#i looked it up after the fact and apparently one (1) dialogue option fucked me over

[americankimchi]

the way i finished bg3 and immediately went through the 5 stages of grief for like a solid 2 hours

#liveblogging #liveblogging baldur's gate #guess who just got a bad ending #spoiler alert: it's me :) #200 hours down the drain ♥ #i looked it up after the fact and apparently one (1) dialogue option fucked me over #and it's like. 60+ hours back so it's not even worth it #everyone got a happy ending but my tav 😔 #THANK U FOR UR SERVICE....... AS THE FIRST ONE YOUR PLAYTHROUGH WAS DESTINED FOR FAILURE....... #we will always remember ur sacrifice 🫡🫡🫡

[pegasusknightsonly]

admittedly i watched Zoran play engage and then was like "i never want to ever touch this with my own hands, this game fucking sucks and i hate it" so maybe i missed some extra dialogue but like. in awakening s supports have a specific mechanical purpose: they lock off a pair of characters from any other s supports and, if there's a child attached to one or both of the characters, they unlock that child's paralogue after chapter 13. the exclusivity makes sense because the point is to give you access to the child units, as a homage to the second generation in genealogy, because awakening was looking back at every fe game that came before it, and also as a way to build on Lucina's purpose in the story as someone who is willing to do absolutely anything to break the cycle they have found themself stuck in. i think s supports in awakening MAKE SENSE because the game is about 1) building relationships with other people 2) inevitable cycles of behaviour and 3) having children*. it's about parenting and s supports in awakening have significant and meaningful contributions to the games mechanics and themes. all in harmony. and they get different dialogue with each other once they're s supported and if they're paired up they're blushing in their portraits on the lower screen it's cute. there was a degree of thought and care

s supports in FATES exist because fates was all but directly called "this is the sequel to awakening". as someone who loves awakening i think all the worst bits of fates either directly copy or are a response to something in awakening. fates has s supports because awakening had s supports and the expansion of the mechanic to TWO corrin-only same sex s supports demonstrates that it was no longer mechanically and thematically grounded but instead trying to imagine a product that the maximum possible number of people would buy. would people be disgusted if some or god forbid all of the characters they are meant to desire had homosexual inclinations? surely they would. therefore the fujos and the tharja fans can have a bone thrown into the dirt while the entire rest of the game can reconfirm to itself and its audience that homosexuality is disgusting and perverse and that any deviation from the norm will be punished. job done!

I'm not even sure if SoV has supports given that those first started appearing in genealogy / fe7 and that it was remade closely enough to keep all the misogyny in but with no player avatar there is no need for s supports confirming that the player of this game is the most important incredible specialest person in the whole wide world

the fact that three houses has s supports at all makes me so fucking mad. it shouldn't. yet another reason why 3hopes reigns supreme. in short without the ability to s support characters other than the player avatar the mechanic has been reduced to fairly naked pandering and an invitation for the most graceless and desperate projection. add to this the disparity between m/m and f/f content not just for byleth but in paired endings more generally and it is apparent that characters who exist in the story independently of being sexually available for the player was not the priority. barf

and then engage takes the momentum from three houses "prioritise the potential feelings of the player above all else" approach and adds the least interesting and dynamic same sex options i have ever seen alongside and with the exact same prominence as putting a ring on the finger of alear's little sister. BARF!! are you really satisfied with this??

#hater moment #*please note that “having children” and “parenting” are specific experiences and specific themes #and “family” . is not. “family” as a theme is nothing. happy families? broken families? the existence of the idea of family?? #why settle for that. why pretend that's satisfying. demand better

[lyssafreyguy]

i have thoughts about YIIK. nothing crazy deep it's just that i'm almost 13 hours in now at chapter 3 level 21 and i've been spending this whole time ragging on the game? deservedly so? but i also have some positive and mixed opinions towards it too and i wanna write them down in no particular order! (full transparency: i'm playing vers 1.25, with assist mode on so i can use the game's slow down mechanic whenever i want in battles, i have the sort of elemental weakness/resist system added in 1.25 turned off, and i'm sure some of the things i have to say will have to do with whether or not YIIK had the proper funds and time to achieve what i think could be done better but i have no knowledge on how that shit works. what do you want from me.)

i like the sort of low polygon/flat textures plastered on lumpy geometry/choppy frame rate style of the game's overall aesthetic and the character art for the different talk sprites is generally pretty well done (could've maybe used less gradient tool tho)

going off of that tho: the game's start menu has a references page that lists media that YIIK might either directly reference, make homages to, or have been at the very least inspired by and while that's nice and makes sense with the game's pseudo-retro feel i have this feeling that there wasn't that deep of an understanding about what makes of the media they listed like. good? and impactful? it just feels kinda surface level.

the music is also pretty alright! like i said i'm only at chapter 3 (so i've been to Flag Town and met up with Claudio and Chondra) but so far i haven't really heard a piece that i didn't at least passively enjoy (fun fact: there's different battle themes and one of them is done by Toby Fox! i've known about YIIK for a couple of years now but didn't actually know this until recently and i'm delighted to report that you hear it and go "oh yea that's Toby.")

voice acting is alright. it's passable. no particular character that i felt so far has been way better than all the others. like i said before tho sound mixing and levels and mic quality vary between characters and sometimes even between lines of dialogue? also Alex's internal dialogue (infamously) goes on longer than it needs to be a good chunk of the time considering this is an RPG and not a visual novel but also there would be pauses of up to like 5 seconds between lines on autoplay?? and it felt like the most awkward pause ever??? i haven't noticed that happening since chapter 1 ended tho so who fucking knows. i'm playing a pirated copy who gives a shit i guess. (on the Alex Doesn't Know How to Shut the Fuck Up point: this version of the game gives you an option at the beginning to play the game with reduced monologue but the original cut option is described as "ideal for those seeking a deeper understanding of the storyline" so like. FUCK your players who don't wanna hear Alex whack his own dick I GUESS.)

there've been a few lines of dialogue so far where i hear them and go "what was the fucking point of you saying that?"- same goes for some sections of player interaction (Alex talking amongst multiples of himself in his head after certain cutscenes not just being an automated event being the biggest thorn in my side)

i LOVE Rory being a tank character. his default pacifism "attack" making him a human shield along with his skill that lets him swap his HP and SP for when his health gets too low while defending the party is genuinely such a good combo. i'm looking at the vers 1.25 announcement made on steam and this is apparently a result of them improving Rory's "usefulness in battle" so you know what? good on the developers. i gotta tentatively give it to em on that one.

i don't mind everything in battles (from melee to skills to dodging) being QTEs but i don't like that there's never a window of time or a tutorial when you first go about using them so that you can get a feel for how they work ESPECIALLY for skills that require you to hit multiple buttons/sections and ESPECIALLY at the very beginning of the game. i think the game could've also benefited by having some accessibility settings.

speaking of i like that there's 2 separate QTE minigames for dodging - for attacks to only target one character and for attacks that target multiple characters - but in my experience the former is a lot hard to get a full on dodge rather than a defense buff without the slow down mechanic and i honestly don't know how to feel about it. like i'm sure that some players out there have a much harder time with the former or have an equally hard time with both but. still.

[flowersdaggersviolasandblood]

Blood, Flesh, and Tears

Name: Torment (He/Him)

Race: Zariel Tiefling

Class: Paladin (Oath of Vengence)

Background: Haunted One

Continuing with the Torment run for a moment, I decided to pop off Raphael's quest so that it's in the quest board to do later. After fighting some Kuo-Toa and fighting some slimes, I decided to run over to Moonrise Towers. After seeing the kickass Ketheric Thorm intro, I went around silently taking out the scrying eyes. But I was able to explore a bit more. One, it seems Torment is known at Moonrise Towers! Apparently, Torment, in the unknown past, has been in Moonrise Towers. I discovered this when I decided to speak with a cat named Steelclaw. They made mention that they saw Torment and hissed at them when they first met. I killed the little guy, but this would be far from the last person who recognized Torment.

While exploring, I dispatched a few individuals quietly and when I took out Linsella, there was another surprise. Now, I may have unlocked this because I still had Speak with Animals active on Torment, but the mind controlled Gnolls rejoiced when they saw that Torment has returned. Another hint that Torment has been to Moonrise Towers before. There's one final person I discovered during this gameplay moment, but we'll get into that later. After checking out the mystery flesh wall, Torment and the gang went down into the prison to free the Tieflings and Deep Gnomes. This is where Torment met the Tiefling Warden who remembered Torment was given special privilege during his stay at Moonrise, but didn't elaborate why he was cut off.

After dispatching all the guards, Torment freed the Tieflings and Deep Gnomes. Now, something I gotta comment on. So, Rolan's siblings are jailed her and they, for whatever reason, despite the fact that Torment saved them from the Druid Grove, they just assumed that Torment was with them...Which...Ok, I can understand Torment might seem sussy because the Absolute cultists allowed Torment and his crew to freely roam about and talk freely with the other members. But I think my first reaction to seeing my savior from the Emerald Druids and the Goblins would be a smidge of hope before just outright going "fuck you, you're with the absolute >:(."

Regardless, Torment was able to free them safely and send them to Last Light Inn. Also, I found the mystery flesh pit again, but I decided to go in through the hole because I thought it would send me to the other side of the flesh pit so that I could find Zevlor. However, it sent me to the same area. So looks like we still got some exploring to do if we want to find Zevlor.

Before freeing the Tieflings, as I was in the process of getting rid of the cultists at the docks, we were able to discover that there's a whole barrel full of Mindflayer parasites that is destined to Baldur's Gate and perhaps more is on the way to the city. Shadowheart makes the suggestion that we can utilize it against Moonrise Towers, which that remains to be seen atm.

We also met Araj and Torment supported Astarion not wanting to bite the Drow. However, Torment did agree to give his own blood in exchange for a special elixir specifically made for him. Unlike with Admaer, where this jumpstarted their relationship, Astarion and Torment simply had a 1-on-1 about how he's free to make his own decisions now that he's away from Cazador. Torment was able to find the Githyanki disk where it talks about Prince Orpheus and had Lae'zel translate it for him. While explore the Tower, I was able to reach Ketheric's bedroom with an undead dog guarding the room. Unfortunately, Shadowheart was the one who spoke with the dog and failed in the animal handling check to calm the creature.

After exploring as much of Moonrise as possible, we went over to the mausoleum. One thing I noticed is that there is a dialogue option when Lae'zel is at camp and you go deeper into the Cursed Lands, there's a option to bring up about Lae'zel having not met with her people at the creche yet. At this point, I tried to avoid this because I didn't want her to leave the party. But when I ventured deeper into the temple of Shar, her campsite was no longer there.

Not only that, but while exploring the mausoleum, we found something interesting! So in the area where we can solve a puzzle to reach the Gauntlet of Shar, there's a open coffin in the area with a plaque that says "He lies Isobel Thorm." Now, this time around in this playthrough, I've connected the dots a bit better. Back in my Pero playthrough, I made the assumption that Thorm was mourning his mother and that's why he turned evil. But no, the person he lost was his wife, and he already had, what may be half-elf, children. While his other children turned to the worship of Shar with him, it seems Isobel kept to Selune. It also make it exceptionally interesting that Isobel is to be kidnapped instead of killed because he might've wanted to force her into undeath. Now, I'm just speculating there, but that may be something he wants.

Regardless, this time around, because I know better, when the Party met the three skeletons who had a parasite controlling them, one was left alive after fighting some Shar spirits. Following them, I was able to meet Balthazar and was able to "accept" the quest to look for a way to reach the Nightsong. We were also able to gain his BABY BROTHER!?!?! So that flesh golem is actually Balthazar's miscarriage baby brother whom his mother blamed Balthazar for his twin's death. In response, his mother is in a jar in the room.

I also learned that there's a Shar worshipper in the temple of Shar that's become a swarm of rats...So that's something. After dealing with Raphael's rival and learning the meaning behind Astarion's scars. Like Pero, Torment agreed to help Astarion and take down his former master. However, we gotta talk about Shadowheart. Now, Torment is starting to not vibe with Shar, especially after experiencing and reading up on what people who worship Shar do and stand for. If it comes down to it, Torment will kill Shadowheart if she intends to fully devote herself to Shar as a Dark Justiciar.

#baldur's gate 3 #baldur's gate 3 spoilers #bg3 spoilers #bg3: the dark urge #the dark urge #the dark urge: torment

[antibioware]

Deltarune and Escapism

Alright now that my hands have finaly stopped trembling and my eyes aren’t burning anymore, time to write my two cents about the new chapter and the reveal that the mysterious “Knight” who has been opening the worlds is Kris themselves, while being free of their soul.

I’m not surprised that people automatically assumed that Kris is doing it because they’re “evil” or what the fuck ever, because even back in 2018, without any whatsoever no mercy route available or true hints beyond a 3 seconds cutscene, people were already giving Kris the Chara treatment.

My personal thoughts about why Kris keeps doing it is actually very simple: they’re using the Dark World as a mean to escape reality.

Kris doesn’t appear to be living a particular easy time in their life. Their brother just went to college, and both from their internet searches and from general talks around town, it’s very evident that Kris misses him fiercely.

On top of that, their parents divorce seems to have happened very recently and they’re stuck in the middle of it (with Asgore using them as a bridge to give Toriel flowers, for example) and their social life doesn’t seem to be  the best: Toriel is pleasantly surprised in Chapter 1 to discover Kris is spending time with a friend, and by many they’re considered a weirdo.

So what happens when a teen who doesn’t have the best life creates a parallel “pretend” world were they’re a hero and have friends who love them?

If Dark Fountains are caused by a Lightner stabbing the Earth with a knife, it’s not hard to imagine Kris, who apparently has a personal knife, doing it on either  accident or curiosity. Back at the beginning Chapter 1, when the door “changes” in front of Susie and Kris, their instinctive reaction outside of player control is to take a step back, which could easily mean that they were scared, but it could also mean that they could have caused whatever was going on inside and were scared of seeing what it was.

The fact that the Dark Worlds have been so far used as escapist fantasies is also proved by the fact that all the Lightners who have been under are also teens who are having a rough time in their everyday life:

Susie is someone who’s considered a violent bully, has no friends and she’s hinted so far as not having a great home life, between the way she reacts to getting her own room in Ralsei’s castle, as well as her reation to Toriel being nice to her and also her accepting to sleep over while only pretending to call back home to alert she was sleeping at a friend’s house.

Noelle allows people (Berdly) to push her around because she’s afraid of standing up for herself and make her own choices (this is also highlighted by the Snowgrave route), and back home she has only a too busy, too harsh mother, due to having an (apparently dead) absent sister and her father stuck in the hospital with an unknown illness.

Berdly made his own life harsher by pretending to be something he’s not and now he’s slowly being crushed under the weight of adult expectations for him, and due to that he ends up taking merit for stuff Noelle does and speaking over her, despite the fact that he seems to genuinely care for her.

All of which seem to thrive in the fun settings of the Dark World, despite being in a situation of danger and the ups and downs of the plot (this without considering the Snowgrave route). It’s exactly why in the end Ralsei has to intervene with the Legend in order to convince them to return to the world above, while they were dead set on creating new Dark Fountains.

