#just the fact that i've posted this means episode 7 is going to open up with kim dead on the floor or something lmao

[villa-kulla]

McWexler Musings

since there’s no Saul tonight, you’ll have to suffer through my CURRENT finale theory

But for real if we’re talking about BCS finale theories, more specifically what happens to KIM, at this point it’s clear that BCS has become, at its heart, a love story. And this is directly from GGG (the Gospel of Gilligan & Gould) not just my own McWexler obsessed heart. My Kim theories have varied WIDELY, with everything from death to prison to vacuum to scandal (and of course, the theory of Kim just being Claire’s employee next to Gene’s Cinnabon). And while I know that last one was a fandom joke, I could actually so see a return to humble Nebraska for Kim

They’ve made a point to remind us of Kim’s origins this season when we get the flashback to Kim shoplifting (especially the Nebraska license plate zoom). Whatever does happen to Kim - and I’ve 90% ruled out death these days although I’m knocking vigorously on wood - I could totally see an ultimate return to her roots. Whether they take a scandal route, disbarment route, vacuum vanisher route, or simply Kim just being unable to deal with the consequences of her choices and hightailing it, WHATEVER. But I see her ending up back in Nebraska, defeated by design, as some kind of bitter yet determined atonement. She lives out her predictions of what her life would have been like if she hadn’t left, and is working a dead-end job, maybe in a department store saying nothing about the kids who shoplift, possibly even working in a mail room somewhere for ~cruel irony~

breaking bad happens, yada yada yada

THEN. What if we jump to immediately post-BrBa??? This season opened not in black and white cinnamon world, but swirling colourful Saul world, with the police seizure of Saul’s effects. So what if IMMEDIATELY after that we get to see Jimmy actually being spirited off to Nebraska?? Nebraska where he KNOWS Kim is now??? And what if he shows up on her doorstep asking her to come away with him?? And it’s only been a couple years and she’s understandably still spooked from her own experiences like “I heard on the news. Just how deep into this did you get, Jimmy?”, and can’t get past Jimmy going from a friend of the cartel, to actually greasing the wheels for the cartel. Jimmy pleads, maybe she’s even tempted for a minute, almost goes with him, but then I don’t know, her gaze falls on a candle in her living room and she just CAN’T do it and throws Jimmy out, telling him to never contact her again. Jimmy and Kim resign themselves to hollow existences.

BUT THEN. TIME JUMP TO BLACK AND WHITE CINNAMON LAND. Jimmy has been MADE. Last season when he was recognized he was all “I’ll deal with this myself”. What if deling with it consists of him showing up one more time on Kim’s door as a final hail mary, like “You never have to see me again after this. OR you could come with me right now.” And she stands on her steps of whatever dingy aparment she’s living in, just ilke the one she grew up in. And they both look at each other freezing on the steps, more tired and lined than they once were, but something’s still there. And maybe it’s Kim’s need to self-sabotage and leave security behind, maybe it’s the love she still has for Jimmy, maybe it’s the innately Kim Wexler part of her that needs more. Whatever it is, she’s left Nebraska once, she can do it again. And without even packing a bag she steps into’s Jimmy’s car and they drive off. And now apply the Felina scipt notes for Jesse to them: “Grimly determined, fearing nothing, he speeds through the darkness. From here on, it’s up to us to say where he’s headed. I like to call it “something better,” and leave it at that.”

END SERIES.

so yeah, the downside is this theory has messy time jumping, and would be hard to streamline in 6 remaining episodes lmao. But on the plus side it has Jimmy and Kim driving off into the sunset and that’s kind of all I need in life so yeah.

ANYWAY.

Gilligan and Gould are beautiful twisted freaks and I will happily take whatever they give me, knowing it will be the best choice. But we know from BrBa that they believe in emotional closure, and if not happy endings, then bittersweet ones that don’t leave a bad taste in your mouth. Also they are....kinda huge saps AND McWexler shippers and honestly at this point I feel like they want McWexler end game as much as I do, so yeah, SPEAKING IT INTO EXISTENCE 👍 

#better call saul #kim wexler #jimmy mcgill #mcwexler #look i don't actually normally watch series in a 'ooooh i'm going to guess what happens next' way like i'm content to go along for the ride #but then end is NIGHER THAN EVER and i have Concerns lol #just the fact that i've posted this means episode 7 is going to open up with kim dead on the floor or something lmao #god.....imagine #actually no shan't #anyways i love them they love each other @G&G don't mess with me on this #i just love the idea of jimmy showing up on kim's door like some kind of over the hill mr darcy with a combover okay

[wenellyb]

Random thoughts on Bucktommy and Buddie

Please bare in mind that I'm only sharing my personal opinion and that I'm always open to discuss.

The discussions I've had over the past couples of weeks have been very interesting and I wanted to add my 2 cents.

Before season 7 episode:

I'm a causal viewer of 911 and I'm also on Tumblr so of course, I know Buddie, but I've never really shipped it... I can understand the appeal and I think the ship has potential but I never felt like the writers ever intended to go there. And I'm not a big fan of non-canon ships.

If they had gotten together, however, I think that I would have enjoyed it.

What has always bothered me was the behavior of some Buddie shippers who would complain about queerbaiting on the show, when there were already several Queers characters in it and one character (Hen), who's part of the main cast. I always got a weird feeling that those shippers didn't care about Queer characters if they weren't White. There is also a spinoff of the show, 911 Lone star with Queer characters who are also part of the main cast.

To me, the fact that Buck and Eddie never got together was a writing decision, not queerbaiting or anything like that... the writers had decided this wasn't the way to go for Buck and Eddie's chatacters, because if they had wanted to write a storyline between them, they could have.

I've seen a lot of people being happy about Buck being confirmed as Bi, and I get it. But to me, it was confirmed he was bi in the 911/911 Lone Star crossover when TK told Buck he had a boyfriend after Buck asked him out. I was just waiting for a storyline to confirm it. Obviously, I always thought the storyline would involve Eddie, but I was wrong.

After Season 7 Episode 4:

I follow some 911 accounts so I knew something was happening before the episode aired and I saw a preview of Buck seemingly being jealous of Eddie leaving with Tommy and I thought... this is it, this is where the writers are going to confirm Buddie. Buck will realize his jealous and realize he has feeling for Eddie or something like that.

I was very curious so I tuned in for that episode and imagine my surprise when I realized at the end, that the jealousy wasn't about who we thought and all this time the writers had been planning a storyline with Tommy.

So to me, it doesn't look like the writers are planning a Buddie storyline. Otherwise they would have prepared it gradually after the Buck and TK's discussion.

That doesn't mean it won't change in the future, writers and showrunners can change but I have never noticed them introducing a storyline that could lead to a Buddie relationship.

Everytime I see a post "proving" Buddie, it's always showing something friends or best friends do (hugging, being affectionnate), even Eddie making Buck Chris' legal guardian is something a best friend could do.

I'm not saying that they couldn't be romantic in another context, but there hasn't been any indication that the writers are planning a romantic plot for Buck and Eddie.

The writers decided to go there with Buck and Tommy. They're treating their story like a romcom, with the kiss, the hearteyes and everything. Buck is obviously into Tommy and being ready to tell the world about him.

That's the storyline the writers have decided to give us and it's a very nice one.

I know a lot of people are expecting Tommy and Buck to be temporary but to me that's wishful thinking. It wouldn't make sense to have Buck invite Tommy to his sister's wedding just for them to break up a few episodes later. If a breakup is what the writers had in mind, they would just set up another normal date.

Shipping goggles are ok, I have other ships for which I have shipping goggles on and for which I'm not very objective.

What's not ok is trying to ruin the fun of Bucktommy shippers who are trying to enjoy this beautiful storyline but can't go in the tags without seeing a post about the ship's impeding break up.

#bucktommy #evan buckley #tommy kinard #eddie diaz #buddie #911 spoilers #always open to discuss this as long as you're not urde #rude*

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Hello. I've been binge reading your meta post an I loves all of it. I have one question, though I don't know if you had the same question or not. If you had I'm sorry feel free to ignore this but if you hadn't, this is my question. Many people said Adrien as sentimonster is a good plot and the other said it's also good metaphor for abuse children. But what do you think about the senti plot? Is it necessary? And what do you think the writer is trying to achieve with the plot if Adrien doesn't even allowed to know about what he is?

Thank you! I'm glad that you've been enjoying my rambles! I don't think I've touched on those aspects of the sentiplot, so here goes!

Is it Necessary/What's The Goal?

I don't think that the sentiplot is even remotely necessary. My two cents is that it reads like something that was added relatively last-minute in order to add some cheap drama to draw the plot out because they didn't have enough content to organically fill seven seasons. Part of the reason that I'm comfortable saying that is because we've seen the writers do this type of move many times before. I don't wanna get too into the weeds on this, but a good example is the love triangles with Luka and Kagami.

Luka and Kagami are never treated as real alternate love interests. They're just road blocks on the love square highway that allow for seasons three to end on a cliff hanger. The fact that season four opens on two episodes meant to reassure the audience that Lukanette and Adrigami are doomed to fail is proof of this. No one is actually supposed to ship those ships. There's no Team Luka vs Team Adrien. It's just cheap drama.

The other reason that I feel comfortable calling the sentiplot cheap shoehorned drama is because the sentiplot has no teeth. A big reason why I refused to believe that it was going to be a thing was because it's an extremely serious plot that has no place in a Y-7 show. The wielder of raw destruction can have his free will overwritten at any time! The show has made jewelry theft a common teenage past time! This is bad!

And yet, once it's introduced, it goes nowhere. Gabe gives the most lackluster commands humanly possible and Nathalie undoes every one of them before they have a chance to meaningfully impact the plot. The biggest fallout of the sentiplot was that the Adrienette kiss got delayed a bit. How terrifying.

If the sentiplot had the weight it deserved, then it would have destroyed Adrientte in a big, dramatic fashion. Gabriel would have commanded Adrien to date Kagami and Tomoe would have done the same for Kagami re Adrien. But that's too serious, so we don't even get Gabe telling Adrien to break up with Marinette. He just tells Adrien to not see her and Marinette never has any clue that something went wrong there because Nathalie undoes the command two minutes later.

The Sentiplot's and Emilie

You may have read the previous section and thought, "But wait, doesn't the sentiplot give an explanation for why Emilie used the peacock? Didn't we need that?"

No, we didn't. Felix's little play and Gabe's memory of the night they used the peacock both heavily imply that no one knew that the peacock would kill you. It's why Felix exists! His father did not willingly give his life to have a kid and neither did Emilie. It was an unknown side effect.

Imo, it would have actually been better if Emilie hadn't used the peacock for such obviously selfish reasons. I mean, is anyone really saying, "Oh no, the rich lady used forbidden magic (and possibly killed some people?) to get a designer baby, then faced unexpected consequences! How awful for her! She didn't deserve that!"

Wouldn't it have been a far more interesting and complex story if Emilie used the peacock because she wanted to help someone else? If she was an unambiguously good person who suffered for doing the right thing or even just a morally gray thing? Wouldn't that make Gabriel's quest feel more righteous and less like a temper tantrum by a rich, entitled white guy who used his wealth in a morally dubious manner and paid for it?

The Sentiplot as an Abuse Metephor

I don't think that the writers meant for the sentiplot to be an abuse metaphor. In fact, I sincerely hope they didn't because it's a terrible one! Or, at least, a depressing one.

Abuse - especially childhood abuse - is something that sticks with us. A lot of victims will be forever scared by what they went through. But just because they bare scares doesn't mean that they're trapped by their abuse and can never break free. This is true even if the abuse caused mental health issues like PTSD or CPTSD, conditions that can never be cured because you know what they can be? Controlled and mitigated to the point where the victim is no longer ruled by their condition.

There's also the fact that abuse victims - especially child abuse victims - can and often do reach a point where their abusers no longer have any power over them. I have personally seen a child abuse victim go thought the process of realizing that their parent is just another adult now. All the power that the parent once held is gone. The child doesn't depend on them for food and shelter anymore. If the abuse starts up again, then the child can just get up and walk away.

That's not true for a sentimonster. Sentimonsters don't grow up and get more agency/power. At any point, their abuser can get ahold of their amok and override their free will, taking away the sentimonster's freedom even if the sentimonster is on another continent! There is no means of true escape.

No abuse victim will ever be that powerless. Abuse victims can escape abuse and they do have true free will. Sentimonsters will always be sentimonsters.

Is the Sentiplot Good?

No. It's too serious for a kids show. In fact, now that it's canon, here's my two cents: all of the sentikids are massive liabilities to the team who need to give up their miraculouses immediately because they can never be truly trusted. Felix has shown us time and time again how easy it is to steal an amok and replace it with a fake, so we must always assume that the sentikids are compromised because to assume otherwise is to invite the miraculouses to fall into the wrong hands. It's just not worth the risk to trust a senti.

Along the same lines, the love square should never be canon unless Marinette gives up Guardianship because Adrien is a liability to the safety of the miraculouses even if he didn't wield on himself. The only way to get around this issue is to use the wish to make the sentikids human, but Gabe failed to even do that one kindness for his son, so here we are. Season six will either drive this point home by having Lila use the amoks to mess with Adrien or it will drop the sentiplot forever, proving just how cheap and poorly thought out it was.

