#also yes some of these characters do die in the later sequels

[t00nyah]

t00nyah explaining project moon without actually explaining project moon

after posting lcb trigger warning i wanted to do this

or

me explaining project moon in the shortest way possible except its goofy af bc im eepy and lazy but im in a desperately talkative mood (i post mostly about limbus company since it came out cmon)

what the fuck is projmoon:

project moon is the coolest ever indie game development team we love them; they've made three games so far, also have an unfinished novel, a...idk, just another novel that was initially a comic but im a hater (im sorry(not)), and another comic

they've been doing it for like 7 years almost and still have no idea what optimization is but its okay we love them

there's a lot of killing and just amoral guys in general who can and will kill thousands. its THE 'your meow meow killed thousands of people' 'and they looked good doing it!' universe. everyone is fucked up there guys. but UMMM thats kinda the appeal

so the games! we all here are gamerzzz!

LC

it all started 6 years ago, when lobotomy corporation released in early access and my gf was like hey look what i found

lobotomy corp is a game where you're a manager in a big company, L corp, and you have to get your guys, employees(lucky ones who got the job) to work with abnormalities(fucked up creatures) so they would generate enkephalin, a big energy resource

except your guys will probably die when you're already so attached to them so you just restart the day each time this happens

theres like a maaassive plot, it is the beginning of literally everything, like some stuff still haunts us in limbus company (looking at a particular individual) and there are more characters that you'll fucking love(sephirahs) and then learn their fucked up story (and then learn your fucked up story and not be happy about it)

ah yes while im on it theres no actual self incert in project moon games im sorry but every character IS a character

gameplay-wise you just have to organize your guys, give them equipment, assign them to a job, make them suffer and struggle to suppress abnormalities if they try to make a mess(kill everyone) and do hard tasks your besties make you do

LoR

later, in like 2018 i think, they almost immediately after full release of LC announced a sequel, library of ruina

library of ruina is a game that continues the story(duh) and i can't tell you much about it without spoiling lob corp too, but in this one you have to USE BRAIN like A LOT because its a STRATEGY CARD GAME

in this one you dont even have a character you play as, you just follow the characters' on their journey. but dw! you'll get your own customizable guys to adore here too!

basically in this game the characters from LC and your guys are called librarians and you have to greet guests of the library, that were specifically invited there and /tp-ed, basically fighting them. every battle has its own story and eventually it branches off into four arcs and oh gott i love library of ruina a'right you meet characters for like one story and then have to fight them knowing their issues and how life fucked them over enough to get there</3

gameplay-wise you build cool decks from cards of those you've killed for your guys, pick guys for fight and then pick cards. simple. i think. not so simple in game but i simplified it

there's also a lot of amazing lore drops, bc in LC we were kinda isolated and focused on the corporation, but in LoR? we get to see all kinda of people of The City, we learn about The City, we learn about factions and all, we get all the lore we missed by being stuck in that manager chair

LCB

okay and now we're here. limbus my fucking company.

limbus company was, again, announced almost immediately after LoR's full release(PM are CRAZY), and released february 27 of this year, and already has more story in word count than lor does or so i've heard...

limbus company is pm's first mobile game(but dw there is a steam release if you're more of a pc person or your phone will explode if you try to install it(and it will)) and their first...(behold) gacha game. yep. but no dont get scared it actually has the best gacha system ever known to men

they've also tried to make it enjoyable without getting into previous games but to me it doesnt feel right i dunno i feel like it's just not that cool without knowing the context and going insane screaming at carmen or connecting the dots, also like the events of LCB are all connected to LC and LoR, so ummm if you try to get into limbus without at least learning what the other games contain be ready i'll personally explode you

in this game you basically play as dante(they/them for the sake of mysteriousness of 'who TF they are') and you have 12 deranged guys named the sinners who are ALL BASED OFF FUCKING CLASSIC LITERATURE did you fucking know pm are fucking literacy nerds and cant have a game without book references without exploding??? well they are.

so the characters (IN CASE YOU'RE INTERESTED) are:

1. gregor (metamorphosis, franz kafka)

2. rodion (crime and punishment, fyodor dostoyevsky)

3. (emil) sinclair (demian, hermann hesse)

4. yi sang (the wings, yi sang (kim hae-gyeong))

5. ishmael (moby dick, herman melville)

6. heathcliff (wuthering heights, emily bronte)

7. don quixote (don quixote, miguel de cervantes)

8. hong lu (dream of the red chamber, cao xueqin)

9. ryoshu (hell screen, ryunosuke akutagawa)

10. meursault (the stranger, albert camus)

11. outis (the odyssey, homer)

12. faust (faust, johann wolfgang von goethe)

also don't forget dante is based on the divine comedy by dante alighieri!

also dante DOESNT FUCKING KNOW SHIT. faust seems to know all shit and never tell dante.

i mentioned it being a gacha game. so like. you dont pull characters. instead you pull the initial deranged guys' alternative versions where they end up on another job like cult leader or a terrorist idk

the best part? you dont necessarily have to get them from gacha in most cases, you can get special currency, ego shards, to get whatever you want separately. also pm added ideality that you get from unfortunate pulls that you can spend on the special identity from the banner. but tbh i think its way easier to get the shards needed than pull that much, not really worth it

gameplay-wise? well. you have to basically just choose your guys' identities(those alt versions, they use them in fights to be stronger), choose their skills, a little similar to ruina (except TBH lcb lets you fuck around and put it on auto until it doesnt really work out (please dont autoplay with r corp ishmael or at least check what they're doing you silly goop they might do friendly fire if you're stupid enough)). the game consists of cantos, chapters that tell you a separate story of a sinner(in the order i gave earlier, not everyone knows that), that have story-episodes(cool ones), story-and-fight-then-episodes(epic ones), and sometimes just-fight-episodes(who the fuck thought those are a good idea?). and in the end of a canto there's always a dungeon. honestly, first two cantos are easy enough to just learn basics yourself, im rambling at this point

there's also hellish grind options and paid stuff like battle pass with the coolest perks ever

also LoR and LCB have mili songs, which is fucking cool, they're such bangers. no no projmoon games' ost in general. just fuckign bangers my guys and i mean it.

well that was fun and games. like i mentioned theres also:

Distortion Detective

im such a fucking fan of this unfinished novel, im so upset they abandoned it </3 pm did say they're probably going to rework it as a game or smth later but in my opinion it just loses its charm if its not a novel

distortion detective ... i cant explain it without spoilers to the games but its basically about moses, the distortion detective, who solves distortions which are like uhhmmm... people turning into some funky shit(that expresses their feelings). and she has a parthner named ezra. they're both poor traumatized women. and stuff happens. thats all i can say without spoiling everything. you learn a lot about the distortion phenomenon from moses' perspective.

WonderLab

wonderlab is a comic made by artist mimi, that follows taii, rose and catt. its about another lobotomy corp branch that actually introduces us to the concept of abnormality aberrations (slightly similar but different abnormalities like we have a little red riding hooded mercenary's(do you remember me mentioning pm being literacy nerds?) team fortress blue team version or whatever) that is used in limbus quite a lot so we old people from LC can be like 'heehehehe this is like like snow white's apple's aberration, so funny, reminds me of good ol' days...'

Leviathan

my main enemy. initially it was a comic, but i think they had to stop working with the artist for some reason and continue it as a novel instead.

issue?

i didnt read it. im so sorry i failed you. but i cant. first vergilius, main character, is ugly AS FUCK and he's STUPID i hate his guts. BUT OH DEAR LORD HE APPEARS IN LIMBUS COMPANY AND I HATE HIM EVEN MORE. AND NOT JUST APPEARS, HE'S THE GUIDE OF THE BUS, HE'S KINDA ALWAYS THERE. I HATE HIS GUTS. oh hey lap-- charon, no, you're good, you're amazing, vroom-vroom, yes, right, you're so right.

i'm pretty sure it has A LOT of important context for some stuff in LCB but i just CAN'T MAKE MYSELF TOUCH IT. please read leviathan for me.

i'm sorry it turned into a looong ramble but here's t00nyah's awful brief guide to project moon. in case you want to know about world-building or the story in particular...i'm always here to dm me. please do. i really love telling people about project moon. there's just a lot to unpack.

edit. okay apparently it was easy to misinterpret my leviathan commentary so im putting this here for the sake of clearing the confusions for future!! tl;dr: i know it wasn't continued as a comic for REASONS, it's OBVIOUS!! and yes, leviathan is important, i just can't make myself read it therefore don't have enough knowledge to write about it(cool idea: write your own post about leviathan if you're seeing this and are enthusiastic about it! i just won't.), i still don't like vergilius, it's just a me-thing. DO read leviathan if you're interested</3

edit2. after thinking for a while, decided to add this just in case: i was given a summary of leviathan! well. it IS something. (opinion on vergilius hasn't changed much sorry not sorry, still a me-thing.) but yeah 👍 all good 👍 still not liking it much, mayhaps because i couldn't read it myself, but. it can be found here in the comment section.

#project moon #lobotomy corporation #library of ruina #limbus company #distortion detective #wonderlab #not taggin leviathan pm people are gonna fucking tear me apart for the slander

[dailydragon08]

Maybe you’ve spoken about this elsewhere but: do you remember the first time you watched Star Wars? Was Luke your guy from the beginning (he certainly was for me!), and what did you initially like about him?

I actually haven’t said before! My dad was actually the one who got me into Star Wars. He loooooves it and constantly talked it up so much when I was a kid. I had the whole Endor tree village play set with all the action figures and remember playing with them before I even watched any of the movies. I knew going in Luke would become a Jedi, so he was already my fav cuz cool powers.

I remember my dad making a whole thing out of watching ANH (idt the prequel trilogy was out yet, but they were in the process of filming TPM?). Like we got comfy on the couch with a million pillows and blankets and made popcorn and everything. I was 10, so I got the Parent Hand slapped over my eyes when they showed Owen and Beru’s bodies lol. But I looooved the movie. Like was just so obsessed with it and then just inhaled everything Star Wars related.

I remember liking Luke and thinking he was cute, and having a massive crush on ROTJ Luke. To this day, I think that’s probably a big part of the reason ROTJ is my favorite. But I don’t think I really fully appreciated who he was as a character till later. I remember having a bit of a crush on Han when I was little too and just loved how badass Leia was.

I think I’ve talked about this before, but now especially as someone who unfortunately has my own trauma, Luke is just so personal to me. He’s been through a lot of trauma and I think people forget that cuz he tends to be very loving and sunshiney. But that’s also WHY I love him so much, cuz that loving, sunshine nature is a conscious choice that is very hard to make and takes a huge level of strength to maintain after all he’s been through. Like in canon, he’s bullied growing up, loses his family in more ways that one (Owen & Beru getting killed, watching Obi-Wan die, Vader knocking down the pedestal Luke put Anakin up on with the dad reveal and just completely changing how Luke sees himself and his family name, even having to rescramble how he sees Leia in his head post-twin reveal if you wanna get really detailed, then watches his dad die right after he gets him back), fights in a LITERAL WAR and is made a commander (which in the radio drama, I think happens because his CO gets killed and they’re just like “congrats, you’re promoted”) by his early twenties. Like he has SO MUCH SHIT happen to him by the end of ROTJ and he’s not even 30. I don’t think anyone would blame him if he had become bitter and angry, but he DIDN’T. Like I had some issues with his characterization in TBOBF, but he’s still the same kind, nurturing, gentle Luke.

