#AND there's room for tons of fun actual character exploration

[franollie]

i do sometimes wonder how the gang's chemistry and dynamics would shift if they actually did have to co-parent a baby because realistically none of them should have children. ever. but the idea of dropping a baby in the hands of five incredibly unqualified alcoholics is oh so very amusing to me

[avale-reves]

if this "no news/trailers/whatever at all until the year leading up to release" is the new normal for KH i think fandom is going to like, have to massively restructure the way it works, the things it celebrates and engages with, the stuff it values and considers 'high worth', because otherwise it's just going to be years and years and years of the same discussions repeated over and over with nothing new for us to even chew on in the meantime.

i find that the kh fandom massively undervalues fanworks. maybe as a side effect of how important 'word of god' and 'canon' are to understanding the series, idk, but like i think there needs to be a real shift in fandom perspective to champion them more, and making them far more central to what "being active in kh fandom" means. And I think this both because of just the practicality of keeping fandom alive in an era where the devs are more tight-lipped than ever, but also I think it's something that KH specifically needs to do.

Kingdom Hearts is always going to be a series of "missed/unfulfilled potential". There is no way it cannot be. The concept is just too expansive, the cast so wide, and there are endless ways to spin off of what they've given us, or endless ways to imagine where it could go. Even something as simple as a Disney world has all of this "potential" in how it could be explored, how it could be utilized, how it could play or look or feel, what themes it could have, what character development it could give certain characters etc. And the games will always have to take that infinite possibility and whittle it down to a single thing. KH itself will always have to contend with right/legal issues, Disney oversight and rules, the realities of game development and budgets, etc and so in that sense, it will never be able to reach the potential. But like... we can? We as fans can take all of the potential and use it as an endless playground for us to enjoy and engage with.

Idk, I just think back to, for example, Kairi and Lea training. A concept that has a ton of potential! Very interesting fertile ground for character dynamics, fighting scenes, mentor scenes, etc etc. Obviously, in KH3 this amounted to only a couple of core scenes where the devs put the focus on just their character relationships. Many were disappointed by this, by how little we see, but like, it was always set up as a "thing that is going to be happening off-screen", that's the whole point of 'merlin made a special place where time doesnt matter and they can just focus on training'. And when we think of KH3 with its endless things it has to juggle, its huge cast, etc. it makes sense that Kairi and Lea training can only be a tiny part of it. They have a budget. They have resource constraints. They even have disc space constraints to worry about (it's why their scenes are CG even! They literally did not have any room on the disc to actual make in-game environments for them!).

Like we can look at that and be very disappointed. We didn't get to see any of that stuff. But like, idk, at the same time, the fact that we didn't see a lot of it means that almost any fanwork about that time can "fit with canon" and be "something that might've happened". Like, we can look at it as a disappointment it wasn't more defined by KH3, but we could also look at it as a fandom gift. To borrow a phrase from iconic kh fan translator goldpanner: It is a crack in the concrete sidewalk of KH canon where fanworks can grow and thrive.

Idk. I know for some, fanworks will just never count the same as canon. But, I do feel like if people in general grew to appreciate them more, and have fun with them and engage with them, and share them and make them themselves, then it could do so much to smooth out the feelings of 'missed potential' that is inherent with this series and always will be through no fault of the devs themselves. And perhaps we would find, if, for example, we had spent the 4-6 years between MelMem and KHIV having a blast as a fandom exploring 'Kairi and Aqua training' through fics, art, comics, vids, fangames, music, graphic design, etc etc. We'd probably feel that by the time it was 'defined' by canon into a single thing it has to be for the story they're telling, even if that thing is nothing that we thought or wished for, we might end up feeling the 'potential' of the idea wasn't wasted, because we explored it.

[little-cereal-draws]

Ok so I think I figured out why the panic attack scene is so great (or at least in my opinion)

It’s told from an outside perspective.

Panic attacks are horrible. You feel like the worlds crashing down and you can’t breathe and you get tunnel vision and you’re dying and it’s the end of the world. But to outsiders, I mean they look bad, but it’s mostly just shaking and gasping and stuff. Not nearly as catastrophic as they feel.

