elaine douvas jumpscare at the top lol
federica lombardi and ben bliss as anna and ottavio were the standouts to me. lombardi came out the gate STRONG with fuggi crudele and she keeps it up. and kudos to bliss as ottavio; i often find that he can be a pretty uninteresting character if not played carefully and bliss did a really great job making ottavio Interesting. face journey of the year award goes to his dalla sua pace (il mio tesoro honorable mention).
peter mattei sounds great obviously but is it just me or is he starting to get a leetle bit old for the role. not vocally but physically. like him next to ying fang is like. sure man yeah
alfred walker in the same camp honestly. like he did a great job singing masetto but i'll always laugh when like. giovinette che fate all'amore kicks up and they're like "here's the happy young couple :)" and the bass is obviously in his late forties at the youngest lmao
anyone else think adam plachetka looks. kind of like ted cruz. hello?
anyway i liked plachetka a lot largely because he seemed to actually remember that don giovanni is nominally a dramma giocoso and a lot of his little acting choices brought back some of the humor that i thought was a bit lacking in the production as a whole. also christ they bowl that fucking man across the stage a few times don't they
ying fang did a great job too. the lingering terror in her expression during la ci darem so juicy. also that bit in act ii when they're threatening leporello and she balls his shirt up in her fist even though he's like a foot taller than her. love her so much. also woman pretty
i liked stutzmann's conducting for the most part although nothing much Stood Out to me about it. except like two or three tempi i disagreed with and a couple of spots here or there that felt like the orchestra and singers weren't 100% together right away. but idk i'm not a conductor i assume doing a debut performance at the met with a new opera you haven't conducted before is A Challenge so.
a few scenes felt...strangely placid energy wise to me. notably the opening scene but a few other places too including elvira's arias for some reason? in some cases it's like i think more just could've been done with the blocking while nothing much else was going on but in other places there Was plenty of movement it just felt...low energy. idk. where's the hustle i thought this was life or death here
cool use of the fog rising out of the floor of the stage's incline
although the steep rake to the stage led to a few unintentionally awkward/funny (to me.) camera angles. like they were obviously shooting from stage level and it would normally be a straight medium/wide shot but because of the rake it ends up being a slightly weird low angle (especially funny to me when in terms of cinematography language this kind of undercuts the vibe of the character that's being shown onstage at the moment lol but what can ya do. i'm being very nitpicky anyway)
actually the set design in general surprised me. mostly because for like 90% of the show i'm like "it looks kind of interesting i guess but Why So Brutalist And Plain" although i like that having multiple levels lets there be some creative use of vertical space in the blocking. i was so ready to write it off as disappointing/underutilized to me until the very last chorus of the show they actually Do Something with it and it totally surprised me and i really liked it. made me wait for it! surprised me! credit where credit is due i liked that a lot in the end.
i do wonder though if this production would be completely undone with a little more color in it tho. like i Get what they were going for with all the grey and i do appreciate the roses and blood but i feel like you can still do More with a broader but still limited color palette without compromising the vision. at least you could be more creative with the lighting i feel like the met pretty consistently disappoints me with its lighting (which is usually "serviceable" to "attractive" but not really creative or adding all that much to the scene. sorry but musicals are still beating you at this particular game)
although what was with the ball scene. with the mannequins and random period dress for ottavio anna and elvira but no one else. i liked the costumes but what was the point
also that said re: lighting. a cenar teco FINALLY did something interesting with the lighting and projections. cool and i liked it. except for the fact that the projection was up for too long and you couldn't fucking see what was happening on the stage and don giovanni effectively just Disappeared. i realize this was intentional but either make the disappearance much more sudden/short or show me what happens to that little freak otherwise it just feels lazy
great cello in batti batti o bel masetto. liked.
FANTASTIC orchestra in la ci darem and especially its preceding recit. the combo of the theorbo + cello + harpsichord was so atmospheric, somehow adding both to the romantic atmosphere AND the "psychological horror" thing going on in that scene. which i love honestly that scene SHOULD look gorgeous and feel like a lead weight in your stomach and i love that they went there with it.
also sorry but the champagne aria could be blocked way more interestingly. try harder
mixed feelings on the blocking of the ball scene. i thought the choice to have the whole chorus there but be so still and stiff when dancing was interesting, it definitely conveyed the sort of control through fear that the don has on everybody, but at the same time the scene felt like it was missing life. as well as missing some of the chaotic energy i think is necessary to build up over the course of the scene to lead into the climax. plus what is that act finale? kind of a cop out imo not actually showing us a clever escape of any kind. i will give them points however for having the onstage musicians because i am a sucker for that. i could see one of those oboists onstage was playing a cocobolo instrument...preddy.
okay what the fuck was up with gia la mensa e preparata. i get that it can be a weird/tricky scene to block if you're doing a more Serious And Grounded (and/or Edgy) production (and this production i do think leans more towards that and further away from the comedy potential throughout, with some exception here or there) but dude the tonal whiplash. they go like full on farce for like a solid six minutes there it's kind of bizarre. like it's funny yeah but it feels like it comes out of nowhere and doesn't totally fit...like peter mattei didn't anyone ever tell you not to play with your food. although it was funny when he accidentally beaned plachetka in the face with a dinner roll. literally once elvira shows up the rest of the scene is Fine and i actually really like the way it's blocked and acted from that point on but What Was Up With That
also this is going to sound so weird both coming from me and speaking about this opera in particular but. it felt. weirdly not horny enough? also weird to say cause there was an above average amount of people lying on top of each other on the floor going on too but. like. idk. vedrai carino...a lot of elvira's acting...even some of mattei's i felt like there could've been More done in this respect without it pushing into the realm of excessive or distasteful. they really play up the He's A Sexual Predator angle of the character here but with more emphasis on the predator part and less on the sexual part i think. but idk maybe part of this has to do with me thinking walker and mattei look a little bit old and/or me not being generally as into men. ah well
anyway not to be really annoying all the time but if you liked this production (especially a lot of its aesthetic choices) i am once again recommending the 2017 aix production it's on youtube and it's soooo good. and has a Lot of similarities with this one stylistically. and also i love it
#sasha speaks#sasha reviews#don giovanni#overall I Liked It. not my favorite production but one of the better ones i've seen so far#edit: wait apparently ant did ask. i missed that in my notes somehow. anyway. hi ant here u go lol
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2012 - semifinal one
originally posted june 8th, 2020
Thoughts before watching I'm back! (Not that anyone reads these...) 2012 in my opinion wasn't a very strong year, and I have a whole lot to say about the hosting, postcards, and especially that abysmal stage design.