Speaking of kind and nurturing, I think I was just always drawn to how he’s such a polar opposite of all the toxic masculinity stuff that’s popular with male characters in the media. We need more male characters who are gentle and kind and sweet and loving and that doesn’t take away from their strength or is pointed at in canon as being “weak” by their peers. Me characterizing him this way is also a big part of why I was not a sequel fan (no shade to anyone who likes it and obviously, this is just my personal opinion; but Luke is just very personal to me cuz he’s a symbol of yes, you CAN make it to the other side of your trauma without being a broken mess).

Sorry this got away from me a bit 😅

#luke skywalker #star wars #asks open

[feng-huli]

The Blood of Youth sequel predictions and analysis

To preface this, I have not read the novel and am going mainly based on my knowledge of season one. Thus, there are spoilers at least for season one (and possibly season two, if my suspicions are correct).

This will probably be a bit unhinged and won’t focus on the main cast outside of the parallels there may be between them and the characters that I’m focusing on. The characters I’ve selected are the ones that I suspect of playing a larger role in the second season.

1. Marquis Lanyue

If he isn’t revealed to be a villain, I’ll be shocked. The way his supposed lack of ambition is pointed out numerous times is remarkably suspicious. He has a big scary sword that was hyped up but barely used. He outright threatens one nephew, only helps another because he decided he wants to protect the healer taking care of him, and is pretty antagonistic in his internal dialogue towards the other nephew. There is definitely something weird going on between him and Prince Chi early on that seemed to fizzle out at some point, right around when Marquis Lanyue started helping out his other nephews. Anyways, this might be a crazy guess, but I kinda wonder if he’s going to work with Ye Ya the Night Crow to reanimate Prince Chi (at least, I think the Night Crow is still alive, unless I missed something). As a less crazy guess, I think he’ll be the main or major villain.

2. Mu Chunfeng

He has some interesting parallels to Marquis Lanyue that may become more prominent in the next season. Both characters are defined by their lack of ambition, but in Mu Chunfeng’s case, it seems more genuine. He actively goes on a quest to make sure his older brother can inherit the responsibility of leading the wealthy Mu family, which otherwise wouldn’t happen due to the older brother’s implied medical condition that renders him unable to produce heirs. This shows Mu Chunfeng’s disinterest in seizing power rather than the telling that accompanies the question of whether Marquis Lanyue is ambitious. Both Marquis Lanyue and Mu Chunfeng form an attachment to the healer Hua Jin, albeit of differing natures (father-daughter vs student-master). Mu Chunfeng, like Marquis Lanyue, also has a powerful sword that is hyped up but barely used. It should be noted that Emperor Mingde, who isn’t known for his ability to trust the right people, directly accused Mu Chunfeng of having ulterior motives. Anyways, my more measured prediction is that Mu Chunfeng’s older brother will die. For a more intense prediction, I think Hua Jin will end up dying, likely by accident, culminating in a battle between Mu Chunfeng and Marquis Lanyue.

3. Xiao Chong

The main thing with him is that it’s easy to forget that he’s very much a player of the game of thrones, so to speak. With all that Xiao Se does to earn his trust later in the show, it can distract from how Xiao Chong was making alliances with Wushuang City and how he was able to safely waltz in and out of a conversation with the fearsome Dark River. Even now that he’s risen to the throne, Xiao Chong will likely continue pulling strings. The point of the first season was that Xiao Se wouldn’t make a good emperor, but I do wonder if his arc in the second season will put him into conflict with Xiao Chong.

4. Bo Yong

This one is a bit of a stretch, I admit. His actor was one of the first I saw sharing the news about the sequel, but even before that I had some suspicions about his significance. In the scene where Jade Deity hides Jin Yan from the Director, he is notably absent. Could he have ratted Jade Deity out to the Director? He seems to have been involved in the plot to sneak Wuxin into the palace, which the Director appears to have known about. Anyways, given the events of the first season, the Five Eunuchs need their ranks replaced. Ling Jun and Bo Yong seem to be the most likely candidates, and will likely be involved in any palace drama.

5. Jin Yan

Honestly, I’m terrified for Jin Yan’s safety. Xiao Se and Jade Deity kinda have mirror arcs. Jade Deity longs for the Martial Arts World, and Xiao Se validates that. Xiao Se needs to learn what loyalty to his friends means, and Jade Deity shows him that. This, I think, is the reason Jin Yan needed to survive the first season. However, hints were dropped throughout that key episode that he’s done far worse things than some fun treason, and I have my doubts that the plot will continue to be so merciful to him. If he does die, the most heartbreaking and likely possibility is that it will be by Jade Deity’s own sword, as he is currently responsible for Jin Yan’s actions. If anyone else kills Jin Yan, that sword would definitely get covered in vengeful blood—given how many people Jade Deity has already lost, losing Jin Yan would surely cause him to snap. Less likely but still tragic, perhaps Jade Deity dies protecting him or has the injury Jin Xuan gave him act up, in which case Jin Yan may go mad with grief. Or maybe they travel together and live happily ever after… which could actually fit Jin Yan’s arc. He initially lacks meaningful connections, where he isn’t being manipulated/used. Jade Deity counters that as risking everything to protect Jin Yan. It is possible that Jin Yan could have a positive arc where he turns his greed towards building genuine relationships.

Well, it was certainly fun organizing my thoughts about parallels between the characters and exploring ideas related to the sequel. I’ve been resisting thinking of the future of The Blood of Youth for so long, but the announcement of season two has opened the floodgates to some surprisingly clear water.

#shao nian ge xing #sequel #predictions #The Blood of Youth 2 #the blood of youth #少年歌行2 #少年歌行之南明离火 #少年歌行 #media analysis #character analysis

[game-boy-pocket]

Did you like nuts and bolts

So I'll be upfront and say I barely played much of it. But I did play some of it. I was a ride or die Banjo fan back then, I bought an Xbox 360 just for Banjo ( and also Sonic but that's another sad story ), I pre-ordered the game and got the Xbox Arcade version of Banjo Kazooie as a pre-order bonus. I thought the new game looked ugly and the premise was weird, but I was willing to give it a chance

I feel like maybe I could have had some fun with it if I were given a little more time with the game. My Xbox360 red ring of death'd itself for the second time in two months before the game came out and at that point I was already fed up with it and did not send it in for repairs. So instead, I played a copy that my friend bought at his house for a few hours.

Part of the problem is that the text in the game was so small that I couldn't really understand what I was meant to be doing. I don't know why the game launched like that. With my friend's help I was able to beat the first world though.

But nah. I didn't like it. There were just too many little things about the game that bothered me. It was not very straight forward compared to what I expected from Banjo, the character design was ugly as sin, I didn't think the objectives were that entertaining, I didn't understand the direction they were taking with some of the characters, and worst of all is that the game just actively disrespected the characters, the series, and even the genre. I just couldn't stomach all those things together, on top of having dropped all that money for a new console only to be extremely disappointed, and on top of having waited for so long for "Banjo Threeie" after Tooie teased it.

Yes I know according to Greg Mayles, that was a joke, but jokes are supposed to be funny, and they don't read as jokes when you literally did the same thing in the previous game. Banjo Tooie was one of my most anticipated sequels of all time thanks to the ending of Banjo Kazooie. And I'd say Tooie delivered, for me personally. So teasing Threeie in the same way you teased Tooie and then 20 years later on twitter saying "haha you got pranked" is kinda fucked.

But tl;dr, no. Nuts and Bolts sucked for what it wasn't as well as for what it was.

[ragdoll665]

How I would “fix the sequel trilogy”.

Episode 1: The fix begins.

No changes to ep 7, for a few main reasons. Firstly, its actually pretty good, most people liked it when it came out, yes It plays it very safe and yes, it’s a lot of what we’ve seen before, (ep 4) BUT it nicely sets up our main cast of characters, builds some nice intrigue and mystery, who is snoke, what’s up with Luke etc etc etc. Its not perfect but its easily the best of the movies we got for numerous reasons, its only made worse because so much of what this set up was worsened by the lack of planning of what the overarching story of the trilogy was going to be, which I mean is going to happen when 3 different directors are hired to make 3 different movies all building off each other and no one though to make them go into a room together and actually discuss what they wanted to do.

The second reason is simplicity, a lot of my “fixes” are tweaks to the story structure of what we got, especially ep 8 which had a lot of good ideas it just didn’t really develop that well, and because of that keeping the baseline of ep 7 the same helps create a strong base to build on.

OK, with that out of the way lets get on to my changes.

Episode 2: the last retcon.

So this movie has a lot of good ideas and sets up some interesting things, I like Rey and Kylo’s dynamic each trying to convince the other one to change sides (this is a surprise tool that will help us later) fin still feeling like wanting to run but also not wanting to abandon his friends and kind of needing to find a purpose, and Poe advancing into a leadership position and having to learn that he cant do everything himself, he has to rely on others.

So, the movie would start in a similar way, a big space battle with the rebellion, sorry, resistance fighting the new order in space, cut a few of the marvel jokes, not that there can’t be funny moment or comedy in this movie but some of the humour in the movie really messed with the tone. Poe leads a good strike on a first order ship led by Kylo ren and snoke same as the movie they do a good job but lose some fighters and are forced to retreat again very much what the movie sets up.

Now the main changes, in this we have 3-4 main story’s going on at the same time, each of our main characters has a story that they are the hero of that build towards the overall lesson. Like ep 5 and ep 2 the movie will end on a loss for our heroes but will help them develop the skills necessary to win in the end.

So the resistance are on the run the new order are somehow tracking them and preventing them for resupplying, hoping to destroy home one and cut of most of the resistances leadership to cripple them, major difference here is that instead of being able to track them through hyperspace, something that I would argue goes against literally all of previous star wars cannon, there is a spy on board, sabotaging home one and reporting there location to the new orders, eventually due to the size of the new order fleet, being far from the core world were the new republic is running stuff the new order will eventually catch home one and destroy it.

Poe:

Poe’s story is similar to what it is in the movie, keeping things simple here, it’s about leadership, Poe leads from the front, he sees others die and wants to prevent it which leads to him trying to do everything himself, which he obviously cant do, his story is, with the guidance of admiral Ackbar, and Mon Mothra, our mentor characters he has to learn to rely more on others. Poe’s does everything he can to try  and catch the spy but at every turn he is just one step behind, the spy is sabotaging the ship, he’s getting frustrated eventually he walks into a trap and something bad happens, people are hurt and he gets really depressed, he is again reminded that he cant do everything alone, they reference how the rebellion is built from the hopes and dreams of thousands of worlds, callback to how the destruction of both death stars were team efforts, getting the plans destroying shield generators and actually fighting in space. Poe reflects on this, then he bumps into Rose, who was introduced earlier on and is still the sister of a pilot killed in the opening battle, of which po feels responsible for, rose doesn’t blame him maybe talks about how she wants to blame her self as a mechanic she should have seen any issues with the ship maybe if she had done more her sister would be alive, poe says that isn’t fair on her and basically gives the mentor lecture to rose which is how he finally realises he is in the same place, he asks rose for her help and the two hatch a plan. It turns out one of Poe’s friends, a pilot on his team is the spy someone who he never would have suspected or been able to catch because she always knows were he is and what he’s up to due to being on his team, but she doesn’t account for the background characters, the no named engineers working hard like rose who go unnoticed but who’s work is critical, its them who noticed the sabotage and suspicious log activity. Poe and crew confront them and they as a final act sabotage the ship, only partially, because they didn’t have time to finish, but enough because po spent so long trying to do it himself, destroys a part of the ship, Ackbar and Mon Mothra sacrifice themselves to save Poe and gang, in a heroic manner, pass on the message they trust them to keep the spirit of the resistance alive.