Now, I can’t remember a ton of times a character in a tv show/movie has had a panic attack (that wasn’t used as comedic purposes) but the ones I can remember, mostly focused on the person having it. The warped sounds, tunnel vision, etc. We were experiencing it through their eyes. And this approach has its appeals; it shows the severity panic attacks can have, makes the audience more sympathetic to the character, and lets the creative team have a bit of fun w how they draw it. And puss in boots does that very briefly when Perrito is asking him what’s wrong but for the most part, it’s not told from puss’s pov.

It shows what panic attacks actually look like instead of how they feel and shows how scary they can be even wo all the artistic liberties. It’s still a terrifying scene, listening to him hyperventilate on the floor surrounded by dead trees but it just tells the audience, “this is what panic attacks are like.” No flashing colors or fisheye lenses, just not being able to breathe on the floor. And in my own experience, that’s a lot more accurate too than all the artistic liberties other shows take.

And the outside perspective also allows a whole new set of feelings to be explored. As an audience, we already know why puss is freaking out so staying w puss would just reenforce smth the audience already knows. Instead, we get to see Perrito worry about his friend and start panicking himself when he’s not responding to him. We get to see him figure out how to help and be relieved when it works. And that makes the forehead touch/talk afterwards that much better. We know the extent Perritos love for his friends in a tangible way, not just him saying it, and it’s the first time puss accepts help from someone else.

Anyway, it’s just a fantastic scene and I wish I was in the room when they scripted it

[earthstellar]

what are some other nice moments from Rescue bots?

This show is loaded with them!!! :)

Here we go, some nice moments in Rescue Bots!!

I'm going to write this with the assumption that some people reading this may not have ever seen Rescue Bots or might only be somewhat familiar, as I realise the target audience skews much younger than most Transformers media does, so I'm not 100% sure how popular it was outside of that demographic in total.

Off the top of my head:

-There is an in-universe VR game called Element Quest that has a couple really good episodes, the design is cute and there are tons of meme references. Blades, at one point, goes "I used to like video games. Then I took an arrow to the knee." LOL

-I think it's cool how they actually do tie in their continuity with TFP's continuity. For example, "What Rises Above" (RB) canonically comes before "Nemesis Prime" (TFP), and this is directly referenced in the dialogue in TFP when Optimus says that he is late arriving to the base as he was exploring an underground energon deposit-- This is the deposit he explores with the Rescue Bots.

-THERE IS A MUSICAL EPISODE. IT IS EXTREMELY GOOD

-Woodrow Burns, the Chief's brother, is kind of an idiot asshole, although he's not actively malicious. But he is great with the kids and for whatever reason the only thing I can ever remember about this character is when he goes up to Cody after it's been a long time since he saw him last and says "You've grown a whole foot since the last time I saw you-- Now you'll need three socks!" IDK I just think that's a real cute dad joke thing to say to a little kid lol :')

-There is an episode where they explore the local folklore of Griffin Rock, and TL;DR the local lore is that their island is where literal griffins used to nest seasonally. So throughout the episode, there's this kind of vibe of "OK are these electrical magnetic pulses or whatever like a science problem or a magic problem" and it's actually a very cute and fun vibe, especially since Cody is talking about the lore in the first place as part of his work towards a Scouts badge and Blades is very cute in this episode, the bots are all like "okay magic isn't real but uhhh what if magic's real?" for a minute and it's great :')

-Doc Greene/Green creates a ton of fun science devices throughout the show, but the names of some are just so doofy and fun. I love the "Torna-Don't", which is a thing designed to dispel tornados. Of course. lmao

-All the weird small town local events are also very silly and cute, and weirdly realistic for those of us who are familiar with this kind of local event thing, lmao. One of my favourite concepts is one of what seems to be several crawdad-related festivals, in which there is apparently a televised crawdad race. It's a bunch of shrimps put on a tiny racetrack, like Olympic runners. LOL

-At one point, Blurr shows up, and when the Rescue Bots are trying to acclimate him to working with humans, Chase is like "Humans seem to have two genders, which are defined by how many cooties they have." This implies that as far as the Rescue Bots are aware, 1) cooties are real and 2) human gender is defined solely by how many cooties a person has, and not by anything else, thus leaving their understanding of human gender fairly open (and it is also clear they have solely learned about gender from young kids in a small town which is likely why they state there are two genders but then make it clear that gender is a cooties thing and not an inherently physical thing, which makes sense in context and is kind of great because it gives more leeway for gender diversity than I expected) and I love this a lot. What is human gender? Cooties. That's all. So someone with a particularly high number of cooties could be another gender altogether, because why not?

