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arkus-rhapsode · 1 year

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Rambling about my anxieties about a potential FE4 Remake

So recently an interview with the developers of FE Engage had come out and it shed some interesting facts about the development like how it was meant for the 30th anniversary, it was being made at the same time as 3H and that the game was delayed for greater polish.

Now that might not seem at all extraordinary after all, if you were like me, the OG leaker for Engage basically said that all. But here’s the thing, not only is this behind the scenes look legitimizing more of the leaker’s insights, but that means there is an even higher potential of their claim that an FE4 remake is more believable.

Now its no secret that FE Genealogy of the Holy War is one of the most anticipated Fire Emblems to receive a remake treatment like Echoes and why wouldn’t it be? After all, its still the most popular FE in Japan and is considered to be Kaga’s magnum opus and the best of the Famicom era FE. It was also never brought over to the West legally so this’ll be FE fans chances to see it in its full glory. Hell, Im excited as all hell to see FE4 remade on modern consoles, but then I sorta stopped and began to think about it for a bit. Namely, could an FE4 remake ever live up to the hype?

Now look, any old FE getting remade should happen. Especially those never officially translated. It gives others in the fandom the chance to experience the game with modern convince and not be scared off by emulation. But just for a moment I thought what a remade FE4 would even look like.

Now Im sure anyone who played Echoes knows it is possibly one of the best produced FE’s ever. Its in game art was amazing, the sprites actually resembled people more than Awakening or Fates, fully voice acted, it was amazing. It was amazing by the standards of a 3DS. Its no secret FE has gone through a transitional period from the 3DS to the Switch. The flat 2D sprites are now 3D models and convos that took place on map painting backgrounds with character art laid onto of it, is now 3D models speaking in an open space. I think what every FE fan genuinely wants is for Fire Emblem to look the best it can on the console its on. Now Engage clearly has shown FE can look better than it ever has on switch, but it still leaves a lot to be desired. This is a console that’s 1st and 2nd parties can achieve visuals like breath of the wild, Kirby Lost World, and Xenoblade. So I don’t think its impossible to make pretty games on a switch. But FE and Insys really haven’t gone all the way to where is feels quite like its a next gen FE visually. And not to put all the blame on InSys, but I understand that even fans are split. Some will never be happy if we don’t get back to the old pixel art style and found it more visually appealing while others want to put the capabilities of FE on a home console. Any creative director is not gonna manage to appeal to both these sides and that’s honestly going to suck.

Now, this isn’t just about graphics but lets also talk about mechanics. Its no doubt that FE4 has some legendary map design, as well as the precursor to the support system we have now. But it was a clearly unbalanced FE, cavalry has always been OP but this is the game where literally cavalry is the best. The map design is also pretty different. I know GBA era fans probably are used to the concept of an FE plot unfolding on a battlefield as opposed to more chapter long encounter then story cutscene as more modern FE, but if people forget, the maps in FE4 were huge with multiple narrative events occurring in a single map. So how do translate that? Do you get rid of the huge maps and make FE4 more like modern FE and break into smaller maps with cutscene driven stories? Engage has shown a willingness to use more cinematics than ever before, would that help moments like Sigurd’s father dying or the feeling of Quan arriving only to be ambushed? Personally, I don’t think so as moments like that make FE4 so remembered. The immersive moments of in real time plot elements playing out. Once again we arrive at some where I can’t really see how you’d do this without disappointing one end of the spectrum.

And then we have the support system. I feel pretty confident in saying that an FE4 remake will use the modernized FE support system. But as we’ve seen in Echoes, just because it may use the same system, doesn’t mean it’ll be like Awakening, Fates, or 3H level deep. Echoes support system was incredibly limited despite coming off of the more robust Fates. And As I’m sure you all recall, scaling back social sim elements are never really met with positivity like FE Engage walking back things from 3H. Im sure they’ll still let you pick who you end up with Seliph, after all he isn’t locked into an ending like Sigurd or Alm, but I am unsure if we’ll get the modernized support system we are so accused to getting retrofitted into an older game.

Oh my god are they even going to do turn wheel?

Okay okay moving away from the gameplay portion, the last thing that worries the fact any remake of FE4 has to live up to a near monolithic reputation. FE4 is an FE that never made it the states and the only way to experience it forever was through emulation and a fan translation. This lack of availability that seemed to only be accessed by die hard FE fans willing to play the Famicom era games while also being told to other western fans that this is Japan’s favorite FE coupled with things that more modern fans would recognize like FE4 serving as the inspiration for a lot of 3H has essentially mythologized FE4 as “The Greatest Fire Emblem Game”. Now this is my personal opinion but FE4 isn’t my favorite FE, nor is it one I consider the best written, but it is certainly an operatic entry that goes beyond what FE had ever done up to the point with moments that deserve to be apart of FE history. And do you see what I’m getting at here? Any remake of FE4 has sky high expectations to clear. It was a meme forever that FF7 Remake was taking forever, but we all know that if it was nothing less than beyond perfect, then FF7R would never live up to the hype. FE4 is very likely going to be in that situation and Im not 100% sure InSys can deliver if that’s the case.

Now look, maybe this is all just pointless lizard brain fear. I would love nothing more than to see and FE4 that flawlessly captured the spirt of the original while looking great, playing great, and living up to the bar of social simulation. I think that’s all any fan genuinely wants out of any FE game. But it just fills me with dread knowing the near herculean task the FE development team may be tasked with, and that even more fans who have never experienced FE4 are going to now have to see how “The Best FE” holds up to modern standards.

The potential of this remake ever happening is still not set in hard stone as of the writing. So there really is no point worrying about something before it even has a chance to materialize. But I do believe that any FE4 remake will now be facing a lot of up hill battles and while I’m not using that to protect poor game design (If the game plays or looks like ass I will call it out) I do hope that people think about what an FE4 remake really does mean.

#fire emblem #rambling #fire emblem genealogy of the holy war #fe4

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kyotakumrau · 3 years

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2021.03.10 USEN STUDIO COAST 2nd session with Toshiya and Kyo

Fujieda and Takabayashi again came on stage when the tables were ready and after greeting everyone and introducing themselves F asked fans to give band members a loud applause👏

Toshiya and Kyo came back and they both changed for the second session!

Unconfirmed until DIRT announcement, but most likely T was wearing DIRT items: light grey cardigan and black and white floral print set, top and bottom, with a thick white stripe with black frame on the sides. Plus sunglasses.

Kyo was wearing Madaraningen, MANG white shirt with the tie and black slacks, white socks with colorful accent, gold choice of Madara jewellery. And big glasses.

They sat in the same order as for the 1st session.→F K T Ta

T: I'm Toshiya, yoroshiku onegaishimasu

K: I'm Kyo.

The whole time during the 1st session K was turned slightly to the right, but during the 2nd session he was basically sitting facing F.

F: (after he talked about Rock-May-Kan footage) It's the first time you performed Ochita koto no aru sora. Did you have any trouble with it?

T: hm. Chorus is hard.

F: continues fast.

T: yeah. But you just practice and get used to playing it.

F: Shinya said that thanks to the rehearsal you did as the rhythm section songs he got them back quickly.

T: I see. He should be grateful😆

F: How about you, K? Any trouble?

K: don't know (he's looking to the left side of the venue)

F: you've only performed it once.

K: wah! (still intensely looking at the left wall of the venue or somewhere that direction)

F: 😱?! why are you looking there?? Can you see anything?!

K: thingy there is moving and moving...

F: whaaaaat, don't scare us like that!

K: ... (he continued to look there).

👻？😂

F: Didn't you play Jealous first time in a really long time? Wasn't it hard?

T: it wasn't a big surprise, we were planning it originally for the SOGAI tour.

F: the cancelled tour.

T: We were waiting until the last moment to see if we can go on with it or we have to cancel, so we had the proper rehearsal for the tour. So when rehearsing it for Rock-May-Kan show it didn't feel like it's been a long time.

F: K you said it was embarrassing to remember and perform it?

K made the 'robot move' from PV with a totally blank face😂

F: you also played Umbrella, so will you be playing more old songs?

K: Anything is okay except 'Toriko'. There's a drums solo in the end, it's so long and the switch to the next song gets so confusing.

T: How about we leave S and just go?

😂

Then they talked how Shinya fans and other fans would react.

K: Wouldn't fans be troubled with [he made the robot move]?

😆

F: you T don't mind old songs?

T: they're fine/no problem.

F moved the talk to the flyer and their new artist photo.

K: Auspicious/celebrating. Like New Year. And osechi.

F: I see, if using food to explain it's like osechi.

F: How was the filming of the PV?

T: Really long. But speaking of refreshing/Sawayaka, do you know the hamburger shop with that name?

F: it's in Shizuoka (F then again got very enthusiastic talking about how delicious is the meat there, how very juicy etc)

T: so PV is like that (like a juicy meat😂).

F: the single cover art is very unexpected for you.

K: I know and like this artist from before, I asked her to do it for us. I really like it.

After that was time for the merchandise topic. F announced that he confirmed that the rechargeable heat pack can also work as a charger/power bank. K who asked about it in Yokohama and was then told that no, it's just a heat pack just gave him such a look. F, you're not gonna get out of this alive😂

K: ...it'd be such a good item in winter, so it's for the next one? We don't sell it in winter, only for warm season. Wow, heat pack for the warm season...

/s by K👌💯

F started to enthusiastically advertise the towel saying like a muffler it can be worn on a cold day to keep you warm, and K...😂

But T was also poking so much fun at F with his reactions, 'oh I see! Wow!' 😂

T: I think we haven't had wristbands in a while.

K: what are you actually supposed to do with it?

F: you can wipe the sweat off (he gestured wiping sweat from his brow)?

K: I see. Then what about the towel then? (he also gestured using a towel with one hand and a wristband with the other at the same time [kinda like the Jealous robot move], the look he gave F and that pause when he waited for F to dare to answer, oh my, F, you're so dead🤣)

But T and Ta said that guitarists actually use it to keep sweat off their hands etc.

K: so with all of these fans are settled for the show at Tokyo Garden Theater? (F was nodding to all listed items) These and the ticket and we're good? And the train ticket? Ah no, commuter pass? What should they wear? (F: The hoodie) But then we don't sell any bottoms, should fans go without any pants? What? But we have two items to wipe sweat!

F: fans can bring the travel pouch, usb, they all fit perfectly in the bag! All good items especially if you come from outside of Tokyo.

K: and no bottoms😆

F: well, they need extra money for the ticket and their own bottoms.💦

F also advertised venue limited edition of Ochita.

K: so there are no plans for normal sale? When it gets sold out that's it?

F: yeah.

(it's contradictory with Kaoru's tweet, not sure if I trust F😂)

After that we moved to the section with questions from fans. F as usual split the papers so everyone got some, K this time didn't even read them, just putting them in F's pile😂 but then he was leaning over all the time trying to read what F was looking at😁

F said there many questions about where T stands on the seat choice.

T: on shinkansen I prefer window, on the airplane aisle.

F: why?

T: if I need to stand up to go to toilet etc it's easier.

F: but on the train you prefer a nice view, I see. Shinya said he prefers window seat any time.

T: He's a kid.

F then told her about the rest of the seat preference story (table down idea and S not needing to stand up at all).

F: "are you okay with the pineapple in a sweet and sour pork? Is there any food you're not okay with?"

K: I don't mind. I don't like milk and coriander. But there's something, not exactly food, that I totally hate. You know when you go to a shushi restaurant, conveyor belt sushi, there's alcohol to clean your hands. (K then said if there's a perfume like smell in it you can't enjoy food or something like that).

K (looking at the venue wall calmly): oh it moved.

F: WHAT??!😱

😂

T: I don't mind the pineapple, it's actually very good to help make meat more tender

F: Is there any food you hate, T?

T: The food F doesn't like.

(does it exist??😂)

K: F, you have to understand pineapple's feelings.

K: I thought you F would get pineapple's feelings.

F: I'll try to step in pineapple's shoes...

K: Pineapple is often disliked, but it's being helpful...

K tried to sway F a bit more into becoming a pineapple...

Ta: I'm ok with it, pineapple's feelings are safe.

T: "please tell us F's one good point and one thing you would like him to improve". F is so popular.

F: Not at all😅

K: despite the pineapple...

F: so, T?

T: He can appreciate food/has good appetite, is energetic. Something to fix is that he answers everything with そうっすね/yeahsure

F: K said something similar.

T: About Tooru (he used Takabayashi's given name), he's very good at laying groundwork for projects. Something to improve... well, when I think of something I'll let you know (to Ta).

Ta: Anytime.

K: Ta's good point, he does his job in a matter of fact manner. He doesn't exactly has something to fix, but he can't eat cheese, so fe when we go abroad he can't have pizza.

K: there are so many things F should fix.

F: That ﾊｲﾊｲﾊｲ・yeahyeahyeah

K: ...🙃 just answer with one proper はい

K also complained again about F's eating manners that he opens his mouth too much when eating, sometimes also will turn his head when eating ramen like it's easier to eat (K demostrated F eating posture, arms high and head turned - a bit like Jealous robot pose😆)

F: any good points?😆

K: ...hm. You make every place comfortable. I can relax with you, I wouldn't be speaking at all if you weren't here.

Both fans and F went 'Aaaaaw😊'

Ta: "are there any electronic goods you want right now?"

K: ...hm, solar panels.

F: does that count as electronic goods?

K: isn't it electronic? I want one you can put on the roof and make your own power.

T: yeah, solar panels would be nice.

K: And you can sell electricity to power companies. It's expensive at first, but after 10 years you can start make money, also you can use it if there's an earthquake.

F: can we get it at the store?

K: Why not, you could carry it home on your back!

F: Maybe not...

K: Can I put one on you F?

F: No.

K: then tattoo the giraffe on you, one long giraffe stretching from neck to knees.

F: You like giraffes.

K: Yes (noded)

K got so excited about the giraffe, F won't hear the emd of this idea😂

F: " do you have a favorite female idol or singer?"

K: This morning I was listening to Togawa Jun, レーダーマン.

F: you T?

T: No one in particular. But ones from the past.

F: like globe?

T: isn't it wrong age?

K: globe is the band with Sam?

F: I think that's TRF, in globe it's Mark Panther and Komuro Tetsuya.

F: "how about favorite artist or band you like?" Or just music you like.

K: I'm listening now to Sekiri (赤痢), an old female band.

F: foreign band?

K: From Japan, with 3 female members.

T: I just use shuffle, listen to music without choosing who to listen to.

F: It's a streaming age now.

T: Is it?😆

F: Ok we still have plenty of time, "what's your shoe size?"

K: 24.5, for sports shoes 25.5.

T: 27, for sports I go bigger, maybe 28 or 29. Boots are better just right. But why do you need such information?😅

F: Usually fans can't ask such things, like do you pull your hoodie strings? (?)

K: I don't.

T: it depends on my mood.

F: ok, not much time left now, we will finish soon.

T: but you just said we have plenty??😆

Ta: "what your favorite album/single cover art?"

T: to pick just one is tough.

Ta: S said that Oboro is in his top 5 now.

T: Favorite cover... hm... what is it, I know, MISSA!😆

F: it's cool, it has members photo.

T: it does?😂

K: For me its DUM. It really captured album's worldview.

F (unsure): are you angry?

K: S answered that Oboro is in his top 5 to the question what's your favorite? Why?😑

F explained the situation, that it wasn't to the same question, K just replied 'I see'.

And then when F just wanted to finish K said they should do all of the leftover questions, but without thinking too long, very rapid q&a

(and absolute nightmare to write down but so SO entertaining🤣 sorry I'm not sure about all the questions it was TOO FAST)

K: hurry up!

F: (something about some time in their life)

K: now, next.

F: what about T?

K just rushed him😆

F: food you want to eat now.

K: choboyaki

F: T, a fragrance you like (?)

T: Aroma.

F: sakura season will start soon, do you have favorite spot?

K: when is soon supposed to be?

F: T, is there something you want now?

T: No.

F: K, do you color your hair by yourself?

K: Yes, next.

F: Bread or rice?

T: Both.

F: what do you buy in convenience store?

K: sweets

F: what do you do first after waking up?

T: open eyes.

D: which convenience store do you like best?

K: Convenience store.

F: do you eat skin on the chicken?

T: I like the skin best.

F: (how do you deal with stress??)

K: stress.

F: T, do you sleep naked or wear pajama to bed?

T: Pajama.

F: (something about Oboro photo shoot???)

K did the robot move in reply😆

F: which style of clothes you like when shopping?

T: simple.

F: To finish, what's your favourite obento side dish?

K (gave F disbelieving look): You want to finish with this?

F: We asked others tok, everyone had different preferences.

K: what were other members answers?

F: for Kaoru green beans or asparagus, for S hamburger, Die... we talked yesterday, but what was it?

K (seriously): I like unagi.

(marinated eel is delicious, but also very expensive, so definitely not a side😅)

F: it's delicious.

K: It is.

T: is this really needed? Don't have one, just nothing that makes food soggy... Ah, but you know when you have a pickled plum on your rice, you move it and there's this pink spot with plum flavor? I like that!

Then it was really the end and time for the last comments.

Kyo: I don't have anything.

F: By this you surely mean you're looking forward to seeing everyone in May...

K (killer face): ...💢

Toshiya: Thank you for coming today. We are having a concert in Tokyo Garden Theater on May 6th, please come if you want to. Thank you.

#dir en grey #kyo #京 #toshiya #爆音会 #目黒鹿鳴館gig #talk event #attempt at live report

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juleswritesthis · 3 years

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Roswell NM 3x11 Thoughts (I have a lot of thoughts!!!)

Contrary to popular opinion I really liked this episode. Yes, the science was so made up it was funny, yes certain character choices are hilariously silly, yes there was a lot of scenes filled with exposition dump, yes characters disappearing for episodes not to be mentioned as if they don’t exist is jarring & annoying, and omg yes, the Wyatt arc (if you can call it that) fell flat and was a complete waste of valuable screen time. So yes, I agree with most everyone’s assessment. That said still a very enjoyable and entertaining episode setting up the final concluding 2 hours of the season. Let’s get into it.

Jones is highly entertaining, overly good looking, and sometimes hilarious villain. Nathan shines bringing charm and depth to the role. Its important to note that Jones hasn’t caused any lasting damage to the group. Sure, he has tried to kill various members, he’s responsible for putting Maria in a coma & has kidnapped half the cast basically, kept our heroes busy all season. But when it comes to killing or destruction it’s really been focused on the dregs or racist folks of the town, the poor scientist in Santa Fe (I think it was Santa Fe) & the lady at the university last week. No one of any real consequence to our heroes. Now I have no idea if Maria’s vision arc has concluded because it hasn’t been mentioned in forever, but I’m assuming that there will be a major death by season end. Noah killed Rosa and the 2 other girls, abused Isobel for 10 years and destroyed the lives of all the mains. For Jones to be a real big bad there’s got to be some long-lasting consequences to one or more of our mains. Though I’m going into the final 2 episodes with excitement there is some concern. I don’t think any of the mains will perish but I do worry about Sanders and even Heath. (I’m really worried about Sanders y’all especially after that promo!!!)

Jones negotiation with Liz was bizarre. Why negotiate at all? Wouldn’t he just threaten to kill or maim people…what the heck is Liz’s bargaining chip against an all-powerful, evil dictator? If she doesn’t do what he wants he can just start killing folks she loves. It really is that easy. I get the whole creativity inspiration thing but fear for those you love is a great motivator. I was so amused that after hours of discussion Liz pulls out the big guns… free the sheriff. Was that her wild card? Really Liz? She may be a kick-ass scientist with a boatload of courage and sass, but I wouldn’t have her negotiating any of my needs anytime soon.

Isobel and Rosa scenes continue to delight. I think it’s clear Rosa won’t be in Season 4 much. As much as I will miss her, I’m glad that she will find some peace and joy at art school, she deserves it. Unlike Wyatt who does not deserve any tranquility because his redemption (if you can call it that) was not earned. Instead, his memories were wiped along with it any true feelings of guilt and remorse. How can we believe he has truly changed? What happens if his memories return? So silly and completely wasteful screen time (no offense to the actor who is quite good and likable).

The Dallas and Max scenes were wonderful. Don’t get me wrong I prefer the show not tell method. And Dallas conveniently having the entire Oasis history in a memory from his father then regurgitating those memories to Max (and the audience) was not the best way to convey the story. However, the actor who plays Dallas is ridiculously charismatic and I could listen to him recite the phone book (do those still exist?) and be entertained. Plus, for one moment I truly believe that Dallas had gotten through to the constantly self-sacrificing, martyr that is Max Evans. But as the promo for finale proves with Max asking Michael (why Michael?) to kill him, the words didn’t stick. Oh Max…

Speaking of, I truly feel so bad for Max. He’s had it rough. In a span of couple weeks, he’s been told he is a clone of an evil dictator, he isn’t the Savior but in fact a weapon to bring down the real Savior who also isn’t really a savior but a genocidal maniac (Michael’s words not mine) who slaughtered half his planet. Not to mention the “there has to be 3” doesn’t include him, as he isn’t part of the triad. And that because he is a clone, he doesn’t actually have biological parents or siblings or anything, well Michael, by DNA sort of, maybe? Oh, and he is the only thing tethering the evil, psycho dictator to life. I mean…

My hope for Season 4 is that Max gets to process everything he has learned about his existence. He hasn’t expressed how he feels the entire season and he deserves to. I hope the writers don’t have him get over it by season’s end with one scene or worse just sweep it under the rug. Like being a clone of an evil psycho, to be used as a weapon, without any real connection to Isobel and Michael? That’s got to have some lasting effects…please writers let me see it on my screen.

