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felrend · 2 years

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Characters in HFW – Part one!

Let’s get to the fun stuff you guys! How can I not talk about the wide cast of characters in this game? You thought my Aloy post was going to be long? Well buckle up buttercups! Cause we’re in for a good time!

This post will be focused on our returning characters!

King Avad:

I was really excited for the chance to get back to Meridian and catch up with a few people from the city. I liked Avad in HZD but did not feel the connection that I saw going around between these two. He was going through grief over losing Ersa and Aloy is no ones second choice. But the moment I saw him practically rushing over to Aloy, I saw that spark that the shippers felt. The way he was so elated to see Aloy and you can tell he was trying to compose himself. He was like a kid in a candy shop at the mere thought of seeing her again. He knew she would have a strong resistance to the stature marking her honour and was quick to reassure that he put restraints on the sculpture. Because after all, he wants Aloy to come back. He is practically waiting to throw the crown away and go with her. All she has to do is say his name and I love that haha Avad also isn’t trying to hold her back which I’m grateful for. He knows what she is doing is important and doesn’t need all the answers, just the hope that she would visit him again. I don’t know how Aloy feel’s about holding such a high standard to her, but the fact that she blushed and the coy smile she gives was enough for me to be on board. Avad is a good man and he is trying to mend all the bonds that his father destroyed. I’m looking forward to reconnecting with him again and hoping we pass through Meridian for a possible DLC. Maybe even have Avad tag along for a quick side mission lol

Itamen:

This little gum drop was such a delight! I did not think I needed any type of interaction with him after HZD but I’m so glad the developers gave us a scene with him. You can see how happy him and his mother are now that they have been saved from the Shadow Carja. He can have a real chance of a childhood, even though he’s being raised to be the next King. You can tell there is real love between the brothers and Avad just wants the best for him and Kadaman. It brought me a lot of joy to watch Aloy drop to his level to talk to him and I know she will keep her promise to come back and teach him archery lessons. Another heart stolen by Aloy! But I think Itamen stole a bit of her heart too

Vanasha and Uthid:

Lets just get this out of the way, she wants to ride the Carja captain and he has no idea what to do with that information hahaha the sexual tension between the two of them is rampant and they just gotta make that happen. I love how she’s still the sassy bad influence that doesn’t mind calling Aloy out but also showing that she cares for the huntress. Uthid is always going to be the man of few words but you can tell he’s just as happy to see Aloy too and understands her need to take off when she has to. She’s more than earned his respect and loyalty. I better see more of them in the future! And her new outfit does nothing for her figure. Let her show off those killer abs!

Talanah:

well wasn’t this a rollercoaster of a storyline for our dear Sun Hawk? Let me get this out of the way. She deserved better. She proved why she is so beloved among the fans. She’s strong, smart, funny, a bad ass. I totally understand where people are coming from with the writing. It’s warranted but also it shouldn’t have ruined the game for anyone. I think this was another avenue for people to see that life goes on with out Aloy. Feelings might not change but affection for someone else can. Over all I’m glad we got such a long side quest with her. Right when I think it’s over, they carry it all over the map and I love that. But I don’t believe the door is closed between the two of them. You get snippets of something else there that I at least picked up on. Talanah leaves a particular gift for Aloy back at the base as well as that sweet scene between them at Barren Light. Talanah has things to figure out and the Hunting Lodge to get back to. But that doesn’t mean what they have is completely gone. I want to see more of Talanah and I doubt Guerilla Games is done with her too.

Varl:

Oh where do I begin? He is 100% the heart of this new found family and let’s be real, he created this family for Aloy. He knew when to push back when she started to shut down, even going so far as following her for six months to make her understand that she’s not alone. Aloy needed someone just as stubborn to break through her walls. It made my heart happy that the first few hours of this game was all about teaching Varl how to use the focus and making Aloy uncomfortable with having someone else around. She had to slow down and answer his questions and have him understand how she saw the world. I don’t think it would have worked if it was anyone else but him by her side at the beginning. She needed another Nora who understood why she acted the way that she did. The torment of being neglected and shunned for 18 years. There is no way for Varl to understand that pain but he has that empathy for Aloy and the patience. I love that he calls her “the Anointed” as punishment for her running away after the battle for Meridian. He knows what makes her squeamish and will use that to his advantage to prove a point. And Aloy needs that, she needs the push back and someone to challenge her.

I also love his new found relationship with Zo. I felt bad for all of the Varloy stans but in some way Aloy needed to see that life can move on passed her. She can’t be the center of everyone’s world and seeing him move forward with someone is supposed to be painful. But I’m glad she never let that get in the way of her friendship with Varl or with Zo. The teasing between them is everything and the fact that Varl goes to Aloy for love advise is hilarious. “You’re asking the wrong person, you’re on your own”. Fucking gold. Guerilla Games also needs to give us a comic (or SOMETHING) for the bromance between Varl and Erend! I want to know what shenanigans they got up to while Aloy was gone! They clearly bonded in Meridian and I’m so grateful for that.

Now for the big moment that we have all been dreading. Gemini. The absolute worse outcome I can even think of. I know some people assumed that there would be a death in the game but Varl was not the one I was expecting. I felt my heart rip out and didn’t believe that it was real. I assumed that he would be out for the rest of the game. That he would be “the guy in the chair” because that’s what he has been this whole time. How can you give us this incredible character and kill him? Why prove that no one is safe? I understand that there is a price to war but fuck. Not Varl. Not the one that knows how to comfort Aloy or knows when to pull her out of the darkness. If it wasn’t for Varl, we wouldn’t have gotten the scenes of Aloy’s clear grief of Rost. Or the fact that she is welcoming more people into her life and most of all, welcoming their love. The moments we get after are gut wrenching and beautiful. And I hope Aloy doesn’t shut down over his loss but honours him. Varl deserved better but he was also willing to sacrifice everything to protect the one’s he loves. I don’t want to see the scene of Aloy delivering the bad news to Sona. Or well…the mixed news.

Erend:

Oh Erend. My love for him is never ending and I am a complete simp for the Captain of the Vanguard. The fact that we had to wait to see him was torture and Guerilla Games knew exactly what they were doing. The build up to them being reunited, the peak of them seeing each other and then a punch right to the heart. Erend’s pain was written all over his face and I’m glad that he is the one that shows the implications of Aloy’s actions. Where Varl comes from a place of level headed thinking, Erend is coming from the heart. She hurt him, deeply. He wears his heart on his sleeve and he isn’t afraid to show that. Which is refreshing to see from a “manly” character. Does he handle it well? No. His passive aggressive comments are just as hurtful and when he brushes her off when she reaches out was an even bigger blow. “What kinda person does that?” It shows that they are still getting to know each other, despite how close they have gotten. He doesn’t fully grasp that she has no idea how to deal with people or their emotions because she was an outcast. He was the first “outsider” that showed any interest or affection for her and Aloy has no idea how to deal with that. But it’s the small actions that mean the most to her. He takes a moment to compose himself and you know that he’s already forgiven her. He will always forgive her. He’s growing as a person too and you see that throughout this whole game.

Some people say that he’s insensitive or was dumbed down but I don’t see that at all (the dumbing down part at least). Erend is literally learning how to interact with brand new tribes that he has only heard stories about. He believes in the stereotypes because how else is he supposed to meet them? He has never gone that far West before. And if it wasn’t for Aloy or Varl, he never would have. His willingness to learn and to get to know them and their ways of life should mean something. Plus, he’s dealing with strong people who aren’t afraid to put him on his ass when he’s taken it too far. And Erend is willing to eat some humble pie. He’s also learning a whole new language with the ancient glyphs! Not everyone can learn something new so quickly. You see the different levels of learning from everyone and I don’t see people picking on them. Erend isn’t used to dealing with fragile equipment. He’s used to hammer and steal. Products that are meant to have a strong grasp, so give him a break. No one on the team is trying to belittle him, so why are you? I’d like to see you learn a whole new language and alphabet in 24 hours. I do wish that Aloy would have reached out and offered to help him study. It would have been so cute to see her sit with him and go over the data that he was struggling with. Plus, a sweet little gesture to show that she cares.

I could write a novel about the amount of love I have for Erend. Every interaction he has with Aloy it just makes me want more. The soft smiles they give each other and his willingness to be there and help is everything I could want from him. Every time she asked if he found someone to share a drink with, I was begging for her to ask if she could join him. And when they got that moment, I squealed! I wish you could have had that moment again. And don’t get me started on the end scene between them!! The way he pulled her in to his side and held her and then when he’s riding off to Vegas and looks back, there is such yearning in his eyes! UGH! I’m also super bitter about the two of them not going to Las Vegas together. She makes a point to say that he would love it and that they should go together. SO GIVE US THAT SCENE GUERILLA! I want to see his eyes light up to the holograms and finding that ember for her! Rude!! Don’t build that up and not have a follow up!

Ereloy feels like they are headed in the right direction and this is exactly what I needed from them. For Erend and Aloy to end up together in this game wouldn’t be right. She’s still too focused on the mission as well as her new found sister. But you can see she’s starting to think about the future. And I hope she can see him involved in that future in some capacity.

Well this was a very giant post and we haven’t even gotten to the new characters! I’m sorry to keep you all waiting but I swear the next one will be about our bigger additions to the crew!

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celepeace · 3 years

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A monster-taming game recommendation list for fans of Pokemon

Whether you're a pokemon fanatic obsessed with all things pokemon past and present, or a veteran fan disillusioned with GameFreak's recent adoption of monetary philosophies and strategies reminiscent of other major game publishers, or looking for a monster-taming fix as you await new Pokemon content...

I'm compiling here a post of little-known games in the genre that Pokemon fans are likely to enjoy!

Under readmore cause long, but some of these games really don’t get the attention they deserve, so if you have the time, please read!

(I am also likely to keep updating and editing this post)

First up is Temtem!

Temtem is a game made by and for Pokemon fans, from the spanish indie developer Crema. Temtem is currently in early access on Steam and PS5, and is likely to remain in early access until sometime late next year. Full launch will include a Nintendo Switch release, too. Despite this, it has plenty of content to explore before full release. The developers are active, release new content on a semi-regular basis, and are responsive to the community as a whole and individuals if you happen to come across a bug you want to report.

Temtem boasts a wide variety of monsters to collect and train. It takes place in the Airborne Archipelago, a system of floating islands that orbit their star, the Pansun. The monsters inhabiting the archipelago are called Temtem, or tem(s), for short.

As far as game mechanics go, it has many similarities to Pokemon, but also many important distinctions. The biggest one, in my opinion, is that the element of chance has been removed from battle entirely. Moves cannot miss, have the same power constantly, and status afflictions have an obviously displayed countdown to when they will wear off (for instance, sleep lasts as long as it says it will last. Not 2-4 turns). PP does not exist, either. Your tems can battle for as long as their HP holds out. In place of PP, a new system called Stamina exists. Stamina is an individual stat, like HP and Attack. Each move costs a certain amount of stamina. If you go over the amount of stamina your tem has, the deficit is detracted from your health instead, and that tem cannot move next turn. Stamina passively regenerates a certain amount each turn, and items and moves exist that can heal stamina. All battles are also double-battles, you and your opponent will typically have two tems on the field at a time. This is just a few of the differences Temtem has from Pokemon, but they're some of the biggest ones.

Temtem is also a massively multiplayer game. You complete the storyline independently (or with a friend through co-op!), but in the overworld you can see other, real players moving around and interacting with the world. There is also public and area-specific chat you can talk to other players through. Despite this, all multiplayer functions are (currently) completely optional. You do not need to interact with others to complete the game.

Overall, Temtem is suitable for the Pokemon fan who is looking for a more challenging experience. Temtem is not a walk in the park you can blaze through with a single super-strong monster. For one, individual tem strength is more well-balanced than it is in Pokemon. There are very few (if any!) completely useless tems. Even some unevolved tems have their niche in the competitive scene! Aside from that, enemy tamers are scaled quite high, and you typically cannot beat them just from the exp you get from other enemy tamers. You have to do some wild-encounter grinding if you want to progress.

Temtem is a very fun game and I've already gotten over 100 hours out of it, despite only 3/5-ish of the planned content being released!