Now, Kris may be possessed most of the time during their time in the Dark Worlds, but they still seem to appreciate the good they get from it. It’s Kris themselves, without player control, who moves to save Susie in Chapter 1 and tells Toriel they have made a new friend. It’s Kris who changes the verbal inflection of some of the dialogue options the player uses in order to let others know they’re either joking or insincere.

It’s also Kris who makes the decision, outside of player control, to create another Dark Fountain.

Escapism is one hell of a drug, after all. You can’t blame the kids for wanting to be somewhere they can be themselves without being judged, or even be with people that irl tend to avoid them, or where a loving character who vaguely resembles your missing older brother is. So they make more worlds, for better or worse, because it could easily be that a fantasy world were you’re manipulated in your actions seems better than your actual life.

I say for better or worse, because a thing that the Snowgrave route pointed out to me is that there’s some levels of player control that Kris can experience. While you can say there are actions in the regular game when Kris does things out of their free will, in the Snowgrave route there aren’t. There’s no bit in the game were Ralsei gets to speak alone with Kris while the player is occupied looking at Susie, you stop getting dialogue options and instead Kris turns silent. Noelle also says that the voice who was ordering her around wasn’t Kris’, but rather something else entirely, which means that Kris, when obliged to Do All That Nightmare Stuff, wasn’t in any way in control of themselves. It could be said that while Kris was manipulating Noelle into hurting others, the player was manipulating Kris into believing that hurting others is all fine too, because the Dark World isn’t real, after all. It’s natural to want to hurt others. It’s just a game.

In which case, of course, Kris still wanting to open up a new Dark World the moment they’re out of player control takes a MUCH darker meaning.

tl;dr Kris is creating the Dark Fountains for themselves to escape their current life, and it’s not because “they’re evil”, but to keep having adventures with friends OR because the level of player control they’re experiencing makes them believe being violent to others in the world under is justified and fun.

#deltarune #dr #deltarune spoilers #long post #i wanted to get this outta my system first

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Top 5 Characters in ANF Who Would’ve Made Better Love Interests Than Kate

There are a lot of mixed opinions on TWDG: A New Frontier. Some people like it, some don’t, and some people hate it so much that they refuse to accept as canon in the series. Extreme? Yeah, but hey, to each their own. 

One thing that always bothers me when I do my replay of the series and this game is how much Kate is forced on us and even kinda punishes us for not romancing her. Like, no offense, but I’m not really interested in dating my sister-in-law, especially when her husband is actually alive, and even if she wasn’t my brother’s wife, she’s still not a character I have chemistry with, y’know? 

And every time I play, I can’t help but think that almost anyone else in ANF would’ve been a better romantic interest for Javi over Kate, so I decided to make that the list for this week. 

I would’ve loved more choices and for the game to actually show Javi’s canon bisexuality outside of a flirty line with Jesus that most players didn’t even pick. Just sayin’.

I do want to note that if you enjoy the romance with Kate and the relationship between her and Javi, that’s totally cool. Just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean you can’t ship them, y’know? I’m not here to try to change your mind or tell you you’re bad for shipping something I don’t because I’m not a dingus. You do what makes you happy, friend. :)

Besides, going off the stats, a majority of players romanced her so if anything, I’m the weirdo. This list is just for fun! 

Before we start, just wanna say a big thank you to @pi-creates​ for helping out with this one! Really appreciate it! Now, here are my top 5 characters who, in my opinion, would’ve made better love interests for Javier than Kate.

5. Jane if the writers didn’t turn her into a dead potato

Oh man, you should see your face right now. 

Wait, wait, stop! Before you click outta here in a huff with your “Kenny good Jane bad” grunts and come yell at me, just hear me out-- this entry is mostly a joke and the other four on this list are serious, okay? 

I needed someone to put at #5 and after talking over some options and going back and forth.... Jane came up as a joke and then kind of made the list. Because really, I thought about it. I was like, “Would I really rather have dingdong “whatever happens stay out of it” potato face Jane as a love interest over Kate? Do I dislike Kate as an option that much?” and Pi and I talked about this for a while and yeah.... yeah I would actually. 

When I said anyone but Kate, I guess I really meant anyone. 

Trust me, I know, I’m just as surprised. I guess this really says a lot about my feelings for Kate. I didn’t know I disliked her this much either.

But for fun, let’s entertain this idea of the writers NOT pulling the ol’ character assassination on Jane and she made it to Richmond with Clementine and AJ because--

Jane: "One time I ate glass because I was drunk and thought it was sugar."

Javier: "I gambled on my own baseball matches and disgraced myself for money."

Jane: “Well, I dragged my little sister around with me after everything went to shit until I finally gave her what she wanted and left her to die.”

Javier: “I wasn’t there when my dad was fighting cancer and when I finally showed up, I was too late and he was already dead, then he turned and I bashed his skull in with a piece of wood.” 

Jane: “I shot a dude’s dick off once.”

Javier: “Oof. I insulted an old lady’s cake and then shot her eye out.”

Jane: “I screwed a guy when I was supposed to be securing a place for some lady to have her baby and it resulted in the death of a teenage girl.”

Javier: “I screwed my brother’s wife.” 

Jane: “...”

Javier: “In my defense, I thought he was dead.” 

Jane: “That’s fair.”

Clementine, exasperated and emo: “Oh my god.” 

....I mean... we might be onto something here, c’mon--

Okay, now onto the more legit entries. 

4. Conrad

Now listen... I know, okay? I know. I know this one can be seen as a bit problematic considering the fact that Conrad, in his grief and anger over Francine’s death, held a gun to Gabe’s head and threatened Javi and Clementine.... plus Javi can literally murder him.

...and if you don’t do anything, Conrad with murder both Gabe and Javi and you’ll get a “YOU ARE DEAD” screen...

But we don’t talk about that because it’s not canon.

I know, but listen... I’m allowed to have ships that are difficult, as are you, and this is my list so... there.

If Conrad was a love interest that’s the route I’d take because I love him and I think a relationship between him and Javi could’ve been so damn good if properly done.

I just find Conrad to be an interesting character with a great arc that you only get to see if you don’t shoot him... which is what most people did, so they missed out. And like, I get it, I get why y’all shot him but maybe next time you play, you could consider not doing that?

So here’s the thing, Javi and Conrad share something-- they both lost loved ones because of shithead Badger. Javi is heartbroken after Mariana’s death, Conrad is devastated after Francine’s death, and they both handle that in different ways. Conrad becomes so focused on revenge and getting into Richmond, that he’s willing to threaten two kids in order to get what he wants but the thing is... that’s not him.

He even says so himself when you keep him alive-- he genuinely apologizes for what happened and will end up coming back to save Javi’s life in ep4. The potential for this to work as a relationship? It’s there... the only problem is that my confidence in the writers handling something like this is low, but let’s pretend they used their time and brains wisely-- ya got yourself a classic slow-burn friends to enemies to friends again to lovers romance and I’m here for it. 

3. Paul “Jesus” Monroe

A lot of people really like the idea of Javi and Jesus and wanted him to be a romantic option, and I don’t blame them. They have chemistry in the scenes they share, and Javi can straight up flirt with him at the end of the season, and it’s super cute... of course, I wish we had more but Telltale was too scared to actually show Javi’s bisexuality outside of that one line, I guess.

But, anyway, this ship has a lot of sweet fanart that we love to see.

The only real reason he isn’t higher on the list is that Jesus is apparently already in a relationship at this point? I guess? From what I’ve been told? Listen, I don’t read the comics, I don’t watch the show, I just go off what y’all tell me. Plus, I believe Kent joked about Jesus having someone in each community during the commentaries so like... that’s a thing?

But let’s pretend that we throw that all out and Jesus is single and ready to be in a committed relationship with our boy Javier here. Like I mentioned above, these characters have a believable chemistry from the moment they meet and I think that has a lot to do with how charming they are by themselves. Those different charms work well together.

I also enjoy how much of a badass Jesus is when it comes to fighting off walkers. Javi has a lot of force that you feel with each hit, while Jesus almost has a lighter but just as impactful hit? I dunno if I’m explaining that well-- basically, Javi strong but Jesus can bounce off walls and do cool shit with weapons that feels effortless.

It’s a combo of fighting styles that I love, so these two fighting together? *chef kiss*

There’s also Jesus’ morality and how he wants to see Javier make “good” decisions, y’know? Sure, he gets pissy if you murder the shit outta Badger, which is mostly just Telltale showing you consequences, but I get it. He sees a lot of potential in Javi, more than Javi himself sees. And unlike certain characters, Jesus doesn’t completely hate you for doing something he doesn’t agree with to a frustrating degree.

If the game gave us the option to pursue Jesus as a love interest, he and Javier would’ve been such a badass couple with a sweet romance.

2. Eleanor

This one might come as a surprise to those of you who know my feelings about Eleanor... as in, I don’t like her. I never forgave her for the shit she pulled in ep4/ep5, and now every time I replay ANF and she shows up? Well, all I really hear is the hissing of a snake.

But, putting those feelings aside and looking at her from a different perspective, I do believe that she would’ve made for a better love interest than Kate assuming that if you romanced her, she wouldn’t rat everyone out to Joan, y’know?

Hell, most people believed that Eleanor was going to be the second option with Kate back when the episodes were coming out, and for good reason. The chemistry is there in the flirting, and their relationship could’ve been super cute.

Of course, Eleanor being a love interest also comes with things becoming awkward with Tripp, but c’mon-- as awkward as pursuing a relationship with your sister-in-law and never telling your brother after finding out he’s alive? Nah, I don’t think so.

Plus, for the first three episodes, Eleanor’s not a bad character. In fact, she’s pretty damn likable, she deeply cares for the group and wants to use her medical skills for good.

And you can tell through the dialogue that she and Javi are fond of one another... well, I guess until they shove the Kate thing in our faces and suddenly Eleanor’s like “oh, I thought you two were a thing??” like... Eleanor, we were flirting and I totally rejected all of Kate’s advances last episode I mean??

If she were a love interest, instead of turning on us, she would... y’know, not do that and instead help us out. We have a couple cute moments like back in ep1 where she’s patching Javi up but this time with a smooch? Super cute.

1. Tripp

Okay but seriously, why wasn’t Tripp a love interest? 

He’s the perfect option. I just-- uuuughhhhh. 

They already have a great believable bromance, so why not take it a step further and make it an official romance? Oh wait, that’s right, ya gotta kill off 95% of your determinant characters, I forgot. Sorry Tripp. 

Well, fuck that. Out of all the other adult characters, Javi has the most chemistry with this man. I believe them more than I believe him and Kate. Sure, they got off to a rocky start the progression of their relationship felt natural with every episode. 

That scene where Tripp is confiding in Javi about his feelings for Eleanor? And in turn, Javi can confide in him about Kate? One of my favorite scenes. I only wish there was an option to tell Tripp he can do much better and set the path for the romance. 

Seriously, I’d probably feel more okay about the romance with Kate if Tripp were the second option. That way, Kate wouldn’t be so forced onto the player, the writers confirming Javi’s bisexuality on Twitter or whatever wouldn’t feel like they were trying to earn points without actually showing representation, and we would’ve gotten the beauty that is Javier and Tripp. 

Also, then Tripp could make it to the end without dying that dumb death of his that no one likes. 

And if I haven’t convinced you yet, then look at these swaps Pi did--

--and tell me they aren’t fucking perfect?? You can’t, because look at them. 

Where’s my Tripp route, Telltale??

---

Honorable Mentions

-If I wasn’t sticking to just ANF characters, Luke probably would’ve made the list because that’s apparently a popular combo and I dig it.  -Pudding... because Javi fucking loves pudding.  -Honestly Max probably would’ve been a better love interest than Kate oof--

---

So, whattya think? Do you agree with this top 5 or nah? Do you have a favorite Javi ship? Let me know, I’d love to hear from you. :D

Next week’s T5F Top 5 Times Lee was the Absolute Best

#twdg t5f #twdg javi #twdg javier #twdg kate #twdg gabe #twdg mariana #twdg clementine #twdg tripp #twdg conrad #twdg eleanor #twdg jane #twdg kenny #twdg jesus

[sir-silly]

TWDG S2 First Playthrough

E1 - Omid’s death is always such a bitchslap. It’s so stupid. Literally, why did they send her in there on her own? Are you kidding me? It’s ridiculous. Omid didn’t have to die. 16 months later?? What??? It would have made way more sense to have made the DLC about those sixteen months and then start at Christa’s camp with no baby or Omid instead of what we got instead. Bull. AND WE STILL DON’T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO CHRISTA.

I think out of the entirety of season 2, Clementine and Luke’s relationship in the first three episodes is my favorite. He becomes an alien after episode two, but he becomes intolerable after three. He’s just such a big brother to her and knows that she can take care of herself. Their relationship is similar to what I think Clem and Ben’s would have been if they ended up alone together after season 1.

I stole Nick’s watch, I’m not sure if I’ll give it back yet just because I think it’s hilarious that you can take it and not give it to him. Speaking of Nick, he 110% sees you when you look through the kitchen door if you never back out and he doesn’t say anything. I decided to go with Pete at the end just because I’ve never seen it played out before.

E2 - Well, ironically enough I prefer going with Nick. The first few times I saw it, I hated it, but it’s really grown on me throughout the years. Pete’s just didn’t feel as emotional or like it had much of an affect on Clementine. I also prefer him telling her about his mom in that shed rather than later on.

Another thing I love about Luke and Clem’s relationship, even though he knows she can take care of herself, he still tries to protect her. He holds his arm out in front of her when Matthew is approaching them on the bridge and is the one that pulls her down to keep her from getting shot. The banter they have is just really sweet and I miss that dynamic between them, I wish it carried throughout the rest of the season.

I was thinking about a missed opportunity the writer’s had while I was playing. Instead of having Walter die no matter what and Nick either die in episode two or four, whether you tell him the truth and/or convince him to forgive Nick should have a different outcome. Only one of them makes it to Howe’s depending on what you decided. You couldn’t convince Walter to forgive him? Nick goes out of his way to save Walter and Carver kills him. You told him Nick was a good guy? Walter sacrifices himself for Nick and gets killed instead. It would give a bigger variety and it would be really interesting to see how Walter would deal with being at Howe’s.

E3 - Troy makes me so uncomfortable. I know they were planning to have him do a lot worse, but he’s still just so ugh, you know? I’m physically incapable of liking Bonnie the more I see season 2. I just know that literally everything is because of her. She finds the group at the ski lodge, she blames Clementine for Luke’s death if she shoots the walkers LIKE HE ASKED, and she’s fully prepared to fucking leave her with a couple maniacs and a baby. Just her presence pisses me off.

I know I’m talking a lot about Clem and Luke, but I don’t care because I just love their relationship before he becomes an alien. I had her hug him which was really cute but I also want to see his reaction if she hits him which I think I’ll do next time. I know he pushes her to do things like every adult in this season, but he still actually seems to worry about her because he is hesitant about sending her to turn on the PA and he stands up to Carver when he says that Clem has seen more things than they could imagine.