Montenegro The performer said it himself - he's not aiming to place well. That much is clear. This song is absolutely a political statement and doesn't even try to disguise itself. It's bad rapping - honestly, it's not even rapping, I'd qualify it as somewhere closer to slam poetry. This song does not try to be good, and it is not good. Iceland There is no such thing as a good staging decision in the 2012 contest, but Iceland didn't make entirely poor decisions either. Never Forget is a well-written song, and the staging did its best to keep up with the drama of the music. Greta and her violin were definitely used really well.
Greece The dance routine was a good choice because it kept me engaged and not focused on how bad the stage is. Good job, Greece. This song is definitely a callback to Secret Combination and the rest of its cohort but Eleftheria does a fair job of making it her own. It's not a standout song but it's nonetheless fun. Also, I'm impressed by how well Eleftheria can dance in those heels. Latvia I can't tell if this entry takes itself seriously or not. It does actually have a nice tune to it. The lyrics, though, do make this seem like something out of a musical about Eurovision rather than something actually from Eurovision itself. Anmary isn't a bad singer or perfomer, this was just cursed by the 2012 stage the same every other entry was. I can't find it in my heart to hate it. Albania It's a darn shame that some of the best stage work in 2012 had to be for this entry. Rona has a strong voice and she's good on the choruses but her vocal style in the rest of the song is just so off-putting to me that it entirely cancels out her belting and the staging. I guess I can see how it got to 5th but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Romania This song has a nice hook but the stage performance is remarkably low-energy. Like, it's not bad, it's just not very strong. Switzerland I feel like I used to hate this - I don't actually remember for certain, but this actually isn't bad. I strongly dislike the singer's voice but other than that it's a solidly medium song with solidly better-than-awful staging.
Belgium Staging is actually pretty good here (relatively). The staging, background, and costumes are all pleasing to look at which is more than I can say for some entries. The song is nothing special and Iris does take a good third of the song to really settle into it both vocally and in terms of her stage presence, but once she's done that she does pretty well. Finland I had forgotten how competent the staging actually was here. Better than anyone else's except Albania so far. That said, I really hate the verses, and this song is so repetitive. This is another of those songs the fandom always brings up as being robbed in the semis, but I solidly and firmly believe that it deserved to stay there. Israel Hey wait, this was good actually. It's weird, certainly, but it's fun and I really enjoy the song, especially after the Belgian and Finnish entries that were much less good song-wise. San Marino I think this might be the best Valentina entry relative to the other songs in its year. It's fun, Valentina is performing well, the song actually doesn't suck, and it had okay staging. It's weird seeing Valentina so young though - like not young necessarily just to see her before she'd made Eurovision San Marino her career.
Cyprus This is fun and energetic, and I think it was probably really modern for its time. Cyprus and Greece sent really similar entries this year and to me, Cyprus really came out on top. I like the aesthetic of the staging and the dance routine, and Ivi's vocals were maybe not great but they were at least good, considering that she was 1) a teenager and 2) doing this energetic dance routine at the same time. Denmark This is unironically one of my favorite songs from 2012. I don't know what it is about it. Shoulda Known Better is a really lovely song, and Soluna and everyone on stage with her was really jamming out, lending a very chill feel to it that really endears it to me. Russia I don't know how to feel about this one. It's weird. It's fun to listen to and the grannies are definitely cute to watch onstage, but also I really do prefer entries that are entirely serious both in performance and in production and I really do not believe that the Russian broadcaster was serious about this one. Hungary Hungary actually did pretty OK with the staging here, and I really like the song. Those two things put together mean that I enjoy this song a lot more than most people do - I just vibe with it.
Austria This is probably one of my favorite joke entries because it doesn't pretend to be serious and also because musically it just goes hard. Woki Mit Deim Popo is by no means good, but it's lighthearted fun sung in heavy Austrian dialect by two dudes just bouncing around on stage. Moldova Moldova is never afraid to be quirky at Eurovision, and that's why I enjoy so many of their entries. Lautar is no exception. Yes, the staging makes the girls look like they're bugs scuttling around, but like, whatever, classic Moldova. Pasha is also very showy and enjoyable to watch. Ireland I am not really a fan of Jedward or this song, but I really love the fountain here. The energy of the twins is really off-putting as is that outfit, and the song doesn't outright suck but it's really not good, especially compared to Lipstick.
My personal qualifiers Cyprus Denmark Israel Moldova Iceland Latvia Greece Hungary San Marino Ireland
Miscellaneous thoughts I actually don't hate these hosts so much. Leyla is kind of annoying, but all in all this is a pretty decent effort. People make it out to be worse than it is because 2012 was sandwiched between the fantastic German hosts and fan favorite Petra.
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Mismatch- Part 25
In my defence I didn’t forget about updating here, I just didn’t want to.
First < Previous
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“How do I look?” Marion asks as people fuss around him, not least of all Marinette herself.
“I hoped that would be obvious seeing as I designed this look,” She smirks at him eyes sparkling he can tell since the whites of the Domino mask are removed.
“Yeah, yeah, you’re the greatest and all that,” He waves her off as a stylist tries to tame his hair to fit the messy look she wanted.
“Well it is true isn’t it?” She teases, someone also trying to follow her with a brush and comb as she flies around the room in a whirl of designing.
"Perhaps," Marion hums, gaze drifting over to the door where he notices a familiar figure, Marinette follows his smile.
“Luka!” Marinette exclaims, wrapping her friend in a hug, “When did you arrive?”
“Last night," Luka smiles, she was glad she got the chance to become his friend again as MDC, not that he knew their secret identity, "This city is so majestic,”
“Gotham at night?” Marion scoffs, turning in his seat, only to get scolded by the stylist, “Are we talking about the same place?”