However, I do feel obligated to warn any prospective players of one thing: the current endgame is quite inaccessible. After you complete what is currently implemented of the main storyline, there is still quite a lot left to explore and do, but much of it is locked behind putting a lot of hours into the game. You kind of have to get perfect temtem to do the current PVE (and this is also somewhat true for the PVP too). By perfect I mean you have to breed a good tem and then train it to get the preferable EVs (called TVs in temtem). This takes... well, for a whole team... tens of hours. Of boring grinding. Some people enjoy it! But I don't. Regardless, the game was still worth buying because the non-endgame content is expansive and fun.

So overall, pros & cons:

Pros

Battle system is more friendly towards a competitive scene

Cute monsters

Lots of gay characters, also you can choose pronouns (including they/them) independently from body type and voice

Less difference between the objectively bad tems and good tems than there is in Pokemon

Lots of stuff to do even in early access

Most conversations with dialog choices have the option to be a complete ass for no reason other than it’s fun

Having less type variety in your team is less punishing than in Pokemon due to the synergy system and types overall having less weaknesses and resistances

At least one major character is nonbinary

Cons

Falls prey to the issue of MMOs having in-game economies that are only accessible to diehard no-life players

Related to the above point, cosmetics are prohibitively expensive

Endgame CURRENTLY is inaccessible to most players unless you buy good monsters from other players or spend tens of hours making your own. However I must add that the grind is great if you like that kind of thing and is quite easy and painless to do while watching a show or something.

Here is their Steam page and here is their official website.

Next is Monster Hunter: Stories!

This is a spinoff game of the Monster Hunter franchise released for the 3DS in 2018. If you're anything like me, and you've played the core Monster Hunter games, you've often thought "Man, I wish I could befriend and ride these cool dragon creatures instead of killing or maiming them!"

Well now you can! In Stories, as I will be calling it, you play as a rider rather than a hunter. Riders steal monster eggs from wild nests to raise them among humans as companions and guardians. And yes, egg stealing is a whole mechanic in of itself in this game.

This game works pretty differently from most monster-collecting games. You do battle (usually) against one or two wild monsters using your own, except you fight alongside your monsters too. With swords and stuff. There's armor and weapons you can smelt to make yourself stronger. Type match-ups also kind of don't exist in this game? Except they do? But not in a way you'd expect?

The vast majority of attacking moves you and your monster use fall into categories reminiscent of rock-paper-scissors. Moves can be categorized as power, speed, or technical. Speed beats power, technical beats speed, and power beats technical. The matchup of your move vs your opponent's determines how a turn will go down. If one move beats the other in matchup, then the winner's move will get to go and the loser doesn't get to do anything. If you tie, you both get hit, but for reduced damage. There's also abilities and basic attacks, with abilities basically being the same as pokemon moves, and basic attacks just being "I hit you for normal damage within this category". Also, you don't control what your monster does all the time in battle. You can tell it to use abilities, but what kind basic attacks it carries out is determined by its species' preference. Velicidrome, for instance, prefers speed attacks, but Yian Garuga prefers technical. Stamina also exists in this game in a very similar manner to Temtem.

Overall this game carries over a lot of mechanics Monster Hunter fans will find familiar (how items and statuses work for instance). You don't have to have played a core Monster Hunter game to enjoy Stories though! It's fine and is easy to understand as a stand-alone.

The story has some likable characters and is rather long (it was actually adapted into an anime!), for those of you who enjoy a good story.

I'd really recommend this one especially. If it sounds fun to you and you can drop $30, just do it. I bought it on a whim and I got a few weeks' worth of playing almost nonstop out of it, and I didn't even get to do everything! (I got distracted by Hades, oops)

Stories is also getting a sequel later next year on the nintendo switch! How exciting!

And yes, you do ride the monsters.

Pros & cons:

Pros

Large variety of cool monsters to befriend and raise

Pretty lengthy story

Every tamable monster is also rideable

Deceptively simple combat mechanics, easy to be okay at, hard to master

Incorporates some mechanics from early turn-based party rpgs like Final Fantasy for a nice twist on the monster collecting genre

Cons

Many monsters are objectively outclassed by other ones, making what can be in an actually good team more limited than you’d expect

3DS graphics inherently means the game looks like it was made 7 years before its time

Here is the Monster Hunter Stories official 3DS product page.

And here is Monster Sanctuary!

Monster sanctuary is a game that just had its 1.0 launch- meaning it was in early access and no longer is! Although the devs say they still plan to implement a few more things into the game in future updates. It is available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PS4.

Monster sanctuary is a metroidvania twist on the typical monster collecting game, meaning it is also a sidescrolling platformer in which you use abilities you gain throughout the game to explore the world around you. The abilities in this case are the monsters you get! Every monster has an ability that helps you traverse the sanctuary.

Speaking of the sanctuary, the game is set in one. The monster sanctuary is a magically shielded area, cut off from the rest of the world, created by an order of monster keepers, people who befriend and protect the mystical monsters inhabiting the world. Humankind encroached too far on the natural habitat of monsters and were hostile to the native wildlife, so the keepers created an area of varied environments to safely protect and preserve the remaining monsters of the world.

Unlike many other monster collecting games, this game only has 5 types: fire, water, earth, air, and neutral. However, the types themselves do not possess resistances and weaknesses. Instead, each monster has its own assigned weaknesses and resistances. And yes, this can include things like debuffs, physical vs special attacks, and the typical elemental types.

All battles are also 3 vs 3! And unlike in pokemon, where you can only hit the enemies nearest, all monsters have the ability to hit any opponent they want. Turns also work a little differently in that speed doesn't exist, you just use 1 move per monster in your turn and then it goes to your opponent's turn. Your monsters hit in whatever order you want them to.

There is also a quite important combo system in this game, where every hit builds a damage multiplier for the next. Moves often hit multiple times per turn. Healing and buffing actions also build this combo counter. So what monsters you have move in what order really counts!

But the main mechanical difference between this and other games in the genre is how it handles levels and skills. Instead of learning a set move at a certain level, this game incorporates a skill tree, and you get to allocate points into different skills as you grow stronger. And jeez, these skill trees are really extensive. Monster sanctuary is a theorycrafter's dream. Each monster has a unique, specially tailored skill tree, making every monster truly able to have its own niche. You can make use of whatever monster you want if you just put thought into it!

And like Temtem, this game is not made to be beatable by children. I'm sure a child could beat it, but it's not made to be inherently child-friendly like pokemon. It's honestly quite difficult.

On top of that, you are actively encouraged to not just be scraping by each battle. Your performance in battle is rated by an automated system that scores your usage of various mechanics like buffs and debuffs applied, type matchups, and effective usage of combos. The rating system directly influences the rewards you get from each battle, including your likelihood of obtaining an egg from one of the wild monsters you battled (no, you don't catch wild monsters in this game, you get eggs and hatch them). If you're not paying attention to how the game works and making good, effective use of your monsters, you'll have a hard time expanding your team!

The music is also really good, it's made by nature to be able to play over and over and not get old as you explore each area, and the composer(s) really did a good job with this. Some area songs, namely the beach one, I especially enjoy, so much so I've actually played it in the background while I do work.

This is a game I would really recommend. If I made it sound intimidating, it is by no means unbeatable, you're just gonna have to put some thought into how you play. At no point did I actually feel frustrated or like something was impossible. When I hit a wall, I was able to recognize what I did wrong and how I could improve, or I could at least realize something wasn't working and experiment until I found a solution. It's challenging in a genuinely fun, rewarding way.

Pros & cons:

Pros

Extremely in-depth combat system

I genuinely don’t know if there’s an objectively bad monster in this game

Evolution exists but is completely optional, as even un-evolved monsters can be great

Entire soundtrack is full of bangers

Large and diverse variety of monsters to tame

Cons

Story is a little lackluster, but passable

That’s the only con I can think of

Here’s a link to their Steam page and the game’s website.

A kind of unorthodox recommendation is the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series!

Likelihood is that everyone reading this has heard of this series already, but just in case anyone hasn't, I thought I'd include it! I would categorize this as a hybrid between the mystery dungeon genre and the monster collecting genre, because you recruit pokemon as you play and can use those pokemon on your team!

If you're unaware, the mystery dungeon genre is a small subset of dungeon crawler games where you progress through randomly generated levels called mystery dungeons. Throughout the dungeons, there will be enemies to fight and items to collect. The challenge of these games is mostly due to the stamina aspect of them, in that you have to manage your resources as you progress through the level. If you go all out in each fight, you will inevitably lose quite quickly. You have to learn to win against enemies while balancing your use of items and PP, so you have enough for the next fight, and the fight after that.

Pokemon mystery dungeon in particular is famous for its stories, the likes of which isn't seen often in Pokemon games. They are hugely story-driven games and are notable for the emotional depth they possess. It's pretty normal for the average player to cry at least once in the span of the game. There's lots of memes about that specifically.

This entry in my list is also unique for being a series. So, which one should you play first? It actually doesn't matter! Each storyline is entirely self-contained and requires no knowledge of prior entries. The quality of each entry varies and is a point of contention among fans. I say you should play all of them, because they all have their merits (though some more than others.... coughgatestoinfinitycough). They're mostly distinct for the generation of Pokemon they take place in. Rescue team is gen 3, Explorers is gen 4, Gates to Infinity is gen 5, Super Mystery Dungeon is gen 6, and Rescue Team DX is a remake of a gen 3 game but has the mechanics and moves of a gen 8 game.

My only real caution is that you play Explorers of Sky, not Darkness or Time. Sky is basically a combination of the two games with added items and content. It's an objective upgrade over its predecessors, and I honestly wouldn't waste money on the other two.

I’m not going to include a pros and cons list for the PMD series because I’m incredibly biased and it wouldn’t be an honest review.

Next is Monster Crown!

Monster Crown is a monster collecting game that seems to take heavy inspiration from early-gen Pokemon games in particular. It is currently in early access on Steam and is not expensive. I learned about it through the developers of Monster Sanctuary, when they recommended it on their official Discord.

The game has lots of charm and interesting creature designs, and an entirely new take on monster typings as well. Instead of monster types being based off of natural elements like fire, water, electricity, etc. Monster Crown uses typings that seem to be influenced by the personalities of the monsters. For instance, Brutal, Relentless, and Will are all monster types!

It also captures a lot of the charm many of us look fondly upon in early GameBoy-era games. The music is mostly chiptune, with some more modern backing instruments at times, and the visuals are very reminiscent of games like Pokemon Crystal in particular. Monster Crown is definitely the monster collecting game for fans of the 8-bit era!

The thing that stands out the most to me about this game is the breeding system. Instead of one parent monster passing down its species to its offspring, you can create true hybrids in this game.

However, it is very early access. I would consider the current build as an alpha, not even a beta yet! So temper your expectations here. I have not encountered any major bugs, but visual glitches here and there are quite common. The game also could definitely use some polish and streamlining, and is quite limited in content currently. But the dev(s) seem quite active, so I fully expect these kinks to be worked out in time!

The reviews are rather positive, especially for being in early access. I'm all for expanding the monster collecting genre, so if you're looking to expand your horizons in that sense, I would recommend you at least give this one a look! I personally had quite a bit of fun playing Monster Crown and am going to keep an eye out for updates.

Pros & cons:

Pros

Charming artstyle, appealing monster designs

Faithful callback to a bygone era of gaming

Controls are fairly simple and easy to get the hang of (and are completely customizable!)

Cool breeding and hybridization mechanics

There's a starter for each monster type!

You can choose your pronouns, including they/them!

Cons

Inherent nature of being very early access means can be clunky and unpolished at times

Also not much content as of right now, see above

User interface could use some redesign in places

Here’s their Steam page and the official website!

Here’s an oldie but a goodie, Azure Dreams!

This is one I actually haven’t played, mostly because it’s really old and therefore only practically accessible if you play it on an emulator, unless you're one of those old game collectors. Azure Dreams was developed by Konami and released for the PS1 in 1997. My impression of it was that it either didn’t sell well or only took off in Japan, because it’s actually really hard to find any comprehensive information about it on the internet.

Azure Dreams is a monster collecting - dating sim hybrid. You can build relationships with various characters and can pursue some of them romantically, although that isn’t the main draw of the game. There is also a stripped-down version that exists for the GameBoy Color, which forgoes the dating portion of the game entirely.