E4 - I had no clue what I was going to do with Sarita, but I did end up chopping off her arm. I will forever hate how the adults are like "Kenny's being so scary, he's yelling, I thought he was gonna shoot me" and then they force Clem to go over there even if she says she doesn't want to.

I didn't know this until I looked it up just now, but apparently Nick died from a bite on the neck? This whole time, I thought he somehow just bled out from the gunshot to his shoulder, and I honestly don't know which is worse. His death is such bullshit. You know what else is bullshit? Alien Luke. Literally Rebecca shows more emotion than he does, and it was for all of 2 damn seconds. You know what I would have preferred?

Have Luke start breaking down. Make him just as unable to move as Sarah. Let him lose his mind over the fact that he just lost his best friend of "damn near 20 years" and make us decide whether we convince Luke or Sarah to escape. It's not convince Sarah or leave her, it's you can only save one of them. Again, more variety for those who aren't a fan of Luke and actually make it a hard decision because I feel like I would have a WAY harder time with that than whether to leave Sarah (I didn't by the way).

When Clem looks at the cannon and Jane says, "check the muzzle, napoleon" I really wish there was an option to be like, "Jane, I have a first grade education. I don't know my times tables, who the hell napoleon is, or what the fuck versatility means OR how to spell it. Keep yo damn nail file."

Another thing they could have done with Sarah, is if you saved her in the trailer park, she could have potentially saved herself. And this would be a really interesting one, because the determining factor would have been a thing that appeared as a dialogue option, not a choice choice. In episode two, you can teach her how to use a gun if you pick the right choice. Instead of having her die no matter what, if you showed her, let her actually show that she learned something and is capable of learning how to survive.

Rebecca’s whole situation is bullshit, too. You know, I’d be okay with it if it was changed. If you didn’t give her the pills, the coat and you left the observation deck early, I could buy her dying from hypothermia, exposure, blood loss, etc. But if you give her those things and you stay a few days, I would rather her have died in the firefight. It would have made way more sense. Like, I know a hell of a lot of things can go wrong during giving birth, especially without medical care, but after THREE damn days? I don’t know about that. Whatever you wanna say it was, a placental abruption, hemorrhaging, whatever - she would have died way quicker, not taken three days.

E5 - The writers had two good opportunities to get a chance to kill Kenny before the rest stop was ever a thing. They could have made Natasha go for him and you have the choice of shooting her or not. The could have been done later on when they’re walking through the woods and one comes up behind him. So, say you don’t let him get bitten the first time, but you’re seeing how unhinged he’s becoming, so you let it happen the second time. After that, you don’t get another opportunity.

Another thing about the pills, they’re so annoying. Like, you can only give them to one person. Rebecca, Luke or I think maybe Kenny. Because apparently there were only two damn pills in that bottle that shook like it was full. It’s so annoying. You should be able to give it to whoever you want, not just one of them.

I have so many problems with the ice scene. Yes, Luke, there are in fact TWO ways around. You see those trees? There’s these things called GAPS between them and the lake isn’t so damn big that you couldn’t walk around the damn lake. GRRRRR. When the ice started cracking, where were the choices to tell Luke to throw his gun away from him and to tell Bonnie to keep her fat ass put? “The small child is light, let them do it!” small child: no “Guess I’m just as light as her!” FUCK YOU BONNIE! THEN YOU HAVE THE FUCKING AUDACITY TO BLAME CLEMENTINE WHEN IT WAS CLEARLY YOUR FUCKING FAULT! YOU LITTLE WHORE ASS BITCH-

Sorry. I’m never going to get over Luke’s death or how fucking pissed I am at Bonnie and Mike. They can get fucked for all I care. Can I say, it’s also BULLSHIT that Bonnie makes it out of the ice but Luke doesn’t. Are you kidding me? She can find the hole, but he can’t (😳)?! GRRRR.

I was dreading that rest stop this whole damn game. I had no fucking clue what I was going to do when I finally got there, but I did end up deciding to shoot Kenny and leave Jane behind. I really struggled with deciding and I almost ended up not picking anything (which results in Jane’s death anyway). As much as I despise season 2 Kenny, I also despise Jane for what she did. I kinda wish I had looked away and then shot Kenny afterwards, but it is what it is.

#twdg #the walking dead #the walking dead game #telltale #telltale games #skybound #skybound entertainment #the walking dead telltale #the walking dead telltale games #twdg s2 #twdg season 2 #twdg season two #twdg 400 days #twdg clem #twdg clementine #twdg omid #twdg christa #twdg luke #twdg nick #twdg ben #twdg pete #all that remains #a house divided #in harm's way #amid the ruins #no going back #twdg all that remains #twdg a house divided #twdg in harm's way #twdg amid the ruins

[subtlereferencetomyinterests]

Complexities Unknowable- Chapter Five

Ao3, Chapters   1     2     3     4     6,    MasterPost

Relationships: Deintruality, background Analogince

Yeah he’s still called Deceit. I think it’s weird too, but I will die before I become inconsistent. Also I rewatched DWIT today and I think maybe I don’t know how to write Remus?? w/e. I really like writing dialogue so this one was fun.

Warnings: Cursing, brief caps, eating things that are inedible, all sympathetic sides, light arguing, brief mentions of vomit.

Word Count: 1,357

They were having a Conversation™. Remus hated Conversations™- he always tuned out at the wrong times- but what he hated even more was a dangerous lack of communication. 

“This is all according to my plan- Patton is exactly as shallow and incompetent as I thought he was,” Deceit spat dishonestly, throwing himself onto the bed. Remus continued spinning around wildly in his rolling chair. He considered vomiting from the dizziness, just for fun, but figured that it wouldn’t aid the Conversation™ much. Instead, he settled on expelling words and not his lunch.

“Isn't it a good thing that he’s not a bitch? If he likes us, and we’re all sweet wittle friends who sing songs and hold hands or whatever is up with his whole cottagecore aesthetic, then we don’t need any plan!” Remus stopped spinning for a moment to nod to himself, “I’m fuckable AND a genius. I really am the whole package, aren’t I?” 

Deceit tossed a pillow at him. 

“That’s very realistic of you, Remus. Patton is going to completely forget years of animosity, and so will we, and so will all of the other ‘Light Sides’!”

Remus retrieved his pillow from the ground and took a large bite out of it without breaking eye contact. 

“I think,” he said around a mouthful of memory foam, “that you’re just really good at holding grudges.” 

The Duke was subjected to a withering glare from Deceit, the effect of which somewhat diminished due to the reptilian being completely sprawled out on the bed in a tee shirt and shorts. 

“Ssso you forgive them?”

Remus shifted uncomfortably, resuming his spinning.

“It’s not like that, Dee. It’s like- excuse me for the vomit-worthy sentiment- we all move past it together. I’m not one for the boring non-violent option, but we’ve already tried doing everything else, and being an outcast is also starting to get boring.”

Deceit, a man who would die before admitting he was wrong about anything at any time, was not through arguing. However, rather than his usual drawl with heated undertones, his voice was hushed.

“We can move on, and so can Pa- Morality, apparently- hell, I’d bet that Logan would be all for it! But we need to consider… Them.” 

The only noise after that was the squeaking of Remus’ spinny chair. Occasionally, one would open and then close his mouth, uncomfortably eyeing the other, but never speaking. 

Eventually, mercifully, there was a knock at the door. 

Remus hopped to his feet with a relieved grin. Deceit sat up quickly and snapped himself into his usual attire.

“Wait, who-” 

But before the snake could finish, his boyfriend had already flung open the door to reveal Patton on the other side. He wore a hesitant smile, holding something rectangular. 

“Hey, Kiddo. I don’t wanna intrude, but I think you left this in the kitchen this morning?” He held out the rectangle- a sketchbook! Remus’ sketchbook! Creativity snatched it back from him excitedly.

“Aw, thanks Patty! I’ve been looking for this!” He bumps Patton’s shoulder as he talks, half on accident and half a sign of appreciation. The emotional trait laughed, bumping back.

It’s crazy just how out of place Morality looked standing in his doorway, all pastel and neat and soft. The smile he returned was awkward, but happy and genuine, and it was kinda the best thing to look at. 

Remus zoned back in to see Deceit hovering by his shoulder, waving lazily at their visitor. Patton waved back, and the interaction grew prolonged. 

“Um- well- I’ll just be going, then,” he made to leave, which just wouldn’t do at all! The Duke grabbed his wrist. 

“Stay a while! if you’re scared, I promise I only bite a little!” 

Patton giggled at the joke (it was only partly a joke).

“I wouldn’t want to be a third wheel-”

“You’d rather go be a fourth wheel?” Deceit spoke up unexpectedly, earning a proud look from Remus. Looked like he could interact with people after all!

Morality laughed again, tugging at the sleeves of his hoodie.

“Okay, point taken. I really do need to go make lunch for the others- they’d probably starve without me- but I could come back later?”

Before Deceit could say whatever snippy and non-committal thing he was going to say, Remus accepted the offer and told Patton to come by whenever (‘but you might walk in on a sultry scene, Snakeskin can’t keep his hands off me’) and swung the door closed. He spun around and grinned at his partner. 

“See?”

“What am I seeing.”

“It is that easy to make friends! Aren’t you gonna thank me for saving you from yourself?”

Deceit scoffed.

“You’d know if he didn’t wanna hang out with us! You have a literal super power that tells you when people are faking!”

Deceit rolled his eyes.

“Do you want to be a hermit forever?”

Deceit shrugged.

That was the last straw. Remus solemnly took a few steps until he and Deceit were nose to nose. He then threw an arm around Dee’s shoulders and sent them both careening onto the bed, at which point the snake finally made a sound.

“Urgh! Get off!”

“Not until you talk to me!” 

“You’re crushing me!”

“Tough Snitties!”

Deceit groaned loudly and went limp. Despite having six arms, he was all lank and not much strength. 

“Fine, you win, I’ll talk!”

Remus rolled off of him and sat up. Deceit stayed on his back and glared threateningly at the chandelier. 

“I- I’m not- no, I am- Jesus- I’m worried. This isn’t exactly familiar territory, people liking us. He’s probably still trying to prove a point to himself about how ‘nice’ he is.”

“Is he? You would know.”

“I can’t tell! I don’t think so, but it really isn’t that simple!”

That wasn’t good. DeeDee couldn’t just not know, he knew everything! About everyone! He was mysterious and hot and clever and if he didn’t know what was happening, then that meant that Remus would have to be the competent one. Fuck. 

“Well- You’re the one who told him about our plan! And you were the one that told him we weren’t doing it anymore!”

“I know! It seemed like a good idea at the time!”

“I think that a good idea would be telling him ‘we kinda fucked up, but so did you, let’s be friends,’ and moving on with our lives, Dee.”

“Horrible idea. And besides, what’s there to gain anymore, now that we’ve reached a stalemate? I won’t go on hurting the little guy, but I never said I’d do anything for him. The plan’s through, he knows that and so do we. Let’s just quit visiting him and leave it at that, seeing as there’s no point anymore-”

Remus screamed. He took all of his frustration with the conversation and just howled. That shut Deceit right up.

“What the hell?!”

“You’re being stupid! You always do this, when there’s a problem that needs effort to solve you’re like ‘oh, let’s bail, we’ve got each other and it’s fine’! Face it, you’ve gone soft and you don’t wanna stop hanging out with Patton, but you’re scared! Ooh, Ooh, also! We did bad stuff on purpose- and they totally deserved it-  but I know for a fact that Patty’s fuck-ups were on accident.”

“...We do have each other.”

Of course that was what Deceit chose to focus on. Remus pulled his partner up to face him.

“Duh! But that doesn’t mean we give up on everything else, dipshit! Maybe now we can actually talk to Roman and Virgil!” 

They never said those names. It was an unspoken household rule. Remus never was any good at following rules.

Deceit’s eyes widened almost comically as he stared at The Duke, mouth slightly ajar. His shoulders were tensed up to his ears, but he didn’t argue. He didn’t snap. He was listening, finally. 

“Can we at least try letting things get better, Snakey?” Remus let his voice drop, running his hand up and down Deceit’s arm.

The trait let out a sigh, averting his eyes before answering.

“No, I guess we can’t.”

Tags:

@deceits-left-glove​ 

@princemesscharming

@shrimp-crockpot

#deintruality #intrualiceit #Complexities Unknowable #my writing #fanfic #fanfiction #ts fanfic #sanders sides #ts #dukeceit #demus #intruceit #receit #intruality #moceit #janus #patton #remus #deceit #ts remus #ts janus #ts patton #tw cursing #tw caps #chapter fic

[lunchador]

so when do we get the long post about your feelings about dragon age inquisition!!! i dunno if u wanna wait until dlc or not! i am i n t e r e s t e d (also its ok if u dont feel up to it im just!!!! again, interested in ur opinions/feelings)

kajsldkjf PLEASE I HAVE SO MANY DA FEELINGS ALL THE TIME and Inquisition was twice as long as the others so might as well do a word vomit now and I can always do another after the dlc (which several people have assured me are worth playing )

SO

Yeah so inquisition is long. I dislike open world games so a lot of the (super repetitive!!) side quests did grate on my nerves and that docks this game a few points but over all the LORE IS SO GOOD, and it tying in so many choices in from 1+2 is the greatest butterfly effect I ever experienced in video games. I thought telltale + Until dawn were fun for that but good LORD bioware has showed up all of those games and I am really stoked to try mass effect when its out later and play more bw games. I only played Anthem before this and that game seemed...idk, gutted against BW’s wishes.

