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#but there's also another image that has a... different image on the seal LMAO
linrinkuarts · 1 month
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♥...?
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ruthlesslistener · 1 year
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wait lurien has cut dialogue??? i am. very curius
anon: Lurien has a cut monologue? I tried to find the dreamer's cut dialogue a while back and barely got a couple of extra lines for Lurien in comparison to monomon who had a paragraph. Also PK offered to sire hornet??? Please tell me where I can find this I'm desperate for more info on the dreamers
...
Well, Lurien doesn't have too much cut dialogue, but here it is: I found it in the cut content section of the Hollow Knight fandom wiki, which requires a lot of dropdown clicks in order to actually get to it
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And a transcript, bc this image is fuzzy:
"For this city and for King beloved, I become bond upon the Vessel."
"That black choice made, but not by me. Our King claimed that burden. My lot is easier, only to sleep and to serve."
"My city. Do you sustain without me? Do you thrive? I would see your streets again..."
"Our King appears as bug, and I shall take him as so. But his are traits that transcend our kind. His is a mind beyond ours. Deity given form. In sleep, I shall not look upon his like again."
"Remember our promise, sister! We three vowed to protect the seal with all of our devotion."
"Remember our bond... our sacrifice. For the kingdom’s sake... for the one we must protect."
He's not very verbose, but it's more so than Herrah's dialogue, which is as follows:
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Transcript:
"For my daughter and my kind, I become bond upon the Vessel."
"Wyrm, your attempt may prove futile, but your offer I could not refuse."
"My child...For you, I would give it all."
"For her, I would give it all."
And here's Monomon's. I'm not even gonna bother with a screenshot lol, she rambles too much to get it all in one piece
Transcript:
"For diversity. For variance. For evolution. I become bond upon the Vessel."
"We sealed that plague, and thought we’d found an answer, but we were wrong. Our sacrifices... what did they win us? A world sealed in stasis."
"Only one path I see. The Seals must break. Will it bring destruction? Of course. It will bring change, too. Let it. To live forever in an unchanging world... Death, I would fear less."
"Will it bring destruction? Of course. It will bring change, too. Let it. To live forever in an unchanging world... that is the only death I fear."
"To sleep eternal, what difference from death?"
"Open your minds, brother and sister. Our vow was to protect...but do we? The Vessel weakens."
"My mind is seal upon that tragic being. But who shall teach them now? Who shall open their minds, where I cannot?"
"So... we found each other after all. Can you see me, here in this forgotten dream? I can see only light."
"Our sacred Hallownest... It was so old. An eternal, undying kingdom... unchanging. They called me 'Teacher', but what did I have left to teach? What did I have left to learn?"
"When the light came, we feared it. Of course we did! So we fought to keep things as they were. Our sacrifices... what did they win us? Simply another kind of stasis."
"We fought against you, too. Struggling against our fate. The light we caged away... it is alive, and we are not. Is that what draws you to it?"
I'm sure that the cut dialogue for Lurien is exactly the same as what you found when you encountered Monomon's, anon, but it does offer us a lot more insight into his character, showing us that he was extremely protective of the City of Tears, that he considered the Vessel plan to be a dark necessity that weighed on PK, and that he was one of the few bugs who actually met PK in the flesh and knew the truth of his nature. That paints a picture of someone who was at the very core of Hallownest's workings, alongside Monomon, who we know had a hand (tentacle?) in knowing the details about the vessel plan- something that fits with the formal 'sister/brother' titles used by them both, even though Monomon also extends that courtesy to Herrah (who seems indifferent to the other two, lmao).
There's also a developer note relating to Lurien that describes his potential character as 'more detatched than the other Dreamers' and 'taciturn':
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Transcript:
More detached than the other dreamers? Maybe ponders how the Hollow Knight (vessel) feels after all this time. Would he make the same choice again? First few dialogues are very taciturn.
Which is something that I think comes across far better in his cut dialogue than just...cutting it out altogether. I get that they wanted him to be detached and mysterious, but what we have in-game is bread crumbs and a floating umbrella rather than a cohesive character, as evidenced by all the shitty fucking takes out there painting him as a 'simp', a 'bootlicker', and a 'creep', none of which really fit the concept of a mysterious, protective bug with ethical concerns about what his god-king was getting up to
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hell-heron · 8 months
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I’ve been thinking about your Theon-takes-Bran-and/or-Rickon to Alannys more than I probably should and I’m dangerously curious to know how you think his family members (particularly Alannys) would feel in such a situation. Of course, if you’re actually making this a fanfic, you don’t have to answer to this. If you want to daydream in public though…
ooooh glad to have inflicted Thoughts <3
I also am lol and I do not think I would ever be able to make it a fanfic so glad for the opportunity to daydream in public - I anyhow was going to make a post to address all you guys' reply lol. So lets make a little list of thoughts
A lot of my canon divergence fantasies for Theon are victory fantasies, as point-missing as that is, fantasies where he's succesful and loved lol. So the majority of the ironborn including Harlaws and Greyjoys are positively surprised and delighted with this incredibly wild success story. I feel like they would be, it is objectively politically expedient and militarly impressive. Particularly the Harlaws even would be glad as it puts them in a position to negotiate a land concession from the North rather than whatever Balon's plan was... but overall it's just A Win For Theon, politically. May or may not start to feel a little hollow when the morality of what he did catches up to him
Some drawbacks: he may be under lots of pressure to kill one of them given he has two, which he would definitely need to spin this giving-one-to-Alannys-as-spoils-of-war carefully to avoid. Can he? Canon Theon is not this master manipulator lol but they are his hostages. There may be more physical fighting in the battle planning room lol but he's keeping them. Another is that this really seals his claim I feel - it may not be enough for Balon to officially claim him as heir but he would imho win the kingsmoot and he would be at strong risk of being killed by Euron.
This means Asha is just... physically emitting steam all through this. Is she able to swallow her pride and offer him an alliance the way she does with Victarion? Good question. It's more humiliating and personal. He comes and he wins what she's been working on all these years and he dazzles mom when she's been the one bearing that grief and emotional difficulty all these years... this girl is SNAPPING. Interestingly, something Theon probably is not quite able to grasp is that the Harlaws are Asha's supporters and so in this universe he gave her an advantage through giving them a hostage. Could be a fun fic by people who can plot.
An interlude to say I genuinely didnt vote anything in that poll bc I genuinely have no preference/opinion. The nature of Bran's disability is such I don't know which of the two Theon would think is the strongest political threat to keep closer, and the nature of Pyke is that idk whether Theon would think Harlaw or Pyke is the safer place. I also can be convinced by both arguments on which is the most interesting - I liked alley and wexpyke's arguments for Rickon, that he's more mouldable (the idea of Alannys starting to call him Rodrik :///) and unlikely to reveal unpleasant truths (lmao alley I am not picturing Bran telling Alannys about Theon's warcrimes and banging Kyra in Ned's bed. Though probably the worst thing he could reveal in Theon's eyes is how genuinely he was friends with Robb). On the other hand I am sensitive to your argument of Bran being specifically Cat's favorite (and Cat is still alive and might well live, too) and I had considered already the fact he's almost 10 too. Plus cola-fiend gave me the image of him being cooped up in Rodrik's library potentially finding out about important prophecy stuff and ahhhh love it. Though I would also love for him to potentially interact with Euron. I also loved the idea of the hostage being Beth after the noose thing - maybe a version where instead of all this plot happening, he decides to go home when Asha tells him lol. But it's a darker different idea
Now, Alannys's Opinion. Eeeeh good question. It is something I struggle a bit to imagine. I mean how mentally present is she, how much she's able to find out about how Theon's hostage situation went before he leaves for some other war crimes... But overall I imagine for her too it grows hollow. For one thing she would start missing Theon and feeling bitter about this replacement and taking it out on the boy in question I think - it is unavoidable that he can only really stay with her a little while. I think she would be hungry for stories about Theon's years that she missed but get upset about them and not believe them often. I think with Rickon she may genuinely throw herself into raising him whenever she has the lucidity for it and liking how fierce he is and forget she's not actually her little pet project she can send to raid on the Stony Shore in 10 years. Overall the fact these kids are probably getting traded back soon-ish would be hard for her to deal both in term of attachment and of revenge. I think with Bran there's a degree to which she would enjoy to make him her little page boy and have him read to her and like hold her yarn or whatever it is she's able to do to spend her time but find she doesn't really feel satisfaction in it, Theon is weird and cagey about this feelings about having been subservient to the Starks so she doesn't really now how much of this is payback and Bran is sweet and mellow and serious and does not give satisfaction at all. I can see her too both having episodes of calling them Rodrik or Maron or mistaking them for her previous wards and (esp with Bran) or thinking she had a child post-rebellion and somehow forgot. Just very weird for everyone
#op
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claire-starsword · 1 year
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Shining Force Country Guide Translation - Part 5/Final
I’ve been reminded that today (March 20th) is the anniversary of Shining Force’s original release! What a sweet time to be wrapping up this guide book, huh? this was in no way intended lmao i suck at remembering dates
say your final goodbyes to the species pie chart:
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Prompt
Population: 1000 inhabitants GNP: unknown
Species Ratio:
Prompt is the country of direct descendants of the Ancients. Therefore the population is mostly human. The other species are impossible to identify, as there's no data on them.  They are said to carry the blood of the previous civilization in their veins.
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The cradle of civilization that passes on the blood of heroes
A large country in the center-south of East Rune, in the so-called Old World. It is said to have been founded around 1000 years. The founders were the few survivors of the fall of the previous civilization, but the objective of this founding according to the Book of Genesis was "the succession line of the heroes entrusted with a duty to Dark Dragon's seal". It is unknown if this is true fact or not. Historians are stuck in a dead end on this research.
It is currently an extinct volcano, but Mt. Siglas has previously caused many disasters in this land. The reason Prompt's castle also got buried underground when close to its completion was also due to a huge earthquake. Going on a bit of tangent here, the Conga basin was also formed due to a caldera from an eruption of around 7000 years ago.
Metapha, floating at the southwestern coast, has been a prosperous place of religious cultural exchange, however due to Darksol's looming threat in recent years, relations with other countries have been forbidden. Many ancient writings relating to the previous civilization have survived in Metapha. Prompt historians are the ones most infuriated at the series of incidents with Darksol.
As the Ancients were a civilization of advanced scientific knowledge, their descendants are incredibly cultured as well, but live frugal lives in order to hide it. Once a theory became established that the fall of the previous civilization was due to their scientific advancements going rogue, this tendency became stronger, and their lifestyle has fallen to what could be called primitive. The sumptuary laws proclaimed by the current king, Grando Zussa XII, are likely another reason for this.
Their main activities are farming and hunting. Of course, because the land is bad, harvest isn't plentiful. Not much of their food comes from the agriculture.
-The country is within the jungle, and not even Runefaust can pinpoint its exact location. Had Darksol been able to find it, Prompt wouldn’t be able to exist as it is. He is perhaps more trouble than any volcano...
-The people of Prompt are said to keep a stylish appearance. The way you see them in town (with unshaved faces and naked chests) is somehow disguising their suits! ...or that's the rumor that goes around. No one has confirmed its authenticity. But, it's tough to picture a stylish image from that. Sorry.
i forgot to bring this up last time but it fits better here anyway. The event section for Rudo and Dragonia has something that stood out to me:
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The destined duo, Cain and the protagonist, and Darksol’s scheme
Cain has been the great archenemy to the protagonist through the first half of the game, and finally the Shining Force fights the decisive battle against him in Dragonia. When Cain is defeated, his real face behind the mask is revealed... The truth is, Cain and the protagonist were both swordsmen sent to this world with the same mission. They were meant to join forces in fighting Darksol...
“Sent to this world” is some weird phrasing that is only used here from what i’ve seen, and reminds me a lot of their different backstory in the GBA version. Everywhere else they’re just treated as descendants of a family meant to tend to Dark Dragon’s seal, which is vague enough for either interpretation. So perhaps some idea of them being from the past was already kicking in the writer’s head.
Arthur is no longer helpful at this point, but thankfully, Torasu is, and brings up a lot of Prompt's lore in his HQ dialogue, including the romanization for the volcano's name.
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He does not mention the king's name though, but here's the thing. The king's name is said even in the original game, and it's Kusko. The guide might have forgotten about it here.
A basin, geography wise, seems to be a dip or depression in the earth's surface. A caldera is a hollow formed by a magma chamber emptying after an eruption. I learned more geography through this guide than through all of high school.
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Runefaust
Population: 2000 inhabitants GNP: 3450 gold
Species Ratio:
The huge amount of centaurs is because, much like Guardiana, the country was created mostly by knights from the previous civilization. The population used to be 2000 inhabitants but, since Darksol arrived the army has expanded. 8000 have joined in for military affairs. ___
The rampaging nation causing international distress
The country was founded around 800 years ago, to watch over the Gate of the Ancients to the south of East Rune, just like Guardiana. The founders were mainly knights from Prompt but, this region used to have many small countries and barbarians (people whose cultures had been completely ravaged by Dark Dragon), so establishing the country was extremely rough. After called their homeland for reinforcements countless times, they finally managed to take control of the many countries in the area.
Their political system is a constitutional monarchy, but the knights are extremely influential, and thus the royals' authority weakened little by little. The current king as well, Arc Rei Ramladu VI, just lends his approval to the authoritarianism of his chancellor Darksol. In recent years the army has expanded at a remarkable rate, conquering one after another the small countries surrounding it and taking over their land. Its territory is already three times larger than it was during the previous king's rule, and it quickly became a huge military power.
On the other hand, the agricultural economy it sustained before has collapsed, and it diverged extremely from Guardiana, though they once held the same goals. All that sustains its economy now is the exploitation of conquered lands, and the tyranny of Runefaust's army as it continues to raid country after country now shows even to the west part of the continent, beyond the Lunatic Ocean.
It once had the respect of other countries as a leading power of chivalrous spirit that valued the military arts, but as mercenaries continued to come in, it became a crude belligerent nation. It seems that the knights of the past were executed. There's nothing within the country itself that can curb its military expansionism now.
-Until not long ago there were many small neighboring countries. However, they were all destroyed and annexed into Runefaust. The menacing power of a military empire can be felt from the great wall surrounding it. One can't help but be impressed as well.
-In the peaceful time before Darksol arrived, the greatest entertainment were fighting tournaments from the knights, much like in its sister country, Guardiana. Since the country was more stoic than Guardiana, there were no other forms of entertainment to note.
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The stage for the final battle, the Castle of the Ancients is like this
A castle of devils, or a holy land?
The place where Dark Dragon is sealed. It was originally a facility for extracting resources from the seafloor, made by the Ancients. Being a giant building with over 10 kilometers in diameter, it took 20 years for it to be completed even with the Ancients' scientific prowess. Created with the assumption that it would be staying underwater for long periods of time, it was designed to withstand over 1000atm of pressure, and its exterior is made of a special alloy with a ceramic coating.
As the Ancients saw their civilization fall, their repurposed this facility into becoming Dark Dragon's seal, adding the defense system led by Colossus, and then sinking it to the ocean's depths. After that, they wrote a manual for the control of the facility into a single flat metal piece called "the Book of Secrets". This is final stage of "Shining Force".
-The Gate of the Ancients. There was one to the west of the Guardiana Kingdom as well, but the one pictured here is the one west of Runefaust. Within them lies a mechanism leading to the castle.
-The place you arrive at upon warping from the Gate. Lots of machines can be seen in use. It shows the power of the ancient civilization.
-The interior of the castle has a plain design. But castles bring to mind the idea of defending from foreign intruders, and it does resemble the usual buildings in that sense. Within its depths will be the final battle...
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fatehbaz · 4 years
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ughhhhhhhhh noooo stop it! aha! don’t release non-native earthworms in random plots of soil for enhancing gardens or free bait, don’t do it anywhere in North America lmaoooo! stop, it’s so dangerous and extremely harmful, with devastating and surprisingly dramatic and visible biome-wide effects! haha popular tumblr blogs should stop repeatedly and widely sharing advice recommending the release of non-native earthworms and calling it “anti-imperialist praxis” and “bioregional autonomy” and “vegan self-suffiency” lol! dooooon’t! it straight up destroys soil and outright kills forests :/ it directly causes death of understory plants; death of iconic species like goblin fern and serviceberry; elimination of vital fungal networks providing both soil structure and tree-to-tree nutrient-sharing; loss of native invertebrates and amphibians; savannification of the boundary between woodland and tallgrass prairie; death of red maple, sugar maple, and red oak stands; and especially harms hardwoods forests of the Great Lakes and Midwest lmao seriously stooooop it >:(
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Anyway for real, I sure hope no one is deliberately releasing non-native and invasive earthworms, or bait worms, anywhere on Turtle Island/North American land, especially west of the Mississippi River or north of the Wisconsin glaciation. Earthworms and bait worms sold in stores are, by and large, not species native to the continent. They severely harm forests and soil ecology, leading directly to disruption of fungal networks; death of saplings and seedlings; death of forest understory plants; replacement of typical understory species with grasses; mortality in adult trees, as well; changes in pH; and other harm, especially devastating in northern hardwoods forests of the Great Lakes region.