Other issues I think I've already addressed in other posts, but that are still a problem that make the plot bad:

a sentimonster's creator defines the sentimonster's worth, thus there being no issue with Felix making sentimonsters and then killing them or the heroes destroying them, but it would somehow be wrong if we did the same thing to any of the sentikids

any command you give a sentimonster can be overwritten and sentimonsters can't resist even if they know they're being controlled, so there's truly no hope to free them

giving your leading lady anxiety issues and a boyfriend whose free will is constantly in jeopardy is cruel and unusual punishment

an insane number of lore issues like why is it impossible to destroy other sentimonsters, but Adrien can be destroyed in akuma fights? Cataclysms are pure destruction! It makes no sense that akumas can do what a cataclysm can't. And is Adrien able to die a natural death? What happens to his amok when he does? Will his children be able to be controlled by his amok too since they're part of him?

the lore around Gabe & Emilie finding the miraculous makes no sense and should not be possible. That's another rant, though.

#senti salt #ml writing salt #ml writing critical #ml season 5 salt #adrien deserves better #this plot is only suited to an angsty or bittersweet ending #I don't know how you can hope for a happy ending when Adrien is forever a slave

[ineffableigh]

Timeline of Suspicious Events Brain Dump - PART 3

You know the drill at this point. Off we goooo! [Part 1][Part 2]

"Maggie and Nina are depending on me!" Azi's really drunk his own Kool-aid at this point, or he's putting on a complicated show to pretend this is a serious endeavor. Giving away a valuable book just to trick Heaven? Something's really not adding up.

Another weird noise for the logs: A bassy 'whoosh/boom' noise right after Mutt says he has anniversary dinner with his beloved spouse and the camera pans to Crowley. Not sure it means anything, but it did stand out to me lol.

Something that stands out to me a lot as well, assuming it was done deliberately (I don't know the actor) - Mutt seems to be having an awfully hard time handling the cards he's currently sorting. Like, after he says 'no' at first, I cannot figure out what he's trying to do with his right hand.

Also of note: The mysterious Bird Box is nowhere to be seen in the shop, even though MANY of the set items are identical to the 1941 scene. Where that bird at??

"Under no circumstances can I there be for tonight." ... what? This has to be on purpose, right? I'm digging, I know, but that's what we do here lol.

Big sad empty warehouse for the Demon Legions. Why on earth (or in Hell) is Hell so short staffed? Where them demons at?

DANGER...osity!

"I can only be there 'til 7" so that's a half hour window for the meeting, at least for Justine. Fair, she can only handle so much of Azi's painful French lol.

The metal barrier just outside the cafe is... awfully snake-y isn't it?

"Looking where the furniture isn't..." is definitely going to be VERY important. Crowley absolutely knows something about losing AND regaining memories and it's been telegraphed all season.

Michael has eye earrings! This feels like a huge tie-in with Maggie's all seeing eye necklace.

Skimming through the rest since I've gone through it multiple times through other posts, but quick takeaways include...

Ms Cheng looking at the Pub before she goes in. Suspicious given we know that's the Hellevator, but have no reason to believe she'd be looking for someone else coming from that direction as the cafe AND record store are the other way.

Mr Brown has to be suspicious because we HEAR him getting mulched by demons when he's taken, but he survives? WEIRD.

Maggie's main character moment as I mentioned in my 'Thoughts about Maggie' post.

Azi seems very genuine when explaining the Coffee Shop Love Plot to Nina, so maybe he really did believe he was helping. I don't get why they steamrolled past her already having a partner, both the lads knew it. It's weird for that much.

Maggie blankly standing by the open window in range of trash is weird, especially since she like Activates and Becomes Brave right after.

I do wonder... how does Shax know Maggie couldn't pay the rent? That seems awfully specific. Like REALLY specific.

Throne, Dominion or Higher Crowley - what a way to drop that info! That moment hits so hard lol.

"Institutional Problem" I wonder if we'll learn more about The Fall next season. What was it that actually triggered it (in this universe)?

I love that the archangels clearly interact with each other SO LITTLE that no one even knows if Gabriel actually has his own bloody desk lol. Talk about isolation.

Huh. I wonder why Shax didn't get discorporated by the Exploding Halo...

You know who else is wearing a damn turtleneck? SARAQUAEL. OOH. COVERT AGENT? HMMMM

No one looked at the damn box, I still can't believe it. Everyone was so busy Being In A Story that they didn't think of it lol.

Analysis of the last chunk of the episode has been done to death, so I'll finish by underlining that it's SO awfully convenient that Maggie INSISTED that she and Nina talk to "them" while Aziraphale was waylaid by the Metatron.

In fact, it's Very Fortunate that the Metatron made a point of going and sitting at JUSTINE'S CAFE out of sight of the bookshop AND Nina's Cafe. Otherwise Nina might have been like hey you, get in on this chat! Like he knew that was the plan...

Plus the fact that they do that even though Justine's cafe is clearly CLOSED. I doubt she'd be chill with that so I guess she's not around.

Anyway that's enough so here's the TLDR:

The Metatron pretty much just LETS Gabriel escape, knowing that the Archangels will go down and muddle about trying to investigate.

We still don't know why Michael thought they had the right to strike people from the Book of Life. The Metatron seems to think that's out of the question, so where did that idea come from in the first place? It was a major driver of the early plot this season.

It seems convenient that Maggie cried about Nina RIGHT before the Angels arrived to inspect the Jimbriel miracle, and then RIGHT AFTER THAT, Mr Brown (of Brown's World of Carpets) shows up to set up the venue. That alone, all happening in the span of maybe 15 minutes, is a LOT.

It really feels like much of the plot was specifically orchestrated to keep Aziraphale and Crowley apart and NOT TALKING to each other. They keep hiding shit from each other to protect each other, but just hamstring themselves.

#good omens #good omens 2 #good omens meta #ineffable husbands

[thankskenpenders]

I've been catching up on the BumbleKast after getting behind so here are some interesting tidbits from various September 2022 episodes. Lots of behind the scenes info, discussions of canonicity, hints of what may be coming in the future, and also just random fun stuff

1. I'll put the most intriguing one up front:

"Is there any chance the IDW comics will connect themselves to future games?" Ian: "Mmmmmmmmaybe." Kyle: "Is there any chance that the IDW comics have already connected themselves to any future games?" Ian: "...Not in the direction of comic into game."

Ian's wording is intentionally vague here, and I'm not sure if the phrasing of "comic [connecting] into game" would mean he's ruling out the comic connecting itself to the game or the comic being referenced in the game. He's already outright said Tangle isn't in Frontiers or anything like that, so don't expect something THAT big, but previews have also said that Sonic will occasionally make surprising references to characters from past games while exploring the islands. Maybe the IDW comics will get a nod like this? Or maybe he means it the other way around, and we'll see some Frontiers stuff in the comics next year?

Regardless, you KNOW I'll be reporting back on this when Frontiers is out

2. Ian very strongly hints that Silver will be relevant in 2023's comics. This isn't exactly a surprise, given his story in the Annual and the fact that Evan's lead writer. (She's shown immense restraint not shoehorning Silver into every arc lol.) But it's nice to know that setup will pay off before long!

3. In general he's been saying that how the Classic era games fit together is being discussed behind the scenes, especially now that it's considered the past of the Modern series again. Things like Chaotix being non-canon may no longer be true. It's probably best not to think too hard about these things (Sega didn't care about "canon" in the '90s), but he reiterates that the version of events depicted in Origin is what Sega considers the definitive start of the series

4. Ian was very pleasantly surprised (and jealous) when the Scrapnik Island team was allowed to use Mecha Sonic and other Classic elements. He's holding off on commenting further on why Sega might have allowed this

5. Ian gave his ideas for what he could do in a crossover between Sonic and Homestar Runner complete with impressions

6. He also described how a TF2 match on 2Fort between the IDW Sonic cast would go

7. The question of whether or not Nicole could still be a lynx if she came back in future media has come up on here a lot, and sadly Ian seems to think the answer is a definitive "no." If the Freedom Fighters were to ever return, ALL Archie-original elements would likely be gone, starting back at square one with only SatAM (and, technically, their Spinball cameo) as inspiration. Nicole would not be a holo-lynx, Antoine may not be able to use a sword, etc.

8. On the subject of Mega Man, Ian picks up the homoerotic vibes fans always read between X and Zero and wonders if it was intentional lmao. Ian's a real one

9. Ian gave a loose summary of what would have happened in the unreleased third issue of Archie's Sonic: Mega Drive. The story would have opened with the team working together to hunt for the Emeralds in the Special Zone, which wouldn't quite be 1:1 with any specific previous version

10. Several ideas have apparently been pitched for using the Warp Topaz again, since Sega requested they leave it intact at the end of the Metal Virus Saga so it could be used again, although no idea has stuck just yet

11. Ian does not want to admit that Starline is already a Tumblr Sexyman

I was going to add more to this post as I continued getting through the backlog, but this is already long enough

#secret BumbleKast knowledge

[braintapes]

The Hotel Podcast Season 3 Analysis: Part III - The Owner

Hey. It's been a while. I was going to open this with a cheeky joke, some kind of 'bet you thought I forgot about this thing haha!' type line. But I think I wanna just get straight into it..

When I write these analysis posts, whether it's for The Hotel or anything else, it's a personal thing. I write about the stories and art that I love in an attempt to understand and make meaning of them for me. And I share them largely because if I don't, those thoughts plus all the time and effort it took to organize them into words and sentences would be forgotten and left to rot fifteen minutes after exiting the word doc.

When I started this whole S3 series of posts, I wasn't expecting any response. I expected the people who followed me to glance at it, scroll past it, and life would carry on. It's easier that way, to write and share without watching eyes. Watching eyes means potential to fail, somehow. Potential to get it all horribly wrong in front of other people. That's the main reason why this took so long to come back to.

Other lesser reasons include inconveniences like my enter key breaking completely. That left the prospect of ANY long-form writing headache-inducing (though I've since adjusted to my workarounds). I kept forgetting and remembering this entire project. Etc etc, I won't drag this out.

I am finally, FINALLY ready to sit down to write this all out again. I love season 3 of The Hotel. It means a lot to me in a very personal way because it was the season that made the entire series click for me. So if I get everything wrong, or some things wrong, or fail or come up short, well. That's fine. I can fail other people, but I can't fail myself on this one.

In Part I of this series, we covered the Manager's arc stretching from 3.1 - 3.4. Part II covered the Lobby Boy from 3.5 to 3.7. Now the only Staff left is the Owner.

The Owner is a character I struggle to connect with, I have to be honest. I enjoy him greatly as a character and Graham's performance elevates and gives the Owner such a unique and entertaining presence. But as a person, the Owner reminds me of the people in my life I've been scared of, the kind of people I want to run away from very quickly. It can be hard for me to get past that bubble of anxiety that comes up briefly when I think of him.

Having mulled it over, though, I realized there are things I share with the Owner that I can relate to and understand about him. The perfectionism that stalled this project for 7 months is a voice that says, "It won't be up to standard, it needs to be better, it needs to be right." It plays constantly on loop. Why? If it's good enough it will matter, if it's perfect as can be it will carry significance. The significance, the voice insists, justifies the work's existence.

The Owner's plight through much of The Hotel is, similarly, to justify his own existence. It's a constant tension core to his character which expresses itself by largely by being projected onto everyone else (the way he hounds the lobby boy, attempts to nitpick the manager in s1). At the end of the day, though, all of that bluster is only to prop himself up and assure himself that he is, in fact, definitely doing something that matters, that his place is real and valid. That he's not insignificant.

In this season, the Owner is technically introduced in the very beginning, right alongside the Manager. His echoing yells can be heard as the Manager treks through the dark forest towards the mountain to the place where the Hotel will be. The Owner is already dying, though. He wasn't really there alongside her. We hear his shouts sporadically across the season, but we don't get much more of him until 3.8 A V O I D. Since I've been doing this analysis on an episode-by-episode basis, that's where I want to start.

We open, nearing the metaphorical mountaintop, with the Lobby Boy's death on the third floor. The Owner is thrilled. We get one of my favorite exchanges in the whole series as per the episode transcript:

LOBBY BOY (CONT'D): I panic. I'm scared! I'm so scared! Why did my Manager let this happen to me? Why is the Hotel doing this to me? What's that moving against the light??...What will it do to me?....What CAN it do to me? The worst it can do is kill me. Again. And Again. Forever. WHY CAN'T I DIE? (echo) [power that be noises] LOBBY BOY (CONT'D): No no no no no no no no no no please please no no please no no please please please no no no please Wet, ripping thuds and rending flesh tears. The Lobby Boy's music stops. WINGS FLAP. The Owner's music begins. THE OWNER: Thank you. Dispatching that creature has been long over due. [Angry powers that be noises]

Between the Lobby Boy's dialogue, the Hotel Herself coming in with the BEST comedic timing to give an answer in the form of very squelchy pulpy painful death, the Owner being a hater completely unprompted, and the Hotel Herself immediately turning and getting on the Owner for that it's all. Just... Excellent. Very funny sequence I love it dearly.