ANYWAY

Yeah, I managed to go into the whole DA series knowing very, very little, despite how many artists I followed did fanart for it. Once I started playing, I added all the words I could think of to my blacklist but a lot of untagged stuff came through (fair, series is 10+ years old and inq is like what 4-5?). I allowed my friends to pressure me into playing an elf mage for the lore and to romance solas cuz they said he was as important to the story as alistair was. A lot of online followers said I should play how I wanted, which I def would recommend to anyone else, but honestly I can see where they came from and while he never would have been my first choice, I think he actually paired REALLY well with my Inq and how I was playing her. I put her as sensitive but trying to put her responsibility above herself, she was definitely the least funny of my 3 characters, but not incredibly serious. A bit reserved? Just more mature. She’s got faith but she didn’t think she was the chosen one but she’ll do her role the best of her ability. She makes hard decisions and then sobs her chest empty over them because how is one to ever feel like its the right one? I really like how the game lets you choose how you wanna approach the responsibility. Like i said, I wasn’t a reluctant chosen one, but she will do what she can. Versus my friend playing at the same time as me said he played as the second coming of jesus essentially lmfao Having so many characters come back for different roles was so GOOD!!! Like everyone told me Varric was in this one but were like ‘teehee you still cant romance him though’ but you how you play drastically changes your relationships with each person. Tons of characters I met I knew would be personal favorites but I ended up interacting way less because others were more fitting to my inquisitor. So i.e while I love Varric and would’ve smooched him a heartbeat with Hawke, I didn’t get that vibe with Clover. They were really good friends, he was a grounded friend with a sense of humor that was a good escape from everyone else and the ~inquisition~. At least, until the Beyond the Abyss quest. That obviously heavily fractured their friendship and hurt them both :( And i felt that for a long time, until the end. He looked tired. Poor guy is gonna be borderline dead in 4 at this point. But so many side characters you talk to coming back like Dagna and Samson??? Speaking of that quest, I got Stroud because, yeah...Alistair was dead for me and APPARENTLY IT COULD ALSO BE LOGHAIN??? If he stays a grey warden??  wish I did that so def would’ve preferred to save Hawke even if I think the wardens are more important as a concept but like.......i wanted to behead him, so....But yes even tiny details like..Varric wrote home to kirkwall to Carver for me because the rest of my family was dead and I never completed a full romance in 2 lkajslkdjf but the fact that changes based on your play through. BUT YEAH THE way this game weaves all your decisions in and how yeah, overall the story is the same but it makes it so personal to YOU and so different from everyone else ;w;

But I could see my Inq genuinely falling for Solas, and I see her best friends as Cassandra and Blackwall/Thom. Really close to Leliana and the Iron Bull as well. I just loved all their interactions. All the characters were so cool to get to know?? Like I thought I would’ve hated Cullen (hes a dick in O) and tbh I just got into the series as the VA was being a complete shit. But I liked him a lot!! I love the work buddies vibes between the Inq and the advisors. I thought I was going to love Sera!! And like, I did, but she hated my Inquisitor and their personalities clashed a lot. Shes the only one i didn’t get a cut scene for in the end :’) I loved coming back from story quests and having to take like 20 minutes to go around skyhold and make sure I talked to /everyone/ for their new dialogue. You genuinely feel connected to all these wonderful npcs ljkasljdf

I wanted to make Cassandra the new divine but I made leliana on accident and kinda dug it so I stuck with it. VARRIC IS THE NEW VISCOUNT??? h i l a r i o u s.

One of the things I loved the most in this game in particular, and while this is something in all of them it just really struck me in this one, was....everyone gave up so so much to devote themselves to the cause, y’know?? Like, it’s almost heartbreaking how much everyone loses and they’re still looking towards you with their belief and willingness to follow you to the end ;-;

The final fight almost felt, Idk, underwhelming? Dude dragons are way tougher than him asdkjhfkhjd. I even went up a difficulty in this game after feeling like I got the hang of the series. But at the same time, we just spend how many hours knocking down each and one of his advantages so fuck him lol.

But yeah there are so many things I wanted to do but I felt so worn out by mindless sidequests and story being level locked in comparison to the previous games. askdjhflkd

One of the things that blows my mind is so so many people were stoked i was playing DA and they couldn’t wait til I got to Inq, and so I find out most people I know only ever played Inquisition? TBH if I didn’t play O+2 I think I would’ve dropped inquisition and never finished it *shrug* all of the build up just means SO MUCH!!! Everyones argument seems to be the older games are ugly and yeah O has rough battle system but its easy to get over imo. Like, you need the chaos of 2 to get the real weight of the mage/templar stuff?? Theres so many characters and story and dialogue that go over your head without Origins?? Like yes inq can stand alone pretty well but, idk, I’m in love with this entire series and the world building and THE!! WAY!!! IT!!! ALL!!! CONNECTS!!!!!!!!!!!

I love how a quest can go differently by whos in your party, I love you can have more dialogue based on lore you’ve managed to pick up around, I love HOW COMPANIONS BICKERRRRRRRRRRRR!!!! The lore of these games are so good. It’s like playing an epic line of novels. It’s so immersive and I don’t think I’ve played too many games to this level.

I didn’t like the skill trees to being a mage in this one, Idk why. It wasn’t nearly as fun for me as 2, but then  again I really fucking liked being a force mage haha. I wanted to be a rogue to complete a diff class per game but everyone said mage brings a lot more interesting story/lore stuff so

but yeah I love having the full context now and seeing other peoples Wardens/Hawkes/Inquisitors and asking people how they played and how their options differed from mine and THERES JUST SO MANY POSSIBLE DECISION TREES!!!!! No wonder the fans play over and over.

but yeah ultimately so much fucking happened?? I’m probably missing a lot of key points.

[darkpoisonouslove]

“Revenge of the Trix” Thoughts

Diving into this second special and I have to say that I am actually quite excited to see how this will go. It was fun comparing the first special to season 1 even though I kinda expected to be angered. But good news! I wasn’t. Not so much at least and I really hope that pattern will continue.

- I am not quite sure but I think they changed the timeline a little bit. Though, if it means I get the festival of the rose or that battle with the witches in Magix, I am down! I doubt it but I will hold on to my hopes until they get dashed!

- I am still puzzled by Faragonda’s remark about the “powerful forces here at work”. What does that mean? Who is she talking about? She can’t be wary of Daphne so what the hell is happening? Was she concerned at the possibility of Bloom having Dragon Fire? I really hope they will explain some of this. But I like that they added the fact that Daphne was the princess of Domino. It wasn’t in the original of this scene and I am glad they changed that.

- Okay, without the bike rescue and the way the dialogue in that scene is reworked, the Riven and Darcy stuff is way more disturbing than it used to be! She straight up spelled him without any connection being made outside of that and it just looks way too creepy. Not to mention that it does a disservice to Riven’s character as well because if Darcy never rescued him, he has no other reason to be meeting her other than “I don’t care about my friends, just about being great”.

- Spring break? Wow! We really sped through that school year.

- Was that montage from Gardenia in the original? I don’t quite remember that but it is cute as hell! And to end it with Mike and Vanessa hugging while happily watching their daughter? I will go sob now if you’ll excuse me. Beautiful.

- Wait, she’s dreaming of the night Mike saved her from the fire (instead of, you know, the fire in the flower shop)? And by the looks of it, in this she doesn’t know that she’s adopted like she did in 4kids season 1... I am actually in trepidation over this next scene.

- Well, that scene went better than I thought it would. But she really didn’t know about being adopted. I am just glad that she didn’t get mad they hadn’t told her the truth. It would have broken my heart. And they are her parents anyway.

- Omg, Bloom is asking all the right questions! I cannot believe it! I am absolutely ecstatic that they changed that part because now it is really making sense (I had given up on ever saying that in regards to Winx Club again so I vote my decision to watch the specials “fucking spectacular”). She connected the dots about getting her powers from her birth parents! I have been so salty about her not asking that in season 1 but they fixed it! Imma go happy sob again.

- Faragonda is showing her stuff now? Of her own volition? Nice! I just don’t think the “Daphne lived in a lake” thing makes sense. Didn’t her soul go there after her body was destroyed by the curse of Sirenix? That is different! And considering Faragonda’s past with the Company of Light, that is not all that she knows about Daphne so she’s kinda lying.

- Now that she saw the crown, does that mean that they don’t get to waste time going to Domino even though her powers were inside her all along? I really, really hope so! And the way Daphne presented the crown to her could be taken as symbolism about Daphne passing it down to her now that Bloom is the only living heir to the throne of Domino. That was a cool detail and a great change imo (especially if they aren’t gonna go to Domino).

- Well, Lucy’s PoV was kinda made more... understandable, I guess? Like, the wording was better... right before the very end of that argument between her and Mirta. That was somehow meaner than what happened in s1. But I actually like the change to the scene with Mirta casting her spell to spy on the Trix. I think it makes more sense than the way it was done in s1.

- How does she know there is an archive in Cloud Tower when she has never been there? I think this scene suffers from the changes. And it is also really convenient that she decided to break into CT just in time for the Trix to trick her. I think those scenes were backwards in s1 and it was after the Trix saw her in CT that they came up with their plan which was better because it didn’t look so staged. Also, “What are friends for?” Yeah, right, Sky. Friends. Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure. And you weren’t totally on a date.

- That scene with the Specialists was pretty intense considering its length. Since when is Brandon being the cautious one? While Timmy is like “Sure I’ll help you commit major offense against school rules, no probs”? I could take Brandon’s behavior as a best friend’s worry and Timmy’s as a friend’s desire to help out but it still seems a bit out of place. I am just glad that Sky is taking care of the tactics instead of just throwing himself at it.

- And there is no defense system or anything here. I can’t tell if that’s good or bad. It was kinda random when it popped up in s1 (never to be seen again, mind you) but it seems a bit illogical for the school to not have some kind of protection (especially if it has powerful spells inside). Idk.

- I am stunned by Sky’s absolute dumbassery that is bordering on being an asshole (and even tipping right into it). What does it matter if she’s a witch? She is still the same Bloom she was before she learned it, wtf, dude? (Not to mention that this pisses me off greatly because it implies that all witches are pure evil.) I just can’t understand why Bloom didn’t wonder how she has a fairy form then. She can turn into a fairy and that is pretty solid proof that she isn’t a witch. Why didn’t she question it?

- Awww! I love how worried Winx are for Bloom! And I think they’re skipping classes (and risking to get in big trouble with Griselda) to go look for her. True friendship!

- What is she doing sleeping in the bushes? And why doesn’t she just try to fly there? You know, get some proof for herself that she’s a fairy since she has the wings and all?

- Why is Stormy just setting random patches of grass on fire? I agree with Darcy, it can be dangerous if she sets the whole forest on fire.

- “Why would we be so cruel? For giggles.” XDDD

- They changed Mirta’s powers to transforming emotions into energies? That is kinda cool but isn’t that what all magic does?

- The Dragon just swept the Trix away? Is that what happened? It looked like it just fucked off into the sky without doing shit but I digress. But aww at the way Tecna scooped up Bloom so carefully! It was adorable!

- If I were Bloom, I would leave Sky a very angry message and he’d have to give a real good apology for me to take him back. The moment she appeared to be something he didn’t expect, he pulled away from her. That is not someone you want to be in a relationship with. I just wish Bloom would figure out that she can do better. If he shallow like that, you don’t need him, hon. (But hey, don’t blame Kiko! And that wasn’t bad advice! If you want to talk to someone, you should fucking call them! That was good advice.)

- Oh, no! No, no, no, no! Please, not the Day of the Royals! I beg of you! Though, it will have to happen because that is what makes Bloom go back to Gardenia where the Trix corner her. But what will happen with the Diaspro story? Bloom knows that Sky is Sky. Though, he still didn’t tell her he was engaged so I guess there can be drama over that. Ugh, why?

- “That’s a relief”? Fuck you, Sky! So her not being a witch is what makes or breaks this relationship - actually, pardon me, THIS FRIENDSHIP according to his own definition - and not, you know? Her goddamn personality maybe? Damn, what a fucker. Seriously, he is so much worse than in s1. Bloom should really stop wasting time on his sorry ass and go snatch Diaspro for herself instead. Why does he have a picture of Diaspro btw? He does not really care for her... like, at all. Not that he cares for anyone, apparently.

- Oh, so now he loves Bloom? Also, great going, Timmy! Yeah, just suggest breaking off a royal engagement. Without even asking what the political situation is. That is not the best idea. I mean, there was the possibility that Eraklyon needed that marriage. Which, of course, they don’t but still. It ain’t that simple. (God, I hate giving Sky an excuse but this really is a complicated situation. Though, he could have just told Bloom about the arranged marriage instead of lying to her.)

- She could have just waited instead of going for the option of getting them all in trouble. It was only one day. But at least Winx tried to talk her out of it instead of being right there with her in the impulsiveness. And yet, they still decided to support her like friends do. That is cute!

- “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.” Ya think? And yes, being around Erendor and Samara is definitely not a great experience.

- Ooh, she saw Sky directly with Diaspro! Damn, that changes things. And I hate to admit it but it makes more sense because at least now she has a solid reason to jump to conclusions.

- Oh, no! She thinks it is the Trix again. Honestly, I just wish she would have seen Sky for the lying piece of shit that he is! It would have saved so much trouble. I feel bad for Diaspro, though. She just got attacked without having done anything to deserve it. Shocking, I know. But none of this was her fault.

- Sky really did that with Riven? I thought he would be more mature than Riven but nope. He is really campaigning for asshole of Red Fountain. I know Riven started this but Sky has previous offenses against both Bloom and Diaspro so he takes the cake.

- Codatorta was very quick into action. It was kinda impressive. I see that the conflict between Griffin and Faragonda is non-existent here. “I see it’s not just my students who can behave badly”? This coming from Griffin? That has the exact opposite tone of her line in the original. It’s kinda like “Well, we’re in this together because obviously neither my, nor your students know what the hell they are doing.” Though, it can still be taken as a subtle dig as in “You thought you had the high ground when you sent me back the Trix but look at what your fairy has done!”. That actually sounds more like it, though her tone of voice was still a bit too soft for a confrontation.

- Hey, no nightmare monster? But does that mean that the Trix don’t get expelled from CT?

- Aww, I wish she wouldn’t just leave her friends behind! And that montage of memories. (But what the heck is Tecna doing at that fountain? Get down from there, Tecna! I thought you were the reasonable one!)

- How do the Trix know Bloom is from Gardenia? It sounds like they are the bestest of friends with her instead of mortal enemies.

- Awwwwww! Mike and Vanessa keep being so supportive! I love it!

- I actually think I like how they reworked this scene! Icy dropped them in the portal thingy (whatever the hell it was) to force Bloom to transform and lower her guard at the same time and I think it made some more sense than the original did.

- “Our ancestral witches”? That sounded kinda weird. I was just about to say in my conclusion for this special that they dropped the Daphne storyline halfway through this but I see they haven’t. I am pleasantly surprised! And Bloom actually learns that she is her sister (which for some reason was missing from the 4kids dub) as well as all the stuff about Domino. Well, all in very vague terms but still.

- I actually prefer the original way they plucked the fire out of her. It was more jarring while here the animation was just a tad bit too smooth for what it needed to accomplish.

- Oh, and here her fairy form just vanished after they took the flame? I love that! It was the one thing that instantly told me that she still had her powers in s1 because she still had her winx for a while after they took it from her. But here it disappeared the moment the Trix took off with her power. I am curious to see if it is actually gone. Though, I can understand how believing she doesn’t have it anymore can get in the way of her transforming because magic comes from emotions.

This was actually better than I thought it would be and I went in with some expectations because of the first special! I am so pleasantly surprised! The plot carried well throughout this one as well and I supported about 95% of the changes they made from the original storyline which is a lot more than I expected! There was a thing or two that didn’t make much sense, but overall, this was pretty logical! My nitpick would be with the title of this special because the Trix weren’t all that central to it and there was no revenge whatsoever here. I would call it more of a hunt, really. So that would’ve been better if it had been something else having to do with Bloom since she remained at the front and center the whole time... And that didn’t annoy me at all. Wow! I kinda wish they will rework all the seasons into specials now if they can make me like Bloom (though, I admittedly had my moments of that in s1 as well. It is just that the later on we go, the more I can’t stand her). Now I am hyped about the next one and I really hope I won’t be disappointed because it will be such a shame after the good work in this one. (Oh, and the rest of Winx didn’t have much role in this one but I was actually so absorbed in the Bloom storyline that I didn’t notice until this very moment. Man, these specials are really working a miracle here!)