Not gonna name names, but several times this year, popular blogs from the [forest-lover, anarchist/leftist/solarpunk, Moomin-fan, environmentalist-ish] realms of Tumblr have widely shared advice recommending the release of non-native earthworms or bait worms into the wild, as a form of “praxis”. I’ve got these posts screenshotted, but since I generally respect people in these circles - and in the interest of avoiding discourse and drama - I’m not going to share them. (A popular post was widely shared in February 2019; another “release store-bought earthworms” post was shared in December 2019.) I appreciate where their hearts are at. But:
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Source: [x].
Some things:
From a Phys dot org summary of Great Lakes Worm Watch:
"The western Great Lakes region, which is the area we're focused on, has no native earthworms," says ecologist Cindy Hale, a research associate with the Natural Resources Research Institute at the University of Minnesota in Duluth. Native earthworms in the region were all wiped out after the last Ice Age. The current population was brought by Europeans hundreds of years ago, (soil was often used as ballast in ships) and they’re now changing the face of local forests. Anglers are adding to the problem by dumping worms that don't end up on the end of a hook.
With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Hale's team created the Great Lakes Worm Watch website and outreach programs to stop the spread of non-native earthworms and to clear up the common misconception that they're harmless. [...] Earthworms may be small but when they take over a forest, the impact is dramatic. They cause the rapid incorporation of organic material into the soil, changing its structure, chemistry and nutrient dynamics. What's known as the duff layer is suddenly removed, and this duff, or decaying organic material on the forest floor, is habitat for several species of insects, spiders, small vertebrates, bacteria and fungi. It is also the primary rooting zone for most plants."What's really the biggest negative effect on the plants directly is the removal of their rooting zone. It can cause mortality of adult plants but, furthermore, it can cause a loss of reproductive potential. A lot of these native plants have seeds that have very complex seed dormancy and germination strategies," says Hale.
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Caption by Shireen Gonzaga for EarthSky: “A forest understory with a high diversity of native plants, the result when there are no earthworms in the soil. Image courtesy of Paul Ojanen.”
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Caption by Shireen Gonzaga for EarthSky: “Forest soil with an abundance of non-native earthworms can result in a bare understory. Image courtesy of Scott L Loss.”
Non-native worms disrupt fungi networks, alter soil pH, damage seedlings, and allow grasses to gain stronger footholds to replace native/natural forest understory plants (from an EarthSky review of 2016 research by German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research):
Bottom line: European earthworms, introduced by early settlers, are changing the physical and chemical characteristics of soil in northern North American forests, creating a decreased diversity in native plants. [...] At the top soil layer, earthworms convert fallen leaves to humus. That’s a good thing if you’re growing a garden, but, in a natural forest, it causes a fast-tracking of the release of nutrients instead of allowing the leaf litter to break down more slowly, as it would without the earthworms.
Also, as they burrow through the ground, earthworms disrupt the mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship between fungi and plants. Some deep-burrowing worm species change the pH of upper soil layers by mixing in alkaline soil from deeper in the ground. [...]
All of these changes adversely affect native plants that did not evolve in such conditions. For instance, the goblin fern is rarely found in areas with high earthworm density. Other native plants facing threats include largeflower bellwort, trillium and Solomon’s seal. Earthworms also consume the seeds and seedlings of some plant species, influencing what grows in the forest understory.
In some locations, grasses, with their fine root systems that quickly absorb nutrients, dominate the forest floor. Non-native invasive plants that evolved in soils containing earthworms gain an even stronger foothold in these forests.
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Cindy Hale, the prominent University of Minnesota-based researcher of non-native earthworms in the Great Lakes region, has published this book through Kollath-Stensaas Publishing:
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Non-native worms harm birch trees specifically and hardwood forests generally (excerpt from University of Toronto research, 2016):
The worms can cause dramatic changes to ecosystems by altering soils, reducing leaf litter and disrupting microbial interactions, which reduces biodiversity. Now it seems they are also eating plant seeds in the wild, potentially altering the make-up of forest communities. (…)
“They eat a lot more seeds than we think,” says Cassin [ecologist at University of Toronto in Mississauga], now at the Ontario Invasive Plant Council in Canada.
The study shows another way that earthworms can alter forest ecosystems, particularly for small-seeded species such as birch, says Lee Frelich, an ecologist at the University of Minnesota in St Paul. (…)
Once earthworms have invaded a habitat, they are almost impossible to eradicate, says Erin Bayne, of the University of Alberta in Canada. Conservationists must instead work to keep worms out of pristine habitats, he says, for example by restricting the use of worms as fishing bait and by controlling accidental transport of contaminated soil.
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Non-native worms lead to wildflower, fern, and sapling death. In hardwood forests, this loss is probably due partially to how worms degrade the duff layer; the loss of this layer also provokes soil erosion and directly eliminates the forest floor shelter of larger invertebrates and amphibians. When saplings cannot establish themselves, there is tree loss. (From Minnesota Department of Natural Resources)
Studies conducted by the University of Minnesota and forest managers show that at least seven species are invading our hardwood forests and causing the loss of tree seedlings, wildflowers, and ferns.
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Sugar maples, important both for forests and human food production, are devastated by the worms (from several years of research by Michigan Technological University across multiple national and state forests in the Upper Great Lakes):
A new study suggests that non-native worms are eating up the forest floor, causing sugar maples to die back and perhaps harming other forest dwellers.
Sugar maples are prized as much for their valuable lumber as for their sugary sap and dazzling fall colors. In Michigan alone, they are the basis of a multi-million-dollar industry. But several years ago, foresters began noticing that the crowns of the big trees appeared unhealthy, with bare limbs and little new growth. “They were losing trees before they could harvest them.” (…)
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Great Lakes Worm Watch has some fun links and resources:
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You can download a comprehensive key that helps identify earthworm species. Available for free, via Great Lakes Worm Watch:
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Text from Great Lakes Worm Watch: “Different plant species respond to earthworm invasions differently. Some native plants appear to be very sensitive, so much so, that they can rapidly disappear when earthworms invade a forest. Some examples of these plants include…” 
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Worm Watch: “If earthworm invasion leads to changes in the mycorrhizal community of fungi, the diversity of plants that make up the understory would be dramatically changed. Fungi are a preferred food of many earthworm species and they graze it heavily, which could dramatically impact the abundance and composition of fungi in the soil.  By grazing fungi on or near plant roots, the earthworms not only can damage the roots, but they prevent the plant and fungi from forming the symbiotic relationship where mycorrhizal fungi exchange nutrients and water for carbohydrates with green plants.  If the fungi can't get enough food, they will die back even further.  For some of the native plants that need mycorrhizal fungi, especially when the plant is young and small, survival will be difficult if earthworms prevent this relationship from being formed.”
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NO MUSHROOMS
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jigsaw173 · 2 years
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Does anyone know why some of the corsairs look a little different? Like I have a few questions
What do the tail markings mean?
Like Jigsaw two has a big JW but Scotty and 5’s are small while Charlie just has a big NP. Skipper also has a small JW but the rudder is checkered. They are all the only ones to have them too while the rest don’t even have anything.
Like I can take a guess as to why Skipper’s is checkered (literally skipper) but I don’t know about the others.
What does the NP on Charlie’s stand for?? Is it short for Enterprise because that was probably their carrier? If so, why was it the carrier and not JW like everyone else? Is he a marine or so mething?
Are the rudder markings based on rank??? Why is it that only the ones that have the letters are acknowledged? did the squadron go through a scuffed transition to the ident on the tail leaving some without it? Am I overthinking this?
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Also some of the corsairs are painted differently. If you look hard enough you’ll notice that like 29 and Jigsaw 2 are very different as well as some others. Like looking at this pic you can already see 29’s lighter part going higher than the planes in the background. Some seem darker than others like 15 and idk if it was just detail or there’s an actual explanation behind this
I’m not gonna point how skipper is wildly different in shade from the rest because skipper is skipper.
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Some of them have Markings? Like Scotty and 36 have red lines and he and McKinley both have this boxy-ish outline right under their cockpits. You can see it in the above image on 29 and McKinley(19). But Scotty(below) has both of them as well as the small JW. It’s hard to see the red but it’s around the insignia
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edit: after a quick google into the history of the insignia the red was originally an added outline but it got changed to blue sometime later so like
Are the red corsairs just older?? Even if they are why didn’t they get it repainted? Why is it just them that have the red? Maybe the red ones are just non-navy(maybe marine?)/came from another squadron and the original JWs just refused the red? (Apparently some pacific units actually did) what about the box? There’s still no answers to the box
Also just gonna point out: most of the jws actually have light blue outlines on their insignias compared to a darker one! It was mentioned some navy pacific aircraft had lighter outlines so damn
edit 2: ok after another trip to Google APPARENTLY white box things are just tape meant as a seal cause sometimes the Corsair fuel tanks would leak and splatter the canopy? And this problem was later resolved in newer ones
So maybe the boxed ones ARE just older?
Lmao, imagine being a Corsair on a recon flying and out of nowhere ur tank leaks and u pull a bulldog and when u get back to the carrier the solution is to just tape it up. And it happens to ur buddies too
The thing about the paint schemes and the tail letters still hasn’t been answered.
Thinking about this is keeping me up. It’s two am at the time I’m writing this.
Anyways, you have to admit, these guys got some serious details for side characters with like a minute of screen time. I guess the creators really knew corsairs or did their research? Bravo.
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thekaijudude · 3 years
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Ultraman Trigger August Scans
Let us first address the elephant in the room
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Yep, now having a closer look at Trigger Dark, he definitely looks very similar to the concept art, not to mention the dude's color scheme definitely fits the Dark Giants theme, guess it was just the lighting previously. Really liking the design so far with it being so sinister
Now that aside, what's revealed here about Trigger Dark's appearance is pretty jarring
So apparently he was 'removed' from Trigger by Carmilla using her magic after defeating him
And now apparently his goal is to absorb Trigger's light
So yeah, MANY questions
But before that, at least now we know that Ignis isn't the host for Trigger Dark, which begs the question of just what Ignis is referring to when he alluded to him obtaining a power similar to Trigger then? Let's also not forget that he is pictured alongside another dark silhouette in the OP and the leaked image of him having a dark version of the GUTS Spark Lens.
It all sounds like an Evil Trigger setup that is totally seperate from Trigger Dark entirely
Now back to our original premise,
So is this Trigger Dark an entirely seperate, sentient individual? Or is he being controlled by Carmilla since she basically pulled him out of Trigger?
And why does he want to absorb Trigger? Perhaps to be recognised as the 'true' Trigger? Or would absorbing him grant him greater power?
So let us now discuss the implications of this development
At this point, Trigger's situation really hasn't changed all that much despite such a reveal since he literally stood no chance against any single Dark Giants in the first place, throwing Trigger Dark into the mix dosent really make any difference
So theres actually 3 ways i can see the plot progressing here from this point:
1. Yuzare fully awakens
Now what does that have to do with this?
Well since we knew that Yuzare was the one that initially somehow convinced Trigger Dark to turn to the light, perhaps having such an alarming development would trigger (no pun intended) her full awakening and then convince him again to return to the light
And of course this would be accompanied by major exposition of what exactly happened 30 million years ago
Trigger Dark then willingly gets reabsorbed by Trigger and Trigger would now be able to utilise Trigger Dark as a form to finally actually stand a chance against the Dark Giants
2. Ignis manages to get the power of an Ultra in the nick of time
This possibility is built up on the whole ambiguity surrounding what exactly is Ignis' role in the series as I briefly went over earlier
So by the power of plot convenience, Ignis manages to get whatever catalyst to turn him into Evil Trigger or whatnot and team up with Trigger to repel the Dark Giants at least temporarily (may lead to possibility 1 or 3 after that)
Basically any reason to allow Kengo to retreat and consolidate his thoughts on the vast history leading up to this confrontation and for Ignis to drop major exposition in order to plan for the next course of action as Ignis did show that he has some in depth knowledge on whatever going on
3. Glitter Eternity clutch
Probably the least likely considering that Hudram pointed out that (possibly) only Yuzare knows where the Eternity Core is which means that possibility 1 must happen first before this
Then GE proceeds to wipe the floor with everyone
But then again, although really unlikely considering the amount of setup that needs to happen first, TsuPro could always just cheese through the whole thing lmao
Personally, I think that option 1 will be the most likely option since there has to be a conclusion to the seperation of the two Triggers and its about time we finally get some actual context as to the history of the Dark Giants and the Ultra Ancient Civilization
And all of this would help setup 2 and 3 actually as Yuzare will now be awakened and can lead Kengo to the Eternity Core. While Ignis is probably looking for another sealed Ultra to basically hijack like in Tiga and the logistics or which would make more sense once the major exposition drops first
And also of course whats a New Gen series without the Ultra's Super Form being Trigger Dark, with the theme of 'using the power of Darkness for Light', basically the same as TB in Orb
Perfect opportunity to link to future major arcs
And onto the other only interesting tidbit of jazz we got for this month's scans:
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Yeah, definitely didnt expect to see a POWERED suit at all,
Like
Ever
But then again, I dont expect much with regards to possible future powered suits since those suits are incredibly expensive iirc
Tho then again, TsuPro might just figure ways to make cheaper versions of it while still retaining its 'Powered' aesthetic
Definitely nostalgic since I grew up with Powered
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aerugonian · 3 years
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what are some of your fav kakashi centric fics?? ive never been too into naruto but kakashi??? i love him
You’re in luck because the only Naruto fics I read are Kakashi-centric, lmao. Here are some of my favorites (strap in because this is gonna be long – and I hope you like time travel, because there’s a lot of that here.) Fics are listed in no particular order. 
Just the Usual Habits by Applepie (G / gen / 3.9k words / completed / no warnings)
Sakumo has no idea where all of these habits of Kakashi's are coming from. In which five-year-old Kakashi forgets the existence of his left eye, loses his ability to lie believably, and is a little too knowledgeable about the Birds and Bees. Still, no matter what oddities went on in Kakashi's head, one thing is certain – the boy will always love his father, through thick and thin.
Nukenin by WhisperingDarkness (T / gen / 17k words / completed / no warnings)
In the sealed scroll he finds a Bingo Book – his own page marking him as an S-class nukenin with flee-on-sight orders.
“Ok. That is definitely different.”
In his head he blames Naruto – even if his number one unpredictable student had been nowhere near him on this mission. When things go this stupidly impossibly wrong it must somehow be the future Hokage’s fault.
Once More with Feeling by Chicken_Train_And_Laser_Beam (M / gen / 137k words / wip / violence)
After an unexpected turn on a mission with Team Seven, Kakashi Hatake wakes up in the past, trapped in the body of his thirteen-year-old self. Despite being torn away from his own, familiar world, Kakashi resolves to change the future to better the lives of those he loves. Yet, fate is not so easily mastered, and he's not the only one playing the game.
Reversal of Roles by Ranowa Hikura (T / gen / 112,510 words / completed / violence)
Obito didn't push Kakashi out of the way during the Battle at Kannabi Bridge. This one change eventually leads to Godaime Naruto being sent back in time with the leader of the Akatsuki- Kakashi. They arrive at the day of Naruto's Academy graduation, and Naruto must work with the man he hates the most to stop war from happening. Time travel, AU, Kakanaru friendship.
Branches by Mockingone (T / gen / 55k words / completed / no warnings)
Kakashi falls off a tree and lands in a different world. Literally. Now he's in a dimension where nothing makes sense—but he's used to that. Kakashi plans to wreak as much havoc as he can and find his way home... if he can.
What You Knead by AgentMalkere (G / gen / 38k words / wip / no warnings)
It started, as most things did in Kakashi’s life, with a mission gone wrong.
(In which Kakashi accidentally acquires an emotionally healthy coping technique.)
Ear to the Wall by Vodkassassin (NR / gen / 84k words / wip / chose not to warn)
The Minato-sensei beams at him, and replies, “Kakashi! I’m glad you’re awake,” and, yup, that’s Minato-sensei’s voice.