But...Wait, what was that?

Dispatching that creature has been long over due.

Hmm. Of course, he could just be referring only to the Lobby Boy's run around the guest floor with his whole burning and dying and burning and dying thing. He clarifies as much in his next lines as he backpedals in the face of the Hotel's implied scolding. Then we get this:

The Manager and I are more than capable of running The Hotel and checking in guests. Once we begin checking them in. Once we...I can't...have we been open long? I remember...distantly I remember so much but...Have we had any guests?

Season 3 is both the beginning and the end. Memory is murky here, liminal and prone to bleeding through yet quickly dissipates to haze. He has prior knowledge of both the Lobby and the Manager here, that's what he bases his judgments of them from – the same judgments he's made of them before (per his S1 episodes, for one example). Yet while there's certain things he knows he knows, the memories attached to that knowledge are muddled. Without them, he is new. A fresh baby bird hatchling The Owner. He isn't even aware that the Manager died a little while ago.

The Hotel gives him the recap on what's happened to the Manager and what's been going on, to the Owner's befuddlement. Her voice turns from the gurgling noises into words the audience can make sense of. I don't have anything to say about this from an in-universe perspective, I assume this is just to make the conversation more interesting to listen to and bring the Hotel Herself into the picture more fully?

In any case, the Owner is already very picky about how things should be. Even if he did remember everything, this would still be a highly unusual situation – no guests, just the Staff. Dying like the guests. This is so far beyond the Owner's (currently vague) understanding of routine that he struggles to get his bearings.

As she talks to him, it feels like the Hotel is playing with him like a toy. You could say that's what she's doing to everyone, Staff and guests and all, but in this specific conversation it feels especially like she's teasing him, prodding and poking lightly enough because she enjoys it. Good for her!

Do you remember how to die? The gibbering creature approaches. I'LL REMIND YOU. The front desk bell TOLLS and the Owner screams.

The vocal effects here make the Hotel sound intimidating and scary, imposing and powerful. And she is! But this feels playful to me.

And it feels natural, logical, in that strange logic of death the Hotel operates in. We've seen the point hammered home every episode so far: Everything in the Hotel dies. Including the Staff. Death is the inevitable. The anticipation of it, the attempt to defy it, marked the Manager's story. The fear of it and attempt to run away from it equally defined the Lobby Boy's story. Anticipation, knowing that the end is coming. Fear, of what that means, the need to avoid pain, avoid facing that awful certainty. Now, here at the Owner's arc, we arrive at understanding. Making sense of it all.

He starts confused, faced with deaths he cannot wrap his head around. It's...I hesitate to say personal, but it is much more personal than the way he conceptualizes the guest's deaths. The Manager's death shocks him. The Lobby Boy's hundred, thousand, billion deaths on the second floor baffle. Why did she die once, and him many times? Why did She kill the Manager? Are they not open for business? What does the Hotel intend, what does she want? What is the meaning of this? The purpose?

Questions abound. When anticipation and fear have been bashed and battered to bloody chunks, another way to deal with death is to try and understand it. It can be easier to cope and make peace with, I think, by trying to make it fit it into an overall grand scheme of existence. That is what the Owner's arc this season embodies, to me.

...But his domain is – and has always been – a void. Endless nothingness with the only sliver of somethingness being pointless paperwork and reservation cards. And anyway, we're on the third floor. We're near the top of the mountain. There's nowhere left to go but up, further into the darkness. There is only death ahead. And behind. And all around.

The Owner dies.

He's back in his office again for 3.9 Under Old Management.

This version of the Owner is absolutely one from S1. He envisions the third floor as a labyrinthine office full of office things like papers, filing cabinets, so on and so forth. He has the same mindset as he did then, his view of his role as like an actual job in an actual workplace setting, with standard workplace tedium and hierarchy. After being ended, he finds himself at the beginning again – his beginning within the Hotel.

Before I can get into the meat of the episode, I have something of a side tangent I want to discuss starting with this line:

Something flickers. In the dark of my mind, somewhere in the back, a thought. A memory. I hold my breath and close my eyes, trying not to scare it away. Yes. Yes I remember. I exhale loudly, blowing the thought away.

The memory begins to seep into him slowly, like a viscous liquid. The memory belongs to the self, the Owner of the previous episode. Upon the interruption/entrance of the Gibbering Creature, though, he slips back into the self of S1 Owner, shouting:

You can't...IF THAT'S YOU, LOBBY BOY, YOU HAD BETTER GET BACK TO YOUR POST!

I want to use this to get into something that's been cooking in my brain for a long time now, my theory/conceptualization of Self within The Hotel. My personal framework for understanding what the heck is going on with these characters and why their identities and memory can be so strange and ephemeral.

My fundamental premise is this: The Lobby Boy, the Manager, and the Owner are archetypes. Ideals, concepts. They are prescriptive roles which define the core of their identity, but each individual Manager or Lobby Boy that we see episode-to-episode is a distinct instance of that role. The Manager of one episode is not the same Manager of the next episode. They do not exist in the same space or time as one another nor are they acutely aware of each other. But they both do exist. Have existed. Are existing. Time and space are all kinds of warbly in The Hotel, that's just Her nature. It's how the Hotel is and experiences, and so that extends to the Staff [putting a pin in this sentence also. I will get into Self as related to The Hotel Herself specifically in the next post].

Due to the ever-constant, ever-changing paradoxical nature of time within the Hotel, distinct instances of Self can cross – memories and knowledge can leak into each other. Some Managers remember more than others due to this. There are infinitely many instances of the Staff which brush past each other and leak memory, self, knowledge etc. into themselves. I also think that the more time goes on, the more those selves accumulate and feed each other, the more a stable self-identity forms. Habits, preferences, feelings and so on occur frequently enough that that informs the next instance of the Manager.

This is what I think happened going from seasons 4 → 5. That's where we start to see more work done with linear plotlines and character development for everybody, so I use my framework to make in-universe sense of an out-of-universe writing direction.

Consider layers of time, space, and self happening here. A circle with a line through it, maybe. Everything is cyclical within the Hotel, but within that cycle is a linearity, a progression. The cycle isn't just the end and the beginning, it's the ingredients in-between the bread. What happens in the linearity feeds back into the circle, which feeds back into the line, and so on. When weird self and memory stuff happens in the series, this is how I make sense of it. It is fully self-contradictory and fleeting and weird and that's how it Is.

Idk. Personally I experience time in a really weird and very unreal-feeling way that's a lot like what I just described above, so I could just be projecting onto this. I'm considering making an entirely separate post just trying to explain this in a way that doesn't make me feel like I'm saying nonsense. So let me get back to my post, then.

This episode is so god damn JUICY. We've got a lot going on with the light/fire/darkness stuff, we've got the Owner being the most Owner he could possibly be and getting MAULED for it, the Owner - Lobby Boy parallels, we've got a Manager cameo, I love everything happening with the Hotel Herself specifically, this one really is just a home run all the way around.

As soon as the Owner lays eyes on the Gibbering Creature, he tries to book it.

Gibbering. Heavy foot falls and gibbering. You had better...get back... Gibbering echoes off of nothing. No no no no NO. WINGS FLAP and FLAP to no effect. NO! The gibbering and stomping continues to chase him. I have to run. Something is coming for me. I only know how to fear one thing, and this isn't her. But still I run.

For all his disdain and looking down upon the Lobby Boy, the Owner sure does seem to share that same 'run away' instinct, huh?

I run because the dim flickering candle in the back of my mind is getting brighter. More candles join in. Each flame a memory. Like a candle, you can regard it only for so long before the bright light burns the memory of the fire into your eyes, and I don't want this burned into my eyes. I can see her laying dead on the lobby floor. I can see the blood framing her open eyes. I can see the shape of her skull, and I remember.

Back to the light and fire imagery! Here, the fire is explicitly said to represent memories. In this case, the memory of the Owner's self that witnessing her dead in the lobby...We assume that he's referring to the Manager here, and I do think that he is. But @zombified-queer makes a good case in this post (With included follow-up insights from Veronica yay ! ) that he's also referring to Madam Hotel in season 4, specifically when the Owner kills her as Judy Blashy. Excellent post, I've since incorporated that into my own interpretation.

I personally choose to believe he's referring to both of them here. He doesn't want those memories of either the Manager or the Hotel-as-Judy horrifically dead. He wants to retreat literally, physically, but also into a self unburdened by that memory, hence why he starts out as S1 Owner here. He runs and the office setting slips away into the void.

The Owner then says:

I let one of the candles in my mind blow out. Like a birthday wish that will never come true.

What I think is happening here is that he's sacrificing one of his old memories, letting go of it to focus in on the ones he wants, needs desperately to remember in order to avoid the traumatic one. He allows the office setting, his old role, all of that to fade away to irrelevancy. He hones in on the memory of her (clearly intended to be the Manager but again the case could be made for Madam Hotel/HH/they're all interconnected with each other!!!) as he knows her because her death is too much for him to handle. It terrifies him deeply.

Whether this is the start or end point, this shakes up what the Owner knows. They shouldn't die or be dead! They're the Hotel Staff! They carry out the Hotel's will, they aren't like the guests, this is all wrong! Seeing the Manager, dead, killed by the Gibbering Creature (the Hotel Herself by proxy) for perhaps the first or last time means something has gone terribly, horribly, awfully wrong.

He begs and pleads this to the Hotel Herself as she plays with him even more. The Owner just doesn't get it yet, he doesn't understand. He thinks himself and the Staff above anything else in the Hotel, just as the Manager did. He flails and protests, insists:

Who will kill them?! If not us?!

To which he's answered by

Distant gibbering. I make so many pretty things. Listen to them gibber.

I just love this. I love her energy here. She doesn't need him strictly. The things the Staff do could be done by any number of killers created from her will. I truly feel this conversation is for her. She'd said to him earlier that he might only be doing and thinking what she wants him to do and think and I believe that's largely true in this case.

The Owner is exactly the way she wants him right now. He flails, begs, pleads, struggles. He understands nothing yet and that makes him fun to toy with. Meanwhile, the Manager taunts the Owner. I want to include this whole sequence because I love it so so much, please appreciate it with me:

THE HOTEL: TIIIIME to blow out another candle. THE MANAGER (distantly): I didn't run. THE HOTEL: Time to make a wish. THE OWNER: And you died. THE HOTEL: It's almost my birthday. (it's almost my birthday) THE MANAGER (DISTANT): So did you. THE OWNER: Not yet! I'm not some simple Lobby Boy or Manager! I own this, all of this belongs to ME! YOU ARE BENEATH ME, YOU ARE WEAK, YOU DIED BECAUSE YOU LACK THE WILL TO LIVE. TO RUN! I AM- The gibbering creature stomps over howls as it bludgeons the Owner. The Hotel theme plays over credits as the Owner continues to get torn apart by the howling creature. The Hotel blows out a candle.

The Owner so badly doesn't want to die, it's kind of adorable looking back on this. Essentially cornered, taunted, with no other options, he turns to the most familiar tool in his arsenal: shouting loudly about how above everyone he is. I've tried to think of something insightful to say about this but I honestly think this all speaks for itself.

This is where I want to wrap up this post. It's a little abrupt, I know we've still got 3.10, but I'd like to cover that next time as I segue into talking about The Hotel Herself. (And I need to stop and eat some dinner!)

I will see ya'll next time, and I PROMISE you that won't be anywhere near as long of a wait as this one was. I'm excited to finish this out. :-)

#the hotel podcast #hotelpod analysis #happy birthday to me this is my birthday present #i wanted to have both posts ready to go at the same time but uhhhh #i still need to finish up the last one. i will be sitting down for that tonight but that might stretch into tomorrow morning #but rn i need eat. hope yall like :]

[ltwharfy]

"Bob's Burgers" Season 6 Episode Ranking Rewatch (Long Post)

So, I've been rewatching "Bob's Burgers" from the beginning and ranking the episodes using the spreadsheet that @babsvibes created! If you want to know why I'm doing this or how I view the 1-5 rating scale, you can check out my Season 1 post! If you want to check out any of the other seasons, I've been using the "bob's burgers episode ranking rewatch" tag for all of them.

Now, on to Season 6:

Average (Mean) Score: 4.47

Mode (Most Common) Ranking: 5

Ranking breakdown: 11 5s; 6 4s; 2 3s

Season as a whole thoughts:

Another really solid season! The thing that I remember standing out to me even as it was originally airing was the number of callbacks to earlier seasons, and especially the first season, with the title (and plot) of "Sexy Dance Healing" and the title of "Sacred Couch". I remember wondering at the time if there was some sort of significance to it (my fear being that maybe the show was preparing to wind down- a lot of my favorite shows ended after 7 seasons). I wonder if maybe the production staff was feeling nostalgic with the 100th episode coming up- or if they just enjoy making callbacks as much as I enjoy spotting them (and making them in my fics)! Either way, it's the thing that stood out the most this season.

