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tsukihimeyfan · 3 years

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Sozin’s Comet’s Deus Ex Machina (and ways to fix them)

I’m sure that most of us AtLA fans can agree that the four part Finale was one of the best moments in animation history, with astoundingly well choreographed fight scenes, fantastic emotional beats, gorgeous animation, and frankly breath-taking music. However, I’m also sure I’m not the only one who was frustrated by one aspect of it in particular, the one blot on an otherwise perfect finale: what I like to call the “lion-turtle and pointy rock” ex machina.

The saddest part is that there was very little they had to change to get to a satisfactory, ties-everything-together ending. For example, take Energy-bending and the Lion-turtle. I saw a post a while ago where they suggested that energybending could’ve been related to what Aang learned from the swamp and the Guru, and it just makes SO much sense (Note: I saw the post months ago and I can’t find it anymore, so if anyone knows who first posted that theory please let me know so that I can give credit where credit’s due). After all, Aang seemed to use the energy of the swamp to sense where Appa and Momo were, and later, during Appa’s Lost Days, Guru Pathik says this:

Meaning he, a non-bender, is capable of reading the energy of others, and of locating people bonded to them from miles away. Let’s not forget that he had also previously sensed everything Appa had gone through with the same ability. Sounds like a really useful skill, wouldn’t you say?

Also, looking at both “sensing” occurrences, they look remarkably similar, so we can be reasonably sure that they’re both employing the same method.

It would’ve been so easy to have Aang take a moment to ask how Guru Pathik met Appa. After all, as far as the Gaang knew, Appa was taken by merchants to be sold in Ba Sing Se, so he shouldn’t have had a chance to meet anyone at the Eastern Air Temple. Did the merchants pass through the temple on the way to Ba Sing Se? Did the Guru try to set Appa free? Pathik would then have to explain how Appa had already escaped on his own, and he helped him find Aang by reading his energy. Aang could then ask the Guru to teach him this ability so that if they ever get separated again he’d be able to find and help Appa easily. Boom - energybending basics acquired.

A highly spiritual person like Aang would no doubt have little problems mastering the sensing ability, especially since he’s used a limited version of it before at the Swamp. Also, if we think about how much the spiritual mentors in the show have tried to drill it into Aang that all things are connected,

we can assume that after mastering everything Guru Pathik could do he would eventually be able to sense even people vaguely connected to him from far away. Being the Avatar, the bridge between the spiritual and physical worlds, would almost certainly also help him master energysensing abilities no other had before.

Maybe they could’ve added a few 30 second scenes here and there of Aang meditating to hone his energysensing skills. Also, during the whole Boiling Rock debacle, imagine how great it would’ve been if Sokka had asked Aang about his dad and, after pressing his hand to Sokka’s forehead and following his bond to his father, Aang was able to tell him that his dad was alive and well, and that he was somewhere in the direction they’d come from, though at that point he wouldn’t be able to pinpoint his exact location.

“I’m sorry Sokka... I can’t tell exactly where he is yet... I know that’s not really helpful...”

“No, knowing he’s alright is plenty. Thanks, buddy”

After Sokka and Zuko rescue Hakoda, I could picture Aang practicing harder than ever until he could use Hakoda’s bond to Bato and the others to locate them in a prison in Caldera City (which would’ve made rescue before ending the war difficult to say the least, and would explain how they were all there for Zuko’s coronation so fast)

Later, during Aang’s trip to the mysterious island, it would’ve been so cool if, instead of handing him the ability, the lion-turtle just told him this:

... and maybe showed him visions of his energysensing training when he did the forehead-touch thing. Then, during the battle with Ozai, maybe after redirecting the lightning away from Ozai Aang could think to himself “I can’t... he may be a monster, but he’s still my friend’s father!”. Then, he suddenly realizes that just like with his friends and family, Aang has a connection with Ozai too, and that if sensing someone’s energy happens by putting a bit of his energy into them, maybe he can use the same route to take some of Ozai’s energy away from him.

Imagine how amazing it would’ve been if they’d added those little snippets of Aang’s energybending training all throughout book 3, without giving it that name, and then Aang used what he’d learned from Guru Pathik and Huu and what he’d taught himself to rediscover a technique that hadn’t been used in millenia all by himself! (well, with a little “nudge in the right direction” from lionturtle-sensei) We were SO close, all the building blocks were there but... *sigh* we ended up still so far.

Continued with solving “pointy-rock-ex-machina” under the cut

In Book 2, we’re told that to master the Avatar State Aang has to “let go of his attachments”, but that plot point is dropped completely and all he has to do is get hit in his lightning scar and BAM! Avatar State unlocked, no letting go required! 😒

He was still just as attached to Katara as he was during Book 2, if not more so. So, in the interest of trying to figure out how to tie up as many loose ends as possible, we could try to hit two birds with one stone by fixing another thing at the same time that wasn’t addressed either.

We could start with a conversation between Aang and Katara where he apologizes for kissing her when she clearly didn’t want him to at some point during Sozin’s Comet Part 1 - The Phoenix King.

“I accept your apology Aang” Katara’d say, “but from now on make sure to respect people’s boundaries, Ok? Especially girls’ boundaries :) We can talk about this more after everything’s over”

At this point, maybe Aang could be left to think and reflect on his relationship with Katara, on his attachment to her, and on how he’d started thinking about her as “his” almost without any input from her.

Maybe Aang could begin to really understand what Guru Pathik was trying to teach him when he said “you must let go”, and the difference between love and unhealthy attachment to people.