“CD maybe you just haven't taken the time to really hear the city’s song,” Luka strums a few cords to demonstrate, “You should its melody compliments your own,”
“I’ll have to take your word for it,” Marion shrugs, sitting forward again, “Do you think you can use it to reach out to the Gotham audience? I really want to connect with them,”
“Will do boss,” Marion sticks his tongue at him, Luka only ever called him that in jest.
Luka gives a playful wave leaving to go sort out the music. He had his own responsibilities as the opening act. Marinette feels someone watching them and dismisses the stylist, congratulating her on a great job. She looks a tad peeved as Marion's hair is largely the same as when she entered, but many employees are used to the twins randomly leaving anyway. The door to their dressing room clicks closed and the presence makes itself known.
“What can we do for you, Batman?” Marinette asks, offering him a seat, although she knows he won’t accept it.
“MDC,” he inclines his head, not showing if he was taken aback by her catching him out, “We have reason to believe the concert will be attacked tonight,”
“Yeah, we thought that might happen,” Marion gets up, stretching, “Just try to keep whoever away from the crowd and we can handle the rest,”
“You don’t seem to understand, after the last attack-”
“Sorry to cut you off,” Wow it was weird acing professional around the same guy they had been tormenting the past few weeks, “But that was an impromptu event this one has been planned out for years,"
Officially not but they had designed the building to help them catch akuma in Paris while keeping an event going, they just applied that design to Gotham.
"If you would like to call in the rest of your coworkers we can show you the defenses we have in place so you can work with them,”
Batman seems surprised. What did he think they were just air-headed celebrities? Well, that wasn’t going to be the only surprise of the day then. Sure enough, he calls everyone in and Marinette’s a little hurt to see he invited everyone but Sparrow and Songbird to join in the fun. She hides this fact leading the ragtag group through the backstage area. Spotting their manager she walks over.
“Could you please clear our schedule we want to give them a personal tour of our security measures,” She asks Kate, to her credit only looking mildly surprised to see the whole Batfam trailing after them.
“I thought you might, I’ve already worked it into your schedule, just make sure you're there in time for the costume checks,” Kate looks down tapping away at her tablet, “Also call your uncle arrived in town last night he’ll want to wish you good luck so watch out for him,”
“We couldn’t do it without you,” Marinette beams, letting her go to attend her other duties.
They must make an odd sight, two superstars guiding a pack of vigilantes like ducklings through the backstage. They go over all the security protocols. Safe rooms that the staff was instructed to go to under certain circumstances. There were carefully lain traps that only a few people could trigger to set off. On the stage itself was a secret compartment Marion could make a quick getaway to get change in, a tunnel leading backstage. The entire backstage was a maze in itself all the staff specially trained to navigate it.
To protect the audience they hadn't packed it nearly as much as they could have so it meant it easier for them to reach the exits. Indeed there were hidden emergency exits that people could escape through if villains blocked the obvious ones, they were set to reveal themselves if that was the case. There were also hidden trapdoors in rows of seats that would glow if people were forced to duck behind the seats. It leads to underground tunnels that would lead them safely away. There were even tunnels connecting to the staff safe rooms so they could come and direct the audience as needed. Marinette had made sure to make the tunnels look inviting ad pleasant so no one would panic at being underground.
Then there were the special (comfy) perches that they showed to the Batfamily, each situated to look over everything and be hidden by the lights. There were wires leading to the stage and audience in case they needed to get down quickly and quietly. They also made a web above that they could run along and run any interference with ariel attacks. They also gave them each a blueprint of the stadium so they could see all the secret tunnels that were perfect for a surprise attack. There were ones leading into the entrance subtle enough someone could be pulled in while walking into the building, for the purposes of catching criminals before they even entered. There was also a trap door that could open underneath, she gave them each a remote control to these, warning them to use them wisely. Each hidden door leads to a room suited for fighting, carefully crafted to give the bats and edge.
It had taken a long time and a lot of money but they had invested, making a safe place they could rent out to other performers so there could be more shows in Gotham conducted safely. She could tell that by the end of the tour even Batman was impressed as they headed back to the stage through the empty audience seating.
“Hey! Superstars!” Jagged's voice booms across the arena, waving from the entrance of the place.
“Uncle Jagged!” Marion jumps over seats to reach him, Marinette a step behind him as they both tackle him into a hug.
“Good to see you too,” Jagged ruffles their hair, Marinette sends a silent apology to the stylist, “This place looks Rockin!”
“You bet just wait till I take the stage,” Marion grins, as they both hug Penny and Fang as well.
“Why wait! Show me what you got,” Jagged sends Marion off, who runs to the technicians asking if they can do an early mic check, everyone scrambles to make it happen.
“So how’re you finding Gotham?” Jagged asks her, walking with a side hug back towards the Batfamily.
“Oh, you know… busy,”
“I’d say the news with Marion? That was wicked!”
“Yes… wicked,” Penny pales at just the memory, and yeah fair enough.
“Yo Batman great to meet you!” Jagged boisterous nature meets Batman’s stoic one but the poor guy barely has a chance to adjust before Jagged’s moving on.
“Yo Red Hood right?” Hood looks a little shocked as Jagged claps a hand on his shoulder, “You saved my nephew, I really owe you one!”
“Oh-that's not- I just,” Marinette shares a smirk with Jagged which would have surely had Marion screaming.
“Yeah, he really looks up to you!” Jagged has him spluttering more, she would show him mercy but they only have so much time before Marion catches on.
“Oh Uncle Jagged I wouldn’t phrase it like that,” Marinette says in a suggestive tone, the stage is still empty of Marion.
“Of course, no I’d say it more that...” Marinette could actually laugh as Red Hood practically vibrates from anticipation, “He likes you,”
I think we just killed him, Marinette notes as Red Hood internally combusts. Well now wasn't the time to show mercy.
“I’d say that's putting it rather lightly,” Marinette smirks as Red Hood is sent into another spluttering mess, and oh how she wishes he wasn't wearing that helmet.