Poe is set up to be the new person in charge, Poe still takes an active role but is now ready to assume the mantle of being in charge, relying on other and live up to the expectations of the mentor characters we knew and loved.

This is the main theme of this movie in my rewrite, the conflict between Fascism and Democracy, fascism sets up everyone as trampling over everyone else to benefit themselves whereas our heroes benefit from mentors who seek to help them be better than they were, to make a stronger world for others not themselves. This point will be very apparent in the Rey arc but well get their eventually.

Finn:

Finn: Finn’s arc is about discovering his purpose and doing something with his stormtrooper background, he’s not super in the rebellion at this point but is willing to help to save Po and Rey, he sneaks aboard the enemy flagship and uses his skills as a stormtrooper to try and find a way to sabotage the ship or fleet to help the good guys get away. He is eventually caught by captain Phasma who in a twist is also in the process of building a rebellion, yea the reason she was so willing to give up the shield on star killer base was because she was also questioning her loyalty, maybe in part because of Finns actions. She reveals she’s been building a team of “dysfunctional” stormtroopers who would be killed or imprisoned for being to out of the norm of the stormtrooper brainwashing, we get a cool cast of wierdos with fun quirks, maybe one dude loves flamethrowers another like fighting in melee with batons basically just people who have a personality. A “bad batch” of troopers if you will. This is where fin learns his purpose, he wants to help other stormtroopers escape, obviously not all stormtroopers will be good people but within them will be some and it’s those people he wants to help, to give them a chance to live their own lives. The are the cool elite team that damages the star destroyer enough to let the good guy’s escape (barely) during the climax.

Again, leaning into the individuality is good, and how fascism crushes people’s personalities to just be cogs in a machine for the benefits of a few, it’s the actions of individuals which is why the rebellion won the war with the empire and why the resistance will eventually win against the first order.

Rey:

Rey: Rey jedi training arc time, this parallels very similarly to Luke in episode 5, she wants to be trained quickly so she can go back and help her friends, Luke who better than anyone understands this and understands that it’s the wrong decision, again the idea of learning to rely on others, and realise you cannot do everything yourself. Luke pulls a Yoda and acts senile and drags out lessons and points trying to teach Rey patience, she still has her talks with Kylo and the two continue to try and convince the other to swap sides (foreshadowing). eventually Rey makes the same decision Luke makes in episode 5 and runs off before completing her training to try and help her friend, Luke follows her. She gets to the flagship and confronts Kylo and snoke, they argue, fight etc. This is were snoke pulls a palps, and try’s to convince Rey to become his apprentice, talking shit about Kylo, how she has only had a small mount of training but can compete with him, who has “super blood” bloodline from the Skywalkers. Very eugenics reasoning from snoke which makes sense cause he’s a fascist dictator. Using his dark side powers and through manipulation he convinces Rey to fall to the dark side, before she can kill Kylo and take her place as his new apprentice (very rule of 2) Luke shows up and saves Kylo, forgives him for everything, apologies for failing him as a teacher and tells him to leave and warn the rebellion. In this moment Kylo and Rey have flipped teams, are enemies still but are now on different sides, Kylo returns to the light, early enough to take steps toward redemption.

Kylo flees the ship taking Fin, Phasma and the “bad batch” with them. Luke stays behind to confront snoke, and by time for our heroes to escape (very episode 4 obi-wan) it’s a fight he cannot win but he doesn’t have to, after an epic fight between him and snoke, with crazy lightsabre swings and force powers, they have a finally dialogue, snoke talks about how Luke is weaker than him and got the weaker of the two apprentices, how he fails to understand true strength, snoke is very much a use things so they can get further again everyone is a tool for them to use, Luke on the other hand counters with the idea that no, Rey and Kylo will both end up being stronger than he was, because that’s the whole point, to help people, to teach so that those who come after become better than those who came before the. Then he is struck down in a similar fashion to obi-wan.

I Think this is particularly important for Reys character, I think, more so in getting the audience to accept how strong she gets to be, same for Kylo, instead of just making her super strong which led to her being disliked (although a lot, and I mean A LOT, of that was just sexism from the SW fanbase tbh). Rather she and Kylo are stronger than Luke because the audience believe Luke is capable of training people to be better than him, think that Gurran lagan line.

Believe in the me, that believes in you.

Make the audience want Rey and Kylo to be cool as heck because doing so Honours the legacy of Luke and all the characters that came before them, not just to replace them.

Thus, ends episode 8, the good guys are on the run, Rey has fallen to the Darkside, Kylo and Phasma are on team good guy and while things seem dire, the characters are resolved to keep fighting, to win, to rescue Rey and stop the new order.

Episode 9: Rise of a good ending.

I won’t go into as much detail as I did for episode 8, mostly because due to the changes I would have made ep 9 looks very different and is much more a wholly different movie than ep 8 was. But I’ll hit the main points that build to the conclusion.

Time has passed since the last movie the resistance and new republic are putting up a fight against the new order, but things are still bad, Kylo and crew are still not wholly accepted by many in the resistance because of their previous actions but Poe, now helping lead and coordinate the resistance, trusts Tin and is willing to accept Kylo’s help. The major plot of the movie is about snoke.

Snoke is a very old very powerful Sith lord, he does an emperor from the old republic and every few hundred years kidnaps and tricks a bunch of force sensitive individuals and uses them in a ritual to make himself more powerful and extend his life spam. The good guys learn he is planning to do this again, soon on Rey and some of the jedi from Lukes old jedi school, including the knights of ren. The good guys realise they don’t have long before they lose Rey, and Kylo isn’t convinced he can beat Rey, let alone snoke alone. IF you wanted this is where you have fin be revealed to have been force sensitive and Kylo must teach him to be a jedi to help rescue Rey, and by teaching he learns, which is a common thing for jedi through all of Star Wars, like with Kanin teaching Ezra. Poe leads a big space battle to challenge the new order and by time for Kylo and Fin to sneak into snokes citadel and try to stop his ritual.

This is the plan to rescue Rey and kill snoke, like the empire snoke is the sole leader of the new order, everything comes from him (again fascist dictator) if they kill him infighting and power struggles should cripple the first order, like the empire after Palpatine is killed.

Poe leaves Kylo and Fin to rescue Rey, and kill snoke, he leads the fight in space, to buy them the time they need. When things get dire, he hops into his x-wing to kick ass while still coordinating the new republic forces in his custom 2-seater x-win with rose as his co-pilot.

Kylo and Fin fight through some punks to get to snoke and they fight Rey and “lose” because they are trying to convince her to rejoin them, Kylo and Rey could still have been having force conversations like the last movie throughout. Eventually just before snoke can kill them they manage to convince Rey who breaks through and saves them, they have a short heart to heart moment and turn to challenge snoke. Snoke is annoyed but he’s still in the middle of his ritual and if he wins, he can still use their energy. The three of them fight a big epic fight while the space battle rages on, each using a different lightsabre style, Rey with a double because she had a staff in movie 7, come on Disney it just makes sense, Kylo with his Cross guard but fighting more defensively and supporting his two friends, and Finn with the single, and give him a cool force power, he deserves it and the other 2 got one. The trio eventually end in a force blast clash with snoke, dragon ball z style, snoke boasts about how weak they are, how feeble their forces are how there are nothing to him, but they stand united and the force ghosts of previous mentors appear as the ritual is about to conclude, the extend hands in support of our heroes, again reinforcing the idea of building a better future, and standing together for the benefit of all rather than selfish power grabbing and being alone. With force ghosts at their back the win the struggle and kill snoke permanently, without snoke the new order predictably ends up infighting and power struggling which cause them to lose the battle even though they out gun the new republic.

Each character has their arc concluded, Kylo gets to be redeemed from being a villain and continue to teach to honour Lukes’s legacy.

Finn concludes his arc by helping convince Rey to switch sides, to rejoin the good guys, the power of friendship and acceptance, and gets to be a jedi, who spends his time helping other get out of bad situations.

Rey realises that the circumstance of birth doesn’t define you, she helped to convince Kylo to change sides, which was her main goal in the last movie to honour Leia and Han, gets to be a jedi and help people.

Poe is helping organise the new republic, not just in military efforts but has expanded to be in a similar position to Leia and carries on her legacy, as the surrogate son he always was to her.

Thus ends the sequel trilogy, which told the story of standing against fascism and how we build a better world by supporting each other and teaching the next generation to be better than we were. It passes on the mantle to new characters while honouring and respecting those who came before and for fans of the original series.

A couple optional things.

 I didn’t mention Leia much because I feel weird about how I would use her in the story given carry fishers tragic passing, you could potential have her be the main mentor of Po in episode 8 and sacrifice herself to save him, which I think would be the best way to do it, but also she obviously passed before the movie was fully shot so this might have been impossible and also killing of her character as she passed may come across as disrespectful to the actor, it’s just something I wasn’t completely sure how to handle.

If you wanted to set Rey and Kylo up I think this would give you more chemistry and time to see them bond, but that’s up to you I’m not a Reylo shipper, and I don’t particularly care one way or another.

I didn’t mention our little droid friend, their still here being comedic relief and sad when Rey joins bad guys, teams up with Kylo reluctantly because of Finn and does some cool stuff, at least that’s how I would envision it, but I didn’t feel this was critical to the changes in the story, so I didn’t mention it.

Finally, I just want to mention.

I’m not a good writer, I watch a lot of cartoons and some shows and have a lot of ideas that I think would be good, but I’m not a professional writer, I haven’t written any big blockbuster movies and most of my changes come from seeing a completed story, something the actual directors didn’t have, and hey maybe you even hate my changes or disagree with how characters should have ended up, that’s cool. This was just a very late frustration project from my experience of the trilogy. I really liked the characters of Po, Finn, Kylo and Rey and had my own hopes of the direction the movies would take.

Anyways hopefully you liked some of this ramble, maybe you have your own interpretation about how you’d have like to see the sequels go which I’d love to hear.

Live long and prosper all you SW jizz fans.

#star wars #scifi #star wars sequel trilogy #writing #reylo #Rey #kylo ren #Finn #poe dameron #luke skywalker #princess leia #han solo #admiral ackbar #mon mothma #supreme leader snoke

[gay-saltasaurus]

Ok so I just finished replaying BOTW post TOTK. Not a super detailed replay, just main quests and some of the larger side content.

Now that both are fresh in my mind...what the fuck.

I am legitimately kind of terrified of the team working on these games, they might be too powerful. How did they do this. How the fuck did they manage to hit it out of the park, then come back a few years later to hit it out of the solar system. So many big games are released half finished (looking at you Pokemon), and it would have been so easy to do a cash grab sequel. So many assets, systems, and minor sidequests were reused, as expected, but instead of just making botw+, they went in 100% to build somthing huge on the impressuve foundation they already had. As someone who works in games, I can't stress enough how so many people, in so many disciplines, had to be working at the top of their game for years to pull this off twice. Nintendo also deserves praise for giving the developers the time they needed to go above and beyond (this should be standard, but unfortunately the actual standard is to drive developers to make as much money as possible as fast and as cheaply as possible).