He’d therefore be going into the fight with Ozai with that fresh on his mind.

Then, as the battle raged and he grew increasingly desperate, maybe he’d try a few times to force himself into the Avatar State only to fail miserably.

At this moment

when he’s been overpowered and cornered (and also has a little bit of “downtime” to think), he could start desperately trying to figure out a way to enter the Avatar State, and wondering why he can’t do it. Katara’s been healing him every day! The scar doesn’t even hurt anymore! Why doesn’t it work???

Then, he'd realize that it doesn’t really make sense for a lightning strike to lock his 7th Chakra, since according to what Guru Pathik taught him chakras are locked or unlocked through changes in emotional and spiritual state, not physical.

(Note: this is also backed up by what little I know of irl chakras and activating Kundalini in the Yoga school of Hindu philosophy. If anyone knows more about it please feel free to add to this or correct me. I’d love to learn how the concept of chakras in Avatar contrasts with its real life counterpart 😊)

Also, if the lightning had messed with the Avatar State some other way, like by blocking his chi for example, he shouldn’t be able to bend properly either.

So what could’ve caused his problem with the Avatar State?

Of course! After Katara saved him, Aang became even more focused on gaining her love, and grew even more attached to her than he’d been before! Of course he can’t enter the Avatar State!

Now, I’m a Zutara shipper all the way, and this would work much better if that had been canon, but this could work even with a Kataang endgame since, as I said before, Aang kind of become obsessed with the idea of making Katara “his” no matter what, a clear earthly attachment, instead of loving her unselfishly and letting her love him in her way:

Notice that he said “we kissed” even though he kissed her, and then “I thought we were gonna be together”, an assumption he made without asking her anything once. Same as in this scene:

Mastering the Avatar State doesn’t mean not loving anyone romantically, as we can clearly see through Avatar Roku’s example (also the “if you want power abandon your loved ones” message is stupid and I don’t like it at all. This would be better imo)

Even during the process for unlocking the chakras, the Fourth Chakra tells us that finding love isn’t contrary to spirituality, and can even be a source of spiritual strength. However, I’ve always thought it was a bit strange that the “new love” Aang found to fill the hole left by the deaths of his people was.... just Katara

Because what Aang lost was essentially all of his family and friends right? So wouldn’t it have made more sense for Aang to envision Sokka, Toph, Appa and Momo as well? You know, his old family vs. his new family?

I didn’t fully understand what exactly was wrong with it until I read some of tumblr user marsreds’ metas on the matter, and I have to agree with them that it seems Aang was sort of focusing on his love for Katara so much partially as a way to cope with the loss of his people. To keep it out of mind. That’s not how you build a wholesome romantic relationship, and it doesn’t seem like the best way to deal with grief either. No wonder his Seventh Chakra was blocked.

I would’ve loved to see Aang realize at the moment of truth that in order to access the Avatar State he simply had to let Katara go enough so that he could love her selflessly, so that her wants and needs, and the needs of the world, could come first. He needed to become able to accept her answer, whatever it was, when she gave it. He needed to come to understand that his happiness wasn’t completely (or even mostly) dependent on getting into a relationship with Katara. He had a family he’d found all on his own, made up of friends who adored him and who would’ve given their lives for him if necessary. He was not alone in the world any more. Even if she told him no, he would in all likelihood find new love and be happy.

(in fact we have proof and there’s a perfect candidate right there in the Fire Nation but I digress)

The rest of the finale could’ve played out exactly the same as canon, and in the end Aang would’ve had a better understanding of himself and some inner peace. They could’ve also given us an inkling that Aang would later get to mourn over the deaths of his people properly, surrounded by his loved ones (maybe, ideally, in a hypothetical Book 4-AIR?. God, I wish)

I’ve seen some posts about Aang letting go of his attachment to the Air Nomad’s teachings instead (with maybe that very decision to put the needs of the world above his own being what unlocks his Seventh Chakra), and those are magnificent ideas as well, but I myself would’ve preferred if it went this way because I think there’s something beautifully poetic and satisfying about Aang staying true to himself, finding an alternate solution to violence that would still protect the world, and using the wisdom of His People to put an end to the very war that caused their destruction, while simultaneously giving the worst possible punishment to a man as power-hungry as Ozai

...and leaving him the same way he’s left many of the Fire Nation’s victims in the past: trapped, powerless and forgotten.

I also feel like this ties up all the loose ends better, since it was his attachment to Katara specifically which stopped him from mastering the Avatar State in the first place. And, Kataang endgame or not, it would’ve sent a wonderful message about building and maintaining healthy relationships, perfect for the show’s target audience of preteen and teenage kids.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk

#atla #sozin's comet #Avatar The Last Airbender #thyf rambles #atla meta #aang #katara #meta #my drabbles #kinda

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guerins · 4 years

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a little summary of fehr and mo’s insta live

HEAT WAVE RE-WATCH - April 20th (2020)

It took Brendan a minute to figure out how to add Majandra to the live feed.

She was wearing a sickass robe. Said robe was discussed like halfway the feed.

They were both drinking. Brendan: red wine and vodka. Majanda: who knows (I think it was also wine. I don’t remember if she said it, though)

Did they toast each other you ask? They sure did. Glasses clinked the screens; I shit you not

Majandra said she wanted to watch the episode beforehand, to prepare herself.

She did. But only the beginning because she could not get through the first scene due to embarrassment.

On the live feed we saw her embarrassment fist hand. Brendan was also feeling weird about it.