“Right it’s more like-”
“Stop it both of you,” Penny’s reprimand has them both doubling over with laughter. The Batfamily looking absolutely bewildered. Minus of course, Red Hood who they may have to call an ambulance for soon if he doesn't start breathing.
“What are you two laughing at?” Marion walks to the edge of the stage, someone fusses with a microphone not too far away.
“Nooothhinggggg,” They chime simultaneously, with matching grins.
“Penny?” Marion all but whines, fidgeting nervously.
“They haven’t said anything bad,” She assures him, Marion foolishly relaxes.
“Hey is this the guy that saved your hide?” Jagged asks, having the guts to swing his arm around Red Hood’s shoulders.
“Uncle Jagged,” He hisses at the same time Penny hisses ‘Jagged’.
“You should thank him... sing endless!” Jagged exclaims, and Marinette couldn’t be sure he hasn't been planning this from the start, “You wrote it for him didn’t you?”
“Not for him its not-” Marion makes a bunch of vague gestures, “You know?”
“Not at all,” Jagged grins, dragging Red Hood closer to center stage seats, he plops down Red Hood right in the middle of the stadium. The rest of the Batfam take seats around them. “Sing Endless!”
Marion is scowling but doesn't have much other choice as a stagehand tell him he’s all set. He takes the microphone. Marinette mimes at him to breathe, he rolls his eyes but does anyway. The music starts Marion hitting his cue and with just the first few words she could see the tension drain away.
“And the world starts slowly caving it~”
It was such a gentle song. So many people had told him and still told him that it didn’t fit the violent vigilante. The producers had argued they should just fit it to someone else, someone people liked more. In the end, they had caved to Marion's arguments probably because it wasn't made to be an upbeat pop song so they weren't too attached to the money making aspect. That didn't stop the audience from arguing about it afterwards. Some claimed they just randomly selected the song, or that they shouldn't have done one for him at all.
Marion pointedly told them they were all wrong. And looking at Red Hood now, completely enthralled with Marion's singing she could tell that, yeah it had fit him perfectly all along.
"All the words you said were they true? or just selfish li-es~"
Marinette broke her gaze away from Marion to look at the rest of the Batfamily. Suffice to say they were all enthralled, hopefully they wouldn't be this distracted at the concert tonight. Although she supposed it was a good thing they were doing the mic check now so they could watch now and focus later. Then again she doubted Red Hood would be much use regardless, he was leaning forward in his seat the rest of the world dead to him. To fair Marion wasn't much better. In a crowd he would look around or at least pick a random stop to sing to no one. This time however? this time he was locked on to Red Hood sinign directly to him and he probably didn't even realise.
"Gave all I ever had try to make you laugh try to please you~"
Batman looked uncomfortable at the line. Judjing by the times she had seen them spend together there was a tension between them a past she didn't know. How Marion managed to pick up on that long before they came to Gotham she doesn't know. It was almost like he could see into his soul, a connection there despite never having met, like the pull of a miraculous.
"All I know is gone, now I'm all alone~"
Marion wasn’t testing out the mics. That much was obvious. He was straight up performing. And no he hadn’t written the song for Red Hood persay. But she had watched him every night and day agonize over the right words to use, the tune, the feeling behind it. Scraping up every bit of information he could it was probably more thorough than any police investigation done on Red Hood. It was then she realized, their room covered top to bottom in pictures of him covering the ones she had of Adrien, that Marion had completely and utterly fallen for the guy. No, it wasn't a song for him, it was a love letter for him, to him, about him. It was a picture that painted exactly how Marion saw him.
And she was willing to bet that the only people that didn’t realize it were them, both completely captivated by each other as Marion finished.
“What is it~” He holds the next note until the music fades out into nothingness, “Inside~”
The music stops, Marion opening his eyes, almost seeming startled that there were other people sitting before him. It’s only then he seemed to realize that there was more than just one other person in the arena and spirited off to check with the sound. It was as he turned to walk away Marinette could tell Hood had seen it, the robins newly stitched up the back of his jacket.
#miraculous#miraculous ladybug fic#miraculous ladybug#ml fic#ML#bio! dadbrucewaynemonth2020#bio dad bruce wayne#Mismatch#marinette is mdc#twins au#vigilante AU#Popstar AU#MLB#salt#Slight salt#lila#lila lies#class trip au#maribat
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(1) As far as I concern, I think SM does have some problems going on, at least with their PR department. I'm a fan of RVV and maybe partly a supporter of NCT after NCT2020. I must say NCT promotion after NCT2020 and Hot Sauce is underwhelming to me. The content from NCT2020 was interesting enough to hook me and a lot of nonfan atm, leading to the successful cb of Dream. After that, I hardly had any motivation to watch a NCT content (some of them are amazing though).
(2) But then I feel A&R team made some mistakes with the Sticker album – it’s disappointing to me. If it’s public-friendly, I might say ok but then it’s not either. The pre-comeback promotion was so exciting but when it comes to the real comeback, it was a lackluster. Then came the disaster in terms of promotion – Favorite era. It was rushed but started good with the IG tale – then ended with a questionable MV.
(3) Ironically, most interesting and solid album to me is the NCT2021 Universe, which ended up with good songs but lack of promotion and failed to bring more fans to the system. The consequence of this is the underwhelming comeback of Dream. This time RVV’s cb is near Dream’s.
(4) The creative team of RVV did an amazing job with the concept and album design, which gives them a lot of attention whenever a new detail on the album dropped (the schedule, the makeup, the album design, the concept and the music). It was so exciting that I completely forgot that Dream photos were released at the same time. The album design and concept even managed to make many nonfans decide to use their money and become fans. Personally I feel touched with the efforts of the whole team.
(5) Compared to that, Dream’s full album with more promotion feels not as significant. RVV for the first time has what NCT has for years, and only 1 content made more impact to me. Last year, their Queendom era is worse in terms of promotion but it was still a good step to comeback with an acceptable song that did well on the charts.
(6) I think it’s not only about how much SM should promote but also how SM should promote. RVV and aespa prove that even with weird and bold choice of music, they can still make a hit. They also prove that with good album design, an amount of nonfans can turn into fans. RVV proves that 1 content with good idea means more than a bunch of contents that fans only waited to capture their biases.