Azure Dreams is kind of like a mystery dungeon game in that you progress through a randomly generated, ever-changing tower using the help of the familiars you have accrued throughout your adventure. Similarly to Monster Hunter: Stories, you yourself also take part in the fighting alongside your monsters. Each time you enter the tower, your character’s level is lowered to 1, but your familiars keep their experience. Thus, progression is made through strengthening your monsters. To obtain monsters, you collect their eggs, just like in Monster Sanctuary (which, turns out, was at least partially inspired by this game!)

Due to this game being very old and on the PS1, the visuals leave a lot to be desired... but if you can get past that, Azure Dreams has lots of replayability and customization to how you play the game. To this day, it appears it has a somewhat active speedrunning community!

If you don’t mind the effort of using an emulator, and like old games, Azure Dreams just might be that timesink you were looking for in quarantine.

Honorable mentions:

Pokemon Insurgence (or any Pokemon fangame/ROMhack, really!) is a Pokemon fangame that introduces Delta Pokemon, which are really cool type-swapped versions of existing Pokemon. It’s sufficiently challenging and has a lot of variety in what you can catch in the wild, so you can pretty much add whatever you want to your team! The story is quite good, and the main campaign is multiple times longer than a typical Pokemon game’s campaign. Download it here!

ARK: Survival Evolved is NOT a monster collecting game BUT you do get to tame and fight alongside a lot of really cool extinct species, including but not limited to the dinosaurs we all know and love. This game is genuinely fun as hell, especially with friends, but I must warn you: never play on official servers. I highly recommend singleplayer, playing on a casual private server, or making your own server. Here’s the Steam page.

#pokemon #temtem #monster sanctuary #monster hunter stories #monster crown #azure dreams #pokemon mystery dungeon #pokemon alternatives

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thomas-jefferson-miku-binder · 3 years

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ok so i’d like to talk about something. with Wilbur being revived, I saw one post in particular that talked about how it's bad that they keep reviving characters instead of “giving them a satisfying ending” and “working in developing the undeveloped living ones”.

a lot of the times i see takes like these, they come from people who don’t quite understand what the Dream SMP is all about. it’s not a TV show or a movie. it’s... it’s like a bunch of friends playing RPG in their basement.

in D&D, the objective is not necessarily to win, but to create a good story together. of course, it sucks if your character dies, but there will always be other campaigns. the dream smp is something along these lines, except the match never ends and there’s no chance to play again. and you don’t want that, because playing and acting is fun! because it’s an amazing project you love and are a part of. who wouldn’t want that?!

people who treat the Dream SMP as a Hollywood movie often don’t have a lot of experience with these sort of games (and don’t understand that not everything that happens is canon. i.e.: Tubbo killing an endermen in front of Ranboo). if you view it as a movie, you will find things to be pissed and disappointed about. that’s not what made the Dream Smp popular in the first place. this genre of roleplaying game is so special because it allows the players to mess around, to literally create stuff with the community and give us numerous POVs. there’s characters that basically started with fanon lore and went from there. hell, pantstwt basically bullshitted Connor lore into canon lol.

and allows characters to have as much screen time as the streamer desires etc etc

by the way, none of the resurrections that happened thus far were lazily written.

Tommy's death was so important for his character and for basically everyone around the server. it established Dream's power, unpredictability and made a throwback to the Revive Book, relevant part of the lore since the Manberg vs. Pogtopia conflict. it showed how far down the Eggpire people were. it made us see how Puffy's anger could be dangerous, how she’s willing to sacrifice everything she has for the ones she love. we got to see Tubbo learning to deal with grief once again and it helped make the syndicate's views on Tommy a bit clearer. I won’t even start talking about Jack or Sam or Ranboo or Quackity, otherwise I’d be here all day. the main point is: it's not a “just because” or “just for the shock” thing. it had a motive and an essencial impact on the storyline.

ok, now to goatman. as of today, 28/04, Schlatt has not been resurrected but it is implied that he will be. even then, solely the possibility of him being revived already was so important to Quackity's character. it was the reason Quackity started torturing Dream in the first place. it also helped establish his and Qackity's relationship a little better and how much impact he has over Q still, not mattering if he’s alive or not.

Jack's resurrection was the only one of the bunch that seemed a bit forced and desperate at the begging, but the way cc!Jack turned this around still makes me speechless. his character is so so well-written and Jack can be such a good actor. while most of the resurrections were important to the people surrounding the now undead person, Jack's was all about personal growth, dealing with rejection, loneliness, jealousy... chef's kiss

and oh boy, let’s talk about Wilbur. my man literally just got revived and already started causing some funky little commotions around town. even before today, the attempts to bring Wilbur back explored so many characters. Eret, Philza, Tommy, Tubbo, Fundy, Niki... I’m excited to see what the future holds

about the undeveloped character stuff, which I'll consider it means “haven’t had much lore til now”, I'm not sure I understand what you mean. everyone has been getting so much lore lately. Hannah just arrived and she’s so well-written and interesting. Foolish, Skeppy, Ant, Purpled, Hbomb, George, Connor... I think it’s more of a who-are-you-watching thing than the characters being underdeveloped.

ANYWAYS,

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thekatebridgerton · 2 years

Note

The Viscount Who Loved Me is my favorite book. But after the changes in the first season and the fact that Julia Quinn herself happily said in the Netflix Book Club episode that she is very hands off with the series, I knew there were going to be changes.

Not as many changes as there ended up being… obviously… but I don’t hate what they’ve done. Do I wish they had stayed truer to the books, of course, especially with the iconic scenes than just became tease points for the reader viewers.

But no adaptation is every exactly as things are done in the books. I’m a big fan of both Outlander and Harry Potter both the books and the series/movies. There are always things we wished they had done better. Plot lines they toyed with. Characters they changed for better or for worse.

All that to say, that season 2 ended up being a very exciting story. Something I wasn’t expecting. Did I nearly have an anxiety attack when there was an actual fucking wedding scene? Uh yes! But after seeing what Shonda Rimes and her team came up with for Season 1 taking the (in my opinion) lacking book 1 and making it as exciting as they did, I trusted that she wouldn’t mess with the heart of the story: Kate and Anthony falling in love.

And she didn’t fail us there. We still got our beloved Kathony… maybe not the way we had expected to, but we got them. Maybe not in the fully matured way we expected… but Jonathan and Sierra both said they plan to stick around which means that we get to see Kathony again and see how their relationship develops over the coming seasons.

Then there is the added fun of being able to wonder, just like our non-reader friends, what the fuck is going to happen next?! Will season 3 be Colin and Penelope or Benedict and Sophie? Will Benedict and Sophie still have a Cinderella trope or no? What’s going to happen with Marina and Sir Phillip… since he clearly is going to marry Eloise eventually.

As much as I love the books… it’s kind of fun trying to guess what they’re going to do in the future. They’re going to keep us on our toes for sure!

As you recall a while ago. Author Julia Quinn lost her father and sister in a car crash around the middle of 2021. And was probably grieving for her loss right around the time s2 was being filmed. Which is why I don't hold it against her for her lack of input in the s2 storyline.

If she's being hands off from production then I'm sure there's a good reason for it and hope she doesn't regret it.

That is to say s2 will eventually grow on me once I get over the disappointment of seeing a Retelling and not an adaptation for s2. Maybe when I watch it for a second time.

Shonda is an excellent creator for s3, we will probably see more of Benedict's hilarious shenanigans as it should be and lovely Sophie will have an actress to play her that I'll be able to put in my storyboards.

But taking a page out of Penelope's book, I'm the type who skips to the last page of the book to see how it ends, it's 2022, sometimes I really do want to watch something I'm familiar with where the storyline is corny, funny, predictable but never boring.

Being kept on my toes is good and fun in original productions, but as you mentioned with examples like Harry Potter and Outlander. In book adaptations keeping close to the source material is what reasures the viwers that all will be well in the end. Because they know the end.

I'm sure once I get over this disappointment in a few days I'll be back to being positive about future changes made to the books source material, I'll find a way to put a positive spin on this narrative Netflix is handing us and feel much more motivated about being surprised by season 3 and 4.

In fact in a few days I'll be off to make fun of Anthony once again in all l my posts but right now... I'm kinda discouraging.

And I hope you don't feel offended by that or hold it against me

#bridgerton #bridgerton season two

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zeta-in-de-walls · 3 years

Text

Post discussing C!dream’s future storyline and the perils and pitfalls in what they have to do next

Okay guys, let’s not be in denial here. Wilbur’s stream brought up some challenging questions about C!Dream’s imprisonment. He’s had no proper trial and it seems like everyone’s been content to leave him to rot forever. Sure, most of the server witnessed his punishment and offered no dissent but even so, he’s been in there a long time now and it’s incredibly uncomfortable.

But we are facing a dilemma given how dangerous Dream still is to the characters on the server. The prison was not so much intended to punish Dream so much as hold him secure so he is no longer a threat to the rest of the server. And that’s still important. After all, it’s very possible he’ll resume his former actions once he’s freed.

This is a difficult quandary to solve. And I’ll be discussing narratively how I could see the story trying to resolve these issues. I wouldn’t say there’s a correct way to go from here, so I’ll just discuss what would be most satisfying in terms of the story’s narrative for me.

Now firstly, Dream in s2 was abusive specifically towards Tommy. This was explored in great detail in his story arc with Tommy’s character taking the time to show how his character had been traumatised by his actions and explored some very dark themes such as suicidal thoughts which is treated very seriously. This story contained some very powerful messages and I hope these don’t get tarnished by treating Dream’s character too sympathetically - potentially risking uncomfortable messages suggesting because your abusers are people too you should forgive them if they act sorry (this is uncomfortable given how their relationship was shown to be toxic with scenes like Dream insisting he was Tommy’s friend while isolating and hurting him.) Whatever happens, under no circumstances would I be comfortable in any way with Tommy and Dream ever becoming friends again. Same with Tubbo. This should never be presented as good. I want Tommy’s healing arc to continue with him moving on and living his life without letting Dream ever have any more power over him.

But also, Dream continuing to stay in prison is not acceptable, especially with the narrative beginning to question it. Likewise his character has been tortured in prison. That is terrible and deserves to be shown as very wrong and for there to be some catharsis in the form of Quackity’s eventual defeat. Ideally, it’d be good if Dream was some way involved in this as Quackity’s primary victim.

It’s gonna have to be a delicate balance to make things work. I don’t really think a straightforward redemption arc is really feasible or that desirable for Dream’s character. His story is a tragedy of a once decent character and his fall and I think it’d be best to lean into those elements rather than pushing for the idea he might change and become better especially after the torture, the god complex he’s developed and the letting go of all his love and attachments. But you can still work with what you got and continue exploring the tragedy and give him a cathartic ending.

My ideas would have him be released from the prison - maybe under some sort of house arrest deal where he has a lot more freedom but he’s still being watched heavily while he helps with taking down Quackity. (Obvs in minecraft anything less secure than pandoras’ vault would be easily escapable but we’ll say roleplay wise that Dream is out but effectively being watched over such that he isn’t able to go out and kill any kids.)

Dream wouldn’t exactly be a good guy, but it’ll be a bit of an enemy of my enemy situation where the others convince him to play nice if they let him have his revenge on Quackity (and Sam too quite possibly). This gives him back a little agency and lets him get in some good fighting and might lead to some interesting interactions without forgetting that yeah he’s dangerous and deadly.

The easiest way to deal with his character is to end his story in some way after that. Maybe with him dying after being instrumental in defeating Quackity, giving him a somewhat sympathetic final death. Or have him leave the server forever in some sort of permanent banishment. I feel like it would be way harder to do the scenario of him living on the server as a free man once more. A definite conclusion would be better.

Before Dream gets to this conclusion though, I’d also like some more closure with some of the other characters. I’m thinking something with Tommy to finally resolve him moving on with his life forever, finally free of Dream. Something with Ranboo to start tackling the enderboo stuff. Something with Wilbur to tackle his issues related to Dream. Ideally something with several other characters like his old friends Sapnap and Bad.

There’s a lot of interesting stuff still to do with Dream, it just needs to be handled carefully given how seriously his season 2 arc was treated and the seriousness of the s3 stuff too actually. It’s difficult but should hopefully lead to a lot of conflict and excitement so long as they can manage the balance okay.

If nothing else, he cannot stay in the prison much longer. His escape may be what kicks off the next (and maybe final) war.