She kept looking away, talking to distract herself.

He said the reason why he kept talking while the scene was on, was so he could distract himself from what was happening on the screen as well.

They discussed Majandra’s sweeping abilities -or lack thereof- and Brendan’s mom being on set while they filmed that make-out scene at the crashdown.

They were dating while they filmed that ep. They were on the early stages of ‘courting’ as Majandra put it, so Brendan’s mom being on set did make her nervous.

Brendan said they should not have been making out on the floor of the diner. He said something along the lines of ‘That place if full of cooking grease!’

He shared a little anecdote about how he was on his trailer one day, someone knocks on his door, he opens and ‘oh, majandra delfino is there’

She went to him to rehearse their first kiss. They barely knew each other. Hated each other (she more than him, apparently). And she went and said she needed to see what he kissed llike to prepare herself for the actual scene. So, they would rehearse the kiss scenes. They would make out on his trailer and then film the scenes. Yes, SCENES. As in, MORE THAN ONE. I repeat, this happened MORE THAN ONCE. Majandra claimed she wanted to know what it would be like, so it’d look/ feel good on screen.

Majandra said she now realizes how unprofessional that was, but at the time she didn’t think it was weird. Brendan, on the other hand, thought it was a weird thing to do and still does. Not that she refused to kiss her back then tho…

The hair was a big topic of discussion.

Majandra kept apologizing about hers.

Although they both praised Brendan’s hair.

Brendan said he still has that red shirt from when they’re making out at the eraser room. He said one of his daughters wears it all the time.

Hey, did you guys know the girl playing Vicky Delaney (Kyle’s date at the soap factory) was actually a 40 year-old woman?! Huh. Go figure.

Majandra saying to Brendan that they are now the age the actress is and they don’t look nearly as good. Brendan agreeing.

Majandra said she loved Liz’s voice. That she loved how Shiri would sound different when she played Liz.

The love they got for Diane (Amy Deluca)!!!! Majandra said she was too young to be playing her mom.

Brendan saying how he can now appreciate the grownups scenes and how cool it was that Bill Sadler (Valenti) got to have that storyline with Diane. How he didn’t care about the adult scenes back then because he was kind of a dick and whenever he saw the scenes with the grown-up actors, he’d ask why those scenes were even necessary.

Majandra agreeging. She said that whenever she watched ‘My so-called life’ she would hate the adults scenes because they were boring in her eyes.

They now realize those scenes were actually very important.

THE LOVE FOR COLIN! ♥

Majandra: He looks like a baby! Look at his clothes.

Brendan: He was great. I love this relationship he had with Liz. Maria was the best friend but he was also there…

Majandra: Yeah, it was like a trio.

Brendan: (or was it Majandra who said this?) He was the third sister.

Majandra: But Maria was number one. [laughs]

They discussed the turtle neck. Or, as Brendan put it, the ball of yarn Majandra was wearing.

This was a good hair day for Brendan btw, just in case you were wondering. He confirmed it.

The Stargazer relationship was talked about. They had nothing but love for those two.

Brendan addresses Katie’s PJs

Brendan: Katie was really great.

Majandra made the observation of what a sweet guy Alex was to be having this kind of dream about Isabel, and not something entirely different.

Brendan: He even got a tuxedo.

Majandra: Look at the boombox. Like ‘Say Anything.’

Once again, back to the clothes. Brendan’s t-shirt in the bathroom when he and Max talk about how ‘it has gotten complicated’ (Brendan actually said that line twice when this scene came on), he said he still has that shirt and he had to fight to let them wear it on the episode. Apparently, everyone was against it, he had to convince them. The t-shirt has some horses on it.

Brendan also stole a bunch of clothes and memorabilia, Majandra was not so lucky. She went to get some of Maria’s clothes only to find out it was all given to some producer’s daughter. So, when the show was over, she parked her car, opened the trunk and got whatever she could in there. Ended up getting the clothes the adult actors wore.

The way Jason looks at Liz when they’re dealing with the ‘mating ritual’. Majandra said ‘look at Jasons eyes! Ahhhhh’

The golden top maria wears at the soap factory? Majandra didn’t remember it. BRENDAN DID.

What Majandra remembers is that at this point in time in real life, they were sort of on the outs. Mimicking fiction. As they usually did. They were on and off during the entire series and funnily enough, when the characters were fighting, so were they irl. She said that she believed there was a scene in this ep she remembers which means they were sort of fighting.

They talked about how it was also difficult filming when they were on a fight irl but Maria and Michael were doing great. Those were hard days filming. They would come to set and everyone would have to figure out and read the vibe to see how they were doing. Lol.

Majandra saying how it was kind of unbelievable that Isabel would go for a guy like Alex. That she was so beautiful, she looked like she could be dating a college guy. Also, she praised that Isabel chose Alex, she gave the good guy a chance instead of going for a different type.

When they got to the ‘maybe we should have never started this’ Majandra confirmed that they were definitely on the outs irl at this point of the series. She again apologizes for her hair.

Brendan says he was worried about the humidity in this scene because of his hair. He was very protective of his hair. He wouldn’t let anyone touch it. Even today he gets nervous when he goes to get a haircut.

They talked about Valenti’s phone when he’s on a date with Amy. Well, it wasn’t Valenti’s phone, it was the restaurant’s phone but they thought it was Valenti’s cellphone and that he carried it around on his pocked or something. They had a good laugh about it because the phone was huge.