Replaying botw really highlighted how much totk was able to improve. Botw gave the player multiple ways to solve every problem, but the Zonai devices and new abilities make the solutions practically infinite, while somehow still making things challenging. The new abilities also feel more usefull, I think I only used cryonis twice outside of shrines.

There's also the little quality of life changes. I seriously missed being able to drop weapons from the hotbar, swap out an item after opening a chest, easily switch between inventory tabs, the little things that really streamline gameplay.

Totk's story is also made a lot stronger by botw's foundation. Everyone's already talked about botw's loneliness vs totk's theme of connection. But botw also creates emotional connections that totk builds on. Tarrey Town, the construction in Castle Town, the fucking Hateno house. It's similar to the environmental storytelling in botw. And despite Link's Tony Hawk syndrome, you know these npcs. You knew the Hateno kids when they were toddlers. You get to see the people you've met thriving. You know exactly what you're fighting for.

Botw tok a minute to get me emotionally invested in saving Zelda. "Yeah save the princess, I know the drill. You've seen one Zelda you've seen them all." At first I just expected her personality would be improved from Girl to Smart Girl. Then I saw the memory of her trying to force feed Link a live frog and instantly decided I would die for this character, and needed to save her asap. She's a full fledged character with an actual arc across games! And I love her! Yes there are things that could be better, the self sacrifice and not getting to do much in the actual game is an issue, but for what we got I'm pretty pleased with it. Botw got me invested, and totk used that to maximum effect. I saved a lot of the side content because I wanted to know where Zelda was, then when I found out I just couldn't get invested in sidequests because SHE HAS BEEN UP THERE BY HERSELF FOR 10,000 YEARS HOLD ON BABYGIRL IM COMING WE'RE GONNA GET YOU DOWN SOMEHOW.

So with Totk being so good, I have to wonder what's next. First, everyone who worked on this should get a vacation and a raise. And some awards. But after that, I think it might be possible to make this a trilogy. I have no idea where you could go from here, but that's what I thought after botw and look how that turned out. But if the team feels like they're done with this iteration of Hyrule, this is a perfectly good stopping point. There is just one thing I need first. Whether it's in a sequel or a major dlc. I need this Zelda. To not be having a terrible time. Just once. I know saving Zelda is the whole thing for this series, but my god she has been through enough. Just let me go on an adventure with her. You have the technology from the sage avatars. Or if that's too much, let me go in an adventure while she hangs out with Purah or something. Nintendo I'm begging you.

HOLY FUCK THIS IS SO LONG

#salt plays #totk spoilers #totk #botw

[joey8song]

So lately I’ve gotten into Batman again and I’ve been inspired. So Batman 22 is obviously getting another movie and I need a robin for him and then it hit me Jason Todd.

Okay full disclosure jason is my favorite and I adore him, but I also fell like he would be the perfect robin to this b.

Jason Todd is a character marked by tragedy. Robin Jason can be summed up as a bright kid going through hell and coming through irrevocably changed. Broody and awkward b needs the blunt good and protective innocence of robin Jason, this kid showed up like a hurricane but really bonded with b and robin is magic! But his story also has the darkness that would really suit this b. First act found family second death of the family (maybe Tim into/ cameo), sequel red hood comes to Gotham

Also this is a good tie in for the stupid joker end credit thing they did, joker is here and he has a plan for the newest bird

Dick of course is first robin and iconic and lovely but when I think of his robin run I think of how angry he was. I could right a whole dissertation analyzing the first two robins and anger( dick is the really angry one, Jason may be more emotional but it took the pit to bring that anger out and amplify it, and even then his following plan for Gotham is just that a plan, it’s methodical and well thought out, his anger acting up gets in the way of the plan as a whole. Jason being an angey kid would be justified but at heart he is not. My lovely Grayson on the other hand… he beat the joker to death and admitted he enjoyed it.) yes he has his fun quips etc but Jason brings the right balance in and much like the movie finally not doing the origin story they could jump into a lesser told story plus I want a good Jason adaptation please and thank you.

So what made me think of this was how I picture the intro of this hypothetical movie going.

The black screen focuses in on a street we have all seen way too many time on film before. It’s raining on crime alley and the scene reflects the gloom of Gotham. Camera pans around showing cinematography etc (some good old misdirection you might think we’re getting an origin flashback but sike no) before it focuses on a parked car with a small figure next to it taking of the tires, we see an ominous shadow approach the kid and stand over him

Bam title screen

Cut back in and the kid is holding a tire iron facing him and b is staring him down then the meeting continues as it goes in the comic, argument over stolen tires, b is hit, ends with a small child being taken back to the manor.

I also want nightwing to be in the movie because this is my movie fantasy and I’m trying to set the stage for batfamily. So there was a time skip: b is older but not wiser, he’s getting into a lot of fights with his rebellious oldest who’s currently finding himself in the town next door, and now he gets the company of Jason to bring him up to only break him into little pieces a few acts later. Batman and robin can go on some fun crime fighting things. Like I want full camp here gimme the costumes and the fun villains. All of this continues to build up the fun being contrasted with the family issues and an unexplainable Erie feeling creeping in. I want to start in sunshine and rainbow Gotham and for it to gradually go darker. But like cleverly, it should be unnoticeable until b grounds robin. Then it should be like a realization like oh no somethings changed.All those film/ story death flags?? Use all of them, I want constant subtle reminders during the entire thing that this kid is going to die. Things you’ll only notice if you’re really looking and know what’s coming. I want this to be a rewatch thing like after seeing the whole thing when you go back and rewatch you notice all the signs and it make it so much better not so much more heartbreaking.

The climax of course will be the explosion pattinson needs to use those acting skills dammit I want to see the grief and brokenness of a grieving father real time. Also I want him to cry and destroy the alpha male men don’t cry power fantasy Batman has become for the incels.

After that we cut back to Gotham where Batman is darker, he’s pulling his punches less, staying out later, Alfred is worried but he’s also grieving, n is going through it next door, shown montage style or like flipping though news headlines, when one morning a small black haired boy is making his was up to the manor envelope in hand camera around his neck and argument on the top of his tongue.

#batmobile #batman #battinson #the batman #jason todd #dc robin #robin #bruce wayne #movie #nightwing #dick grayson #tim drake #red robin #batman 2022 #joker

[askseriousrainbow]

Alrighty, part 3 of the list. These are numbers 80-71, if you've been keeping track.

Link to part 1. Link to part 2. Link to part 4. Link to part 5. Link to part 6. Link to part 7. Link to part 8. Link to part 9. Link to part 10.

80. Command & Conquer Remastered Collection

Command & Conquer's remaster was a breath of fresh air, bringing in new players to both the original Tiberian Dawn and Red Alert, which are some of the highest rated strategy games ever made. The remaster just makes it easier to play, and you can choose to go back to the older graphics too. Just really good all around.

79. SimCity 2000 Special Edition

Ah, the good old SimCity franchise, back when always-online didn't exist. I'm putting 2000 here because it takes the original formula, adds a water system and specialty buildings like schools and hospitals, more disasters, a better way of doing a budget, and adds bonds/loans for the first time. A great game, with a great Let's Play. I still call the Transit Advisor “Jim” because of it.

78. Yakuza 0

Ah, Yakuza 0. My first playing of this great series. I find myself distracted by the side stories, easily. Kiryu is an interesting character and sympathetic, never breaking his “no killing” rule (if you play him like I do, anyway). Majima is just as endearing and he's given a great backstory in this game. I still need to play the other ones, but this is a strong game to start the series with.

77. Puzzle Agent

A cross between Twin Peaks and a puzzle game? Yes, please! You have to solve a mystery of a missing foreman, and have to solve all types of puzzles to get to the bottom of it. It doesn't really get solved until Puzzle Agent 2, but Puzzle Agent 1 is slightly better, so that's why it's on the list.

76. Another World

Also known as “Out of this World” because of a soap opera of the same name, this cinematic platformer is highly regarded as one of the best. Using a checkpoint system, it's very much trial and error, trying to make sure you don't die. Or your buddy, uh... Buddy.

75. Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Civ IV is my favorite of the Civ games, simply because it was easy to get into. Its expansions are great too. It's great trying to get to Alpha Centauri, and the addition of Leonard Nimoy voicing the technologies is fantastic. It's the last of the “square-grid” Civ games too, all later mainline ones were hexagonal, I believe.

74. Fibbage 4

This is probably the newest game on my list, but I love Fibbage, and this version of it is what I consider the best, what with its differing question types, fan questions, and a great visual style.

73. Evil Genius 2

I'm putting Evil Genius 2 a little lower than the original, but it's still a great base building game that expands its predecessor, with four (later five) evil geniuses to choose from. It also has multiple bases, so you can conquer the world from wherever. Also, the steady flow of your minions is better put together here. It's just a little lower because no Alexis.

72. Scarface: The World is Yours

Ah, Scarface. One of my favorite movies gets a “quasi-sequel” because this game starts with the classic shootout at the end of the movie (and you will die if you don't turn around and kill The Skull) and is about Tony rebuilding his empire and getting revenge on Sosa. The voice cast is fantastic and the music is kicking. See if you can find the PC version, there's a great fan-made patch for it.

71. Shantae and the Pirate's Curse

Pirate's Curse is heavily regarded to be the best of the Shantae games, and I have to agree. The pirate gear adds a lot to Shantae's normal skill set, along with being a different style of play since it doesn't have any genie powers, unlike the other Shantae games. It's still a fun time.

Part 4 should be tomorrow! :D

-SR

Link to part 1. Link to part 2. Link to part 4. Link to part 5. Link to part 6. Link to part 7. Link to part 8. Link to part 9. Link to part 10.

#Ask Serious Rainbow #AskSeriousRainbow #Top 100 #Command & Conquer #SimCity 2000 #Yakuza 0 #Puzzle Agent #Another World #Out of this World #Sid Meier's Civilization IV #sid meier's civilization #Fibbage 4 #Evil Genius 2 #Scarface #Scarface: The World is Yours #Shantae and the pirate's curse

[michiruze]

Tales from the Café - Thoughts

Onto the second book of the コーヒーが冷めないうちに book series now! I am once again back at Café Funiculi Funicula for more coffee, feels, and regrets....now with grief and guilt.

And now I have thoughts and some words about myself....

(blurry pic LMAO im so sorry i cant take good pics with my phone)

I wrote my thoughts on the first book here, and as you can see, I liked the premise enough despite the MAJOR shortcomings, because I believe that when done well, the premise could be something profound and wonderful. Also i'm a sucker for both reflexive time travel plots and sad slice-of-life.

So, with the album "Steve McQueen" by Prefab Sprout playing in my ears, rainy days on my window, and lounging in my desk, I am back at to immerse in the wistful atmosphere of the story, ready to go back to the past before the coffee gets cold.

I am happy to report that the second book is better than the first! There are significant number of improvements here and there, and it seems that author Toshikazu Kawaguchi listened to some of the criticisms of the first one...

Oh my, oh my. Have you seen the weather? The sweet September rain....

Upon finishing, it felt like a nice cup of coffee after a somber rainy day. Full thoughts and a little story about me under the cut.