Kakashi falls back down against the bed, closing his eyes. It’s too short of a way down, and he clenches hands that are too tiny and feeble and not his in dog-print sheets he hasn’t owned for decades.
Wolves of Fire Country by Midnite_Republic (T / Kakashi/Izuna / 51k words / wip / chose not to warn)
Wave changed a lot about Team 7, but not enough to make them entirely functional. Also someone should have really reminded Kakashi to pay attention to that tiny part of his genius brain that recognises random patterns, before he called a rest stop on the way home on top of an old, decayed Uzushio travel seal with an over-chakra-charged Uzumaki.
And he thought the month of the Wave mission was long, now he's stuck with the team, in a place he never expected to have anything to do with, with no way back.
Maybe he should have paid more attention to history, or stayed in the academy long enough to have history classes.
Why we build the wall by Dissenter (NR / gen / 49k words / wip / mcd & violence)
A Kiri nin gets trapped in a cave with a Konoha nin near Kannabi bridge. Some things are inevitable.
Or the AU where Kakashi is born in Kiri but still somehow ends up as team seven's teacher.
Outrunning Karma by Anjelle (T / gen / 52k words / wip / no warnings)
Kakashi was forty-two and the world ended in a sea of smoke and ash. Kakashi was forty-two and there stood a man in the carnage, untouched and unfazed as the village burned around him.
Kakashi is nineteen and the world ends tomorrow, and he will do everything he can to make it right. Even if it means making friends of his enemies. Even if it means erasing everything.
Even if it means staring into the face of all that he hates and smiling.
Kakashi is nineteen and Naruto is five and there is still time. Instead of counting his losses, he'll make the most of it.
komorebi by tomorrowsrain (T / Kakashi/Obito / 80k words / wip / no warnings)
In which Kakashi and Obito survive the Kyuubi attack, get exiled from Konoha, learn how to survive, and still manage to become legends along the way.
(The bratty genin are unexpected, though.)
The Hidden Prodigy by Applepie (T / gen / 106k words / wip / chose not to warn)
Somehow sent back into the past, Kakashi is given a second chance to relive his childhood. He is determined to make the most of everyday and to fix the horrors of the future, but sometimes simple determination is not enough to save everyone.
Change Fills My Time by 100demons (M / gen / 73k words / completed / mcd & violence)
Thirty year old Kakashi was supposed to have been killed by Pein during the Invasion. Instead, he wakes up in the body of his twenty year old self.
(It gets a lot more complicated.)
Nidaime Otokage by DuskBeforeDawn (M / gen / 30k words / wip / violence)
No one knew him.
His father was still alive.
His Sharingan acted like it had always been his.
Kakashi was twenty-two years in the past of a different world.
a heap of details, uncatalogued, illogical by 100demons (T / gen / 8k words / completed / no warnings)
Oh,” she says, white hands clenched into tight fists. “I’m-- I was your student. Haruno Sakura.”
Kakashi tilts his head, gray eye analyzing her carefully for tells. He finds nothing. “I’ve never seen you before in my life,” he says flatly.
(Kakashi wakes up fourteen years old.)
Lost on the road of life by RavenShira (M / gen / 80k words / wip / violence)
Kakashi had everything well in hand. He had stepped down from his reign as Rokudaime Hokage, his porn collection was as well worn as should be and his free time was spend with either Gai's challenges or helping out on various tasks while trying to make it seem like he wasn't there to help out. Annoying the hell out of everyone that crosses his path was as easy as breathing – easier now that he didn't have to be polite and diplomatic about it anymore.
So what if he agreed to a teeny-tiny favour of his once student and now successor? Not even Naruto could mess up just scribbling down a fuinjutsu for Kakashi to check over before he got back to his own, very busy life.
… Right?
Or: The one where Kakashi travels back in time, thinks he can fix stuff but clearly gets in over his head.
What’s the Worst That Can Happen? by Applepie (T / gen / 90k words / wip / no warnings)
Life was going quite well, if you asked Naruto Uzumaki. So why did he have to listen to Kakashi of all people? Now, they've time traveled to the past, smack dab in Minato's era, when the soon-to-be Hokage was sporting a team seven of his own. Let history run its course? Never! Kakashi-centric.
Wanted by Anjelle (T / gen / 17k words / wip / no warnings)
Kakashi is your run-of-the-mill hand for hire, except that he's not. Boasting a spotless record with the skills and name to back it up, he's one of the most highly sought after mercenaries in the Land of Fire. He has just one rule:
No Leaf missions.
Unfortunately, his latest client, Tobi, is looking for just that. And there's no doubt in Tobi's mind that Kakashi will accept.
It's only a matter of time.
-
-
 (and a bonus crossover section!!)
Silver-Haired Stranger by TheSimplestWriter (T / gen / 34k words / wip / violence / ATLA)
Kakashi dies protecting his village fighting against Pein... Except he actually didn't and is now in the middle of a desert. Great. [Kakashi swaps one war for another, but he only wants to get back home. Things happen along the way.]
Copy That, Copycat by Nakashira (G / gen / 19k words / wip / violence / BNHA)
Kakashi Hatake dies the Copycat-nin and is reborn with a copycat quirk.
Everything becomes a disaster, and Monoma is tired.
Wonderboy by Tsume_Yuki (T / gen / 19k words / wip / chose not to warn / BNHA)
Who knew some dimensions had actual child labour laws?
In which Kakashi is reborn, the Hero Commission doesn’t put all their eggs in one Hawks shaped basket and Shouta isn't getting paid enough to deal with this shit.
Otherwise known as Kakashi in 1A.
CCG Public Enemy No 1 by euphoric image (T / gen / 19k words / wip / no warnings / Tokyo Ghoul)
Kakashi had a single red-and-black eye for more than half his life. Now, he has two.
Victory Series by ewfte (T / gen / 96k words / wip / violence / BNHA)
A fact about Todoroki Shouto: that is not his name.
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kakairu-rocks · 3 years
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We are excited to introduce to you our Creator Spotlight! This is where we reach out to one of our talented members each month to find out all about them and their kakairu creations, and then show them off to the world!
The very first creator we interviewed is the amazing @stupidbadgers ​! We hope you enjoy learning about her & her creations as much as we did. Please give her some love ❤️
Pronouns: she/ her
Type of Creator (artist, writer, both, etc.): writer & sometimes artist
Where to find her:
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AO3
Twitter
Read the exciting interview below the cut, or on the forum!
If you would like a chance to be in the spotlight too, the only thing you have to do is be a member of the kakairu rocks forum, and be a creator; and we will contact you, ourselves!
Questions:
1. How long have you been creating KakaIru fanworks? 
I think I’ve been writing kkir since mid 2019 and started drawing them at the beginning of 2020. I didn’t start posting any of my writing until New Years Day 2020. 
2. What are you working on right now?
LOL, I have an ever revolving door of things I’m working on. Currently, I have five active projects, including the KakaIru Big Bang, which I am so excited for! I’ll be starting in on something for the KakaIru Minibang soon as well! I’m hoping to add another work into the verse I started for last year’s minibang. I (usually) work well with having multiple things to bounce between. 
3. What is your favourite trope to create for?
Oh man, how do I choose? Probably broadly, it’s hurt/comfort. I love writing some angstcake. There’s something about writing my favorite characters suffering and then making it all better for them that just speaks to my soul. 
4. Which of your creations is your favourite, and why?
This is such a difficult question. fated to love you is definitely one of my favorites. There’s something about the way I wrote Kakashi in it that just strikes me. Honestly, I identify with him so much in that fic, I felt like I was putting myself on blast. His internal dialogue and humor makes me laugh every time I read it. That’s probably definitely one of the closest examples of me being Kakashi, lmao. 
5. Do you have any WIPs you’re excited about?
My big bang! I can’t say much more than that, but damn I am having fun writing it. In regard to something I can mention more of: I’m writing more femkkir verse! I’ve grown to love these versions of Kakashi and Iruka so much and this particular fic is about when Kakashi and Iruka meet as teenagers and how their relationship develops. It’s a bit of a challenge, but I’m so excited to see how it turns out! 
6. Do you have any original characters? If so, tell us about them!
The only original character I’ve got is Soot the cat. He’s a demon, inspired by my friend’s cat. I absolutely adore him and his dumb antics. Soot is not technically a nin-cat, but he’s intelligent and gets into all kinds of trouble. I’ve somehow managed to include him in most of my fics at this point, whether I mean to or not. He just shows up, lol! 
7. What was your hardest piece to create, and why?
Oh this is a tough question! I’m kind of stuck between two of them: i think i’ve loved you forever and the thread that binds us. Both of them are very emotional pieces—I really put Iruka through the wringer in both of them (and, of course, it’s because of Mizuki). There’s a lot of dealing with the emotional trauma of Mizuki, both in a modern au (the first one) and canon verse (the second one), and that was a lot for me to process while writing. Despite the emotional toll, the end products are ones that I really like, especially i think i’ve loved you forever. 
8. Do you have any favourite scenes from something you’ve created?
LMAO YES! In don’t piss off a seals master, ANBU (Tenzou and Kawaguchi (Hazelbeka’s OC)) show up  at the Hatake Compound to ‘politely’ request on behalf of the Hokage that Iruka return and restore the warding on Hokage Tower after he had powered it down. Iruka politely refuses and Kawaguchi leans in toward the compound, forgetting about the warding that Iruka has in place on it and becomes stuck to the barrier (it was a spin on one of the barrier seals Hazel designed!). I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard at something I wrote, but the mental image of Kawaguchi in his ANBU gear and mask with his face stuck to a barrier you can’t quite see just sets me into giggle fits every time. 
9. Where does your inspiration come from?
Most of it comes from music. I hear a song, I think, “damn, that’s some kakairu right there,” and then suddenly I have a whole fic coming out of my brain, lmao. I’ve also taken inspiration from friends and random things that pop into my head. The moments when inspiration strikes are usually followed by, “oh, brain, no,” to which my roommate becomes Concerned. 
10. Which of your creations is the most meaningful to you, and why?
when a house becomes a home. This fic took me several months to complete, but was ultimately so rewarding to write. I have very limited knowledge of Jewish customs, but my friend is Jewish and there’s not a lot of fic out there for kakairu that features Jewish customs. After talking with her a bit, I had an idea for what I wanted the fic to be and with her help, I was able to create that story for her. It really allowed me to lean into that introspective style of writing and write Kakashi in a way that was a little different from how I had written him before. Writing it helped me grow as a writer and I got to learn about so many interesting Jewish customs in the process.
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atopearth · 3 years
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Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia Part 1 - Aurica & Misha (Phase 1)
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PHASE 1
Okay, I am beyond excited. I honestly never thought I'd be able to play my favourite PS2 games ever again after I moved houses, because I can't for the life of me find my old PS2 that could play copied games, all the wires and some of the games, and I can't buy these games anymore either, so I was literally so sad and nearly cried when I first realised this. But then I realised that we could get PS emulators now and play the games!! Honestly so thankful and happy right now because omg it's so beautiful to know I can finally properly finish these games again!! Anyway, I still remember Shurelia and Lyner very well, I loved how cool Shurelia was, whereas I can't remember much about Lyner so he's probably the average protagonist that gets all the girls lmao. I'm not sure if I'll bother playing each Reyvateil "route" but I do know who I picked as a kid so I'm definitely going to pick her again. It's kinda funny, I wonder if this is when my bro and I decided to each choose our favourites and play through them so we could both see the different stories haha. I just remember he liked the shy brown hair Reyvateil and I loved the blue hair childhood friend, I can't remember their names anymore but I still love them hahaha. And if I remember correctly, Shurelia should have a short story/route, but I remember diving into her cosmosphere was weird because she's kinda like the old type of Reyvateil haha, so I was sad about that but it doesn't matter, it's Shurelia, everyone loves her!
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On to the story itself! Lyner is pretty childish but he's a typical teenager protagonist so I'll just ignore it lol. On another note, dang, the art and character design and everything still looks good to this day imo. It's sad that Shurelia and Ayatane had to stay behind to fend off viruses that I can't really kill off until Lyner goes and gets the Hymn Crystal Purger, but I guess they can't really allow these viruses to run around into town, so as long as they stay in the Tower where I assume Shurelia has tried to seal them for many years, it should hopefully be fine~ Poor Lyner got his airship broken the moment he left though, but I guess that's how journeys begin haha. Lmao at Aurica (that's the name of the brown hair girl!!) healing Lyner with her Reyvateil magic/song and then running off when he wakes up, she's so cute lol. Kinda sad to see Reyvateil treated so badly by organisations like Tenba, like wow, the abuse is rampant. The village is pretty unreasonable to make Lyner kill their monsters to get his airship back but I guess that's just how desperate they are? Still don't like them. LMAO when Lyner went to learn grathmelding, the grandpa joked around saying Lyner's reward for learning it was his granddaughter hahaha.
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Well, I guess it's good to help the village, because now they're willing to take care of the broken airship until Lyner finds someone who can fix it. Anyway, did Jack like Misha or something? I can't remember🤔 Lmao, Jack is so slack to Aurica, like yeah she's gloomy but I can empathise with her😭 Okay, I gotta agree with Jack though, Claire is definitely much hotter than Aurica, just the fact that she runs a bar by herself and tries her best to be strong and independent already makes me like her lol. On the other hand, why is Misha with Tenba, was she being manipulated or controlled or something? Anyway, the moment I saw Misha, I fell in love with her again, like wow, her design is so beautiful and unique, I could never pick someone else over her. I feel so sorry for her that Lyner can't remember her though, because I'm pretty sure she really likes him🥺 I can't remember the story but I guess we'll know when we can dive into her. Lyner is rash, super reckless and honest to a fault, but that honesty is a good thing I guess haha. The fact that he can't take people in Tenba badmouthing Reyvateil like they're tools that can be scrapped when they don't seem to be crafting good magic would make anyone mad, but Lyner refuses to sit by and listen to that, which is pretty admirable of him tbh.
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With the way people react to others going into the Dive shop in the middle of the day with a Reyvateil, you'd be thinking they were doing something R rated lol, but they're just getting to know each other so it's kinda weird to have that kind of stigma, I mean I'm pretty sure going at night is weirder?! Anyway, I have to agree with Misha, Firefly Alley is a scary place, just thinking about being near all those propellers and falling down is crazyyy. It's kinda funny, but I remember Spica (Misha's friend that sells good stuff) but I don't remember the chainsaw girl lmao, I feel like she looks familiar but that's all hahah. It's so hilarious but brave of Misha to tell Lyner to dive into her so they can craft magic to break the wall and leave to go to Nemo without Bourd and them on their tail. Considering how bold she is, it's crazy that it's her first time, but since diving is such a personal thing, I honestly doubt Misha would let anyone aside from Lyner dive into her. I gotta agree with Hama (Misha's cosmosphere mind guardian) slapping Lyner for saying he's only in there because Misha told him to dive in, like excuse you Lyner?! You do realise the one that's being invaded and the one that has to feel vulnerable and everything is Misha right?! Have some tact lol! But I guess Lyner is slow, so it was normal of him to not have realised that it was a bigger deal than he thought, especially since Misha seemed so nonchalant about it. Misha's Level 1 Cosmosphere is so nostalgic though, I remember it so well, because I think it was a really nice contrast to see the brave and cool Misha in real life compared to the vulnerable one in the cosmosphere who is scared of revealing her true self to Lyner. It was nice to see him encourage her and to tell her that he wants to know her better, I mean it's sad that he can't remember her but you can't help things you can't remember I guess...