#winx club #winx bloom #anti sky #winx diaspro #winx mirta #trix #winx icy #winx darcy #winx stormy #winx mike #winx vanessa #winx specials #revenge of the trix #thoughts #review

[kaypeace21]

why is there so much denial of Will being gay?? Like, nothing Will has done has shown him to be anytging but possibly gay. Like, nobody thinks he'z gay because he's a nerd that doesn't have a girlfriend!! We think he's gay because of all the fucking subtext!!!!

There are a few reasons for this, and they’re all (for the most part) rooted in homophobia. 1) There are those who (may or may not) notice the subtext, but ignore it with the excuse of “he’s too young; stop sexualizing him!”. All while shipping lumax, and mileven. Whether they want to admit it or not, this is homophobic! They view (subconscious or otherwise) being queer as inherently sexual, dirty, and adult. And that only straight relationships can be pure and innocent and based on compatible personalities. Straight kids can have innocent crushes (but in their eyes) queer kids can’t- they may not even exist, to them. 

 2) There are some mileven shippers (who whether they want to admit it) hate Will, because the possibility he has powers or is gay- threatens their precious het ship. Because a lot of them don’t see El as her own person (just a part of their ship) or a vessel for being a badass with powers. They don’t appreciate her for the nuanced character she is.  They either get angry at the idea of Will being gay or having powers, or are only happy with him being queer if he’s sad and in an unrequited one-sided love/ or is single forever. Or they’ll say “why don’t you just ship him with someone else… like Dustin?” Ignoring the fact Dustin hasn’t been queer coded like Mike (or had romantically coded scenes with Will), or that people ship byler for Will and Mike, not cause it’s simply m/m. I mean, can you imagine byler shippers saying ‘Just ship El with Dustin, it’s a guy and girl… it’s practically the same thing”? No, of course not! It shows their bias- and how they feel privileged and entitled to their straight ship even though there are millions of similar ships in media to choose from- unlike queer ships which are far and few in between. However, we’re supposed to be the ones who pick another option- and are told our ships are ‘all the same’. Whether they are aware of this bias, they consider queer ships a joke, and all the same.

3) Those who relate to Will and his struggles,  hate the idea of relating to a queer character. There is a reason why shows like ‘Will &Grace’ in the 90s were popular, but even today the second a character who people assumed was straight is revealed as lgbt+ viewers get angry! It’s because they feel ‘tricked’ into liking, relating and empathizing with a character that they would otherwise have immediately put in a ‘box’ and  distanced themselves from . Whether they are aware of it or not, they would immediately attribute stereotypes to them and never try to empathize with them, because ‘they’re gay, and ‘how can I relate to that’? They don’t want to relate to them (because subconscious or otherwise) they think being gay is bad or just too foreign.They don’t see queer people as full-fledged people. They’re just gay- nothing more.

Which is why when they angrily say “he’s just afraid to grow up, HE’S NOT GAY!”  They are essentially saying a gay, abused kid, who has ptsd, and was violated by the MF (and was also hinted m**ested by Lonnie too) can’t be afraid to grow up, since he lost his childhood. Only straight people have these type of human-fears and characterizations!

Forget the fact, that Will also wouldn’t want to grow up- because than he’d have to acknowledge his sexuality (at a time where all you heard about gay men was they were evil , mentally ill, going to hell and dying of aids as a punishment by god). Not to mention Will’s ptsd and the fact he lost 2 years of his childhood on top of that.He even says “I’m not … going to fall in love” (not convincingly) , right after the movie date with Mike.

4) They’re so used to straight media, and everyone being presumed straight and having media catered to them (the straight audience)- That they’ll ignore or miss every hint there is a queer character. 

So what are the hints of Will being gay (or at least- some other lgbt identity.

Called many homophobic slurs  since s1 ( specifically ”queer, fag, fairy, and gay”) by his dad and bullies. Jonathan in s1 tells Will to “not like things just because people tell you you’re supposed to, especially not him” ( ‘him’ referring to their dad). Is positioned behind a rainbow apple poster in the av room (ref. to Alan Turning the gay creator of computers), dances with a girl with a rainbow hair-clip, has rainbow bandaids, has his mom says she’s ”so proud” (lgbt+ pride ref) of the rainbow ship he drew . When Will disparages himself as a “freak”, Jonathan asks Will, who would you rather be friends with-  David Bowie (who was openly bi since the 70s) or Kenny Rogers? Will says Bowie, and Jonathan agrees saying “see, it’s no contest”. In the pitch to netflix the Duffers described Will as having “sexual identity issues”. In the leaked s2 snowball script it says “he’s not looking at the cute girl- but Mike.”

All of s2 directly paralleled ‘romantic s1 mileven scenes’ to ‘supposedly platonic byler scenes’. No joke, they had identical scenes, with almost identical framing and dialogue, but it’s all dismissed as friendship (even though the scenes are identical).Byler was also  paralleled to Jancy, Stancy, Jopper, bob/joyce and others. . You can headcannon Will as whatever you want, but like it or not- Will is queer and m/m! We could debate his exact queer sexual identity , but Will was never written and will never be written to be ‘straight’! Stay mad!

If Will was Wilma, the majority of the fandom would be byler shippers. Think about it! Mike having byler scenes that are identical to s1 mileven scenes, and then additional unique byler scenes. Mike staying by Wilma’s side 24 hours a day for several days (not even changing clothes), carrying her out of the hospital, grabbing her hand (with a zoom in shot),constantly asking her if she’s okay at least 5-7 times, putting his arm around her twice, being the only one who could tell something was off with her (and it wasn’t her normal type of quiet). Calling and running all the way to her house and banging on the door to check on her, desperate. Proclaiming “i’m the only one who cares about Wilma!” Watching her sleep cause he’s so worried, that shed scene reminiscing about how they first met in perfect detail, saying “I asked, I asked if you wanted to be my friend. You said yes, you said yes. It was the best thing I’ve ever done. (like a marriage proposal)”  The “crazy together” scene. Them being close since they were 5 vs the girl he knew for a week (but is somehow in love with?). If the witness said about El in s1 , “ same height… it could be the Byers girl”, instead of ‘boy’ (pointing out the resemblance). Mike getting into fights and getting upset (almost crying) about the bullies insulting Wilma. Mike having a whole binder of her drawings and caressing one of the drawings, after he thinks she died.  Being the only one of her friends to stay awake at the hospital, waiting for her to wake up- so he can see her and hug her first. Almost everyone would be team byler if Will was a girl- they probably would of started shipping it the second Wilma stared at him and was the only one who didn’t lie to him, in the first ep! Another parallel to El! 

And again think about s3 if Will was a girl.They paralleled the (comedic) mileven breakup vs (the sad/serious) byler breakup. Then Mike just complained and burped on the couch vs apologizing to Willma multiple times/even going into a storm to apologize a 2nd time (and to ‘talk’). Willma having a breakdown over the fight vs El laughing and high five-ing Max after.The shed vs the pool shed scene- “best thing I’ve ever done” vs “you’re the most important thing in the world to me”, “blank makes you crazy’ (as El stares confused) vs “crazy together’ (where Wilma says ‘yeah, crazy together). Mike going on ‘movie dates with Willma all the time’ right after making out with El. The last mileven kiss where Mike has his eyes open the whole time, doesn’t kiss back, and says he doesn’t remember saying “I love her” to El (and doesn’t say ‘I love you’ back). Right after having a talk with Wilma about playing games when she comes back (the crux of their fight). Mike getting excited that he’ll be able to visit El and Wilma on Thanksgiving and them visiting him on Christmas (those are holidays where family usually introduces their S.O.) Having the last scene of Mike,  be him looking back at Wilma’s house, and have that whole monologue in that scene be about “feelings changing”, and then he goes to hug his mom like the s1 byler scene where he thought Wilma was dead. And that’s not even all the scenes- and every time byler won by a landslide. If Will was a girl, it would be obvious writing on the wall, that Mike would eventually choose Wilma over El by the end of the series.

But since they are 2 boys, we’re delusional, because queer kids don’t exist … apparently.

#byler #byeler #will byers

[jackyjango]

Dark Phoenix Review

I saw Dark Phoenix yesterday and I wanted to bank in my reactions until Saturday, because many more would have watched the film by then, but it turns out that I’m not very good at keeping my opinions to myself. I almost didn’t sleep the whole night (which isn’t healthy. lol)

So I’ll empty my guts here and leave it. You can read it now, or after you’ve watched the movie or not at all. Life’s full of options.

Oh, and 1 more thing, spoilers come free with my opinions

Who is that man in a wheelchair with a bald head and? They say he’s Charles Xavier. Listen, you want to portray Charles in grey shades, be my guest. Charles does have many dark qualities. He’s prideful, he’s manipulative, but one thing he’s not is selfish. He wouldn’t put his interests before the lives of someone he loves and cares. In fact, one of Charles’ greatest downfall is that he loves and cares too much. The man who practically drunk himself to death over Raven leaving him doesn’t shed a tear when she dies, instead gives a speech on what a hero she was.That, to me is not Charles Xavier. You get to see the real Charles Xavier only for the first 5 and last 15 minutes of the film, which is quite a tragedy in itself.

Jean making Charles walk up a flight of stairs while he pleads for her to stop was SO painful to watch. I can hate this movie for that scene alone. Using Charles’ disability against him is all kinds of screwed up.

The Helmet and the wheelchair has become symbolic of Erik and Charles in a way. I understand Jean destroying both of those is metaphorical and all, but they could have done it without putting Charles through that pain and humiliation.

I absolutely don’t understand Raven’s characterisation. Now, she’s suddenly the one to lecture about family (She’s not Mystique anymore). Wasn’t she the one giving speeches on how they’re not kids anymore and that they need to fight and not hide behind walls? And suddenly, they’re kids all over again? (They’re in their late twenties for fuck’s sake) The friction between her and Charles is really tiring.

Telling a little girl that she was responsible for her mother’s death and that her father didn’t want her because he thought that she was a freak is apparently the right thing to do. Brave XMCU! Blaming Charles for hiding that truth away and sending them on dangerous missions while he stays back is a low blow (He didn’t think about himself when he passed out using the cerebro, did he Raven? Is that dangerous enough for you!!?) Urghhh! I won’t even understand that trajectory, so fuck it. It pisses me off to no end.

As I expected, the friction between Charles and Hank is just baseless. Blaming Charles for Raven’s death (come on man, that was an ACCIDENT!!!) and running away to kill Jean was contradicting. Because Raven dies trying to save Jean and Hank now wants to do everything that Raven would have done? (Uhhhh? Where is the logic, exactly?)

I don’t know who wrote that scene where Hank forces Charles to admit that Raven’s death was his fault, because I’m sure I’ll tear that person to shreds if I meet them) ‘Come on, man. Admit it. Admit it to me right now!’ It’s not a juvenile version of ‘Truth or Dare’ where you force your friend to admit that they have a crush on someone.

Hank and Erik “bonding” over the fact they both loved Raven. You know what, I don’t even want to get started on that shit trail.

Why portray Charles as an almost-alcoholic? Was it really required? What did you want to show? That he’s drowning his sorrows and short comings in alcohol.? Well, in order to do that, you have to portray his sorrows first, you geniuses. It’s some shitty story telling.

Why bring in the storyline of Quicksilver being Mag’s son when you’re not going to broach the topic at all? Not once, not even in passing.

Hey, you know what? I’m terrible at writing dialogues. I write shit dialogues. But I thought that I could write better dialogues than who ever has written it in this movie. And if I can write better than them, just imagine how bad it is: In no universe I know would Charles say things like, ‘Yep’ and ‘Damn it man’. And in no universe would Erik say, ‘Save your ‘old friend’ shit Charles’. Listen, Erik might be a lot of things, but he isn’t the one to disrespect relationships. Above all else, Charles is the only meaningful relationship he has in his life (and need not be in a romantic way). He would in no way disrespect it. ‘So… yeah, I have killed people’ IS THAT THE BEST DIALOGUE YOU COULD HAVE COME UP WITH, YOU IDIOTS!? Bad dialogues are not new to the X-Men movies, but the actors have always pulled them off. Some of them in this are so bad that even James and Michael sound stupid saying it.

Some scenes are so bad that I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Jean just taking off after Raven dies. That’s so uncharacteristic!! You would shoo away a dog better than how Erik sends Jean away from Genosha.’Go! Leave now!’ Really? I almost died out of second hand embarrassment.

The aliens feel SO WEIRD in an X-Men movie. I thought I could get used to the idea, but… no. Didn't happen. You simply cannot associate aliens with an X-Men movie. Avengers, sure. Just not an X-Men movie. It’s not a bad thing necessarily, just weird.

No matter what, I can’t root for Jean and Scott’s relationship in this. The chemistry just falls flat. They look more like brother and sister. And since their relationship plays an important role, that whole branch of that arc doesn't entice me at all.

The trope of ‘someone important in Erik’s life dying to turn him bad again’ isn’t cute the fourth time around.

I knew the ending even before I went to see the movie, so I knew that Charles would leave his school to Scott (as it is in the comics), and I was thrilled at the prospect of cherik being canon. While I’m thrilled for the cherik ending, I feel like Charles was almost forced out of his own school. Okay, he lied to Jean to protect her from the truth, so what, he’s not fit to be a teacher anymore? He’s not the same man who guided and gave you guys a home and showed you how to control your powers, you ungrateful shits? There should have been some sort of closure where Charles chooses to retire voluntarily and says goodbye before leaving.

Well, there ARE some really good aspects to the movie as well. It’s not completely bad. I really enjoyed it in many ways:

The movie is actually centred around Jean, start to end. It shows her struggling with her powers and the story doesn’t stray away from her, so that’s definitely done better than last stand, where Jean was just a fuming bulldozer. I also love how powerful they’ve portrayed her to be.

Genosha is really nice and I especially like Erik’s flat/container/living situation. It’s very rusty and cool. Suits him (I would like that very narrow single bed to turn into a double bed once Charles is there) I also loved Erik’s and Charles’ wardrobes. (Though I prefer Charles in cardigans, suits do him good)

I didn’t like the fight sequence in New York because there were too many unwanted things going on, but I did like the fight sequence in the train. Mags especially! AWESOME!!

All of them fighting together. That’s what I always wanted.

The music is really good. But that’s expected from Hans Zimmers.

These movies would have hit rock bottom if not for the actors. Sophie is AMAZING!! Everyone as well. But Sophie stands out.

The officers in the train scene who are transporting the x-men are called ‘Mutant Containment Unit’. In short, they have MCU (also known as Marvel Cinematic Universe) plastered on their uniforms. Erik telling them ‘you need us’ was brilliant. If it was intentionally put in there, it’s a stroke of genius, else it’s just luck.

There’s a scene in the train sequence where Erik protects Charles, Scott and Jean by closing the compartment they’re in with metal. I literally clapped my hands. Similar to what Sir Ian did it in ‘Days of Future Past’. Not as obvious and grandiose in gesture as the ‘X’ in XMA, but it’s enough to satisfy my little cherik heart. 

I LOVED the chess proposal at the end!! And when Erik said, ‘You gave me a home once and I’d like to return the favour’ I think my heart exploded in my chest. If your OTP flirting with each other in the city of love while one proposes of moving in doesn’t make them canon, then I don’t know what does!!