Some thoughts on specific episodes (and feel free to ask if you want my thoughts on an episode I didn't comment on):

"Sliding Bobs": Doing the rewatch, I've noticed that I generally enjoy the three-story episodes but I think this my absolute favorite because I love the framing story so much. I honestly find what Linda says to Tina at the end, about the universe being random but sometimes everything lining up and going your way, to be really beautiful and meaningful. I'll take random crap going my way over fate any day.

"The Land Ship": One of the rare episodes from the middle seasons of "Bob's Burgers" where neither the A plot or the B plot interests me. There are some funny bits ( I mean, Mr. Ambrose is in it, so of course there are some funny bits) but overall it's pretty meh in my book.

"The Hauntening": As I mentioned when discussing Season 5, I got to see a clip from the animatic of this when I saw "Bob's Burgers Live" at the Chicago Theater, so that will always make this special to me. Even without that, it would still be one of my favorite Halloween episodes, and I love Boyz 4 Now song and video at the end!

"The Gene and Courtney Show": Another follow up on Season 5, but as I mentioned when discussing "Work Hard or Die Trying, Girl", the rewatch has made me realize that I really love the way Courtney's character and her relationship with Gene developed over the show, and this is a big part of it. Gene's song at the end of the episode is so beautiful! This isn't my favorite Valentine's Day episode (that's next season...) but it's probably in my top 5.

"House of 1,000 Bounces": Bob: "Can pigeons open doors?" Teddy: "Do you mean metaphorically? In the right situation, I suppose." This may be my favorite Teddy line on the show, and the pigeon subplot is absolutely fantastic in my book. But, you're probably expecting me to talk about the Rudy plot, so...I think it's fascinating the range of takes there are on this episode. I've literally seen people list this episode as the reason they ship Louise/Rudy and other people list it as the reason they don't ship it. For me, it isn't either of those things (I was already on board the ship) but I to think it is a good story about their friendship. One of my (many) similarities with Rudy is that as a kid (and honestly, still now) I cried pretty easily. And there were definitely other kids who noticed this and would just try to get me upset because they thought it was funny. So, I love the fact that as soon as Louise realizes how upset Rudy is, she works to fix the situation. She cares that he's upset. I also think it's fascinating to watch "Bridge Over Troubled Rudy" after this one because it almost seems like the show realized they resolved Rudy and Louise's conflict a bit too neatly here and needed to explore that further (several seasons later...). If you want more of my thoughts on the role those episodes played in the evolution of this relationship between two cartoon nine year-olds that I overthink about, you can read my best non-fic piece of "Bob's Burgers" related writing.

"Stand by Gene": I've mentioned before that I love episodes that involve the Belcher kids and a diverse group of their friends going on an adventure, and I think this might be the best of them all. In my mind, it's kind of the Trope-namer, I think of those types of episodes as "Stand by Gene"-episodes (even if "The Belchies" was probably the first one).

"The Hormone-iums": This episode is really one of the two that inspired me to this rewatch! Honestly, I just sort of vaguely remembered its existence and had no clue if I liked it- so if I rated it without rewatching it I probably would've given it a 3 or maybe a 4. But I happened to catch it on TV and realized how freaking funny it is! A wonderful Tina puberty plot; the wine shoe B plot (complete with Louise wearing mouse ears on her bunny ears during their presentation to Calvin and Felix, which is basically the cutest thing ever); great songs; a joke about Tony Danza- this episode has it all, in my book! Definitely a 5; the original sleeper hit.

"Pro-Tiki/Con-Tiki": This is a pretty funny episode. Chris Parnell is a hilarious actor, and as an "Archer" fan it was fun to have him act opposite H. Jon Benjamin in a different role. But I give this one a 3 because I hate the central conflict and the way it is resolved. It's one of the few episodes of the show where the actual plot and its ending really bother me. Warren and Bob are both kind of idiots in this one. Bob has a super-rich friend who is willing to lend him money to help his business, but instead Bob chooses to frequently be on the verge of going broke because of American small business owner macho capitalism self-reliance independence nonsense? Screw that. The other Belchers were right to be mad at Bob for his actions in this episode; he's lucky they forgave him.

"Bye Bye Boo Boo": I love Louise's crush on Boo Boo so much! It is an absolute treat any time it gets brought up! It's one of the few things that completely knocks Louise off her game, and it is wonderful for that. (Also, a pretty accurate portrayal of what it feels like to have a crush, regardless of your age or gender.) Honestly, after Roudise, Louise/Boo Boo might be the Louise ship with the next most appeal to me (do they have a ship name? It has to be "Lou Boo", right?)

"The Horse Rider-er": Did you know that being the voice of Jericho is widely considered to be Paul Rudd's second most iconic role after Peter Klaven in "I Love You, Man"? (It's not, I'm just making a weird joke to amuse myself.)

"Glued, Where's My Bob?": They did a great job for the 100th episode! Honestly, if the show ever gets a planned series finale, I kind of hope the last scene is something similar to the climax of this episode- all our favorite recurring characters hanging out in and around the restaurant and supporting Bob. (Except, maybe it would be for something good, like Bob making a really amazing burger, rather than him being glue to the toilet...)

Random thoughts (stuff that doesn't affect the ratings):

-I wish they had handled the Frond/Gayle relationship a bit better. I actually think they make sense as a couple and I wish they had done more with them before breaking them up off screen. Or, they even could of kept them together (although, I understand the writers thinking it's funnier to have them single.) But at the very least, I wish they could've aired the three episodes that discuss the relationship in an order that makes sense! Why did they air "Gayle Makin' Bob Sled" before "The Cook, the Steve, the Gayle, & Her Lover"? (I mean, probably something to do with Fox's schedule and holidays and football and so forth but it still annoys me.)

-I literally just noticed that the title of the episode is "Gayle Makin' Bob Sled", I'd always read it as "Gayle Making" and thought it was just a straightforward title and now I am realizing it was probably actually supposed to be a pun on the Jamaican bobsled team immortalized in the movie "Cool Runnings" (and discussed by Gene in my favorite Christmas episode "God Rest Ye Merry Gentle-Mannequins"). God, I love the "Bob's Burgers" writing staff and the length they will go for a silly 80s/90s pop culture pun!

See you in Season 7! The post could be up relatively soon, since I've actually completed the rewatch of it, too. (Spoiler: Season 4 might be getting knocked out of first place...)

#bob's burgers #bob's burgers season 6 #bob's burgers episode ranking rewatch #long post

[tanenigiri]

Episodes 6 and 7 of Our Dining Table have my favorite ever scenes in the manga (and that's not even considering that scene) so my opinion of the whole show was pretty much contingent on these two episodes.

And they knocked them out of the park.

(Stray thoughts and ramblings on Our Dining Table eps 6 and 7. Some light manga spoilers but nothing too revealing.)

Our Dining Table was one of the first manga I read, and by then I was very new to the concept of Christmas in Japan being a primarily romantic thing. So that whole scene about Minoru struggling to ask Yutaka about his Christmas plans flew over my head during my initial reading, but after re-reading it it made a lot more sense why Minoru was so on edge about it. I thought the show did this really well, and that added scene with Minoru and his manager in the ramen shop was a great way to contextualize it too.

We only see her for a single scene so let me just say: Ohata you will always be famous. (And her outfit looked so good??? We should've had a scene where Yutaka asked her for advice on which scarf to get.)

The whole "taking care of your sick loved one" trope is 50/50 for me as those scenes seem to be quite predictable, but I really like how Our Dining Table uses it as a catalyst for both Yutaka and Minoru to start truly opening up to each other. Sure, they've gotten very close over the past few months and I think both of them recognize by this point that their "friendship" is something special, but I found it very interesting that it's only by this scene - both in the manga and in the show - where they start digging deep into their issues and expressing why that friendship means a lot to them.

I've already said it in my previous two posts but it bears repeating: how they're handling Minoru's past in the show is such a step up from how it was in the manga. Minoru deciding to open up first so that Yutaka can be comfortable sharing his own past is so in-character and honestly makes that Christmas scene even more of a gut-punch than it already is.

And THEN we get that absolutely devastating scene with Tane and his dad, with the latter worrying about Yutaka dying. I feel like this scene was given a lot more weight in the show - mainly because I felt it gave the scene the space and time to play out - and I am still recovering from it. Very much a top 3 scene of the series for me.

(Also, shout out to the dad for getting the memo not once, but twice and letting Minoru get his much-deserved alone time with Yutaka. I'm sure he's making up for interrupting them in Episode 5.)

Cannot stress enough how fantastic the show's little plot additions have been, and the matching scarves as gifts is probably at the top of my list. I could go on and on about how it represents warmth and comfort and all that, but really I'm already screaming at the fact that they had the same idea on what to give each other.

I also want to point out how much I love that the very first shot of Episode 7 (after the opening credits) is Yutaka's dish rack with the washed bowl and utensils as it takes the viewer a second to realize that this was Minoru's doing. It's up there with the shoes in Episode 2 for me.

While I fell in love with the manga by like the first chapter, I think what cemented its grip on me was how they decided to gives us Yutaka's backstory in the style of Tane's drawings. That was definitely the scene I was most looking forward to in this entire series, and when I saw the Episode 7 preview at the end of Episode 6 with Yutaka just tearfully recounting his story to Minoru, I was worried that they were gonna do away with it. So you can imagine my reaction to not only seeing that Tane's drawings were kept, but that they also decided to animate a significant part of that backstory with the drawings. (All I'm gonna say is that I had to pause the video to calm down.)

Tane clinging to Yutaka like a koala was the best shot of the episode. It was a nice break from all the heavy emotions. And then Tane said sike and gave us that head patting scene and he really got us while our guard was down huh.

I really have nothing to say about the kiss as I'm not really a fan of dwelling on these kinds of scenes, but I will say that how understated it was fit with the tone of the show. If anything my only complaint was how I felt that scene was a bit dark (as in it lacked lighting haha not that it was grim).

Next episode is gonna be a rough and frustrating one I'm pretty sure, but I am curious on where they're gonna end it. There's one more scene I'm really looking forward to seeing but I think that's gonna come at like the finale.

I love this series so much. It's nothing flashy or groundbreaking but it takes pride in its simplicity and makes the most out of it. And I'm so glad more people are discovering it thanks to this show.

#our dining table #bokura no shokutaku

[welcometogrouchland]

luz noceda for the ask game

Anon you caught me right before I was Abt to go to sleep but I can't not do this. It's for my girl (feel free to send me more while I sleep btw these r fun)

favorite thing about them: LITERALLY WHERE DO I EVEN START. She's one of my top ten protagonists of all times. I love the lessons she learns, the way she learns them, I love watching her grow and struggle and thrive. I love her so so so much. To keep things simple(ish) I will say that my favorite thing about Luz (which I've mentioned once or twonce before) is that she's an objectively cringey, very ND coded kid who's still given the utmost love and respect from the narrative. She gets to be objectively fucking uncool and this story still loves her. And it's nice it makes me feel loved by proxy

least favorite thing about them: I mean, I'd say in season 1 it's the tendency to flatten the boiling isles and it's people into 2 dimensional tropes for easily comprehension, but that's also one of my favorite flaws of Luz and the narrative always makes an interesting point out of this attitude. Maybe it's the suicidal ideation bc it really scared me the first time I watched thanks to them. I knew nothing bad was gonna happen (within reason), this is Disney, but I was like DAMN THEY'RE GOING THERE!!!

favorite line: okay I actually cannot in good conscious choose one bc my friend once informed me that me and Luz just. Talk the same. Same silly idioms and phrases same whimsical expressions and syntax same humour, etc etc. It's a chicken egg situation and do not know who started it but I know that it's frighteningly accurate. So I'll just go for the safe classic "the only thing I've ever really wanted was to be understood" bc. Y'know. Best moment in the whole show and everything

brOTP: LUZ AND HUNTER DREAM TEAM I LOVE THEM SO SO MUCH!!!! OH MY GOD. Close second is Willow tho

OTP: you guys already know I'm here for lumity but I will let you guys in on the fact that when I first watched the show and was still on the early episodes of season 1 where Amity is a dick I was firmly on team willuz. I still love them <3

nOTP: Luz and Hunter. It's just really not for me, even if I can see why it appeals to others. I'm too attached to the familial reading of their dynamic and the doors that opens up analysis wise. Also my irl brother is a hunter kinnie and I just outlined my credentials for being a Luz kinnie so /j

random headcanon: she played guitar when she was younger! The one in the basement belonged to Manny and he'd sit her on his lap and show her simple chords and riffs. She got a ukulele so she could practice. Then when Manny died she fell off playing it bc it felt wrong doing it without him, even though she still played uke sometimes. She picks it back up though during the season 3 timeskip and post canon! Also she was born in New York and lived there til she was 2/3, at which point she moved around a few states until landing in Connecticut at the age we see in the thanks to them video diaries (I wanna say 7 or 8?)

unpopular opinion: I also think Luz gets characterized as more bitter/vengeful/surly than she really is, especially in fics set around season 3. She wants to be happy, to have fun with her friends, she just feels like doesn't deserve it. Also I low-key think Luz is like. A genius. Just in an unconventional way. She rediscovered a lost form of magic and then taught herself it all on her own. She probably struggles with long division but I mean it when I say she is literally a genius imo

song i associate with them: TOO MANY TO NAME MAN!!!! LITERALLY!!!!! The ones on my brain rn are sweet hibiscus tea by penelope scott, underground and life on mars by david bowie, people pleaser by yet to bloom, towards crescent park by bad moves and fine, great by modern baseball

favorite picture of them

Tie between the iconic "to be understood" frame (boarded by Emmie Cicierga) or like. Literally any Dana art of her but specifically the "see you in 2023" gif cycling through all of luzs most iconic fits. I love both of those sm

#ramblings of a lunatic #asks #toh #thanks for the ask anon! #again feel free to send more these are fun they make the gears in my brain turn

[construingseacats]

Ahoy! Just going to make a quick housekeeping post before we get cracking in a few days.