Speaking of show not telling, Michael’s new powers. I not a fan of Michael telling us a story of how he used his mind control powers accidently when he was 18. Can we please see these scenes so we can feel the true emotional impact?

As for these powers, strap in, this is a doozy (and might be controversial). I, like Michael, feel that taking someone’s free will, no matter who they are is not a good power to have; it’s not fun, it’s not cool. Michael is right that’s some dark shit and a power that needs to be used very sparingly and with a ton of responsibility.

I loved the scene between Sanders and Michael, but I have a couple issues with some of the dialogue. Sanders is the only living person (other than Jones) that knew and loved Nora. Thus, he can speak about her with authority. He is also the only person who is any kind of real parent figure in Michael’s. Thus, him saying Michael has no darkness can be believed. He knows Michael and he knows Nora. However, Sanders doesn’t know what its like to have powers, especially an immense power such as mind control. Though I appreciate Sanders’ perspective (and agree with him about the purity of Michael’s soul) I wasn’t a big fan of him brushing away Michael’s fears about having mind control powers and not wanting to use them. Yes, it’s important for Michael to recognize just because he has Jones’ power doesn’t mean he is or will ever become Jones. It’s not the powers that make a person. But the line about Nora not fearing her powers was not helpful. Nora’s powers were telekinesis, engineering (if genius is a power) and possibly miraculous crop growth. None of these powers take away a person’s ability to control their actions (well telekinesis to a certain point but in nowhere near actual mind control). So of course, Nora didn’t fear her powers.

I wish someone had validated Michael’s fears instead of brushing them away with a few words of you have no darkness or in Isobel’s case you aren’t like Jones/Noah. A person does not have to be evil or bad to misuse a power like mind control & for that misuse to have dire consequences. Can you imagine being able to make people do what you want them to do at any time? Even if your intent is to do good, it doesn’t mean it’s something that should be done or won’t have major consequences. Sort of like the ends justify means conversation between Jones and Liz. What is the line, do you recognize it and what’s to stop a person from inches towards the line and what happens if you cross it?

So, my wish for next season is for Michael like Max is given time to process what he has learned about himself and his powers. My wish is for Michael is to continue to struggle with when, how and if he should use the mind control power. That way even when faced with a racist sheriff that is holding a gun to his friends, he is careful, asks for consent and never takes advantage of this tremendous power. In addition, I do think it would be very interesting to continue to explore these powers and how they maybe could change a person? Take Max’s power to give and take away life force. He killed Noah and used that life force (and his own) to bring Rosa to back to life. Seems like a good exchange but ethically and morally having a person decide who lives or dies? And how would this all fit into religion with Dallas being a priest? These could make for some great conversations and strong character development. Fingers crossed we see some of it and not just get told in passing.

The music in the episode was amazing. The beginning with Nothing Else Matters and Jones is a tux… I mean… Also, the ending with the fight sequence, building the suspense, only for the reveal to be that Jones had wanted them all to come so he could trap Liz, Dallas, and Max along with Isobel and Michael (for extra leverage) in his mind. I’m confused about why everyone was sitting but Michael was standing? Is he able to move or is he able to resist his father’s mind control? I’m really looking forward to next week and for Team Human to come to the rescue (maybe).

Favorite lines of the episode:

Sanders to Michael: “You are just a pair of sad puppy dog eyes and a cowboy hat”

Jones to Team Alien & Liz: “Well, everyone seems a little tense” (LOL I love Jones!)

Dallas (or Isobel) writing on the wall to Jones: “KNOCK, KNOCK”

#roswell new mexico #michael guerin #liz ortecho #max evans #isobel evans #Dallas #Roswell season 3 #Roswell nm #walt sanders #rosa ortecho #my thoughts

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gra-sonas · 3 years

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Hey! I hate to ask this, you already do so much for us! But would you mind just a tiny recap of Vlamis’ live from last night? You don’t have to go into a ton of detail or anything, I just saw that it was a half hour long. I have a weird anxiety thing that keeps me from watching lives and stories for the most. Still haven’t even been able to work myself up to watching the vlamburn one as much as I’d love to! 🙁

Either way, thank you for everything!

Okay, nonnie. I went and watched the whole thing again and wrote you a detailed account of what’s been said. I’ll link the live again, then you can watch here if you want to. Or not. Up to you. 🤗 Hope this helps. 💕

youtube

Brushing his teeth and flossing for 3 minutes while talking.

800 new follower lately “where have you been before?”

“Do you do anything to your hair at night?” He adds Moroccan hair oil in the morning, nothing at night.

“What’s your favorite of the drop?” He hasn’t seen everything from the drop (like the COSMIC tie-dye) bc he’s in Santa Fe. He loves the COSMIC and MALEX embroidered things (“so subtle”) bc they are in Vlamburn’s handwriting, he loves the Manesqueeze shirt bc you can make Alex and Michael kiss by putting your wrists together. He *loves* the candle (there’s one burning on his bedside table), the silky PJs are great, but he can’t decide on just one favorite thing.

“How’s Jesa’s sanity?” She needs like 3 weeks of sleep. He explains, that while we *are* the Vlambase, the Vlambase merch company’s just Jesa and Vlamis. Jesa has a team, but all the day-to-day things, ideas, emails/customer service (Jesa), the newsletter (Vlamis). They hadn’t collaborated with anyone before Tyler, so working with him was a new experience.

One fan mentions how they wanted to buy stuff but couldn’t. Vlamis says that he’s been there, and when he wanted something in the past he couldn’t afford, he started putting away a Dollar a day.

“Thought on One Direction?” Vlamis is a Harry Styles guy. “Harry Styles’ swagger is next level!”

“What do you think about Russia? Will Vlambase merch be available here?” Talks a bit about how annoying things are with shipping companies, says they wanted to protect themselves for the holidays, and now that the Christmas rush is over, some shipping options have become available again.

“Who came up with MANESQUEEZE” He ponders about it, and settles on Jesa. It was Vlamis’s ides to put tiny Alex and tiny Michael on the sleeves so that they can kiss tho. And Tyler came up with the idea to put a “toupee” on his head (in a previous drop, the NEVER LOOK AWAY design had tiny Alex and tiny Michael on the sleeves, but poor Alex was bald) for the design.

Someone got a MALEX pin and the candle. He knows the pin sold out fast, and he feels bad about that. They want everyone to get everything they want, but it’s difficult to make proper calculations how well an item will sell. The pandemic made things even harder. Like the PJ sets. Normally, they would wait until the sale ends and see how many sets were actually ordered, but during the pandemic, stock listings have been changing dramatically from day to day, so they had to pre-order the PJs and robes to make sure they had a certain number at their disposal. He said that they “overshot” on a couple of things, but ultimately sales have been great, and he appreciates that.

“I’m excited to make the MANESQUEEZE doodles kiss bc I do that with the NEVER LOOK AWAY shirt” Vlamis jumps up and shows his closet that’s full of Vlambase merch items.

“Why am I here, it’s almost 3am” He mentions that he’s been staying up until 4 in the past couple of days, but he has to be on set in 7 or 8 hours.

“Hello, just wanted to let you know that I got a tattoo for you” Vlamis asks for a photo and to be tagged.

“Kyle the packer [Vlamis’s roomie KA, who works in the warehouse when a new drop is ready for shipping]” Vlamis says they’re working him to death.

“Please save this live” He doesn’t know whether he’ll save it. Thinks the one with Tyler was important, but since it’s just him, he doesn’t think it’s important.

“I followed Jesa, Jesa is the real MVP” Vlamis says that Jesa is “a beast, and best in the game”. Quickly explains who Jesa is, and that she’s his partner in the Vlambase merch company. He mentions that she recently called him with an idea for Valentine’s Day, and he was like “Jesa, we need to relax!” But she loved the idea. She’s a big fan of RNM and the characters (and Tyler). “Jesa’s amazing.”

“What about new Soli art [Soli’s the artist who created the Boys Will Be Boys art for a previous drop]?” Vlamis smiles. “What about new Soli art. I like that idea. 😏“

“Your house [in New Mexico] is so cute.” Vlamis says thank you and shows the ceiling of the house (which he likes best). “Santa Fe is dope!”

“I adore your teeth” *shows his teeth* Says he had to wear braces (some even adjustable)

“I could’ve used my birthday money to buy something but I forgot” 🤨 << Vlamis’s face. “How you you forget, man?”

“Back to Twitter after this live” He mentions that he’d just been on Twitter before the live.

He got retweeted by Mountain Dew and loves it.

“I’m from Australia and hope my merch arrives before winter” Vlamis says he hopes shipping will be fast.

“Love the Valentines” They’re not actually Valentines, hence they’re “Love Notes”. Vlamis considers doing them not just around Valentine’s Day.

“You catch any of the CW shows returning this month?” “Might have to” But he knows what he’ll be catching on the 12th. “Prodigal Son, baby!”

“Where did you get the Game Boys?” Those are his Game Boys. He has a Game Boy Advanced and a Game Boy Color.

“How do you feel about Forlex?” *scoffs* 😒 “Yeah”

“So excited for the robe!” Vlamis gets excited. “The robes and the PJs are so comfy!” Talks about how it’s a bit weird, bc they don’t make them themselves.

Several people mention that their closet looks like his closet bc of all the merch and he loves that.

“How do you feel about Forlex” *gets agitated* “Why are you asking me this? Don’t do that to me, alright?” *softer* “Don’t do that.”

“How are you doing?” He’s doing very well. Very relieved that eh sale went well. This drop was like 3-4 months of work, the night before the sale felt like an entire month, too. Jesa and Vlamis Facetimed for more than 5hrs. They set up the website, and that’s how the glitch with the GIVE ME MALEX OR GIVE ME DEATH shirts and poster happened. They made a mistake and only noticed after the website went live.

“Do you know when S3 will air?” No, he thought it might’ve been sooner, but apparently not.

“I love your poetry from the last drop so why no poems this time?” He writes poems when he’s inspired, he hasn’t written a poem in a while. He’s currently preparing to direct his first movie in June 2021, and he’s been very focused on that.

“The Meet & Greet day changed.” Filming schedule changed bc they had snow, the schedule’s changing constantly. He’ll be set all day tomorrow (well, today, Jan 11) from 8am until 8 or 9pm. Sometimes they might even wake up in the morning and learn that the schedule’s been changed.

“You could talk about nothing and we’d still watch.” He doesn’t want to talk about nothing, wonders if anyone has any questions about the sale.

“I’m so excited about the robe. I was going to buy more but I’m broke.” He says we should be responsible.

Someone’s still waiting about their Black Friday stuff, but he says it’s the shipping company, not them.

“Vlamentines" He *loves* that, thinks it’s a good pun.

“Gotta support Aurora.” Always. 🥰

“Jealous Guerin in S3?” You’ll see, you’ll see.

“I placed 3 orders, last one last night. Give me Malex or give me death.” He loves it. He also mentions, that they’re working hard on figuring out how to combine orders in the future so people don’t have to pay for shipping several times. They just can’t do that logistically at the moment.

“Real talk, how often do you check your DMs?” He says, that some people might’ve noticed that he occasionally likes random photos on people’s IG pages. When that happens, it’s a sign that he read someone’s DM. He feels bad when he checks his mentions with a delay, and people’s stories have already vanished after 24hours. He sometimes doesn’t get to checking DMs for a week.

“Will we ever get the original pic of the kiss recreation?” *smiles* *waggles his eyebrows* “Maybe in the morning”

“So happy the Trevor Project was chosen for this merch drop!” He’s very happy, too. According to him, it was a no-brainer. Tyler’s worked with them in the past, so it made even more sense. They wanted to make sure that Tyler felt very strongly about wherever they’d be donating.

People urge him to go to sleep. “You want me to go to bed?”

“Why is your merch not available in India?” *deep breath* “It should be, it’s ridiculous. Unbelievable.”

“Your poetry was awesome.” He appreciates the praise and promises to write some more poetry.

Someone asks whether the movie he’ll be directing in June will be a comedy, but he says it’s the opposite. He’s mentioned in the past that Aurora and him will both act in the movie, but apparently he forgot about that. He doesn’t want to jinx the movie and doesn’t know how much he should reveal just yet. Talks a bit about 5 Years Apart.

Someone mentions that it’s Jeanine’s birthday on January 14th.

“Do (or don?) a face mask, Vlamis.” He refuses. Mentions his friend and roommate Spencer Waldner, who makes face masks.

“If there’s leftover merch, will you do another sale?” He says that most things are actually sold out bc they use Blank Clo’s blanks and will only make what’s been ordered. They might try to restock some pins tho, bc they went so quickly.

“USPS are a joke” He defends them. “They’re a public service, they’re trying hard, guys.”

“You should do a Vlambase drop with the Real Vlamis [a.k.a. Jeanie]” He’s excited and thinks it’s a good idea and asks if anyone’d be interested.

Someone congratulates him on directing his first movie. He points out that he’s directed before (Making It, a 3-part web series, it’s on YouTube).

“Would you ever come to Australia Comic Con?” He’d love to. Mentions that he’s supposed to be in Paris in May for a convention, but he’s not sure whether that’s gonna happen considering how things are currently going with the pandemic.

Some more talk about 5 Years Apart.

Circles back to doing a merch drop with Jeanine. People like the idea.

“Please save this live.” After an IG update, things have changed and he doesn’t know how to do it. In the past he had the option to save it [for 24hrs], now he can only upload it to IGTV.

“$30 shipping to Australia hurts my soul but I did it anyway.” He appreciates that and mentions, that he lived in Australia for 6 months in the past.

“Sing some Bright Eyes” He thinks his singing would hurt people’s ears.

Jesa Joy pops up in the chat and urges him to go to bed.

“Jesa is yelling at you.” Vlamis says that Jesa’s a “yeller”, and that she has a tattoo that says “Don’t yell tho”. He admits that Jesa often yells for a good reason. “I need to be yelled at sometimes.”

Someone asks him to accept a request to join his live. He says he’s pretty tired.

He says hello to someone from Germany (not me btw :P) “What’s up, Germany ✌️”

More people ask him to sing, but he says he cannot sing. He says it’s not like a joke or him being modest, he straight up can’t sing and is a horrible singer.

“Will there be a sequel to 5 Years Apart?” Maybe a sequel called “10 Years Apart” (he’s joking and visibly tired)

“Should I buy anything before the sale ends?” Yes.

Jesa Joy’s from Michigan, and Vlamis’s grandma’s from Middlesborough, Kentucky.

“Is Tyler singing again?” He doesn’t know. “I hope so. Love that kid’s voice” (Tyler’s 3.5 years older than Vlamis :P)

He’s getting sleepy and will read a little bit before bed. Considers drinking some Mountain Dew.

“Do you take design ideas.” Sure. Sometimes he sees design ideas from people they’ve been working on for months, but he’s gonna “steal” an idea from someone, he’ll tell them. He’ll steal it, though.

“Are you still reading SAGA?” He read the first one and is half-way through the second. He’s currently reading a book called “My First Movie” by Stephen Lowenstein. “How cliché.” Aurora got it for him.

Purple Skittles are his favorite. Purple everything.

“Your girlfriend’s the best girlfriend.” She is, she really is.

Asks Jesa Joy whether he should go to bed now.Even though it’s late, he’s hungry. Considers eating something. People tell him to go to bed.

He asks “Should I get naked and put on the PJs?” *waggles eyebrows* “I’M KIDDING, YOU’RE SICK. YOU’RE ALL DISGUSTING.” xD

“Don’t eat!” He laughs.

Says goodbye and says that Jesa’s posted a surprise picture.

“Any advice for aspiring actors?” Tells them to make their own stuff bc no one’s gonna hire them. (He’s being sarcastic). “It’s dark, but it’s what you need to hear.”

“Okay, love you guys. Thank you again! It was our best sale yet. Means a lot to me. Means a lot to Tyler. Us doing so well might mean that Tyler will work with us again. So I really appreciate it. Okay, I love you all.”

Jesa promises to post the pic in 4 minutes. He’s excited. “See, I got her to do it! The picture is kind of ridiculous.”

*pretends to take off his shirt, stops halfway through* “Noooooo, noooooo, noooooo!”

*throws kiss* “Love you guys, good night.”

#michael vlamis #vlambase #mgv ig #mgv interviews #nonnie asks

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whenrockwasyoung19 · 4 years

Text

It’s Time to Talk about a Bespectacled Elephant in the Room

I’ve been in the Beatles fandom for 8 and a half years. I have had a Beatles blog for the entirety of those 8 and a half years, and I have watched as discourse about these four men evolve. The discourse inside and outside the fandom has become so toxic that I don’t think I can engage with it in the same way that I could before. Let me explain.

When I entered this fandom 8 and a half years ago, it was in 2012, quite an infamous year in tumblr history. That was the pique of “”cringey”” fandom culture. The Beatles fandom was as steeped in fandom culture as any other fandom. I know this because I was part of two of the top of fandoms at the time, Doctor Who and Sherlock. Believe me, I have seen cringe.

The fandom at the time was totally aware of the John, Paul, George, and Ringo’s flaws as individuals, but most fans tended to simply enjoy Beatles fandom as if it were the 60s. Some might call it ignorant bliss. If you asked me at the time, I’d have said it was self-aware ignorant bliss--if that even makes sense. At the time, there wasn’t a person with a Beatles icon who hadn’t heard the line “John Lennon beat his wife.” Everyone knew it, but everyone also knew the real story, and so everyone just made peace with it. As a result, people didn’t think about every bad thing the Beatles ever did on a daily basis. It was more like a once-a-month kind of thing. Otherwise, fandom discourse was quite fun and relaxed. There were no shipping wars, no one fought over who was the best Beatle, everyone gushed over the Beatles wives, and we all just had fun with fics and fan art.

Of course, in this period, people engaged in conversations about one bespectacled Beatles problematic behavior. These conversations usually came from outside of the fandom. It was usually randos coming into the tags or into someone’s ask box and ranting about John Lennon’s violent behavior. Some of it came from within the fandom. Some people really didn’t like John and gave others shit if they listed John as their favorite Beatle. A lot of the discourse boiled down to: ‘hey, I see you like John Lennon. You should know that he beat his wife. And now that you know that, you should feel bad about ever liking him in the first place.’ And the response was often, ‘Actually, John Lennon didn’t beat his wife. They weren’t even married at the time. And also he didn’t beat her, he slapped her once in the face, and then never did it again.’ No one’s minds were changed. The fans had made their peace, and the antis came off as cynical and pretentious.

When Dashcon happened, and Tumblr took a hard look at its cringey fandom culture, the Beatles fandom evolved as well. The fandom became, frankly, less fun. It no longer felt like a group of people who found the Beatles decades after the 60s and were fangirling like it was 1965. There was still some of that left, but a lot of it kind of faded. So, most fandom interactions were reblogging pictures of the Beatles from the 60s and various interview clips and quotes. But the barrage of antis never really went away, and the response didn’t evolve.

Then, the advent of cancel culture came on. I always waited for the Beatles to get, like, officially canceled, but I also felt they were uncancel-able at the same time. Let me explain. I have been a Beatles fan primarily in an online space, rarely engaging with fans in real life. But I have met fans who are life-long Beatles fans, people who are a lot older than us and who’s fandom isn’t tied to the internet. They don’t give a shit about any of our discourse. They may or may not have heard it before, but they seem totally indifferent to all of it. I’m sure most of them have never heard ‘Mclennon’ before. These are the people that flock to see Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr in concert (and pay astronomical prices for it). These are the people who go to record shops and buy vinyl. These are the people I run into at flea markets who buy up all the Beatles merch before I can even arrive (true story). So, the Beatles will never be canceled because there will always be people who love the Beatles and don’t engage with online discourse. Rarely said, but thank god for Gen-X.

As cancel culture took over the internet, fandoms changed. It’s not as noticeable in fandoms without problematic favs. For instance, I’m also steeped in the Tom Holland fandom, and that boy is a little angel who has done no wrong. No one has discourse about the unproblematic boy who plays an equally unproblematic character. But in fandoms with ‘problematic favs’ the mood has shifted. I’m also in the Taron Egerton fandom. Taron Egerton, for those who only follow me for my Beatles stuff, is a genuinely sweet and kind person who has had zero scandals in his six year career. There were some rumblings when he was cast as Elton John, and some people took issue with the fact that he’s a straight man playing a gay man. This discourse seemed to die quickly as a whole lot of straight people played gay people in that same year (Olivia Coleman as queer Queen Anne, Emma Stone as her queer lover, Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury). Why jump on this boy who at the time was still technically on the rise. He’s not exactly the same target as someone like Scarlett Johansson who has her pick of roles. Taron doesn’t have quite that some power in Hollywood, and I think most people made peace with the fact that this was a big role for him, and it’s not really fair to take that away from him. So, all in all, the closest thing to a scandal was something that died pretty much on arrival.