They talked about Majandra’s old phone back in the day. Which was both a cellphone and a walkie. (A nokia, I think they said. It was yellow? I don’t remember the color.)

They could not get through the jail scene. Kept saying ‘when is this gonna end? This jail scene is so long.’ Lol

To be fair, they were right.

They praised Alex for standing up to Valenti. Talked about Liz making the index finger signal as she tells Alex about Max, Michael and Isabel.

Brendan mentions Liz’s crazy eyes in this scene and why Michael was clearly right no to trust her.

Brendan: Look at her, she’s telling him the secret. Knew I couldn’t trust her.

Majandra: Yeah, she’s telling everybody.

Brendan: The bars in the jail. Are they real?

Majandra: What if they started to bend?

[laughs]

[more laughs]

Liz’s roof? All fake. The ladder was short. Not that short though.

Brendan: Yeah, Jason wasn’t on his knees climbing up that ladder.

Majandra: Can you imagine if he was though?

[laughs]

Brendan: Is this their first kiss?

Majandra: It is. I think.

Brendan: He even lifts up her shirt a little! That’s ballsy.

END OF EPISODE.

For the little Q&A

They said they would do the live feed again. Next episode to re-watch would be 285 South (maybe) because that got a lot of votes and they love that episode. Brendan said they should probably do one ep from each season. They talked about B&T. They have a second trailer. They filmed it. (We already knew this. Well…we assumed, but now we know for sure it’s out there.) They are very protective of this new project and getting it done so that’s why they haven’t released the trailer. They are sort of saving it for reasons. They have talked to networks, and continue to work to bring the show to life. There are things they want to keep, easter eggs, like the tobasco bottle, among others, so they are fighting to get those things to stay in the story.

They zoom with Nick and Jason very – and I mean VERY-often. Apparently the four of them are really good friends. They said maybe they could do a live feed with them. And they would also love to have them on B&T, obviously. Actually, they’d love to get as many actors as possible that were on Roswell to join B&T.

They were asked to describe each other in one word. Brendan said the word for Majandra back then wouldn’t be the same as now. They were asked to choose two words to describe each other, one for back then, one for now. Brendan went with ‘Passionate’ and ‘Loyal.’ Majadra said of Brendan he was ‘Blunt’ and now he is ‘LOUD.’ “Crazy, frustrating, agitated, stubborn” were other words to describe each other they used. Majandra said she thought Brendan had a condition, that that was the reason why he talks so loud nowadays. Brendan made sure we all knew that he does not. That’s just the way he talks.

Gags: When Brendan connected for the second video, he had trouble adding Majandra to the live feed (AGAIN) so he grabbed the ipad/tablet/or whatever from where he had it set, to try and work it out. And when Majandra finally appeared on screen, he dropped the ipad/tablet/or whatever to the floor. More specifically to the back of his desk. When he was setting it back on the table, he nearly dropped his glass of wine or flask (?) of vodka. Majandra laughed, he made a panicky funny face.

If I forgot something, I apologize. If remembered something incorrectly (like, who said what) please forgive me, I’m only human. Also, I wrote this down on Monday night after the live feed. Well, it was like, 4 am so… it was actually Tuesday. I was worried if I waited longer, I would forget more details. Anyway, I hope this was helpful somehow. Love you all♥

#roswell #brendan fehr #majandra delfino #roswell cast #Baron and Toluca #sm #live feed sum heat wave #let's hope this becomes a weekly thing ♥#fehr and mo's roswell rewatch #ketchup and two muffins

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sometipsygnostalgic · 6 years

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xenoblade chronicles 2 rapidfire review

π after i started writing up a 5000 word review and was still on the “character” section ive decided to make a rapidfire version to get to the fucking point.

Story - at the end of the day, it’s a tale about how to deal with all the pain and insecurity that life throws at you. how to dig down deep and find a way to continue in what you may interpret as a dreadful world. it also has some of the most satisfying mysteries and plot resolutions i’ve ever seen in a videogame. utterly touching themes. unfortunately gets a bit too shonen at points especially with the protagonist. also quite possibly a lowkey harem anime.

Story rating - 8 out of 10.

Characters - mostly all amazing in the english version.

Rex - a top lad. your best mate. however, becomes a total flawless gary stu pretty quickly. better than many protagonists out there. i like the way he gets people to open up by acting so casually friendly around them. 7 out of 10.

Pyra - unfortunately the weakest character in the main cast. has 3 forms that are treated as different characters for some reason, and no emotions beyond “sad” and “in love with rex”. her mythra form is a slightly better character who will talk to other cast members and sass down people. however mythra also comes across as weak and overly emotionally fragile at times, considering she is supposed to be the Master Blade. i suspect she exists for rex to have 4 3 girlfriends at once.

Azurda - dragon grandpa. subversive in that when he dies for the hero to move on from the homeland, he immediately resurrects himself as a cute furry thing that sleeps in rex’s helmet. best videogame decision ever. gives top advice.

Nia - welsh. double furry. how old is she? 6? most useful NPC. swears a hell of a lot. hilarious sassmaster with an intriguing story and well-rounded motivations. consistently interesting relationships with other cast members up to the end of the game. even remains the same after receiving her compulsory magical girl transformation. has the most awesome magical girl transformation. gives the main villain super cancer, causing him to blow up like harry potter’s aunt. probably the best character. lightly orbits the black hole of the rex harem, struggling to maintain geostational stability against the powers of fanservice.

Dromarch - a good dad cat. there is not a lot else to say about dromarch, except that you can ride him, which is badass. he and azurda are the old dad types babysitting the kids.