First off, while the stories aren't that much different than the first book, there's a unifying theme that ties them all together that makes the book's message clearer. Now I know what this series is going for very well. I'll get to that later.

What about the characters that aren't Kazu and the patrons? Personally, it's great to see Nagare and Miki. Miki really is a good successor to Kei, but sometimes her childish antics feels a little forced. That's not to say she's not endearing. It's just that I wish she's better than being an exaggerated version of a 6-year-old.

The time travel element is also explored even more. The characters now make good use on what they can do with the power of temporary time travel and as a result, things gets pretty....creative, especially in the third story. And also, we finally get to know who the ghost in the cafe is....and it's real sad!

As for the stories itself, the book starts with a pretty solid one. Unlike the first book's first story that feels like nothing, this sequel starts with a strong tearjerker but with lines that'll make one smile. Yes, it's a standard "I want to meet you before you die for the happiness of my loved one" story, but the way this one is set up and done is just...wonderful. Definitely a strong opener that really showed what the book sells itself as. It promises me four sad stories, and I got a sad story RIGHT at the beginning. That's how you get me into a book.

And what's better than that? Guys being dudes!! The first story is just a wholesome 'guys being dudes' story, and quite escapist in some ways.

The "From now on....you have two fathers. It's me and your dad, who is my bestie" thing in the first story is just the best. I like how the characters didn't even question the implication behind one of them saying that his daughter has two dads now. In fairness, they're a lil bit too close to eachother....are they....yknow 👀👀

Second story felt like a retread of the first book's third story in that it is once again, about a dying relative, but there's something that made this second story great: the main character. He's 24, broke, has a degree in art, no prospects, and jobless. And he gets a nice ending. That alone made me like the story and honestly? I know that it's corny that his time travel fixes his life but it's a nice escapist story. I wish I can have his ending....

(seems that escapism is also a thing in this second book)

Now, the third story is unfortunately, where the book falters. I was having a good tearjerking time with the first two stories....until the third one. It actually starts off interestingly by starting with someone already doing the time travel thing instead of doing the 'cafe situation with Kazu/Nagare/patron -> introduction -> flashbacks -> time travel' structure that every other stories have. It breaks the repetition and this third story is commendable for that.

But....oh boy. Remember how the fourth story of the first book had weirdly-written stuff about pregnancy and how it idealises 'give birth even if it kills the mother'? Apparently there's a similar thing in this third story. I can't give the specifics but it's just. Jarring to see this author trying to write a character getting over a miscarriage by waxing poetic. Especially because the message is not that different from the other stories.

At the very least it's not a big plot point and the woman's reproductive issue isn't treated as the end of the world. Feels like this third story was the writer realizing that the fourth story of the first book did came out weird and rather unfortunate in its implications and attempted to give correction by reversing the genders of the characters? That's what I am getting.

While the third story managed to shake up the structure to not make the book repetitive, it is unfortunately, needlessly complicated. When a 'plan' sounds like technobabble when explained, that's when the plan might not be a good idea. It just makes the book look goofy and attempting to look 'quirky'.

However, credits where it's due: Fumiko, aka the main character of the first story of the first book is back and she's written better this time! No more 'moping for her boyfriend' kind of Fumiko! Finally, Fumiko gets to show her brain for once...even though it's kind of ruined by her boyfriend's weird technobabble comparing their situation to programming.

I do love the theme of the third story (sometimes we just lie to stop the truth from hurting others), it could've been done without the overly-convoluted setup.

Fourth story feels like a retread of a story from the previous book, and for some reason it needed to give readers a recap of the previous book. The main character is a detective here and I feel that Kawaguchi made him a detective as an excuse to do that. It doesn't make the reading experience 'less', mind you, but...was it really needed? These stories work well as stand-alones to begin with.

That being said, it's the story that ties the book's message together. Through this patron's time travel, we finally see what the author wanted to say, and ties it to everyone in the book. And one that ties back to the Cafe itself. See, in these stories, we mostly only know the patrons well. Their personalities, dreams, wishes, regrets, and grief....not a lot of room for us to get to know Kazu. We did get to know Nagare in the first book, but not much on Kazu and the cafe itself.

Like the third story, we get another shake-up in the formula. Now it's the rules of the time travel that gets shaken up. Now, something different happens. And this something ties back to Kazu.

When love breaks down, the things we do, to stop the truth from hurting you,

Yes, this book is about Kazu too. Crumbs of Kazu's backstory (related to the ghost in the cafe too) FINALLY gets revealed after nearly nothing from the first book and her near-passive role.

Though, a lot of Kazu's backstory gets crammed in the third story, with the first and second story only giving us small hints into Kazu's personality and life before the cafe, and why she's willing to send people back to the past. And when a lot of these travelers found happiness from the past ---- what about Kazu? What does she get? Does she feel the same way?

This book delves into that, although mostly on the third and fourth story. I wish that it's not crammed in the two stories though. Would've tied the book better if all four stories have these moments with Kazu. It's a shame because the second story has a perfect opportunity to Kazu to question her agreement in sending people back to the past.

Like each story should've emphasized more on Kazu's shell breaking slowly. I would've loved to see Kazu's shell cracking in the fourth story. Not with dramatic whimpering, but with something that breaks Kazu's 'almost mechanical' actions. Like, make her more 'feeling'.

Personally, Kazu is my favourite character and she's why I'm still tuning in the book series. Helps that she's played by the wonderful Kasumi Arimura in the movie, and she's exactly how I pictured Kazu....it's easier to read the book while imagining this Kazu.

The sudden focus on Kazu is a surprise, though it gives the book a new focus. While the first book completely focuses on the cafe sending people back in time and how it affects the patrons, the second book focuses on how it affects Kazu herself as the one who pours the "TARDIS coffee" on patrons.

The first book almost never questions Kazu's reactions, and the book makes her to be this precise, almost-mechanical person who just does what she's told to do. What we didn't know is that she hides a lot of pain and grief behind her sommelier smile.

This book slowly shows the cracks in Kazu's precise, sharp personality. It makes her more human, because it's very hard to be a constant reminder of death, sadness, hurt, and pain, isn't it? At one point in the book, she even lies and forgets to do something important in the time travel ritual. Kazu is worried that she would cause love to break down.

There's a lot of words to describe Kazu, but I can't do that without spoiling a lot and getting off-track....let's just say that this song, the entire time, is about Kazu:

(You could make the case that this book should've been called "Before Love Breaks Down", even)

And that brings me to what this book is saying, and what does it say about grief and survivor's guilt --- and happiness.

SPOILER and TMI section!

When love breaks down, the lies we tell, they only serve to fool ourselves.

This second book has heavy emphasis on survivor's guilt. Guilt from being the one who lives while your loved ones die, specifically. All the stories are about death and grief, which fits better with the premise.

"Are we allowed to feel happy with death and pain around us?"

That is the theme of the second book. It is a good theme, and I'm glad that this book is written with that as the main theme. It's corny (like a lot of 80s ballads are) but I do feel that. Sometimes, i feel that i do not deserve respite nor any smile after seeing and experiencing tragedies in life.

Four years ago, I lost one of my best friends. She passed away suddenly.

It's unfair that i get to live and have fun experiences with friends while she's six feet under. I thought that if I feel happiness, it's unfair because she couldn't, and my survival and long age is a curse I have to bear for her passing. But if there's anything I learned from that time two years ago when I had one of the happiest moments in my life, my happiness is what my she had wanted wanted. And my life isn't a curse.

I was so happy. I did feel guilty that she's not here to see it. But i went to the other direction: would she be happy that you get to have this moment? Would she be happy that your art skills got into this level? Would she be happy that you get to have something that is uniquely yours?

By feeling happiness, it's not just mine. It's hers.

And this book is saying that. Happiness is not something only you can have, or you cannot have. One's happiness is the happiness of others. And so is pain and sadness.

Over the years, I've tried to live and move on. It is difficult to be a reminder that my survival is at the expense of hers. It is difficult to be a reminder that the world is not fair, and it is difficult to be happy knowing that she couldn't have it.

But, if I can share my happiness with people who are here with me, I could share it with those who are gone too.

My happiness is her happiness. And it will not break down.

The stories in this book really made me think that. It feels good to know that I wasn't alone in feeling cursed with age and happiness, but you can break it without having to completely surrender yourself to grief. Because grief is not forever. Sure, our lives mold around it instead of growing out of it, but making peace with it is the key to moving on.

And an important part of it is to accept that your happiness is their happiness too. If your life stops because of grief, wouldn't that made them sad also?

I'm glad that the book ends with Kazu realizing that she IS allowed to live in happiness and move on from her mother's death, and I'm glad that her seeing other people being able to be happy made her realize that she too, could have it.

This made the book better than the first.

SPOILER and TMI section ends.

When love breaks down, you join the rest, who leave their hearts for easy sex,

I got too emotional that I nearly forgot to actually give a verdict to the book. Sorry about that, this book made me more emotional than the first.

As for the writing itself, this sequel is markedly less stage-y. The writer is definitely getting more and more fluent in writing actual books.

Is it still corny? Yes. Like I've said before, the first book felt like an 80s ballad in book form, and so is this sequel. This sequel being more literary makes the '80s ballad' vibes and energy of the book even more apparent. To me, this whole entire book series is now compilations of 80s ballads. And that's not a bad thing! It feels like that's exactly what these books are going for, and it truly delivers.

(Even the fourth story has a brief flashback set in the 80s)

The first book asks us what we'll do if we get back to the past. The second book asks us how can we live in the present without having to let the past trap us.

And that's arguably what we need today.

Take a sip, and go back to the past. Face the past, walk to the present.....before the coffee gets cold.

....Once again, I had a good time in the unique coffeehouse that is Cafe Funiculi Funicula. Now I'm off to Hakodate to Cafe Donna Donna next, to take a sip of their coffee to reflect and live....

#michiruze.txt #book review #before the coffee gets cold #tales from the cafe #cafe funiculi funicula #toshikazu kawaguchi #michiru reviews

[manygalaxiesinone]

Which Disgaea Characters Would Join S.E.E.S? Pt. 3 ((Potential Spoilers))

((This is the 3rd part of a multi-part topic. If you haven't seen parts 1 or 2 yet, read those first, then come back.

38. There are going to be some problems with any character from Disgaea 6 specifically joining S.E.E.S, mainly during The Answer (Aigis's Sequel Story) as the whole premise of Disgaea 6, defying your destiny, goes against the premise of Persona 3, Memento Mori (you must die). Pretty much everyone, especially Zed, would be among those that will try to redo the battle against Nyx to change Minato's fate over and over again no matter how often it takes, and won't hesitate to use Super Reincarnation for that purpose. But since we're just going over the events of The Journey, I can see Zed possibly joining just for the sake of fighting. Yup, another sparring partner for Akihiko, who's probably as bad as Red Magnus.

39. Like with the Phantom Thieves, Misedor would see this as a chance to become the hero he always dreamed of being, so he would have a neat dynamic with Junpei on that alone. His constant spending would raise Mitsuru's eyebrow a little though.

40. Once again, Melodia's singing would come in handy for both offense and support. Like with Kazamatsuri, she would also be invested in Yukari's relationship with Minato, as well as her archery.

41. Piyori would be all too eager to help out as a hero herself. Like Adell, she might be one of the reasons that inspires Yukari into being a Neo Featherman Ranger years later.