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Krusche and Misha arguing all the time is pretty cute lol, I think it was even better when they worked together to open a door and made bets the whole time making them shout each other food if they got things wrong haha. Misha really is such a great girl to be so scared of heights but try her best to save Aurica. As usual though, Lyner is pretty crazy to jump and save Aurica when she was falling, like dang, they're lucky Krusche was nearby to catch them with her airship. Anyway, lmao at Aurica's naming sense and that fireball she made😂 I feel like Lyner is way more encouraging towards Aurica than he was with Misha before though, I guess it helps when it's obvious that she's troubled, whereas Misha being capable made him slow to realise a lot of things? Awww, Aurica cares so much about Lyner. She crafted blue magic in the real world because she wanted to protect him so much🥺 He's honestly really reckless though, he really could have died with the Hymn Crystal Purger, he's lucky Jack saved him. Honestly though, the more I play this, the more I feel like Lyner's type is Aurica and I'm so sadddd😭 I mean, I like Aurica too because she's so cute, but Misha😭😭
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Lmao at how much it would cost Krusche to fix Lyner's airship, back to trying to climbing the tower back to Platina instead~ Well, I didn't expect Claire to really sing a song, her voice was beautiful! I'm glad she's out of Tenba and doing what she wants now, I feel sorry for any Reyvateil stuck in Tenba. Honestly, considering how self-sacrificing Misha was before for Aurica, I would have expected Lyner to care a little more of the possibility that Misha might be hurt or dead from one of the Hexagonal plates falling off and landing in Tenba where Bourd and them were having a meeting. I'm starting to think he really doesn't deserve Misha lolll. Anyway, the virus/Reyvateil Mir sounds familiar, was she one the girls in the next game? A Reyvateil utopia sounds about right if she was also once oppressed by people like Tenba. I honestly can't remember much about Ayatane but I do feel like I remember he disliked Lyner for being the one that protected Shurelia when he feels that he's so much more capable which is understandable considering he seems to be obsessed with her too. Well, the President of Tenba looks very...wow haha. Ooh I remember Misha looking super great as her real age, but she's great the way she is. Anyway, considering that Tenba experiments on Reyvateil, I hope Radolf talks about this with the church, but I guess I'm not sure if the church even has the power to destroy them even if they were so inhumane. Well, dang, Demon Aurica looks like a spider devil or something lol. I'm not surprised there's a part of Aurica that hates Claire though, it's understandable because she feels so inadequate compared to her. It's interesting to read the other bits in the cosmosphere that aren't as important, because omg, Aurica actually really liked this Knight guy before and she got rejected so terribly, that's sad.. I love Aurica's images of Radolf and Krusche, they're so silly🤣 Misha as a student body president is cute lol, and Shurelia(?) is there too?? Lol. Anyway, I like the cat on top of a vacuum, it's so cute. Lmao, okay wasting 900DP to find out that Aurica is a cat fanatic is hilarious, the idea of her rolling around with cats when no one is looking is so funny😂
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I'm so glad climbing the Tower led to saving Misha, her breaking down and crying was so heartbreaking, she's really suffered😭 On the other hand, lmao at these residents up here cooking chicken, I just stole all their food✌️Lol at the trial though, it's literally just to test your strength! I'm sure Jack and them could do it too. Anyway, I never realised the Tower was called the Tower of Ar Tonelico, and oh wow, it's pretty cool that in between the Lower World and the Upper World is the Frozen Eye that separates the two so they're actually not physically attached. Oh wow, so Misha being the Star Singer meant she was the one singing her Chronicle Key song to keep all the viruses out, but because her song was stolen and she can't sing it anymore, the viruses are now attacking Platina. How sad though? She has to sing for eternity to keep world peace but what about her? Ooh, Jack left the Teru Tribe because they were too fixated on rules even when they were on the brink of destruction huh? I guess it's understandable why he would be annoyed, he's seeing so many people close to him die and he can't even use the technology that could possibly save them because of some covenant with Elemia. On the other hand, nice to know that Krusche wants to go to the Upper World because her ex-boyfriend Luke went there and never came back. Tbh, the Luke part sounds familiar but I don't remember anything else about this story. And I see, Jack is close to Misha because he used to protect her until he left.. She must have been so lonely after that. Anyway, I don't know why it didn't click to me that people are named after musical instruments here, like Flute and Harmonica lol, not sure what Tastiella is lol.
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Time to do Misha's cosmosphere before going up! Adult Misha is beautiful~ lmao at the chunk of ice being an ice fairy😂 LOL at Aurica in the Don Leon costume😂😂😂 I'm kinda glad we did Misha's cosmosphere now though, because I would be so confused why her world is like this if I didn't know she has the responsibility to sing for eternity to keep the world peaceful. Especially now that she can wander around to find her song, I'm sure she's even more reluctant to go back to singing all by herself to save people she doesn't even know, and she's been doing this her whole life. I'm dying at the "flower" you can water with the China dress Misha that turns into a freaking tree hahahahah. I'm not sure about an abundance of love being able to grow a little flower into a gigantic tree😂 But I guess it exactly shows how little exposure Misha has of the real world, since even the stuff in her cosmosphere is really a lot of stuff she read in books. Honestly, I got mad at Lyner when he shouted at Misha to like do her job as the song fairy to save this Krusche, Misha was right that he doesn't understand her feelings at all. She's been stuck in one place for so long and has finally been given medicine that could turn her into a human, of course she would hesitate. I don't really blame Lyner though, since he doesn't really know about her life and her past at all. Shinobi Misha is so hot, I love the costume! It's so heartwrenching to hear how understanding Misha is to say she's willing on giving up on this chance (that she doesn't know if she'll ever get again) so that she can save Krusche because she understands that as long as she's alive, there's still a chance for her to find another way to be free, but if Krusche dies, she'll never have a second chance for her life. HAHAHA, I was thinking if those things in Misha's hair were drums, and thanks to Hama's confirmation, yes they are! But just like Hama's bells, they're just decorations, so don't beat those drums she says lmaooo. 
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Lolll at Shurelia being Misha's mum telling her to grow up. So, the reason Misha hates growing up is because when she was young, she was still "free" and got to be in Platina playing with Lyner and stuff, but once she grew up, she was forced to sing and sing, so now she hates the idea of being "grown up" and having to live with this responsibility for the rest of her life, since at least if she's a kid, she can rebel and be a bit more selfish... I always find it hilarious how every Shurelia character in the cosmospheres have to ask Lyner out 😂😂 I guess it's because Shurelia is connected to all the Reyvateils? So even if Shurelia herself doesn't realise it, she really does like Lyner enough that it leaks into all her "characters"? It's terrible to think about how strict Lyner's dad was on Misha when she was in Platina if it's still haunting her here. Aww for Aurica's cosmosphere, Don Leon was a gift from Claire to Aurica before she left the village, she told Aurica to treat it as if it was her so that she wouldn't be lonely. It's cute how Don Leon really stayed so important to her that it's even her Mind Guardian now.
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I'm glad Misha put Lyner in his place and told him it's too late to say he doesn't want to involve everyone, but I guess it's understandable since they could die or never be able to come back to the Lower World, but even still, Misha is right, they should be the ones to make that decision and not him. Anyway, in terms of the story, I feel like Lyner would choose Aurica to download the Hymn Crystal into to fight the viruses but I'm biased towards Misha so~ The viruses invading Misha's cosmosphere must have been pretty scary tbh like omggg, that's terrifying, especially since she got sealed in a crystal and everything was a wasteland. It was nice that after choosing Misha for this, it seems like Lyner has finally shown concern and worry over Misha lolll. Well, Platina is saved and now there's potential for more interaction between the Upper and Lower Worlds so I guess that will be nice. And that's the end of Phase 1!
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Overall, I've been really enjoying my time with Ar Tonelico again. Tbh, now that I'm playing it again, it really does run like a visual novel with RPG elements hahaha. The battle system gets pretty repetitive and boring though, I'm glad it's not hard, but it can get tiring when there's a lot of random battles, I had to escape a few times because I was just so bored of it lmao. Otherwise, I definitely like Aurica much more than when I was a kid lol! She's actually really adorable and kind, lacking confidence at times, but with Lyner, I think she's definitely found a lot more confidence in herself and her abilities, and we should really be thankful to Lyner for that hahah. I love her weird naming sense and how she's so obstinate about silly things. As for Misha, I still really love her too. I like how she's so honest and true to herself, and I think I like her dynamic with Krusche and them more than Aurica is with them, but I really like how vocal Misha is about stuff like telling Lyner what she thinks and stuff like that. Shurelia is as cool as I used to think she was haha. I think I'll go with Aurica's route first though, just because I've never played it😆
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diakosiwayne · 3 years
Text
WORD FORMATION PROCESS
Morphology
- is the study of words, how they are formed, and their relationship to other words in the same language. The term morphology is Greek and is a makeup of morph- meaning ‘shape, form’, and -ology which means ‘the study of something’.
Word Formation
- is the creation of a new word. Word formation is sometimes contrasted with semantic change, which is a change in a single word's meaning.
Affixation
- is the process of adding a morpheme—or affix—to a word to create either a different form of that word or a new word with a different meaning.
Prefix
- is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word.
· /A-/ theist
· /Ab-/ normal
· /An-/ acoustic
· /Counter-/ proposal
· /Ir-/ reversible
· /Auto-/ biography
· /Circum-/ navigate
· /Homo-/ sexual
· /Hyper-/ active
· /Micro-/ phone
Suffix
- is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word.
· Employ /-ee/
· Equal /-ity/
· Vigil /-ant/
· Wonder /-ful/
· Icon /-ic/
· Hope /-less/
· Fruit /-y/
· Express /-ive/
· Planet /-ary/
· Season /-al/
Circumfixes
- is an affix which has two parts, one placed at the start of a word, and the other at the end.
· /Un-/ bear /-able/
· /Un-/ attain /-able/
· /Un-/ account /-able/
· /Un-/ accept /-able/
· /Un-/ reason /-able/
· /Il-/ legal /-ity/
· /Im-/ mortal /-ity/
· /Im-/ moral /-ity/
· /Im-/ prison /-ment/
· /Im-/ perfect /-ion/
Borrowing
- is the process by which a word from one language is adapted for use in another.
· Dollar (Dutch)
· Zero (Arabic)
· Alarm (Italian)
· Banana (African tribal languages)
· Ketchup (Chinese)
· Pyjamas (Urdu and Persian)
· Giraffe (Arabic)
· Karaoke (Japanese)
· Ski (Norwegian)
· Ballot (Italian)
Blending
- is the process of forming a word from two or more letters that represent the sounds of a word.
· blog (web + log)
· cyborg (cybernetic + organism)\
· emoticon (emotion + icon)
· humongous (huge + monstrous)
· mocktail (mock + cocktail)
· Internet (international + network)
· staycation (stay + vacation)
· Spanglish (Spanish + English)
· glamping (glamorous + camping)
· frenemy (friend + enemy)
Compounding
- is combining two or three words to form new words.
· grand-mother
· grass-hopper
· bull-frog
· snow-ball
· mail-box
· rail-road
· basket-ball
· moon-light
· ice-cream
· living-room
Clipping
- is word formation by removing some segments of an existing word to create a synonym.
· Ad - advertisement
· bike - bicycle
· memo - memorandum
· burger - hamburger
· champ - champion
· coed - coeducational student
· mart - market
· phone - telephone
· prom - promenade
· dorm - dormitory
Abbreviation
- is a shortened form of a word or phrase.
Acronym
- the abbreviated word is pronounced as a whole new word rather than letter by letter
· IMAX - Image Maximum
· SCUBA - Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus
· SMART - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timely
· TASER - Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle
· NATO - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization
· SEAL - Sea Air Land (U.S. Navy)
· SWAT - Special Weapons and Tactics
· UNICEF - The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund
· SNAP - Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
· NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Initialism
- an abbreviation consisting of initial letters pronounced separately.
· UP – University of the Philippines
· LCD - liquid crystal display
· IPS - in-plane switching
· IP - Internet Protocol
· DVD - Digital Video Disc
· PC – Personal Computer
· PSU – Power Supply Unit
· JYPE – Jin Young Park Entertainment
· LMAO - Laughing My Ass Off
· BTS – Behind The Scene
Backformation
- is the process of forming a new word (a neologism) by removing actual or supposed affixes from another word.
· Edit – Editor
· Paramedic – Paramedical
· Act – Action
· Revise – Revision
· Sculpt – Sculptor
· Proofread – Proofreader
· Air-Con – Air -Conditioning
· Skydive – Skydiving
· Scan – Scanner
· Inspect – Inspection
Conversion
- also called zero derivation or null derivation, is a kind of word formation involving the creation of a word (of a new word class) from an existing word (of a different word class) without any change in form, which is to say, derivation using only zero.
· access – to access
· bottle – to bottle
· can – to can
· closet – to closet
· ship – to ship
· eye – to eye
· fiddle – to fiddle
· fool – to fool
· Google – to google
· host – to host
Coinage
- is the invention of totally new terms; usually from trade names for one company ́s product which become general terms.
· Hoover
· Frisbee
· Tupperware
· Escalator
· Granola
· Band-aid
· Scotch Tape
· Heroin
· Cellophane
· Trampoline
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difficulttoforgive · 4 years
Text
   @stvrgvzcrs​ said ! Rosy Fog, Garnet Core & Sapphire Beacon, for Wuxian, clearly
under a cut cause this all got long as shit.
Rosy Fog:  What are their immediate views on romantic love?
    god. there is a Lot to unpack and partially it depends on what period of canon we refer to.     one point to glance to is when he asks jiang yanli “why would you like another person? that kind of like. [...] no need to like a person like that. isn’t that like haltering your own neck?”. by this point, by my personal interpretation, he knows he is in love with lan wangji. but he also knows he is walking a path of damnation ( as a note this takes place after the sunshot campaign but before the burial mounds pt. 2 ) and that love, acting in the name of love, is a dangerous thing. particularly for him, since he knows in his heart that he is going to die and it is going to be ugly. he views love as an act of violence. not others love necessarily ( this is... a tricky statement when you take into account yu ziyuan and jiang cheng but i digress ), just the act of loving others, especially as he is passingly aware of his descent towards mildly unhinged violence. he thinks love is always going to hurt, especially given the deaths of his parents, sect, and the surrender of his golden core to his brother.     despite this ! i mentioned in a previous post that i am leaning towards head-canoning wei ying as demisexual and demiromantic. as a younger man / teenager he has a very... well, romantic view of love. he likes the idea of it, loving someone and being loved in return. and he is Very Nice and people say he is flirting so then he guesses he must be flirting and starts flirting with people all the time on purpose like we see in canon. there are many times he thinks he experiences romantic or sexual attraction based on the projected image of him, the fact he has no basis for what that looks like, and the fact he is sex and romance positive/favorable. but he has only ever really loved or been attracted to lan wangji ( in canon. obvs if we ship things are different lmao ). and when he realizes what that feels like it just sort of blows everything else out of the water.     this is so fucking long. all to say his views on love are complicated and contradictory. he both views it as inherently harmful and violent and as something holy and to be striven for. the primary difference throughout his lifetime/s is whether or not he thinks it is worth the hurting. and whether or not he thinks his love will hurt others and how much he is willing to risk that.
Garnet Core: What sorts of things would they be willing to do for friends? For family? For their significant other(s)?
    L M A O.     wei wuxian does not value himself. he does not give a shit about himself. he will sacrifice anything and everything for the people he loves. his brother loses his golden core and despite being nearly as prideful as him by his own admission he still gives it up for him. he starves so that the wen remnants can eat. he gives lan wangji an out to pretend he has no idea who he is because he knows the damage his mere association can do. wen ning and wen qing paralyze him because they know he will give up his own life before he lets them give up theirs.     the people he loves mean more to him than anything in the world. he will throw away his chance at becoming one of the great cultivators, quite possibly being literally immortal, so his brother can continue. he will feel rejected, unloved, unwanted, to save the reputation of the man he loves. he has starved before, he will starve again so the people he cares about can eat. no matter how great the sacrifice is, no matter what they ask. he will lay down his entire goddamn life in an instant for the people he loves. part of it is his insatiable need for what is just and right, yeah, but a lot of it is also just the breadth of his love and the absolute absence of any for himself.
Sapphire Beacon: What kinds of things inspire your muse and does your muse tend to inspire others?
    i think wei ying’s adhd brain works similarly to mine in that ideas literally appear from nothing, or the thought train that leads him there is so abstract it appears as such. i think the stygian tiger seal and spirit summoning flag were something like this. although the tiger seal may have gone something like: i wish i had a sword -> the wen’s still have my sword -> wish i had that sick ass sword from the xuanwu cave -> that shit was fucked up -> a sword wouldn’t do much good against these fucked up spirits -> i need something that control them -> i wonder if whatever the fuck that was could be altered and harnessed to control this shit.     the other way he finds inspiration is in absence. he sees a gap somewhere and he needs to fill it. you can track down spirits and monsters or summon them, but there’s nothing to find them or easily alert you to their presence. thus, the compass of evil. this is probably also how he gets the original idea for demonic cultivation; there are ways to fight resentment, but why are there none to harness it?     in a more artistic sense, like when he’s drawing or composing, he draws inspiration from his surroundings and emotions.     as for the second part of the question,,, i don’t mean to be arrogant but i think it’s pretty safe to say he does. like not in a cutesy “you’re an inspiration” way for the most part, but he does. people stole and expanded on his inventions. there are countless demonic cultivators that mimic him and strive for his attention and approval. but in a softer way, in the specific universe of him being openly trans and gnc, i think in his fame he also inspires other trans people to exist loudly or as themselves. maybe it isn’t inspiration but he definitely allows people the comfort of knowing they aren’t alone.