Anyway those are some of my thoughts! I’m sure its obvious but I’m a Tommy fan first and so I really, really want his character to continue to be handled respectfully above all. But I also find Dream very interesting and the narrative is only going to start questioning Dream’s imprisonment more and more until its finally resolved one way or another. This limbo will end and I hope it does it well.

#c!dream analysis #meta #analysis #tommyinnit #uhh tell me if you'd like more tags for this #prison arc #tw torture #tw abuse #dreamwastaken #dream smp #narative analysis #my thoughts #feel free to discuss this with me too #i'm not really sure what i'd like in the future #its certainly messy

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kinksvt · 4 years

Text

behind closed doors (m)

requested

→ pairing: actor!mingyu x actress!reader

♕ summary: you and mingyu have a secret relationship and before he leaves for two weeks, you both decide to tie the knot.

✱ genre: celebrity au

✱ warnings: cursing, humor? (i tried), slow sex, angst at some parts

✱ word count: 5.9k

You knew that being in the movie industry would not be easy. You knew you had to work and sacrifice many things to avoid scandals, drama and rumors. So when you and Mingyu met on a set of a movie that your agent recommended, you had no idea what was to come.

The movie's plot included two characters—you and Mingyu—sent back in time to "save the world." You and Mingyu are friends in the movie but slowly fall for each other during the quest. You both shared a few kisses in some scenes in the movie and that was it. Yeah, maybe the storyline was a bit cliche but, a gig is a gig, you always thought.

Over the course of a few months, outside of your roles, you and Mingyu got close due to rehearsing and making sure it all went as planned. Closer than you would've guessed. You've heard of costars falling for each other during the filming of a movie and end up dating in real life to be admired by everyone? Well, unfortunately, this wasn't the case for you. Your agent, Seungcheol, did not like the idea of you dating in your career. He said that it might distract and hold you back from getting certain roles for future parts. You tried to tell him that it wouldn't change anything but Seungcheol didn't listen. He just waved you off and answered a phone call outside of the room.

And that's how you ended up in the situation now. Since the filming for you and Mingyu's movie ended, you haven't been able to score any parts that involved him as the lead as well. Not even a substitute role either. You enjoyed working with Mingyu, even if you didn't consider it working and more like just having fun with him while in character. He was an amazing actor and he was so passionate as well. You've heard many actors and actresses that's worked with him compliment on how dedicated he is in roles and how serious he takes his career.

Everyone loves Mingyu, he's handsome, funny, sweet, tall and not to mention, well built. Who wouldn't fall for him at his feet? But, what no one knew was that you and Mingyu have been seeing each other on the low. After those months of working with each other, texting and getting to know each other truly, you developed feelings and so did he luckily. He asked you out and, though you wished you could date freely, you two dated in private. It was still something though, even if you couldn't hold his hand out in public or even be seen in public—it was still nice to know that he cared for you and wanted to be with only you.

It had been six and a half months since he asked you out and what a wonderful six and a half months it had been. Six—and a half—months of pure and utter affection and dates at home that involved binge watching movies and shows, ordering out and spending as much time as you both could with your busy schedules. Including tonight.

Tonight was one of the few nights that you and Mingyu were available this month and of course, he called you and asked you to come on over. Both of you were initially cuddling on the couch, watching a random show that you put on when he put his hand on your thigh, accidentally sparking something inside of you that you've been dying to push down since the moment you laid eyes on him.

You guys have kissed, plenty of times and during those times there's been plenty of moments where it escalated to the point of almost having sex. Although neither of you both were virgins, you both were somewhat afraid of "sealing the deal." You knew at least that if you were to have sex with Mingyu, it would be hard to let him go eventually, like you knew you would one day. Mingyu knew if you guys were to have sex, he'd fall harder for you and wouldn't want to leave you. But at this moment, both of you didn't care.

You ended up on Mingyu's lap, the blanket that covered the both of you tossed to the side and the movie long forgotten. Mingyu's hands wandered all over your back, moving down south to grip your ass, making you moan into his mouth. Your hips subconsciously began to grind on him, making him moan into your mouth. The only sounds that were present in the room was the sound of your mixed heavy breathing and the television on low.

"Y/N," Mingyu panted as his cock began to get hard under your movements.

You whined against his lips, feeling yourself get wet at the friction. Mingyu broke the kiss, kissing your neck and nipping only slightly at the skin, knowing that if you suddenly showed up with a hickey, the press would get suspicious. "Mingyu," you spoke softly.

He stopped his movements, "Yeah?" he replied. He was sweaty, his hair sticking to his forehead and cheeks flushed.

You wanted to have sex with him. At this point you didn't care about the consequences or the possible feelings that you might have hurt. You just needed him then and there or else you felt like you'd explode. "I think I'm r-"

Ring ring!

Are you fucking kidding me?

Mingyu groaned as you felt disappointed. You got up off of Mingyu's lap and let him answer his phone which laid face up on the table. "Hello?" He said when he picked up, mouthing an I'm sorry to you. You sat quietly, listening to Mingyu's responses and also straining to listen to who was on the other line. "Oh, hey Jeonghan. What's up?" He spoke nonchalantly as if you two weren't dry fucking on his couch.

Jeonghan was Mingyu's agent who—to put it nicely—wasn't the biggest fan of you. He knew that you two had a thing and when he confronted you about it, he made you stop speaking with him. Of course you didn't listen to him, sticking it to the man. You couldn't help yourself, trying to cut ties with Mingyu for the better of your career. But every time you tried, you imagined his sad little face in your mind and didn't have the heart to really end it.

"Really?" Mingyu got up suddenly, visibly excited. He glanced at you and his face dropped. "Okay. Friday? This Friday? That's too soon." You were on the edge of your seat, curious to know what was happening. "But- Jeonghan- I," Mingyu sighed, "Okay. Alright, thank you. Yes Jeonghan I am thankful. Yeah, I'll talk to you later. Okay, bye." You looked at him, waiting for him to talk to you.

"Jeonghan got me a role."

...

After hearing those words, you felt something in your heart. Mingyu would be gone for, God knows how long and you were—to say the least—devastated. You wouldn't see him, feel him, touch or hear him for whatever many months and it upset you. He would be leaving this Friday, only—technically—two more days. Two days to spend as much time with him as you can. That night you wanted to seal the deal. To hell with your fear of it because in reality, you were already in deep with Mingyu. You cared about him and you knew he cared about you too. But not yet. You wanted it to be meaningful.

You picked the absolute fanciest hotel you could find and were pleasantly pleased to find a private house for you and Mingyu, for two nights. You got there before nightfall, just before 6 o'clock, giving yourself time to set up and build up your confidence. When you entered the house, it was breathtaking. You knew Mingyu was going to love it.

The house was secluded, overlooking the mountains and the Pacific ocean. It was huge, beautiful wooden floors, the most expensive decorations and up to date appliances. Two master bedrooms, both with gorgeous bathrooms that made you wish you could stay in forever.

"It's that nice?" Mingyu's voice echoed throughout the living room as you had him on speaker.

"Yes, it's more than nice, it's amazing. You're seriously gonna freak out when you get here." You smiled at the thought of Mingyu's reaction. You can already see his eyes sparkling with his pearly white canines showing.

"Well, I'm only about an hour-ish away according to my GPS."

"Okay, drive safe for me. Come here in one piece."

"I will, Mom."

You groaned at his words, earning a laugh from him.

...

"Ho-ly shit, Y/N, you were right." Mingyu said right after you had opened the door. The sun set by the time he arrived and it made everything look so much more beautiful. Mingyu looked all around, taking his jacket and shoes off, setting the small bag he packed on the floor.

"I told you," you replied, giggling. You showed him around, every room making his eyes grow wider and wider. After Mingyu came to his senses, the sound of his nose sniffing filled your ears. "Y/N, you didn't." He turned to you, his eyebrows furrowing together while he pouted.

You winced jokingly, "I did."

"You made dinner for me?" Mingyu looked at you, pouting even harder that it made his lower lip ache.

"For us. I just wanted to do something nice for the two of us. You know," you trailed off. "Before you go." You said sadly.

Mingyu cooed and grabbed your hand, pulling you into his arms. "You're such a sweetheart, Y/N."

You sighed in his chest, "Just wanna make our last few moments a little special."

...

After Mingyu arrived, you served him his food and you both sat on the luxurious and quite comfy couch and ate together. You found a show to put on and you two cuddled. You glanced at the microwave that read 9:46. Mingyu had his arms behind his head while you laid on his chest, your left arm wrapped around his torso. Without looking at him, you called out his name. "Mingyu?"

"Yeah baby?" He looked down at you—well, the top of your head actually.

You paused for a second, thinking over what you wanted to say. "You remember what happened yesterday?"

At this moment, you sat up to look at Mingyu in the eyes. "Which part exactly?"

"When we were making out, I was gonna tell you something." You played with your fingers, nervous that you were ready but Mingyu wouldn't be. You didn't want Mingyu to feel pressured to have sex with you. He nodded his head slowly, waiting for you to continue. "I was going to tell you, that," you took a deep breath, "I'm ready."

Mingyu tilted his head a bit, "Ready for?"

"Sex. I, uh, I want to have sex with you. B-But if you don't want to that's fine! I don't want to if you don't want to."

He scoffed and sat up to grab your hands. "I thought you'd never be ready." You furrowed your eyebrows. "No! I didn't mean it like that! I meant," You stared at him, allowing him to dig his little hole. "Like, I meant- I thought that I was the only one ready and I was like, just, waiting.. for you."

You stayed quiet, internally giggling at his nervous state. "I know what you meant, goof." You leaned in and gave him a kiss on the lips. Standing up, you held out your hand for him to grab. He looked at you curiously but took your hand anyway. You led him through the house, into the main bedroom.

The room was filled with soft lighting—thanks to the candles that you lit beforehand and you bought a few rose petals to scatter on the floor around the bed, just to make it a little more cheesy. "Oooh," Mingyu said as you two walked entered and he admired your handiwork.

You laughed and turned back around to face Mingyu. He pulled you closer to him, connecting his lips to yours. Your face began to heat up, flustered at the situation. His tongue glided over yours as his hands rested on your waist. Your hand gripped the back of his neck while you stood on your tippy toes.

The kiss got hot quickly and you weren't sure if it was because you two were finally going to have sex, or if it was the romantic scenery that made you want to dive right in.

Mingyu began walking you backwards toward the foot of the bed. Your legs hit the edge and you pulled away from Mingyu, noting how cute he looked while his face was flushed. You smiled shyly at him as you hesitantly hooked your fingers under your shirt, pulling it over your head. Mingyu's face seemed to grow more pink, as he carefully watched your every move. He was trapped in a trance as more and more of your skin was exposed to his fortunate eyes. He always thought you were perfect but he didn't think you were this perfect. His eyes raked over every curve, dip and wonder of your now bra-clad torso. "You're so beautiful Y/N." Mingyu said quietly, a smile forming on his face.

You avoided his eyes, looking at the ground in shyness. "Oh stop," you replied jokingly.

Mingyu followed your actions and took his own shirt off. You knew Mingyu was built and despite seeing him shirtless plenty of times during a few of his previous movies, it felt more personal. Sure, he's shown his body on screen but seeing it in front of you, in a way that only he wanted to show you made you feel special. You were also in a daze as your eyes traveled over his defined abs and bicep muscles. "You're beautiful too," you said mindlessly.

He laughed at how adorable you were. Mingyu walked closer to you, grabbing your hand and sitting on the bed while you stood standing. He pulled you down gently, reconnecting your lips. He backed up on the bed to rest against the pillows and you ended up sitting on his lap, running your fingers through his hair, lightly tugging when you felt that addictive feeling down south.

Mingyu's tongue ran over yours, making sure no inch of your mouth went untouched. Both of your moans merged together, the air in the room slowly becoming hot. Your hips instinctively began shifting underneath Mingyu's, receiving a whine from him. He moaned, "Fuck, keep doing that, baby." Your clit pulsated at Mingyu's voice—he sounded so hot yet so cute at the same time. Mingyu's hair began to stick to his forehead, sweat quickly building up on the both of you. You halted your movements to unbutton the pants Mingyu wore, following your own afterwards.

Mingyu's cock strained against his underwear, giving you a clear outline of what you've been only dreaming about seeing since you two started dating. You definitely underestimated him though. Lost in your thoughts, Mingyu noticed you spaced out, basically drooling over his crotch. "Are you enjoying yourself, Y/N?"