42. Majolene might know about Fear the Great considering her age, but like Christo, there's no guarantee for that. Like Mitsuru, she'll be making sure to keep everyone in line when it comes to their studies as well as progressing through Tartarus. She IS a teacher herself after all, and from a very prestigious school as well, so she's not going to play around when it comes to studying.

43. Naturally, Beiko would want to help, especially if her Bubby and friends are helping. Only issue is whether or not Bubby would be willing to let her help and even then, he's quite overprotective of her, so everytime she wants to just hang out, there's always a lingering presence nearby just in case.

44. Ivar may be an overlord, but he's also one of the nicest people in the series, so he's definitely helping S.E.E.S out. Once again, his fondness for Beiko might raise a few alarm bells though.

45. Lucy, Deiz, and Torachiyo joining S.E.E.S depends on 1 thing. Do their higher ups know about The Fall or Fear the Great? If not, they would all join without too much issue except for Torachiyo eating up everything. Bonus, Deiz's quickdraw skills would probably be able to save Shinjiro's and maybe Mitsuru's father's lives. If not, then they'll be tasked with stopping their fights against the 12 shadows.

46. As usual, Fuji would only join if he's getting paid to help (which won't be an issue for Mitsuru, let's be honest), and his empathy killer could make things difficult in terms of getting along with everyone, but if his infernal weapon can really cut through absolutely anything, then he would prove to be quite invaluable in the long run.

47. Pirilika would help in a heartbeat because like Usalia, she's nice like that, and would easily get along with everyone in the party, including Koromaru despite being part cat. It would be interesting to see her and Shinjiro making pancakes together.

48. Yeyasu is getting along with Junpei swimmingly, and yes, VERY much to Yukari's annoyance. It'll be like having 2 Junpei's around with him here. And the fact that Junpei's current voice actor is the same as Yeyasu's makes this even funnier.

49. I can see Ceefore getting along well with Fuuka and Mitsuru considering her kindheartedness and fascination with weaponry. But it's all fun and games until she decides to peek inside Aigis for research. And if that happens, Ikutsuki's plans might go out the window depending on what she finds.

50. Suisen and Ao would also be interested in Aigis as the two of them are also created as living weapons. That being said, Suisen would absolutely join if Yeyasu is around just to keep an eye on him, but Fuji would be reluctant to let Ao join, especially if she accidentally blow up the school in the process.

51. As usual, Higan joining will depend on her mood. Either she fights them and forces herself in the party or ignores them to do something else.

52. Revya joining would be interesting because it would be like having another Minato/Hamuko on the team since they both had death sealed in them in a way.

53. If you think Aigis having beef with Ryoji was bad, it's going to be much worse toward Gig as he's a lot more ruthless, unless if he retains his memories and personality as Vigilance, then it's basically the same as Ryoji.

54. If Revya is around, Danette is sure to follow as she promised to stay by her side. Her activeness could mesh well with Yukari, Junpei, and Akihiko and she could understand Aigis's desire to protect Minato/Hamuko, but her constantly wanting to snap her opponent's necks might raise some eyebrows.

55. The problem with Levin joining S.E.E.S is no doubt he would be doing so as a spy for Strega. He IS one of Gig's World Eaters in disguise after all, and as a world eater, he would do what he can to bring the world closer to ruin.

56. Vitali would prove to be a vital member of S.E.E.S as his stealth capabilities is enough to catch Gig off guard multiple times. The moment Mitsuru needs to do some sort of investigation, Vitali would be capable of pulling it off, likely uncovering Strega's and even Ikutsuki's hidden agendas. I can also see him sharing some recipes with Shinjiro.

57. Even though Juno isn't too fond of humans, she's another character that might join because of one person. This it's Ken. Juno would probably treat Ken a bit similar to Penn due to his age, and like with Fuuka, be rather protective of him and concerned for his safety. I can see this getting on Ken's nerves though considering how mature he is and how he's still getting over the loss of his mother.

58. Tricia is yet another one of those characters that would want to help because she's nice like that. She's as nice and gentle as Fuuka and would easily get along with everyone, though concerns will be raised if they find out about her father's and sister's history.

59. Finally, Layna (Young Layna, not Virtuous) would prove to be yet another powerful member of the team and again, she is capable of getting along well with everyone, though she'd have to be careful of Akihiko trying to spar against her. Only major problem she would have to deal with is her explosive temper, and I mean explosive.

And that's the list. What do you guys think?))

#persona 3 #persona 3 reload #persona 3 portable #disgaea 6 #disgaea 7 #disgaea rpg #soul nomad #soul nomad and the world eaters

[guesswhattimeitis]

N A O L I C E + Q T

OH MY GOD I FORGOT I QUEUED THIS ASK THING WHILE ON A TRAIN

Uh anyways, thanks lol

N- Name three things you wish you saw more of in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice): So for this one(and later questions) I’d say I don’t have a “main fandom” but I think in general all of my fandoms need 3 things more: more femslash, more midsized fic, and more art of the shorter one being the top. It can be portal, or sailor moon, or star wars it all needs more. I need to see more girls kiss, I need more fics longer than 500 words and less than 50000 words, and I need the short one to pick up her tall girlfriend and show her how it’s done

A- Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed: So I still haven’t seen Ahsoka at all but um I love the wolfwren I’ve seen, I’ve weirdly been working on a bunch of original stories recently which has had my brain in a chokehold including a throuple I’ll probably make a post about at some point

O- Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?: I put my longest playlist on shuffle and got Used To Be Mine from Waitress and this song recently reminded me a lot of Bo Katan, especially in her most recent arc, realizing she’s changed and not sure if she’s ready for that or if she likes the change

L- Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves. (Characters you’re neutral about are fair game, as are characters you merely dislike. Characters that you absolutely loathe with the fire of ten thousand suns are exempt, as there is no point in giving yourself an aneurysm over a character that you hate.): I’m going to jump to portal here; Wheatley is a deeply effective and enjoyable villain to face off against. The build up to his takeover, everything falling apart; it really solidified portal 2 as a great sequel. I don’t hate him, but wow I don’t like the way the fandom treats him

I- Has Tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why? I’ve been here since 2013, so. Many. Many many many. My blocked tags list includes dozens, so I’ll spare the list, but the most ironic is one piece, considering tumblr’s recent ad campaign

C- A ship you have never liked and probably never will: I don’t dislike many ships generally, I usually keep it to myself and just avoid ships I don’t like, but I genuinely dislike when Aloy is shipped with that one guy from HZD, I don’t even remember his name but he just personally annoyed me and gave me bad vibes. And also I think of her as a lesbian so.

E- Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom? If so, what? I don’t think I’m “big” in any fandoms so I don’t think I’m responsible for any like, crack headcanons being spread around, and even on like a personal level I’m not usually one to jump down a crackship so much as I love rarepairs (yes I consider them different so sue me) but I did recently like Yue/Azula as a wild au kind of situation lol

Q- A fandom you’ve abandoned and why: I don’t abandon fandoms so much as they lie dormant until I return to them, sometimes years later. Even adventure time, the fandom that got me on tumblr, has lain dormant for a long time only to resurface now and again, especially with new releases

T- Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending? I love “Chell is deaf” and/or “Chell is mute”as something to read and see in fanart, but I will die by the idea that she simply chooses not to say shit. That’s so much funnier.

Phew! So many, ahhh I will send you some too btw I just literally forgot I did this 😵‍💫

#lot of portal talk for someone that hasn’t been active with portal for a while #anyways I have waaaaay too many fandoms and I’m too tired to think of them all #plus recently I’ve been doing more original stuff tbh so I had to dig deep #anyways thanks!

[kavrillia]

A stupid [and quite spoilery] conversation/skit between myself, my muse, and two of my characters.  I wrote this almost two years ago and it’s been gathering dust in my drafts since then, so I figured I might as well post it for my own amusement.

This kind of cringe is straight out of 2001 Fanfiction.net, but A.) this basically is what happened in my head, and B.) realistically, nobody else is going to read this, anyway.

[Bold = me]

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

I need a Vincaran character who is neither an antagonist nor a cute little kid.

*waves writerly wand and makes a new character does a total overhaul of an old character from a sequel that isn’t canon anymore*

Hello, Sicara!  You’re a priestess of the fire goddess.  You rose above childhood grief and loss to become a compassionate young woman who is driven to help others.  Your faith is very important to you and it irks you greatly that a new sect is twisting your goddess’ message to one of blazing destruction instead of rebirth and renewal.  You’re bi, but single and not in any hurry to get into a relationship as you concentrate on your career as a priestess.  You went to school with Xorax, Zola, and Lynzari.

Okay, you’re all set.

Now, speaking of Xorax, it also occurs to me that I could bring him back into the story again instead of just sending him off to prison at the end of the first plot arc.  He’s the closest thing I have to a genuinely evil character.  I mean, he’s got his reasons, having been raised in dire poverty by a toxic grandmother who brainwashed him into carrying on her vendetta, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that he’s bloodthirsty, violent, and callous.

Wait, he should get a new outfit along with his new plot.  Here!

He could fall in with the sect that’s fracturing the fire goddess’ followers!  That would put him at odds with Sicara, tying together those plot threads.  Perfect!

*puts them together on a shelf*

All right, you two.  Interact!

X:  Hey, Sicara.  Long time no see.  I’ve been rethinking my life since I got away from my crazy grandmother.  I feel kind of lost.

S:  Well, I’m pretty wary since the last thing I heard of you was your attempted assassination of royalty, but my goddess is all about helping people burn away the past and start fresh, so out of religious obligation I suppose I can counsel you a bit.

X:  Thanks.  I’ve had a pretty shitty life, you know.  Cards stacked against me from the beginning.  I never really had the chance to find my own path.

S:  Oh, you poor thing.  Let me guide you toward healing.

Good, good, now earn her trust so you can betray her later by revealing yourself to be involved with the dangerous cult she hates, further highlighting how you’re a bad guy and she’s a good guy.

X:  Do I have to?

...  I’m the writer.  You’re the character I made up.  So yes, you do.

X:  You know, Sicara, I had a crush on you when we were teenagers.

S:  I know.  You were a scrawny, malnourished boy then.  But you’re, uh, grown up since then.  Prison food and exercise agreed with you.  *waggles eyebrows*

No.  Cut it out, you two.  This is not where the story is supposed to go.

X:  Thank you, Sicara, for helping me face my dark past.  This is the first time anyone really listened and cared about me as a person.

No, stop it!  You are evil!  You used to fantasize about ripping your enemy’s heart out with your bare hands!

X:  I had been brainwashed from birth.  I’m slowly unlearning all that and thinking about what I actually want to do with my life.  Having a little cottage someplace warm would be nice.  With Sicara and our three kids.

Three...what?!  No!  You are a villain!  The one truly evil character in my universe!  All the other antagonists are just scheming assholes, but you’re the one who actually tries to kill people!

S:  He’s just misunderstood.

No!  He’s evil!  And he has to die in the climax of the book.

X:  Can I get her pregnant first so some of my family legacy is carried on?

NO!

S:  But that’s what happened with the original version of me in the no-longer-canon sequel.

The original version of you was also a spy, a terrorist, and an explosives expert who was in the same prison as he was.  You’re supposed to be unequivocally good in this version.  You’re basically not even the same character except for a similar name and haircut, and the fact that you find Xorax attractive.