That was until this summer when everything changed. When George Floyd was murdered, celebrities flocked to social media to mourn his loss. Taron’s social media account was silent. For weeks, Taron said nothing about Black Lives Matter or Floyd’s death. This caused outrage in the fandom. Many raced to defend him, starting a hashtage #IstandwithTaron. Others sought to tear him down and anyone who supported him. The kind of mania this one incident caused tore through an otherwise peaceful fandom. What I saw was two sides in a total panic. The antis were people who once had faith that Taron was a good person and were now questioning that. Andthe defenders were people who desperately wanted him to be a good person and were afraid that he wasn’t. In essence, both sides could feel Taron about to get canceled. The defenders wanted to stop it, the antis wanted to ride that wave.

What this long drawn out Taron example is meant to convey: is that cancel culture has put fandoms on edge. One’s fav has to be perfect, otherwise it can jeopardize the existence of the entire fandom. I’ll admit, I was afraid that I’d be some kind of pariah for standing by Taron through all of this. My actions were to basically reason with the antis but still defend Taron. I defend him mostly because I felt that his silence was the result of a needed social media absence and that trying to shame him back onto social media was an invasion of privacy. But I was genuinely afraid that he would get canceled, and the fun of the Taron fandom would be lost.

In the Beatles fandom, it often feels like the Beatles, mainly John, have already been canceled. I see this coming from two different sources: antis from outside of the fandom and antis within the fandom. The outside antis are just the same as the ones from 2012. These are people who like to drop in that John Lennon beat his wife, posting this in the tag (which violates an ancient tumblr real by the way--no hate in the tags).

The antis outside the fandom speak to a larger anti-John Lennon sentiment online. I see references to John Lennon ‘beating his wife’ on Tiktok and twitter. The tone of anti-John Lennon posts has shifted. Before, it felt like the antis were being smug but also argumentative. They wanted to have a conversation about this bit of info they read on Reddit with no context. Now, “John Lennon beating his wife” is practically a meme. It’s a running joke online that John Lennon was a wife beater. I can’t look on my instagram explore page because every so often a John Lennon beats his wife meme will pop up amongst the other, normal, memes.

This change in discourse suggests that the internet has just accepted this as fact now. I should note that back in 2012, it seemed as if few people knew this fact. The fandom knew it, and these random antis knew it, but few others did. Now, because of how common these memes are, it seems to be widespread knowledge.

Consequently, the Beatles fandom, who used to ward off attacks from antis, seems to have given in. I recently saw a post from a Beatles blog (had the URL and icon and everything) that confessed they felt guilty for listening to the Beatles, and I’ve seen similar sentiments expressed in the fandom. People tend to put disclaimers in posts about John or even all four that John is an ‘awful man.’ It seems like the self-aware ignorant bliss has completely gone away. Occasionally, I still see posts joyously talking about Mclennon or reblogs of old photos from the 60s. But the culture has shifted.

Online, it no longer feels comfortable to be a Beatles fan. It feels like you have to own up to 8 decades of mistakes by four men you’ve never met. And, I should note, this is kind of how it feels to be a fan of anything right now. Taron is not canceled today, but he could be tomorrow. It’s this pervasive feeling of guilt that the person you’re supporting may or definitely has or is doing something wrong.

I’ll admit this uncomfortable feeling has expanded into other parts of my fandom life. I listen to their music, and I feel elated--the way I always have. Then, I get these intrusive thoughts which sound like all the worst parts of Twitter combined. It wasn’t always like this. Back in 2012, when I knew almost nothing about them, I saw them as four young men who were full of happiness, love for another, and talent. Back then, listening to their music was exciting and joyous. Sometimes, I fear that I can never feel that way again. Next year, when I finally go to Liverpool, will I be filled with excitement or guilt?

I say all this for a few reasons. One, I love John Lennon. I appreciate all the good he did for the world not just as a musician and an artist but also his advocacy and charity work. I love him, and a part of me will always love him, but observing the change in discourse has enlightened me as a historian. Part of my job is to observe people’s legacies, and John’s is perhaps the most interesting legacy I’ve ever observed. When he died, he was hailed as a saint. But tall poppy syndrome set in, and the antis started. This culture grew and grew to the point where it seems to, at least among the younger generation, taken over the sainthood.

But as a historian and a fan, I have never seen the saint or the devil. I’ve only seen the man, the incredibly flawed man. The thing that these antis never understand is that John Lennon was painfully aware of his own flaws to the point where it made him all the more self-destructive. In essence, his past mistakes caused him to make additional mistakes. But John, aware of his own flaws, always tried to change and was often successful. I’ve talked about this before, but John demonstrated that he was capable of being a good person, like properly so, again and again. After he struck Cynthia, he never hit her again. His shortcomings as a father to Julian weren’t repeated with Sean. He worked on his drinking, his drug addiction, and his anger, trying to overcome those demons till the day he died. By all accounts, the John Lennon that died in 1980 is not the John Lennon who struck Cynthia Powell at school. That John Lennon was living a cleaner, healthier life. He was a better father to both his sons by that point, and was trying to repair his relationship with Julian. He was a good husband to Yoko and saw himself living a long and happy life.

John Lennon cannot and should not be boiled down to just his flaws. It’s one thing as a fan to acknowledge that John is a flawed human being (news flash: they all are), but he is also much bigger than that.

So once again, why am I writing this long, rambling post, once again talking about John Lennon’s virtues? Because if I can’t engage with healthy discourse about the Beatles and John Lennon, then I can’t engage with discourse on the topic at all. So, I probably will post less Beatles stuff because I find it hard to go through the tags or even my dash (well, I can’t really go through my dash anymore for other reasons I’m not going to get into right now). If any of my followers have noticed a lot of Taron posts lately, it’s not just because I love Taron, it’s because Taron’s tag is pretty much the only location on tumblr I feel 100% comfortable in. Any foray into John or the Beatles tags becomes uncomfortable and guilt-ridden quickly.

So, I probably will post less about the Beatles until I can find a blog or a tag that doesn’t give me bad vibes. My fandom will likely outgrow tumblr and the internet. I have a ton of Beatles books; maybe I’ll rely on those. I am doing official scholarly research on them now. Maybe that will be my outlet. I’m sorry if I post less about them now, but it’s really for my own well-being.

#John lennon #the beatles

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bellalaloca · 3 years

Text

is the in the heights movie perfect? absolutely not, i could - and will - make an essay on all the things i wish were different because i’m a fan and i have Thoughts and Opinions, which are going under the cut

but goddamn, isn’t it such a great adaptation of a beautiful piece of musical theater! the original material is strong enough to survive some of the bad choices they did when adapting it, so it stands on its own as a movie, which is the most important aspect, and i’m so happy with how it turned out

please, go watch in the heights if you can.

and now i give y’all my thoughts on in the heights, both what i love and what i dislike about it. beware, there are spoilers.

first, let me preface this by saying in the heights is one of my favorite musicals. it’s not perfect, but the story is very dear to my heart and helped me start to love my country. i’ve watched videos of the stage production multiple times and played the original broadway cast recording enough times to know all the lyrics to every non-rap song. it’s such a FUN show that tells a vital, compelling but often-forgotten story. i see myself and others around me in every character - in usnavi’s pursuit of ‘home’ and identity, in nina’s academic failure and trying her best, vanessa’s wanting to leave her neighborhood and abusive mother, abuela claudia’s being the loving grandmother to everyone in the barrio, nina’s parents doing everything they can to support her. i have loved this show since 2012, back when we had zero hopes of it ever becoming a movie (mainly because they had already tried to make it happen, but it fell through). then hamilton happened, and we got our hopes up again. weinstein decided to do it, but the #MeToo campaign happened and he forfeited the rights to the movie after quiara - the book writer, a woman - requested that he do. i was very apprehensive that no one would pick it, but then warner bros bought the rights, they got a director and the rest is history. well, now, let’s talk about the movie itself:

the good: the PLOT, the songs, the updates to the story (namely the new undocumented immigrant plot), the actress playing vanessa, anthony ramos, the direction (breathe, alabanza and carnaval del barrio were just divine), ‘enough’ not being in the movie (it’s the worst song, in my opinion)

the bad: the girl playing nina (she can’t act and her voice is weeak), they cut the part about racism in benny’s arc, the changes they did to paciencia y fe (in the stage musical, the song is earlier and abuela claudia reveals she won the lotto and wonders what she should do, instead of the whole should i die or live? shit – so it moves the plot forward much better, in my opinion, instead of stopping it)

i kinda wish everything i know and sunrise, two cut songs, were in the movie, but they are sung by nina and the actress sooo wouldn’t have been able to carry them, specially given how emotional they are, so i’m kind of okay with them being cut. i actually LOVE LOVE LOVE nina’s arc in the play: my first contact with the show was the song ‘breathe’, which just started playing automatically after a youtube video I was watching ended and had me openly weeping even though i had no context whatsoever for it. nina was the reason i decided to explore in the heights. however, her plot just fell flat in the movie, what with the actress they chose and the cuts they did (they cut those two songs, her mother entirely and benny’s racism arc). that was the biggest sin of the movie, but it just makes her look more like a side character instead of ruining her completely.

but i do wish they hadn’t cut inútil (nina’s father’s song) and the dialogue he has with her towards the end when he explains why he’s paying for her tuition (i always cry when she asks ‘how can i repay you?’ and he replies ‘nina rosario, bachelor of arts. when that day comes, we’ll call it even). inútil is kevin’s one chance to shine and it’s a very powerful song, showing how much he wants to break the cycle of his family having poor jobs and no education.

also, lin should’ve updated some of the lyrics to make sense in their new context - like usnavi saying ‘im getting that second date’ when he already has a child with vanessa, or abuela claudia singing ‘and as i feed these birds’ in paciencia y fe while she’s in the subway instead of actually feeding birds, like in the stage production lol

#in the heights

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somedayonbroadway · 4 years

Note

wAIT I REALLY WANNA HEAR YOUR OFFICE AU IM VERY CURIOUS LOL

For more Mood Boards and AUs, click here!

Yes!!!!! Fun story, I did this one once, but I didn’t like it at all, so I’m redoing it now and I’m stoked!

The Office AU

Characters

Jack Kelly — Jim Halpert

Katherine Plumber — Pam Beesley

Spot Conlon — Dwight Schrute

Racetrack Higgins — Angela Martin

Albert DaSilva — Andy Bernard

Morris Delancey — Ryan Howard

Henry — Kelly Kapoor

Hannah — Meredith Palmer

Medda Larkin — Phyllis Vance

William Hearst — Stanley Hudson

Oscar Delancey — Oscar Martinez

Darcy — Toby Flenderson

Obadiah Weisel — Creed Bratton

Specs — Darrel Philbin

Crutchie Morris — Erin Hannon

Todd Kloppman— Michael Scott

Okay so…

Jack Kelly

A salesman at a local paper company, a job he originally sees himself as getting out of fairly quickly despite sticking around for ten years.

He’s a talented, but insecure artist, longing to go to school for art and eventually make a living off of his work

Growing up, Jack has two older brothers who are difficult to get along with as they both were jocks and loved to pick on him

Also growing up, Jack had an abusive father and a mother who walked out on him at a very young age.

Upon beginning to work at Dunder Mifflin, Jack finds himself falling for the quiet receptionist

Finding out that said receptionist is and has been engaged, he starts on the hardest waiting period of his life

Jack is the prankster of the office, choosing mostly to blow off his actual work and mess with his desk mate Sean whom he calls “Spot” just to mess with him more

This catches on until the whole office calls Sean “Spot”

Jack often gets bored as he claims that he hates his job and is looking for ways around actually doing it, especially in the beginning

He’s a huge baseball fan, though he admits he wasn’t a huge fan of playing sports even though he was on several teams in high school, as he wanted to be able to match his brothers’ accomplishments.

His sarcasm is a sort of escape from the world around him.

Does not like costumes very much

Everybody loves Jack except for Spot, who is convinced that Jack is his worst nemesis.

It takes Jack a long time to admit his feelings for Katherine, the receptionist he’s fallen in love with, and when he does, he is overall rejected, prompting him to request a job transfer

Eventually moving on, Jack ends up dating one Davey Jacobs from another branch of the company before that branch is closed and he’s moved back

He’d always been scared about being openly bisexual, but he liked Davey

Eventually, he realizes that despite liking Davey, he’s still very much in love with Katherine and breaks up with the other man, asking Katherine out on a date.

Davey eventually becomes his best friend

After asking Katherine out finally, the two end up staying together and getting married

Jack proposes at a gas station in the rain when he eventually goes away to art school for three months

Together, Jack and Katherine have two kids.

They find out they’re pregnant on accident before they are married

He often lives spontaneously, never running anything by anyone and hoping for the best

Eventually becomes one of the most trusted people within the company

Is forever devoted to Katherine

His father dies before his wedding and Jack can’t bring himself to cry and, when faced with going back into his childhood home, finds he can’t do it

Becomes protective of his friends, including his coworkers (especially Crutchie once he begins working there)

Is attacked at one point by Katherine’s ex-fiancé

Is very soft and romantic

Is often teased for being bi, especially by the “traditionalists” in his office who claim he practically has slept with everyone in the office

Brushing things off fairly easily, again using sarcasm and jokes to mask his feelings

Is slightly protective of Henry who is very young and naive and continuously goes back to a relationship that is toxic for him

Finds humor in any situation he can.

Genuinely likes to make people happy and will do a lot to make that happen

Katherine Plumber

Is shy and quiet when she starts working at Dunder Mifflin

Is often referred to as boring and solemn

Is in an endless, slightly abusive relationship that she’s convinced is meant to be for eight years, ever since high school.

Grows up as an only child with well off “normal” parents who end up divorcing each other when she and Jack are engaged

Is the “hottie” of the office and is one of the few women who work there, the youngest actually

Jack often has to subtly get people to stop harassing her

She enjoys writing and even has her own blog and publishes her own journals online. Jack reads every single one of them

Is very close with her mother and has a strained relationship with her father who does not like Jack and likes her previous fiancé better

Katherine is very meek and shy towards the beginning of her career, but often gravitated towards Jack because he brought out the humorous, adventurous side of her

Had been dating the same man since her freshman year of high school, despite him bringing his brother on their first date and abandoning her at a basketball game having forgotten about her.

Despite being engaged for three years, she often jokes that there’s no end in sight

Tries to convince herself that Jack is like her brother in the beginning to deny her own feelings for him

Jack teaches her how to fight, telling her that she’s a woman who often walks alone in New York City and she needs to have some training on her side

She comes from a rich family who she denies funds from in an attempt to be independent.

After Jack admits his feelings for her, she lets him kiss her, resulting in her calling off her wedding without explanation

Losing touch with Jack for a long few months, Katherine finds herself wanting to be more assertive, saying what she wants and making sure she gets it

Realizing she’s in love with Jack after seeing and accidentally picking up a call from him over the months he was gone, she embarks on a waiting period similar to Jack’s as Jack is in a relationship with Davey and she fears it will never end

Davey and her actually end up becoming pretty good friends, and after Jack and Davey break up, he becomes a sort of confidant and best friend to the both of them. After a while, obviously. David’s not too happy with Kath after Jack breaks up with him

During Jack’s relationship with David, Katherine ends up going back to her ex, lasting for a while before she wants to be honest with him.

She tells him about Jack’s kiss resulting in him having a hissy fit and starting a bar fight and later attacking Jack at their workplace.

Jack and Katherine start to grow closer again after this

Once they start dating, Katherine starts to break through her shell

When Jack goes away to art school she’s disappointed he didn’t propose to her but ends up accepting his proposal when meeting him halfway

She finds out she’s pregnant after twisting her ankle playing volleyball, which she’s rather good at, at a company picnic before the wedding

Jack and her run away from their own wedding when things go wrong and get married on a boat before having the wedding they planned

While going into labor, Katherine admits she’s terrified and sees herself as unfit to be a mother before Jack promises her that they’re in this together

She has two children with Jack

Her and Race have a strained relationship despite the fact that they both constantly try to be friends

While she often helps Jack on his pranks with Spot, she is kind to Spot and is one of the only people who knows about his secret relationship from the start

When Jack starts a business that takes off in Santa Fe, she and him begin to fight but eventually get over their single rough patch and end up drawing closer together

She stands up for herself and her family above all else

Spot Conlon

Is a born and raised traditionalist according to everyone else

Lives on a beat farm

Believes that there are strict rules for men and women that should be followed as he’s basically been brainwashed since he was born

Is in an on again off again relationship with a man, which he is at first ashamed of, as men were not supposed to sleep with other men

Is a purple belt in karate

Is the highest ranking salesman at Dunder Mifflin

Believes his biggest nemesis to be Jack who is constantly trying to prank him in various ways, ranging from simple and childish to well thought out and expertly orchestrated

Main goal in life is to become the manager at Dunder Mifflin despite being loyal to the current manager who’s not quite as big an idiot as Michael Scott is

Is named Assistant Regional Manager but if often referred to as Assistant to the Regional Manager

Volunteer Sheriff’s deputy for a while

Wants to be the leader of his workplace but would also do what needs to be done in order to protect his coworkers at any cost (ex: saving Jack from getting beaten to a pulp by Kath’s ex)

Is an expert paintball player

Falls in love with the head of accounting (his on again off again relationship) and is actually able to make his partner happy

Had a somewhat abusive and distant father and basically raised himself and his younger cousin Vince

Spot enjoys having control over things, making life a bit harder for the people around him as he enjoys acting as somewhat of a vigilante.

Is in a relationship with the head of accounting, Race, until he murders Race’s cat and is dumped, sending him spiraling into depression

Upon this break, Race starts dating and gets engaged to Albert DaSilva, a salesman who came back with Jack

Towards the end of that engagement, Spot wins Race back in the event of having an affair before both Spot and Albert have enough and walk away

Eventually Spot ends up in a relationship with a friend of Katherine’s named Riddle (@bexlynne’s amazing OC)

Moves from this relationship back to Race after a while and then back again until eventually realizing that Race is the only one for him and running Race off the road to propose to him.

Regards Katherine as his best friend despite her marrying his worst enemy

He loves Katherine’s kids who grow up calling him “uncle Spot” against Jack’s wishes

Learns sign language for his boyfriend

Knows German as he mostly spoke German growing up

Is fairly closed off

Will do anything to protect the people he cares about

Racetrack Higgins

The head of accounting at Dunder Mifflin

Raised in a very religious home for most of his life before being moved around in different foster homes, most of which were bad

Is mostly deaf with one hearing aid that allows him to work normally even though he often shuts the thing off to actually concentrate

Learns sign language from a teacher at his school who wants him to be able to actually communicate in a proper way that he can easily understand.

Is often cold towards people who talk down to him or talk slower so he can try to read their lips

Owns several cats

Head of the party planning committee

Craves validation

Is perceived as homophobic before his romance with Spot Conlon is found out by Katherine

Has a strained relationship with Katherine who he constantly tries to be friends with when he’s in a good mood.

Bottles up his emotions as best he can out of force of habit

Hates people who put their relationships on display as he views it as indecent

Is unapologetic

Is in an on again off again relationship with Spot Conlon who often calls him “Monkey”

After this relationship officially ends for the first time, he is asked out by Albert DaSilva

Accepting this, he finds he’s easily annoyed by Albert but likes how sweet the man can be when he tries

Eventually Race begrudgingly accepts a proposal from him, one that spoils Jack and Kath’s original plan for a proposal

Has an affair with Spot towards the end of the engagement, leaving Spot and Al to fight over him in an old fashioned duel

Jack finds Race crying in the bathroom and looks up the signs to promise he won’t tell anyone

Race connects with the receptionist that takes over for Katherine, as Crutchie also grew up in the foster system, but has a much more positive outlook on life

Race tries to protect him, much like the rest of the office

Later, after Spot’s next relationship, they end up sleeping together again only for Spot to move on eventually

Race is later hit on by a politician who eventually asks for his hand in marriage.

Race agrees, only to later find out that the man was in love with someone else and eventually get dumped and kicked out.

Oscar, whom Race has never truly gotten along with, offers to put Race up while he gets back on his feet, resulting in Race admitting to him that he’s still in love with Spot

When Spot runs him off the road to propose to him, he gets down on one knee and signs to him, making Race cry

Race and Spot adopt a son together and live on Spot’s farm

At the wedding, Jack is Spot’s best man, Katherine is Race’s

Oscar is named their son’s godfather

Race has a really hard life that he refuses to open up about, but he turns out alright in the end

If you’d like to hear about more characters or see any scenes, just let me know!

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irandrura · 4 years

Text

Third and final post: what were my other thoughts?