In short, you’ll love the movie if you only love Jean Grey and Raven. If you love everyone else along with them, well…tough luck.

I said that I’ll be happy as long as they give me a cherik ending.

They did give me a cherik ending and all I want now is to read a fic where Charles and Erik are cuddled up on Erik’s very narrow bed while Erik re-assures Charles with kisses that nothing was his fault. (I’ve deleted the part where Charles loses his hair in XMA from my brain, so Charles still has his luscious locks intact in this fic I want to read)

It’s certainly a private joke to me that 19 years of X-Men ended with cherik being canon. The thing with X-Men, you can love it and hate it at the same time and somehow not get tired of it.

#dark phoenix #xmdp #cherik #spoilers #xmdp spoilers #i'm all for discussions when you watch the movie #but if you want to convince me that charles was wrong- don't even try #and that his characterisation is interesting or whatever they're calling it #don't even try because I won't get convinced #xmdp review #jackyj.txt

[watchingninjago-archive]

Season 4, Episode 8 - Day of the Dragon

So, uh… hopefully we get some explanation about that dream dragon that we’ve been seeing.

[21:17] Guess we’re trying to weed out Chen and Clouse. I hope that Skylor is okay.

[21:13] (Lloyd) “She wasn’t able to pick her family, but she was able to pick her friends.” Stop saying weird shit that doesn’t even help that much, Lloyd, it’s a bad habit you’re picking up from your uncle, but… man. I can see WHY he would choose to say that, considering the first two seasons.

[21:09] Alright, that is… not her choosing but like, I guess so, kid.

[20:31] hey so uh (sees the Falcon pecking at the screen) (i begin bawling)

[19:17] I… I don’t like the looks of where this is going.

[18:47] I can smell those manipulation tactics from a mile away. I get he’s the villian, but still, that’s his daughter what the fuck

[18:06] He is fully okay with his own daughter DYING because of what he’ll get out of it.

I’m going to fucking murder Chen. You try and stop me.

[17:32] okay but if Skylor doesn’t get much focus / only gets focus as the love interest of kai in the later seasons i’m also going to fucking murder the writers she’s very OP and that has a lot of potential

[16:37] Wait, Mind can do that? Messages? That’s neat as hell.

look i’m guessing the Competition Gang isn’t going to be in the show much after the season so uhhh fuck the writers for ignoring perfectly good characters if that’s the case

i could change So Much about this show already and in the later seasons it’ll probably get worse :/

[16:15] Wait, why has Jay’s leg magically healed? Why does continuity make no sense? It’d be fine if the show was episodic but that is not at all the case so… ugghhhh

[15:50] hi dareth. you’re still here.

[15:23] ZANE LISTEN TO YOUR GF AND SLOW DOWN THIS IS WHAT YOU GOT

[15:15] dude we JUST got you back c’mon

[14:55] pixal just fucking calling him out, “perhaps is an understatement”

[14:47] ~like he’s been here before~

Okay, but like… I wonder if anything happens in this series that I could properly insert the song Here Before by Vashti Bunyan into. That song is so good, you guys, give it a listen.

[14:43] Anywho, hi dream dragon

[14:35] Like, what is the deal with Zane? Pixal can’t see what he’s panicking about, so that means that what we’re seeing isn’t the visuals being picked up by Zane’s eyes, but Zane IS seeing what we’re seeing, so this has to be from another cause.

[14:19] OH MY GOD… POOR ZANE. HE… WHATEVER THIS IS, PIXAL CAN’T EVEN HELP AND IT’S JUST STRESSING ME OUT THE POOR GUY

[14:08] What the hell was on this island before, anyhow? Did the people here live before Chen was exiled here?

[12:24] WELP, BIG F

[11:17] okay but look at them! look at those fucking dorks! they’re just chaotic teenagers

[10:54] aww. your romance may have been somewhat rushed but if it’s not got some neat moments

[10:27] oh dammit

[10:14] huh. sure is a fight scene.

literally though if anything majorly Bad happens to Garmadon i’ll commit murder. i know i sound tired but that’s just because i am

[10:06] oh, Come on! Why the fuck did you open the Cursed Realm?

[10:00] Um.

[9:53] UH?

[9:46] fffuck.

[9:43] ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME

[9:32] Oh my god. You absolute piece of shit, Clouse.

[9:24] hahaha why the fuck is this happening

[9:08] OH GOD OKAY GARMADON IS GOING TO GET SOME USE OUT OF WHATEVER HE CAN DO BEFORE HE GOES DOWN.

AND IF THAT MEANS DRAGGING CLOUSE TO HELL, THEN HE CAN DRAG AS HARD AS HE GODDAMN WANTS TO.

[9:06] God bless flimsy vines, sometimes.

[8:53] OH THANK F U CK OKAY GARMADON IS OKAY HE’S OKAY

[8:44] BACK TO THE OTHER TRAUMATISING THING

[8:37] Pixal, love you, but you reaaally aren’t helping

[8:22, round about] (Zane) “I am not the White Ninja. I am a replica. I am… afraid.” HEY WRITERS DON’T RIP MY FUCKING HEART OUT AGAIN

[8:17] oh my god he doesn’t realise it isn’t actually real he’s using his powers and thinking he isn’t able to stop something that isn’t there

[8:00] I did not go into this Lego show to get emotionally beat up. I went into this because I thought it wasn’t that good, it would be good joke material, it would just be a somewhat tedious but fun exercise in just what on earth is out there. And… true, it fufills some of those things, but it also has me putting off watching a character say he can’t be who he is, he’s a replica, a fake, he can’t do anything to stop a threat only he can see, because that shit hurts. It’s good that it hurts, but it was never on my mind I would feel that way when everyone in the show is a Lego minifig.

[around 7:48] (Zane) “I am not the White Ninja. I am not the White Ninja.”

(Pixal) “Who are you, then?”

[7:39] (Zane) “I am… the Titanium Ninja.”

[7:34] (Zane) “I… I am the Titanium Ninja!”

THAT’S MY BOY!!!

[7:07, also round about] (Zane) “I am the Titanium Ninja!” LOOK AT HIM!!! LOOK AT HIM GO!!!

like there’s dialogue between this but like seriously coming to terms that you’ve changed as a person, and that you’re never going to be the same but you’re better for it is just… a good message yknow.

[6:59] Back to the Competition Gang’s kind of… what? Prisoner-holding area? I  guess?

[6:52] Oh, shit. The back of Garm’s shirt is undone. You can see part of his tattoo. Only the other Ninja excl. Zane know about it.

[6:43] OH FUCK IT’S LIKE THE DARK MARK

[6:29] oh god oh fuck this isn’t going wellllllOH MY GOD

OH. OH NO.

[5:24] OH NO. OH HOLY SHIT THIS IS NOT GOOD

[5:21] honestly the fact that this hasn’t garnered THAT MUCH shock is… surprising considering how out of nowhere garmadon just turned into an anacondrai but ok

[5:08] Well!

[4:16ish] (Jay) “First it was four arms, then it was a dragon. Do you mind picking a body and sticking to it, please?” jkewlf

[3:48] KAI JUST WHOLEASS SET CHEN ON FIRE

[3:42] and he would’ve gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for your meddling thick hides!

[3:08] welp things are going to bibbity bobbity hell

[2:48] shit. they’re leaving.

[1:58] ZANE M’BOY!!!

[1:22] KAI TOO!!! REAL GODDAMN DRAGON HOURS

[0:44] (Kai) “Chen brought us here so only one would remain. Well - we *are* one!”

[0:38] Was going to comment on the lack of Weekend Whip, but I guess we’re getting some mild closure on Jacob instead.

[0:00] minor comment on the fact that apparently there is a turkish dub (not my native language but i am the child of two turkish immigrants so i do somewhat care about it) but netflix doesn’t have it in the options. i wonder what these people also do. and also why is the öz- prefix so common you really want to emphasise the “pureness” of the word in your surname, 1920s turks deciding on said surname, huh?

#jaime binges ninjago season 4 #ninjago #day of the dragon

[6qubed]

The Tale of Bluesummer; or That Time I Accidentally Turned My Morrowind Character Into A God

(yes I named my Breton in Morrowind after Legato Bluesummer from Trigun. it was 2004 and I was a teenager, get off me)

this whole post, which ended up running longer than I expected, is dedicated to @quinzelade, who is the one who asked about it.

I’m gonna warn you up front that attempting to replicate what I did will fundamentally alter the way you play the game, assuming they never released a patch or something after the fact. you’ve been warned

okay, so

somewhere in the game (I forget where, exactly. balmora? I dunno) is a place called Wolverine Hall. in there is a guy who sells alchemy ingredients.

what’s important about this guy is that 1.) he sells the two ingredients you need to make a “Fortify Intelligence” potion (henceforth “F.I. potion” for convenience), and 2.) those ingredients restock every time you initiate a transaction with him. not every day, every dialogue. talk to him, buy ingredients, stop talking, talk to him again, more ingredients to buy

side note: I almost said “ingredience”. fuck this website

now because this isn’t Skyrim, you can basically make potions wherever you’re currently standing as long as you at least have a mortar and pestle (there’s other alchemy gear you can use to make your potions stronger, but you don’t strictly speaking need them. maybe. I think. it’s been a while) so you can just stand right next to this guy brewing F.I. potions, buying ingredients from him when you run low, and selling him excess potions you just made from the ingredients to cover the costs

now here’s where things get... mechanical. Morrowind’s skills are each tied to an attribute like Strength, Intelligence, Endurance, and so on. Alchemy is tied to Intelligence. and because this isn’t Oblivion and they hadn’t thought to curtail this nonsense from the jump, if you make an F.I. potion, drink it, and then make another one, the next F.I. potion will have a greater affect, both in terms of numerical increase and duration. you will be smarter, and for longer, and most important of all, there is no upward limit to this

SO

after boosting my Intelligence to Somewhere Roughly Up in the Billions (henceforth “SRUB”), I tried making potions to boost my other stats. Strength was an obvious first choice, as it not only covers carry weight, but also attack damage and, for whatever reason, chance to hit. I also boosted my Agility, Charisma and Endurance, so now nothing could hit me, I could ace any persuasion attempt, and I had functionally unlimited stamina. thus augmented, my next course of action was to stride out into the wilderness and test my new capabilities.

and that’s exactly what the hell I did. looking for the first wild animal to fight, eventually I run across a guar, I take out my trust daedric katana with a custom Soul Trap enchantment (because this game had katanas for some reason so of course I had one; I named my Breton after an anime character what the fuck do you expect), and I attack the guar. it dies in one hit, it’s soul gets trapped... and now I’m looking at my empty hands instead of my sword. puzzled, I punch the air a few times thinking that will bring my katana back, then I actually go into my inventory and look for it. well sure enough there it is, but I can’t equip it because it’s broken. it’s a little weird that it would be broken, because as a daedric weapon it has like 5000 hp. well, I have a repair hammer on me and Armorer is governed by the Strength attribute, and I have SRUB Strength, so no worries. I repair my katana, find another monster, and attack it. I honestly don’t remember what it was, it could’ve been a skrib, it could’ve been a golden saint, it’s really not important. what is important, is that it died in one hit as well, and my daedric katana with 5000-ish hp broke again. in one hit.

here I will divert from the story to explain another mechanic from the Elder Scrolls that they did away with; breakable equipment. see, this was back when Bethesda still thought that having equipment that got shittier the more you used it was a good idea, a delusion they would carry into TES Oblivion and both Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas. the way this worked in the Elder Scrolls games specifically was that every time you took a hit your armor would get damaged, and every time you would land a hit on an opponent with a weapon, the game would inflict a fraction of that damage to your weapon as well. this was one of the appeals of stronger weapons; not only did they do more damage per hit, but they also were able to dish out more hits before needing repairs. steel was stronger than iron, elvish was stronger than steel, daedric was stronger than dwemer, you understand. I didn’t just have a daedric katana for Cool Points, I had it because not only was it a strong weapon, but it could also go a long time between repairs. and if you’ve been paying more attention than I was back then, you may have noticed The Problem.

see, weapon damage is governed by that weapon’s skill, in this case Long Blades. the Long Blades skill is in turn governed by the Strength attribute, and I had SRUB Strength, in a game that maxed out your base skill and attribute growth at 100 each. every time I landed a hit on something I was doing SRUB damage, and a fraction of SRUB damage was also being done to my weapon. since even a fraction of SRUB damage is still way more than anything the developers of the game ever designed the weapons to handle, even the weapons wrought from the very essence of Hell itself were buckling under the weight of the blows I was dealing. furthermore, since repair hammers have about ten uses before they broke (SERIOUSLY WHY DID BETHESDA THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA) it was taking at least one full hammer to repair my katana every time I broke it, which was quickly becoming A Hassle.

at this point I decided “okay, I’ve had my fun, time to bring this silliness to an end” and decided to reload from a save, but here is where I encountered A New Problem: see, Morrowind didn’t have autosaves, no game really did at this point in history, but what it did have was King Fool of Dummy Mountain playing it, for whom the concept of “multiple save files” was an alien and terrifying thing that one just didn’t bother with. there was no easy way to undo the potions’ effects. I couldn’t dispel them, because it was a potion effect and not magic, and the only other option was to wait them out.

so that is what I tried. I found an inn somewhere, possibly Vivec City or maybe some random rathole of a place out in the middle of nowhere, paid whatever the cost was, jumped into bed and tried to sleep the potions effects off, twenty-four hours at a time. one day, then two. then a week, a month, two months. a year. a year and a half spent in a random bed in a random inn, and still the effects persisted. here was Another Problem; the F.I. potions’ duration was also affected by Intelligence, and I had made and consumed several potions with at least a few million seconds duration on them, and at least one that would last SRUB seconds. I could stay in this bed, doing nothing but sleeping one day at a time, for over a week in real-world time, before this potion even reached half of its maximum duration. I was, for all intents and purposes, Stuck Like This.

so now began the search for workarounds. my first thought was the Unarmed skill; if I just didn’t use a weapon, it wouldn’t break, right? the problem here was that Unarmed was governed by your Speed skill. yes, you had both a Speed and an Agility attribute, and they did different things. but Speed also affected how fast your character could move around in the game world, and giving my character SRUB Speed proved disastrous; the game, you see, was only designed to handle a maximum Speed of 100, maybe more if you boosted it with temporary effects. at least once in a dungeon I ran so fast that I clipped through the walls and ended up floating in an infinite plane of water that apparently served as the water at the lower points of the level. I was not, mercifully, Stuck Like This, because while I was still King Fool of Dummy Mountain I was at least smart enough not to repeat all of my past mistakes, and had thought to save my game before trying this nonsense.