I'll be keeping the reread thoughts organised per chapter, and posting at a pace of around once per day. Note that this won't be uniform, so it might be closer to posting about 2-3 chapters twice per week. I'm aiming to read about 5-6 chapters a week, so that's the pace we're looking at. Needless to say, we're gonna be here for a good few months.

While Umineko has stuck with me for all these years, my memory isn't perfect, so there'll probably be a fair few points I've forgotten about until I'm refreshed on them. Obviously I know the "culprit", but I don't remember the finer details of the cases off the top of my head. I might refresh myself with Will's solution from Episode 7, but that'll be the extent of it.

That being said, very importantly for this reread, Death of the Author is in full effect. I know things were further clarified in the manga, and Ryukishi has gone on record saying that those were the canon answers. I know of Our Confession et al. I'm not taking those into account for this - we're going full purist, so if it's not in the original Episodes 1 through 8, it's fair game. I feel part of the magic of Umineko is that the catbox is never opened (I mean, isn't that the whole point of Episode 8?), so I'm not going to taint that with media that was released after the fact.

That also means this commentary is going to be for Episodes 1-8, and that's it (I say "that's it" as if going through the 1.1 million or so total words are a trivial affair, ha). If there's enough interest I might push into Last Note of the Golden Witch as an addendum, and I wouldn't be opposed to going through Purgatory of the Golden Witch as an afterword. Friendly reminder that Uminetta is a shining star in the community and one of the kindest, most wonderful souls out there.

Also, some quick information about me! Umineko is a very personal story, so what you get from it is drastically effected by the kind of person you are. The first time I read Umineko, I was a 17 year old kid from England getting ready to study Mathematics at University, who'd watched the anime at way too young of an age and wanted to read the proper story behind it. I was really interested in the mystery, but fell way too deep into the fantasy elements (even missing the obvious hints in Episode 3), and still didn't really get the truth of it even after Will's section in Episode 7 (even though I'd encountered the true identity of the culprit). I also fully knew I was asexual, and I'd kind of heard about transgenderism, but didn't really understand it. 10 years on, I'm still very much a writer at heart (and much better equipped to actually write well), a cog in the machine of capitalism desperately trying to escape and pursue more creative endeavours, and not quite sure what's going on under the hood but definitely not cis. I think pretty much all the gender themes went over my head on my first read of Umineko - it'll be interesting to see how much stuff hits close to home this time.

Anyway - starting on Wednesday. Will be going through the Prologue up to the end of Epitaph on the Portrait, then around 6 chapters a week from there, only stopping once we've gone through all 8 Episodes. I'm estimating we'll run for about 24 or 25 weeks, although that's assuming we don't stop for any breaks. Itll be a long journey to the Golden Land - so to anyone who ends up joining me on this, be it as it happens, or some time in the far future, I hope you enjoy it with me.

#umireread

[codegeassfacts]

Code Geass Bokura No Hibi 9 & 10 // Novels // Non Canon

Here is the new set of Bokura No Hibis novels ; For more information about those, Check the post For Bokura no Hibi 1 & 2, right below (Check the others stories as well !)

Bokura no Hibi 1 & 2

Bokura No Hibi 3 & 4

Bokura No Hibi 5 & 6

Bokura No Hibi 7 et 8

**********************************

Bokura No Hibi 9 : 9th period of time (Stage unknown)

*C.C. flops down on the bed*

*Rolls over*

*Continues to roll all over*

C.C.: Fu, fufu, fufufufufu......

Lelouch: You seem to be in good spirits, C.C..

C.C.: I certainly am, Lelouch. It's raining today as well, after all.

Lelouch: Rain?

C.C.: Rain is a wonderful thing. It makes one feel at peace.

Lelouch: Well, it is the rainy season right now. In Japan they call it "Tsuya". It'll probably continue for another 10 days or so.

C.C.: I know that. In fact, I know a lot more about it than you do.

Lelouch: It's the sort of wisdom that comes with age, I suppose.

C.C.: And what exactly do you mean by that? Shall I have you explain yourself in detail...?

*Ding-dong*

C.C.: Ah, the pizza's here. Go get it, Lelouch.

Lelouch: You... You're ordering me to go on such a trifling errand...?

C.C.: Alright, I'll go -- and greet Nunnally along with the maid while I'm at it.

Lelouch: Tsk... I'm going. Do not exit the room.

*Sound of door opening*

C.C.: If you're done collecting it bring it here at once, Lelouch.

Lelouch: ....... I was handed some sort of box along with the pizza.

C.C.: Fu, fufu. I've been waiting for that.

Lelouch: What is it?

*Rustling*

C.C.: Look. Cheese-chan raincoat. Isn't it nice?

Lelouch: The points system again? How stupid.

*More rustling*

C.C.: Oh, it's just the right size, too. ...... What's wrong, Lelouch? Men are obliged to say "It's very becoming" and other such compliments at times like these.

Lelouch: It looks ghastly...... Besides, why are you so pleased with that when you've been one great show of reluctance over the clothes I bought you?

C.C.: Ooh, someone's jealous of Cheese-chan.

Lelouch: I am absolutely not.

*Spins around, flaps her raincoat about*

Lelouch: Stop spinning.

C.C.: (wistfully) Rain...... Right, time to go out for a walk.

Lelouch: Didn't I tell you not to go out of this room without my permission? And especially not in those clothes!

C.C.: Which is the problem now? My going out, or the clothes?

Lelouch: Both!

C.C.: Lighten up, Lelouch. There's one for you too, actually. Here, you can have this Cheese-kun raincoat. You wear that and come along with me, I really don't mind at all.

Lelouch: Wha......! Why would I wear something like that!? It looks like it came straight out of a primary schooler's wardrobe!

C.C.: Heh, come to think of it, rainy days are primary schooler days*. And you're good at that, aren't you?*

Lelouch: Quiet, you!!

((END))

~*~

Translation notes:

A little note on C.C.'s last line (marked with *):

* I... truly have no idea what she means by this line. The next sentence: "You're good at that, aren't you?" appears to be a reference to the Primary Schooler Day (mentioned in episode 17.5), which Lelouch absolutely hates but tolerates because Nunnally enjoys it. Lelouch is forced to do it in the NewType Hangyaku no YamaYama DX Special after receiving a request from pen-name "Onii-sama rabu (love) <3" (obviously Nunnally)

What I don't understand is the logic behind "rainy days = Primary Schooler Day". Maybe it's a rule Milly thought up or something. I thought this might be a cultural reference so I did some quick googling, but there doesn't seem to be anything special about it.

*******************************

Bokura No Hibi 10 : 10th period of time (Stage unknown)

Suzaku: (sigh) I thought today's work would never end, what with Lloyd-san adding this and that...

Wonder if Lelouch's already left.

*Door opens*

Suzaku: Sorry guys, military work took longer than usual again... ... uwahh, Kaichou, what are you doing!

Milly: Bathing, obviously. (T/N: The sort of bathing you do in the sea -- you know, just soaking yourself. Not the kind with soap and shampoo)

Suzaku: In here!?

Milly: Yep. It's the heat, see. 'S much too hot here in Area 11. And I forbid it! That's a Kaichou Order!

Suzaku: Don't ask the impossible. And might I point out you've already got the air conditioner running?

Milly: That does nothing to cool the passionate heat seething in my chest. (T/N: This line can also be interpreted as -- "It isn't enough to dampen the passion seething in my chest", and yes, it's supposed to sound quite seductive.)

Suzaku: (brisk, pleasant smile) I see---

Milly: Uwa, he completely ignored it!

Suzaku: Lelouch isn't here?

Milly: I made him inflate the pool and bring in the water, but after that he got all bent out of shape and went home.

Suzaku: The fact that he actually did all that is fairly amazing......

Milly: When I asked him "Won't you come in too?", he made quite the face and rejected my offer. And I was planning on touching-feeling his squeaky smooth skin all over, too... Such a waste. It's been some time since I last did that.

Suzaku: Lelouch's kind of naive, so it might be better not to tease him like that.

Milly: Yeah.

Suzaku: ...... And you've been teasing him all this while knowing that.

Milly: Yes, of course. ...... Suzaku, if you're feeling the heat yourself you can come in too. I don't mind.

Suzaku: No, I'm perfectly fine. I've got some paperwork piled up, so I'll be working now.

Milly: Well, you certainly are a hardworker. In that case, I allow you to ogle as much as you like the marvelous curves I've been blessed with. Fufu--n.

Suzaku: Yeah. (scribbling)

Milly: .................................

*continues to scribble*

Milly: Kuwaaa----!!

Suzaku: Uwahh, what's wrong!?

Milly: Suzaku! Party-pooper! Your reaction's so incredibly bo-ring!

Suzaku: Eh!? Reaction to what!?

Milly: And you call yourself a healthy, pubescent highschool male!? You're not normal! Watch and learn from either Lelouch or Rival's reactions!

Suzaku: I-I'm sorry......

...... Wait, why's she mad at me?

Milly: Kururugi Suzaku, clearly not to be underestimated...... Hey Shirleeey, can you hear meee? As I thought this is totally not working out! Cut off the hidden camera, will you? And you can put away the "Candid Camera" sign now--

Suzaku: Thi -- This was all a trap, Kaichou!?

((END))

Translation by Our Translation Queen, Celiss Galvea

#codegeass #code geass #original code geass #novels #official material #headcanon #lelouch vi britannia #lelouch lamperouge #lelouch x c.c. #milly ashford #suzaku kururugi #C.C. #コードギアス

[alligatorjesie]

So, just out of curiosity when you’re searching for reylo stuff are you on mobile or desktop? because i’m pretty sure on desktop to make sure it’s not going by keywords and lumping other posts in you have to search #reylo or at least that’s worked for me :)

I use both. 3, technically, as the ipad/apple is using it's own unique browser.

Anti reylo posts show up under the regular 'reylo' search perimeters regardless of which browser type you use. This isn't a browser issue anyways, just tumblr and it's uhhh... unique coding? The issue isn't how the phrasing in the tag works but how tumblr handles it's tags.

This: #reylo

isn't the same as this: reylo This: #reylo

is considered a 'tag' and searching it with the pound sign in front of it will in theory show you everything in that tag but exclude it if it's mashed into a run-on sentence of a tag thus lowering your odds of running into an anti post. However

That theory is fucking wrong. Since tumblr was coded by mortal humans who made lots of mistakes and at this point God only fucking knows why but sometimes when you search using only the #tag you'll miss shit. I've had to happen to me quite a few times. Hell I've had times were I've submitted things only to see they Never end up showing in the tag weeks later even though I tagged it what I assumed was correctly. If something isn't tagged just right and that is a very fucking broad definition of 'right' it simply wont show up. Sometimes all that takes is not insuring the most popular tags that might be searched for are the first 5 tags in your post as anything after that no longer shows up in the search via tags, a well known issue tumblr has in it's tagging system. Sometimes all you did wrong is not capitalize the tag when most people search for it capitalized or vice versa . Sometimes all you did wrong was tag something that had never been tagged before. The list of reasons why your tag wont show up in the tagging system is too fucking numerous but here's a few of them and by 'few' I mean a lot. There's many reasons why someone would choose to not search for the thing they like this way. I don't search for reylo via the built in tag system because I and many others have found searching using tumblr's system don't work as advertised most of the time.

However²

Just searching for the thing you wanna see like this: reylo shows everything all of the time. Even if you're dick at tagging your shit, the mere mention of the thing will cause it to show up in the search. Now unfortunately and paradoxically this also means everything shows up in your search. so if the tag is something long like: 'reylos eat shit and die' A real thing by the way

That will show up in your search.

Reylo is a little unique to a lot of other fandoms because of the sheer number of antis to this fandom you'd think it was something a lot worse than a real fucking vanilla enemies to lovers ship that is in fact canon and has been since Episode 7. Now most of us just block and move on or worse yet, some of us can't deal with the harassment in the open search and just use the reylo tag and deal with the fact they're not seeing half the content being posted to the tag do to tumblr's shortcomings. It cuts off major parts of this fandom from itself within it's own app. I think that's fucking stupid and I don't wanna do that. I want to see everything in this tag, good and bad. It's important to me and the health of this fandom overall that we all know who the assholes are in our spaces. It's so fucking important to see and acknowledge the bad actors here, within your fandom space and outside of it.