Let’s talk about the game’s mechanics first.

I am overall very pleased with the battle gameplay. On the battlefield itself the gameplay is more-or-less unchanged from the past, but the character advancement and customisation system is significantly improved. Moving to a single overall character level and giving every character the ability to change classes at will is a much more fluid and elegant system than in the past, and the ability to choose the specific combat arts and abilities each character takes looks like it adds a lot of depth. It’s probably appropriate for the overall ‘teacher’ theme of the game that you have much more power to mould each character’s skills and talents, but I’d like to see it in other games as well. There’s an important balance to strike: on the one hand, characters should not be infinitely malleable, and should all have their personal strengths and weaknesses. On the other, so much of the fun of the game is in developing characters and watching them grow that it’s really good to be able to specialise them.

Speaking of battle gameplay, divine pulse is great. The Fire Emblem series has always struggled a bit with accessibility, and while casual mode definitely made the series easier, it also felt to me like missing the point. Casual mode is too easy, and by removing any risk of permanent death, it felt like it removed a lot of the game’s tension. Divine pulse is a much better way to make the gameplay a bit easier and less frustrating while still keeping the same feel as classic FE gameplay. It gives you just enough room to survive a lucky enemy crit, or a small misjudgement on your part, without totally removing the need to be careful. I approve. That said, I did feel that by late-game you probably had access to too many pulses and it removed the need to conserve them. With a dozen pulses, there isn’t much risk any more, whereas if it stayed capped around three to five, each individual pulse might have felt more precious.

(Apparently Mila’s Turnwheel in Shadows of Valentia actually did the mechanic first, and I totally forgot about it. Oh dear…)

Other gameplay innovations were more hit-and-miss, for me. Battalions were fine, but I don’t think I would have missed them if they weren’t there. They helped make the battlefield seem busier and more populated, but they don’t seem to have had a massive impact on the game. Similarly, monsters were mostly fine (Cindered Shadows boss notwithstanding), but again, I don’t think I’d mind very much if they didn’t come back. They rarely actually felt like the most dangerous enemies on the battlefield, and just required a slightly different strategy, and… well, maybe it’s just me, but it feels weird for FE to have boss monsters like that. I suppose arguably it’s been a tension in the series going all the way back to the original game? Marth was supposed to fight monstrous dragons, but his entire game was about enemy soldiers, and dragons didn’t stand out as the terrifying beasts they ought to have been. Still, I’m not sure I’m sold on them here.

When I started playing I complained that exploring the monastery was tedious. You can get into a routine later on, but for the most part, I did think it could have been streamlined more. Having lunch with students or going for special training or browsing the marketplace are all fun things to do, but a bit less sprinting all over the map to talk to everyone and return lost items would have been appreciated. The lost item mechanic in particular feels like busywork. A bit of exploring is nice, but only as long as it doesn’t get tedious. It might have been lovely to explore other locations as well – Enbarr, Fhirdiad, the army camp outside Gronder, etc. – but I can understand that the amount of work required would not be practical.

Speaking of tedium, though… I really could have done with a few more maps. Maybe this is my fault for constantly choosing battles, but I found myself replaying the same forest, plains, beach, or volcano map too many times for comfort.

I might also have liked for crests to be a bit more mechanically impactful, given their important to the world and the plot. I regularly forgot which of my units have crests, and what any of the crests do, since most of them have so little effect as to not matter. The only one I did usually remember was Felix’s Crest of Fraldarius, and that was mainly because it makes him do more damage and sometimes made him kill people I’d hoped to leave on one or two HP. I don’t think crests should have been overpowering, but a little more power would still have been nice. It should not have been so easy to forget that they exist.

Similarly, by the time I finished the game I realised that I had never used a Hero’s Relic, even once. I would like to say that this was a principled decision on my part, given that they turn people into monsters (and it looks like I was right about them being made from bone?), but it was mostly just the BUT-WHAT-IF-I-NEED-IT-LATER effect. They all have quite low durability, and while I understand that infinite durability, as with relics in previous games, was not an option due to breaking how combat arts work, it was still enough to discourage me from using them. Perhaps on a higher difficulty they would become necessary? I always feel a bit sad when for mechanical reasons I never let characters use their most iconic weapons.

Moving on from mechanics…

There is technically a shipping mechanic, with an S support for the protagonist, but it really felt like an afterthought to me. I don’t think the game would lose anything significant if you just removed all the S supports. Compared to a game like Awakening or Fates, where the second generation makes it mechanically important and the plot seems like it works best with a bit of romantic drama (f!Robin/Chrom and m!Robin/Lucina looking particularly intended), Three Houses is surprisingly chaste. I suppose picking a character to be your waifu might be part of the culture now, perhaps looking also at the growing influence of waifu gacha games, but for me it felt tacked on. I can imagine potentially rewriting the game to make romance a more important theme – perhaps talking about Jeralt and Sitri a bit more? – but to be honest I think that that would have been worse for the game overall.

In particular, it stands out to me as sitting a touch oddly alongside the teacher concept. One of the things that stands out to me about Byleth as a protagonist is the way that Byleth is in a superior position relative to the other units. You are a professor, in a position of authority, and you have more life experience. Your job is to teach and mentor these younger characters. This contrasts strongly with Robin, who I think was presented as the equal of the other Shepherds (your relationship with Chrom is that of comrade and friend), and with Corrin, who was presented as an inferior or junior (your siblings are older than you, and they start off with higher status). Because of that superior position, then, I found the game suggesting a feeling of responsibility towards them, and a feeling of pride in their accomplishments.

This might be a bizarre comparison, but in some ways a game that Three Houses reminded me of while playing was Princess Maker 2, a weird little DOS game from 1993 about raising a girl. The core loop of choosing activities to raise the stats of a character in your care, punctuated with occasional outings to fight monsters and get loot, felt quite similar. Similarly, the emotions that seemed to be evoked, to me, were emotions of care and pride: perhaps not paternal as such, since Byleth isn’t that old, but certainly the satisfaction that comes from nurturing a younger and less experienced person.

For the most part that actually worked, and I certainly applaud it for feeling less icky than Fates. If I compare tea parties to that weird Fates mechanic where you could invite characters to your room and touch their face, it is vastly less creepy. So I’m glad that the romance has been toned down.

And speaking of things that I’m glad aren’t prominent…

I’m deliberately burying this part in the middle of a long post. Tumblr is famously ruthless on issues like this, but fortunately I have a very low follower count and you’re all nice people. Basically, one of my worries going into the game was that Three Houses might be the ‘woke’ Fire Emblem game. I am glad to find that concern averted, at least so far. A person could perhaps make some pretty cringeworthy interpretations of Duscur to do with racial politics, but the game itself does not push you in that direction. Tumblr and AO3 love slash shipping, but as far as I can tell that remains as canonically unsupported as ever. Interestingly, while Three Houses has a small handful of same-sex romantic S supports and endings, as far as I can tell they’re all for Byleth and they’re all simply copy-pastes of the opposite-sex versions. It’s enough for me to genuinely wonder whether they’re in the original Japanese at all, or if they were added. I know translations of FE games have played around with character sexualities before, so it’s possible. At any rate, part of me was concerned that this might be the Dragon Age: Inquisition of Fire Emblem, and fortunately it isn’t. (I mean, I did actually enjoy Dragon Age: Inquisition, but at times it did get to be a bit much.) I’ll take this as a valuable lesson when it comes to not believing posts I see on Tumblr. You’d think I would have learned from previous games: popular fan interpretations of a character are often completely wrong. Three Houses seems for the most part to be a very traditional Fire Emblem game.

In terms of the overall series trajectory, I take Three Houses to be an overall positive sign. Awakening and Fates seemed to be taking the series in a direction that I didn’t care for as much, with heavy use of player avatar characters, much more fan service, and more trope-driven plots. Three Houses seems like a return to deeper worldbuilding and characterisation. The cast of characters overall has definitely been a high point: in Fates I sometimes struggled to build a team of characters that I felt truly fond of, but in Three Houses there were usually more characters I wanted to use than I had space for, and there were no recruitable characters that I truly disliked.

Really, the biggest disconnect between me and Three Houses, in the end, is the fact that Three Houses is built for replayability, and I don’t like replaying games very much. However, I don’t think I can in good faith call that a flaw or poor design: obviously there are a lot of people who love replayability, and considering that I got a good eighty hours of gameplay out of my first playthrough (DLC included) and enjoyed it, I’m not really in a position to complain.

So in the end, then, I think that while Three Houses is not my favourite Fire Emblem and does have some places where it could be improved, for the most part I think it’s quite a good outing and a significant improvement on the last few. It is not designed entirely to my tastes, but what is here is mostly good. Three Houses leaves me feeling much more optimistic for the future of the franchise than Fates did.

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tabooneko · 5 years

Text

DIABOLIK LOVERS LUNATIC PARADE – SAKAMAKI LAITO – CHAPTER 2

Hello, DL fans, you still alive~? Sorry for not being active during holidays, a lot of happened irl. But my friend is back to translate LP, so here is chapter 2.

It’s probably the first route where I feel that it’s actually Laito who is pretty poor here haha. He has to deal with Yui’s naivety even more than normal xD

Translation: @kiruriru-art QC: TabooNeko

PLEASE DON’T REPOST!

Enjoy~

Place: Mondstein Hotel, Guest room

Yui: Nnnu ... nnn?

(Laito's not here...?)

(Somehow I'm feeling a little dizzy... . He might have drunk a little too much...)

Laito: A, Bitch-chan. You woke up?

Yui: Laito-kun...

Laito: Though it would be good if you'd still be sleeping. Yesterday I got a little too excited. Nfu ♪

Yui: (… The way he says that...!)

Laito: Well, either way, let's relax a little more while we eat.

Yui: ...Fruits?

Laito: Yeah. I asked hotel's employees and they brought them for us.

There, Bitch-chan. Open your mouth~. I will fe-ed-you.

Yui: E … But …

Laito: It's ok, it's ok. Don't feel shy. Here, aaa.

Yui: A, aaa …

(… It's a really sweet strawberry.)

Laito: How is it? Delicious?

Yui: … Yeah.

Laito: Hmm. Then, I'll taste it a little too. Nn …

Yui: … !

Laito: Uun. It's sweet … Really tasty.

Then, here goes another one ♪ Aaa...

Yui: Nn …

Laito: … Hm? What's that? I've got strawberry juice on my finger.

… Will you lick it and make it clean for me? Here …

Yui: Eh?! L-lick it … ?!

Laito: Hey, hu-rry up …

Yui: (U … resistance may be pointless … )

…

Laito: Nfu. That's good … Somehow it started to feel a little erotic …

Hey, if you like it, let's stay all day on bed like that … Nn …

Yui: … That's no good! If we don't go looking for Earl's clues...

Laito: Ugh … Even though it started to feel good, Bitch-chan, it really is difficult to get you into the mood…

But, that's right. What to do about Earl's case.

Yui: …We're not going to that boy we've met yesterday?

Laito: Won't it be enough if we just let it be? I said it, right? He's scheming something for sure.

That's why, even when we'll go looking for clues we have to go ask someone else.

Yui: …

(It's true, it was a little suspicious that he could say so many helpful things … )

(After all, like Laito-kun said, it's better not to trust so easily … )

Laito: There's no other way. First of all what about we go to town and ask around about Earl?

Yui: …

(Ether way there's still a lot of things that we don't know about Earl, it would be good if we do it...)

(If it go well, there might be some people who know Earl's whereabouts...)

… Then, should we try it?

Place: Glimmer street

Yui: … I see. Thank you very much.

Laito: Uun, It's no good after all. But I knew it all along.

Yui: …

(I asked a lot of different people but … )

(Even though all of them heard Earl Walter's name or knew that he's living in that castle,)

(They didn't know any specifics about him … )

(… It's troublesome … What should we do …)

Laito: Hey, Bitch-chan. Why don't we finish here and go check another place?

Yui: Another place?

Laito: Un. A place where there is more people than here, hm?

Place: Saint nore Park’s street

Yui: … Hey, Laito-kun … A Place where there is a lot of people is …

Laito: Nfu. Obviously it's here. Saint nore Park!

Hey, look around you. There are a lot more people than yesterday, right?

Yui: … That's right but …

Laito: What's more, yesterday we only had chance to check that maze, right?

That's why I thought we should have fun again why we're here doing research ♪

Yui: Eee … ?

Laito: Come on, let's go~!

Yui: A! Hey, Laito-kun! Wait … !

***

Laito: Haa, it was fun! You really have the feeling for go-kart, don't you?

Selection:

- That’s not true.

- Fufu. Is that so?

----------------------------------------------------------------

Choice: That’s not true.

Yui: T-That’s not true…

Laito: Whaat~? Don’t be so humble~

Yui: (I don’t intend to be…)

----------------------------------------------------------------

Choice: Fufu. Is that so? (+)

Yui: Fufu. Is that so?

Laito: Un. Your handling of the steering wheel while cornering was above everyone else. It really surprised me.

Yui: (He's praised me)

----------------------------------------------------------------

(And … I'm glad Laito-kun seems to have fun … )

(That being said, I'm having fun as well but …)

(Now we're looking just like people who came only to enjoy the parade...)

(...I wonder if it's ok...)

(But, there are no changes in my physical condition … And the jewel is properly working, right?)

(Either way, we don't have any clues regarding the Earl...)

Laito: A, Bitch-chan! Next is this one! Let's ride this!

Yui: E, which one?

Laito: Jet coaster! If you're in amusement park, you can't miss it, right?

Yui: Jet coaster …

Laito: Nfu. It's ok if you're afraid. I'll be with you, right? What's more …

I would like to see your cute face miserably distorted by the wind pressure on the jet coaster.

Yui: Eeh … !?

(That kind of goal is it even… ?!)

Laito: That's why, please. Let's ride it together. Hm~?

Yui: (… Saying that he's already going to the place where the ride is … ?!)

Place: Jet coaster's Boarding Gate

Laito: Aaa, it was so fun~!

The feeling of being cornered bit by bit by nearly falling from the sky was quite overwhelming … !

Yui: (Ah … It's finished somehow … )

Laito: Now, let's check the photograph...

Yui: Photograph?

Laito: That's right. You know, on this coaster there are cameras set in the most scream-worthy points...

And in that moment, they take perfect photos of faces crooked in scared or pained expressions.

So? Don't you think it's a really amazing service? Nfu ♪

Yui: (Th-That kind of mechanism … )

Laito: Hm, but what's that? Bitch-chan, you have the same face every time …

That's boring. Hey, let's ride it one more time?

Yui: Eeh?! One more time?!

Laito: Nfu, Why not? I'm not satisfied.

Then, let's go for round two!

Yui: Wait… Laito-kun… !

Laito: Uunn, that pale expression... it's good! That's it! That's what I was looking for...!

Yui: …

(After that, how many times did we ride that... I can't anymore...)

(… Somehow, I don't feel so good...)

Ts...!

Laito: Bitch-chan?!

What happened so suddenly? Are you not feeling well? Hey!

Yui: I just felt a little weak... after...

(Ts... That weird feeling near my chest...)

(Could it be...)

Ts...

(That's bad... I feel like fainting...)

Laito: Bitch-chan! … Bitch-chan!!

Yui: U...nn...?

Place: Diamant's fountain

Laito: A! That's good! You woke up!

Yui: Laito-kun...?

(That's right... I didn't feel good near the entrance to the jet coaster...)

Laito: You fainted so suddenly, it really surprised me...

Yui: Could it be, that you carried me here...?

Laito: Well yeah. It's not like I could just let you lay there, right?

I was wondering if I should carry you to the hotel or if I should contact Reiji.

...You Ok now?

Yui: Yeah, I feel good now. Thank you...

Laito: You know... I'm sorry about earlier. I was having so much fun it seems like I got carried away.

I was thinking what would happen if you didn’t wake up.

What the hell happened?

Yui: … That's …

I myself don't know for sure...but it could be the jewel...

Laito: …it’s weakening?

Yui: ...It could be that.

Laito: …Then, there's no time to fool around.

We have to meet the Earl as soon as possible and ask for your heart back...

Yui: But, what are we going to do without any hints...

Laito: …If you worry about the hints, we have plenty of them so it's ok.

Yui: Eh...?

Laito: Then, follow me. … Can you stand up?

Yui: Yeah... it's ok but...

Laito: Ok, then let's go.

Yui: (Laito-kun, what on earth is he planning...)

Place: Glimmer Street, Aizen Alley

Yui: (Here is... If I remember right, here is the place where Mrs. Aji's shop is...right?)

Laito: I think it's around here but...

A, just like I thought... Bitch-chan come here. We're going underground.

Yui: Underground...?

Place: Underground passageway

Yui: (What is here...An underground canal...?)

(feels a little eerie...)

Laito: I think the 'underground passageway' that kid was talking about is here.

Yui: …

----------------------------------------

Young vampire boy: It's up to you if you trust me or not.

Anyway, if you're interested in what I've said, just come to the underground passageway.

----------------------------------------

Yui: (Could it be that Laito-kun decided to trust that boy...)

Hey, Laito-kun...Is it possible that what that boy from yesterday said...

Laito: Since we don't have any other hints, I thought we could see him and try to dance as he plays.

What's more, I'm worried about the condition of your body so we have to hurry.

Yui: Laito-kun...

Laito: Then. Yui-chan, come closer to me. Whatever happens you can't leave my side.

...You know, this place is especially lawless even in the out-lawn Devil World.

Even I can't tell what can happen here and it would be really troublesome if something bad happened to you.

Yui: U-un... I got it...

Laito: Then, let’s go.

…

Yui: …

(I feel like we walked quite a long distance, but because the surrounding is the same all the time I lost my sense of distance....)

(No matter how far we go, it's just the same canal...)

(Is this boy really here...)

???: Fufu. You’ve finally come.

Laito: Uwa!?

Yui: Laito-kun!?

(From above, something...!)

Laito: …Ouch... . Hey! What the hell was that!

Young vampire boy: You were late, weren't you. You made me wait.

Yui: (...This boy...!)

Laito: Hmph. Unlike you, we are a little busy, you know?

Young vampire boy: You're saying that but you just haven't found a way to get into Earl's castle, right?

Laito: ...We came all the way to meet you, so you'll tell us how to get in there, right?

Young vampire boy: Ok. But it's not like I'll tell you right now.

Laito: Ts... Why? The deal was different.

Young vampire boy: It wasn’t. I told you, haven't I? If you do as I say I'll help you...

Earl Walter is famous for his sharp ears. If I just tell you the way to get there here

We may get forestalled and won't be able to go inside the castle. That's why...

Laito: I got what you're trying to say. But

even though I think I understand, for now, I can’t trust you at all.

To begin with I don't even know where, to whom and what you are doing, it's obvious, isn't it?

That's why, first I need a proof that you are someone that can be trusted.

Young vampire boy: Proof...?

Laito: Un. First of all, I want you to show me proof that you're not Earl Walter's pawn.

Young vampire boy: Hmph. Unlike this miss there big bro is quite suspicious.

Laito: Nfu. Sorry but it seems like that's the case.

Young vampire boy: But, unfortunately I don't have any proof like that.

Laito: Hmph... I see... It looks like in the end we can't trust you and do as you say...

Yui: ...Hey, Laito-kun...

That's enough, let’s just trust him...

We don't know any other way and sometimes you need trust to move forward...

Laito: Uun, it's obvious that you would say something like that.

But, unfortunately, I can't just unconditionally trust anyone.

Unlike you, right? It's nothing new, right?

Yui: ...

(...That's right. Laito-kun has a reason not to trust people...)

(...I’m sure it’s because he knows better than anyone else the bitter feeling of being betrayed...)

(Laito-kun was that deeply hurt in his childhood when he was betrayed by Cordelia-san.)

Laito: …Yui-chan? What’s wrong? Grabbing my hand so suddenly...

Yui: ...It’s nothing...

Laito: Hmmm ... But I somehow do understand what you’re trying to say.

Since I am your servant for eternity...

Yui: Se, servant?!

Laito: That’s why, no matter how unwilling I am, I have to follow your orders.

That being said, fine. We’ll do as the kid says. That’s fine, right?

Yui: Laito-kun... Laito: So... take us wherever you want. We’ll do as you say.

Young vampire boy: Ok. Then follow me.

Laito: You heard him. Let’s go. Yui-chan.

Yui: Yeah.

(I don’t know if this is really the right thing to do...)

(But, Laito-kun...)

(No matter what’s in front of us, I will never betray you.)

(I swear.)

Young vampire boy: Ok, both of you sit here for now.

Yui: Here...is this your home?

Young vampire boy: Well, something like that? Anyway, we can talk safely here.

Laito: We don’t really have time to sit and relax at your home.

Young vampire boy: Don’t be in such rush, big bro. ...First of all, look at that.

Yui: A map...?

Young vampire boy: This is the secret map of this underground passageway.

Right now we’re here. And...

Here are the secret doors... meaning the entrance to Earl Walters’s castle.

Yui: The entrance to the castle...

Laito: May I ask something?