so Unarmed was out. that meant if I couldn’t count on one unbreakable weapon, I’d have to make so with numerous single-use ones. Archery was no good, because the bows were breakable, and thrown weapons were finicky at best, and more importantly I couldn’t get them back if I used them up. I then hit upon the idea of daggers, and set about traveling over Morrowind, finding every merchant I could that sold weapons and buying up every silver dagger or enchanted dagger of cheap material I could find. this was important, because I wanted a way to fight ghosts and other immaterial enemies, who could only be hit by silver or enchanted weapons. or daedric, but for reasons I covered previously those were no use to me. I then developed a fighting style wherein I became adept at fast-equipping weapons mid-combat, allowing me to stab one enemy, then quickly pull out another dagger and use that to kill the next. this also led to one particularly memorable encounter where in my explorations I stumbled across a shrine adorned with six skulls, each with an enchanted dagger stuck in them, and without hesitation I grabbed all six, only to turn around and see a group of six very pissed off ancestor ghosts, whom were no doubt bound to those skulls by the daggers I had just removed. as luck would have it, however, I had just the right amount of daggers to handle this fight. convenient, that

well that covered melee combat, but still left the issue of Magic. being a magic user was less of a tricky issue, since with SRUB Intelligence and SRUB Wisdom came functionally unlimited Mana, so I could cast any spell I wanted without fear of miscasting, because giving spells a chance to fail a casting depending on your skill with that spell’s magical school was another one of those brilliant ideas Bethesda had on the same day they came up with breakable equipment.

since money was no longer an issue, I visited a Mages Guild and crafted a few custom spells for myself. nothing complicated, just a ranged damage spell of some kind with maximum damage over maximum duration with maximum area of effect (and Paralyze and Soul Trap, because why not) and one or two spells that boosted my Speed and Athletics sklll so that even though I couldn’t boost it via Alchemy without disaster, I could still run around fairly quickly, which was handy because fast-travel hadn’t been invented yet, and I was now using my Mark and Recall spells solely to visit the secret scamp merchant that had 5000 gold for buying things, as it was now the only merchant in the game that could handle the monetary value of the goods I had to sell, and even that required a fair bit of back-and-forth juggling with the items that I had sold it previously, especially excess potions

it was here that I finally found A Weakness in my character; my health points. I had up until now coasted by on my ability to dodge any attack and one-shot any opponent; at this point I wasn’t even bothering with wearing a full set of armor or even (being a puerile thing at heart) most clothes. I had some greaves, a mismatched arrangement of gauntlets and pauldrons, and that was it.

but that changed the first time I encountered an enemy capable of Reflecting my own magic back at me. see, I thought that giving myself SRUB Endurance would confer SRUB HP when I first took that potion, but it never happened. and since maximum HP gained through leveling up is calculated from base Endurance, SRUB HP simply wasn’t in the cards. well that was easy enough to rectify, first by going back to the Mages Guild and crafting a spell that both boosted maximum HP and healed the maximum amount, both for maximum duration, as well as crafting a magic ring that could send out some (comparatively) weak bolts of damage, and recharge itself over time

at the end of it, even with all the searching for workarounds to my... condition, the actual game became fairly easy. the “final bosses” of the DLCs, daedric princes and even deity figures proved almost comically nonthreatening, because at the end of it they were all still playing by rules to which I was no longer bound. really the only thing keeping me from beating the game was the fact that my XBox and all my games for it got stolen.

so I guess the moral of this story, if there is one to be had, is when you’re planning to do something stupid, save first or prepare for it being irreversible

that, and don’t bring anything to Job Corps that you wouldn’t mind getting stolen

#sixpost #long post #TES #Morrowind #have I told this story before? #not sure but it feels like I have #ah well why not one more time #it's a fun story to tell

[pocket-infinity]

Back at it again, everyone...

Well, here I am again. Theorizing. We’re still on with @corruptapostasy’s The Only Option (I’m never going to stop telling you to read it until you do). Even more massive spoiler warning than last time.

So here we are with a Grimm/Enkay/Nightmare King theory. Again, where should we start? How about with Chapter 7, where everyone who has read this probably had a “what the actual fuck just happened” moment. Though, specifically, I’d like to focus in on a two things: 1. Why the hell does Enkay’s ghost look so… mangled? 2. What do Enkay’s words mean?

Well, given that this whole scenario is a mystery wrapped in an enigma bundled up in a bouquet of lies, it would be rather helpful to determine reliability of narrator. In order from most to least reliable, I believe the three major players to fall as such: Enkay, Nightmare King, and Grimm. Now how, exactly, did I arrive at this order? The answer comes from the behaviors of each of the characters. Enkay is the simplest to answer; he literally has no reason to lie, and every reason to tell the truth. He was the Pale King’s lover, and during their brief reunion in Chapter 5, he goes so far as to say, “‘It's a name. All you need to ask of him is a name.’” to which the King responds, “‘Say it, please. Say the name.’” Enkay finally replying with the name “Shade Lord,” and in so doing he reveals information that Grimm was attempting to keep secret. The only potential way we could get misinformation from Enkay is if he himself was misinformed, which is highly unlikely, as he is part of the collective consciousness that forms the Nightmare King.

The Nightmare King places second mostly because of circumstance. Every interaction he has with the Pale King takes place in less than ideal situations, whether he’s possessing Grimm or directly communicating to the Pale King, so the bare minimum of information is communicated. The Nightmare King is also less susceptible to the misinformation situation by comparison to Enkay, given that he is a collection of who-knows-how-many people, whereas Enkay is technically just one (although the line is fairly fogged).

Placing squarely in last, Grimm. Oh dear god, Grimm. To say the least, he is so very unreliable. He has frequently lied in the past, shown when the Pale King and him converse in Chapter 3, and Grimm’s response to hearing that the Pale King hasn’t left his palace for months is, “‘Two *months*?’“ to which the King later responds, “‘…Why is this so surprising to you?’” before Grimm replies with, “‘I suppose it shouldn't. You've always been a homebody…’”. The problem in this comes with the fact that Grimm can apparently remember that the Pale King is a homebody, but later does not recognize the White Lady, Lurien, Monomon, or Herrah. He is therefore completely lying in this statement of recognition, and this is later revealed in Chapter 5. This reveal comes in two parts, the first of which is Enkay stating that Grimm “(…)does not… often converse with his heart.” The second section, which reveals another lie, comes when Grimm states, “I’ve been trying to remember it more clearly. I've been talking with my kin, trying to find answers when I'm not here helping you with every other viable option. How do you expect me to tell you something I don't understand?” As established, Enkay has no reason to lie and Grimm has a history of it, so Enkay’s word therefore overpowers Grimm’s and shows that Grimm is willfully not telling the Pale King that he can communicate with the Nightmare Heart. Lastly, and this is what hammers home the unreliability of Grimm, he has an absolute ton of gaps in memory, as later in Chapter 5 he states, “There have always been blank spots, things that I know but don't know, things that I've never seen before but feel so familiar around.” Alright, so Grimm does not often talk to the Heart, and thereby has limited memories, and due to the Nightmare King’s later suggestion that the Pale King just talk about anything relating to Enkay, including “What happened to him. How you two met. What teas he liked. Anything,” as a method of jogging Grimm’s memory, we can conclude that memorabilia or anything relating to past selves can help jog memory.

So, we’ve established an order of reliability and defined some form of a rule for Grimm’s memory. Now onto the actual questions to be answered. During Chapter 7, the entire situation around Enkay, Grimm, and the Nightmare King goes entirely off the rails when the Pale King bumps into a ghost of Enkay within the Troupe’s grounds; the peculiar part is not that Enkay exists here (it is well established that a ton of ghosts walk around there), but rather that he is described by the following, “The claws twitch, neck audible cracking, but the head stays in place. Black blood oozes from his eyes and from cracks in their throat, splattering on the ground beneath their feet. The figure says nothing, and turns away from him, walking toward the door. The golden chains that had adorned his horns hung broken and loose behind him. A massive, bleeding line traced down his spine.” This is in no capacity what was to be expected, and so the Pale King’s response in thought is, “This wasn’t even close to a proper punishment, and he knew it. This was just a slap on the wrist. There was so much more that could be done to him, especially when he was here, at the center of the Troupe’s grounds, at the mercy of the whims of the Heart. This was only the beginning, he was sure of it, and he had to face it.” An open and shut case as to why Enkay’s corpse looks the way it does, right? I sincerely wish I could agree with you. Unfortunately, in Chapter 6, with regard to the heart, Grimm states, “My powers are stored there, in a sense. The Heart holds everything that makes me the Nightmare King while also keeping separate who I am as Grimm. If that makes any sense. I have access to my powers, but in a limited sense. Imagine… a locked door, with the magic trickling from the crack underneath." Note the wording here, “Stored there.” The implication seems to be that the Heart does not necessarily act on its own. As well as this, if the Heart is acting to torment the Pale King in any way, the Nightmare King would more likely than not act in a similar manner, but he does not. Instead, after the Pale King acquires the Voidheart, the Nightmare King (lot of kings here, huh?) simply cleans the void off of his hands and lets him walk out with it. As a final proof of the Pale King’s idea not being correct, we must acknowledge that he is a second-hand account by comparison to Enkay or the Nightmare King, and so is more prone to misinterpretation. With all that being said, why does Enkay look that way? In all frank honesty, I have no fucking clue. Sorry to leave anybody hanging, but I literally have no idea where I could go from there. On to the next bit then, the whole Grimm situation (a rather grim one indeed). There are three major things to focus on here: the tapestry, the statue, and Enkay’s dialogue. Grimm’s tapestry and statue are described as, “Grimm’s face, on both sides of the statue, one side displaying the same lovely smile he had just seen stretch across his face when holding his Child in his arms, and the other holding a dark, angry glower, an arrogant and vengeful gaze that he can only recall seeing sheer vestiges of within the darkness of his workroom back in the Palace, and the sight of the weapon, the tattered, bloodied glaive still clutched tight in his claws, was enough to make his stomach twist. He takes a step back, before moving to walk around the statue, desperate to see the canvas he knew was there, what it depicted, what it showed. Death. Entire kingdoms on fire, people slaughtered. More of that unforgiving gaze, allowing unchecked chaos to reign wherever he walked. The forms of some past army melted into ghosts and ghoulish performers, a mockery of the arts standing across the hall. A circle hovered above it all, similar to Enkay's, holding the terrifying form of the Shade Lord. The lower two circles held a strange, horned face and the image of the Grimmchild wreathed in flames, eyes filled in with red.” And now for Enkay’s dialogue which, when put together, consists of, “His image... His power…”, “He lies... Difficult to see... Reconstructs past…”, “Quickly. Must show something.”, “The Heart... dislikes disobedience.... To do task... you need something.”, “Ancient artifact... from beginning days. Grimm knows not....The King hoards his treasures.”, “None of us know... how old... Millennia... ages... epochs... Too many to count... Well... only one... knows.”, “Enkay slows to a stop, body glitching again. An average, completely black statue flanked by silver, spike-topped torches stood in front of them, the entire pedestal wreathed in gnarled vines. The figure stood upright, poised with their hands on the pommel of an overturned, rusting sword. Parts of the blade were chipping away, and half of the guard was missing entirely. The tapestry, larger than all the others, depicted only the same silhouette of the statue in front of a massive, stitched together Heart. As they watch, the Heart beats, a dull, resounding pulse that sent waves of heat into the corridor. ‘The First.’ Enkay almost sighs, staring at the statue and tapestry with a look of sad reverence. ‘The Fundament.’”, “The artifact lays in the brambles. Only living hands can touch such a thing.”

Okay, there’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s not throw away the suitcase. Start at the beginning, with the statue and tapestry. Fairly cut and dry, even the Pale King notes that it’s an enraged Grimm just going on a multi-kingdom killing spree on one side, with this more-or-less reformed Grimm on the other. Now the dialogue… dear god the dialogue. First, “His image… His power…” is half simple. “His image…” is just Grimm hiding his past self from the Pale King and thereby protecting his image. “His power…”, however, is nowhere near as easy— not in isolation, at least. However, when joined with the first two pieces of the next one, it becomes much more clear. “His image… His power… He lies… Difficult to see…” Grimm lies about his image and power, portraying himself as different than he is. To what end is unknown, though perhaps it could be out of shame and regret? Or maybe it’s a way of keeping secrets for the sake of enemies underestimating him and Grimm thereby gaining an upper hand? Who knows, maybe he just never goes in there and forgot about it somehow. The goal of his hiding is most probably the former, but there’s no way to be certain. Before we cover the next section chronologically, let’s jump ahead to, “The Heart... dislikes disobedience.... To do task... you need something.”, “Ancient artifact... from beginning days. Grimm knows not....The King hoards his treasures.” This one is easier to break down piece by piece, so let’s do a brief speed run. The Heart disliking disobedience is most likely it being annoyed that Grimm hasn’t taken on more memories yet; “To do task… you need something.” is not in reference to the task of restoring Grimm’s memory, but rather the task of defeating the Radiance; “Ancient artifact... from beginning days.” this is the item that the Pale King needs to complete the task, also known as the Voidheart charm, which originates with the Fundament; and “Grimm knows not....The King hoards his treasures.” this one indicates that Grimm is entirely unaware of the Voidheart charm and that it is somewhat of a close-held secret by the Nightmare King. Alright, that was a lot in a short amount of time, so let’s take a breath and go back to what we didn’t cover now. “Reconstructs past…” This quote, though simple on the surface, is very, very unusual. One’s initial thought might be that Grimm is attempting to reconstruct his past, but there is no evidence for this, as, if he were trying to, a very likely action would be to try to alter the statue or tapestry, and we see no interaction with it. Given that Enkay can enter that area, and later the Nightmare King possessing Grimm, we are left to assume that there’s nothing holding him out by force. Clearly, therefore, he is not reconstructing his past, but rather lying in order to cloak it. So, then, what past is Grimm trying to reconstruct? Let’s run through some options. Firstly, the notion that Grimm is the reason Enkay looks the way he does; there is no logical basis for this assumption, as Grimm is literally guessing when he says, “Hm. I swear, if one of the ancestral spirits grabbed you and I have another haunting on my hands…” so it is unlikely that he knew Enkay was in there at all. However, Enkay’s appearance, notably the line across his neck, could be a sign that it was either Grimm or, more likely, the Pale King shaping the form, given that, while Grimm is explaining the revitalization process, the Pale King says, “..I did not realize such a process could heal a severed head,” during Chapter 3. This lines up with the cracks in Enkay’s throat, though using such as a proof seems like grasping at straws. The third option comes from a quote which was shown earlier, but not in full. In its complete form, originating from Chapter 5, the quote comes as, “’I wasn't always like this,’ he starts, slow, almost uncertain. ‘I wasn't always... trapped in all this... timelessness and renewal business. There have always been blank spots, things that I know but don't know, things that I've never seen before but feel so familiar around.’” In a first time reading, this just seems like Grimm stating that he doesn’t have all the memories, etc. etc. However, note that Grimm was Enkay’s child, as Grimm now has his own. That means that Grimm cannot be referring to himself as the “I” in the “timelessness and renewal business.” Keep in mind that, although Grimm’s memories of past selves are limited, there are still certain bits and pieces, and based on the fact that there’s always a Child for the Nightmare King, we can conclude that the only people who could be described by this “I” are the Nightmare King, the Heart, or the Fundament. Given that the Nightmare King is, to a fair extent, the culmination of past incarnations of Grimm and Enkay, it can be concluded that he has always been in the business of timelessness and renewal. As well as this, due to the fact that the Heart needs to be perpetuated by the ritual, it also needs to be intrinsically tied to the business. That can leave only one, meaning that Grimm is talking about the Fundament. So could this be the past that Grimm is attempting to reconstruct? Perhaps, but not likely, given the fact that Grimm has had an aversion to gaining memories of past selves. On the other hand, we know that Grimm is attempting to remember more about the Void, and is aware that he knows things but is uncertain of what those things are, so he may be trying to reconstruct the past of the Fundament as a method of learning about the Voidheart.