Tora - meh meh. actually likable mechanic child. why is this furry cat thing a key member of my party. despite rarely ever upgrading his blade he has made me basically immortal many times. nopon mask is underrated. masterpon is same at start of game as at end of game. that is to say he is an ambitious child, and a bit of a pervert. however, has terrible taste in upgrades. has many IRL blades pointed at him.

Poppi - poppi artificial blade who speak like masterpon. poppi α has cool design. poppi α adorable and cool. due to being newborn blade, poppi have refreshing and truthful view on world. poppi have tragic artificial sister who almost die terribly after evil nopon brainwash! poppi have most sad heartbreaking scene at end of game. however, poppi QT and poppi QT π designs can die in big fire. poppi good at throwing shade. it endearing and special trait.

Morag - technically the group normie. however, very weird. when you first see morag she reeks of pure chilled badassery. logical and with a strong sense of justice and compassion, morag starts off as an intimidating antivillain but becomes a staple member of the party. even though rex and the gang are fugitives in her city, she lets them leave because she senses they weren’t crooked ruffians and they had a purpose of their own. but she comes back to kick their ass when she thinks they’re causing more trouble, and is actually quite pissed off about rex and pyra holding back on her. has a sweet relationship with the emporer, her distant cousin/adoptive kid brother. morag learns on her adventure the value of the optimistic views the kids around her have of the world, and says multiple times if more people thought like they did, maybe there wouldn’t be so much political nonsense stopping people from living together peacefully. morag has a lot of pride and cannot deal with being oneupped. i love her.

Brighid - Morag’s wife blade who is one of many that struggles with the thought of losing her identity after regenning. has a diary of her past lives. uses it to taunt mythra about that one time she kicked her ass. pretends to be a little distant but low key super emotionally invested in the cast’s development. literally asked a main villain if she was like her past self that he knew, causing him to reconsider his entire philosophy on blades becoming completely different people when they’re reborn. bitchslaps rex that one time. Owns everybody at some point. such a beautiful character design that i never even noticed her chest is basically bare.

shellhead Zeke - the prince... of NOTHING. wishes he was still a student. that one time he nearly died, he was probably impaled by a falling twig. enjoyed playing Team Rocket. surprisingly wise for a teenlike NEET. does not look after his precious turtle. potentially does have a thunder powered eye. however, definitely requires second contact lens. unfortunately not comparable to rex in combat especially as his Luck stat means using a legendary crystal on him is like throwing it away.

Pandoria - i often forget pandoria is a blade because she is zeke’s girlfriend, also i never use her in battle due to his redundentness. well reknowned for also not looking after turtles properly. also well reknowned for slam dunking the prince over his nonsense while being equally silly.

BAD GUYS

Jin - apparently has special people-drawing trait that makes all the good cast who know him shocked he is ordering such evil bastard things to happen. not entirely sure what that trait is. emo about much bad stuff that happen to him and his driver. wishes to never forget his life with his driver. dirty child killer.very aniime. why is he the only flesh eater whose core turns red? okay character with decent enough motivation. was confused as to why Malos was following him until the very end.

Malos - evil bastard. cheesy villain. you can kick his ass many times and he will get back up 3 minutes later and laugh at you while swallowing back the bile of a bitter defeat. is actually a little tragic by the end of the game. dies for no reason. makes morag jealous because he found his purpose in life, though im not sure what that is.

Akhos - N3RD. probably the most likable member of Torna. had a silly Blade companion who he was really upset died. i like how he was sentimental about his ‘sister’ blade.

Patroka - most forgettable Torna member. a little bit tsundere.

Mikhail - grew on me significantly at the end though like Akhos and Patroka his backstory was unceremoniously dumped on your lap at the last second. must be a great fan of Prince Zeke as he’s heard of the term Blade Eater. also why has Mikhail got awesome blade powers and immortality when Zeke hasnt? maybe Mikhail is “possessing” the blade per se.

Amalthus - emo bitch. stared God in the face and raised his middle finger. hypocritically creates flesh eaters then sends witch hunts out for them. i like that he reminded himself every day about how bad humanity was by doing his best to help people. so despite the praetor being this “benevolent” figure he had somehow manifested a being of pure hatred.

Theres a lot of other people I cant be assed talking about right now.

Character rating - 9 out of 10. Even though some important characters arent as impactful as they should be, everybody is memorable and I can remember all of their damn names and backstories.

Gameplay - not particularly amazing. battles are alright, RPG-wise, with orb breaking combos and cancelling being fun to use. but they’re highly limited by the fact you can only control 1 character at a time and there is no Co-op feature. they also take an incredibly long time, even for just one enemy encounter, and there can be unfair Spike damage moves that oneshot you. my most satisfying moment battling ever was when i was fighting Aeon, the final boss, and got a Full break for the first time... I decimated the fucker when he was at 60% health.

Of course, those are just the battle mechanics.

The game is full of complex mechanics that do nothing but add tedium. Every single quest in the game forces you to farm for certain “collectibles”, plants that grow in specific unlisted locations that respawn when you fast travel. Many character “affinity” upgrades, which can lock out certain areas of the map, special skills, or unique interactions, also require you to do this shit. A guide is NECESSARY for this. There’s also the Merc Missions. Little did you know, you will need to complete Merc Missions to reach the end of many blade quests!!!you know what’s FUN? Waiting for a timer to pass after 25 fucking minutes!!!! this game has NO RESPECT FOR YOUR TIME WHATSOEVER.

the biggest bullshit of all is when you’re locked out of the main story because a specific character on your team hasn’t unlocked level 3 of a specific skill, because there’s no way that you’d be able to unlock that by naturally playing the game as you have to go out of your way to fill the criteria and grind something or other for 20 minutes.