Young vampire boy: ...What?

Laito: That map...is the thing you got from Aji yesterday, right?

Young vampire boy: Tsk...yes, so...?

Laito: Hmmm. So you got that map thanks to us, right?

I just have one doubt, would Aji give up such a valuable map that easily?

Could it be that you... have tricked Aji as well...?

Yui: ...?!

Young vampire boy: Tsk...how annoying. That’s right. But, it doesn’t matter, right?

You two, thanks to that you got to know where is the entrance to the castle, ain’t that right!

Laito: Well, yeah. As a result.

Young vampire boy: If you keep saying unnecessary things I won’t tell you anything more. Is that still alright?

Yui: ...Laito-kun...

Laito: Eh...I got it. Do continue. And then?

Young vampire boy: The doors were certainly at that place. I checked yesterday and there’s no mistake. But...

The doors are sealed by some unique magic. A special crystal is required to open them.

Firstly you have to go to the mountain and get that special crystal.

Laito: ...Could it be, that you’re telling us to go and get that crystal or something?

Young vampire boy: That’s right!

Laito: ...You heard him. So, what are we going to do? Bitch-chan

Yui: That crystal... Is it hard to get it...?

Young vampire boy: If it was easy I wouldn’t ask you guys, duh.

Laito: Haha, that’s logical.

Young vampire boy: I think you got the gist of it but...

Trying to go inside earl’s castle is reckless enough by itself.

If you can’t even do such a simple thing, we have nothing to talk about.

Yui: (That’s true, it could be like that...)

Laito: ...Haa. We have no other way. Let’s do it.

Then, do you know where exactly we can find this crystal?

Young vampire boy: Of course. Inside the mountain is a cave made out of selenite crystal. The crystal is deep down there.

But, as you proceed down that cave, you’ll meet a lot of tests and trials.

Yui: Tests and trials...what does it mean...?

Young vampire boy: Who knows. I don’t know that. I told you all I know.

Laito: Anyway it looks like we just have to go and find by ourselves.

Shall we go then? Bye~! Thanks!

Yui: Ah, Laito-kun...!

Place: Glimmer Street’s back road

Laito: ...

Yui: (Laito-kun is silent since then...)

(Looks like he’s lost in thoughts...)

Laito: ...I’ve already said that before but I really can’t trust that kid.

Look, just think about it a little. Why do you think, would he tell something like that to some strangers like us?

I’m sure he’s plotting something.

Yui: ...

(As I’ve thought, it’s like that...)

Laito: ...That being said, there’s nothing we can do now but go and find that crystal as that kid said.

Ne, by the way, your body’s ok?

Yui: ...Eh? It’s fine, but why...

Laito: That’s good then. Anyway, for us to save you, it doesn’t matter if there is something fishy with this kid’s motives or not.

We have to hurry up and open said doors to retrieve your heart from earl’s hands.

Yui: (So he is worried about me...)

Laito-kun... About that... I’m sorry that I got us mixed in such a troublesome case.

Laito: Good grief. Why earl’s had to get his eyes set on your heart of all things...

It won’t be worth it if you don’t do everything I say after all this is settled.

Yui: ...Un, that’s right.

Laito: Huuh? That way of talking... Could it be that you want to do as I say?

Yui: Eh...? That’s...

Laito: Nfu. Then I look forward to that. You got me so eager right now.

I would this to you...and that...aaaah...just thinking about it is unbearable...!

Yui: (W-what the heck is he imagining...!)

Laito: Ne, Bitch-chan. When we get your heart back, to begin with would you get dressed in that?!

Yui: And “that” is...?

Laito: The costume that you can see on that display!

Yui: ...T-that...?!

(But it’s so extremely skimpy...!)

Laito: It would be absolutely amazing if you wore it and swung a whip or something.

And while we’re at it high heels, ok? And then, right...

Yui: (Somehow it seems I made some dangerous promise...!)

Laito: As for now, I’ll take today’s night to think about the requests~.

Then, let’s prepare for tomorrow. Today, let’s go back to the hotel early.

You’re tired and tomorrow a great adventure in the mountains is waiting for us.

For the time being I’ll be patient. Nn... *kiss*

Yui: ...!

Laito: Nfu. I’ll remind you to be sure but, it’s for the time being, ok?

Then, let’s go.

Yui: A! Don’t pull me like that...!

#diabolik lovers #diabolik lovers lunatic parade #lunatic parade #sakamaki laito #komori yui #laito sakamaki #otome game #rejet #diabolik lovers translation #lunatic parade translation #game translation #translation

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atsushishelteredinmoonlitjasmine · 4 years

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Fire Emblem: Awakening Thoughts

As of the date May 20th, 2020, I finished my playthrough of Fire Emblem: Awakening on its one year anniversary of when I got it. It is now June 5th of writing this. This post will be my thoughts and feelings on Awakening, much like the KH3 Grievances and Blessings post last year. Let's get into some history between me and Fire Emblem before I go into Awakening.

As I've said before, Awakening was both my first Fire Emblem game and my first Tactical RPG. Smash Bros. was where I had heard of Fire Emblem but it wouldn't be until Ultimate came out that I would start to get interested. It was because of my friend's preference for Lucina that got me into playing as her in Smash and that's pretty much how she became both one of my mains and a favorite. It honestly wasn't till I listened to the Smash remixes of Id, Conquest, and Lost in Thoughts All Alone that I decided to play Awakening and then Fates. So thanks go out to both Smash and my friend Eric for converting me to Fire Emblem trash!

Much like the KH3 Grievances and Blessings post, I'll be going over every aspect of Awakening I can think of, from the graphics to the gameplay to the story. I'll even include a Best/Worst Girl and Boy of both generations because that kind of thing seems to matter to some people, along with my reasons for why X is Y. Keep in mind that whoever I choose as those categories, it is just my opinion and you're free to disagree with me. I say this because I know that, no matter what I say, some diehard fans will get pissed at me and come at me for daring to shit on their favorite character. I already know some people are gonna get mad because they think X should be Best/Worst and that'll be fun to see (You can interpret that as sarcasm if you want).

Listed below are Awakening spoilers, so if you want to play the game and don't want to be spoiled, now's your chance to stop reading. I know Awakening came out in 2013, meaning 6 or 7 years ago, but there may be some people who haven't gotten around to playing it yet so I want to be courteous to them. Here are my thoughts on Fire Emblem: Awakening!

First off, the graphics. I think they looked really nice for a 3DS game that came out in the early 2010's and I believe this was Fire Emblem's first fully 3D game as well so that's really impressive. The in-game models were nicely detailed, the in-game sprites were nice looking, and the prerendered cutscenes were beautiful. This doesn't mean they're not without their faults, though. I wish the in-game cutscenes were more animated because it's easy to tell when an animation's been used over and over again, I feel as if the in-game sprites have some dissonance with official art, and there are times where expressions or animations for the prerendered cutscenes have looked pretty awkward. In terms of the first and last point, I'm giving IntSys some slack because, as I stated earlier, they were developing a game for the 3DS, a powerful handheld device but it's still a handheld, and this was FE's first 3D game so there may have been issues transitioning from 2D sprites to 3D models. I'll explain what I mean by my second point. I've looked at Cynthia's official art and when I see her face, I tend to see what I'd call a baby face, pudgy cheeks and all. Her in-game sprite, however, her face is sharper, more mature, if that makes sense. Maybe it's the pigtails throwing me off or it's just a difference between two art styles, I don't know. I'm not an artist so there's not much weight behind this but I'm just saying there's somewhat a dissonance between official art and in-game sprites.

Secondly, gameplay. I loved how easy it was and how I could switch between a simple and complex UI if I wanted to see which attacks could hit or what the enemy's stats were. This may sound stupid but I honestly thought it'd be way more difficult due to this being a Tactical RPG. I know strategy's a big part of Fire Emblem but strategy's not a big problem if you're like me and you grind to hell and back. Speaking of which, I played on Easy Casual mode so that might be why it seemed so simple from the get-go. Just to give you an idea of how much I grinded, I put in 200+ hours and that mostly consisted of buying a shitton of Reeking Boxes, spawning Risen on some of my favorite grind spots, and fighting them over and over again. I went through the 3 basic classes each character could have, maxed out their default class one last time, promoted them to their advanced class, and maxed out those classes 2-3 times over. I have a video on my Twitter that shows the stats of these characters and most of them are over 220 (The shapeshifters 300). Needless to say, I loved each and every fucking crit I got. Cordelia even got what I call a miracle crit, which means she got 2 crits in one round and after the enemy attacked, she got another 2 crits. Level grind ain't a joke in this game.

Thirdly, the music. Considering it's part of why I got into this game in the first place, I loved it. As I'm writing this, I'm listening to the OST and it sounds so much better when you don't have the ambient sounds and you're not listening to it through the 3DS speakers. The song that hit me the most and just gave me the overwhelming feels was Id~Sorrow as it played in Chapter 21. It fit so well with the tone of the scene and I just sat there for a few minutes, letting it play in the background as I did shit. Other notable mentions are Id~Purpose, Destiny, Conquest, and the song that is just ellipses. If the music is this good in Awakening, I can't wait to see what's in store for Fates!

Fourthly, the voice acting. For a game where most of the voices come in forms of clips, I thought they were good. Each of the actors tried their best to convey their characters in the clips they were allowed to have and I think it shows. The only critique I have, and it's not the actors' fault, is that some of the characters' voices don't fit them. I'm not saying they miscast these characters, it's more like the direction was off, if that makes sense. Let me bring up Cynthia, Kjelle, and M!Morgan as examples. I don't think it's a stretch to say that, sometimes when you look at a character, you kinda imagine what they'd sound like before you hear their actual voice, right? I already brought up Cynthia's looks so I imagined her voice to sound very high-pitched and maybe a little childlike. I hear her voice and, while she's high-pitched and some of her voice clips do go into that childlike territory, she's nasally sounding and more mature. Kjelle is a complicated case in that, her voice fits her appearance (minus the armor) but not her personality. Her personality is similar to Sully's so I figured her voice would sound gruffer and not...cute, if that's the right word. M!Morgan's, I think, everyone can see the problem with. He's supposed to be the youngest of the kids, right? Since he's the only third generation character and all that? I think he just sounds a little too old for the supposed baby of the kids. Again, I'm not saying the voices are bad or that the delivery/emotion was bad, I just think the direction in which they were voiced don't fit some of the characters. Maybe I'm just thinking in terms of archetypes or something.

Now we move on to the story. I can't say as to whether it was good or not, mainly because I spoiled myself on it way before I decided on playing Awakening, so I don't think I can say much to the quality. The least I'll say is it's serviceable. I'll admit, the one thing I was shocked by was the appearance of the Grima Avatar because I thought Grima was inside Robin the whole time and I didn't think he'd have a separate vessel. I straight up thought Grima!Robin was either my mother or a twin I wasn't aware of so I'm giving credit to the writers for surprising me. Anyway, I think the only flaw I have with the story is with the pacing. I thought the first half was fine, it wasn't too fast or too slow. It was the second half that the pacing couldn't find a middle ground. Now I'm going to say that this half was stretched out over months of my playtime so whatever I say next might be exaggerated because of my procrastinating ass so... I feel like the Valm arc was way too slow and the Grimleal arc had so much trouble finding a middle ground. The beginning of the Grimleal arc was quick but Grima himself decided that I had to finish 2 and a half chapters before I finally got to beat him and you have to deal with constant reinforcements before you kill off the target. I think if it weren't for my overleveled as fuck units, I wouldn't have finished Awakening in time for my birthday.

Just for shits and giggles, I'm gonna say what I picked for my choice with both Luce's judgement and Grima's fate. I picked the self-sacrificial choices, which means I accepted Luce's judgement and allowed her to kill me and I dealt the final blow to Grima so Chrom didn't have to. While I knew the outcomes of both choices and them ultimately not meaning anything, I wanted my Robin to reflect what I would've done and I'm a very self-sacrificial person. Because I made Chrobin happen in my playthrough, which meant Luce was my daughter, I believe that, if my child who came from an apocalyptic world told me I was the reason for that happening and that she came back through time to stop that future from happening so she and the others wouldn't suffer, I would've let her kill me. Parents would and should do anything for their kids and if my death possibly gave my daughter the chance for a better life, I'd take it in stride. As for me dealing the final blow to Grima, if it was to save everyone I loved, I would've done it. Although there's some feelings of wanting to give a big "Fuck you" to Grima and to permanently end the problem so any future descendants wouldn't have to deal with it. This section may sound more philosophical and personal than I usually write but I think it deserved it.

Now we're on to Supports and who I chose to be together. I don't think it's wrong to say that this is where the characters really get to shine and it's because of the Supports I love these kids and how much I'm going to miss them when I move on to other FE games. As for the "canon" couples, I mainly went with characters that I thought would complement each other and this was one of the few things I tried to choose for myself. I tried my best to go for pairings that weren't fan favorites but I'm also not very connected with the fandom as of writing this so I may be completely wrong in which ships were favorites or not. So here are the pairings I got for my playthrough!

Chrom-Robin

Frederick-Sumia

Virion-Miriel

Vaike-Nowi

Stahl-Sully

Lon'qu-Cordelia

Ricken-Lissa

Gaius-Maribelle

Gregor-Cherche

Libra-Panne

Henry-Olivia

Lucina-Inigo

Owain-Cynthia

Brady-Nah

Kjelle-Laurent

Severa-Yarne

Obviously, there are some characters missing from this list and I can explain why. I didn't recruit Kellam and Tharja and it's because your girl is a dumbass. Kellam, I thought, was already on my team, he was just labelled as an ally so I didn't need to recruit him. They really should've made that clear. Tharja, on the other hand, was an even bigger dumbass than me because she decided to charge after Robin, who happened to be in front and was way overleveled, and got her ass promptly beaten with a crit. I regret not getting Kellam but after hearing how awful of a person Tharja is and how many fans are willing to put aside emotional abuse and stalker-like tendencies to have a chance to fuck her, she can stay buried in the sand where I electrocuted her ass. Unfortunately, this does means Noire didn't pop up in my recruitment list and that fucking sucks. The only characters left I didn't have a pairing were Gerome and Morgan. I think Gerome wouldn't really care for a romantic partner because he's all about not wanting to create ties in this time and shit and, since I see Morgan as the baby of the kids, I figured he'd be a little too young to be in a relationship. Despite that, I wish I got him and Nah together because I found out after she was shipped with Brady that Morgan's the only S-Support she'll say "I love you" to and I was immediately filled with regret.

Before I move on to the Best/Worst contest, there's something I need to bring up because I can see what sensible fans have shown now. This game is HELLA gay. Like, holy fuck, how many instances are there where you have two characters of the same sex and they have dialogue that seems to have been written with romantic intent but the writers decide it's meant to be platonic? Maybe I just have this weird line of thought on how straights are because there's no fucking way some of these gay moments would be a thing with even the most accepting straights. Maribelle calling Lissa darling and other pet names, Robin blushing from some of the girls and even mistaking Flavia's proposition for a marriage proposal, Severa looking at Kjelle's abs, the list goes on. I'm not straight because I'd be doing some of this shit with a potential girlfriend if I could! Why did it take IntSys until 3 Houses to implement LGBT+ pairings when this game is right here?! At least this game doesn't have the weird student/teacher relationships 3H has and believe me when I say that, if it weren't for the fact I could give less of a fuck for 3H, I wouldn't play that game for that reason! Anyway, Awakening is hella gay and it should've been the first LGBT+ FE game instead of 3H.

The Best/Worst contest... As I said in the beginning, there'll be a Best/Worst Boy and Girl for both generations because that's fun and it seems to matter a lot to some people. Repeating what I said, this is just my opinion and you're free to agree or disagree with me. One rule I'm putting in is I will try my best to not pick fan favorites. Don't get me wrong when some of the crowd pleasers are good but there are other characters that deserve just as much love as the fan favorites so this is why I'm putting in this rule. Without further ado, here are the rulings!

1st Gen

Best Boy-Lon'qu

Best Girl-Panne

Worst Boy-Virion

Worst Girl-Miriel

2nd Gen

Best Boy-Owain

Best Girl-Cynthia

Worst Boy-Inigo

Worst Girl-Severa

Let's see how many people I piss off with these judgements. So, my reasoning: Best Boy for 1st gen was a big toss-up. I kept wanting to choose between Chrom, Frederick, Stahl, and Lon'qu because they really endeared themselves to me but I chose Lon'qu in the end because he's honestly such a dork (I mean, all of them are) and I gotta admire how he tries to overcome his fear of women and try being there for his wife and daughter if he happens to have one. There's also the fact he has to literally psyche himself up to talk to women if you check in with him in the Barracks and I'm just like "Fucking hell, that's adorable and I GET it". Best girl is Panne because believe me when I say that the moment I see this woman and hear her voice, I'm immediately gay for her. Then she transforms into a giant rabbit, kicks so much ass, and I'm in love. Funny story, I'd talk to my friend about my progress in Awakening on Discord and the moment he asks me who best girl was and I answered Panne, he called me out for being a furry. Granted, I would've automatically said Luce but I'm trying not to pick fan favorites so I get his criticism. If a woman like Panne existed in real life, bunny ears and tail and all, I'd probably become a furry for her, no questions asked. As for worst boy and girl, Virion and Miriel are characters I honestly don't give much of a fuck about. Not that they're bad, I just don't care about their archetypes, if that makes sense. Miriel I found to be boring and Virion's of the Casanova archetype and I've always kinda hated that archetype so that's why they're on the ranking.

Oh boy, 2nd gen. So, best boy being Owain. This boy is going to kill me. He's so adorable and sweet and he's just a good boy. There are literally Tweets on my Twitter where I just gush about him and he deserves so much love. He's just a sweet boy who loves his parents so much and is so proud to be their son and how he manages to rope his cousins (Luce and Morgan) into going with his fantasies and how they just go along with it! Owain is a cinnabun and I want to protect him and love him. Anyway, best girl being Cynthia is sorta the same reason as Owain. She's just so bubbly and happy and just adorable. Yeah, she may get carried away with showboating but I just love her earnest desire to be a hero. I think everyone can see why I paired Owain and Cynthia up. Now for the worst. Inigo and Severa are probably the only characters in this whole game that straight up got on my fucking nerves and for different reasons. Outside of his supports with Olivia and Henry, Inigo's constant flirting with the girls and Robin and inability to take no for an answer just rubbed me the wrong way. I actually put out a Tweet saying how Inigo's like an r/niceguy and I still think he is one. Course, this doesn't mean I didn't have my fair share of laughs from him. I fucking died at his and Gerome's A-Support where he ends up pathetically crying after the emo loner got more game than him and Gerome has to comfort his ass, that was hilarious. It also helped the fact that Liam O'Brien, who I've only heard him as the brooding emo loner role, voiced Inigo as the complete opposite of that and I had a blast. Severa, on the other hand, was...really unpleasant. There's a reason I hate Tsunderes with a passion and it's because they're unnecessarily bitchy towards everyone they know, even if they have no reason to be. Severa, however, was somehow worse because she went out of her way to be horrible to people. My dislike for her was cemented the moment I saw her and Cynthia's C-Support and she chose to make fun of her, despite Cynthia minding her own business and Severa just going "fuck it". However, I should express that I understand why Inigo and Severa are the way they are and that's why I'm not being as harsh on them as I could be. They still have their good moments and I can appreciate them while also raking them over the coals.

So that concludes my review/experience of Fire Emblem: Awakening! Despite some moments of frustration and annoyance, I had fun playing this! I mean it when I say I'm gonna miss these kids but I had plenty of time to spend with them so it's time to move on to newer lands. Next up on the list is Fates and I think I'm siding with Hoshido first. It's funny how, despite me spoiling the story for myself 3 separate times, I still can't remember much, if any, of it so that may say something about the quality. I also know Fates is pretty divisive among the fandom but the thing I know it for is the weird pseudo-incestuous ships it has so that's going to be fun! Hopefully, I'll get around to playing as one of my other mains in Smash, my water horse dragon Corrin, sometime soon and I'll be sure to let everyone know when my journey will start!

#fire emblem awakening

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jyuhachi1994 · 5 years

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KIRAMUNE MUSIC FESTIVAL 2019 -10TH ANNIVERSARY- EXPERIENCED REPORT! Part 3

~Continuation~

Second half

I tried to remember everything but again, I would write what I could remember. I would be honest, I could only remember few from the second half since day 2 had a big impact to me.

The start of 2nd half was Uncle Bomb! オトコギ！They were so cool singing “te no hira”!!! I was expecting them to sing this, but I was still trembling watching these two ojisan! How should I explain it, but gosh they were so cool!

Next was Trignal, and I was mesmerized hearing a live version of Yasashii koe. One thing I noticed though, Wing's voice is very different on live! Really different! He really sounded like a girl >v<

And next!!! My favourite part! Hiroshi singing Board Game Naked!!! The way he leaned his body backward, his jacket half way off, shaking his body, I just lost it!!! He was so cool and so sexy! SO SEXY! Okay, did I mention that he was really SEXY! Cause he was really SEXY, SINGING AND DANCING BOARD GAME NAKED! Then followed by ichiban hoshi! He was wayyy so cool!!! And did I mention Sexy?