You snapped out of it, your cheeks heating up from embarrassment. "Sorry.." you whispered.

"Your underwear is cute." He pointed. Your underwear were red with a black bow at the top. He messed with the bow You rolled your eyes playfully, ignoring him. Mingyu leaned up and pulled you down with him, kissing you once again. Your heat came in contact with his cock, making the both of you moan. Mingyu's hips instinctively bucked up, rubbing against you in a way that had your clit beating harshly and arousal building.

The kiss was sensual and soft, yet also rough at the same time, due to the both of you waiting for this moment for as long as you both could remember. In the past, you and Mingyu shared some heated experiences with one another before, but nothing at all like this before. The getaway, the room, the warm lighting that shined against both of your faces made the two of you stop and smile.

"I know this might not be a good time- you know, since you're leaving but, I'm really glad that you asked me out." You confessed to Mingyu.

Mingyu awed at your words, giving you a slight pout. "Well, I'm really glad that you didn't reject me."

You laughed, looking down and back up at him. "How could I ever even think of rejecting you?"

He shrugged, "I don't know, maybe you thought I was ugly."

Scoffing, you gave him a bewildered look. "Ugly?" You said, a bit too loud for your own liking. "Who could possibly think you're ugly?"

Mingyu winced. "I know a few haters that could tell you otherwise."

You rolled your eyes and leaned down to give him a kiss on the cheek. "You're perfect to me, Mingyu." He smiled shyly up at you, avoiding your eyes. "Whaat? It's true, baby. You are perfect."

He shook his head, disagreeing with you. "There's so many other guys out there that could treat you so much better than me. I'm going to leave you for weeks, maybe even months in just a few days." He said in a sad voice.

Leaning down, you gave Mingyu another kiss on the cheek, rubbing your thumb on his cheekbone softly. "Mingyu, I don't care if you leave me for a year. I'm always going to have the same feelings for you."

Mingyu's eyes began to water, guilt settling in the entirety of his heart. Mingyu thinks that he might love you, but he's afraid if he says it out loud, it'll ruin everything. He knows his feelings for you are strong but he didn't know that they were strong enough to make him consider turning down the role Jeonghan got for him in order to stay close to you. It scared him.

"We can do long distance. We can Facetime whenever you have the chance or call or text. Whatever it takes. I just know that I can wait for you." Your own eyes began to tear up, your heart aching at the sight of Mingyu beginning to cry.

"I just-" he paused for a second, looking up at the ceiling as a tear slips down his cheek. You wiped to off, waiting for him to finish. "I don't know, I don't want you to wait all this time for me and give you false hope that the production time won't extend or whatever. I don't know, Y/N. I don't want to hurt you accidentally or whatever because I love you and I want you to be happy and-"

"Wait, wait. What?" Your thumb stopped caressing his cheek, and you sat up straight. "You what?" Your heart felt like it stopped, or maybe that's the loud thumping you hear in your ears.

Mingyu looked puzzled, "I want you to be happy?"

Your heart began beating faster. "Y-You-you love me?"

"Oh fuck." Mingyu mumbled, covering his mouth with one of his hands. He wanted to slap himself. He just said that he didn't want to say he loved you because it would ruin everything and now he did and you're probably freaked out and a million thoughts began racing in Mingyu's mind. He wanted to literally slap himself so hard right then and there.

"Mingyu-"

"Don't say it. I know that you don't feel the same way. I'm sorry, I didn't even mean to say it. I don't know why that came ou-"

You shut him up with a kiss, a deep, soft kiss that took his breath away. Which was what you were going for. After breaking the kiss, you paused for a second. "If it came out that easily, then that must mean that it has to be true."

"Y/N, I'm really sorry. I didn't want to say this then leave for who knows how long."

You shook your head, letting the fact that Mingyu actually loves you settle in. "I think I feel the same way."

"You know you don't have to say that if it isn't true. I didn't say it for you to say it back." Mingyu looked really sad and you knew that what he said wasn't how you really felt.

"I do though. I don't know for certain but I do believe that the love for you is there, Mingyu. Trust me, okay?" You gave him a small smile, making him smile back.

Mingyu nodded his head and rubbed your arm softly. "Okay. Do you still want to do this, baby?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I?"

He sniffled, wiping his eyes. "Well, I kinda just cried and shit so I wasn't sure if that turned you off or anything."

You laughed as you caressed his cheek lovingly. "You didn't. I'm glad we had that moment." Sighing, you reached behind your back, unhooking your bra. "Now, can we continue?"

Mingyu's eyes dropped to your chest, "Yes ma'am." He grabbed you and pushed you backwards, attacking your neck.

You moaned as he licked your neck, dragging his teeth against it since he couldn't mark you officially. He kissed from one side to the next and moved down to your collarbones.

Mingyu kissed and licked his way to the valley between your breasts, sucking a small hickey right beside your nipple. "I hope you don't have any roles that involve you being braless anytime soon." He said, making you laugh. Mingyu's lips were soft against your skin, giving you goosebumps as he reached your stomach, going down further and further before stopping above your underwear. Glancing up at you, he looked at you curiously.

"Please," you whined.

Mingyu smirked as his fingers slipped under the band of your underwear. Before pulling them down, he kissed your clothed clit and dragged them down your legs. You shyed away from him, hiding yourself. Mingyu moved his hands onto your knees, "You're beautiful, Y/N."

You pouted, his slightly cold hands making you shiver lightly. Mingyu placed his hands on your thighs, spreading you open slowly. Your breathing got deeper, the knowledge of how much you're exposed to him making you throb. Mingyu took note of the way your wetness shined from the candlelight, edging him to finally taste you.

His tongue flattened against your pussy, making sure he got every drop of your arousal. You let out a whine, as his tongue flicked your clit. "Fuck, you taste so good baby." Mingyu's lips latched onto your clit, sucking gently while swirling his tongue around it.

Your back arched off the bed while your hands tangled in his hair, pushing his face closer to your pussy. He took his right hand and used one of his fingers to slowly push inside you. You bit your lip as your walls clenched around his finger. "So warm too." Quickly taking his finger out, he scooted up close to your face, "Say 'ah,'" he said, opening up his own mouth for you to mimic.

Obeying his order, your mouth dropped open and you stuck your tongue out a bit. Mingyu pressed two of his fingers on your tongue. You closed your mouth around them, sucking on them and looking into Mingyu's mouth. "If you don't stop that I'm gonna have to put my dick in you right now."

"Do it then." You challenged as he pulled his fingers out of your mouth. Honestly, you wanted this to move along already. You were aching to have Mingyu inside of you, on the edge of begging for it.

"Really? You want to?" His eyebrows raised up as he held up his saliva covered fingers.

Giggling, you nodded your head. Mingyu laughed nervously, "W-Well okay then." His back smacked onto the bed, lifting his hips up to take off his underwear a little too eagerly. You started laughing as he struggled slightly. While he did, you stretched over to the nightstand on the side of the bed, grabbing a pack of condoms you placed there before his arrival.

Opening the pack, you noticed Mingyu's underwear were off and you stared for a moment. A breathy "wow" left your lips before you realized. His confidence peaked a little bit but didn't let it show. "Thank you," he smiled and grabbed the condom from your fingers. He opened the condom, pinching the top and rolling it down his length. You watched his movements carefully, admiring him in all his glory. Your eyes traveled up to his eyes, seeing his concentration and you felt your heart beat at the sight.

You laid down on the bed, in front of Mingyu who began positioning himself. He took a deep breath, "Ready?" You nodded your head and closed your eyes. He held his cock in his hand and slowly pushed into you. You winced and Mingyu groaned, both of you not used to this feeling. Mingyu was a bit thicker and you felt yourself stretch to his girth. Your walls clung onto Mingyu, making him feel like he was in heaven. "Tell me when," he grunted. You took in the sight of him inbetween your legs, his hair sticking to his forehead slightly and cheeks a light pink hue. Mingyu looked at you suddenly, "What did you just do?"

You looked at him, clueless as to what he was talking about. "Huh?"

Mingyu chuckled, licking his lips. "Your, uh," he scratched his head. "You kinda clenched around me."

Your eyes widened a bit, not even knowing you did so. "Oh," you said quietly.

"I'm not complaining though! I-It felt good actually," Mingyu admitted.

When you knew you were ready you told him and closed your eyes. Mingyu mouthed an okay, moving his length almost all the way out of you before pushing back in. You gasped, eyes popping back open as you seen his mouth drop open and a quiet moan leaving his pink lips. Grabbing the back of Mingyu's neck, you pulled him closer to kiss him. Mingyu developed a steady pace—slow yet forceful at the same time.

"Mingyu," you purred in his mouth. His cock hit the sweetest spots of you when he pushed himself the furthest he could go.

His tongue swirled around yours, caressing it lovingly and making your insides fill with butterflies. "Y/N," he breathed sensually.

The kiss broke, but Mingyu kept himself close to you. His forehead touched yours, resting it gently on you as his hips kept the pace. Mingyu's hips ground into yours tenderly, making you see stars. You looked into Mingyu's eyes, "I love you."

Mingyu smiled, brushing a piece of hair out of your face and holding your cheek. "I love you too, Y/N."

After saying that, Mingyu picked up his speed. Both of you moaned, drunk off the way the two of you made each other feel. Mingyu's cock felt warm in you and your walls hugged him in a way that you knew you'd miss when he left. At the thought, you wrapped your legs around Mingyu's lower half, wanting him to be as close to you as possible before he would be gone.

Mingyu laid on his forearms that were right next to the sides of your head. His breath mingled with yours, making your head spin slightly as his lips brushed your own. Your hand rested on his jaw, admiring his facial expressions. He moaned, feeling your pussy pulse around his cock. "You must really be whipped for me because every time you look at me, your downtown gets affected in a way."

You smacked his face gently, "Shut up, dork."

"No you." He said desperately, his hips going faster and faster. You whined while Mingyu placed his head in the crook of your neck. His breath tickling your collarbones as he moaned into your skin. "Fuck, Y/N," he rasped.

Your arms hugged his shoulders, fingers tangling in his hair as you felt your orgasm building. "O-Oh my god, f-fuck," you stuttered. You swallowed harshly, broken moans slipping past your lips.

Mingyu grunted, his own orgasm building quickly alongside yours. "God, you feel so, so good, Y/N fuck." He moved away from your neck to kiss you again. His teeth caught your bottom lip, making you giggle.

Mingyu swallowed your high pitched moans, as you felt yourself get closer and closer to the edge. Your fingernails raked down his back, making him growl in your mouth. "Do that again," he mumbled against your lips.

You repeated your actions, your fingernails scratching red marks down his shoulder blades. "Shit, I'm close. Mingyu," you pleaded.

"M-Me too," he whimpered.

You slipped your hand between the two of you, rubbing your clit messily to edge yourself closer.

"That's hot," Mingyu chuckled as you rolled your eyes at him.

"I'm almost there," your walls began pulsing around Mingyu quickly.

Both of your moans got higher and higher until waves of pleasure washed over you two. Mingyu's hips halted as he came into the condom while he grunted softly. Your walls clenched around his length as your back arched off the bed. You collapsed back on the bed, your clit beating in a rhythm that you felt in your toes.

Mingyu sighed, pulling out of you gently as you mewled. He took the condom off of himself, careful to make sure nothing spilled out. Mingyu searched for the trashcan before looking back at you. You laughed, checking out his butt before pointing to the bathroom. He waddled his way into the room, flipping the switch on and tossing the contraceptive in the bin. Mingyu walked back in the bedroom, running his fingers through his damp hair.

You smirked, looking him up and down. "You know, you're really sexy, Gyu."

He waved you off, bending over to grab his and yours underwear. You gave him a wolf whistle and he covered his butt with his boxers before throwing your panties in your face and tossing your bra at you as well. Both of you laughed as you slipped your undergarments on and you put your bra on. Mingyu plopped back on the bed next to your right side. You and Mingyu stared at the ceiling, knowing that his indefinite leave will be even harder now.

After a long moment of silent staring, you spoke up. "If you find someone else, I don't want you to hold back."

Mingyu shifted his head to look at you. "What?"

A tear slipped past your eye. You turned your head to look at Mingyu as well. "I don't want to hold you back, Mingyu."