S:  But--

Ssh!  Your story is supposed to be about how you stand up for your sincere religious beliefs while others loudly try to twist them for their own political purposes which is totally not a thing going on in my own country these days that I would like to explore in fiction.  You are NOT supposed to get mixed up in some melodramatic romance plot with a would-be assassin.

S:  *looks at me, then at Xorax*

X:  *looks at me, then at Sicara*

Both:  *start making out*

*sprays them with a water bottle*  Stop that!

Both:  *continue making out while directing rude gestures in my direction*

My muse:  Bwahahaha!  You realize you totally deserve this for all the times you wrote fanfic to woobify other people’s villains.

*headdesk*

#Xorax #Sicara #stop it you two #author rambling #kavrillia spoilers

[angelshizuka]

Is there anything at all that you actually like in F2? Mostly plot-wise, maybe outfits, if you must. I'm not counting songs bc I must admit they're pretty good (not my favorite though). Im asking bc I'm not a fan of this movie either, but I'm trying to find some positive aspects, waiting for the unevitable F3...

There are definitely things in F2 I actually like, but that's also part of the problem for me. The puzzle pieces were there, but holy hell did they fail the landing...

Basically, I do like the designs and visuals. Aside from a few details (since nothing's perfect) I genuinely love the outfits, animation, the locations and new characters (though underdeveloped). I love the songs out of context, but in context almost all of them suck and I still find it hard to even listen to them (not you TNRT, we're happy to have you here! <3)

I honestly don't even hate Ahtohallan and Northuldra in concept, it's just the excecution I think is godawful.

Though, there is one thing I still have a problem when it comes to Ahtohallan, even in concept. Iduna is the one who preformed the good deed that gave Elsa her powers, yet she was punished with death for daring to seek answers after watching BOTH her children suffer for a decade and just wanting to help her child who's literally terrified of this "gift". And just in general the idea that Elsa got rewarded for something she had literally nothing to do with, but still gets praised to hell and back for it like she deserved it, despite all she did was be born...

Anyway, it's definitely my Anna bias, but she's the character I hate the least in this sequel. I definitely hate the "haha look how crazy she is" type of writing when she's experiencing 100% valid paranoia in a dangerous sitiation she was literally told beforehand Elsa could die from if gone wrong. But besides that it's actually nice seeing Anna mature after having her naivety slapped out of her by reality at the end of F1. Her arc to becoming queen was basically non-existent (because everything had to be about Elsa, even Anna becoming queen was more about Elsa than it was about Anna), but as a concept I love it.

I also liked seeing more of Iduna, but once again comes with the problem that thanks to the narrative it comes across like Iduna heavily favors Elsa. We literally see Anna being forced to sleep instead of being allowed to hear the whole song like Elsa... There was literally no valid reason for this (especially when you consider this is the night of the accident and Anna wakes up again later, so yes, she was forced to sleep when she wasn't ready yet). And then it's once again Elsa getting the "special moment" with Iduna in Ahtohallan, while Anna's literally down in a ditch.

Speaking of, F2 has felt "off" to me since the first time I watched it, but I couldn't really put my finger on why, so just shruffed it off. But then they released the "Her love could hold up the world." deleted scene (basically giving Anna an Iduna moment like Elsa got) and that's when my downward spiral of hating this sequel really started. It made me realize how with every change they made, the worse it got.

TNTR is my favourite scene in the entire movie and it makes sense when you consider it's one of the very oldest concepts that made it into the final cut (it's confirmed the oldest song). But yeah, that's definitely another positive, I genuinely love the part of the movie when it's just Anna. It's not just my Anna bias, it's just that Elsa in F2 pisses me off any time she's on screen, because of the way she's written, voice acted, animated ect.

I didn't mean for this to turn out so negative, despite me genuinely liking some things in F2, it's just so mixed in with all the bad stuff it's hard not to mention it.

Also, general reminder (not aimed at you, Anon): My F2 rants aren't an inviation to argue with me.

#frozen #frozen 2 #frozen beef #anna #disney #negative #rant #anon #ask

[ebitchwriting]

Resident Evil 2002 Movie Review

I grew up on a variety of genres as my parents really didn't care too much about age limits on what movies me and my brother watched. We were also too poor to afford cable after I was 8, so most of what my generation grew up on, we didn't. So we watched our giant wall of VHS films. We had Disney movies, ninja movies, a shelf dedicated to zombie and monster movies, a lot of Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th movies (including Freddy v Jason), and a lot of comedy and rom-com movies that were again meant for 13 up, not little six-year-old me(which not complaining about btw just find it funny compared to my peers). My fave movie at 6 was 28 Days Later. Because of that, I would say I'm a connoisseur of horror and fantasy(I was the weird one lol), and of course that led to me becoming obsessed with the Resident Evil game series.

I decided to rewatch the Resident Evil movies since I'm sick and have mothing better to do. And man, do I have some opinions on the first one.

The first Resident Evil movie is objectively the most quality Resident Evil movie that Paul WS Anderson out of the lackluster bunch. The first one genuinely held a degree of suspense, and ominous and foreboding feeling in the quiet, empty rooms and when we think the characters of the film are alone. There's actual tension regarding the timer to get out of the HIVE. You actually feel bad and start rooting for the characters as they're picked off one by one. The movie still held the spirit of the games in that the true villain of the events isn't just the mindless zombies, or the Red Queen, or even Spence, but that it's the cold, selfish greed of corporations that give no fucks about how many people die, or how torturous their deaths are, only their profits and data matter to the corporations, which is something that is immediately lost within the sequel. Not to mention I'm a total slut for practical effects and minimal CGI effects, which this movie nailed.

Although a big, and probably unpopular reason, why I think the first one was genuinely good, even if it is a bit cheesy, is BECAUSE they used 0 characters from the game. Hear me out! The biggest thing everyone, and mean everyone, focuses on is how exact to the OG character the new depiction is whenever something(game, book, reboot, etc) is adapted into a movie or a TV show. Everyone has such high expectations for what they expect that forget that a movie or tv show are fundamentally different in how the story and characters are structured and that it's near to impossible to directly translate the original media into a film or show. What we should be more focused on is whether or not they capture the spirit of the story and characters in question. In Resident Evil (2002), since they eliminated the original game characters(OGC), that gives them more creative room to do what they want with the original movie characters(OMC), creative room with the environment, and creative room to focus on the core value of Resident Evil as a whole: corporate greed is the true monster. And something that the movies does that I found more interesting than in the games was how they created an origin for Nemesis, through Matt. A man searching for his sister with few clues other than her workplace and that she had a contact willing to sell the company out. He struggled so much, only to find that she's dead, and now has to team up with the contact, Alice, to escape the HIVE only to be kidnapped by inethical scientists who forced him into the NEMESIS program, and effectively wiped his memory by the sequel. Which yes is technically bringing in an OGC but the movie arguably handles it very well and makes Nemesis more tragic and compelling than a lab-grown experiment for STARS specifically. If only the sequel had stuck to that instead of shoe-horning in the "STAAAARS" thing as well as dragging in random OGC and straught up retconning the time difference between the end of the first film, and the beginning of the second film. Or at the very least have Matt, now Nemesis, focus entirely on Alice, no one else, and of the other OGC characters brought in, limit to just Carlos.

Overall, 7/10 for Resident Evil (2002). I may do reviews for the other films, but warning the ONLY ONE getting a mildy good review is the Resident Evil Extinction.

#EBitch speaks #resident evil #paul ws anderson #movie review #resident evil 2002 #EBitch reviews

[lunaastoir]

fluff/relationships w the mondstadt crew

characters included: diluc, kaeya, and jean

gn! reader as always <3

tw: fluff??? domesticity??? crack??? ideal relationships w people who will never be real??? also mentions of alcohol!

an: so i’m back w a sequel to my “fluff/relationships w the liyue crew” since you guys seemed to really like it <3 thank you my heart is literally melting 😩 this post was getting too long so i excluded some of the characters but expect a part. 2 (more like part 3 but part 2 to the mondstadt version)! 

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

diluc

man. this MAN.

that’s it, that’s the headcanon. 

he would literally be the most doting lover in the softest ways

SUCH a soft romantic like you thought you knew love??? nah this man will show you what love is

will constantly leave you things around the winery to convey his silent thank you’s and appreciation for you putting up with him being busy for most of the day

it’s always the most thoughtful things ever too like-

you mentioned how nice it would be to have some fresh lemonade with the hotter weather outside but it was too late in the day to actually go to the market in search of fresh lemons 

the next day you walked downstairs only to be greeted with a pitcher of cool lemonade with a side of lemon bars

there was a note attached to the handle of the pitcher <3 

“i recall you mentioning how lemonade would be perfect for the warmer weather so i decided to make some for you this morning. i hope it’s still cool by the time you drink it. love, d” 

pls sir your hand in marriage

he secretly loves it when you usher him to bed after waking up in the dead of night to see him working by candlelight on reports 

soft hands on his cheeks gently whispering about how, it’s been far too long and come to bed, darling and there will be time for this in the morning

his protests are light given the dark purple hues under his crimson eyes but he’ll still make a little fuss 

don’t let this man fool you tho he’s so so touched that you care enough to check up on him and drag him to bed!!

sometimes on the days he has a bit more free time, the two of you will quickly grab your dinners and race to the highest spot in the winery to watch the setting sun

these moments are always filled with laughter, something you’ve found you’re easily able to pull out of diluc, simply because it’s you 

uncontrollable sobbing

he would let you paint his nails black like the angsty man he is 

frankly he would let you do anything to him if it makes you happy <3 

ok but wait diluc w bLACK NAILS?? AND RINGS??? i would die on the spot ⚰️

on the topic of makeup, this man is surprisingly really good w it 

i like to think he learned after practicing on kaeya when they were younger bc kaeya was really into makeup

you found out after babysitting klee one day and trying failing to draw eyeliner on the sweet girl after her “big brother ‘bedo!”

you hastily grabbed some wipes, gently wiping off the messed up design before attempting to dive back in 

diluc however, had some down time so he decided to check up on his favorite chaotic duo 

only to be met with a pile of dirtied makeup wipes, your frustrated expression, and klee’s growing jitteriness 

swiftly moving to your side, he quietly asked if you needed help 

you glanced up quizzically before handing him the eyeliner, already looking around to find more makeup wipes when this inevitably goes wrong 

to your utter surprise tho the eyeliner is perfect??? two perfect winged lines??? in less than a minute??? WHAT

you just stood there like 😦 before diluc got back up and handed you the eyeliner 

you were short-circuiting, klee was ecstatic, diluc was worried about you 

ok last thing abt diluc 

crack! warning but the both of you like lowkey pranking kaeya 

for diluc it’s revenge on his annoying brother; for you it’s good - natured sibling rivalry fun 

every time the two of you see kaeya, one of you always swipes something of his 

small things really, it could be a pen or a handkerchief

one time, diluc swiped kaeya’s spare eyepatch and from the looks of it, kaeya’s only spare black eyepatch bc he was frantically looking for it yk he’s desperate when he even asked diluc if he saw it

the two of you spent an hour nearly laughing your asses off 

all in all, life w him is so sweet 

kaeya

pretty boy? pretty boy. 