I couldn't remember what happened after that, but it was SparQlew then Yocchin. (Gomen! Since all I could remember was their 2nd half performance during Day 2)

And after that KAmiYU's "マンジ•ガンザナイト" and they were wearing half half jacket again! And at the last part, Hiroshi did the batting, and Miyu was kind of the pitcher. But I didn't know, if Hiroshi sucked in Batting, or Miyu sucked in throwing. I mean, Hiroshi only hit few of them. Compared to KAmiYU in wonderland 4 day 1, Miyu threw the marshmallow and Hiroshi was able to caught it in his mouth in just one try. Anyways, it was so funny, and these two were really enjoying their time on stage.

And I had no recollection again to what happened next, but Kakki then Namidai were after. (Hahaha! Day 2 what did you do to me?!)

CONNECT sang 4 songs here, and I was crying non-stop! They sang on this long stage on both side. Suzu was the one closer to us. I still couldn't believe my eyes and ears that CONNECT had returned to Kirafes! They used the cart and they went around singing CONNECT 2014 Mix. (Lol told you, my day 1 was really mixed up!) Hahahaha!

Next was Miyu! His voice gave me thrill! It was really beautiful! He sang dare kara demo aisareru anata you ni without any accompaniment, and just his voice. I could clearly hear his voice resounding inside the dome! Actually I was mesmerized by his voice that I totally forgot to turn off my blade, since he mentioned in his blog that if he ever sing dare kara demo aisareru youni, we should turn off our blade! But, since the sun already set, you could clearly see the beautiful red ocean, and him in one spot light! His next song, I couldn't remember fully since his last song Mascleta have a big impact. Miyu was freely enjoying singing on the stage, and I was enjoying my time too singing "ちょ楽しい"!

Encore

I think we only did that chants of Encore for about 5 minutes? I couldn’t remember much, but it was so short. Then the screen became blank, we thought they would come out, but a video showing Kiramune's history played and again I couldn't help but cry! Seriously the video would really make you cry buckets!

After that, they came out riding in the big cart, and a special collaboration happened! Like what I really wished they should do! Wing + Chibasho sang CONNECT's Zettai donkan ama noja ku! Followed by Nobu, Yocchin and Yuuto sang Miyu's Banana-na-na Boat! They were so cute!!!! The next collaboration, I couldn't help but laughed so loud when Funky Jungle of Namidai started, and the way Micchan said "I'm King of Kings!" You really couldn't help but laugh! And who was with him, no other than Egu and Horie, actually I wanted Hozumin to be with them since Hozumin is kinda Egu the second! Then followed by Hiroshi, Ryouhei and Hozumin, and they sang Nobu's Bang! Banzai!! I just loved their voices! I liked Hozumin to be with Iwata and Egu, but still him being with Ryouhei and Hiroshi, the three of them just killed it! Suzu, Miyu and Kakki were next and they sang Yocchin's do it while Egu was dancing his favorite dance step on the centre stage! The last one was, I didn't know, I laughed, but I hoped they won't do it again, Namidai and Takuto sang KAmiYU's Tourist Star! The two of them were good (?), lol! but it actually became a laugh to all of us!

They talked about the yellow ranger, they said it was funny at backstage, but when it came out it wasn't interesting at all, in which Egu asked "was he?" And the others were telling him that the yellow ranger was really not funny at all, and Egu retorted that "I didn't meet him backstage, but I think he was okay though" (okay please imagine how Egu said it, the usual Egu!) Micchan mentioned that CONNECT was able to return because it was in dome, and reminded us what they mentioned during Kirafes2014. He also said that he would boast it to his son that he performed in Metlife dome. Here I couldn’t remember if he mentioned it here or during the MC, or during the CONNECT’s MC during Day 2, but he mentioned about the Takoyaki stands, that he was able to eat it! hahaha! Then Suzu mentioned that he was surprised that in just few years that they weren't in Kirafes, Yocchin became really great and he played guitar now during live, also again the SparQlew members. He also mentioned about the moving stage, but I couldn't remember what it was about, but I think it was something about what he mentioned way back in Kirafes2009, since he mentioned that he wanted to have that in one of Kirafes and it really did happen. They mentioned about the weather again, that during their rehearsal the day before, they could see their breath and it was so cold, so Hiroshi said that even though they wanted to see our legs, our health is more important, since it was really cold (lol cause most of the fans really dressed up, and were wearing skirts). Also, I didn’t know who mentioned about sitting at the B Stand, and he was surprised that he couldn’t even see much of the people on the stage.

Then they started to have their ending message, SparQlew first, I think they mentioned the hair again and mentioned their first album and the their new single, even their first live. Then Yocchin, next. I couldn't remember since all I could remember was his ending message during day 2, but he mentioned his new single and also the summer party something in MTV (was it MTV), but I think a music selection of his concern in a program. Nobu was next and I remember here that he announced his single, but he was unsure if it was okay to announce it. Then he asked us if we heard of it but like there was few response, lol! Trignal also had announced their's, especially the Bluray of Trignal Smile Party. Then Kakki, I think he was the one who mentioned about the Versus bluray, lol! I couldn’t really remember at all! Then Namidai after. I remember that they were again bullying him (always). Then he announced his tour and also, he mentioned his guests Hiroshi and Uncle Bomb. He even asked what would happen during his tour when he announced that his guest would be Uncle bomb in his own live tour. Then next was Hiroshi. He also had his message, and announced that he would be performing in ISO Fes, and also announced his music clip Collection. He sounded displeased that he would be seeing his face in those MV clips, and hear his voice, but it was the usual tsundere Hiroshi hahaha! Miyu was next and he also announced his live tour, and his music clip Collection and excitedly told us that he was the one who came out with the title and also participated in cover art. CONNECT was next, and they again thanked everyone for welcoming them back. I couldn’t remember who announced the Fan meeting in Hiroshima. But I could remember the person in front of us said that it was toooo far, but she would still go. lol!

The last two songs were Ever Dream then Get Together. I cried too much! Hearing these two songs again. Especially Get Together, when CONNECT sang their part, the feels!! (Scratch this part, lol! I think this one was during the 2nd day! Oh gosh! My memories are so hazy and jumbled now! Lol!)

I remember that at the end part, some of them were on the big moving stage, and some were at the small moving stage. The big moving stage stopped at the middle stage, while the small moving stage that was coming from the main stage then moved towards the middle stage too. It passed the big moving stage and stopped in front of it. I could remember that some of the members who were at the big moving stage tried to hold the bottom of the stage. When the small moving stage stopped in front of the big moving stage, the big moving stage lifted up, and a little but higher to the small big stage (Lol was that clear?)

Anyways, day 1 was really different, and I was so emotional! Day 2, I did cry but my tension was so high and I think I lost my voice 😂

welp, after Day 1, I went back to the place am staying, and even though I was so tired, my tension was really high since I was excited for Day 2! Day 1 was five hours and half!!!!

-Day 2-

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gra-sonas · 4 years

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From show creator Carina MacKenzie, The CW series Roswell, New Mexico is back for Season 2, and Liz (Jeanine Mason) is torn between having her sister Rosa (Amber Midthunder) back and the sacrifice that Max (Nathan Parsons) made, in order for that to happen. And while Michael (Michael Vlamis) and Isobel (Lily Cowles) are struggling with their own grief over the death of Max, Rosa begins experiencing mysterious side effects from her resurrection, as she realizes that she’s been kept in the dark about what really happened the night that she died.

During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, showrunner/writer/executive producer Carina MacKenzie talked about how the death of her male lead was in her original pitch for the series, the interesting ways that they’ve made use of Nathan Parsons throughout the season, that the secrets pretty much all of the characters are keeping are going to blow up in their faces rather quickly, getting to explore the sister dynamic, that there will definitely be more Maria (Heather Hemmens) this season, her approach to exploring Michael’s bisexuality, how original Roswell star Jason Behr ended up doing a chunk of episodes, and what she’s most excited about with Season 2.

Collider: First of all, congratulations on already having a Season 3 renewal before the premiere of Season 2. That’s awesome.

CARINA MacKENZIE: Thank you! I think it’s awesome, except I’m so tired and I have to go back to work on Monday.

When you tell the powers that be, “Hey, I’m going to kill off my male lead and start Season 2 with him dead,” what was their reaction? Did they try to convince you to do something else?

MacKENZIE: This was actually part of my pitch, when I pitched Season 1, from the very beginning. I can’t remember if I told Nathan about it during the pilot episode or during when we were shooting the second episode, but it was the plan from the beginning, so they knew where we were going. I think they trust me on that stuff. I always make the joke that I’ve killed Nathan Parsons a lot on television and he always comes back, in one way or another. We started the series with Liz taking a bullet to the heart and with him saving her life. This is a show about a woman. It’s not a show about a man being the hero, all of the time. So, if that’s how we started our series, we wanted to turn the tables and say, “Okay, she doesn’t have superpowers the way that he has superpowers.” Our show is science fiction. It’s not about magic and witches and rituals. It’s about science. So if he somehow, within him, has the science to save her life, then somehow, she should be able to use that science to save his. The studio and network definitely were a little bit worried about how much we used Nathan Parsons because we pay him for every episode, no matter what, and you like to get your money’s worth. And so they were like, “Are we renegotiating his deal here?” But we did find interesting ways to use him throughout the season, whether it’s nightmares or flashbacks. I also made Nathan come in to do work that wasn’t even Max related. We had a character that we hadn’t cast yet, but we needed to see their hands, and I was like, “Okay, you come to work and be the hands.” Whenever we had a shadowy figure whose face you can’t see, I’d be like, “Hey, Nathan, come to work.” It was actually fun for him, I think, to get to be around when he wasn’t around, ‘cause he actually lives in Santa Fe, as opposed to some of the other cast members who live in L.A.

It seems as though everyone is really starting off the season with secrets and things that they’re hiding from each other. How will that affect things? How soon will those secrets really start blowing up in everybody’s faces?

MacKENZIE: Quickly, in different ways. Alex and Maria have a conversation that they need to have about the status of their relationships with Michael. Maria has been in the dark about a lot of things, including the fact that no one’s told her that Rosa is back, and she was incredibly close to Rosa. No one told her about Noah, and she was one of Noah’s victims. Secrets don’t stay buried very long on the show, so there will definitely be some fall out. But I also think that, in some cases, the fallout is gonna be what makes what makes the relationships stronger, as opposed to what weakens relationships.

With Rosa back, you really get to explore the sister dynamic now, in present day. What have you enjoyed about that relationship, and watching what Jeanine Mason and Amber Midthunder bring to that?

MacKENZIE: Well, they are amazing. Obviously, they look alike, which helps, but they also did a lot of work together to work on mannerisms that they could create for these girls to share. Right off the bat, in the pilot, they’re sharing a motel bed on their road trip, and they both sleep with one leg outside of the covers. Little things like that were things that the actors got together with us and we said, “Okay, how do we create this feeling of Rosa being a relatively new force in our present-day Roswell, but still show the audience how deep the history runs?” Working with Jeanine and Amber made that very easy.

You’ve previously talked about there being more Maria, in general, this season. What can you say about her storyline and what Heather Hemmens is bringing to it this season?

MacKENZIE: Heather is a goddess. She is the queen of my life. There is literally nothing that I’ve asked her to do that she hasn’t done, with full enthusiasm. I will say that we put Maria into situations that I don’t think the fans are going to see coming. I got a phone call from Heather once and she said, “I’m hearing a rumor that this might be happening in the next episode. Please tell me that’s not true.” And I was like, “Read the script and tell me what you think. We’ll change it if you hate it, but just read the script.” And then, when she read the script, she was like, “Oh, hell yes!” I know that I’m being incredibly cryptic, but we’re pushing boundaries with her character and we’re exploring all sides of her. We’re learning who she is, not just as Liz’s best friend, which was what it felt like throughout Season 1, but we’re learning who she is as a business owner, as a caretaker for her mother, as a friend, and as a girlfriend. We get to see a lot of sides of her, but one of the things that I’m excited about is that we put Maria and Isobel together a little bit more this season. They’ve got this really fun, long, deep history of just hating each other, for no real good reason, whereas the actresses, Lily [Cowles] and Heather, live together and love each other. So, it led to some really fun dynamics on screen.

One of the things that I love about Michael being a bisexual character is that it’s allowed you to explore two relationships with him, the one between Michael and Alex, and the one between Michael and Maria. What’s it like for you to get do that, be able to bring that to life, and to hear how people feel about being represented in that way?

MacKENZIE: The representation part of it is really important to me. It’s really important to me that it’s not portrayed like he’s having two relationships. He is a very honest character. When Michael keeps secrets, it is not because he wants to keep secrets. Michael’s not gonna be a person who’s cheating on anybody, ever. He’s not someone who leads people on, or wants to hurt anyone. And those relationships are very different. Michael and Alex’s relationship, the bulk of it, was the summer after their senior year of high school, and that was 10 years ago. There are obviously a lot of lingering feelings, and there have been some brief reconnections over the years, but he isn’t in a committed relationship with Alex. He’s also not yet in a committed relationship with Maria. But when Michael does commit to someone, it’s very important to him to be true to them and to be honest. That’s been my whole thing. We’re not playing this bisexual character as a promiscuous person who can’t decide what he wants, or who wants both, and who’s just flitting between the genders. He’s very much a lover. And it’s been cool for me to play him as the Joey Potter or the Felicity. He’s not the typical person in the center of a love triangle. The other thing that’s important, too, is that Alex and Maria aren’t rivals. They are people who have a very deep history with each other and who love each other very much. Later on, we tell a story where Maria admits that, when she was a little kid and Alex was her best friend, she always thought she was gonna grow up and marry Alex. So, there are a lot of layers to this, and we’ve made sure to tell it with respectfully because of the representation angle, but also, we’re not trying to tell a story about people that aren’t flawed and that don’t make mistakes and that don’t have any nuance to them. We’re telling a story about people who mess up sometimes and who have to emerge from that, just like anybody else.

It’s also very cool that you have Jason Behr coming onto the show for Season 2.

MacKENZIE: Yes, it is.

How did that come about? Did he agree to it, and then you wrote the character tailored to him, or did you write the character, and then try to convince him to do it?

MacKENZIE: I met Jason at Julie Plec’s birthday party, and literally sat talking to him for five hours, and I’m not exaggerating. Everyone, including the person who was throwing the party, had gone to bed, and Jason and I were still talking about work and art, and what inspires us as artists. He had watched the first season of the show and he said, “If you want me to come do a cameo, reach out.” I didn’t think he was serious, but I thought it was worth a try. And we had this character come up that was a pretty small character because I didn’t think Jason was gonna be interested in going back to work full time. He hasn’t, in a really long time. He’s a dad, and he’s very much rooted in L.A. But when I reached out to him about the character, he was so excited that he was like, “Well, I’ll stick around.” We developed a very rich backstory for this character. He has a very deep and complicated history, and a very interesting future. He ultimately appeared in five episodes out of 13, which is a lot, and he’s essential to the season. I also cannot say enough wonderful things about working with this man. I was expecting somebody to come in with some reluctance to revisit a reboot of something that he had worked really hard on 20 years ago, but there was no reluctance. He was immediately one of the gang. He gave everybody advice. He knows the show, inside and out. And we put him through the ringer. He did not have an easy time on the show, at all, and he never didn’t have a smile on his face doing it. If anybody, in the future, gets the chance to work with Jason Behr, jump at it ‘cause it was a dream. It was a literal dream. I had the guy’s poster in my locker when I was a kid.

What are you most excited about with what you’re getting to do in Season 2, and how you’re also working toward Season 3?

MacKENZIE: Season 1 was my first time as a showrunner, so I was nervous and I had a lot on my plate. With Season 2, I felt a lot steadier on my feet. With Season 2, I pushed the stories to be bolder and pushed us in directions that scared the crap out of me because I had more confidence that I, as a writer, would be able to rise to the challenge. I told some stories that shook some things up on the network, and that we had to really, really defend. They ultimately ended up being very supportive of us, but we definitely threw some surprises at our bosses, which we didn’t really do in the first season. So, bolder is the word. We are entering territory that’s a little more controversial, a little darker, and a little sexier, in some cases. I’m just seeing what I can get on The CW.

[x]

#roswell new mexico #roswell new mexico s2 #rnm spoilers #rnm cast interviews #rnm promo

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ask-the-phan-site · 5 years

Text

Phan Cam: The Festival of Our Dreams

WARNING: This post may be a bit long. Also, there’s a chance some posts may not show on time.

>The stage for the Dream Festival was all set up and ready. The idols were doing some last minute rehearsals before the first concert. Dream FES will last six days from Monday to Saturday this year. The first event takes place tonight on Monday which will be like any other concert. The second event takes place on Wednesday where it’s Open Mike Nite and anyone can perform on stage, even with the idols. The finale takes place on Saturday where the competition to see which Rookie Idols, Skull included, will get to become True Idols and possibly record a CD takes place with the idols finishing it with a huge show stopper.

Okay, so I stand here and I announce the groups when they come out. I think I got it.

Good. Now when you announce them, don’t hold back, give it as much energy as you can so the audience can feel it.

MC: I’ll do just that.

Worker: Hey, they stylist is calling for one last check!

MC: Coming!

>The MC leaves. Haruto also goes back stage.

>The dressing room. KUROFUNE was getting ready for that night.

God, this is just so great! We’re gonna blow this place tonight!

Calm down, Ryuji, I’m just as excited as you are.

Skull: I know. But this isn’t like all the other times I performed with you guys. This is the big time.

The real big time.

I’m glad to see you’re hyped for this. Now we know the songs we’ll be performing?

Yuto: First, we perform OVER THE SEVEN SEAS. Then, Treasured Hearts. And we finish off with Whole New World.

Skull: I like that choice. Though I wish I coulda written another song before all this.

Keigo: This year’s Dream FES is a week long to correspond with the End of Summer. You’ll have another chance soon.

??????: I hope so.

>They turn to see DearDream and Haruto come in.

Keigo: What brings you here?

We wanted to wish you luck... Or is it “break a leg”?

Either way, we hope you’ll do well.

Keigo: Thanks.

Yuto: What songs are you performing for Dream FES?

We’re starting with Dream Pulse. Next, we’ll do Up to speed!. And finally, GO TOMORROW!!!!!

I’ve added something new to our finale.

Skull: Really? You added something new to that last song?

Actually, he’s talking about the finale where both our groups perform.

Haruto: Actually. it’ll be three this year.

For real!? There’s more this year!?

Haruto: (smiling) You’re Ryuji Sakamoto, am I right? KUROFUNE’s newest member.

Skull: It’s a part-time job, actually. But I hope to work full if I can.

Haruto: I see. Well, this year, ANSwer will be joining you.

Kanade: So Asuma san, Chikage san, and Eiji san will be singing with us?

Haruto: That’s what the producers said. Letting one of the newer idol groups perform with two of the legendary idol groups, especially with KUROFUNE’s newest idol would gather more people.

Shin: That sounds a little... Big.

Haruto: That’s business. But don’t worry. I know you can do it. I’ve seen you do more impossible things than I can count.

Kanade: No doubt.

Haruto: So, can I count on you to do this?

KUROFUNE and DearDream: Yes!

Haruto: That’s the spirit. Well, see you tonight.

>With that, he leaves... And we come in.

Sounds like a big job.

Skull: I’m sure we can pull it off. With all of us here.

Keigo: That’s right. By the way, I like your concert outfits.

Thanks, my mom helped me put them together.

Keigo: God bless you, Katherine sama.

Wait until the Wednesday event, will have something really great on.

Chizuru: I’m already looking forward to it. By the way, how’s Suzui san? I hear she’s taking part in the Stride Tournament.

Panther: She’s doing fine. I’ll tell her you wish her luck.

Chizuru: And don’t forget to tell her that we love her.

That’s a little too much for her to take, but okay.

But thanks for wishing her luck, though.

>Then, Peter, Harry, Gwen, Miles, Anya, Aleksei, Randy, and Liz arrive. Also with them are John Jameson, Flash Thompson, even Alistaire Smythe, and three new faces: A young man with glasses, a chubby boy in a school uniform, and a young woman in a sweater.

You made it!

It wasn’t easy, we almost lost our luggage.

Only because one of us didn’t exactly packed light.

Well excuse me if this is my first trip overseas!

You should have just taken my advice and only packed what you really needed. Me? My football’s all I need.

So, you didn’t pack anything else? No clothes, just your ball and the clothes you already have on?

Flash: ... Okay, maybe there’s more than a ball that I need.

If he’s stayin’ with me and Harry, I draw the line at lendin’ my clothes to him.

Relax, Ryuji, I made arrangements at the Wilton Hotel.

Good. I don’t think any of the places our Japanese friends stay are wheelchair accessible.

Actually, my apartment has an elevator.

Yeah, we saw it the last time we were here.

So, how excited are you that you’ll be doing this?