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pigeoncentric · 4 years
Text
i did an A:TLA rewatch and took notes because that’s just what i do, and here’s the notes if anyone wants to see my thoughts
i haven't watched atla since about a year before korra started airing, so like, around 2011. i should also mention that i never watched korra through to the end, but i guess i'll do that after this. if i feel like it. i do know that the biggest bottles were never popped
i have such a clear memory of the first episode. it must've been on nickelodeon pretty often, even though when it was airing, i only watched it occasionally. i remember they also aired the library episode super often.
aang's voice is so tiny and sweet
i gotta turn off my dumb adult brain and put my dumb kid brain back on so i can better appreciate the nickelodeonness of it all
sokka and zuko's first interaction.......
zuko's intimidating approach and then his tiny teen voice
SOKKA AND ZUKO'S SECOND INTERACTION............
zuko's like "i'm going home." with aang. he must be feeling an incredible mixture of feelings, thinking he has the avatar and can reclaim his Honor. but he also must be terrified to go back, and in disbelief... fortunately he's not going home like he said and there are even more confused feelings in between
i just remembered that iroh's voice actor dies between seasons :(
thinking a lot about dante basco... no thoughts in particular, just a lot of them... and how he shipped zutara lmao
"my troubles cannot be soaked away!"
hei bai looks like a ben 10
mounts list (added to as i progressed through the series): zuko's rhinos. earth armored ostriches. metal noshing mole. north pole goatyak. azula and friends' fur geckos. sabertooth moose lion if you're not a wimp. appa-sized beetle. moose with aquatic features. Eel Hound.
you can't out-mom-friend katara. even when she's yelling and being reckless
it's true... airbenders are weak to nets.
the n*tfli* captions are making several mistakes. eat my ass ne*f*ix and hire me to do flawless captioning instead you dumb fucks
YEAH! even by episode 13 in season 1 we already know zuko is a good boy! well also by episode 12. and earlier. well i've seen the series before.
i've just learned that zach tyler eisen is the voice of aang and i have to give him huge props for having the perfect voice. i pay a lot of attention to voice acting, usually in a nitpicky way, and i've never heard an english voice actor whose voice is perfect on the level of ikue ohtani... and when he was like 12 years old. incredible. i'm not being remotely sarcastic
i gotta be 100% honest. i had completely forgotten the existence of zhao and that he's actually a pretty important character, at least in season 1. also his voice actor is pretty good. generally the voice acting is good in this show, and i'm picky.
god the animation where aang makes one catapult catapult the other is so good. also appa just picked up and grabbed a guy. with his fist. wait how many toes does appa have? is that 18 in total? also appa has scutes on his ventrum. anyway i love that appa can pick up and grab a guy but generally chooses not to. gives it more weight when he does choose to
zuko tells turtle seals to be quiet and then touches them unkindly :(
zuko busted out of katara's ice orb instead of melting it :\
zuko put his hood up like iroh told him to but aang just has his naked bald head in the snowy cold :(
seeing zhao grab and bag the moon spirit fish made me feel sick. such a foul act
god. the quality rope. i noticed sokka mention it and was like, "was this a chekhov's gun or a red herring" and then a few minutes later there was a pointed pan over to the quality rope.
anyway examining the quality of the voice acting here leads me to a thesis i might gather evidence to prove: american english voice acting for cartoons is far higher quality than american english voice acting for anime dubs. or is that just something obvious that everyone already agrees on
anyway anyway, the episode ended without the quality rope being put to use. unless i missed it, which is entirely possible.
jesus i heard azula's first lines and got an instant flashback to all the tumblr drama about grey delisle and her tumblr account and how she pretended it wasn't hers or something let's just erase all of this from my brain right now
this is kind of out of nowhere and borderline inappropriate but i'm glad characters in avatar are illustrated with nipples when they're shirtless... it always disturbs me a tiny bit when shirtless characters are depicted with zero nipple, not even a hint of nipple. (Aladdin.) not just because it implicitly stigmatizes something everyone has, but also because this scenario always plays in my head where it's like, a little kid sees a cartoon character without nipples and they think, "so i'm not supposed to have these..." and they start feeling weird and bad about themself... all you need to depict a nipple is a single unobtrusive dot. nothing visually offensive or explicit about it.
even to an audience who doesn't understand any cultural context, you can't not see the significance of zuko and iroh cutting off their topknots...
fandom seems to see sokka as the silliest one when in fact at least 40% of his entire role as a character is to be the tsukkomi
underrated moment: "you've got an elbow leech." "WHERE?! WHERE?!"
zuko should be a good boy and only steal if it's from pirates
stealy zuko stealing money and buying iroh a teapot !
god i forgot what a tiny baby voice toph has... so tiny
zuko trying really really hard but doing a bad job hammering (tears)
azula set up zuko and mai for a lucky sukebe...
when zuko's mom told him not to forget who he is, she didn't mean to remember that he's a prince and an heir as he revealed to the unsuspecting earth kingdom village. she meant to remember that he's someone with at least the base level of empathy and compassion, unlike most of his immediate family...
i still think aang's voice actor did a great job but i bet it sucks to be a young boy doing an excellent young boy voice and then when you grow up a little and presumably experience some puberty you just Cannot do the young boy voice anymore. hopefully in most cases where that happens, it's at least not abrupt
placing a bet that the writer for episode s2:e10 (the library) is different than most of the other episodes. i don't like it very much, at least in the first several minutes. if it's a name i recognize from the credits of several other episodes, i might be a bit disappointed in them. seriously, there's one stinker after another. and with such a great concept of an episode...
i didn't recognize the name of the guy who wrote this episode so i thought i was right but no, he wrote a bunch of episodes. must have been off his game for this one... either that or i'm in a very unforgiving mood and don't realize it... also when i went on wikipedia to look at who wrote which atla episodes, i learned that the animation for the show was split between two animation studios, and they're both korean. ah, i guess that doesn't mean all the animation took place overseas, as DM movie has a headquarters in the US. according to wikipedia.
oh, they're BUZZards... i get it... i gotcha.
aang with a vengeance is both scary and sad to see. but he does understand that property damage is nothing compared to a life
people who love azula are the exact same as people who love vriska: [comment redacted]
they have american birds in the avatar world. i keep hearing an eastern wood-peewee going "pee-pee-uwee" in the background :3
the serpent's pass seems geologically implausible.
sokka should really get face paint all over his face when he kisses suki. or like, the cartoonish image of when someone is covered in lipstick lip smacks, but it should be suki's makeup color
appa's been through so much and now he has to meet a boarcupine?!?! fortunately he still knows how to pick up and grab... but still :(
he touched appa's scutes and read them like a palm...
longshot translated his meaningful stares into out-loud words for katara and friends
zuko forgot that azula always lies :(
zuko should know that being redeemed in his father's eyes is the opposite of what he wants...
i LOVE aang's passionate tsungi horn dance
there are spring peepers in the fire nation
god the dripping of the rotten clams is so excessive
you know how ultrasonic humidifiers can create water vapor without heating it into steam, by vibrating it super fast? let's try that with waterbending, it'll be cool
two different bad guys have been skipped across the water like a rock
i love the fake time lapse of cleaning the river... and it showed how with pollution in real life, stopping the source of the pollution is not enough. it needs to be removed as well
sokka deserves LOTS of credit just for being able to handle a boomerang.
GOD THE SLOW PAN OVER THE BEAUTIFUL SWORD (in 3:4)
sokka also deserves LOTS of credit for being able to admit he doesn't know everything.
i managed to forget that zuko turns his back on iroh, while remembering that at some point, iroh gets buff
the voice of sokka's master is the voice of the boulder. right? right? no? are you kidding me? i suck at this
seems like kissing azula would have immediate consequences, like something melting
zuko is poorly socialized
zuko still forgot that azula always lies. even when she's being somewhat humanized in an episode like this.
so avatar roku had earthly attachments he did not let go of, presumably. such as his wife. did he have unfettered access to the avatar state? that's what i would ask him during this expositionfest if i was aang.
so sozin could do heatbending... that's amazing. i think i missed that the first time around.
that's right, zuko came back and his hair is long enough, but he hasn't recreated his topknot.
hawky is the only atla animal that poops on camera.
if you're gonna bend sweat, you might as well bend spit, and it's a little easier to obtain
wait so... is combustion man also a heatbender? i'll have to look into it later. [looked into it later: the avatar wiki has termed it "combustionbending?" are you shitting me?]
ooh it's the bloodbending episode! i'm pumped.
someone made a post about how when they watched this show and they were a kid they were thinking about how the characters are hot, and now they're watching as an adult and the characters are all tiny children... that's how i've been feeling. also season 3 episode 8 aang's voice sounds a little bit pubertous.
anyway damn this bloodbending episode is outright traumatic. good shit
oh, now zuko's topknot is back.
appa's armor covers each individual toe <:3c
i seriously misremembered the course of zuko's character development. and the timeline of the invasion in general. but now i understand that zuko has to tell his dad to eat shit face to face.
watching zuko's "zuko here" practice speech hurts 100% as much as it did the first time i saw it. and when he's delivering it to the gaang it's impossible to watch. i didn't put my hands on my head-- they just went there unbidden.
i kinda can't help picturing dante basco's face every time i hear zuko talk. the whole time. it's sometimes not optimal to know the faces of voice actors. especially when you're like me and you're not good at pushing out unwanted mental images.
what the fuck, combustion man? he just loves assassination so much you can't take back any orders. also i can't help but imagine that if you put a slice across his third eye his combustion would be fully inhibited. well i guess that's not a problem anymore.
i like that the gaang are a variety of heights, and that they're all noticeably shorter than most of the adults they meet. it just makes it feel realistic
if it was a US max security prison and prisoners were escaping they'd probably just fucking murder them
i love how when mai starts up the gondola again and azula is like "what is she DOING!" and ty lee just makes an "iunno" noise
tfw your best friend abandons you because you wouldn't let her murder her own brother
chit seng didn't get to free his girlfriend and best buddy :(
funny how azula seems almost docile when she's getting everything she wants. typical narcissist. well ok not the least bit typical.
sokka ate the rose. i remembered this scene Too clearly. but i didn't remember that.
um... was that the full moon? when katara bloodbent that guy? i should've looked at the sky... i went back and looked and still didn't see if it was the full moon. maybe the wiki knows. i don't care enough to look it up properly.
i was wondering when the melon lord would show up
none of the teens understand the obvious solution of defeating the fire lord by beating him INTO SUBMISSION (or oblivion) instead of killing him. just like in every anime fight ever. it's over when you acknowledge you've lost or you can't fight anymore, not when you die. (for the #1 best example of ending a fight the right way, see the way luffy defeats crocodile.)
so i know aang's gonna defeat the fire lord by essentially hitting him with a forced purification beam to the face and make him realize the errors of his ways or something. the fun part is how we get there
bumi bending entire houses through the air
aw i forgot the turtle island didn't have a cute face.
jyong jyong firebent a jet platform to fly around on?!
i guess the firelord can fly around like bakugou katsuki
i forgot that aang took away his firebending... and sokka hops up to him like "well, look at you, buster"
i'm glad i decided to watch this again. even if i didn't do a great job paying attention tbh. well i did spend a bit of time carving a little wooden spoon while i was watching. anyway i was thinking i wouldn't move right on to korra but rather read some of the atla comics that i know exist but have never read whatsoever. i wonder if i can find them in some kind of library...
  i found the comics illegally on the internet and read a whole bunch (up until the end of the "zuko finds his mom" arc). i didn't write my thoughts down as i was reading, so i don't remember them. that's how my worthless brain works. i do remember that i found the comics satisfactory as an accurate extension of the show, and that i feel ambivalent about how azula is written/treated in the comics.
i don’t know if i feel like rewatching korra yet.
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incarnateirony · 5 years
Video
youtube
For SPNTRSF RP Season 2 + S3 Teasers. (Server Link X)
Bonus: server crack after commentary
TarendToday at 9:16 PM
BUT RE: VIDEO PRIORITIES I FIND IT HILARIOUS HOW YOU SORTA MIRROR THE CAS PERSPECTIVE MOST STUFF IS DINKLE THE EMPTY SUBPLOT ISN'T EVEN IN
MinervaToday at 9:20 PM
it's there if you squint look putting that much in 3 minutes is Art™
TarendToday at 9:20 PM
IT TRUE
MinervaToday at 9:21 PM
I chose to forego Lucifer dialogue since it's just temper tantrums to the same line as Michael TBH but Michael's at least zazzy, Lucifer's there in visual and I don't know if you caught the way I overlapped lucifer's cage to Dinkle Before quite literally doing a breakout burst
TarendToday at 9:22 PM
YES THAT WAS PERFECT also the cage ceiling when jack kills michael awerfatgeahzgeazhg
MinervaToday at 9:23 PM
my brain does weird things with footage okay
TarendToday at 9:23 PM
NO THAT'S IN CANON TOO MICHAEL LITERALLY DIES IN A VISUAL CAGE
MinervaToday at 9:23 PM
I had fun playing with all the cage imagery and the different seals blink and you'll miss the destiel, as it should be
TarendToday at 9:24 PM
and then people read the rp "HOW ARE THEY NOT FUCKING"
MinervaToday at 9:24 PM
"oh wait" what do you think about the bookends on it tho
Honey BadgerToday at 9:26 PM
I personally hate you for it
MinervaToday at 9:26 PM
good I did my job then
TarendToday at 9:26 PM
OH YEAH THAT WAS GREAT. the jack sam scene was confusing at first but THE FINAL BIT WAS THE PUNCH(LINE)
MinervaToday at 9:26 PM
also hell is trying to edit around Dean in AUverse
TarendToday at 9:27 PM
I bet people wouldn't even notice ALSO YOU HAVE MALE CAS SO
MinervaToday at 9:28 PM
I MEAN LOOK I TRIED TO FIGURE ANOTHER ANSWER TO THAT THERE REALLY WASNT ONE nothing that would reflect to the audience IN OUR HEART WE KNOW OKAY
TarendToday at 9:29 PM
i mean fair
-----------------
Tryin to work out a title cover be like
CastielToday at 12:16 AM
it may be worth mentioning I'm terrible with fonts
GarthToday at 12:16 AM
How?
Dean WinchesterToday at 12:17 AM
she's falls into them
CastielToday at 12:17 AM
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Mary BADASS WinchesterToday at 12:17 AM
I just made the loudest HA noise She falls into them
Aryn Prime #TokenStraight😘Today at 12:17 AM
Side instead of center perhaps
CastielToday at 12:17 AM
I HATE FONTSIT LOOKS AWFULK SJFdksdjfs aryn
Dean WinchesterToday at 12:18 AM
yeah below Jack
CastielToday at 12:18 AM
do a thingSKJfdskjfd
GarthToday at 12:18 AM
Lmao
Mary BADASS WinchesterToday at 12:18 AM
Min’s Like Aaaaaaryn font this
CastielToday at 12:18 AM
OR SHEA CANSHES A GRAPHIC DESIGNER WHOEVER WANTS TO I HAVE ZEROGRAPHIC DESIGN SENSE
GarthToday at 12:19 AM
Hahahaha
CastielToday at 12:19 AM
tapes some comic sans to something this is fine
Sam WinchesterToday at 12:19 AM
WHERE'S THE BLANK IMAGE
GarthToday at 12:19 AM
Min: I'M NOT THAT TYPE OF ARTIST Y'ALL
Sam WinchesterToday at 12:19 AM
fUCK LeMME dO iT
Dean WinchesterToday at 12:19 AM
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you're welcome
Sam WinchesterToday at 12:19 AM
Ben Ben no
GarthToday at 12:19 AM
Bem
Mary BADASS WinchesterToday at 12:19 AM
Shea heard comic sans and was like STOP THIS IMMEDIATELY
GarthToday at 12:19 AM
Ben
CastielToday at 12:19 AM
https://imgur.com/a/HXgJI7s
ben valid take
Sam WinchesterToday at 12:20 AM
Alright so we're going with All of the World is a Cage?