This makes sidequests absolutely worthless.

The saving grace for the gameplay is probably the customizability of the blades themselves. Not so much the skills you can attach to each blade, but that you can unlock a number of fun characters to use, and they will have their own unique dialogue. The drivers and blades talking during battle also makes a 20 minute fight feel a lot quicker.

Battle gameplay mechanics: 6 out of 10. Fun but could be better. Sidequests, crafting, and field skill mechanics : 1 out of 10. Worthless trash that should never have been greenlit.

Considering that you will be spending so much time on the gameplay, why even bother playing the game at all?

It’s very much the story that pushes the player to move onwards. If this game didn’t have such a fun cast and meaningful plot then I’d probably not have gotten past the first act.

Music and Environments - Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is filled with vast, beautiful and diverse environments. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of interactivity with them other than killing monsters or foraging those bloody collectibles, but they’re beautiful enough with a diverse range of monster inhabitants that give them life. The MUSIC is godlike. My favourite track in the game would be the song used for the city in Tantal. Very ominous and beautiful hymn, sung in English.

Music and environment rating - 8 out of 10.

Localisation - While many sneer at the localisation choices for this game I thought it brought it to life. Granted I have great bias as being a Welsh girl who is familiar with the differences in UK regional dialect, but it felt like the dialogue the characters were saying also had a heavy makeover to fit the new voices... I really don’t believe that Rex’s Japanese voice actor also sounded like a Top Lad, or that Nia’s japanese voice actor sounded as much like she was ready for a valleys bar fight. However there are some clear obstacles as well - the characters seemed to have no idea of the context of their lines. This is obvious when they shout something for a long time. Rex’s “HIYAAAAAAAAH” and Nia’s “NOOOO MOOOOORE” sound comically off-tone when they are supposed to be epic. It’s the works of someone who read those lines off a script without knowing what was going on. Tora’s actor saying “meh meh” sounds like it was meant to be a COMPLETELY different noise. Morag and Zeke never go off-course, however. I think either they had an advantage with more visuals being completed by the time they were cast, or they just don’t have diverse enough dialogue in the game for it to have been an issue.

Localisation - 7.8/10 too much Meh.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Xenoblade chronicles 2 is a highly addictive game that pulls you to the finish line with an interesting plot and a cast you just can’t let go of. While Pyra is certainly the weakest link of the characters, and the game has some extremely goofy shonen scenes that it’s hard to take seriously, and oh dear me that’s an awful lot of boob shots, I had a lot of fun powering through it. I’m going to have a tough time letting go of this story and these characters.

Unfortunately the gameplay itself is not similarly addictive, and becomes more of a chore for you to get to the next cutscene or funny interaction.

Final rating - 6.5 out of 10. While a worthwhile experience, the greatest story in the world cannot save this game from piss-standard design choices. It is probably better to spend your time on a game that doesn’t have anti-fun mechanics. But I’d be hard pressed if any had a cast that touched your hearts quite like that of Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

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ignxsdraco-aa · 6 years

Text

Rules Page for Mobile Users

LAW –––––

OOC Info:

Yo’s welcome to my blog, my name is Ben and this is my portrayal of Natsu Dragneel. Firstly I’d like to start off by saying that Natsu is owned by Hiro Mashima. I claim no ownership of said character nor do I claim to be Hiro himself. Secondly, all icons you see me use are credited to Mashima as well as Artists from the fandom. If you have any questions or concern please feel free to message me. Thank ya!

Private && Selective:

So for this I’d like to state that there are several reasons for why I am like this. Could be due to a falling out with whoever, busy with tasks IRL, bouncing between other blogs and such. As much as I like to do stuff here I’d like to be fair and say that my interest varies from time to time as well as my muse. There could be somedays where I don’t feel like getting on and somedays where I do feel like getting on.

I will answers asks such as memes BUT, if we are not mutual (which means you follow me and I follow back ) I will not respond to anything that you reblog from me. Which now brings us to the mutuals rule if you follow me I will look at your blog and follow you back if I like what I see. What I usually look for is just the rules and about page. Also another thing is I will not respond to anything that I’m tagged in if we are not mutuals. Lastly please do not take things personally if I don’t follow you back. The reasons could be that I don’t agree with some things or I haven’t seen the notification if you followed me.\

OC’s & Cross-Overs:

For OC’s I’m very open to interacting with them since I myself have an OC as well. However, they have to be well written. Which means the whole shebang (Back story along with Head Canons). Also any OC that Natsu hasn’t interacted with him; he will treat as a stranger. Mainly to create chemistry between muses, makes it more interesting to start from scratch. Which also leads to shipping with OC’s in general, I will only ship with OC’s if both muses have developed chemistry together where they can also develop feelings and attraction towards each other.

This one I can’t stress enough. If you have a character that has a backstory involving my muse such as tragic past, relationship Family or Friend. You MUST contact me to discuss. Starters that are automatically sent to inbox for example “You killed my family! In front of my eyes! I’m going to kill you!” will be deleted with no hesitation. Communication is key if I don’t agree with your head canon your character has with my muse. Don’t take it to face value. Just have to try again.