"But Y/N-" "No," you interrupted him. "You're an amazing guy, Mingyu. And I know that I'm not going to forget us or this night or any other nights we spent together. But Jeonghan doesn't approve of us. What if he wants you to be with someone else?"

Mingyu then turned his whole body towards you, laying his head on his hands. "I don't care what he wants. If it comes down to it, I'll tell him about us. I love you, Y/N. I want you and only you."

More tears began to fall, slipping out of the corner of your eyes. "I can't affect any of your decisions when it comes to your career though, Mingyu."

"Y/N, please. I can't lose you. Please just, let's give this a try? Please, just don't give up yet. I know we can do this." He cradled your cheek, wiping your tears away with his thumb. "Please," he begged.

You saw his eyes water, a tear forming before it slipped down the bridge of his nose and landing on the pillow. Taking a moment, you thought about what he asked. Could you really make this work? Will this make Mingyu deny roles that will keep him away from you longer? Was it selfish to want to make it work? Was it selfish that you wanted him to stay? Yes, but you knew you couldn't do that. "Okay," you whispered.

...

The next morning, you and Mingyu woke up in each other's arms. The two of you got up from bed, yawning and walking to the main room. You made breakfast while Mingyu helped in any way he could. He stopped you midway to finish and served you before himself. The day consisted of lounging around, watching tv, napping and making small meals whenever either of you got hungry.

The day after, you packed your things while Mingyu cleaned up and made sure everything looked the way it did when you got there. After you and Mingyu finished, you both stood in front of the doorway, taking in the last moments you'd be able to spend next to each other. You faced him. "I'm going to miss you so much."

He nodded his head, facing you as well. "Me too."

Both of you started tearing up before he pulled you in for a hug. His arms held your head, hugging you in a way you'll desperately miss when you wish he was there while he's away. You sobbed in his arms, muffling most of the noise in his shirt. Mingyu's tears fell in your hair—which he tried brushing off sneakily but failing. You laughed, pulling away and shaking your hair.

It was time.

You stood and looked at him one last time. You couldn't even go to the airport to say goodbye. Not only because of Jeonghan but because of paparazzi and fansites. "I love you, Gyu."

Mingyu pressed his lips together, his eyes glossed over from his tears as more shed down his cheeks. "I love you too, Y/N."

"Call me when you land?" You grabbed his hand and held it for a bit.

He nodded, picking up his bag with his unoccupied hand. He opened the door, and looked back at you. His hand slowly pulled from yours, a pout forming on his face. Mingyu's warmth left your palm as he looked away from you and began leaving the rental.

...

The whole ride back home, you cried your eyes out. Before getting back, you put on some black sunglasses, hopefully hiding your puffy eyes. You entered your house, already missing Mingyu's presence.

The rest of your day, you spent watching tv alone. At night, you got on your laptop, checking Twitter and seeing Mingyu's name trending.

Actor Kim Mingyu seen boarding plane with tear-filled eyes. What could possibly be breaking the 23 year old's poor heart?

You scrolled down the tag, seeing fansite photos and seeing how sad he looked. You got your phone out, sending him a message.

[11:19 pm] You: Hey babe. I seen the airport photos, I miss you and I love you. I hope you landed safe <3

You clicked your phone off and scrolled through a few more photos before heading to bed. He must've been too busy to call you.

...

Ring ring!

A phone call woke you up at the crack of dawn. You answered as fast as you could. "Hello?" You croaked, your morning voice definitely worse from all the bawling yesterday.

"Hey baby, I'm so sorry I didn't call yesterday."

You smiled at Mingyu's voice. "Hey, it's okay."

a/n: yerrr finally posted after ten years, hope u all enjoyed! <3 i feel like this wasn’t super interesting at all so feedback would be appreciated :(

#seventeen smut #seventeen imagine #seventeen scenario #mingyu smut #mingyu imagine #mingyu scenario #mingyu #kim mingyu #seventeen

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forcemelt · 2 years

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ohoho, 4, 5, 8, 13, & 20 for the swtor asks? :3

4: Favorite feature of the game?

hopefully what i say here actually are considered features but i just really like how the story is such a big part of the game (i mean, it’s what initially got me and many others in the game, though i grew to really like the actual mmo/group aspect as well) and that majority of quests are fully voice acted... i’ve also always found the fact that you get to have your companions fight with you neat because when i first started playing i actually had no idea it would be a thing at all. and i suppose i can mention the upcoming combat styles because i'm really excited for them 😄

5: Favorite planet quest? hmm, out of the planetary stories outright it’s hard to say because it’s been a while since i played thru most of them... the dromuund kaas and coruscant planetary quests come to mind first bc they’re quite memorable & aren’t really time depanding and i had fun doing those grouped with friends. i also kinda remember imp side belsavis because of how important the dread masters become for some future side content, though i only really remember the ending of it.

8: Preferred class+spec for gameplay? my favourite specs rn (also specs that i can actually play) would be watchman sentinel/annihilation marauder and infiltration shadow/deception assassin. i wonder how much is that bc its the first ones i actually played and proceeded to do the most endgame content with but honestly when i was first making these characters those specs just really seemed like something i’d enjoy. what can i say, i guess i just really like dualsabers and holding two sabers. i’m sure eventually i’ll get around to properly learning other specs too and i’ll end up finding some new favourites too, but yeah!

13: Favorite storyline? gonna say outright that i haven’t completed trooper and imperial agent yet so it’s possible this opinion may change a little in the future, but out of the class stories i just have a soft spot for jedi knight. maybe it’s because it was my first or because of the attachment i developed to the character, but something abt it just got me i guess. after that i probably enjoyed the sith inquisitor the most.

i also need to mention SOR as probably my favourite expansion. i just had a lot of fun playing thru it and i feel like it has a lot of class specific stuff going on too and that’s kinda nice (there’s the entire class related quest ofc but there seems to be plenty of unique lines throw in there too from what i played so far?)

20: Favorite title? I don’t generally focus on titles too much (well, for now, might get more into it in the future) but i did grind for the Spicy title and also went through the ordeal of getting the Horrible person one, so there’s that for example lol

#this maybe a little long but i just like writing these questions out #and not just bc i cant ever choose one thing DMIDOIM

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itsphillippa · 2 years

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Dune Review

Dune 7.5/10:

This film follows a young man, Paul Atreides, as he travels to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family. Malevolent forces are at work behind the scenes to take down the house of Atreides and to take back the planet as it holds exclusive supplies of the universe's most precious resource, Spice. This film revolves around themes of family, betrayal, adventure and destiny and only those who can conquer their fear will survive.

This was a very long film, I will say that it was visually pleasing but once you strip back the visuals of the film everything else isn't really up to standard for a first parter. Still not a fan of Timothee Chalamat but this film might change my mind about him. Also what was the point in having Zendaya all over the promotions if she's in the film for like 10 minutes and does nothing. Her character adds nothing to the film so far, I understand she’s in Paul’s dreams a lot but I didn’t understand the dreams and what her character was trying to tell Paul so to me her character was a bit irrelevant. A Lot of the characters lacked depth which I know will come in later movies but the first film should be about setting up these characters and their relationships with each other and the world around them. Yet we know nothing about most of the characters, not even Paul, and we know barely anything about the planet they are on. Also they haven't set up the emperor well enough or the mother, like if you want us to be invested in a bad emperor then give us past things he's done that make him shady and than have this happen and as an audience we will be more likely to become invested in Paul's journey. The same goes for the mother like she is clearly up to something but as an audience member I don't care because they haven't set it up at all, like having her give Zendaya’s character the death glare at the end of the film means nothing to me, like I know she works with the witches to push political views and stuff and that the witches have something planned for paul but I just don't care about it because she never showed anything or said anything out of place so what's the point in now having her be bad now. The second film will need to answer a lot of questions. I did love the costumes though and the languages they used and the sign language. I was not aware that this was going to be 2 films. This film had no story behind it and the plot that it did have was shallow and did nothing to add to the fact that this is going to be 2 films. Also don't just end a film like that at least leave it on a cliff-hanger, that is not a cliff-hanger.

Great soundtrack like I loved it and it really brought atmosphere to the film and helped transport you to this fictional world. Furthermore, the visuals are amazing but the colours where all wrong, there was not enough orange, red and yellow for a desert and not enough colour for other plants like everything just seemed grey and dull and boring and there was no difference between planets, everything was very gloomy. Also I could not tell the difference between the sand and the spice, at least make it obvious, I spent half the film looking for the spice. I only gave this film a 7.5 out of 10 because visually it is very exciting and definitely transports you to another realm while watching, and I do want to watch the second part to see how they develop the characters, their relationships with each other and the world around them. There is a good storyline in there somewhere I just didn’t connect with it this time.

#Film Review #review #reviews #movie #movies #movies reviews #movie recommendation #movie review #cinema #cinema review #cinema recommendation #timothee chalamet #zendaya #dune #dune 2021 #cinematography

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adventuresofnight · 3 years

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WandaVision spoilers

IM CRYING!!!!!😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

My hand was covering my mouth too many times this episode. Damn, that showdown, the kids and Monica, DARCY COMING IN WITH THE TRUCK OMG!!! Damn it I was excited and so sad at the same time through out this whole episode.

The whole battle between the two visions was nerve wracking! I hope Wanda’s vision helping the original vision retain memory’s will lead to a positive reunion in the future.

But damn Wanda and Agatha battle was making me nervous and had me crying. I was so worried but then BAM Wanda was a freakin badass and used what Agatha used against her to defeat her! I loved how in the whole episode that it truly showed the differences between the two witches. Agatha had no hesitation to kill people but Wanda never stepped over that edge and also saved people from getting hurt. She also doesn’t kill Agatha in the end, that speaks volumes.

But oh damn did I cry when I realized at the end wanda and vision were going home not to shrink the hexagon down to just their home but to say goodbye. Oh my heart broke realizing Wanda was loosing her two boys and vision. I’m so sad to see the boys go but...

Despite the sadness I actually genuinely loved the ending. It was a sad comfort ending. Wanda while is grieving not only the loss of vision but her sons, she did get to for a while have a happy life with them and to say goodbye. I’m sad that those town people will never understand but I get it, it’s also just part of life.

I’m really interested to see where Monica’s storyline goes if there’s a season 2 (I hope there is). I also hope that Jimmy and Darcy are in it as well! Then there’s the real Vision, I’m curious of where he flew off to and what he’s like now. What his future holds. But most importantly with the after credits scene with Wanda.

HOLY CRAP THAT SCENE GAVE ME CHILLS!!!!! I was like “awe how sweet she’s settled down in a cabin and is hopefully starting to find peace” and then BAM HOLY SHIT. I’m curious if the scarlet witch is also a separate personality or if she was able to oh I don’t know the term but kinda let her mind or spirit separate from her body so she could you know make tea and be peaceful while in the back she’s levitating and reading that book Agatha had!?

Also I can’t believe I’ve been able to hold back on this til now but OMG WANDAS NEW OUTFIT IS SO COOL/BADASS/CUTE!!!!! I honestly love this outfit more than the other one she had in the movies. The way they redid the scarlet witch costume to have a nod to the original but also her one in the movies is so cool. Like I can’t even express how much I love her new outfit. Like I want to own one not even for cosplay purposes but to like just wear it to the grocery store😂😂

Also with that last clip when we hear her boys voices, I hope hope hope HOPE that she’s looking for a way to bring her boys back. I know a lot of us have been hoping for years that marvel will somehow bring back Pietro but at this point I’m like “SCREW THAT BRING BACK HER SONS!!!!!” Sorry Pietro, I love you but I LOVE THE BOYS MORE!!! Lol my dramatic ass is going a tad overboard. The funny thing is I’m not even mad or upset at the ending, I genuinely loved it and think it ties the storyline up so well. I just would love to see the boys be brought back not just for Wanda but to see more of their character development.

I think this is the first time I’ve been happy and content with the ending of a marvel ending. Usually I’m not ok with whoever dies or what ever tragedy happened (cuz I’m a sunshine and rainbows kinda bitch)(ok calm down with the swearing🤦‍♀️) but this time I’m happy and content. I’m super excited to see the other shows now and hope they have a similar vibe. Like I really enjoyed the storytelling of WandaVision and the more in-depth look into the characters!