CastielToday at 12:20 AM
https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/mobile/000/018/929/graphic_design_is_my_passion.jpg
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Sam WinchesterToday at 12:20 AM
Fuck
GarthToday at 12:20 AM
Shit i hate that image lmao
Mary BADASS WinchesterToday at 12:20 AM
Hehehehe
CastielToday at 12:20 AM
yes all the worlds a cage
Sam WinchesterToday at 12:21 AM
All the World's a Cage or All of the World is a Cage
GarthToday at 12:21 AM
All The World's a Cage
Mary BADASS WinchesterToday at 12:21 AM
And the people merely role players
Aryn Prime #TokenStraight😘Today at 12:21 AM
I don’t have the Supernatural font
*cries*
GarthToday at 12:21 AM
Oh I have one but it's on the old laptop
CastielToday at 12:21 AM
jkfsdfs the SPN font generally looks awful tbh
Sam WinchesterToday at 12:21 AM
Okay
GarthToday at 12:21 AM
Shush Min
CastielToday at 12:22 AM
but All The World's A Cage works, we'll see what shea does with it
Dean WinchesterToday at 12:22 AM
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GarthToday at 12:22 AM
BEN
Aryn Prime #TokenStraight😘Today at 12:22 AM
NO BEN
Mary BADASS WinchesterToday at 12:22 AM
Ben
CastielToday at 12:22 AM
I just choked
GarthToday at 12:22 AM
MIN MUTE HIM FOR A MOMENT
CastielToday at 12:22 AM
im crying
Aryn Prime #TokenStraight😘Today at 12:22 AM
*rolled up newspaper hits your shoulder*BAD
CastielToday at 12:22 AM
i cant breathe
Mary BADASS WinchesterToday at 12:22 AM
I’m gonna pee
16 notes · View notes
Text
Troy’s Crystal Necklaces are IMPORTANT AND IDK HOW and other insane ramblings
No matter what happens from here on out, I think those crystals are important and I GOTTA know what they’re for! At the very least, they’re important to me. So cool... So glowy... *o* I want one...
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So there are a couple possibilities for what they could be used for and my main guess is Stealing/Storing/Transferring Siren powers (Yes, I know, that’s probably Tyrene’s power, but, hey, humor me! I think it’d be an interesting twist to something we already know.)
Troy being able to steal siren powers and possibly keep them in the glowy crystals around his neck? Hell yeah! How? I have no fuckin’ clue!
Since his tattoos are red they could be derived from the crystals and, if this is the case, he is probably the one who stole Lilith’s tattoos during the trailer and possibly transfers them to Tyrene. (I’ll get more into this later as to why I don’t think he kept them) I lowkey kinda think they’re like raw seraph crystals or smth bc male siren goes against all the lore (maybe he’s like a seraph himself or some bullshit? yaknow, red vs blue... or he just used the crystals to steal a siren’s tattoos and put them on himself...) unless he’s actually trans which I'm afraid they wouldn’t have the balls to do. but oh mama if he is, that representation will be like nothing we’ve ever seen
Troy having gotten Siren powers from his sister Tyrene stealing them and giving them to him? I mean,,, yeah that’s probably what happened but GLOWY MAGIC CRYSTALS THE ERIDIANS DIDN’T LIKE BECAUSE SERAPHS COULD THEN STEAL THEIR POWERS AND USE THEM AGAINST THEM IN WAR (THAT IS [APPARENTLY] COMING)??? Now that’s some good reintegration shit mhmmmm. The Eridium buffeth and the Seraph taketh away.
Also, a siren being able to steal another siren’s powers seems kinda counterintuitive. Her power is useless unless she meets other sirens (THERE ARE 6 IN THE WHOLE UNIVERSE - despite what the games want us to believe, that’s pretty fuckin’ rare!) and what is it even used for? All the other sirens we’ve met have very powerful, combat-oriented skills (even w/ Angel, while I’m still not sure what her power was exactly tbh. technological integration? (Phaseshift-ing of the bits???) that’s p powerful with Eridian tech I'm sure). If the Sirens were created by Eridians, they were probably made to be on the same side. If that’s the case, wouldn’t it make a lot more sense for something that didn’t want the Sirens around to have the power to steal theirs and redistribute them to their own forces?
Consider:
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and
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I mean, after all, “their return is to be feared” and Seraph crystals only started appearing after the opening of the second vault on Pandora (which could be triggering the return of the Seraphs... thus causing them to want to plunder vaults/kill Sirens? who knows lol). Also, the cultists leaving Pandora and heading to Promethea could very well be bringing back Seraph crystals. Shit, the guy you sell the crystals to in order to get some seriously powerful gear could have been shipping them off to Promethea. 
My only problem is they’re pink, not red, but it might be a product of activating them/”storing” the siren powers in them/some weird bullshit. I know raw eridium is a shade or two darker than processed Eridium, so it could possibly be some bullshit like “raw seraph crystals are redder while processed seraph crystals are pink” or something.
Actually, now that I think about it, the only way to get Seraph crystals is through Seraph Guardians. Disregarding the Dragons bc its a DnD Campaign, the Seraph Guardians are all hopped up on whatever the seraph crystals did to them. Maybe the crystals are drained of their power once we kill the Seraph Guardians and that is why they are that shade of pink. Maybe when they’re charged up they’re a more saturated red color. I mean, Hyperius is able to grow to the size of a skyscraper and Gee can absorb elemental damage so 👀
This is all a huge reach, but I’m having fun, so let’s continue.
Now there is this tidbit from the Battleborn Easter Egg: “VISIT PROMET[H]EA CHILDREN OF THE VAULT. WE ARE NOT ON PANDORA ANYMORE. TANNIS IS NOT WHAT SHE SEEMS. DO NOT OPEN THE VAULTS”. Ignoring the Tannis bit, I’m very curious why they don’t want the vaults open. Maybe it would bring about the return of the Eridians and they don’t want that? I mean... technically the Watcher is already back after opening only 2 vaults (Pandora1 and Elpis). Which is a whole nother thing that I could totally get into if the twins (either of them) are actually stealing people’s Siren powers lmao, be it with just the magic crystals or their own magic alien powers. The war the Watcher mentions could 100% be against the Calypso twins. I can’t help but wonder if it should be something bigger though lmao... sounded so ominous... 
Now of the theory that Tyrene is the one who can steal powers and gave Lilith’s to Troy: Totally possible. Boring, but possible. There is that screenshot of her holding a really glowing lookin’ orb (AND THE INSIDE IS GLOWING REDDISH: THE SAME COLOR AS TROY’S CRYSTALS OHHHHH-) which is probably someone’s Siren powers. My only way to dispute this is to say she also doesn’t have any facial tattoos like Lilith does, (Angel doesn’t have facial tattoos either) though Maya and Steele did have tattoos on their faces, and Troy totally does have a unique facial tattoo that wouldn’t match up with Lilith’s at all (I mention this because it could hint that she is the one to get the powers transferred onto her, not the other way around). Also, immediately after the scene with the image below, there is a shot of an area being absolutely BLITZED by fireballs and Lilith is usually associated with fire (Firehawk).
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I do think this snapshot happens right after they steal Lilith's powers. Tyrene looks so smug like “oh, let’s see what this baby can DO”. So either she just got Lilith’s powers, or she’s about to shove her glowing ball into her brother and idk which is worse lol
Now, I mentioned before that Troy has facial tattoos, which don’t match up with Lilith’s tattoos at all. You would think transferring the powers would transfer over the same tattoos. But Alas, to disprove this part of the theory, Tyrene actually has a unique set of tattoos as well, as far as I can tell. 
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Her tattoos. I can’t tell if Troy’s are similar or not because of her jacket, but you can catch a glimpse of them here! (At least, I think those are his tattoos. His arm is kinda a weird gray color...  🤔 🤔 🤔 🤔 Maybe the transference did an ouch of some kind)
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AFAIK neither of these match Lilith’s.
Also, fun fact! Tyrene is the only Siren we’ve seen to not show off her chest tattoos. IDK if its a Siren thing or if they just want to show off their cleavage or what, but unlike the others, her clothes are not revealing whatsoever (in fact, she seals up her neck and stuff? Is weird). Troy, on the other hand, looks like he went on a shopping spree with Macklemore and V from DMC5. He’s also showing a fair bit of abdomen lol (Have you seen his ab tattoo that says Calypso? Neat). Interestingly enough, his red tattoos don’t seem to go down the left side of his abdomen like Siren tattoos do (easily seen on Lilith), nor his chest, and although they could be hidden by his jacket, I don’t think that’s the case. 
Also, I kinda wanna go on a tangent here and talk about his face? At first, I thought he had maybe gotten some Glasgow scars, but if you look up where his sideburns are, that is way too clean and almost mechanical to be scarring (plus, its super symmetrical, he has one right down the middle of his chin as well- which interestingly enough is not visible on his bust in the Mask of Mayhem... then again neither are Tyrene’s scars. Worship at its finest). My first thought after that was that he peeled someone’s face off and stapled it to his own 😅 I mean! He works with psychos, right? It’s not too far fetched? right? (tbh the placement of the metal bits (cheekbones, cheeks, one on his chin) gives me a huge Jack vibe, so maybe it's just his homage to the man, the myth, the legend)
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Maybe the tattoos are fake/implanted technology in order to keep the cult in check and the crystals are there to keep them powered/working. Maybe he had to get a face stapled back on after whatever took his arm ripped his face off too. Who knowwwws. Maybe he had to have head implants for his arm to work (if its a prosthetic like Rhys’s, it could just be a huge exoskeleton arm) and being on Promethea (Pandora for a while before they left as per the easter egg I guess), they probably don’t have the greatest medical expertise, unlike Hyperion. Also, the crystals could totally just be a power source for his arm. That’d be super badass, just rip it off his neck and shove it into that ring looking area and power up. I’ll be honest, we’re throwing theories at the wall here to see what sticks!
But back on the topic of Power Stealing! For either one having the power of transferring (be it magic crystals or magic alien space superpowers), they could already have taken another siren’s power and are just adding onto it. Could be the reason Troy has 2 crystals (one for lilith, one for another siren), could be the reason both their tattoos are different from all the sirens we’ve seen so far. 
Personally, I like the theory that they stole the new little girl character’s siren powers and we’re going to help her and Maya get them back. Somewhere in the process, Lilith probably loses her powers to them. It would explain why he has two crystals instead of just one. Maya probably knows all this smart shit about who the twins are and what their cult is and has a plan but needs our help getting to the twins. 
I also just came up with this now, but I like the idea that the little girl is either actually working with the Calypso twins or being manipulated by them in order to get Maya and Lilith to show up on Promethea. Think about it. They need/want to collect Siren powers, right? What better way to do so than to jerk at the heartstrings of two super powerful sirens with a huge connection to their own powers by sending a little girl out who “got hers stolen by some big bad cult leaders”. In the Mask of Mayhem trailer, we see the little girl a few times. At one point, in the top right, right next to Troy and Tyrene, we see an unfamiliar smoll character who looks like this (below) and has the beginnings of what I think are growing wings at her back (meaning Siren) although her left arm is covered, which might mean she probably doesn’t have tattoos. Yet.
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Maybe she was promised her own powers if she lured the two Sirens to the Calypso twins. I was going to use her earrings and gages to see if they were the same character but the girl below just so happened to be conveniently wearing a pair of headphones lol. Maybe its just coincidence. I do think their hair is different, the statue has a bun/ponytail, but that could be solved by her chopping it off with that huge knife or keeping it in a bun and keeping her hood up. Maybe the two characters are twins themselves and one joined the cult and the other wants to help her leave. Who knowwwwwsssss
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I don’t trust her lies.
Also, one more thing, during the scene with Lilith on the floor, when they’re locking arms, Troy pulls away first, while Tyrene slowly retracts her hand like she’s unsure of what to do. Not the greatest of proofs indeed, but something to think about. Perhaps he’s just impatient to try out his new powers. Maybe he’s done this before and knows what he’s doing. She could just be annoyed and is giving him a death glare behind that fabulous collar. We may never know. There are plenty of ways to read into it.
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Of course, Tyrene seems like to big boss type out of the whole thing anyway, so its more than likely she is the one that has the power to take and transfer Siren powers. She is the one in the Mask of Mayhem with the wings, and I find it interesting that they made it a point to have Troy’s left arm (the arm Sirens have their tattoos on!!) to be “under construction” during the video. It’s very likely the reason is because he gets his tattoos through his sister during the game. If that’s the case, well fuckin’ played Gearbox. Foreshadowing 100.
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Shit, idk, maybe it's all just some weird shit that happens when your twin is a Siren. You get like... negative siren powers. it would explain his Shadow the Hedgehog color scheme smh. She stole all the blue pigment from him in the womb so he’s just red in the places her tattoos are lmao
Maybe his crystals are just Promethea’s version of Eridium, after all, the Vault key here seems to be producing a shitton of red light. be weird tho, since eridium didnt exist until we opened the vault so... maybe tannis just grabbed one of them siren-power-holding-crystals you just brought her after beating the shit out of an emo biker fuck and shoved in the vault key and prayed it would work while t-posing to assert dominance
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who knowwwwwsss 
90 notes · View notes
lightsandlostbells · 5 years
Text
Skam Italia season 2, episode 3 reaction
Thanks to the people who read and left comments on my previous recaps, especially the one for episode 2! I appreciated hearing from you ❤️
I wrote some stuff about this episode. I don’t have much of a preamble, except the usual: I make comparisons to the original show because I’m interested in the remakes as adaptations, I don’t have 100% positive things to say, if you want to just enjoy the season and not see criticisms, avoid this. 
Episode 3
Clip 1 - Dudes being dudes
Martino is sitting on a couch overlooking the city, for … reasons. I don’t know why he came here specifically to brood. Is this his special place? Is this a boy squad hangout? It’s certainly got a nice view.
So the other boys made it to Emma’s, it was just that Martino skipped out. Then they have less reason to be mad at him, to be honest; yeah, it sucks that he blew them off, but they made it to the party.
Elia throws a ball at Martino when Martino is clearly not paying attention. Dickhead!
Dudes, he didn’t even lie to you? He ignored you. Which is not great but if a friend ignored me when we had plans, I would be worried something happened to them. Of course the thing that happened to Martino was an attractive boy feeding him garbage noodles, but still.
Martino finally lies to the boys in a more active way, spinning them a story about fighting with his mother and getting anxious, which is certainly believable knowing his home situation and is likely drawn from his real experience. In the original, Isak also uses his mom as an excuse, although he lies less blatantly than Martino does. Isak lies more than Martino overall, I think, but in that case, he sort of vaguely alluded to there being “stress” with his mom, without going into details, and Jonas was able to pick up on what he meant without Isak having to say more, and Mahdi was able to pick up that there was something more serious going on even if he didn’t know the exact situation. This time, Martino’s lie is more fleshed-out, and Giovanni is vocally supportive and claps Martino on the shoulder. (I guess it’s possible that he knows Martino is lying and is covering for him, but he’s playing it pretty sincere. He knows Martino’s family life is difficult so he probably buys it.)
This is why I had to laugh at some comments I read that were like “Giovanni is able to read Martino when Jonas couldn’t read Isak.” Lmao, no. There are plenty of times when Jonas could pick up on Isak’s mood and situation without it needing to be spelled out to him. 
Anyway, after the situation is ironed out, we get an anecdote about Elia’s lack of success with the Argentinian girl, telling the story of ... putting Luca in a suitcase? He is petite. Martino laughs with the boys and all seems okay for now. The dynamic has been restored.
Again, all the chasing of the Argentinian will have been for nothing as she is a lesbian.
Elia kicks a ball at Martino as punishment, because Boys Will Be Boys. Then again, I’m sure Martino prefers balls flying at him to having to arrange another party with the girls.
Clip 2 - Gay test
Martino arrives home with some food. The fridge looks pretty empty, so I guess they aren’t keeping on top of groceries. Or this is Martino taking care of it because his mom can’t.
Then his mom enters, and he says he’s going to cook for her. So he’s being nice to her, which is sweet. Mom is too tired and needs to lie down after a long meeting.
It seemed like Isak’s mom had schizophrenia or schizotypal disorder, correct? She had delusions and was actively sending him Biblical texts that were confusing. But we haven’t see any of those from Martino’s mom - I don’t think there’s been any hints that she’s been seeing things or believing in things that aren’t real. So far it seems like she’s dealing with depression, mainly. Apparently she is holding down a job. (I’m wondering what the reasoning was behind this change, and honestly, I suspect that they didn’t want to deal with depicting stuff like psychosis on screen, now that the mother character is visible rather than existing via text message.)