Skull: I’m a little nervous, but everyone’s here, so I’m okay.

Speaking of everyone, aren’t you going to introduce us?

Peter: Right. Everyone, these are some of the friends I talked about. This is Kamala Khan.

Kamala: It’s nice to meet you.

(outfit altered to avoid being flagged) It’s nice to meet you, too, Kamala chan.

Harry: Ollie Osnick, he was a student at Oz Academy.

Actually, I’m already acquainted with Ryuji san.

Skull: Really? How so?

Ollie: ... It’s complicated.

Peter: And last, but far from least, Grady Scraps.

It’s nice to meet you. お会いできて光栄です。

名誉は私たちのものです。

Grady: Sorry about the uniform. It was in such a hurry, this was the only thing I could get on.

It’s alright, Grady, we’re here until the 24. We have plenty of time to shop for new threads.

Grady: That’s good to hear.

Chizuru: Then might I suggest Peace Parade. Sheep Heavenly is good, too.

For real!? Idol Brands can be bought as well?

Keigo: Normally, it isn’t. But remember, even though they are used in the Dream FES System, the clothes are still made by designers and they use our concert to promote their clothes.

Panther: It’s true. Mom does it sometimes, too.

Fox: I see... I wonder if I should feature my art in a concert.

Maybe on Wednesday. I know they'll love it, Yusuke.

And that’s why I love you, Ren.

>We both smile.

They’re the same as always. Even though we just saw them not that long ago.

Queen: Anyway, now to introduce ourselves.

>We introduce ourselves. Even Yuto, Keigo, and even DearDream introduced themselves.

Ollie: Nice to meet you all. But it seems you’re missing a couple of people.

Queen: Diego and Mishima are already in the crowd. We’ll be meeting up with them soon.

Skull: I just wish Axel and the others could be here, but they went back to Landmark City. I’m sure we’ll see ‘em again soon.

Oracle: Me, too. I’ve heard of this guy called Garrett and I really hope I’d meet him.

Worker: (coming in) Hey, the concert starts in a few minuets. You guys better get ready. (leaves)

Joker: Well, we’ll see on later on. Have a great show.

Enjoy the show!

>We leave.

>In the crowd, we meet up with Diego, Admin, Shiho Suzui, Boss, Sae, Mrs. Sakamoto, and even our councilor, Takuto Maruki.

About time you got here. This place is getting hyped up and packed.

(sorry if she’s still wearing her old uniform) He’s right, a lot of people showed up this year. Look over there.

>She pointed and we saw that Japanese fencer, Kagami Tsurugi, was here with French teen model, Adrien Agreste.

Panther: Are they here as a couple?

Shiho: I doubt it. They brought their friends.

>She is right, there are seven more teenagers with them... Two of which I recognized, but I won’t say more on it.

Not just them. Look there.

>He pointed to who is unmistakable the “Super High Schooler”, Moyuru Koda, and his teammate/boyfriend, Junichi Kotoba. They’re holding each other really tight.

It looks like we have some royal visitors, too.

>She was right. Not too far from where we were are the Royal Family of Attilan with their fellow Inhumans, Inferno, Iso, Haechi, and Flint Jaycen. (We’ll just call him Jaycen because we already know a Flint.) Not too far from them is King T’Challa of Wakanda, aka Black Panther. And next to him is Thor Odinson of Asgard.

I see a few other celebrities, too.

>I look around. I also see Hifumi is here. I also spot Rise, Yu, Yosuke Nanako, a man who I can assume is her father, and Teddie. I don’t think they notice me. With them is model/actress, Yukari Takeba. Not too far from them is the American author, Phoebe Halliwell and her husband, Coop. They were in deep conversation with... A young dark-skin man with pink dread locks who was accompanied by another dark-skin young man with brown cornrows, a young man with facial hair and glasses, a young man with long blonde hair, and, was was unmistakably, a brown and blue mecha.

This is getting too much. How’d I get dragged into this, anyway?

Oracle: (smirking) Because you just can’t say no to a face like this.

Boss: Heh! Maybe.

?????: Maybe you’re just getting soft.

>We turn to the newcomer... We were shocked.

What the hell are you doing here?

Are you saying it’s wrong to visit family once in a while?

Crow: Says the man who abandoned me and my mother in our hour of need.

Shido: That’s all water under the bridge now. Let bygones be bygones...

Besides, I happened to be a fan of Sankishi. Is that alright with you?

Crow: ... Just behave yourself, alright?

Shido: Like a church mouse. (sits quietly on his seat... Next to Crow)

This is going to be a long week.

?????: No kidding.

>Then, another comes in... You’ve got to be kidding.

I never pegged you to be someone who like theses events.

Now do we have to be such a downer? ... By the way, how do you like my anime look?

Seriously? What is it with older men and anime?

Stark: Just dressing for the occasion.

???: Actually, I kind of agree with her.

>Then, four new faces join in.

But at least your beard looks good.

Stark: That’s something, I guess.

Still, I guess it’s a slight improvement from your last two anime forms.

I’ve never seen that, so I can’t judge.

Eh, he’s still the same, either way.

Stark: (in defeat) Let’s just enjoy the show.

Mrs. Sakamoto: (whisper) It’s nice of you to come, by the way.

Energetic boy: (also whispering) Thanks.

>Then, the lights dimmed and the crowd starts cheering louder. The lights on the stage come on. The MC comes on stage.

MC: HELLO, TOKYO! WELCOME TO THE DREAM FESTIVAL 2019!

>The audience was hyped.

MC: Now before we begin, I first would like you all to give a big warm welcome to some famous people in the crowd tonight. Let’s give them a hand!

>The crowd cheered for all the people the others mentioned. Although, I’ve noticed that the Inhumans got little while Black Panther and Thor got a lot... Man, they’re cruel to them, they’re just like us... Only with power and slightly different appearances. Koda mostly got cheers from the girls while Rise and Yukari got cheers from the guys.

MC: And now, with out further ado, let’s welcome our first act for the night. The legendary idol group with a million cheers in one night, our very own Sankishi!

>The crowd cheered loud for the first idol group.

Haruto: Good evening, everyone! How are you?

>The crowd cheered.

Susa: That’s music to our ears. And we know that we’ll be music to your ears.

Ichika: Let our voices reach to you, tonight. Your hearts will glow for us.

Haruto: And we will glow for you. Let’s soar to our future.

Sankishi: TOGETHER!

Dorika Time!

Shido: I believe this one should suffice.

Crow: How... Fitting for you.

>We load our wands and launch the cards into the stage.

Catch Your Cheers!

Haruto: I shall wear your cheers with honor!

Catch Your Cheers!

Susa: My heart goes out to all of you!

Catch Your Cheers!

Ichika: The songs we sing shall be the pride of tonight!

(sorry for the chop job)

White Orchid Series! Complete!

>Sankishi begin their performance. The audience and us really enjoyed... But we know what we’re really looking forward to, but Sankishi is good, too.

>After some time, Sankishi finished their songs.

Haruto: Thank you all! I hope you enjoy the next group as much as you enjoyed us!

>They leave and the MC comes back.

MC: I’m so sure they will, Haruto san. Now for your next group. They were practically born for this show. Heck, they’re basically named after it. Give up for the idol group that puts the Dream back in Dream FES! DearDream!

>Everyone cheered.

Kanade: Before we begin, we would like to give a big thank you to Moyuru Koda, who is a big fan of ours, for coming here.

If you can really live up to your group’s name, I’ll really be hyped for the finale on Friday.

Junya: Then I guess we shouldn’t disappoint now, should we?

>The crow gave a little laugh. Then, I notice Koda is holding his arms and chest. I use my Third Eye to take a closer look at what he’ saying to Junichi.

It’s alright. We took all the precautions. I don’t think it’s going to happen here.

Koda: I know... I’m just worried. After what happened at that party... What I almost did to you.

Junichi: It wasn’t your fault. No one could predict that would happen.

Koda: Oh yeah? ... Tell that to your missing leg. You nearly lost your place on the team.

Junichi: But I didn’t give up... And you shouldn’t either.

Koda: Normally I would side with the winning team. I always saw you as that... But I realize, it never really was about winning or losing.

Junichi: And what’s that?

Koda: ... If I knew that, I would own the world.

>The two young men smiled in joy.

DearDream: Alright then, let’s being our show!

Dorika Time!

Junichi: If their first song is Dream Pulse, I think this one will work.

Koda: (smiling) Yeah, I think so, too.

>They loaded their cards and launched away.

Catch Your Cheers!

Kanade: Thank you so much!

Catch Your Cheers!

Shin: Thank you for your support!

Catch Your Cheers!

Junya: Your cheers will light up!

Catch Your Cheers!

Itsuki: Thank you, we’ll do our best for you!

Catch Your Cheers!

Chizuru: Your cheers will strengthen my love for you!

(Reminder: The following images are not in violation of the Tumblr policy as they do not actually contain sensitive or adult contain. They only show the upper half. Please do not flag.)

Candy Block R Series! Complete!

>DearDream performs their song, Dream Pulse. The audience really applauded when they finished.

>Meanwhile, with T’Challa and Thor.

I am still unfamiliar with this. Do all Japanese idols transform like that?

According to Stark, only those who work for this production company. Though I still wish I knew how.

(who couldn’t help but overhear) No one really knows. It’s one of Japan’s greatest mysteries. Although, I’ve heard the System works on the dreams of the idols and the people who go watch them... But that’s just one theory.

Thor: I see... I think.

King T’Challa: (looking through the Dorika) Let’s see. I was told when they first performed Up to speed!, they used this.

Iso: The original Candy Block Coord. That should be good.

Thor: Yes. Very elder school.

Iso: That’s old school.

Thor: What’s the difference?

Can you hurry up, Iso? They’re about to start up again.

Iso: Right.

Dorika Time!

Catch Your Cheers!

Kanade: Let’s get things up to speed! ... Okay, not a good job, but still.

>DearDream change their clothes.

Candy Block Series! Complete!

>DearDream performs their song, Up to speed!.

>Meanwhile, with the Investigation Team.

I brought the snacks!

Thanks, Yosuke senpai.

Yes, thank you.

I don’t think you need to copy that.

Just be careful, Yosuke, that looks like more than you can carry.

Yosuke: Sorry, Dojima san, I guess I didn’t expect a certain bear to order so many.

Teddie: (shocked) Now that’s just rude!

Yosuke: But you’re the one who- WHOA!

>Yosuke tripped.

Koda: (who noticed) Hold it!

>As if he were as fast as the wind, Koda quickly catches Yosuke and all the snacks before they hit the ground.

Koda: Your friend is right, you have way too many snacks here.

Yosuke: (a bit surprised) R- Right!

Teddie: (pouting) So mean.

Rise: (also surprised) Wow, you caught my senpai so quickly. No wonder you’re the Super High Schooler.

Koda: (helping Yosuke back on his feet) Thanks.

Nanako: (amazed) You’re the Super High Schooler? Wow. Actually, my big bro is a bit of a super high schooler himself.

Koda: ... (laughs) I doubt it. I have something he probably will never have.

Yu: And what’s that?

Koda: ... If I told you, they would kick me out of the tack team.

>The Investigation Team just stares in wonder. Koda begins to make his way back to Junichi when he suddenly felt like he was being watched. He turns... Phoebe Halliwell and the young man she was talking to were watching him. he quickly turns, pretending not to notice, and returns to Junichi.

>With them.

(using comic appearances to avoid getting in trouble) You saw it, too, didn’t you?

No doubt. So he’s really... That sucks. He’s boyfriend will probably be disappointed.

Hold on, Kaz, I don’t think we should act just yet. He hasn’t done anything, so I think we’re safe for now.

Kaz: Hope you’re right.

(sorry, this is the only picture I could find) Be patient, sir. We’ll have our chance.

Kaz: Right.

Yo, Kaz, they’re about to start.

We thought it over and we thought this should be used for GO TOMORROW!!!!!

It’s no Gucci, but I think this is just as fabulous.

Kaz: Right.

Dorika Time!

Catch Your Cheers!

Kanade: Let’s go on to our future together!

Rose Bullet Series! Complete!

>They being their song, GO TOMORROW!!!!!. The crowd really cheered, even us and the Royal Family joined in.

Looks like you guys have a favorite group.

Maybe.

Just a little.

...

Fine, a lot. But only because we can sense the heart in their songs.

As can I. If they were like us, we would definitely wish to bring them back with us.

*bark*

Iso: It’s one of the few things that makes us no different... Music.

Haechi: You might get your chance.

Kanade: Thank you for tonight’s cheers! Be sure to give that same love to KUROFUNE!

>With that, DearDream leaves and the MC arrives.

MC: For our next group, they have sailed through the trail and hardships, but have made it all they here tonight. They even recently picked up a new member. Ladies and gentlemen, weigh anchor and raise your colors for the Gold, Silver, and Bronze: KUROFUNE!

>As KUROFUNE gets on stage, the crowd cheered a lot. Me and my friends were cheering the loudest. I also notice the Investigation Team cheering really loud, too... I hope Skull gets the win on Saturday.

Yuto: The time has come to set sail to dreams ahead!

Keigo: The stars shall guide us to your hearts and your souls!

So join us on our adventure to find our passion!

KUROFUNE: Let KUROFUNE be your captain tonight!

Dorika Time!

Catch Your Cheers!

Yuto: The great seas are calling us!

Catch Your Cheers!

Keigo: Your cheers will be our map to you!

Catch Your Cheers!

New Sailing ver. Ryuji

Skull: Alright! The wind is blowin’ our way!

(Reminder: The following images are not in violation of the Tumblr policy as they do not actually contain sensitive or adult contain. They only show the upper half. Please do not flag.)

>Skull was wearing the same thing, but with a more Bronze color.

New Sailing Series! Complete!

>KUROFUNE begin their song, OVER THE SEVEN SEAS. We were cheering loudly for them.

Skull: (after finishing the song) This next song is a song I wrote. I would like to dedicate to my friends and family who supported me all this time. Especially, Ren Amamiya, Goro Akechi, Peter Parker, and Harry Osborn.

Thanks so much for everything you’ve done! I love you all!

We love you, too, brother!

We know you can do it, Ryuji!

Peter: You and KUROFUNE can do it! Together!

Harry: This is your dream! Go for it!

>Suddenly, the boy known as Makoto, leaped up from his seat.

Makoto: THAT’S RIGHT! JUST TAKE FLIGHT AND YOU CAN DO IT!

(whisper) Thanks, little bro.

Dorika Time!

Catch Your Cheers!

Innocent Pirates ver. Ryuji

Skull: I’m gonna enjoy this!

Catch Your Cheers!

Yuto: Now we shall sing to your hearts!

Catch Your Cheers!

Keigo: Your cheers shall brighten the stage tonight!

(Imagine Skull wearing the same outfit, but Bronze in comparison to Gold and Silver.)

Innocent Pirates Series! Complete!

>They being to sing Treasured Hearts.

>After they finished, a Wakandan guard comes to us.

Wakandan guard: My king and his fellow Avenger wish to speak to those Ryuji Sakamoto spoke of.

Really? They wishes to speak to us?

Wakandan guard: I also have been asked by Lady Crystal that Chloe, Kamala, and Makoto of the Future Avengers come as well.

Makoto: Only Bruno comes.

Bruno: (in defeat) Please don’t drag me into this.

Peter: Well, we should at least see what they have to say.

>We make our way to the VIP Seats where the royals were waiting for us.

Hello, Future Avengers and Web Warriors and friends.

Chloe: Hey, Triton.

Triton: We will be speaking with Chloe, Kamala, Makoto, and Bruno. King T’Challa and Thor will speak with the rest of you.

Peter: Alright.

Chloe: Tell them I’ll speak to them later.

>Me, Crow, Peter, and Harry go over to King T’Challa and Thor.

Thor: You are friends of Ryuji Sakamoto?

Joker: Yes, we are.

Peter: We support him in his dreams and what he does.

Thor: Yes. I know you two as Spider-Man and Stealth Spider, so I can say that you have made many great friends.

King T’Challa: That is true.

Crow: Is that all you just wanted to do?

King T’Challa: Maybe. I have heard a great deal about you, Goro Akechi, the Detective Prince. And your father.

Crow: What about him?

Thor: We know that Inhuman reside here in Japan as well. But they mysteriously disappeared... After the sudden appearances of psychotic breakdowns and mental shutdowns.

...

King T’Challa: But now that’s passed thanks to the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. After some time, Japan’s Inhumans are slowly resurfacing.

Joker: Yes, we know. Some of them are even at our school. But we have no problems with that. They’re not doing anything wrong.

They make Japan feel like we’re part of something bigger.

Thor: That is true... However, there is one thing that troubles us.

Crow: What’s that?

King T’Challa: ... Actually, it can wait until after the show.

Harry: You’re right. This is Ryuji’s show. Let’s not spoil it. We’ll talk later.

>We return to our seats. Chloe stays behind to talk to King T’Challa and Thor.

Stark: So what did they have to say?

Bruno: We’ll tell you later. Right now, KUROFUNE is about to sing their last song for the evening.

Adi: (nods) I searched the deck and I think I know just the cards to use for this song.

Crow: I think that will be just perfect.

Dorika Time!

Catch Your Cheers!

Yuto: Now for our finale for tonight!

Catch Your Cheers!

Keigo: Thank you! This will keep me going!

Catch Your Cheers!

Skull: Nothin’ is between me and your Cheers!

(Skull’s has bronze colored feathers on both shoulders.)

Infinite Voyage Series! Complete!

>KUROFUNE performs their last song of the night, Whole New World. (Not the song from Aladdin, in case you were wondering.)

>With the Investigation Team.

(Can’t believe I didn’t get to talk when we came to the scene with Kida.) That song was great. It’s definitely nothing like the Disney one... Actually, they’re both good.

Nanako: I want to vote them to win the competition.

Rise: Well technically, KUROFUNE already won in a previous Dream FES. They’re not Rookie Idols anymore. Except for Ryuji, so I guess we can vote for him.

Nanako: Then I’ll vote for him.

Yu: That’s good of you, Nanako.

Teddie: Yes. Beary good.

Rise: If he ever makes it, I so want to help him with his CD. Yosuke senpai, you help, too.

Yosuke: (a little confused) Why me?

Rise: Well, you always have headphones on. Maybe you can lend a hand.

Yosuke: (groans) As if I have nothing better to do. And I have a relative who’s an idol, too.

>With us.

Way to go, KUROFUNE!

Adi: I agree!

Mrs. Sakamoto: I love you, Ryu kun!

(Does she have to shout out my pet name?)

Keigo: Thank you! And we hope you will share that love with Ryuji san and vote for him for the competition!

>The whole audience really cheered as the MC comes back on.

MC: I’m sure they will, Keigo san. And good luck to you... Ryu kun.

(trying to walk off stage quietly) (Keep it together. Keep it together.)

MC: And now, for our last group of the evening. They help with the most difficult questions in your life No matter what, they are the ones you are searching for. (Mostly because they were voted for that name.) Ladies and gentlemen, give a big hand for ANSwer!

Akiomi Inamasu: Good evening, Tokyo!

Nanao Hidaka: We may be last, but we’re really not the last!

Souji Kibino: Yes.

ANSwer: Now let’s get to it!

(Since they’re a minor group in Dream Festival, we’ll be skipping their song. Sorry, guys. Maybe if they make a third series.)

MC: Weren’t they spectacular? Make you wish they really were the answer, then every student would pass their test.

>Everyone laughs a little and the joke as they applauded.

MC: Well, that’s it for tonight. When we come back on Wednesday, we’ll be having our Open Mike Nite. Anyone wishing to perform doing whatever show they wish to put on, good luck to you all! And remember... If you wish to use the System, you have to sign in and pay the fee in advance before Wednesday. If you haven’t, you have to pay double.

>All the idols join the MC on stage.

Haruto: The Open Mike Nite is here to remind us that you are just as important to us as we are important to you.

Kanade: You have just as much talent as we do. If not in singing or dancing, then in other ways. No matter what.

Yuto: We wish only good luck to you for showing us just how well you do what you do. Not in competition, just for fun.

Akiomi Inamasu: So let’s see what you can do that night. So until then...

Idols: Our goal is the Dream Festival! Dream FES is about to start!

>Everyone in the audience, including us, cheer happily.

>In the dressing room, we, including, the Investigation Team, Tony Stark, and the Future Avengers, came back to congratulate KUROFUNE for their performance.

Flash: That! Was! AWESOME! ... Though it will never be as cool as Spidey.

Peter: Aw, thanks, Flash.

Flash: (unimpressed) Don’t push it, Parker.

What Mr. Thompson is trying to say is, you guys did well tonight.

Keigo: Thank you, Makoto chan.

Makoto: That’s gonna be tough. My name is like hers.

Queen: I don’t mind being called Mako chan if that’s alright with Haru.

Noir: It should be fine.

Mrs. Sakamoto: Ryu kun, I’m so proud of your performance.

Skull: Thanks, Mom. (And enough with the Ryu kun, already.)