#wandavision spoilers #wandavision thoughts #wandavision theories #marvel wandavision #WandaVision #wanda marvel #vision marvel #wanda maximoff #wanda vision #agatha wandavision #monica rambeau #very happy with the ending #content with the ending #darcy lewis #Darcy Lewis driving in to save the day

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themattress · 3 years

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Battle of the Seasons

Gotham: Season 1 vs. Season 2 vs. Season 3 vs. Season 4 vs. Season 5

Let's take this season by season, shall we?

Season 1 has a different style to it than the rest, being more of a grounded, gritty police procedural with cases-of-the-week (or two weeks) while both an overarching mob drama and an overarching mystery (who killed Thomas and Martha Wayne?) play out on the side. This is a frustrating season for me because this style could have worked - if I gave a damn about a majority of the characters, and I just don't. I don't care about Jim Gordon, Harvey Bullock, Sarah Essen, Barbara Kean, Selina Kyle, Ed Nygma, Kristen Kringle, Leslie Thompkins, Ivy Pepper, Commissioner Loeb, Mayor James, Harvey Dent, Renee Montoya, Crispus Allen, Fish Mooney, Sal Maroni, Carmine Falcone, Butch Gilzean, Victor Zsasz or many other of this city’s miserable people. They're either boring, annoying, or utterly unpleasant, which means that I often found myself watching the show out of obligation rather than truly enjoying it.

The exceptions to the rule would be the young Bruce Wayne and his hardass yet caring butler Alfred Pennyworth (and Selina whenever she's around them, as the chemistry she has with them really brings her character to life), and, of course, the show's breakout character: Oswald Cobblepot, the man who will become the Penguin. David Mazouz, Sean Pertwee and Robin Lord Taylor sell these roles so perfectly that I just couldn't look away from the screen whenever they were on it. And while I love Oswald the whole series through, I do need to mention that this is the only season where he comes off as legitimately intimidating to me: his murderous rage can be a little over-the-top but it's anchored with a patience and a calculated skill for manipulation that makes him a force to be reckoned with as he climbs the ladder of power all the way to becoming the leader of Gotham's mob (”I’M THE KING OF GOTHAM!!!")

Season 2 is split into two distinct halves, with 2A being the "Rise of the Villains" story arc and 2B being the "Wrath of the Villains" story arc. Very quickly, it becomes apparent that the show has undergone a massive improvement - not only is it more serialized than procedural-based which ends up working better for it, but many of the characters I didn't care for are gone now, and most of the ones still left I'm finally made to care for: I actually like Harvey Bullock, Barbara Kean, Selina Kyle (on her own, not just w/ Bruce and Alfred), Ed Nygma, Ivy Pepper, Leslie Thompkins, Butch Gilzean and Victor Zsasz now, and they are now complimented by even more great characters like Lucius Fox, Nathaniel Barnes, Theo and Tabitha Galavan, Jerome Valeska, Silver St. Cloud, Bridgit Pike, Victor Fries, and Professor Hugo Strange.

The only weak link remaining is, ironically enough, the lead character himself, Jim Gordon. Maybe this character would have been interesting if he was someone else, but I never buy him as the future Commissioner. Ben McKenzie's try-hard edgy performance doesn't help.

In terms of the story arcs themselves, I like them both but much prefer "Wrath" to "Rise". "Rise" deals with Theo Galavan's rise to power in Gotham, with it revealing that he is actually the chief agent of the Order of St. Dumas, a secret society that desires the death of "the son of Gotham" - namely, Bruce Wayne. Most of what I like about this arc comes from the side stories and character development; I never really got into the central plot thread. James Frain, while good, doesn't hold the same villainous presence here that he does in, say, Elementary, and given how obviously evil he and his sister are it got tiring to see them score win after win over the good guys until the last minute. Also, certain interesting characters such as Richard Sionis, Jerome Valeska, Silver St. Cloud, Bridgit Pike and Butch Gilzean are shamefully wasted. Lastly, early into the arc the show actually makes Alfred unlikable, and since he's one of my favorite characters from the first season, that really hurt to watch.

"Wrath" deals with Professor Hugo Strange and his insidious secret experiments in Indian Hill, an underground division of Wayne Enterprises beneath Arkham Asylum that holds the key to the Wayne murder mystery. This arc just seems to flow together more smoothly than its predecessor, its contents are the type of overarching mystery I'd wanted the show to explore since the beginning rather than all the diversions from false leads, mafia wars and religious cults infiltrating the city's political structure, it provides pay-offs that I'd long been waiting for, and Professor Hugo Strange as played by B.D Wong is the perfect Big Bad. My one quibble with this arc is the decision to resurrect Fish Mooney at the end - I never cared much for her, she had a good enough ending in Season 1, and the revived, superpowered version of her ultimately accomplishes jack-squat in Season 3 before dying again anyway.

Season 3 is just one story arc, centering around the conspiracy of the Court of Owls that secretly controls all levels of power in Gotham, but its first two thirds go under the title of "Mad City" while its final third goes under "Heroes Rise". There is a good reason for this, as the events of "Mad City" see things at their bleakest yet for the forces of good in Gotham, with the forces of evil seemingly unstoppable, which makes the turning of the tide in "Heroes Rise" all the more gratifying. It’s a textbook “it’s always darkest before the dawn” storyline.

I greatly enjoy this season. There are certainly some flaws here and there - Jamie Chung's Valerie Vale is done dirty, I still can't get invested in Jim Gordon no matter how hard the show is trying to make me, and the way the writers drive a wedge between Oswald and Ed is some of the worst writing the show has ever had - the break-up ultimately needed to happen, but it didn't need to happen like this! However, so much more is done right here: the Court of Owls' portrayal, Bruce's further development, Bruce's creepy doppelganger Subject 514A aka the future Owlman, the show's depiction of the Mad Hatter and how pivotal he ends up being to the plot, Captain Barnes’ descent into madness and becoming the Executioner, Selina and Ivy just being awesome both individually and together, further great comedy from the likes of Harvey Bullock and Barbara Kean, the more interesting usage of Carmine Falcone via his "legit" son Mario who in turn helps Lee become even more interesting, the return of Jerome Valeska as the Beta Joker, Ed fully transitioning into the Riddler, Oswald finally embracing himself as a "freak" and ultimately getting his revenge on Ed, and the finale which introduces Ra's Al Ghul (played to perfection by Alexander Siddig) as he engages in a Batman Begins-style plot where he unleashes a virus that threatens to make Gotham tear itself apart.

However, there is one major drawback for Season 3...in spite of all this great stuff, it ultimately amounts to just being more set-up. And as such, all of the big dramatic conclusions that are reached by the end get completely reversed early into the following season. Bruce and Alfred have a rift with Selina? Mended shortly into Season 4! Bruce has dedicated himself to being a vigilante? He'll walk that back soon enough! Oswald is back in power and owns the Iceberg Longue? Not for much longer! Ivy works for Oswald? She'll be done with his shit by the end of the Season 4 premiere! Ed is frozen? He's thawed out a mere three episodes into Season 4, and the negative effect to his brain from being frozen don't even last! Lee leaves Gotham in order to escape her dark side? Nope, she's back in the city and her dark side continues to grow. Butch and Barbara are dead? Aha, they're both back alive! The loss of big characters like Nathaniel Barnes and Fish Mooney? Never mentioned again! And of course, there's the presence of Ra's Al Ghul and the League of Shadows as the group behind the Court of Owls, which just goes to show that despite all the build-up, the Court of Owls was never truly the end-all be-all force of evil in Gotham, so this show ain't over yet.

Season 4, "A Dark Knight" is kind of Season 3's equal yet opposite. There is a lot of stuff in it that doesn't quite work for me, moreso in the execution rather than the conception - Alexander Siddig as Ra's Al Ghul credited as a regular and yet only actually showing up in the first few and last few episodes, Oswald being betrayed and losing all of his power again, Ivy Pepper's long-awaited transformation into Poison Ivy taking ten whole bloody episodes, Ed's severe case of Badass Decay and pointless romance with Lee, Butch's transformation into Solomon Grundy not lasting or amounting to anything important which makes me question why it even happened, the Sirens being formed and also not lasting or amounting to anything important, Bruce's long period of being unlikable (far moreso than even Alfred's period back in 2A), and the Beta Joker only turning out to be the Beta Joker because his twin brother whom we'd never seen or heard of before shows up to become the real Joker!

However, there is also a lot that does work for me - Harvey Bullock finally ascending from just comic relief and having some well-executed character development as he clashes with Jim, Lee's arc of becoming the leader of the Narrows, Oswald's touching relationship with a young orphan boy and his reconciliation with Ed, Ra's Al Ghul whenever he is around, Professor Pyg who is equal parts terrifying and comical and played masterfully by Michael Cerveris, Sofia Falcone who - being a sociopathic master manipulator who even manages to serve Jim a permanent and well-deserved defeat - is hands-down one of the most brilliant villains the show has ever had, and the perfectly-done sense of escalation and excitement throughout the second half of the season which concludes in the best season finale in the series' history, where the good guys contend with a team-up between Ra's Al Ghul and the Joker. And that's what Season 4 has over Season 3 - it builds to a true climax for the entire show's story, almost everything that goes down in the end is permanent (emphasis on almost - looking at you, Lee and Ed), and it retroactively makes the lack of pay-off in Season 3 and the less-than-desirable parts of this season worth it. It made me grateful for sticking with this show.

Season 5, titled "Legend of the Dark Knight", is the show's final season, and its biggest strength is also its biggest weakness - it is a truncated season, lasting only 12 episodes. On the one hand, this is perfectly appropriate - the Season 4 finale was the story's climax and there's not much left to do, so having roughly half a normal season's length for the falling action and wrapping up of all loose ends makes total logical sense. But on the other hand, there are certain ideas for plotlines and character arc resolutions that end up feeling incredibly rushed due to the shorter runtime. It feels like they are rushing down a long checklist rather than allowing anything proper breathing room. Also: yes, a lot of Season 3 and Season 4 clearly borrowed from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, but they did it in clever ways. This season shamefully rips off The Dark Knight Rises by having a plot inspired by the No Man's Land storyline from the comics, a big focus on the relationship between Bruce and Selina, the main hero (Jim Gordon in this case) falling to his lowest point before rising again, the final battle being between the GCPD and Bane's army, and having the main villain be Bane except that he's actually working for the daughter of Ra's Al Ghul (Nyssa in this case) who was masquerading as someone else! Did the writers really think that they could outright cheat off of Christopher Nolan's homework and that viewers wouldn't notice!?

In the end, my ranking is Season 3 = Season 4 > Season 2 > Season 5 > Season 1.

I think that Seasons 3 and 4 are equally strong but hold just the slightest personal preference for Season 3, Season 2 is also really good and mainly just suffers from its adequate first story arc being weaker than its more interesting second story arc, Season 5 is a middling season that somehow manages to be both the ideal conclusion for the show and a less-than-ideal conclusion at the same time, and Season 1 is the weakest due to all of the growing pains the show had to go through before it could become entertaining on a consistent level and make me care about most of its characters. On the whole, Gotham is a well-executed series. It’s far from perfect, but it could have been far worse....it could have been Smallville! (Cue rimshot!)

#Battle of the Seasons #Gotham #Opinion #Analysis #Comparison

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chocolate-raspberries · 4 years

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Thoughts on season 2 of The Order, BIG SPOILER WARNINGS FOR SEASON 2. Also this is kinda rambly and unedited I apologize in advance

Okay, to start overall I did enjoy this season a lot, possibly more than the first season. I want to start with discussing the plotline. I read this in another review (by @georgesezra ) that the 2 episode formula works very well and I highly agree with that. I think overall, in the beginning the pacing went well for the mini-plots that the show is going for. The way the plot is built up, with distractor antagonists/ not the top antagonist ( Salvador ) is very reminiscent to me of early seasons of Teen Wolf ( especially season 2 with the Kanima storyline but this is not a Teen Wolf Review. )

The Early episodes were the best episodes, in my opinion, the amnesia plotline was resolved relatively quickly, but there still was some fun with it, especially with seeing Jack as a cheerleader. Also Blonde Jack, definitely the best move and I really missed the blonde in later episodes. The first half of the season the Knights Dynamic felt like it was there and real. They want to Be the Knights of St. Christopher and outside of the Order, not the Order’s pets whenever they need werewolf strength.