I’m curious how this relationship between Martino and his mom will play out, because a) we have not seen a single clue that she might not accept his sexuality - I mean it’s definitely possible that it will come up, but there are no warning signs like how Isak’s mom sent him hellfire and brimstone texts, so is there supposed to be anxiety there on his part? b) he’s clearly not estranged from her the way Isak was with his mom - so what’s the climax of that relationship going to be? It was a big moment when Isak came out to his mom because it was not just her accepting him for being gay, but sealing a rift in that relationship overall. Of course I’m sure it will be lovely when Martino comes out to his mom, but his sexuality doesn’t feel like a huge issue separating them so far. There are obvious issues in this relationship, but he’s also trying to reach out to her and make dinner, they’re capable of some connection even though they’re also heavily struggling and Martino often seems frustrated and wants to get away from it all.
Martino is chilling and eating dinner. He sends a message to Emma, saying that things were stressful and he’ll tell her about it, he heard her party was great, etc. He’s very friendly and natural. Not coming on in a performative way, not seeming regretful or like he doesn’t want to have this conversation. And Emma texts him back in what seems like a not too much of a confrontational way? She calls him an asshole but it makes Martino laugh, he’s not stressed about it. Also, putting the “asshole” in parentheses makes it seem softer, not like a serious insult but a humorous aside. I don’t know if that holds for Italian, though. 
Okay … are they seriously leading into the Gay Test clip like this? Really? Really? Look, I get that Martino and Isak are different characters, but why is so much tension being sucked out of the narrative?
Isak was lying in bed at 3 am staring at the ceiling, miserable, dealing with insomnia, and reading Bible texts from his mom, and he went and did the gay test out of desperation. He really, really had hit a low point and wanted to work out the issues gnawing at his brain. And it sucked because he had gotten his hopes up for Even, but Even was apparently taken (by a girl) and Isak thought he was reading too much into it. That much Martino can identify with. But Martino has absolutely not shown the same level of inner struggle as Isak. I mean, this clip is taking place at a reasonable hour, he seems in a reasonable mood, just eating and watching TV, laughing at Emma’s message. His mom’s condition earlier was not great but it wasn’t terrible. This doesn’t seem like a low point. 
Again, Martino isn’t Isak, but then you have to ask why is he getting Isak’s scenes? For every single clip that has been adapted from Isak to Martino, you have to consider: what’s the point of this scene in Martino’s journey, and why was it recreated rather than deleted or altered to fit his particular characterization or story? It’s not unfair to ask these questions, and it’s not unfair to question whether this scene fits the narrative they’ve been building, or discuss how changing the details of a scene affects the tone and purpose. I’m not saying this clip has no place in Martino’s story, or that you can’t tone it down somewhat, but it’s just weird how the setup for a clip like this one gets dialed down, because the setup is a huge part of its emotional effect, and presenting it more casually makes it feel far less necessary to the story.
Martino looks at Emma’s picture with some fondness and types in “how to get turned on by a girl if you’re gay.” I guess I can rationalize this as Emma being friendly and cute and wouldn’t it be so much easier if Martino could just go out with her instead of wanting to be with Niccolò? But yeah, the internalized homophobia has not landed.
Martino starts with how to get turned on by girls if you’re gay, rather than googling to see whether he’s gay or how not to be gay or something else. (Isak took the gay test first and then googled that bit about getting turned on by girls. Though I don’t think Isak actually was unsure about being gay or not - like. He knew.)
Here’s the thing - this is a horrible thing for a gay kid to look up regardless, instructions on how to be straight are always shit. But because Martino seems like he’s in a pretty stable (even good or amused) mood prior to this, because of the way we lead into the scene, this search seems more like …. really fucking misguided, rather someone dealing with a lot of pain. Like this isn’t something Martino is pressuring himself to do because he’s feeling like shit, it’s an idle web search. 
An idle search that takes him to a gay test! Not the same as the one Isak took, though. I think the questions do lean on stereotypes on what gay men like/do, though it’s less obvious than Isak’s quiz? What kind of cuisine you like, for example - answering like vegetarian/vegan food would probably make you “gayer” than liking Italian or Mexican food, because vegetables are for weaklings and meat is for men men men men manly men.  There is a moment where Martino appears to debate and says that he sees a vagina rather than a snail in an ambiguous image, so I guess that’s him trying to make his answers appear straighter.
The quiz says Martino is exclusively heterosexual. Martino does not seem too impressed with that result.
Lmao, that ridiculous cartoon of the Kinsey scale.
Clip 3 - Martino makes up with Emma
The boys are playing table football. Martino and Giovanni are on a team against Elia and Luca and they lose, so they must crawl under the table. Martino has to endure some creative punishments in this episode, doesn’t he? All at the hands of Elia.
I’m not terribly judgmental about character wardrobes or anything like that, especially since I don’t know what the fuck is trendy for The Youths in various countries, but is there a reason Martino wears so many shirts buttoned up all the way to his neck? Is that supposed to be an example of his repression, or is that just his personal style? I’m serious. 
Martino sees Emma and goes up to her. She does not seem happy to see him, sooo … I guess she really was mad at him? His reaction to her texts seemed amused, so I assumed he read them as her not being 100% serious? Okay, guess not.
Isak was very, verrrry slick when he did this part with Norwegian Emma. It was all part of his heterosexual facade, it was a performance he had done many times, and there was a noticeable contrast between how he had acted with Even in the last episode (shy, vulnerable, gradually becoming more open and unguarded, silly, comfortable). In fact, you could even see a huge difference with him seconds before with Vilde, when he was flustered and unable to get out of hosting the party even though he absolutely doesn’t want to, and how he sees Emma and takes a moment to consider and re-calibrate, so that he’s in fuckboy mode when he talks to Emma. It’s so artificial that it’s alarming and builds up dread. Martino seems newer to this. He’s a lot more genial; he’s cute but his attitude is honestly not that far off from what we see of him in other contexts. Sure, he’s flirting with a girl, but there’s so little sign of discomfort, or any indication that he has to switch into a “mode” to flirt with a girl, that it again lowers the level of narrative tension and inner conflict. He pretty much went from hanging with the guys -> seeing Emma -> going over and talking to Emma seemingly effortlessly, not showing that there was any kind of debate in his mind about what he should do, or psyching himself up to speak to her. He just does it. 
Again ... I’m sort of like, what is the point of having Martino take a gay test and make move on Emma when there are so few indicators that this is causing any sort of stress for him? I mean, I think they want us to read stress into the situation, but the way the scenes are being staged, they’re drastically minimizing that effect. 
Emma gets a text from the radio group, asking for a bluetooth mic for the party on Friday. Emma wants to go and wants Martino to go with her. He seems happy, Emma seems happy, she’s no longer mad. For now.
Giovanni seems proud of Martino for making a move on her, though we don’t hear him say anything.
If they wanted some actual narrative tension in this scene other than what was in the original clip, then they could have had the boys spot Emma and ask Martino if he was going to go apologize or talk to her, putting him in an awkward spot where he felt like he had to, and where we could see some heteronormative pressure at work with the boys egging him on, feeling like he couldn’t say no. 
Clip 4 - Boys watching girls in the gym
This fucking scene. First of all, I heard that the actress playing the Argentinian is apparently like 14 or 15 in real life?????? Is that fucking true?? Can someone please confirm that? Because if that’s true, that’s creepy as fuck. It means we have all these 21- to 26- year-old actors cast in a show celebrated for casting actual teens, except for this one girl who’s getting objectified and perved on by the male characters (played by actors in their 20s) Great! Fuck off! 
Even if that’s not the case ... blech. I can’t fault Skam Italia entirely for male gaze here, because this scene exists in the original and showcases girls’ bodies. And well … male gaze is the point of this scene. But I will point out that the original scene did not show any stationary close-ups of a girl’s ass. Gross.
The straight dudes drool over the girls. Luca’s filming it because of course he is, Boys Will Be Boys. Nothing weird about a guy filming girls without their consent!
There’s like … one shot of Martino looking mildly not into it, so uh, maaaaybe they should have emphasized that more? Just a thought. Isak looked completely out of it, bored out of his mind, very clear in his body language and facial expression. Plus the boys are watching a sports game, them watching and cheering has a different context (rather than just applauding hot girls for being hot, more or less). Martino is even shown cheering, so this is at least somewhat engaging to him, even if not because the girls are hot. 
I mean, the point of this scene was to demonstrate Isak’s lack of interest in the girls compared to his friends. This scene is filmed in a way more straight-forward cheesecake-y way, like Bessegato didn’t get that the original wasn’t celebrating those lithe female bodies and actually had a purpose in establishing the main character’s mindset.
I saw an idea that maybe they should have been watching a men’s sports team with like, sweaty shirtless dudes, and have the camera compare the neutral/bored reactions of the other boys to Martino clearly thirsting, and I like that twist on the scene. Especially if the comment about the dance teacher being too gay (or whatever it would be) comes as a result of trying to make up for checking out the dudes, hoping his friends didn’t notice, or even just checking himself for letting himself stare when he’s supposed to be attempting heterosexuality at this point in the narrative.
The gym teacher comes up and is like, hmmm, so you just happen to like volleyball, huh? He roasts them a bit, which makes him my new favorite character.
He pats Giovanni on the stomach and is like, you’re flabby, you gotta get in shape because girls like fit guys. It’s a friendly casual interaction and Giovanni is amused.
So the gym teacher is gay, as it turns out from dialogue. Which is pretty cool! The boys know him and his boyfriend.
Then Martino is like, you should press charges against him, he comes up here and touches your belly. Giovanni is like, WTF.
There is a persistent, horrific stereotype about gay men being sexual predators and pedophiles, which is awful. Completely. It’s a great idea to dismantle that belief and to educate the audience. But Martino’s comment doesn’t have much to do with his personal journey. We have not seem him struggle with being seen as a creep, or thinking gay men are predatory, or anything. I guess there’s when he thinks Filippo might be trying to pick him up? But overall, not a concern of his. If there’s something I forgot, let me know. Isak’s comment about the dance teacher flowed directly from the gay test (and his internalized homophobia) which was all about judging gay stereotypes and non-masculine behavior. 
Now I do think you could say that’s why he’s reluctant to sleep in the same bed as Giovanni, and has some kind of reaction to hugging him, but the problem is that this reaction is conflated with his actual unrequited romantic feelings for Giovanni - like there are multiple reasons why Martino might react that way and not want to sleep in the same bed as him, and not all of them have to do with a fear of being seen as predatory. Sometimes it’s about getting distance from a crush who doesn’t like you back, or even just being afraid to give away his crush/sexuality without it specifically being about interpreted as predatory. But OK, I will accept this explanation even if I think they could have expressed this more clearly - maybe it would’ve been illustrated better if Martino also didn’t want to touch Elia or Luca, two guys he isn’t shown to be attracted to. In any case, they should have drawn a clear link between the gay test or whatever Martino found online (like instead of the gay test, they showed him looking at some kind of website or forum or social media where guys talked about feeling uncomfortable with gay men touching them, or thinking gay guys are pervs/molesters, or something relevant to this conversation) since that was the impetus for Isak/Martino saying dumb shit in this scene. It also would have been amazing to build up Martino’s insecurity about touching his friends as part of his anxiety over coming out, especially how that manifests in a more physically affectionate culture, and then to have his comment about the teacher clearly be a form of massive projection.
There actually WAS a conversation in season 1 at the cabin, where Elia made a joke about Martino not getting any ideas and touching him, and Martino saying that he was the last person he’d have sex with. That would have been very good to include in this season, or a similar moment, to build into Martino’s mindset and where he pulled out that comment. Because it doesn’t surprise me that he would have that idea about a gay dude being predatory, since it’s unfortunately a commonplace stereotype, but because this is a fictional narrative, you need to build up those themes and ideas.
To heap on some more unpopular opinions, I didn’t feel like Giovanni demonstrated himself as a Woke King after this scene, not that he said anything wrong, but that what he said didn’t seem to have much to do with his core values and more with personal relationships. It’s hard to explain, but it relies more on this one gay dude being an OK person rather than challenging a stereotype at its core. Giovanni is defending him because Mr. Boccia is okay and didn’t do anything wrong, rather than because he thinks gay men should not be labeled as predators just for touching their students. Like Jonas wasn’t all, “Who, the dance instructor? Fred? I know him, he’s my cousin’s boyfriend. He’s cool, he bought me some beer one time.” He was like, “Why are you dissing people for being gay? Are you just pointing out people are gay? WTF?” That cuts to the heart of Isak’s problem rather than singling out one counterexample. Giovanni doesn’t have to be a perfectly educated mouthpiece, either, I just wanted to explain the difference in how I viewed him and Jonas in these scenes. I mean, I’m sure he’ll be kind and supportive once Martino comes out to him. However, it’s less an indicator of Giovanni having some core non-homophobic principles and more like he’s fine with this one particular guy who is gay. Hopefully that makes sense.
But to be more positive, on that note, I think it is good that there’s at least one gay man who Giovanni is OK with and seems to like and respect, and that Martino can see that. There are obviously differences between how teenagers view gay peers vs gay teachers, because the adult would be “safe” and wouldn’t/shouldn’t be pursuing him, whereas teenage boys might think their friends have gay cooties and are coming on to them, but Giovanni isn’t a total 100% homophobe based on this encounter. (I don’t think Giovanni will have a problem with Martino being gay at all, to be clear, just speaking hypothetically.)
Niccolò comes up, obviously. The look he gives to Martino is good. Tension, wahoo!
He gives Martino back his earbuds and says he left them on the bus. I’m legit baffled that the boys are so suspicious of this? Martino took the bus to go home from school, after he left the boy squad, so he could have left the earbuds on the bus then. Or him being like “I was on the bus with my mom” - not that unreasonable? All he told them was that he had a fight with his mom, he didn’t say where that fight happened (Isak was wearing the hat when they left school so it made no sense to say he left it in the cafeteria, and Jonas realized this). I guess Martino and Niccolò were just acting weird enough to notice?
Giovanni sized up Niccolò so he probably suspects shit is up.
Luca gets bonked on the head by the volleyball, and the gym teacher is delighted. More of this guy, please? I like him. I wouldn’t mind if Martino has a heart to heart with him instead of the doctor. Except Martino has not been shown to have insomnia so either he’ll develop it midway through the season or the meeting will be about something else.
Clip 5 - '80s party
The girl squad is doing karaoke. Emma is singing along. Martino is sitting there not having a good time, staring blankly at something. Not singing.
He does have a pair of very small sunglasses. I don’t think Martino tried at all with the theme except for those sunglasses. Those look just like his regular clothes.
Martino and Emma talk about music briefly, and it turns out Emma likes the same kind of music Martino does - she mentions Apparat, and there was an Apparat poster-art-thing in Martino’s room. So unlike Isak and Emma, who outside of sexual orientation were also just like … not on the same page as people, Martino and Emma seem like they could fit together, were it not for the little fact that Martino is gay. I’m not sure there’s been a big indication that Italian Emma is that bad (until like a minute or two from now, with her comment about gay people). They could have played this moment a little more so Martino’s reaction is more wistful, like … oh, here’s this beautiful girl who shares some of my interests. If I were just into girls, this would be so easy.
Martino sneaks a glance over Emma as Niccolò walks in. Niccolò looks like he dressed up for the theme, at least? No version of Even is not going to dress up for a costume party. Not on my watch.
I don’t recognize his burgers shirt, is that a reference to something and I’m just blanking?
Lmao Martino just launches at Emma the second Niccolò turns around to look at him, he’s ridiculous.
I do like the part where she’s like either you’re underestimating me or you’re shy, and when she asks him if he’s shy, that’s when he kisses her. Even though he didn’t hear a word she said.
Niccolò comes over right away and places himself right between Martino and Emma, so there’s at least one way he has out-desperated Even. He slings an arm around both of them. Bold!
“Elio” is not a reference to Call Me By Your Name (well, I guess it could be that, too) but to Elio Germano, an actor - I looked up that guy and I can kind of see the resemblance? Not a big one, but in some pictures, I get it.
Martino, stop being a buzzkill and go sing a shitty song with Niccolò. The point of karaoke is to make an ass of yourself, no one cares.
In response to Martino not wanting to do karaoke, Niccolò asks, “Are you afraid of showing your hidden homosexuality?” - yeeeeeah, I’m kind of like, WTF, why did he mention it there? If Martino is closeted, then why bring it up when they’re not alone? Since Niccolò has a strong suspicion that he is gay, isn’t he just putting Martino on the spot? But Martino seems unfazed, I guess.