-There is a body swap episode, which treats us to Blades in Dani's body trying on dresses in her room. He picks an orange and white one, which matches his paint job. I also love this a lot.

-Heatwave is gruff as hell especially at the start of the series and constantly starts shit or perpetuates shit with Kade, which is super funny. Just this centuries old Cybertronian fucking with this doofus boy who keeps leaving donuts in his cab. God dammit Kade, lmao.

-There is an episode where Cody is aged up via Science Device, and we get to see an older Cody, who more closely resembles his father than his older brother does. It's cute that he'll look like his dad when he's older. :')

During this episode, he assists in a rescue, and the girl his brother has a crush on tries to hit on him, but he clearly doesn't get what's happening and thinks it's icky because of course he does, he's a kid. I just think this scene is handled well and it's cute that his reaction to being hit on is still "ewww girls" but his brother is still absolutely pissed off about it anyway LMAO like jesus Kade, relax

-Kade's mostly an asshole but he's shown to be a really good rescuer who genuinely cares about people, and he has moments where he really comes through for his family and realises on his own that he should shut up and back down on his bullshit, thus making him a better developed and more realistic asshole brother character than 99% of asshole brother characters in most shows. I think this is pretty solid because it does lead to effective character development here and there, and it makes his positive moments with his family and the bots that much nicer. :)

-Cody is such a good kid. He is often willing to give people or ideas a chance when nobody else will, and even though he's too young to actively participate in most missions, he stays involved by helping at their dispatch centre. He's a smart little dude, who has a lot of heart and a ton of potential. One of the few child characters in anything that I actually like, because I think they write him extremely well: He is young, but he is not stupid. He is not treated like an accessory or like the property of his family, he's his own person with a distinct personality within his family, with a reasonable amount of autonomy. And he's a person who is still learning and has valuable contributions while also needing guidance or support at times. 10/10

-Dani gradually gets better at helping Blades deal with his flight anxiety (and sticks up for him when the others might mock him a little for it), and this is not only inherently very nice and cute, but it also makes a lot of sense as she is a first responder/medic and we see her offer the same reassurances towards the people she helps to rescue.

-The writing for the Burns Family in general is some of the best family group character writing in anything tbh, they handle the family dynamic so well in this show, and it's extra cute as the Rescue Bots all learn a lot from observing how the family takes care of one another and the townspeople they rescue. :')

-Blades has anxiety. I also have anxiety, so I am biased and clearly love this dude, lmao. He's so fucking relatable and even though sometimes the others rip on him, it is clear that they're also very proud of him for trying his best to deal with a situation which for him is particularly difficult (he was forced to take a flight capable alt-mode when this is something he is explicitly not comfortable with) and his team mates do support him, even though Heatwave is a douche sometimes (although it is clear this is usually due to stress or something else and that the actual problem isn't Blades). Over the course of the series, Blades does develop a little more confidence, and it's very cute and nice to see him puffing himself up a little more. :)

-The overall attitudes the bots have towards humans in this show is sweet. It's clear they don't really understand humanity or humans as a whole, but it also doesn't really matter because they are so specifically oriented to their local population on the island and their focus is a relatively small community of humans. They take their duties seriously and will protect this population, even if they don't really understand the people outright. They gradually start to respect the locals (and the Burns Family) more and more as they work with them, and get acclimated to Earth. They love their dumbass weird little humans :')

This leads to a lot of fun shenanigans with the bots not understanding things, or only understanding things as they have been explained by the children, which is hilarious.