I'm an absolute prick in the reylo tag. I'm not the most well liked in this fandom space and that's unfortunate because I do love this fandom and the people in it. I try to make up for it by being helpful within the fandom contribute were I can but it doesn't change the fact I have burned some bridges with members of this fandom who I respect but don't respect me and they're in their right. I really hate that I have to be the bad guy so often and act like a heinous bitch for what feels like every other day in this tag but this shit has been unrelenting.

I'm a fucking furry and I feel more welcome in fandom spaces as a furry, known for being at the bottom of the social fandom tier to the point it's a meme, than I ever fucking have as a reylo in those same spaces and boy howdy let me tell you fucking what that shit is really fucking weird. Now on twitter and reddit what I regularly run into are alt-right manbabies who are just pissed their sister liked Star Wars and one director dared to make a movie that made them think, not really even that hard. Just harder than 'Good guy fight bad guy and win'. The Audacity. But on tumblr the most common breed of shithead I run into is Antis. Antis are people who are in opposition to the shit you're into. They normally have this high and mighty reason as to why your fandom is actually the devil and regularly have some pretty bad takes about fandom itself. In my experience they're all very young because no adult has the fucking time to do the shit they do but sometimes they're actual adults in which case My Fucking God's Name in Heaven. I don't think they got a fucking family. A pet. A goddamn houseplant. They have emitted such a repellent personality that not a single organic soul would be caught dead in their monkeysphere. This is why they have so much extra time on tumblr, fuck me. Either way an anti is going to find a reason to shit on your fandom and they're going to do it subtly in the tags. In the reylo fandom it is: A: Ben Solo is a nazi and the reylos sympathies with nazis and racists because they like the character. This is horseshit and has been disputed to the point of proven wrong because first off there are no nazis in fucking Star Wars and secondly Ben Solo didn't joint the First Order because he's racist, he joined because he thought his uncle tried to kill him. B: The ship excludes Finn as a romantic partner for Rey, therefore this is also racist as if polyamory just couldn't possibly exist in their blank fucking minds or something. C: The ship is incest. To which I say: I swear to fucking god I will take a huge wet Taco Bell shit on your grandmother's grave you ignorant fuckwits if you can't figure out how to fucking Google this topic Or D: The ship was not obvious and the kiss came out of nowhere at the end of EP9.

As if the literal Star Wars equivalent of Romeo and Juliet's love theme didn't show up in this scene in The Force Awakens, a really fucking weird choice of song if this pair was never intended to be romantic from John Williams, grandfather to the leitmotif. As if the entirety of The Last Jedi never fucking happened.

That's not an edit by the way, they are really standing that close to each other. Either way it's not your fucking job in a fandom to hold these people's hands through the main issue they're having. You could strap these pickled dicks to a chair Clockwork Orange style and try to brainwash them into understanding the proof right in front of them and you'd fail.

They don't wanna see it. They just want to hate. The point isn't the point to them, If you prove something wrong they simply wont acknowledge it or will change the reason why the hate it. They just want to hate something and unfortunately they picked your fandom to express it. What we can do in our fandoms is tell these assholes to leave when we see them.

Personally wouldn't want to do something like block the 'anti' tag because doing that would block most of my own posts and block any other reylo who is talking about antis in the fandom space. But most importantly blocking the tag would also remove the antis and I wanna see 'em. I see a lot of constantly regurgitated rhetoric from a lot of antis about all the proof they have of how racist this fandom is with all of these 'See? See these reylos being racist? This one told John Boyega TO DIE!' many year old tweets they keep posting by users who are no longer active in the fandom because the reylo community did their do fucking diligence and pushed those shithead out of this space.

I want to see the post by the person who saw one fan edit back in 2016 and shit themselves with rage over how racist it was because they cropped Ben on top of Finn in it. (I'll have that one out soon) I want to know who is just trying to start shit by posting receipts of users who are no longer active in the fandom or the platforms they've been screenshotted in. I wanna acknowledge the user who continually posts Hot Takes about a character they obviously hate in a tag they don't belong in.

I want to see the post by the user who thinks it's alright to send people threats of violence over a fucking fictional ship. Or worse yet, death. I want everyone to know who these people are and if I have to be the one who drags them on stage to shame them publicly I fucking will. This fandom has been through enough shit and I'm fuckin' tired of it man. I'll happily take one for the team if it means there's a few less antis being taken seriously in this fandom space. They hate us because they anus and they can just fuck off about it. We should a try and achieve this via our own means. Call out bad actors in your fandom spaces. You see someone being a prick? Tell them they're being a prick. And if they keep being a prick you send 'em my way. If they don't fucking like the thing, then they can stay the fuck out of the goddamn tags about it or understand they're going to have to deal with people like me.

#Anti Talk #Reylo #Furry #Let's have a long conversation about tags kiddos #Like how they work like shit and I don't like using them

[anasticep]

Why Julie and the Phantoms is a masterpiece of a show. Part 1 of 3

· NOTE: if somehow you happen to like my gifs, please, feel free to use them. But, please, don’t crop or change.

· NOTE 2: This meta has been flourishing in my mind for quite a long time, but it was @catty-words meta on Perfect Harmony that inspired me to actually put it all on paper

· NOTE 3: I planned two parts of this, but ended up with far more gifs than a post allows. I dunno. Not sure if anyone will actually be interested in this rumbling. Probably it won’t even be a new and outstanding thinking. I’ll see how it goes.

What sets a good show apart? I’ll tell you exactly this: the pilot and the finale.

Whether it’s a season finale or a grand finale, it doesn’t matter for a scenario. People tend to forget the middle, that’s why all we remember about LOST is this weird full of dead people church that simply left the fans heartbroken. But frankly speaking, LOST ended so much better then most modern shows. And honestly I get why it’s so hard to keep track on things after 6 years and such a long row of characters. That’s why making a season in one take is so much better, when writers do not depend on what the fans think or like or ship. They simply do their job.

Do I need to say that our brain clearly remembers everything we throw at it? We think we forget, but that’s not quite true. That’s also the reason how we distinguish what we like and dislike – we remember all the small things and foreshadowing. Also that’s why we keep re-watching the shows we love: we simply acknowledge what our brain already knows. We simply find that thread that links everything together.

And they can be simple things. But first on what made this script a masterpiece for me: first and last scenes in the studio (+some things from 0102 band circle scene of 0109).

1. The Studio Intro

In 0101 Julie hesitates to go in the garage. She was reluctant to go in the first place. It signifies everything she’s lost: mother, music, voice. She inhales deeply, steadying herself. She can do this.

In 0109 it’s quite the opposite. She wanted to go there even though she knew the guys had already crossed over. Now this place signifies everything she gained back and more: music, voice, friends and, of course, a way back to her mother. She did it.

And this is a perfect visual explanation of the line “It’s not what you lost, it’s what you gain raising your voice to the rain”

2. The Band Intro

Can you see it the way I see it? It’s not a coincidence, it’s been done on purpose. Julie is mortified both times but for completely different reasons. In 0101 she is scared OF them. In 0109 she is scared FOR them. It’s so heartbreakingly beautiful it even hurts.

3. Personal space

In 0101 Julie and Luke are both scared of each other. See that extra step she did to push him away? Or the way he acts as if Julie is really a witch that could curse him? And who needs any personal space in 0109? These scenes show their journey in the best way possible.

4. You have to leave

In 0101 after accepting the fact that she was sane enough and these three ghosts really existed Julie is simply annoyed. She orders them to leave. She doesn’t what them to exist in her life. She has no time to deal with these dead cute boys. She wants them gone.

In 0109 after acknowledging that their plan has failed she also wants them gone. She orders them to leave again. But she wants to save them and for now that’s the only way she can think of. It’s better than not existing at all, even if it means not existing in her life.

And just look at the directing. The shots are almost twins! Julie mimics the scene from 0101 almost entirely, although it hits on a different level. I don't exactly know why it makes me so excited, probably I'm just very tired of mediocre scripts.

5. Maybe she’s a witch

I’m sure she is at least to some extent. It’s such a wonderful foreshadowing. I hope in season 2 we'll find out more but I think the perception on this in "Feels like I’ve opened my eyes again" by @pink-flame is very close if not almost entirely accurate to what I thought about season 2 and all this magic thing. Such a masterpiece of a fanfiction btw, I wish I found the show sooner and was reading it chapter by chapter. One of the best things I've read so far in any fandom.

6. Attached to our souls & 7. She's warming up to us

Do I need to say much? That’s the magic Julie has: her love for these boys. They are attached to her soul.

8. We had nowhere else to go

To think about it, they didn’t need Julie’s permission to stay in the first place. Like… How on earth would she even get rid of them? But that’s what defined these friendship from the start. They asked for permission in 0101 and in 0109 Luke’s words are almost apologetic that they ended up in her garage again.

9. I'm sorry we came into your life

Again, look at how both episodes have been shot. 0101 they stand apart, not knowing anything about each other yet. They both are not very comfortable with the whole situation and Luke voices what Julie might be thinking: why me? In 0109 Julie answers her past self that it was a blessing and a miracle. They are the closest they've ever got to be and the most sincere.

10. I have space for only one more gif and I'm simply fond of this parallel. We need a Witch!Julie AU)))))

________________________

Due to the pics limit I have to stop here. But there is so much more to say. So stay tuned to see Parts two and three if you liked this one. God, I hope you did

#jatp #julie and the phantoms #julie molina #luke patterson #reggie peters #alex mercer #my first real post here #jatp meta #jatp analysis #my gifs #my edits #don't crop #please be nice

[mariaantonnietta]

Touken Ranbu: Gaiden Ayakashi Cap1 Translation

Hello! @the-red-haired-saniwa posted the link to this official manga a week? back, Thank you so much, I was really excited!! This manga is literally someone going "Don't let your Onmyoji x Touken Ranbu crossover be dreams "!!! Heian-period, our boy Seimei, it has everything!!

So I decided to try my best and translate it. I will leave the link to the raw comic again and then I will post the translation under the cut.

Here's the comic: https://comic-zenon.com/episode/3269754496764329571

Now I will post the translation. This is MT and is my first time doing a whole chapter, I hope it's okay! I recommend you follow along with the raws.

[]← Narration

(TN: cmx,mx) <-Translation Note

*<- clarification in the next *

Front Page (colorized)

Strange things often happen in this honmaru---.

Drawn beautifully, the incredible touken danshi!

Page 1

[ History isn’t created only by humans ]

[An history that belongs to both people and those who are not people ]

[ that may not be as important as the story of uprising turbulence in the old imperial court ]

[which real facts will become unknown]

[and as it is passed down the generations]

[becomes “Just a story” that is still passed on ]

Special Purple Text:

Bewitchingly beautiful. The curtain opens to a mysterious tale.

Page 2

Title Touken Ranbu -Gaiden Ayakashi* Tai

*Ayakashi means yokai(demon), but you can say it is more general than yokai and includes all types of spirits. The author makes sure to include the spelling as ayakashi everywhere, so I will be using that.

Chapter 1: Nine Tails Fox, Beginning

[This is the story of the “ Touken Danshi“, spun by the tellings of both human and non-human beings.]

Blue Text:

What do Touken Danshithink when they meet with a monster that is out of the bounds of human reason?

Advance, Touken Danshi!

Page 3

Lady: Tamamo no Mae, are you still serving the Emperor this late?

Lady: A….fo….

Retrograde army?: Can a man blessed by heaven*be so blind to the presence of such a monstrous thing by his side?

*(the emperor)

Retrograde Army?: the capital and country* won’t last much longer

*if the capital fails so will the country is implied here.

Page 4

Chougi: This guy's leaves are small and withered

Chougi: Could it be that there isn’t enough water for them?

Mutsunokami: No, according to this book, you don't need to water them.

Chougi: Then how do they grow? I don’t understand these"southern vegetables"...

Minazuki: Oh! I envy your young vigor, both of you working in the fields this early in the morning.

Mutsunokami: Mikazuki!

Chougi: I'm just doing what I have to do because I'm on duty, why I am working in the fields…

Mikazuki: Maa, you can say that I've come to tell you something in place of Aruji attendant, Ishikirimaru-dono.

Mikazuki: You two have been summoned.

Mikazuki: The Time Retrograde army has appeared.

Page 5

Mutsunokami: Again they are trying to change history!

Chougi: When did they show up this time?

Mikazuki: The time is the year 1135

Mikazuki: The landing place is Yamaboshi Capital, “Heian-kyo”*

*Yamaboshi is a Province in Japan, where Kyoto is located. “Heian-kyo” is old Kyoto when it was the imperial capital in the Heian era.

Page 6

[Onmyoji Yasuchika Abe(TN: most known as Abe no Seimei)]

Yasuchika Abe: Your Majesty, I, Yasuchika Abe are here to serve you as you ordered.

Emperor Sutoku: Welcome, Yasuchika.

Official: Then, What did the fortune-telling say?!

Yasuchika: Misfortune surfaces from the east

Yasuchika: The shadow that affects Emperor Toba is not a disease but the work of an ayakashi

Emperor Sutoku: An Ayakashi?!

Official: It's true that his face has been looking a little pale lately...but to say is an ayakashi

Emperor Sutoku: No, I believe in him.