Okay. Wow. That was… a lot. So, where do we go from here? What conclusions or theoretical timeline can we draw? Sorry to disappoint, but I have absolutely zero ideas. Literally nothing. Again, apologies for the anticlimax here, but I incinerated my last two braincells with this one. Nonetheless, though, it was fun to make, and, as always, assume my theories are wrong unless they aren’t. Again, of course, this was an absolute blast to make.

Now to find another mystery or dive deeper into this one so I can keep re-reading.

#hollow knight #corruptapostasy

[kob131]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-p7bD16Fmw

Well, seeing as someone on reddit was able to sit through and deconstruct this whole thing:

I’m not gonna be outdone.

Okay so his point about Maria was fair enough but this is a point anyone vaguely aware of the show is capable of doing. 

Also: he takes a stab at Ozpin for not being Ruby’s mentor...ignoring how maria is specifically FOR the Silver Eyes AND Ozpin did mentor Ruby in how to be a Huntress and a leader. 

Which leads him to say that Ozpin was being painted as the ‘bad guy’. … No, no he wasn’t. He was portrayed as being unusually emotional and secretive. Not as someone to be opposed (ESPECIALLY after Episode 3). So no, he’s wrong.

He then talks about Salem and Ozpin and barely says anything and then calls Qrow’s portrayal as good (ignoring how he attacked a kid and we’re suppose to overlook that.) Other than that, it’s again basic but functional.

Cole then goes on to praise the Brunswick Arc like everyone else does. Not even gonna bother talking about that because, again, basic but functional. All I could say is: the setting is not unique. A fuckton of horror movies take place on farms.

We move on to Argus where...same thing you would probably say about this scenario. Again, all I could say is: Ruby nor Oscar is blindly optimistic. Also: for someone who talks about ‘wasted potential’, you sure wasted potential in pointing out how much better done Jaune’s one scene could have been.

Then we get to the part we all know he gives a shit about. The finale arc. There he tries to give three better solutions off the top of his head.

Key word being ‘tries.’

Weiss’ Summons take Aura so it would fail before reaching Atlas and even if it COULD get to Atlas, Weiss would just get arrested by her dad and most likely lose the Relic to her father and then probably the bad guys. All ignoring how Weiss doesn’t WANT to go back to her dad alone because apparently Cole doesn’t give a shit about characters and their feelings. 

Qrow doesn’t have infinite stamina, fat lot of good his flight is gonna do when he passes out in the middle of the sea, drowns and some undersea Grimm *cough* LEVIATHAN *cough* gets the Relic and brings it to Salem.

As for the final point: her father is a greedy shithole who cares about no one but himself. You know, the kind of person who would sell something for his life to someone, like say, a magical lamp to a crazy Scorpion fanaus? 

So three solutions, three failures. Great job.

Also, let I be known that Cole here thinks Weiss would be able to kill her own father. So basically, he doesn’t know a damn thing about psychology in general, let alone how abuse affects someone. 

‘Why can’t Weiss talk to Ironwood herself?’

*jabs up at the third point* because, in your own words, she’d be taken to her ‘douche’ father (you know, the guy OPPOSED to Ironwood and locked up Weiss beforehand?) Gee, sounds like you were the one who didn’t think.

And yeah, not like everyone screamed in the writer’s faces that the split up was handled poorly and the writers outright admitted they didn’t do a good job with that. Yeah, fuck knowing your limitations, not like that hasn’t been the bane of this show since Episode 1.

Then he tries to talk about the letter Qrow sent Ironwood and says that could have caused Ironwood to meet up with them. Ignoring how that would have been ‘the house’ everyone wouldn’t shut up about in Volume 5 again as well as the fact that Ruby’s letters to Yang in Volume 4 prove the service is unreliable- Ironwood is shown to be closing the borders of Atlas AND becoming paranoid. Not only wouldn’t he leave because he’d be a hypocritic but he might not even TRUST the letter. So yet another failure to add to the pile.

And so apparently the writers have to explain why other options don’t work, because treating the audience like they’re children isn’t something that would waste time for no reason (because we know he’d just ignore it) but also NOT something that detracts from the work.

And now apparently we can’t spend three episodes with a final boss of a season (so he must hate the Fall Of Beacon since that’s a whole FIVE episodes. An ACTUAL whole five episodes.)

He also tries blaming both sides for this conflict (as if Cordovon didn’t have a chance to just let them go or at least contact Ironwood for advice since SHE’S trustworthy by being one of his underlings) because...he needs it to look as ridiculous as possible. And gee, people having an internal conflict, we have I heard that before...Oh yeah, OZPIN. You know, the event YOU PRAISED because Ozpin was too stubborn and as was the rest of the cast. But hey, who cares about consistency am I right?

And no, the show didn’t set up the Leviathan (NOT Godzilla) as this big epic battle. That was Cordovon. The Leviathan was the consequence of the epic battle, the heroes cleaning up their and Cordovon’s mess, Ruby using those Silver Eyes they’ve been talking about the whole Volume and to give Cordovon some redemption to show she isn’t a bad person. This was all telegraphed a mile away. You’d have to be pretty blind or completely ignorant to story structure and pay off to not see that coming.

And no, the Grimm aren’t scary because they’re big. They’re scary because they’re a deconstruction of the Mook trope, the trope of an endless series of low level baddies for the heroes to kill. Thing is, if there’s an infinite number of Grimm then any victory over the Grimm is meaningless. The leviathan is scary for the damage it can cause but what’s even scary is that killing it only temporarily solve the issue. Another Leviathan will show up eventually and if they survive THEN another one will show up. That isn’t even the full extent of the terror of the Grimm but I’ll just move on because I don’t want to write an essay WITHIN an essay.

Then we get his condescending ‘oh the show can’t be sad yet!’ because A. not like half of Volume 6 was already depressing as fuck but also half of Volume 5, all of Volume 4 and half of Volume 3. By my calculations, 45% of the show has been depressing as fuck. But also B. it’s not like Darkness Induced Audience Apathy, where a show becomes so depressing people stop caring, is a thing. *cough* Evangelion *cough*

‘The Grimm were already pretty damn useless without a move that wipes sthem out with the blink of an eye’-

*edits out where The leviathan was about to break free and kill Ruby.*

Can anyone say ‘intellectual dishonesty’?

Also, apparently you bitch about the show showing Ruby using her Silver Eyes AS THE SHOW ESTABLISHED SHE COULD EARLIER (in those Maria scenes you praised again). So all that tells me is that you’re selective in what you bitch about. Also not like that ability does fuck all to humans, the main threat of the serie-Oh wait...

‘Their issues at Brunswick farm are never brought up again’

*edits out the scene where everyone realizes they were wrong.*

‘Blake and Yang never question if killing Adam was the right thing-’

It was.

‘Ruby being a useless main character-’ 

Aside from her decision in Volume 3′s finale causing all of Volume 4+ to happen, getting JNR to Mistral, saving Jaune’s life, anchoring one of the Nucklevee’s arms-sure...so your points only correct if we ignore most of her scenes Real great argument.

Also she gave two speeches in Volume 6, maybe three. Less than what she gave in Volume 1. Where she had less experience and less weight behind her words. Where her dialogue was MORE awkward. After she’s already been shown to do this. Where that’s been established as a key part of her character. So yeah, just another failure for the pile.

Then he bitches about Jaune not leading the plan and...he’s never lead a plan in his life. that’s Ruby’s job. She’s always done that. Jaune is the guy who analyzes the opponent and gives a way to defeat the opponent. He’s the TACTICIAN. Ruby is the STRATIGIST. So apparently Cole is either incapable of telling the difference or his vocab is so small he doesn’t know what tactician means.

It also doesn’t help his point that he gives the role of Tactician to Oscar because he defined one weakness about the mech and not Jaune who pointed out how to deal with it. So...he’s the one stealing Jaune’s characteristics, not the show. Great.

I don't think he means a damn thing when talking about Jaune, especially since he’s never cared before. This is just him looking for bullshit.

Also: remember how Cole knew absolutely nothing about Weiss’ abuse and how it would affect her? Yeah that comes back. Now he doesn’t know how PTSD works because he thinks fear is the only response a victim of PTSD can exhibit. While that is ONE way PTSD works, another way is to trigger the fight or flight response in a person. FIGHT or flight. As in, either run away or attack the source of your fear. Which is what Yang does to Adam. The source of her fear. … This is listed on the fucking Wikipedia page for PTSD, let alone what people in the fandom have said. But hey, research is for people with integrity, Cole needs to make a point, damned be the consequences.

Also apparently Yang not losing any fights since Volume 3 is a bad thing...because ignoring her development in Volume 4 with her dad is apparently good writing. Also apparent Yang needs to lose a fight due to PTSD to count because being out of commission for a whole Volume doesn’t count as an event. Her change in fighting style and way of thinking doesn’t count. CLEAR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT doesn’t count. 

Yeah sure, he doesn’t mean any disrespect. And me and Dudeblade can tolerate each other’s presence in the same room.

Also, he tries talking about the animation and how the animators can’t express the same personalities like Monty did (ignoring things like Cinder and Raven’s fights that portray Cinder’s power hungry nature and Raven’s character of being a cocky, brutish asshole) and that all the characters can’t fight without their Semblances, citing Tock (a one off villain) and Adam (who lost more to his own reckless) (Also ignoring how Yang has been on a winning streak as Cole already said WITHOUT using her Semblance except against Adam.)

He then tries talk about the stakes, saying they’re too damn high all the time (almost as though the tone of the show shifted) before citing Volume 3 as a good example of high stakes (the Volume that CAUSED this tone shift.)

Also: apparently one shot of characters standing there shooting at opponent for a quick second is comparable to a build up shot of them shooting weapons and thus there’s no effort in the animation...ignoring how they did that EXACT SAME THING EARLIER with the Cordovon fight but again, Cole’s just doesn't care about what’s true at this point.

Also apparently not having an overarching villain in a Volume makes villains shit...so Volumes 1 and 2 are shit. You know, since there was no overarching villain in those Volumes either. He also tries to say that since we didn't follow Adam’s perspective, he’s shit. Again, never followed Torchwick’s perspective aside from once in Volume 3 nor Cinder except once in Volume 2. And then tries to say the show never told us that Adam was gonna be in the show because there was no Chekvok’s Gun...ignoring Blake’s vision of Adam and his own appearance in Episode 1, Yang;s vision of him in Episode 5 and his FUCKING CHARACTER TRAILER. Yeah, bet that Chekvok’s Gunshot Wound is hurting pretty bad now huh Cole?

‘Why is Adam doing what he is doing?’

...Because he’s a fucking obsessive asshole. That’s his character. He outright said before he’d keep hunting her down. They established this THREE YEARS AGO.

*BANG!*

Ouch, that shot really looked like it hurt. Not that I feel sorry for someone who fires a gun into their own face though...

Also: don’t try saying ‘a good villain is the hero of their story’ while showing a DC poster. You know, the group whose biggest villain (The Joker) is DEFINED BY HAVING NO MOTIVATION OTEHR THAN MALICE. AKA your exception is far more well known than the rule. Doesn’t help that your try to use movie Thantos as your ‘hero of his own story’ when the guy is known as the MAD TITAN. And don't try using comic book Thantos, he just wanted to fuck Death.

This is all ignoring how there are OTHER villians. You mentioned Red Vs. Blue earlier right? So you must be aware of Felix right? The guy who knows what he is doing is wrong but doesn’t care? The guy who goes out of his way to be sadistic? The guy whose motivated by his feelings of inadequacy and ego? Sound familiar?

That’s Adam. that’s Adam with a dash of pity and some better backstory. You ignore a fuckton of character archtypes that have proven themselves on par with the Well Intention Extremist if not SURPASSING it just so you could make a bullshit point about how Adam should have been your headcanon. Never asking if that was where Adam was going as a character or if it would have helped the themes and message of the story. You know, as a critic SHOULD.

Hm, plot device to make main characters grow, that sounds familiar...

Oh yeah, one of if not THE most iconic villians in fiction. Great job there, making the Adam you hate look as good as the best Dragon Ball villain.

And then he talks about Mercury and Emerald, saying the same shit everyone does. Then he bitches about Neo being in the Volume for no reason (*cocks Chekvok’s Gun*)

Also he says the villains just keep losing...ignoring how he directly SHOWS Volume 3 (and how the villains aside from Cinder have been given NO set backs so far) so better add that to the Mount Olympus of failure that is this video.

he then bitches about Yang not adhering to on specific version of PTSD (and if he makes that stupid ‘Strong female protagonist’ bullshit again, I’m gonna trap him in a room with rabid Bumbleby shippers) and says that Adam should have been treated as a main villain (ignoring how he has NO relevance to anyone else aside from Blake and Yang), and basically have Adam fight with Cordovon and the others alongside Blake and yang (ignoring how many people bitched about they couldn’t handle multiple fights in the previous Volume. Also not like Qrow would just knee Adam in the balls and cut his head off due to the sheer power difference between them) and have Adam destroy the mech (because...reasons. Totally not Cole has a yaoi boner for Adam.)

He tries to say the world of RWBY doesn’t revolve around Team RWBY in a show called RWBY...even though this is centered around a single character (adam) where the changes would do nothing since his reveal conveys the exact same information but with less time.

And then he tries to defend his bullshit by saying he actually does like RWBY, and that his bias is okay because everyone has biases...

*cracks neck*

Cole, there is a very clear difference where someone is trying to remove their biases from their work in order to prioritize the well being of the show and help improve the creator’s abilities and what you do. Someone whose actually trying to help the show wouldn’t base their complaints on their own personal opinion but rather what the creator was trying to accomplish and how well they did that. You did not do that, with how you keep complaining about how the show doesn’t do what you want even though it would either be repeating previous mistakes, making new or just wasting time. Someone whose trying to support the creators try to understand what the creators want to accomplish and give them directions on how to do that. You instead try to force them down the path you want them to go down, even though that is not their goal. Someone who actually accepts the show for what it is and enjoys it for what it is wouldn’t outright lie about the show, edit out information, constantly contradict themselves just to make it look bad, throw tantrums when things don’t go their way, throw in a bunch of bullshit and try to pander to a group for views/ego. You most certainly did all that, as the rest of my post showcases.

You don’t like RWBY, you like your HEADCANON of RWBY and react badly when your script isn’t followed. You’re no different than FMF except he sticks to his standards, unlike you.

In short, the only thing that was terrible here was you, Eruption Fang AKA Cole Palleman. You could have brought up some actual points (like how information is conveyed to the audience or how Adam’s character wasn't clearly communicated) but nope, you just pushed your bullshit.

My, how the mighty have fallen.

#eruption fang