-There is an episode where local thieves steal Chase, and inspired by Cody's school drama project, he decides to go undercover after watching a bunch of old detective movies. This includes him narrating things to himself, which he is called on when Dani enters the garage and asks him "Why are the lights off? Are you talking to yourself?" lmao

-Although it isn't explicitly canonical, it's easy to interpret both Chase and Blades as being neurodivergent. Both of them display various behaviours and traits which can potentially be understood in this way, and I'm just glad that there's a show for kids where two of the main characters, who are rescue workers, are shown to be competent and skilled at their jobs and accepted by the community for who they are while also being neurodivergent. <3 It's such a good vibe when the other characters support or defend these two in particular, especially when Chase or Blades might be confused or upset about something. Chief Burns is especially great working with Chase.

-Any episode where Optimus shows up in Rescue Bots usually has some gems of cuteness/silliness. The Elvis line still takes me out, LMAO. "You're bigger than Elvis!" "I have not met this Elvis, and I am unaware of his size." 10/10 writing, I fucking love Rescue Bots

-The bots constantly call out a bunch of details that are entirely appropriate for robots from space to notice and recognise as somewhat weird, whereas a lot of the human characters are so used to 1) being human and 2) living on this incredibly weird little technologically advanced island that nothing really phases them anymore. So we can actually identify more with the bots at time, despite the fact that they are also providing an outsider point of view, which is really clever! :)

-The theme song is a fucking banger. It's so good. I love this song so much. I wish we got a full version of it, but this is the best extended version of it that I've been able to find. Enjoy!!!

-There's a lot of fairly adult stuff in the show, more than I think people realise! The tone can never get too dark outright as it is intended for young kids as the primary demographic, but there's a lot of situations, conversations, etc. that are genuinely engaging and interesting from an adult perspective, which is a large part of what makes it a great watch for all ages.

Some situational examples include scenarios where children are imperilled in natural disasters, accidents, even kidnapping at one point.

Non-kid related situations include risks and threat to civilians from AI development and the dangers that uncontrolled or poorly thought out technology can cause or exacerbate, which is significant in context and also interesting to think about given our current relationship IRL with rapid tech development and concerns around how that technology is being made and applied, either in reality or in theory.

Some dialogue examples include scenes where the bots mention their grief over being unable to save Cybertron, a sense of guilt that they were in stasis for so long even though this was beyond their control, awareness that they may be the last Rescue Bots team in operation on Earth or anywhere else in the universe (a sense of loneliness and a responsibility as the last upholders of their specific creed), struggles with their sense of duty and concerns around their ability to fulfil their expectations for themselves and meet the expectations of others while rising to the demands of their unique situation, and so on.

--

this is already pretty long lmao, there's a ton of stuff I really like about Rescue Bots, but I hope this might encourage others to check out the show if you haven't before, it's well worth a watch! :)

[judgeanon]

So about that DETECTIVE COMICS #1084...

As a big Shiva fan, I really, really liked that. Maybe my favorite issue with her since Hill's Outsiders run. I made a thread in another site about it but I liked that issue so much that I'm gonna take a sec to repost it here too, so hit that jump if you wanna read an in-depth analysis of 'Tec #1084... or at least, its backup feature!

I'm kinda kidding, I actually enjoyed the main story too. I liked seeing Bruce and Talia reunited in a very touching moment of romance that gives way to grim tension as the unfortunate complications of the strange and violent world they live being to slowly rip them apart once more... and then Shiva happens. For one panel and in a flashback but it was really fun to see Talia call her a friend for a bunch of reasons.

The most serious one is that I genuinely think that, given enough room to work with, Talia and Shiva could be a very compelling pair. Shiva is known to be interested in people who are in a state of flux, who find themselves in crossroads trying to figure out where their true path really lies. And Talia, for better or worse, has been there for, like... years now. I've always thought that Talia, endlessly torn between her love for Bruce, her love for her father, and her love for the world, might even find something tempting about Shiva's absolute detachment, about her comparative freedom from all connections. Which would be fun to explore.

The other reason comes from the issue's backup story by Alex Paknadel and Robbi Rodriguez, which I didn't expect at all but ended up being a huge treat for me, since it aligned so much with a lot of what I consider the most interesting elements and perspectives in Shiva and Cass' relationship.