However, things to me go to shit when Lilith goes to the demon realm. All of a sudden many characters seem to go slightly ooc without the proper character development shown in the show. I’ll discuss this more when I touch on certain characters, but Hamish especially seemed to take a complete 180 this season, but didn’t show on the screen how we eventually lead up to that point.

Going back to the main plot, I really enjoyed the concept of Praxis, Salvador and liberating magic. The dilemma of keeping magic only to those deemed worthy by a secret organization most people are unaware of, with their own set of strict rules where people are expected to not question the authority of the grand magus. Battled with the complete choice of free will and that everyone should be able to wield magic. Those two ideas battling is a very good concept and I wish it could’ve been used a little more or introduced earlier into the season. I think the first place we see this idea is with Rogwan. The demon that takes fear away from oneself. So, people are going completely based on their first instinct without the fear of death. This, in my opinion, is foreshadowing to what could happen if everyone could use magic. That it sounds good in concept, a life without fear sounds good, but quickly can turn disastrous and cause ( in this case ) the Apocalypse.

Parallels and callbacks are very well done this season and I loved them. With the repeated Jokes of Randall calling Hamish different nicknames, the repeated discussion of Hell versus Demon Realm with the Knights. Callbacks to events that happened in the first season. Bringing back Kyle and Professor Clarke. Showing the difference between having Midnights hide on Jack versus Silverback. Also, still showing that they are college students who are trying to just go through college, especially with Jack saying how he needs to pass his exam to keep his scholarship etc. These are things that the show does very well

Moving onto my thoughts of characters

Starting with Nicole, she was only a side character but I really enjoyed her when she was on the screen. She had a lot of conflicting morals with helping the order versus her affection for Lilith. When Lilith leaves her only concern is getting her back, seemingly more than the knights which I’ll touch on later. She spends seemingly all of her time after that trying to save Lilith and it is very apparent she just wants to use magic for the good of others, but the limitations of the order does not allow her to do so - “ the only altruistic thing i have done so far is fix someone’s car” I hope we get to see more of her in a season 3 and see her develop more

The Sons of Enoch and Orbin. I’m going to be honest I didn’t necessarily care that much for this plotline. The thought of a hive mind is a very interesting concept and I did enjoy how they show’d to explore this concept. However, it seems like The Order makes this alliance with them and then it’s never used?? Also Alyssa joining this collective so soon ( ik she was on the juice but still ) it seems that Alyssa easily pledges loyalty to groups without getting the full story, I’ll touch on that later, but it was a frustrating to watch with her so easily trusting them despite Jack’s protests and the original reason they were there. However, the makeup and set design for Tree Jack was wonderfully done, all of the Sfx makeup is done super well

Gabrielle turned into one of my favorite characters this season. I hated her character last season, with the whole being a complete bitch and unnecessarily cruel ( the truth glove. ) However, we get to see her have a lot of growth this season. Showing that she wants to be part of a group and have friends, she just uses her bitchness as a deflect ( smartly pointed out by Randall, I’ll touch on the relationship later. ) Her early season with her treating Jack as her pet was annoying, but at least entertaining, like I said I was a big fan of blond Jack. Seeing her being willing to help the Knights on their various quests to help save Lilith or help Jack is nice, sure I’d rather have Lilith, but at least Gabrielle is given time to have character growth. Having Midnight choose her as a champion was a good plot choice in my opinion. I’m not sure in the long run if it was, but for what it was in season 2 I liked it. She wanted to find a group that she could fight for and would fight for her, and the Knights seemed to be more than The Order. However, seeing her try to fight Midnight off, fight Kyle off and seeing her completely vulnerable is a nice change and I’m hoping is a season 3 we get to see more of the other sides of Gabrielle. However, her character seemed to be one of the most consistent while being able to have growth

Getting to the Knights

Starting off with Randall. I loved him this season a lot. His struggle with just wanting to be a knight and sticking to what he knows to be the Knights of St. Christopher is refreshing to see throughout the season. Especially in the fear chamber when his biggest fear was having to join the Order. Also is this our fears or a sight of the future was very spot on. I’m glad that the Lilith/Randall plotline was thrown out bc it was an out of nowhere part of season 1. Being not only comic relief but being able to show more strength and fight for what he believes in, which in this case is just saving Lilith, is nice to see. However, with Hamish being out of commission in my opinion it seemed like a lot of Randall’s options were limited. I highly enjoyed him killing Kepler but keeping it from Nicole in the finale. It finally seemed like something the Knights would do and how they would do anything to save a fellow knight

Lilith, we sadly did not get to see her much this season. I’m not sure if this was a prewritten plotpoint of Devery Jacobs had other projects she had to film outside The Order. However, looking at it from a storyline point it is a very poor choice in my opinion. Lilith is a fighter and she is not scared to stand up to authority. She would have put Hamish in his place for fulling committing to the Order and many things would have gone different this season, besides her being thrown to the side as a “we have to save Lilith” storyline that continuously gets put on hold. It is interesting to see what will come out of demon/werewolf Lilith in a season 3

Okay, let’s get to Hamish. Now listen I love Hamish especially in season1 and early season 2. However, the whole Vera/Hamish plotline that mostly takes place offscreen totally changes his character. Now, self-growth is important, but this seemed to be a 180 that came out of nowhere. From season 1 to killing Jack for being in the Order to not saving Lilith due to having to help the order just seems so ooc to me. Also, turning completely sober, like I said personal growth is good if we see it on camera, not when we are just told it is happening behind the scenes. However, I did really enjoy him in the early Praxis scene where he pretended it was a very good magic show, and I still love seeing his character on screen, it just was very frustrating to have this flip where it kinda came out of nowhere.

Jack Morton. I really liked Jack this season a lot. The beginning of the season I was a huge fan of vengeful Jack. With just wanting to get revenge on The Order and kill them all. Honestly was a big fan of that Jack and how his feelings were amplified by having Midnight. Then, the internal struggle of having both hides and the discussion in the collective unconscious of how it is a choice of what kind of person he wants to be and there are no wrong choices. He had a lot of character growth this season as well. Still the non-rule follower, but this time around it is complete revenge on one character like with coventry. He truly seems to want to do the right thing for the people around him. Taking many sacrifices this season - fear chamber, confessing to the murder, multiple times facing Praxis!Alyssa. He is willing to do what it takes to make things right. Again, a complaint I had about Hamish is putting Lilith on the backburner, especially when Jack was there when it happened. However, Jack did have previous loyalty to the Order and he is shown being a person who struggles to stay on one path ( what is my actually major? ) Jack still makes a very good lead for the show and I am excited to see what the future holds for him in later seasons

This is going to be a controversial opinion, but I do not like Alyssa Drake. This does not go to say I don’t understand where her character’s motives come from, because I do. I also think it is very interesting to make her the final villain in the show. She wants to feel like she has control over her life and magic gave her that. She has said multiple times that magic is her life. So, finding out that Vera betrayed her by not destroying the Vade Mecum that blocks her magic would definitely be a good cause for her to not trust the order. To finally see Jack and fellow knights season 1 opinions. That everyone in the order is inherently selfish. And it is hard to dismiss that. Higher ups, especially the nogstic council ( that definitely is spelled wrong sorry ) are shown that they will do anything out of their own selfish needs. Saying all this and understanding Alyssa’s motives still doesn’t make me like her. She is easily manipulated by people - Coventry, the sons of Enoch, and now praxis. With this desire to be her own person completely, she loses sight of who she is. Alyssa tends to dedicate herself to one idea and sticks to that without listening to the insight of others. Season 1 with not initially believing Jack about Coventry, not listening to him about the sons on enoch. It all came to a head with Praxis. Now, I don’t believe some white boy needs to save her. I think Alyssa just needs time to figure out - who she wants to be, where her moral standings are, etc. Her delve into completely taking away Vera’s power and doing anything to get the incantation can either be seen by her being influenced by - Salvador, the Vade Mecum, or she has lost herself again. This is very reminist of me to the character or Alice from The Magicians ( whom I also am not the biggest fan of, but that is due to poor writing choices etc. not a Magicians review ) I hope in season 3 and beyond Alyssa can figure out what person she wants to be and find some sort of closure, but as it is now she is dead, so there may be a collective unconscious storyline there. It would be interesting to see her maybe talk to Ellie in there?? Idk just some ideas

Vera Stone. She stole the show. I loved Vera a lot this season. Seeing her still be a baddass and command a room is nice. It is nice to see a powerful woman in charge of an organization and not just seen as a mean bitch or completely characterized that way. Of course there is the whole side plot of Kepler undermining her and trying to get her replaced which is frustrating. Especially from the perspective of seeing it as another woman trying to take down a woman in power. However, seeing that Vera is trying to do the right thing and is able to make the tough choices is pleasant to see. She understands that her ideas are not always ideal, but there isn’t very many options to run off of. Especially when most of our main cast doesn’t necessarily listen to what she has to say. I hope we get more of a backstory to Vera after seeing what she did under the hive mind of the sons of enoch and having her and Jack being able to bond more after that is nice. The dynamic between Jack and Vera is very well written and I like how it is explored. Although Vera is strict she still understands that these are young adults, who question authority, make mistakes, and believe that they have the right vision about the world. I am a huge Vera Stone fan and this season did her well. Her losing her magic and paralleling that to Alyssa is important to show. Both of them are more similar than they believe and both of them felt completely lost without their magic. In Vera’s case she wished she was dead instead of lost without her magic. However, how they deal with it is different, despite losing her magic, losing who she is, she still does everything she can in her limited power to save the world and try to save Alyssa along with it. I am excited to see what her storyline delves into for a season 3.

Now onto relationships

As said by @madroxed the Order cannot write a good relationship and I agree wholeheartedly. They probably put what I am going to say in words better, but I have a very similar viewpoint if you want to read their review.

Starting off with Randall and Gabrielle. It isn’t horrible, I think, like most relationships on this show, came out of nowhere. All of a sudden they are in this on and off relationship this is mostly shown offscreen, giving us little leadway what happens behind scenes. I think a frenemies to friends to then maybe in a season 3 to lovers trope would work better. Or just sticking as friends. Randall is the first one to truly call Gabrielle on her facades and I hope that with her becoming Midnight and killing Alyssa there friendship dynamic can be shown more. Not the worst, just started to quickly

Nicole and Lilith. I love more WLW representation especially seeing it come from POC women. I think this relationship has a lot of potential and is good character growth for both of them. Yes, there will be trust issues between the both of them lying to e/o about facets of their lives ( memory wiping, the robbery ), but perhaps this could make a good subplot for season 3. Also I am happy the Randall/Lilith plotline was thrown out because they also just work better as friends

Hamish and Vera. Now this was hinted a little in season 1, and it could be well. If it was written on screen or shown on screen honestly at all. It was just mentioned by Randall “someone is hot for teacher” they both have strong leadership abilities and understand what it is like making tough choices. However, all this relationship did was make Hamish completely complacent to the Order and he not doing whatever it takes to get Lilith back, whom he has known as a part of his family, brotherhood for a lot longer than Vera.

Jack and Alyssa. I love seeing their complicated relationship on screen. Long are the days of the season 1 instalove trope, that I am not a big fan of. Having them acknowledge that their relationship is toxic to both of them at times, but still establish that they both deeply care for eachother is important. They both are constantly on other sides of whatever situation they are on, but still are willing to risk themselves for the other. I am not sure where I stand on liking or disliking the relationship, but throughout this season I think that the discussions that were started with how they view their relationship is important.

The ending of Season 2. I’m not sure how I feel. As I have seen many other people say it was rushed ( which I agree with ) and ending on a reel of powerful women being hurt in the arms of men is kinda disheartening to see. It feels like a man! Savior trope. I want to believe it wasn’t written this way on purpose, but seeing it does leave a bad taste in my mouth. That is not to say I didn’t like how the storylines ended, but how they showed the end and having all of the bad happen to women as men watch is,,, not the best.

Overall, these were the goods and bads of the second season of The Order. I still love this show a lot and it’s nice to see the fandom grow bigger. If you read through this whole rambely, unedited mess thank you. Feel free to send an Ask or Message me with your thoughts!

#ronnie rambles #The Order #the order netflix #the knights of st christopher #The Order review #hamish duke #randall carpio #Lilith Bathory #jack morton #alyssa drake #vera stone #I said a lot of words but still feel like I am missing a lot of what I want and have to say #Thanks if you actually read this

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