Page 7

Emperor Sutoku: Yasuchika, I have known you since I was a child.

Emperor Sutoku: You use a mysterious technique called Fangshi.

Emperor Sutoku: It is said by people in Kyoto and Chūkyū that your fortune-telling accurately predicts even the end of people.

Emperor Sutoku: Yasuchika, you're my only hope... to use your magic to defeat the demons.

Emperor Sutoku: Save my Fat... Save the Former Emperor.*

Official: So says Emperor Sutoku

Official: Ready yourself

Yasuchika: ...I have taken upon the duty you give me.

*(in English it would be Emperor Emeritus, I think former Emperor is more clear)

Page 8

[In this Kyoto every day and every night mysterious ghosts appear ]

[The boundary between humans and non-humans is blurred.]

Page 9

[The people you meet as you travel now, you never know which kind they are…]

Yasuchika: This corpse, was it abandoned after being killed by a bandit?

Yasuchika: If this continues, it could turn into a vengeful spirit and attack people…

Yasuchika: Says Mantra*

*Here I’m pretty sure Yasuchika does a mantra to cleanse the spirit. The kanji were too blurry to read, sorry!

Page 10

Yasuchika sees a spirit passing by his right

Yasuchika(thinking): ...It wasn’t a person

Yasuchika(thinking):...How many spirits are still wandering about?

Yasuchika(thinking): No, that’s wrong.

Yasuchika(thinking): What’s that?…

Page 11

Yasuchika(thinking): This Malevolence!?

Yasuchika(thinking): Are those Oni?

Yasuchika(thinking): They’re fast

Page 12

Yasuchika(thinking): Now’s the time---

Page 13

Mutsu Appears and Slays!

Page 14

No text Again!

Page 15

Hirano:

Here I come!

Page 16

No text Again, Hurray!!

Page 17 & 18 (Double Page)

Page 18 up (goes first)

Yasuchika(narrating): That obscure atmosphere corrupting the air brought by the demons ...It's clearing up.

Page 17 down(goes second)

Mikazuki: That man over there...Are you all right?

Page 19

Yasuchika: Thank you very much for your help.

Yasuchika:I am Yasuchika Abe, an onmyoji that serves here on Kyoto Kogitsunemaru: Yasuchika Abe...? You are…

Yasuchika: Hmn!?

Page 20

Kogitsunemaru: Mikazuki-dono

Mikazuki: I think this year 1135 appears to be a strange era.

Mikazuki: But even if the supernatural is involved, that alone doesn't tell us how they're going to proceed.

Yasuchika(down panel):...And you people are...? Do you know me?

Mikazuki(to Yasuchika): I would like to talk in detail

Mikazuki: But it is better to move to another place first

Mikazuki: Their companions may still be lurking around.

Page 21

Yasuchika:Their ...?

Yasuchika:…

Yasuchika: I understand... in that case.

Mutsunokami: O—oh!!

Mutsunokami: It’s a gigantic mansion!

Page 22

Mutsunokami: What is that!?

Hirano: You can't just mess around on your own, this is someone else house.

Mikazuki: A fine residence indeed…

Mikazuki: This is a safe place to start.

Page 23

Mutsunokami: Yasuchika-san Don’t you have something to eat!? I haven't had anything in my stomach since I came to Kyo!

Chougi: Stop it!

Monoyoshi: You’re really brave (TN: too bold)

Hirano: Please be a good boy!

Mutsunokami: So...sorry…

Kogitsunemaru: …...We are really sorry…

Yasuchika:No, it’s okay. I think it’s good that they are healthy.

Yasuchika(comment): What to do to calm them down...**

Really unsure about this line.

Yasuchika: I said this earlier but...Once again, thank you.

Page 24

Yasuchika: I've never seen you in Kyo. Are you a member of one of the vassal families?

Mikazuki: We are beings who protect history.

Mikazuki: We’re called touken danshi.

Mutsunokami:Eeh!?

Kogitsunemaru: Mikazuki-dono!?

Monoyoshi: It’s okay to tell him that!?

Page 25

Mikazuki: Sorry. I see that in this matter the help of Mr. Abe is indispensable.

Mikazuki: And a man who knows how to distinguish the human from the non-human will see through a lie.

Kogitsunemaru:Jeez, you are…

Mutsunokami:A wicked old manas usual

Chougi:I don't think it's a good idea, though

Yasuchika: Touken Danshi ….who protect History?

Mikazuki: It’s a time far away in the future from now.

Page 26

[In the year 22X5 of the western calendar, Historical Revisionist attacks on the past began]

[In accordance with the laws of the world we punish those who try to change history itself at will]

Page 27

[To resist them, “tsukunogami” are created from swords]

[Those are “Touken Danshi”]

Mikazuki:Hirano Toushirou, Kogitsunemaru, Monoyoshi Sadamune, Yamanbagiri Chougi, Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki

Page 28

Mikazuki: And I’m am Mikazuki Munechika.

Mikazuki: We have come here to preserve the history of this era.

Page 29

Yasuchika: The technique to manifest puppets of Tsukumogami ...It’s hard to believe...but

Yasuchika: this presence ... certainly isn’t human.

Page 30

Yasuchika: So the people who attacked me...?

Mutsunokami: They are called Time Retrograde Army.

Mutsunokami: They’re serving the ones who want to change history

Yasuchika: Change history ... but how?

Chougi: We are trying to figure it out

Chougi: What are their aims and what are they trying to do in this era?

Mikazuki: To change doesn’t mean to make something out of nothing. Has there been any recent unrest in Kyoto?

Mikazuki: They're just trying to use force to twist the outcome, and since they're coming after you, they must have had something to do with it.

Page 31

Yasuchika: I?

Mutsunokami: Just tell us about what comes to your mind!

Yasuchika: no...however...

Mikazuki: Any idea of what it could be?

Yasuchika: This is a matter of my duty as an officer as well. I can't just…

Kogitsunemaru: It’s the Prince of Heavens, Emperor Toba.*

*the wiki told me that in this period the former emperor(emeritus as said before) is in control of politics even though he isn't the emperor anymore. I see it as a minister of politics.

Page 32

Mutsunokami: Yasuckika san, they will be coming after you again

Mutsunokami: We don't know what they're after, if we don't understand it, I don't think we'll ever get to the end of it.

Mutsunokami: Whatever you do, you have to do your duty even if you risk your life. That's what it's all about, isn't it? We're in this kind of role too, we wouldn’t risk our role to save our lives, but...

Mutsunokami: I think there are times when you have to put yourself ahead of others.

Mutsunokami: To do that when you have to do it's also loyalty.

Page 33 & 34 (Double Page)

Yasuchika: About a year ago. A woman named Tamamo Mae appeared at the palace.

Yasuchika: It seemed that she was the daughter of a resident of Yamashina.

Yasuchika: In addition to her beauty, she excelled in poetry, song, and orchestration, and was so intelligent that the favor of the emperor became focused on her.

Yasuchika: However, not long after she became a palace maiden, people said that something strange happened to the Emperor.

Yasuchika: His complexion was pale, his mind was blocked, and he became distant from his subjects.

Yasuchika: National politics gradually became more and more turbulent.

Yasuchika: This is not an ordinary thing. The opinion that something important was amiss is spreading from the inside of the palace, so my Lord ordered me to investigate it.

Yasuchika: And...Tamamo-no-Mae turned out to be the cause of it all.

Yasuchika: From ancient times effective countries in many lands have been taken down by occult and devilish forces

Yasuchika: This malevolence is disturbing the country and shortening His Highness' life.

Yasuchika: It won't last long as it is...And that's exactly what that witch was aiming for

Yasuchika: My lord gave me the duty of protecting the Emperor...and repel the ayakashi.

Page 35

Kogitsunemaru: I’m going to talk now

Kogitsunemaru: It should be still later in history when Emperor Toba collapses.

Kogitsunemaru: In other words, the retrograde time army objective is to take advantage of the ayakashi called Tamamo-no-mae to kill Emperor Toba ...?

Page 36

Yasuchika:... Tamamo Mae is a strong opponent that is at the pinnacle of the palace and the country.

Yasuchika: I thought it was because it wasn’t a straightforward enemy, but …

Yasuchika: The time retrograde army who was targeting me may have been also trying to prevent me from getting rid of that ayakashi.

Mikazuki: Then, that demon-slaying...Could you consider taking us with you for it?

Yasuchika: Eh?

Page 37

Mikazuki: It's your job to get rid of Tamamo-no-Mae, and It's our job to defeat the time retrograde army.

Mutsunogami: Until Yasuchika exterminates the demon we'll hold the retrogrades off.

Chougi: It may also create a good opportunity for them, but...It's the only way.

Page 38

Mutsunokami:Let us help you, Yasuchika. And please, help us out too.

Page 39

Mikazuki: Those are shikinigami? Onmyoji, how convenient.

Kogitsunemaru: ... Even though I assumed that the case was usually you being the one pushing me around.

Kogitsunemaru: I didn't expect you to tell him about us since you’ve just been assigned to the second unit.

Kogitsunemaru: I was surprised

Mikazuki: There’s is no problem if simpler ghosts are involved

Mikazuki: They come to this world from time to time, but ayakashi are stronger than the retrograde army.

Page 40

Mikazuki: If it’s about spirit’s extermination, an onmyoji is the expert

Mikazuki: Wouldn’t it be nice to take advantage of it?

Kogitsunemaru: He has agreed to do it, but will it work?

Mikazuki: There's only so much we can do while we're dealing with them, But we will be relying on everyone in the second unit too.

Mikazuki: The rest will later pass.

Kogitsunemaru: ...again being unreasonable

Mikazuki: It’s not unreasonable

Page 41

Mikazuki: This world may be ours, but where will it develop next? I don't know how it will continue (TN: implication may be: "if it will remain unchanged").

Mikazuki: Emperor Toba's imperial rule was the foundation of the later Minamoto and the Heike family.

Mikazuki:If you change that history, we may lose some of our own histories.

Mikazuki: An old man can be selfish too.

Page 42

Kogitsunemaru:...Well, after all, isn't this what we always do?

Yasuchika: Is this fate too…?

Page 43 (BackPage)

Red Text: Will they be able to break the conspiracy swirling in Kyoto and protect the history of the city?

#touken ranbu #forgive me gods of translations #I could've messed up some parts #in some point Sutoku calls Yasuchika Kanpaku and I don't know if he refers to him #so i let it at him #Recommend going to the wiki for Sutoku and Toba for this one #Tamano-Mae and Abe no Seimei are here too! #I like the party that is here #touken ranbu translations #mikazuki munechika #yamanbagiri chougi #monoyoshi sadamune #mutsunokami yoshiyuki #hirano toushirou #kogitsunemaru

[zutaraplatter]

Avatar: The Last Airbender Critique

There are already a million of posts like this one, and I might be saying things that’ve already been said a million times but I’ve recently become reheated about the ATLA ending and wanted to let it out -_- No one asked, this is true, and this may or may not be a way to stall from this final project I still have to complete, but here’s 10 things I didn't like and/or would change about the show that likely shouldn’t need changing because they should have been done in the first place.

1. Katara should have apologized to Sokka after TSR

It should have happened and it didn't. In my canon-avoiding mind, Katara and Sokka have a heartfelt conversation where she apologizes for the awful things she said, Sokka says he forgives her and he's sorry if he wasn't as there for her as much as he should have been, which he follows up with "but I'm happy you listened to Aang and took his advice," leading into my next point

2. Katara should have said that not killing Yon Rha was her choice

And thats why it was the right one. Not because Aang already said it was wrong. No no. It was the right choice because that's what she chose. I love my mom to death and can't imagine losing her in any way, let alone the way Katara did. And I can't say for sure that if I was in her shoes that I know what I would have done f that yes I do I would have killed that motherfucker. But I also know that if Katara decided not to kill him, then that was one of two correct choices because they were Katara's choices to make. Not Aang's or anyone else's and this should have been clarified. I know it's a kids show but I said what I said. Next point.

3. Katara should have said more after telling Aang she was unsure at the Ember Island Players

Katara hasn't had any trouble saying how she feels, especially when it comes to helping others and making them feel better, whether she was right or wrong. But she holds back or overly softens blows and seems to even shrivel up at times when it comes to Aang. And me no likey. I had a boyfriend who I adored and admired and just genuinely looked up to. I'm also a shy and anxious person who hates confrontation, but because I loved him, I never refrained from telling him when he was wrong. I might have been a little shaky about it but I did it tho because when you want to be with someone you walk through the grass and stomp through the mud. And I personally feel like either in that moment or later on in an added scene that Katara should have voiced to Aang how unheard and disrespected she felt about his words before TSR and his actions on the balcony. I hate being uncomfortable and my secondhand embarrassment is toxic but I would love to see a scene of this. I always imagined Katara saying stuff like "But I'm not you Aang, and I'm not an Air Nomad," or "Zuko could understand why I needed to go, and I'd hoped you would too," or...I'm out of ideas but you get the idea. And you know what, I know I'm a hard Zutara shipper, but them having this conversation would honestly make me respect their relationship a whole lot more should it be believably written to end on a good note (I don't see how it could be but hey I'm an open minded person and I did think they were cute together once upon a time). Basically, all I'm saying is that Katara is no small voice and she should have been written that way when with Aang. Boyfriends can make you shy but should never make you weak. Period. Next point.