Right from the start, we have Shiva being able to read Cass and figure out what's wrong with her just from a couple of fighting moves, which I absolutely adore. What looks like a fight is really just them having a conversation, at least for Shiva, who is very quickly able to get at the deeper emotions troubling Cass and holding her back.

(Also, that one panel of Snake Style ThodThodThod's really made me smile. I love the idea of Shiva using stranger, more exotic martial arts than anyone else, especially in Gotham)

On my first read I wasn't really onboard with Shiva's words about not killing Cass, like there was something about them that didn't quite click, but after mulling them over for a while I feel like they can be read as Shiva intentionally picking at Cass' perfectionist nature and competitive spirit. It's less "I spared you and now you owe me" and more "You trying to be Batman makes you suck, here's why, now be better." But I might be reaching a bit there.

Still, it does work, which I really enjoy. I like Shiva being able to prod Cass into reaching deep within her, figuring out what's wrong and improving herself. And we get a lot of that in the next couple of pages, where Cass grapples with the Azmer while also grappling with her own nature. Cass' training with David is an extremely defining element of her character. It's her instincts, her mother tongue, her main method of expression, but it's also something that causes her a ton of inner turmoil, due to the intentions of that training.

Cass is presented in this story as someone inwardly ashamed by her nature, worried of the assassin skills that are weaved into her very nature and what that may say about her. Of course, this is something that Cass has been through before and has developed quite a bit, maybe even outgrown but with Batman dead and gone, it probably makes sense for her to lapse a bit back into self-loathing without that symbol to guide her and with her failure at trying to emulate it. Which I think is a very human thing to happen. Your worst traits are never really gone, and tend to slip back into you when you're at a low point.

Which is why I really like the last few panels of this story.

Although first, Shiva calling Talia an "associate" makes me giggle a bit. C'mon Shivs, don't be so tsun-tsun... anyway.

On the most basic level, we have Shiva offering Cass some solid advice that ties the whole story in a neat bow. But it takes on an even stronger quality when you remember this is Lady Shiva talking here. Shiva, who we know wants Cass to be more than just a Bat. Shiva, who understands the strength that comes from finding your own path and following it. Shiva, who maybe more than anyone knows exactly how strong Cass can be once she embraces all aspects of her own nature and finds harmony in herself.

From almost any other character, that last phrase would just be a nice little canned moral. From Shiva's lips, it carries the weight of decades of character work for both Cass and Shiva. It's a solid ending that's elevated by the history between its characters. It hits SO many of the notes I want to see, the things that I think make Shiva's relationship with Cass genuinely compelling. Shiva being able to "read" Cass through a fight, her wanting Cass to be herself more than anything else, and all of it unhindered by any kind of easy moral judgment from Cass or the story itself.

Shiva is not presented as a monstrous villainess who Cass must reject, but as her own character with her own story that happpens to cross with Cass' for a moment. And from Shiva, there's no berating Cass for being a hero or choosing not to kill. There is berating, sure, but it works because it speaks to something a lot more personal for both characters than generic notions of good or evil. It speaks about Cass' need to find and be herself and stick with it no matter what.

(Which this arc also touched upon a couple months ago in 'Tec #1082, which very elegantly made it clear that Cass had the heart of a hero before she even knew what a Batman was -- an incredibly powerful statement made in just two captions)

So this is a story that hits pretty much all the right notes for me. I wish it would hit them a bit longer, or in a few different ways that didn't involve Batman, but it's just a perfect example of most of the elements that I think make this relationship worth exploring. Even the fact that this makes it the sixth major appearance of Lady Shiva in a row that is ultimately dedicated to her relationship with Cass doesn't bother me because this is precisely how I want this relationship to be written. If they were all this good, I wouldn't even mind.

And on top of all that, this issue is also a good example of something I'm always thinking about: tempting as it is, you don't need to make every Shiva appearance be huge and bombastic and lead to some massive story arc. It can be something small but meaningful, a quick appearance with some very choice words, Shiva walking into an ongoing story to, in her own way, help others get through an inflection point.