Rise: Just keep it up and might win that CD debut.

Skull: Yeah. I’m lookin’ forward to it.

Yu: We’ll be supporting you all the way.

Yuto You have good friends, Ryuji san. Be happy with that.

You know it.

Oracle: This calls for a celebration!

After-party at Leblanc! Sojiro, let’s get a turkey.

Now hold it! I don’t think it’s big enough to fit us all.

Oracle: In that case...

Let’s pull our funds and get some sushi!

Diego: (really happy) I can get on board with that.

Fox: That could be hard. I’m low on cash at the moment.

Skull: Let me guess, art supplies?

Pretty much.

Harry: I’m rich. I can get the sushi.

Stark: I better pitch in, too. I still remember from what happened the last time I had some.

Bruno: I doubt you’ll be attacked this time.

I’m not going to ask what that means.

>We begin to make our way to the exit. I notice that the dressing room used by Sankishi. I hear voices in there. I couldn’t help buy listen.

Randy: Hey, Ren, you coming?

Joker: ... My shoelace came undone. You go, I’ll catch up.

Flash: Alright, but hurry up. I really want to taste that sushi.

Diego: I want some sushi, too... But I’ll stay behind and help.

>With that, the rest of the groups leaves while me and Diego stay.

Diego: What’s up, Joker?

Joker: I thought I heard something in Sankishi’s dressing room. I’m very suspicious.

Diego: Alright. I’ll see what I can do.

>Diego changes back to Morgana form and sneaks into the room. I access his collar cam with my phone... I was a little shocked.

Shido: Is that any way to talk to an old friend? Or even a fan?

Haruto: We’re not friends. But we still accept you as a fan.

Susa: And after knowing your secret, I doubt we’ll be friends now.

Ichika: Sorry. Guess stuff like this just happens.

Shido: I merely come here to congratulate you, and this is how you treat me? ... After everything I’ve done for D-Four?

Haruto: Tch! Don’t remind us. I’m surprised we’re still going after what happened with the Phantom Thieves... And what you did to your son?

>Shido, his face full of fury, bashes his fist against a mirror, shattering it.

Listen and listen well, you fucking, ungrateful fools! If it weren’t for me, D-Four Productions and you would have lost everything. The three of you would be out of a job. Your little proteges would be out of a job...

So I suggest you be a little more nicer.

Haruto: (looking down) ...

>Morgana returns to me and changes back to Diego. Just then, Shido walks out and notices us.

Can I help you two?

Well...

Shido: (staring at me) You look... familiar.

?????: I see you’ve met my new intern.

>I look up to see Tony Stark and Yuto coming up.

Shido: (unconvinced) Really? I don’t see someone like you hiring someone like him, Stark. What is this about?

Stark: (firm) It’s exactly as I said. Now if you don’t mind, I was about to treat my intern and his friend to sushi. So if you’re not too busy, you’re welcome to join us.

Shido: ... I’m due back at the Wilton. See you on Wednesday.

>With that, he leaves.

Yuto: We better go. Everyone’s waiting.

>So, we leave.

>The sushi restaurant in Ginza. While everyone partied, Stark and Yuto spirited me and Diego to a stall.

Yuto: How much did you hear?

Joker: A lot. What was that about?

Yuto: As most people probably don’t know, but there was a time D-Four Productions almost ceased to exist.

Diego: (a bit surprised) Really? What happened?

Yuto: ... Calystegia.

Joker: The song by Kanamin Kitchen originally written by deceased idol, Yuko Osada?

Yuto: Yes.When they sang it at the Love Meets Bonds Festival, their popularity skyrocketed... And they totally forgot about the Dream Festival. Only about 250 people showed up.

Diego: That’s harsh.

Yuto: With everyone so focused on Kanamin Kitchen, who works for Takura Productions, sales for D-Four were dropping. If that kept going on, many idol groups would have to be let go. Sankishi included. Even Amuse, Lantis and Bandai Namco, the companies that birthed D-Four, would have severed their ties with them to avoid being dragged down. Then, they would have filed for bankruptcy and their only salvation is to be bought out. Mostly likely their competitor, Takura Productions, or an overseas company, like Apollon Media.

Joker: Why would Apollon be interested in the Dream Festival?

Yuto: I don’t know. And I don’t care to find out. Anyway, Masayoshi Shido, who was already a major and well believed politician and a big fan of Sankishi, bailed them out by raising their popularity back up by showing his support. As a result, the next Dream Festival... The same Dream Festival KUROFUNE and DearDream first appeared, was a huge success.

Diego: So you owe him?

Yuto: Well, that’s what Shido thought. After his heart was changed by yo- The Phantom Thieves, our deal with him was over... But D-Four itself wasn’t.

Stark: Yeah, you’re welcome.

You helped them, Mr. Stark?

Stark: I got curious about why Shido loved Sankishi. So I listened to their songs... And I truly understood why they are famous for the night of a million cheers... That, and I was curious how the Dream FES System worked. Or even where it came from. So, I bought D-Four Productions. Now they’re members of the Stark International Family and those other companies didn’t have to sever their ties.

Diego: That’s quite generous of you, Mr. Stark.

Stark: Yeah, well, I still want to know more about the System... Maybe another time. Anyway, I wouldn’t worry about Shido now. But just to be sure, we’ll keep an eye on him.

Yuto: And Ren, Diego, about what we just told you...

Diego: It’s our little secret.

Yuto: (happy) Thank you.

Joker: And than you for keeping D-Four open, Mr. Stark. It means a lot to Ryuji.

Stark: You can thank me by not calling me Mr. Stark. Just call me Tony.

Joker: I don’t think we can do that.

Stark: Why not?

For starters, we already know a CEO named Tony.

Stark: I see... But for the record, I’m a way better Tony than that skate punk.

>I smile a bit. And we rejoin the others.

#phantom thieves cam #dream festival #dream fes

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segadores-y-soldados · 6 years

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I'm honestly frustrated by people complaining about getting lore through "secondary sources", esp. When Tracer was revealed as gay. In nearly any other situation this would be fair but in OVW? Where would that reveal have worked? In easily missed ingame dialogue?

I’m going to go on a personal story here.

(Long personal post under the cut)

My first console was the Gamecube. I was in my early teens, rapidly becoming very confused by increasing gender dysphoria, though I did not know the term for it at the time.

In late 2005, Nintendo of America released Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. It was not my first FE game - I had played through The Binding Blade (FE7) and Sacred Stones (FE8) - so I expected nothing different here. Core mechanics were the same, basic plotline felt the the same: Ike, a young mercenary, must choose between helping the distressed Princess Elincia reclaim her country after a neighboring country attacked it. Ike and his band of mercenaries choose to do the right thing, they help her - the whole story is about their efforts to secure an army for her, and then go on the counterattack. Along the way, there are implications that Elincia is developing implied romantic feelings for Ike.

Incredibly, Ike does not.

Despite the efforts by Nintendo of America to “scrub the game” free of this content, the largest subplot in the game is about Ike getting his male best friend, Soren, to open up and trust him. If this plotline is pursued, Soren dedicates his life to Ike. In Fire Emblem, this translates to an A relationship status, which can then be carried over to the sequel game, Radiant Dawn.

If a game file with an A relationship between Ike and Soren is achieved, you can unlock special bonus content in Radiant Dawn, including another large subplot storyline about finding out more about Soren’s personal history.

At the end of the game, they literally run off into the sunset and go on what is effectively a lifelong honeymoon.

When peace had settled on the land, Soren packed lightly and set off with the only person he had ever trusted.

---

Once he saw stability returned, Ike left on a journey to lands still unknown. He was never seen again.

In 2018, most people would accept that this is a gay relationship.

In 2005 to 2007 (when Radiant Dawn was released), this was not the case.

I have seen slurs, mockery, harassment, and threats against people for advocating that two fictional male characters loved each other. Two years ago, I essentially left a Fire Emblem community that I had been a member of for years because the moderators would not stop another user from harassing me for being openly LGBT and for supporting this ship.

I would probably not be as hardcore in the Overwatch fandom if I was still a part of that community.

...Even now, thirteen years later, I would sell my soul for anyone from Nintendo to say:

“For those who have specifically asked, Ike identifies as gay.”

...

I’m not saying that tweets by the lead writer are the best way to reveal these details, nor am I saying that the pacing of Overwatch’s releases are necessarily good or efficient or amazing. Do I wish we got to see the other MEKA pilots in the short? Absolutely. Would I love a comic about them? Of course.

But you know what?

Sometimes just stating something openly and honestly IS an acceptable way to reveal something, whether that’s D.Mon being from the same esports team as D.Va or Tracer’s orientation.

I think people in the OW fandom sometimes forget that a number of things have been revealed or confirmed - concretely - by developers and writers in tweets, or interviews, or con panels. Sometimes, you don’t have the space to write it into a short or comic without the dialogue feeling stiff or wooden (imagine how incredibly awkward it would be if Winston was like, “Oh, Lena, you’re a lesbian?”). Sometimes, you simply need to reaffirm a basic fact (“these guys loved each other” comes to mind) or make a statement of clarity:

Michael: Moira is a scientist. She is not so much interested in conquering the world, even though she has allied herself with people who might have proclivities in that direction. She is really just into the actual science. She wants to understand the fundamentals of human life, and how they can be manipulated. She is a geneticist, and that is her primary goal, and that is all she wants. But the thing that makes her villainous is that she doesn’t quite have like some of the morals that the rest of us have.

(Michael Chu on the Moira reveal panel at Blizzcon 2017)

We can look at things like “Captain Myung” and go, “That’s ridiculous. Why won’t they just put that in the game somewhere?” and completely forget that sometimes, decisions to make content as simple as the leading female protagonist kissing her girlfriend can still have real world repercussions, both good and bad:

The “Reflections” comic is blocked in Russia.

So sometimes, stating things open and honestly is the answer.

Yes, not everyone has access to Twitter, or Reddit, or the Blizzard forums. And on the flip side, not everyone has access to Youtube, Twitch, or even the comics.

I’m using big examples, but the semi-open dialogue between Overwatch fans and the developers/writers can still be important on smaller levels. Someone on reddit posted that the memorial stones in the Busan shrine map have some inaccuracies, and in less than a day, Michael has already commented that:

I did (see the post)! We're going to try to get it fixed for Busan's release.

Another example, people are pointing out that the mech garages in the MEKA base map is missing one for D.Va’s mech Tokki. When Michael said that they decided against it for level design (as in, they were worried that players would get confused by an “extra D.Va mech” on the map), people commented with, “Maybe just make an empty pink garage?”

I’ll pass the feedback on to the art team!

...Being a conscientious consumer - and a conscientious fan of something - does not mean you can only react with praise or criticism. And sometimes, being a conscientious creator - and a conscientious writer - means simply “telling” and not always “showing.”

Again, this does not mean to NOT critique or engage in critical discussions. We should, we always should. But maybe, sometimes, it means not sending out that petty “Get off twitter and go do your job” reply and instead thinking, “Here is the lead developer or writer for this game. Maybe I can ask something instead.”

And you never know what answer you might get.

I don’t like sounding like a shill. This company does not need me patting its goddamn back. But in light of another major, non-game fandom currently having a major community discussion on bad LGBT tropes (you can probably guess which one), a tweet listing the mech names is pretty solid.

And there’s probably a few people out there who are happy to see something as simple as “they loved each other” and “matching gaming handles” get a tweet.

#personal #reply #replies #answer #deadgodjess

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letsdothistom · 5 years

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Air Guitar and 85 MPH!

I was going to spend my second “blog” discussing pretentiousness in Santa Fe or New Mexican food and green chile in general. But since I came up with something a little more fun, I guess I’ll save the talk about ordering water in a bowl and drinking it with a spoon for a different time. On my drive back to Oklahoma I thought of a topic that always shows its face when I’m on a road trip. I often forget about it until the next time I’m in the car or just don’t put much thought into it once I’ve opened the car doors and let the dog out to deal with his pent up energy as I unload the car. Not to mention the obligatory hour I have to spend re-aquainting myself to the cat, who is certain that I have disappeared forever this time.

The topic that came to me is road trip songs.

I love road trips. You may think I’m crazy but settling into the driver seat, snacks on the passenger seat, the basset hound panting in my face, his front feet on the console, anticipating our newest adventure, is the best. Within a pretty short time, he tends to realize that this is just another day-long roady and roughs up his blanket in the backseat and settles in for the ride. Giving me weird basset hound glances in the mirror. Not sure if it’s the music or he just wants some pork rinds.

Now these road trips of mine usually arent extravagant or exotic. Unless you consider driving state highways through Kansas, Oklahoma, Wyoming or any other of the fly-over states I tend to travel as being exotic. (Personally I’d choose these drives over just about any other you could propose to me). The great thing about these road trips, aside from seeing so many wonderful historically relevant places (as well as plenty of non-relevant places), and feeling a oneness with wide open spaces, is the time you get to yourself to hone your listening skills.

Those of you that know me, know that I have many preferences when it comes to music. As Cheech says in Up In Smoke, “we play everything from El Chicano to Santana”. I love it all. Some more than others, but I probably have a song or two from every type of playlist or genre that you can think of. Add to that the fact that if there is a specific location I’m aiming my car to (often there is not), I will jam songs from or about that location. For instance, while driving the empty roads of New Mexico it will be Ennio Morricone and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly soundtrack. Wyoming is of course Chris LeDoux country. On my way to Kansas City to eat BBQ, it’s Joe Williams singing “Kansas City” or Charlie Parker and K.C. Blues. Memphis is Sister Rosetta Tharpe (you can keep Elvis, I am not a fan. Yeah, I said it). West Texas? Marty Robbins Gunfighter Ballads, of course! Down south, it’s Big Maybelle, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Muddy Waters. You get the idea. It may seem strange but there is something that touches my soul in listening to those songs that are native to an area. Whether or not I actually do learn anything, it feels as though I have.

With that weird little eccentricity out of the way, let me add that of course there are some staples of any road trip, for me at least. These are songs, albums and artists that I listen to, to fill in all the empty spaces of those relatively uneventful miles, musically or otherwise. Maybe it’s Def Leppard or ACDC or Beyonce or Ariana Grande for you. For me these are easy. I can not even begin to guess how many miles have been eaten up by Merle Haggard, or The Count Basie Orchestra. I am not scared of extreme opposites. Hundreds upon thousands upon tens of thousands of miles have been chewed up by these two musical groups, and yes, I’m aware that I am probably the only person living who can claim that.

The millennials reading this will have no idea about this next category. There use to be these things called albums. Albums were a group of songs, recorded (usually around the same time), and released as a unit to the masses. These units were sold as vinyl records, cassette tapes, 8-tracks, or CDs. Those of us a little older can attest that 90 percent of these albums had 2-4 songs that we liked and a bunch of other average or barely tolerable songs that you listened to whether you liked them or not (if you didn’t have control of the radio in the car). Sometimes, you even grew to enjoy a few of those songs. On rare occasions though, you found an entire album, yes the whole thing! that you enjoyed. For all of us oldies, these albums are near and dear to our hearts. They vary from person to person, but these are a few I can put on and just let them play, enjoying almost every song: Van Halen-1984, Blood Sweat and Tears-Greatest hits, Nirvana-Nevermind, George Strait-Strait From The Heart, Muddy “Mississippi” Waters-Live, Art Blakey-Moanin’, U2-Joshua Tree, Miles Davis-Kind of Blue, Steve Miller Band-Greatest Hits 74-78, IceT-Greatest Hits to name a few of my favorites.

All of these categories are important to a good road trip. You must have a combination of all of them. Yeah, I know, all of you XM/Sirius users are claiming that you don’t need any of them. You got genres on every channel, and all you ever need with all those fancy channels. To those of you in that camp, I say “HOGWASH!” Why Hogwash? Well no matter how specific these channels are, or how much you enjoy the carefree toggling between your favorite genres, no road trip is complete without those irreplaceable, epic, nostalgic songs that nearly blow out your speakers and get your ears ringing whenever you choose to rock them. And how the hell are you supposed to play these favorites 2, 3, 10 times in a row with your XM radio?! You can’t. So without further palaver, I’m gonna lay my favorites out and would love to hear some of yours.

Rich’s top 20 Road Trip Jams (if you have any sense, you will build this playlist!-yeah I know it’s not gonna float everyone’s boat but if nothing else, listen to it, you might find some music that you don’t normally dig.) And for the record, none of these songs ever get bumped off the list, new ones just get added to it occasionally. As weird as it may be, here is my list:

Honorable Mentions. These songs get me thinking about all the great road trip songs and my musical wheels start turning. It’s on when I hear any of these songs.

Runnin on Empty-Jackson Browne, Hello Walls-Faron Young, Blues in Hoss Flat-Count Basie, Night In Tunisia-Ella Fitzgerald, Gimme All Your Love-Alabama Shakes, Miles and Miles of Texas-Asleep at the Wheel, China Grove-Doobie Brothers, Come Down-Anderson Paak, Crosstown Traffic-Jimi Hendrix, El Paso-Marty Robbins, Ida Red-Bob Wills and Sunshine of Your Love-Cream. Those get me started but here is when it gets real.

20-16 These are like the kindling for me. Getting the fire lit, and starting my descent into the next hour of driving, without really remembering the road I’ve just driven or the scenes outside the window.

20) Suavecito-Malo Ok, Ok, it wouldn’t seem like a fire starter, but...

19) Magic Man-Heart This one should get your blood flowing

18) Keep on Rockin’ Me-Steve Miller The best roady to choose from SMB

17) Watermelon Man-Herbie Hancock You might not have soul if you don’t love this

16) When My Train Pulls In- Gary Clark JR Great Long Jam. incredible guitar riffs

11-15 These are a small step up, adding logs to my fire

15) Me and Mrs. Jones-Billy Paul So there’s always a song that you love to sing while you are alone in your car, and you think you sing it just as well as the artist

14) Stairway to Heaven-Led Zeppelin Ok so of course I have it, but this is a really, really great song no matter how many times it is played.

13) Ev’ryday I have the Blues-Count Basie and Joe Williams The definition of a foot stomper.

12) Luckenbach, TX-Waylon and Willie One of the best country songs translates to a great road song.

11) The Story- Brandi Carlisle Not a song liable to be on many lists, road trip or not. My sister introduced me to this years and years ago and it barely misses the top 10

6-10 Ok, we are really cookin with gas now. These are legendary roadies in my book. The dog gives me a look, here we go again.

10) Rooster-Alice In Chains Gets my grunge on. I love everything about this song. Probably one of the biggest contributors to hearing loss in my right ear.

9) Six Days on the Road-Dave Duncan All those over-the-road truckers can’t be wrong, this is the best of all truckin’ songs.

8) Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down-Merle Haggard My favorite country singer and a whole lot of my favorite country music instrument, the steel guitar. Damn I love this song

7) Ticket To Ride-Beatles There are tons of Beatles songs to choose from and this isn’t my favorite, but it is my favorite on the road

6) 867-5309-Tommy Tutone This is my favorite 80s song. And when I hear that guitar riff at the beginning...Jenny, Jenny who can I turn to?

2-5 These are huge, the fire is roaring and I have no concerns as to what is going on at this point. I’ll be singing, playing drums, air guitar. The dog has now tried to cover his ears due to the volume.

5) Jamie’s Cryin-Van Halen Im not sure why, because there are tons of Van Halen songs to choose from, but for whatever reason, this one is my favorite while on the road

4) North To Alaska-Johnny Horton Ok, another one you may not expect at all but damn this is a fun song. I physically can’t help whaling “big nuggets they’re finding” every time!

3) Pink Houses-John Cougar Mellencamp Im not a globalist. ‘Murica!!

2) Sweet Child of Mine-Guns and Roses This should be on everyones list. Road songs or any other. Simply one of the best songs ever.

Number 1!!!

So all the previous songs are great. I love them all, and many, many more. This is an elaborate list for me. If you know me, you know I love lists, and don’t make them without deep thought. But Ironically, the battle for the top spot isn’t even close. I LOVE Sweet Child of Mine, and Pink Houses. I might play them 2 or 3 times in a row, but the battle for number one isn’t much of a battle. Not because these others arent great but because number one is so unbelievably spectacular in the car. I can’t help singing to it, playing air guitar, drum solo in my car, volume literally turned up 3 or 4 times during the song, ears ringing and can’t even hear myself singing, and just when you don’t think it could be any better, it gets better!!! There are times I may play this song 5, 6 times in a row if things are cookin. I can barely keep the needle under 85 mph! The number one song for the road is:

1) More Than A Feeling- Boston I really built it up, and with good reason. Rock ballad, guitar anthem, unbelievable vocals, harmony soft, loud, louder, high, higher, drums...what else can I say? This is simply the best road trip song ever!!

Ok, that’s it. Maybe it was anti-climatic for you, but I got jazzed just listing the songs. I may go take a drive just to hear the playlist! I’d love to hear everyone else’s playlist that they take on every trip. Maybe I’m missing some good road trip songs!

I hope the dog never figures out how to jump out of the car while it’s moving.

#roadtrip music playlist

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