(8) The fact that 127 still did fancall really makes me think they will become a money-maker of the SM to exploit fan’s wallet without the chance to grow more to the public if SM continues this momentum. That's my thoughts as a supporter.
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(I didn't receive part 7)
For NCT, I recommend the latest cooking show PT1 PT2
I like more songs from Universe than from Sticker as well. And I agree that SM tries to "sit on two chairs" with 127 (make progressive songs and fangirls pleasing easy sweet songs as well, however, that was the strategy from the beginning). Nonetheless, it is a matter of taste, many like Sticker as an album.
As you point out, individual PR solutions were great (like NCIT Lab, Vampire IG story), but there was no coherent overall plan with a progressive build up. SMCU album is the prime example. It was announced, pictures in train cars dropped, Zoo challenge made, GOT performed a bit. And that's it?
People tend to remember the last moment, the last feeling. If there is pain in the beginning but a sweet candy in the end, a person would remember an experience in a positive light. And vice-verse. So it doesn't matter that NCIT Lab was so exciting, the Favorite promotion spoiled everything. Beautiful was a great MV, but had no continuation. NCT2020 ended up with a climax at MAMA and k-pop fans talking about NCT, so NCTzens saw the hype around their biases and were satisfied.
Dream album broke a record sales wise. And the MV is very catchy and continue to gain views. I think your opinion here is influenced by personal taste. Fans are unsatisfied though in large quantities. Therefore, something is missing. I suppose it's the lack of promotions abroad and on the radio, fans want visible escalation in status, a rivalry with BTS or smth. Many groups rose to big popularity in the past couple of years (like Stray Kids).
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Games I Played in 2021
Going to start off by saying, I feel I didn’t really get to play many games this year, and when I did I found myself feeling very :/// about current gen games. I had some help modding my 3DS as I was too busy to do most of it, and it was probably the best thing to come of this year gaming wise for me. I don’t know if my crankiness this year is attributed to outside factors reducing my patience and letting my over-critical self run rampant, or if perhaps I’ve finally aged out of being the target audience to most things and need to just stay in my bubble. Regardless, there's a lot of salt and weird games in my gaming recap of 2021 ahead. Also I’m not counting games like solitaire and sudoku even though they’re probably what hold the most gaming hours for me this year. Possible mild spoilers for some games I discuss, and I kinda gave up on reviewing properly so have fun deciphering these rants :P
Happy Home Designer
Well, theres not all that much to say here but I’ll find a way to make this a paragraph too long, I bet :P I wasn’t happy with New Horizons at all, and when I saw HHD come out years ago I was always curious, as collecting furniture was one of my favourite parts of Animal Crossing. Playing this was nice, but its a brain off kinda game. It was nice designing spaces for villagers, though it really did feel like a spin off game (funny to say that, when a lot of people would debate how much of a game a casual one like AC in general is) I played for a solid couple of months, had fun and then slowly stopped playing as the repetitiveness set in.
I would like to make a side note here and say. Fucking hell why did ACNH essentially make this game as the DLC. And only JUST add Brewster in? And not even in his own Cafe, he’s back in the museum… I stopped playing NH a while ago and seeing all these updates that SHOULD’VE BEEN THERE IN THE BASE GAME come out kinda makes me mad. I bought the DLC for my siblings as an early Christmas gift, but I don’t think I’ll buy it myself. Why? Cause I have Happy Home Designer on my 3DS and can already play it and it’s probably better lmao. I feel like AC has gone downhill ever since the app came out and I just miss playing Wild World.
nooks homes - https://youtu.be/uzbhyEiNi5k
first preview - https://youtu.be/ONYdWhLEFRU
tom nooks theme - https://youtu.be/0Khgfifk69Q
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Sims 2 DS
This game is fucking weird. It’s barely a Sims game, its actually a hotel management game. And a weird one. You crash your car on the outskirts of this weird and isolated town in the desert, and then stuff happens and you kinda take over the managerial position for the absent hotel manager. I had this game on my DS as a teen, I used to play it when I’d hang out in my parents parked car and for some reason sat in there for hours in the summer heat and it’d be worse than a sauna. I think it enhanced the vibe of all these weird npcs going a little loopy in the desert tbh. The game is still weird, I got further than I did as a kid, but I’m at a late game stage where I don’t really care to go further, so I’m calling it done.
I think it was a bad choice to have it be real time, I think an internal time system would’ve worked better at adding more of a constraint to the chores you have to perform and make the late game more challenging. Having events like alien invasion or goonies attacking prompt countermeasure challenges (spraying aliens with a water gun or dressing up as a superhero rat to stun and arrest goonies respectively) have a time limit of one real life hour is too easy. It takes barely 3 minutes to prepare and find them, attack them and get it over with. Theres also not really any stakes if you lose, so half the time I’d just ignore them lol. I don't’ really know what to say to this, its so fucking strange that it’s hard to describe, and the reason why I stopped was just cause I didn’t care to go collecting useless skill points that are only useful for this one mission, poor game design. Also, can’t even whoo hoo in this game smh 0/10
strangetown at night - https://youtu.be/tkcnohuXygc
electric pop - https://youtu.be/IMnCXpCMqfs
disco blitzkrieg - https://youtu.be/krWWnsgBo9Y
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Sims 3 DS
This is the worst sims game I’ve ever played you can barely do anything and most the furniture is ugly. I made my oc Harland and this was the first time I ever considered that I never made a last name for him, and then I made him a nurse and then spent most his free time reading. You can’t even whoo hoo here either smh 0/10. For some reason I played it for 5 weeks straight. Harland is now the best dr in the world and he has read almost every book ever. As you can imagine, it was boring and it sucked.
No song recs cause its not immediately popping up when I search and I don’t care to look cause the ost was bland tbh.
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Mario Kart 7
Hm. So. Last year I didn’t include games like this, but I really haven’t played much this year and I feel like being salty. MK8 didn’t need to exist, all the tracks I thought were originals to that game were actually from here. There’s not enough difference to warrant 8 existing, apart from the DLC they added on the Wii U and Switch, but even then… if mk8 was just an expanded port of this game, it’d be the EXACT SAME. This was a mario kart, nice to just zoom around when I was in desperate need of a brain break between the most chaotic uni term I’d had all year, but MKWii is still superior in my eyes.