4. No rock! ONLY GROWTH!!!!!!!!!!!

I still squint my eyes whenever I remember that rock that unblocked Aang's chakra. What even was that? The laziest writing possible in my opinion. That's what. And Aang deserved better. What should have happened should have been that Aang started to lose to Ozai. And then as Ozai's about to deliver the finishing blow, Aang has flashbacks of everyone he's trying to save and honor, ending with a very prominent flashback of Katara with the guru's disembodied voice reminding Aang to let go of his attachments to become all he needs to be...then BOOM! Baby boy is back on his feet, chakra unblocked, he kicks Ozai's ass, I'm crying hysterically on the floor, as are the rest of us, and he wins. Then at the end of the series, instead of a kiss, he gives Katara an apology. She accepts, everyone else comes to join them on the balcony, cinematic group hug, camera pan into the sun. I don't know lol. Basically what I'm saying is that Aang did not deserve some deus ex machina. He deserved to grow and become his best self like everyone else got to.

5. Aang should have heard differently in The Storm

Katara is a very fate-minded person and this is when I saw potential for her to become a toxic character in regards to Aang. When he admits that he ran away from home 100 years ago, Katara tells him that that was basically a good thing because he was meant to be here and now. Like...no? What Aang did, though understandable for someone so young, was still wrong. Yes he would have maybe been killed but I'm like 10000000% sure they had a plan to protect and evacuate the literal avatar. And what was technically "meant to be" was a new avatar. But hey, what's done is done and kicking Aang while he's down is a no-no in this household. But that doesn't change the fact that Aang needed and deserved honesty. Maybe the fisherman could have said this, I don't know, but I feel like Aang should have been told by someone that although running away was wrong, it's a blessing he and Appa were able to survive and be able to help save the world now with his amazing friends found-family. Maybe this is too harsh, and maybe even outright wrong, but I felt like Aang deserved a truer answer here to support and comfort him.

6. MAILEE!!!!

Do I even need to go into detail?

7. Spiritual sigh*

Don't make me go into detail -_- I will say though that although Aang and Katara are both amazing individuals capable of earth shattering things, they were not a healthy fit for one another. This is evident in the original series and especially in their children from LOK. They both deserved the best but better than one another.

8. ZUTARAAAAAAA

This is a Zutara blog you KNEW this was coming, as it should. There's just too much. There's too damn much. I would give a real paragraph to this too, but, I mean, there's already so much proving that this was the pair. Fics, metas, rants, this site. Scroll through my blog or any of the ATLA related blogs I follow and...dude. These two were meant to be together and I'll mourn the narrative brilliance WASTED for no good reason every day for the rest of my life. No reason these two shouldn't be married with three kids. sob. I will take this part to say thank you to the amazing fic writers that gave Katara, Zuko, Mai, and Aang what they deserved that the writers didn't have the guts to give them themselves. Next point tho.

9. AANG AND ONJI

Good God almighty. Why not this? WHY NOT THIS? I'm putting on my bullet proof vest and I'm going to say this; Aanji is cuter than Zutara. Now before you scorn me or whatever, let me explain. Zutara for me is like steak. No. Chicken parmesan. I like chicken parmesan better. The point though is that Zutara is savory. You know? I don't see them as cute, I see them as Obviously. Aanji on the other hand is like a bag of my favorite candy. They are like a brownie. A cookie. Girl Scout Samoas!...I don't know what words are anymore. This post got way out of hand. I guess what I'm saying is that for Zutara, I scream, but for Aanji, I squeal. I hope that makes sense. But here's the main point I want to make. Onji never knew who Aang really was. And Aang was always, at his core, himself. She very obviously had a crush on Aang for his personality and that was crazy cute and frankly preferable to Katara's "I...guess he is." (you know exactly what I'm talking about) Anyway, I kept wanting more of them together. I wish all the time that we'd gotten to see her again, with a more fleshed out character and all. And in the way that I imagine the show should have gone, she could have been the perfect love interest for Aang, during this episode or way later, even in the comics! Another WASTED opportunity for greatness and I will, again, never recover T-T

10. Iroh get your ass back here

Maybe this is a misguided critique but I hated that Iroh just left Zuko alone in the fire nation at the end of the series. Baby was in trouble in every sense of the word and Iroh was just like "See ya! You got this nephew." I'm expected to believe that? I'm expected to accept that? No no no. He should have at least stayed for a few years to help Zuko stay upright and, you know, alive. And by "upright" I don't mean "good." I just mean been there to support him because Lord knows he needed it, at least in the beginning of his reign. It was cute that Iroh was able to settle down with his own teashop after all those years of violence and mourning and running and this and that. I was more than happy for him for being able to have that peace finally. But I still think it could have waited a little while longer so he could support Zuko.

That's it I guess. I know not everything I've said makes the most sense in one way or another, but I enjoyed putting it together all the same. Thank you for reading and have a great day. I'll go finish my final now.

(Edited for a typo)

#zutara #katara #aang #aanji #avatar the last airbender #uncle iroh #onji #on ji #Im wasting more time with these tags #avatar the last airbender critique #avatar critique #mai #avatar mai #ty lee #avatar ty lee #tylee #avatar tylee #the southern raiders

[j-minte08]

Why do I award BalanWonderworld as a masterpiece?

Introduction

⚠️I'm using a translator, so I apologize if any parts are difficult to read.

In this article, I will write about why I award Balan Wonderworld as a masterpiece, with answers to criticisms.

When I played the demo version, I thought this game was SO BAD. But I believed Yuji Naka and bought the full version. (Before I knew it, I had bought four of them...) I'm not raving blindly about it.

At first, I was hopelessly disappointed because nothing had changed from the demo version. However, in chapters 2 and 3, I was impressed by the three-dimensionality and beauty of the stages, and in chapter 4, I realized the comfort of gaining freedom through the acquisition of costumes.

By the time I was completely finished, I was convinced that this game was a great piece of work.

This is an article that I wrote after spending nearly 100 hours on this game.

I hope you will read it.

Main part

First of all, this game is not a game with flashy action as its primary objective. (Flashy battle action is possible in some scenes.)

【Puzzle】　【RPG】　【Exploration】

It is structured around these three main components.

The game also features a "Balance AI" that senses the player's movements and makes changes to the difficulty and world. There is also a presentation of my own work, so please take a look!

Please read with the above in mind.

■ One button action is stressful.

▶︎ As mentioned earlier, this game is not intended for flashy action. At its root, it is an RPG and does not require multiple buttons. The reason it's a simple operation is because it doesn't need to be.

There is only one button, but instead the player is given the freedom to select up to three actions of their choice. The way to play Balan is to find your own strategy within these constraints.

Some people point out that you can't jump, but only a few outfits limit jumping. Most of them are attack-oriented outfits. It's up to you to decide whether you want more attack power or more movement power.

If you're still not convinced, this game just isn't to your liking.(If that's you, I recommend the Wii version of Rodea.)

NiGHTS and Sonic are also action games with simple controls, but the concept is different from Baran, as explained below.

From the very beginning, NiGHTS and Sonic are one-button games that allow for exhilarating action. The action feels good and allows for improvement through trial and error.

However, Balan begins in a state of helplessness. One of his goals is to use his wits and eventually gain the power to run freely around the three-dimensional stage.

Freedom from discomfort. This catharsis is the best part of Balan.

It is also linked to the story's theme of opening closed minds.

■ The structure of the puzzle is sketchy.

▶︎ There is an intention behind this. By making the puzzle structure more flexible, the player is given more choices.

Therefore, each player will have a completely different solution to obtaining a single statue.

Also, each time you play the game, you will find new strategies, making it a game that can be played repeatedly.

This is the reason why Yuji Naka was so confident about this game.

Personally, I think that this action with a puzzle concept has a similar point of view to card games and rock-paper-scissors.

The Mega Man series is a typical example of a game that requires you to observe the situation and your opponent's movements to find the right technique and move. In fact, there is a famous episode where it was derived from rock-paper-scissors. This is also a game where you can enjoy improving through trial and error, but I think the structure of the rules is similar to that of Balan.

■ It's a pain to stock up on costumes.

▶︎ There is no need to overstock costumes. The minimum number of costumes needed to clear the course will naturally be available. Dependence on certain costumes can make the game monotonous. Also, the BalanceAI can sense your movements and take countermeasures.

As the difficulty level increases, you will have a hard time because the costumes will not come back.

The game is made more interesting by the style of play that allows you to use all the costumes to their fullest extent and bring out the true value of each one.

If you run out, explore the stage while collecting costumes. It may lead to new discoveries.

Even if you don't have a specific costume, there are many situations you can get through by applying other costumes.

This degree of freedom is what makes Balan so interesting. The strategy is left to your imagination.

■ The stage is curved. Isn't this a useless design?

▶︎ The curvature of the map allows you to see every corner of the stage. You may be confused because there is no other game that tries to do something like this. However, this is an ideal map for exploration games.

The basics of this gimmick are used as of chapter 1. Chapter 7, which has particularly large differences in elevation, makes good use of this gimmick.

■ The difficulty level is too low.

▶︎ Basics → Application → Review (Boss battle)

This game is designed to follow the above flow thoroughly. As a result, the difficulty level in the early stages is kept low, but the endgame is quite difficult. I almost lost my mind in chapter 12.

The bosses are easy to defeat. However, it is difficult to conquer all three strategy patterns.

Also, if you keep defeating enemies quickly without taking damage, the difficulty level will increase.Stronger and faster enemies will appear in large numbers.I found the difficulty level increased at chapter 3.

In other words, the difficulty of the game depends on how good you are.

■ I want to have a HP separate from my costume.

▶︎ This system prompts the player to use a different costume in case of failure.

Depending on the situation, you can either sacrifice valuable costumes, or use inconvenient but well-stocked costumes... The game throws a variety of choices at the player. This gameplay becomes more apparent as the difficulty level increases.

If you separate the HP from the costume, this tense gameplay will be lost.

The system of choosing outfits based on what will happen next fosters the ability to think and survive on one's own. It will also help the child's ego independence.

■ I need more explanations and hints. It's designed in an unfriendly way.

▶︎ It's not a game that requires you to do anything difficult, so if you think about it, you should be able to understand it to some extent. All you have to do is immerse yourself in collecting statues by any route you can think of.

Some people criticize Balan for being old-fashioned, but they are missing the point.

Games are essentially content that teaches you to think and act for yourself. This is a posting of what games should be, and a refreshing return to the basics.

However, I don't mean to criticize modern games. The immersive feeling of being in a movie, and the friendly design of the UI that shows you where you are going so you don't get lost. I think it's a beautiful evolution for today's hectic world where it's hard to find time to be alone.

However, to be honest, it is abnormal to say that only works that follow the latest trends are evaluated, and it is difficult to say that there is creativity in such works. Evolving technology and the presence or absence of originality have completely different meanings.

I would like to say that games like Balan, which have their own rules and think for themselves, are what we need today.

■ I don't understand the story. I want subtitles.

▶︎ With both video and dubbing, the amount of information is extremely high. By not using real words, all the people in the world have the exact same experience. Very romantic, don't you think?

It's not to dismiss the unspoken parts as non-existent, but to let your imagination run wild and have fun with it.

Since ancient times, there has been an aesthetic in Asia that finds meaning in blank spaces.

If you want a more substantial story, I recommend the novel version, which probably has what you want. It is available for Kindle.

At the end

Balan Wonderworld is a game designed to grow with the player the more time they spend playing.

Despite its gorgeous visuals, the reality of the story is deep and Yuji Naka's philosophy shines through, making it a masterpiece that can be called a compilation of his work.

At first, you may find some scenes difficult or the system annoying. However, they all have a meaning and will make sense as you continue to play.

Balan is built on a very complete system.

EVERY MOMENT IS AN ADVENTURE... This tagline is true.

But the fact is that Balan is a very peaky game. But that's also true for Sonic and NiGHTS.

If you have enjoyed Yuji Naka's past works, you will surely understand the quality of Balan. I recommend that you take the time to face this game first without any preconceived notions.

Now that I've spoken highly of Balan, I'd like to offer some criticism of the official advertising.

I think the main reason for this failure was the poor choice of stages included in the demo version, which made it difficult to convey the fun of expanding the degree of freedom by acquiring costumes, the sense of freedom, and the fun of being able to create a number of unique strategies.

As for the official SNS, rather than introducing the costumes and the storyline by themselves, the official should have done a better job of showing how they are all connected to make this game interesting.

That's how it looked from my personal point of view, but I believe that the current situation is the result of continuous failures in the area of advertising.

I'm so disappointed that this masterpiece is being buried, and I hope that the officials will have the guts to turn its reputation upside down even now.

Hopefully, this game will get the recognition it deserves. I love Balan Wonderworld.

#balan wonderworld #game #square enix #game review #yuji naka #naoto oshima #バランワンダーワールド #playstation #bww #nights #nights into dreams #sonic #sonic the hedgehog