while i can’t guarantee stability, life would never be boring w this man that’s for sure

piggy back rides 🗣 piggy back rides 🗣 piggy back rides 

he LOVES it, the feel of you on his back while he’s walking around mondstadt most likely carrying you to your commission 

he finds it comforting especially since he can hear the rumble of your voice against him while you recount stories, or just babble on about everything under the sun 

he is SO dramatic so obviously when y’all reach the site of the commission he has to kill all the monsters even tho the both of you agreed to split it up evenly 

he makes quick work of his set before stealing some of yours much to your chagrin 

you scold him but can you really be mad at him when he looks drop dead gorgeous freezing the hilichurls the answer is no, no you cannot be

oh my god ok wait-

he does this thing where he tries to spook you in public 

so say you’re getting groceries at the mondstadt general store

you round the corner just minding your own business, looking around, taking in the sunshine 

and suddenly you just hear someone drop in behind you but before you can register anything you hear a soft “boo” and hands circle your waist 

you jump SIKE let’s be honest you shrieked 

meanwhile kaeya’s just laughing his ass off 

you can hear his rich peals of laughter while you attempt to regain your bearings 

he does this so often you SHOULD be used to it but you really aren’t bc mans is SNEAKY-

he cards his fingers in your hair whenever you’re speaking 

he doesn’t know why, it’s just a cute habit and he finds the feel of his fingers in your hair soothing

oH on the topic of comfort, kaeya really likes resting two fingers on the back of your neck???

ik he seems like the type to throw his arm around your shoulder which yes he totally is but during more serious conversations his hand automatically seeks out the warmth of your neck 

your neck feels amazing especially during the warmer months due to his chilly fingers contrasting with your warm skin  

he likes that he’s able to access such a vulnerable part of you and you would willingly let him 

HE GETS YOU MATCHING OUTFITS

no i will NOT take criticism on this i just kNOW he’s that type of guy

it would be those stupid “i’m his” and “they’re mine” sweatshirts like BYE 

it’s so cringy but for some reason it’s oddly adorable and you truly despise it but you can’t seem to say no whenever he asks 

you pretend to ignore the look of pity diluc throws your way whenever he sees you like this

kaeya really loves accessories so i think he would be the type to give you a promise ring or something similar to show that he truly does care for you 

he would brush it off, flirting a little like usual before handing you the ring 

with the way his cheeks softly darken though, you know he’s being genuine 

TICKLE FIGHTS ik i mentioned this for childe but shhhh

he has tickle fingers??? his hands just loOK like they’re itching to tickle someone so you’ll most likely be the unfortunate victim 

he will not show you mercy. at all. he’ll tickle you until there are tears streaming from your eyes, your face is hot, and your voice is hoarse from laughing so damn hard 

it gives him such a rush of serotonin its SO CUTE 

i feel like this goes without saying but he’s super into pda,,, anything and everything is on the table 

hand holding? duh. ass grabs? ofc. carrying you bridal style around mondstadt? why not 

ik he’s typically very playful but once the relationship reaches a certain stage, he’ll slowly start to let down the walls that surround his facade 

very very slowly show you the more realistic parts of him 

the real, damaged pieces of his soul 

he’ll be carefully monitoring your reaction though, any sign of fear or disgust will have him recoiling within himself again and you most likely will never see his true nature ever again 

SO BE CAREFUL 👹

once you’ve seen the parts of him he’s offered to you, the hushed whispers of his past, and the uncertain lines of his future, he will take off his eyepatch 

pretends like he’s not super nervous but he’s SWEATING- 

the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen though hands down 

you can understand why he covers it up but you would like it if he felt comfortable enough to take off the eyepatch occasionally when he’s with you 

also!!! sleeps with his eyepatch side facing you (in the event he wears it to bed) 

if this happens you KNOW he trusts you bc it’s his blindside <3 

anyways life w kaeya will never be boring but he is a very complicated man 

stay with him though, i promise it’ll be worth it 

jean

the key to jean’s heart is coffee and food 

GET HER COFFEE AND FOOD

i am begging you she deserves it 😭

the poor woman works so hard bc the knights are so mf understaffed, this is literally the best way you can ever show her your love and appreciation when she has work

she will MELT if you have a hot shower and dinner waiting for her when she inevitably returns later than she promised

will completely refuse at first with, “you did not have to do this, it’s too much” but shush her as you shOULD bc she deserves the entire world 

she’s the definition of “you do something for me, i’ll return the favor ten times grander”

you leave a flower on her desk bc it reminded you of her??? you’ll wake up to find a whole bouquet of the prettiest windwheel asters you’ve ever seen the next morning along with a thank you note

she’s so sweet BYE

she gets flustered extremely easily so you obviously use this as an opportunity to tease her 

when you’re in public rest your hand on her waist and inch it higher until your hand is underneath her shirt and in contact with her warm skin 

she’ll actually short-circuit its quite adorable 

sometimes y’all will be cuddling and you’ll hear whispers of her insecurities 

“am i a good grand master? will i ever be as valiant as vanessa?”

reassure her!!! tell her that she doesn’t need to be like vanessa, she’s already amazing as jean 

if you haven’t seen her in awhile, track her down and schedule a lunch date 

she never misses appointments and if it’s for you, she’ll gladly make time to see you even if she has to stay up even later than usual 

OH-

GIVE HER MASSAGES 

she has so much tension and the sorest muscles from hunching over papers and running around on errands 

if you sneak into her office and quietly stand behind her before gently pushing down on the sore tendons of her neck, she’ll genuinely fall over on her desk 

so make sure you steady her 😀

after you feel how tight her muscles are though, you drag her to barbara bc she needs a healer asap 😭

while most of your time is spent in her office - you helping out in the ways you can while jean is overseeing knight duties - you still have your fair share of life outside of the favonius headquarters

jean never likes to sit still so whenever you have free time, the both of you head off looking for monsters to clear

bouken da bouken???

adventuring w jean is seriously the funnest thing you could ever do 

it’s just non-stop you accidentally getting into trouble and her having to come help you 

even tho the both of you are dead tired after fighting, what? 20 hilichurl camps now??? the laughter and joy in your eyes shows how you both truly loved every minute of it

it’s both a stress reliever, good fun, and a work-out <3

you’re definitely prone to getting dragged to angel’s share w kaeya 

kaeya and jean sometimes hang out after work at the tavern so inevitably you’re dragged along too 

all three of you are drunk out of your minds which just makes everything a MILLION times funnier 

kaeya slurring over his words makes the two of you start cackling endlessly while diluc just shakes his head making sure to not give you more wine despite your pleas 

angel’s share ft. kaeya and bartender diluc are always the best times fr fr 

life with her literally feels like y’all are married 

so much domesticity it’s so NICE ALJDKSFH

your house is always so clean and the color scheme is impeccable bc jean has such a good eye 

you have a chore schedule 😎 but it almost never works out bc jean ends up doing everything without you knowing- 

you always confront her abt it and she’s like 😁 “i had some time so i did them! no worries tho” like i- time??? where bitc-

oH- she has amazing style so you can bet shopping w her is literally the best experience 

she takes you to all of the hidden gems some places lisa recommended and helps you pick out things 

will 100% get really blushy if you come out in something and ask her for her opinion tho she’s literally the cutest

basically jean is a sweet girl who deserves the entirety of teyvat that is all. 

thanks for reading! if you have any requests don’t hesitate to send them in <3 

#genshin impact #genshin #genshin jean #genshin kaeya #genshin diluc #jean x reader #kaeya x reader #diluc x reader #genshin jean x reader #genshin kaeya x reader #genshin diluc x reader #jean #kaeya #kaeya alberich #diluc #diluc ragnvindr #kaeya alberich x reader #diluc ragnivindr x reader #kaeya-x-reader #jean-x-reader #diluc-x-reader #genshin headcanons #genshin imagines #genshin scenarios #genshin impact headcanons #genshin impact imagines #genshin impact scenarios

[benthelastskywalker]

Many seem to dislike Rey because they see her as being unnecessarily aggressive toward Ben and mistreating him. While I don’t disagree that Rey is  aggressive, my problem is that they seem to think it’s merely a character flaw, one that they clearly think she should be able to over come. But it is not that simple. Rey isn’t aggressive simply because she chooses to be. She’s aggressive because it is instinctive for her to be so. Rey’s aggression is a survival instinct, one honed from her childhood.

I think one reason it is so easy to over look how bad Rey’s childhood was is because compared to Ben’s, we know very little about it. Ben’s childhood has been expanded upon quite a bit in the extended materials, while Rey’s has pretty much been ignored. But what little we do know is bad enough.

Rey was only six years old when she was abandoned by her parents. Regardless of their intentions (the whole “they abandoned you to protect you” thing is still so ridiculous, I can’t wrap my head around it even two years later), it had to be traumatic for her. It would have been one thing if they had left her on a nice, beautiful planet like Naboo and left in the care of a loving family like the Organas, but even then she would have suffered some trauma. Maybe in that situation, she could have gotten the help she needed to overcome it. But she wasn’t left on a nice, beautiful planet. She was left on a literal desert called Jakku. And she wasn’t left to the care of a loving family. She was left to the care of this guy:

Now growing up in the desert doesn’t have to be a traumatic experience. Luke grew up on Tatooine after all. But he was a moisture farmer. Rey was a scavenger. She had to forge for scrap metal to survive. If she didn’t forge, she didn’t eat. And if someone tried to take advantage of her or steal her finds, she would die. She had to learn to fight, to be aggressive. All to survive. All from the age of six. 

Yes, Rey did eventually leave Jakku, but a change of scenery alone isn’t enough to cure one of their trauma or change their instincts. Survivors of abuse aren’t instantly better just because they got out of the abusive situation. Healing takes time.

Time Rey isn’t really given. The whole course of the sequel trilogy takes place over one year. The first two films take place in a week (tops). One year is not enough time to get over a lifetime of trauma. Especially when she doesn’t realize anything’s wrong. Rey doesn’t realize that she is traumatized. She doesn’t realize or understand that when she feels vulnerable she lashes out and that is not healthy.

Is it fair that Ben is the victim of Rey’s aggression? Of course not! But Rey is like those soldiers who come home from war suffering with PTSD and who lash out violently at their families. Neither Ben or those families deserve to be treated that way, but blaming Rey and the soldiers is victim blaming too. Rey is a victim. It’s easy to lose sight of that because Ben’s suffering seems to much worse in comparison. But Rey has her own demons to deal with and is never really given the time or the help she needs to do so.

I know it’s easy to look at Rey and not see the trauma. Adam Driver did such a fantastic job of showing Ben as a man struggling with his past, as someone who is not well mentally. In comparison, Daisy made Rey seem  perfectly normal. So it’s easy to think that she is, that she’s mentally stable and knows the right things to do and just doesn’t do them. But let’s not fall into the trap of judging how well someone is or is not doing based on appearances. Someone people can handle their trauma better than others, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

And let’s also avoid the trap of turning pain, suffering, and trauma into a competition. Everyone suffers. But just because someone appears to suffer more, it doesn’t make anyone else’s suffering any less important or real. My mom had a close friend who had no comparison for my mom’s suffering because in her own mind she had it worse. “You don’t know pain. I have pain!” she said. Don’t be like that. Don’t overlook Rey’s suffering and trauma just because Ben appears to have had it worse.

#star wars #rey defense #ben solo #kylo ren #reylo