Not linking any songs but this soundtrack is better than the soulless ‘jazz’ in MK8.
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Super Mario Kart
Just here as a companion to the previous entry. This game is still hard as shit and I’m glad they moved away from go-kart driving. Spinning out and bumping around sucks ass and popping wheelies in MKWii is more fun - but I still love this game cause I grew up on it and koopa looks pink and naked.
Listen to the soundtrack that I’m not linking here cause I’m lazy and will just hum it from memory :P
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Harvest Moon SNES
This game was a big part of my childhood. I played it again and got pretty far. It suffers from being a 90s game, which is especially apparent in winter sections where there is absolutely nothing to do other than feed your animals. It’s a very bare bones farming sim cause as I understand, it’s one of the first mainstream ones ever, and I love it’s simplicity like that. Trying to cover my whole farm in grass was an ambitious task [and I mean doing this with no cheats too] but I was determined. I almost got there, and married a woman and had 2 kids and it was fun, but the absolute lack of anything to do during winter and seeing that I’m barely halfway through the month on my second year was just a bit rough. I think I had more patience for this as a kid, and also I was so busy that I preferred to be boring and play sudoku in my spare time instead of harvest moon winter. This is a lovely game and very chill, and I loved dipping back in to play on the comfortable portability of my 3DS.
Town - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwe_Y8QqdP0
Summer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfK0Lg6byrw
trolls cave - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3EkT-jUNAg
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Dandy Dungeon
This was one of the best games that I played on Switch this year, and it’s one that I used to play on mobile during high school lol. Its a nice wrapped up definitive edition or something, it’s very charming and cheeky, and I like its simple premise and execution. I highly recommend playing it just because it is so simple and easy to get into, I think it’s a dungeon crawler lite but I dont really know that genre so lmao. You just go through levels, plot out a path and bash up enemies. It was a mobile game, so I mean it when I say simple, but its good fun and I recommend it. If the mobile version is still up it should be free, and I only bought it on switch because it was on sale.
demon lord - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCpmPf9S_VM
Retrograde life - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5ydIElLOHA
wonderbad battle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL1Q_XlE6pE&t=13s
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Castlevania 1987
This was the other best game I played on Switch this year, and its a NES game. I was excited seeing the Castlevania collection, as I’ve always wanted to play the early stuff, but kept forgetting to go find ways to play. Yeah yeah, its a sin to buy shit like this when I don’t agree with the way Nintendo are going about whatever blah blah, but this is a neat little collection and convenient to have and now I don’t have to set up a nes emulator on my wii.
Onto the actual game, I played for like 90 minutes and had the best time. I don’t know if I’ve really just had that shit a time with gaming this year or if I’m just a cranky boomer gamer at heart, but this was awesome. It was fun cracking the whip and the enemies looked funny, and the first boss fight I encountered was challenging in a refreshing way by being so simple (no that doesnt make sense, yes i was just glad to play a game from back in the day and enjoy it for what it was) I died entirely too much, but I was playing after christmas lunch on my sister’s tv while chilling in the corner so i couldn’t really see the tv properly and was tired, but I can’t wait to play through all these games next year. Also the music is really good, especially by NES standards. But, if you couldn’t tell already, I love these older soundfonts and am always impressed with how much depth they can convey in their little beeps and boops. Yeah, I barely played, whatever, I had fun and it was one of the highlights of my gaming year, so its going on the list.
Vampire Killer - https://youtu.be/TAz_4zHBT1M
Stalker - https://youtu.be/SMTKbZKnXzU
~Skyward Sword HDtps://youtu.be/x8-NIlObLtA
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Skyward Sword HD
Ahh Skyward Sword, what an awesome game to celebrate the 25th anniversary, I’ve got the gold wiimote and the anniversary CD - Oh wait…. This is actually the 35th anniversary. And they’ve released… the exact same thing that they did for the last decades one….. Not even a Zelda all-stars like Mario? Not even a unique little game? We’ve done this before. Skyward Sword with an anniversary remote but this time there’s no soundtrack cd that comes with it. Ok…
That particular grumble aside, this is one of my personal favourite Zeldas, despite all it’s flaws, and I was excited to see it in HD and at the potential of getting a new wave of appreciators. There are some quality of life improvements that are very much appreciated, like reduced Fi sword-splaining, and being able to look around with the camera.
I was very curious to see how the dual stick sword play would go, as I believe like the last time we saw SS released, it could be the trial run to see how a mechanic works and refine it for the next game. (think the stamina in sswii -> botw) I didnt play SSHD for long, but I did play long enough to try out this dual stick sword, and I gotta say, once you get over the learning curve, it’s pretty good. It felt nice to have incredibly precise control of the sword, and it was fun slashing through the enemies this way and took me right back to all my playthroughs on the wii. However, I found the motion controls to be ASS here on switch. I don’t know why everyone complained about the motion controls on wii, I played as a dumb kid multiple times over the years and never really had a problem with them. I’m willing to bet all the people who complained about the motion controls on wii were people who didn’t calibrate the remote like it asked you to. On Wii, I’d only have to recenter the pointer once every couple of HOURS, and by that time it was often long enough that I would be satisfied with the session and stop for the day. On Switch, it was mere MINUTES between having to recenter. In fact, often during normal enemy encounters, I’d feel like I had to recenter after defeating a single enemy. Sure, it’s handy that theres a quick button to press and it recenters… but I shouldn’t have the motion controls be worse on a supposedly superior console. I can’t say for sure if I’m just a grump about this, but when the switch was announced and everyone was fawning over the motion controls and vibration, by the time I actually got to try one out at a demo, I was largely unimpressed. Once again, I am really dissapointed by the way the motion controls were adapted here for a game that is centered around it. If by chance, you think I might be doing something wrong and there’s a way to calibrate the joycons better for optimal play, please let me know. I just feel that with my current understanding of the way both types of motion control works, I just don’t see how the motion control could work better than the wii without something like the sensor bar to guide it.