Cross-Over’s on the other hand I am very open to doing just as long as I know the series said muse is from. It’s always an interesting and exciting experience to have two characters from different universes interact with each other. Also I do not mind to either throw my muse into a different universe or to have yours interact in my muse’s universes.

Asks & Threads:

For asks as much as I like having my inbox spammed with multiple asks. PLEASE keep it to at least one or two prompts for each Prompt I reblog. Reason for this is mainly to keep things in check, it makes it very hard for me to answer each individual ask you send me. As well as other prompts that other muns send me. So please keep it at to a minimum of one or two per prompt. Lastly, if you do not see your ask be answered please do not take anything to heart. I either drafted the ask or replied to it but queued it.

For threads if we have a thread going on and I’m genuinely interested in it I will reply to it. Also If you have a thread going on and you wish for us to continue it. Feel free to message me chances are the thread is in my drafts.

Plotting & Winging it:

I am an awkward shy turtle, who also sucks at plotting from time to time. But I do enjoy a good plot just takes a while for me to come up with something good. Though if you have any ideas on a plot for our muses. Then by all means I am all ears, I’m interested in hearing on other peoples ideas.

Winging it which means just go with the flow of how our muses interact. Depends and varies from time to time. Where as to setting up a scenario for our muses aka plotting, winging it can either be good or bad. What I mean by this is that I can either be interested or not interested with how our muses interacted. But do not be alarmed or hesitant when I say this. Majority of the time I will be interested, so do not fear. :D

Tagging:

This is just for personal reasons but please tag your ships. I respect people and their ships, however I do wish for them to be tagged as there are some I do not agree with for personal reasons. I will most likely want Laxlu and Lolu. Along with others, everybody will get one if by chance you forget to tag them. But afterwards if I see any post without them being tagged. I will unfollow

Shipping & Smut:

I am a multi-ship blog meaning each character Natsu has a romantic ship with will be in its own universe. Ex: He can be shipped with x amount of Lucy, Levy, Lisanna, etc. HOWEVER, even though both Natsu and I are a multi-ship blog. As mentioned before there NEEDS to be chemistry and development in order for Natsu to be shipped with another muse romantically. For Natsu, it’s a long and slow process alike many others to develop feelings.

Smut however can happen with any muse with or without feelings towards said character. Could be mainly sexual attraction towards another character. However I will only smut with mun’s and muses that are of or over the age of 18.

Ships will be tagged with their tags along with a verse tag. NSFW threads such as smut will also be tagged to allow easy access to black list. As well as images & Gifs containing adult situations

Formatting:

PLEASE TRIM your replies and threads unless on mobile then it is easily understandable. However if you are replying on PC this can easily be fixed. There is an extension that works for Chrome and Firefox called New Xkit. Install that on your respective choice of browser then once installed should give you a message on the tumblr webpage to refresh.

Once the page is refreshed a window will pop up there are several tabs. The one you want to click on is “Get Extensions” scroll down and you will see an extension that says “Editable Reblogs” install that. Once that is taken care you can now trim posts, I apologize if this is a lot to ask. But it makes things a lot easier not only for us but for everyone else on the dashboard. Shorter & Trimmed posts makes the dash board a lot easier to scroll down than to continuously scrolling down a single thread that isn’t trimmed.

Also we don’t have to match each other’s length for replies nor do you need to have special texts. Reply with however length you feel comfortable with as well as your writing is good enough for me.

Triggers :

I do not have any triggers, however with whatever theme of the thread/RP my muse is in. I will tagged certain themes with tw: *insert theme here* (Trigger Name). If there is a certain theme you want me to tag please let me know. I want to make sure that everyone is comfortable.

OOC related things :

There will be times will I post things out of character. Which may contain several ooc/posts from the mun. Sometimes these posts will contain gifs or images so tag “tw:Images/gifs” and “Image/Gif warning”

Most of all have fun! Role-play is meant to be as a hobby where you can fun. If you read all of my rules state the following

#[ Rules Link for Mobile Users ]#Long Post

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notapuzzlepiece123-blog · 6 years

Photo

Hey guys, I made this picture on my DeviantArt (if you’re on DA, my user is NotAPuzzlePiece).

Since I can’t find a share button on DA I should post it here too, and explain why I made is even though all it’s all pretty obvious to all of us.

Also, YamiDawn33 is a friend of mine IRL and on DA. And if you have a good caption for this send it to my inbox/messages and I’ll see if it’s okay or not here.

Content/Trigger Warning for mentions of ABA, Quiet Hands mentions, overall ableism/eugenics mentions, and me cussing like a sailor like normal, but with more passion.

And so, without further ado:

“Hey everybody (haha can I even say that?), I feel like I had to upload this for...reasons. To be specific, for some reason a lot of people are unfamiliar with the concept of ableism and what its effects are on disabled people. Be warned here, there will be lots of swearing/strong language, ranting, getting shit off of my chest, and reliving my past as my wrists shake when talk about this. I'm not sure if I should mark the art as 'mature' or not. I'm don't really know if this belongs in the "Macabre" art category: to me it's important but it's also an incredibly sensitive psychologically terrifying nightmare for me to talk about once I get into the details. Ableism: Discrimination on the basis of ability/disability. In theory this is illegal but in practice it happens in everything from housing to organ transplants and everything in between and beyond. Internalized Ableism: The way one internalizes themselves as inherently bad, broken, and depraved because of their disability despite knowing otherwise. The closest comparison I can get to is this is like internalized sexism, but with disability. I feel like this is incredibly important to talk about but because of the cure-culture that exists, disability is simply pushed to the side as an afterthought, if it even comes up in discussion at all. Able-bodied (AB): Not physically disabled in any way. Body function, height, etc. does not significantly deviate from the societal norms. Neurotypical (NT): Not mentally, intellectually, or developmentally disabled in any way. Brain function does not significantly deviate from the societal norms. And even when that happens, I can guarantee you that 99 times out of 100, it's the able-bodied neurotypical people who get to talk about disability, not the disabled person themselves. And by virtue of the AB NT not having any disability, they don't know what it's like living with one. And yet it's almost always the AB NTs who constantly speak over us, dehumanize us, and blatantly ignore our cries of agony despite the fact we are right in front of them. This goes for all issues. As an Autistic I always have this happen. It's not just Autistics. It's every disabled community. I only mention Autism because that's what I am. There are disabilities I don't have, I refuse to speak over them. Autism $peaks: Autism Speaks. The $ in "Speaks" was originally to reflect the fact they only spent 4% of their fund toward "resources" but now is meant to denote this eugenicist organization in general. Filicide: The killing of a child by their parent. Disabled people are statistically more prone to this, and violence in general (stats for Autistics: 6 times more likely to be sexually assaulted, 10 times more likely to be physically assaulted in general) When Autistic people say Autism $peaks is a hate-group, you should believe the Autistic. Not the neurotypical parent who happens to have an Autistic child. The child is Autistic, the parent is not, the Autistic will know better by virtue of being Autistic. When we say we either can only minimally our actions during meltdowns or literally can't control those actions, we literally can't. Most of us can't even remember what we said or did during meltdowns. When we say that the noise is too loud even though there are only six people in a room, you'd better believe it. If the lights are too dark or too bright, you'd better believe it. When we say our rocking and hand-flapping and tapping our feet in a certain way is our equivalent to facial expression, and it is used as much for joy as it is furiosity, I know for a fact it is because MY hand-flapping is EXTREMELY different depending on my mood. And yet the it's the neurotypicals that get listened to. A majority of them say we're broken, missing, Autism $peaks has literally made comparisons to Autism being like your kid was kidnapped, so many neurotypicals only defend stimming as a necessary evil, the use of functioning labels hurt us and yet neurotypicals continue to use them to defend shit like filicide. The lack of hand in the drawing, by the way, is on purpose. Have you heard of Quiet Hands? I've seen Autistic people go home from ABA therapy with bruised wrists and no ability to tell their parents because they won't give a rat's piss. I've heard the stories where a six-year old was flapping her hands in jot and her therapist fucking used TACKY GLUE to pin her hand to the desk and fucking HELD them there despite her SCREAMING and wanting to to stop. ABA therapy: Applied Behavioral Analysis. Non-ABA-ABA Therapy: A personal distinguishment I make between harmful therapies and non-harmful ones due to US insurance laws. True ABA therapy: A personal distinguishment I make between harmful therapies and non-harmful ones due to US insurance laws. Why do you think that true ABA therapists don't let the child's parents back in their little "offices"? I was in a fucking "behavior" school, called Hillcrest Family Services, and if I even so much as read a book under my desk I was thrown into an isolation room by a police officer, even though we were being taught turtles are cold-blooded and I knew that when I was THREE YEARS OLD. Those dickhead staff just assumed that we were incapable of doing anything at or even three grade below our grade level. And before you even FUCKING TRY TO DEFEND ABA the shut the HELL UP and sit. Your. ASS. DOWN. NOW. If all of THAT hasn't convinced you, then what does that say about you? Would you be encouraging assault and filicide if I was talking about ABA therapy for depsression? No, you wouldn't. And if you think this is all illegal, oh no you are SOOOOO fucking wrong. First off, ABA therapy is technically/legally the ONLY therapy that is insured in the US, so many non-ABA therapies decide to go under this label specifically for that and that alone. Thus my distinction between what I call non-ABA-ABA therapy and true ABA therapy has arisen. Secondly, one of the founders of true ABA therapy, Ivar Lovaas, also created gay conversion camps. Yes, you heard me right, the guy who co-founded true ABA therapy also founded gay conversion camps and yet was somehow able to defend ABA's torturous existence. ... ... ... And...if you've read through all of that I'm incredibly shocked and incredibly grateful. I don't mean to say all neurotypicals do this to us, I'm not trying to be mean or hateful or anything it's just. ... I'm aware that there are allies out there, but out of all of my interactions with neurotypicals, I've had about three people I know to be neurotypical who have been kind to me on a regular basis (somewhat shameless shoutout here to YamiDawn33 for being an awesome friend and a decent human being). I simply don't know what to do sometimes because, as you can see, the fact I have to wear a mask these days, the fact that I actually had it better than other disabled people even as I was being dragged into isolation rooms, that being a verbal Autistic and knowing non-verbal Autistics are falsely perceived to be "unintelligent" and "lesser" and yet I have the privilege to be an advocate? It makes me feel like a fraud, a fake, a sell-out. At the same time I feel equally as broken, missing, invisible, chained.... I'm not free until all of us are free and it just keeps following me and haunting me like something, like a ghost, its some inescapable leash, a cage, I don't know how to describe it, it's a lot of things. Seriously. Thanks so much for listening to this nineteen-year old sophomore university student talk about social justice and literal Hell, it means a lot to me.”

#YeahIAdmitItICussLikeASailor #IDontKnowWhatElseToDoInThisInstance #NeurofamilyIsAwesomeBTW #NotAPuzzlePiece

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