Now we have the famous educational moment where Niccolò calls out Emma for generalizing. Niccolò takes his arms away from Martino and Emma when he’s getting serious.
The focus of this scene is more on Niccolò and Emma than how Martino reacts. In Skam, this scene was really fucking important for Isak because Isak had ideas about how Gay People were supposed to be. That they were all a certain thing. That “gay” had a definition besides being attracted to only the same gender - that’s why he complains about why the dance teacher has to be so gay. The dance guy isn’t “so gay” because he’s showing attraction to men, but because he’s displaying a set of mannerisms associated with gay men. (I mean, it’s completely beside the point, but “so gay” dance teacher could have turned out to be banging half the dance chicks since Isak’s statement is based purely on stereotypes.) The gay test he took earlier in the week fed into these notions that Isak had because it was based entirely on generalizations. Not only is that how gay men act, but it’s how other people see men if you like certain things and act a certain way; if you act like that, they assume you are gay, and if you’re gay, they assume you act like that. So Isak hearing about how wrong it is to generalize, especially from Even, the guy he likes, is really goddamn important. It’s Even is throwing him a lifeline. Gay people are not all one thing and we shouldn’t think about them in stereotypes, even when they’re “nice” ones. That’s why the focus of that scene has a lot to do with Isak’s rapt attention, because this scene plays a specific counterpart to how we saw Isak behave that week.
However, this scene here? It’s a nice lesson for the audience to hear, but what does it have to do with Martino’s mindset that they’ve set up in this episode? At this point, Martino has not been shown to have any of these beliefs about gay men, as far as I can recall. The most is him wondering why gay people always assume everyone is gay in the scene with Filippo, but that has little to do with mannerisms. Not only that, they explicitly changed the dialogue in the dance chicks/volleyball scene to be different - it’s not Martino being like “Does that gym teacher have to be so gay?” It’s him basically accusing the gym teacher of being a pervert for touching a high school boy in a friendly way. Sooo … why didn’t they change this dialogue to reflect that? This is a clunky version of how it might play out, but what if, after Niccolò sits down and has his arm around Martino, and makes his latent homosexuality comment, Emma made a joke like, “Haha, you better not get too close, Niccolò!” And Niccolò was like, “What’s that all about?” Emma could say something like, “You know, because he’ll try to make a move on you,” and Niccolò replied, “Errrr, just because a gay dude gets close to another guy doesn’t make it inappropriate.” Then that would actually tie in to an earlier scene. But that’s obviously not the only way it could have played out. My point is, why didn’t they follow through this scene with something consistent to Martino’s story thus far? 
Then again, this whole thread during the episode feels inconsistent. It’s easy to follow the story logic with Isak: takes a gay test revolving around generalizations about gay men’s personalities -> tries to distance himself from those generalizations about gay men’s personalities -> hears that it’s wrong to make generalizations about gay people’s personalities. Martino this week: takes a gay test with some generalizations (I think they were present but not as blatant as in the test Isak took?) -> makes a comment about the gym teacher basically calling him a molester -> hears that it is wrong to make generalizations about gay people’s personalities. I guess he learns not to generalize gay men as molesters? But really, vastly different, it’s not very cohesive, and Martino was not shown to be very affected by Niccolò’s dialogue. So again ... why is it here?
Also, there’s something kind of … weird about Niccolò lecturing Emma on making generalizations, because Niccolò just did the same thing, sort of? He joked that Martino didn’t want to do karaoke because he was afraid of showing his latent homosexuality, the generalization being that karaoke is a thing that gay guys do. And I get that it’s a tongue-in-cheek comment, ha ha Martino, get over yourself (and a loaded statement about his own suspicions about Martino), buuut is there a reason why, on the surface, Niccolò can make a joke about what gay people like or do or are (ha ha, liking karaoke is a sign of homosexuality!) but then Emma can make another statement generalizing about gay people and he’s like … excuse me? Yes, obviously there is a difference between them in that Emma is a straight girl (from what we know) and Niccolò is a guy who likes guys (although I’m going to assume he’s pan like Even for now), and I’m not defending what she said, but it’s a sloppy juxtaposition to have in the same scene. One’s more “neutral” and one’s “positive” but they’re both generalizations. 
One thing you could get from this scene is that Niccolò has feelings about defending gay people and may be not straight himself … which should be blindingly obvious at this point. 
Then Niccolò is like, “I know pretty boring gays,” which is kind of funny in the sense that he’s teasing Martino, but also, still putting Martino on the spot. Martino is nowhere near as receptive to that comment as the latent homosexuality one. I guess Niccolò just went too far.
Emma thinks this topic is boring and has Martino go dance with her. At least they show Niccolò sitting alone looking dejected when they get up, which is a dead giveaway, but a nice little moment. 
People dance. This red light is very striking and all but the downside is that it’s hard to see Martino’s face (or most faces in the crowd). That might have worked if they wanted to inject some ambiguity into the scene, like did Niccolò look over to Martino while kissing his girlfriend, or was that unintentional? Is Martino imagining it? But it’s pretty clear they want it to be straightforward, so I wish we could have seen their emotions more clearly. (I feel like the lighting on this show is often a disservice to the actors, but that’s something to talk about at another juncture.)
I do like the song, though (“Self Control” by Raf) and the lyrics seem pretty fitting, about losing self control to someone. Martino is kissing Emma but can’t control himself from looking over to Niccolò. There’s also the comparison between the day and the night, perhaps related to how Martino is living for the “night” aka these moments he gets to be in Niccolò’s vicinity. Also it’s an ‘80s song, so it’s appropriate to the theme of the party, obviously.
Eva does seem to notice Martino making out with Emma and isn’t totally cool with that, like I think she’s going WTF in her head? I know his secret? Does not compute???
Federica is also sad because Martino is kissing another girl. Aww, poor girl. She came so close, or so she thought! Don’t worry, hopefully Kasper is coming.
Fede sees Silvia’s phone ringing. It’s Silvia’s mom, so they put the music on pause as Silvia talks to her mom. Silvia is adorable when she greets her mom, lol.
There’s a part where Silvia tells her mom she’s with Fede and Eva, which I thought was interesting as it excluded Sana. So maybe her parents have an issue with Sana (or rather, Silvia having a Muslim friend)? Eva looks at Sana after that, but it might just be “holy shit what’s happening?” rather than “why didn’t she mention you?”
I’m too lazy to check but is that one girl with the glasses standing behind Eva and Sana one of the theater kids from the first season?
I do like seeing Eva go into action mode and tell people what to do! What a boss.
There’s the blue haired girl from the earlier clips again, dressed like Madonna. WHOOOO ARE YOU, WHO WHO, WHO WHO (no really who is this girl)
The sudden cleanup is the means of getting Martino and Niccolò alone together, to take out the trash.
Is Niccolò dressed as Marty McFly? Did he read my post?? (don’t take that too seriously, lmao) Or is that another character/celebrity? Or just generic ‘80s style?
Their chemistry in this scene is the strongest it’s been yet. Them just standing there before the conversation starts is a really good moment. (Surprise, having a smidge of tension and some variety in their interaction does a lot for their dynamic!)
Niccolò has the nickname “Colino” based on something from middle school, so he and Maddalena go back a while. They got together when they were 16, and supposedly they’re like siblings. So it seems like they might have a foundation of friendship, and could go back to being pals after they break up, maybe? Or perhaps they’re just growing too different for that, even.
Niccolò is like JUST SO YOU KNOW WE’RE LIKE SIBLINGS. WE HAVEN’T HAD SEX IN TWO MONTHS. I mean, I get what he’s trying to say, but “I haven’t had sex with my sister in two months” is not a thing I would expect to hear from people with normal sibling relationships.
Also, two months would be the beginning of school, no? When he saw Martino?
The motive behind Niccolò’s story about Maddalena’s medical condition is very different from Even’s. Isak was very closed off and not really having it when Even started talking to him about dating Sonja for years and not being able to break up with her. He was shutting him out. That’s why Even started spinning that story about her aluminum leg, to get a reaction out of Isak and to find an opening. Martino, on the other hand, is very receptive to Niccolò from the beginning of this conversation, smiling and laughing, giving eye contact. Even when Niccolò mentions Maddalena, it’s not like Martino totally shuts down; he seems amused or perhaps reassured when Niccolò says they haven’t been having sex. So Niccolò making up this shit about his girlfriend comes across as a lot more random. Like he’s doing it just to fuck with Martino for a laugh. And he keeps going even when Martino tells him he’s full of shit (this scene goes on for about two minutes, twice the length of Even’s story). It’s not inherently wrong to change to tone of the scene, but it does make it much less fraught because there aren’t as many stakes with this conversation. They’re already more or less on the same page, or at least Martino is willing to be.
Even also had so much more vulnerability when talking about this, like … we actually saw that he felt hurt or upset talking about how he couldn’t dump Sonja. Niccolò felt so much more casual and matter of fact, which is fine, but it all feels at odds with his probable situation, because so far we’ve seen he really wants Martino and is putting himself out there. He’s not subtle. Here he’s just like, yeah, can’t dump her! 
I do think that there’s some of the same subtext here as in the OG, with Sonja’s fake leg standing in for Even’s bipolar disorder; Maddalena’s hairy condition is meant to be Niccolò’s mental illness. Now she keeps it under control, she’s getting experimental treatment, etc. All things that could apply to Niccolò, perhaps.
It’d be something if Maddalena was in med school because Niccolò’s mental illness made her want to help others, or research bipolar disorder, or something like that. It’s different from Sonja seemingly being bored with her life (and perhaps channeling her energies into taking care of Even), but a nice adaptation. Even if Niccolò wasn’t her motivating factor for going to med school, it’s a potentially interesting way to show that she feels the need to “fix” people.
Skam Italia keeps doing this thing where they pull back the damn camera in a scene, away from the characters, far enough or from an angle so we can’t really see their faces (and in a way that doesn’t reveal anything compelling about their body language). They do it here and it isn’t the most egregious example, but having seen it happen in later episodes, I’m more alert to it, and a lot of times it undercuts the emotions of a scene - again, a disservice to the actors. There are some times where it really took me out, to be discussed when they pop up. I guess they do it just to add some contrast to the closeups of the characters? And I’m all for more contrast, but that’s not really what I wanted, lmao.
The pinky touching moment is great! It’s a thing that’s theirs rather than Evak’s (I guess it might be subbing in for the great hole in the sock moment from the script, but it’s still different). They’re smiling and looking at each other as they lean again, very unlike Isak and Even (when Isak couldn’t even look at Even) but it is consistent with the general vibe of their relationship so far. (Although it is kinda ehhhh that they just ... dropped all of the tension from inside the party, Niccolò’s comments on the couch, staring at each other across the room while kissing girls, and then went back to the comfortable friendly vibe almost immediately, as if none of that mattered too much in the narrative.)
Ohhhhh my God they’re interrupted by the WHOLE PARTY running out and like, that is amazing. Instead of Noora it’s fucking eeeeeverybody.
Although they’re smiling at each other as they run off and it’s cute and all but WHERE IS THE TENSION. Even from the perspective of them being friendlier and more smiley at each other, 1) they almost got caught by other people, and not just anyone, but people they know, including their girlfriends (well, Niccolò’s girlfriend and Martino’s date) and people who could talk or gossip about them, so why does this not cause any kind of alarm 2) this has changed things. They almost kissed. Show that it was some kind of big deal, like even something as small as Martino lingering a moment behind the rest of them, needing a moment to process what just happened, taking a deep breath? Smiling to himself, if you want to keep it lighter? What’s the actual difference in tone or Martino’s reaction in this scene to something like the boy squad running from the police in episode 1? Except he actually seemed concerned about getting caught by the police.
General Comments/Social Media
Emma and Martino have way more of a rapport in their texts than Isak and Emma did. She actually seems to have a sense of humor. 
She says she’s found his look-a-like, and Martino is like, “Don’t say Ron Weasley,” and ahaha THAT one I do not see at all. At least not if we’re talking Rupert Grint/movie Ron. I could maaaaaybe see movie Fred and George, though. Maybe. If I squint.
Martino was also open about going to Silvia’s party, which makes sense, but also he didn’t have to hide it like Isak did. Isak was just lying all over the place in his season.
Martino also names the Luca/Silvia ship “Lulvia.” I don’t know if that will actually happen. If it does, I think it’ll be like a random Chris/Kasper-esque makeout at the end of the season. 
Tbh my favorite thing from this episode might have been Silvia searching for her cat before the party on Instagram. I crave that sweet sweet Margot content.
I’ve seen all the episodes aired so far, and there are some elements that I think have been handled decently, others not so much. Later episodes have some parts that I like better. Unfortunately, this episode showcased of the weaknesses of this season, which would be, in a nutshell: lack of tension, weak depiction of internal conflict, lack of focus for Martino’s POV and character trajectory. 
I know I sound cranky and overly negative in this recap. Part of it is that I’m somewhat exasperated because I feel like this episode showed that to a degree, Bessegato doesn’t like … either get what Isak’s struggle was about, or he doesn’t have a clear vision for Martino’s struggle, or he does but the storytelling is not tight enough to make every scene count. Isak and Martino don’t have to have the exact same internal conflicts, but there needs to be some consistency, and so far Martino’s arc is a weird mix of stuff that doesn’t always fit what we see of him, but is there because it happened to Isak. Either just do a straight-up close recreation of Isak’s struggle, or figure out exactly what Martino’s different conflict is and write a more focused story guided by that.
The other part is that there’s ~problematic stuff in this show that’s getting on my nerves, and constantly hearing that people need to suck it up because IT’S REALISTIC is wearing down my patience. I don’t expect characters to be perfect. The original Skam characters are not perfect. The remake characters are not perfect. But there’s a difference between (for example) racism and sexism that are included intentionally as part of a narrative to make a point, and racism and sexism that seem to be unintentional and go unremarked. And when racism and sexism repeatedly go unremarked, it starts to feel like the show is normalizing it.
Particularly about the boy squad’s behavior, including videotaping Argentina and the later catfishing, because there has been a lot of debate recently about that ... I would love for there to be a point to all of that? It would be great if their creepy-ass behavior was called out later in the season, and if this turned out to have been a point about toxic masculinity and shitty straight boy behavior. If it was all building up to something, awesome, I will give Skamit the respect it’s due. But right now? I don’t get why I should give the show the benefit of the doubt. It’s already shown its ass on racism, and there have been scenes that have jumped out at me in terms of male gaze, some of the more blatant feminism in S1 was watered down from what I remember, etc. So I can’t actually assume that the boy squad will totally be called out in the end. 
Honestly, if you’d asked me to guess what some of the potential weaknesses of this season could be, I would not have guessed a lack of tension.
I believe part of the objective was to show a gay teenager in Italy falling in love with a boy and not having it be the end of the world. And that is absolutely a noble goal, and something many Italian teens can benefit from. But I have to say - I never thought Isak’s season was like, emotional torture porn just because it had conflict? It balanced the fluffy romantic content with the angsty sad stuff and was better for it. The fluff was more valuable because we saw what a triumph it was compared to the angst, and the angst was more valuable because we saw exactly how much we were losing when the fluff was gone. Isak’s severe internal struggle made every little bit of character growth that much more powerful. I’m not saying the story has to be an emotional roller coaster from clip to clip, but yes, stakes matter, especially when you’re doling out a story in 3-5 minute increments every day or two. 
I do think they’ve somewhat increased tension in this episode, some of it with the boy squad, and some of it with Martino’s mom not being great, but there’s also the matter of internal conflict that is supposed to be fueling many of these scenes, and that’s where it’s falling flat. Skam’s a character-focused show - I mean, each season is about living in a different character’s head - so frankly, they should be milking the f u c k out of his inner struggles. 
I’ll also say I definitely didn’t have this problem with S1 of Skam Italia. I thought Eva’s story set up her clear struggles from the beginning and kept some tension going throughout the season. She and Martino have different problems, certainly, but it’s not a case of Skam Italia being “softer” overall. 
I've heard counterarguments in the tags about the lack of tension, suggesting that there is tension inherent in the story due to it being about a gay teenage in Italy, but respectfully, I can’t agree with that? Then this storyline makes even less sense, like if the level of tension due to homophobia in Italy is so great that it’s embedded that deeply, how do you explain Martino’s unfazed or casual reactions to events, such as almost being caught kissing Niccolò (multiple times, if you include later episodes)? It feels contradictory. But overall, it’s a constructed fictional narrative; some of the responsibility does fall on the show itself to establish its stakes.
Anyway, if there is cultural context I missed, feel free to let me know!
If you got this far, thank you for reading!
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