I will also say, although so far with my short time dipping my toes in, and enjoying the dual stick, this absolutely sucks ass with joycon drift. I wont say anything for certain cause I haven’t played through the whole thing yet, but although changes like being HD and camera control and less Fi ramblings are appreciated, we’ve been here before, and this is really the most bare bones of a remake/port to current gen. I love this game so so much and I think it really didnt get the chance to be appreciated for what it was, but cmon. THe motion controls were so fun back in the day and I loved most the main and side quests, the soundtrack was absolutely gorgeous and I think this zelda game makes the best use out of all its items. Like, yeah you don’t use the slingshot as much after you get other items, but you can upgrade them and keep using them, like there are multiple places to use the beetle and the whip ect, their use isnt just confined to the dungeon you find them in and the occasional secret to remind you that those items still exist. I enjoyed the dungeons and the scenery of the game was always beautiful, its exciting to see it in HD and I so desperately hoped that this would give a chance for those brilliant bits to be seen for what they were and for old fans and new enjoyers to come together on that, and it seems that botw2 has stronger references to ss so I cant wait for that to overshadow this game. But tbh, this just reminds me of every grievance I have with the switch in one beautiful game. Whadda hell.
fi’s farewell - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DAJBU4Wtqg
gate of time - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0np8WU2Znw
ballad of the goddess - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23hJeaLotEw
~~
Detroit Become Human
This is an interesting one… As it’s probably easy to guess, I love stories about robots/androids because I find them fascinating. (Blame it on Data from Star Trek and Robo from Chrono Trigger :P) I watched a playthrough with a friend in a massive binge session when it came out, and it was super fun. I know theres controversy with the creators or something, in all honesty I forgot what the deal was, but I bought this for like $4 in the bargain bin so lmao. While I wouldn't’ exactly call this a game, it is a pretty fun choose-your-own-adventure story. You follow three plotlines that are happening simultaneously, one of the special detective android, Connor - one of the caretaker who’s taken custody of a small child, Kara - and one of a different kind of carer android that eventually become robo jesus and spreads deviance in order to fight for android rights, Markus.
As I’m sure everyone knows, the Connor sections are the best; detective work and mystery solving are really captivating and I feel you get to see the best of both a concentrated pov and more at large pov of how androids are treated through his sections. His deviance is interesting, and I was glad to see an older gentleman be his partner protag instead of yet another young and generically-attractive dude lol. The way Connor bounces off Hank during investigations and seeing either a friendship begin or witness the absolute crumble of Hank’s mental state was compelling for the most part, and the chemistry between the actors really made their sections memorable.
Kara’s sections are a bit weaker, as you do have to take care of a little girl named Alice during it, however I thought there were still stand out moments, even if they felt melodramatic and strange at times. You also get the choice to gain a companion on your journey, Luther, and I think he is one of my favourite characters in the game because he has such an interesting introduction/backstory and he is still willing to selflessly help (if you go down the right path) from seeing how much Kara cares about Alice. While a lot of people may find Kara’s sections boring, I think they’re important as they showcase a much more domestic pov for the android racism thats going on and helps flesh out the worldview at large - though the reveal that happens during the Jericho arc for her is fucking dumb and I hate it, it could’ve been done better but I see what they were going for.
For me, Markus was actually the weakest of all the sections, especially as I feel he had the most potential to say more in his sections. He starts as a well off caretaker for a rich artist that has high support needs, and it’s clear that they have a close relationship like a father and son. This directly contrasts with the domestically abusive caretaker situation Kara was in that birthed her deviance, which is part of the reason why I feel Markus’ section, especially at the beginning is weaker. However, him being in a more affluent situation and living in a different bubble to other androids at large gave him a unique perspective of both human and android lives, which did make it interesting that he became a messiah of sorts and led androids to revolution. What I found really weak though, was that he just kinda. Becomes a leader without really earning it. He didn’t actually experience the full weight of android racism, so it often felt like he hadn’t earnt the leadership positions he’d been quickly thrust into which made it hard for me to follow in a narrative sense. Why were they all so quick to trust him and follow him? It felt lazy as hell lol. Especially when, as I’m playing, I’m thinking just briefly about it further than surface level to create more satisfying explanations, I wish there was a bit more refinement put into his story. As the one to lead the revolution, I wish they touched more upon android ptsd, as I feel him trying to work through the heavy emotions that come with deviance and realising how bad their situation is would’ve been both a better motivator for his protests, and a better companion plotline for Connor and Kara.
All three could’ve done with more refinement tbh, and before anyone tries to suggest that it be a much bigger focus on Connor, or even the whole game centered around him - no, that wouldn’t work lol. I love the Connor sections, but they’re actually just not strong enough to stand on their own, and part of why they are so fondly remembered is because there was more action and they felt more refined compared to Markus and Kara lol. I understand that it is incredibly difficult to commit to a huge branching story like this, but a little more time in the oven with better writers, or at least a producer or something that had a better understanding of the vision and could help keep everything tied together would’ve been awesome. Its still a decent game all these years later, but its so fucking shallow at the same time. Like imagine a more refined version of this game, one that tackles three important aspects of android life and deviancy that all converge for the climax and is more than the most shallow of allegories for racism or xenophobia. Connor’s relationship with Hank is interesting! Play up the tension between Connor trying to be genuine and work well with the jaded and often hung over detective as he battles ostracization from humans for being a freak android thats taking over their jobs and being considered a traitor to androids for working with humans to put them away. Kara’s deviancy is interesting! Play up how hard it is for her to shed android-ity in order to blend in with humans enough to keep Alice safe while they travel to try find a new life for themselves, and toeing the line between when to trust humans or androids as the social opinion during protests changes. Markus’ journey from having to run away for his own safety and having to work his way through the broken and rejected android undergrounds is interesting! Play up the aspects of how objectified androids are, how easily they’re thrown away and fucked over and explore ptsd within reject androids. Theres a really interesting scene after Markus runs away and wakes up in a garbage pit, and has to crawl through living graveyards of barely working androids and pull them apart so he can rebuild himself. I thought they were going to go somewhere with this, to show how much that affects him and how it reflects his patchwork view of android life, going from the easiest life he could possibly have to falling right into the pits of android hell. Link him more with the android religion that Connor and Hank investigate, show us how taboo it is considered for them to have built their own societies, cultures, religion, and what they’re willing to go through to stand up for their rights. I would’ve liked to see more strange protests from them as well, ones that really showcase how different they are as androids, but also highlight how similar they are to humans. I think struggling to appeal to humans while also trying to convince androids to become deviant has a lot of potential, as you see in the game the more you make controversies the more public opinion goes down which makes some mild consequences in later sections. Markus’ sections are the parts to get really gritty and uncomfortable with that! We have two other aspects covered but his in game section feels like more of a retread of what Kara is going through which is sad.
This is rambly and I do really love the concept, and theres a lot I haven't discussed, but I think i should call it here. Love the concept, wish more competent writing teams were allowed to explore this subject matter more and lean into how cool it could be, and the soundtrack is awesome actually! (even though most the bangers are from connors lol)
Now - https://youtu.be/-ODbE6OY0s8
they all look the same - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rf2Ecl7dDg
will you trust me - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAkZtKi1RLk
special mention of that one luther trailer - https://youtu.be/dDdShA6t9H4
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Another Eden
I was recommended this game by a friend about half a year ago, and tbh I only really had my interest fully piqued when the chrono cross event was announced. It was a pleasant surprise tho, I enjoyed most my time with it even though I zoomed through the main story to unlock the cross event. It may have been detrimental for me to zoom as fast as I did, but I also feel this is just a little too adjacent to the kind of games I like that I wouldn’t have enjoyed it much more than I already have if I went slower. Its a nice little jrpg-lite mobile game, it has gatcha elements that I didn't really understand and it was only until I was about halfway through chap 15 that my friend told me how to use it and I’d been brute forcing my way through the game like a normal jrpg lol. The graphics are cute, the music is mitsuda inspired, and the story was nice, even though it got really goofy near the end.
I enjoyed the beginning a lot, travelling through time to figure out what force is tearing the timeline apart and how to stop it, but it seemed to really go off the rails near the end and then the big impactful moment was kinda ‘undone’ in the after-scene to introduce the further chapters in part two of the game. To be honest, I don’t know if I’m interested in continuing further, the end was nice enough as far as I’m concerned, and when I finish the cross event I think I’ll be happy leaving it at that. I’m glad to have played it, and it was nice seeing how much chrono trigger in particular seemed to inspire this game - (I believe a significant amount of the team had worked in chronoverse or were at least huge fans, what with between Kato writing again and Mistuda doing the main theme :P) - but I feel it wasn’t quite as good at ct lol. Thats to be expected, as a mobile game and kato having done the story for cross and dreamers, but ehhhhh it was so close to scratching an itch for the kind of stories like ct, but it just didn’t hit the spot. Perhaps this is more because its mobile game, or I’m just far too in love with ct that its incomparable to other games (or maybe cause I filled my party with guys who my friend described as ‘male cleavage’) but I think I’m happy with just this little stint I did in order for the rarity that is chrono content. Definitely worth trying out for yourself, I think I actually had more fun with other quests than the main one overall, as there were a large variety of side quests and character quests that added flavour to the world. Enjoyable, but just a bit too adjacent for me to hold it in any higher esteem than this.
Moonlight Forest - https://youtu.be/20ASkSK_Jis
Main Theme - https://youtu.be/CDz2QzLCYTI
Ratle - https://youtu.be/Ti7gIv9BVnw?t=3209
#rads reviews#not tagging all of them down here but lol#hopefully its nice to read im just really salty this year jkshfkj#i am working on my resi reviews and they will be better than this lol#goty
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It’s not FOR you
Years ago, a game developer attempted to argue that their game “wasn’t for critics.” This was rebuked - in part by critics, which is perhaps a bit circular - as a ludicrous argument; one made only because the developer wanted to be immune to critique.
As I’ve been looking at the critique of systems in Pokemon Unite, I’ve been considering this argument anew.
Pokemon Unite is a MOBA - a genre focused heavily on very competitive people generally teenaged to 40s. It’s also running the Pokemon license, which is aimed at being enjoyable to all ages but has a bent in graphical design, storytelling, and marketing, that points it at ages 6-15.
Pokemon in general is in this weird place, where it’s aimed largely at the young but itself is now a property over thirty years old. This means some of those folks in their early forties were actual children when Pokemon first came out. I don’t think it’s either kind or wise for a product to demand its fan base move on from it as they age, but I do think it’s fair for a product to keep doing its own thing and if people drift away from it because they’ve changed that’s fine.
So back to that old argument of “It’s not FOR you.”
I see Youtubers complaining about poor play in their matches, and I’m like, “Have you considered that there is a high chance your fellow players are literal children?”
I see complaints about the ranked bot system. This system breaks losing streaks (usually), by discreetly (though easily caught) putting the player into a match where they are the only human involved. This is seen as condescending, a waste of time, and a muddying of the waters for the higher ranks by permitting lower-performing players to reach higher ranks just by continuing to play a lot. But again, suppose the player is an actual child. Will they spot it happening, or will they just think they did better (and also get a chance to practice their fundamentals again without getting stomped for a whole game) and get their morale back? If they do realize it’s happened will they think it’s bad - assuming they haven’t absorbed the Youtuber opinion that it is - or will they take it as intended: A chance to turn their streak around and start progressing again? And as far as the Master Rank of Pokemon Unite...SHOULD it be an elite title only held by a few? I think players used to MOBAs would say yes, pointing to poor players who’ve ground their way to championships in certain titles and then performed embarrassingly on the world stage. But, like...how many Pokemon players became Pokemon Masters? Every one of them that finished the game. Until Unite announces a big money tournament scene, their Master rank is just a marker of dedication and consistently pretty-good play, and that should be enough.
It’s both a MOBA and a Pokemon game. If you’re an adult who enjoys Unite but wishes it did some things differently, cool. It’s fine to want the games you play to cater to your desires. But it’s also fine for the developers of those games to cater more to the desires of the people they consider their intended audience. That might not be you! And in critiquing a work it’s disingenuous to treat a decision that favors the work’s intended audience over you personally as a bad artistic choice or a design flaw.
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