If I had to say something I disliked about it, I do think it's a little blunt in its themes and execution. Paknadel has Shiva quite literally spell out the problem for Cass, which I guess is fine given how short the story is, but it does lose a bit of elegance because of it. Still, it was a great little treat and while I know Ram's 'Tec run is coming to its end, I do hope he'll find a place for one last bit of Shiva in it.

And I also hope he gets to write her for more than just one wordless balloon because Ram V's Lady Shiva is a dream book in my book.

[petrichor-idyllic]

Hii Petri, I want to request for headcanons please, it's maze runner boys x fem!reader and she was one of the first to go up in the box, she's been in the glade for enough time to pass for the transition of 'cute little girl who's happend to be there with a lot of boys' to 'really hot girl in the middle of tons os guys', and I want to see the moment that clicked for each one of them that "oh, she's a girl". I think it would be fun cause they're a bunch of virgin dudes stuck in a place with only one girl that they know since "forever" and then suddenly she's not that little kid anymore and it clicks that they'd could be the one to date her.

I am completely doing my requests out of order, but I really like this idea and headcanons are so much easier lol.

Also no Newt here, the boy likes men.

DEVELOPMENT

MASTERLIST | MULTI-CHARACTER MASTERLIST

SUMMARY: See above. Movie based fic.

WARNINGS: Inappropriate language, awkward teenage boys, you're the boss, everyone is useless, mild suggestive themes, the Thomas one is really bad 'cause I had no way of actually writing that based on this prompt.

You were the first person in the Glade, a young girl with no memories or idea what you were doing. Yet, somehow, you managed to survive for a whole month on your own. Then, one after another, the boys started joining you. And you went from soft girl to a leader they could rely on - though, it takes them a bit to notice this.

THOMAS

Being one of the later arrivals to the Glade, Thomas doesn't have the same reaction the others do.

You're just a badass from day one to him.

He thinks you're cool and calculated and you seem to know what you're doing.

He respects you from day one.

He doesn't get to have the whole realising you're cool moment that everyone else does.

He just thinks you're sick.

And he's like, stressed as shit, so he doesn't really have the time to think otherwise.

MINHO

Now, this is where it gets interesting.

Minho was one of the first boys to follow you into the Maze, just after Alby and Newt.

So he's witnessed your whole transformation.

From the early days of exploring the Maze together, to you making him Keeper, to the drunken nights where he'd had a rough day and you had to drag him to bed.

You've been together through thick and thin.

And some of Minho's confidence has definitely rubbed off on you.

The moment where Minho realised you were in face a girl, and not the one he first met was actually quite simple.

You'd had a long night, and with one of your Runners out of commission, you realised you hadn't told Minho to cover another route that day as you'd made arrangements for a new Runner to do a more simpler route- which meant switching up everyone's routines.

Fresh out of bed, wearing a sports bra and baggy trousers that hung off your hips, you went to the Map Room.

It wasn't uncommon for you to dress like this. The Glade is warm, and you basically mothered all these boys.

You whistled as you entered, gaining their attention.

"Oi, boys, listen up - I'm switching routes around today. With Sam off on sick and Darren being new, he's taking the easiest route. Minho, I need you to deal with covering the outer sections more. And Ben I need you to stick to your path for a change instead of going awol - your maps make no sense."

"Aw, what? But that's boring."

"I ain't shuckin' askin', Ben - do as you're told."

Oh.

Oh God.

Minho doesn't know why this is what made it click.

His eyes fell on your body, your words becoming static as he drunk in your figure.

Had you always been this attractive?

Had you always been this assertive?

Was Minho into dominant women?

Should he be concerned?

After this point onwards, Minho started looking at you differently.

In fact, you became the only thing he couldn't take his eyes off.

Minho would go from your confident and reliant friend to slightly awkward, but also occasionally flirty.

Like he can't actually decide what to do with you now.

It'd take a while, but after some near death experiences, he'd become more outwardly flirtatious.

Though, he still wouldn't be able to get over the admiration and awe for you.

GALLY

Gally would be your number one problem child in the Glade.

He always has been.

But, you normally left Alby or Newt to deal with him.

Especially at the start since he's a big dude with a big temper.

Gally always saw you unfit as a leader.

Too timid, quiet, anxious.

You name it, he thought it.

That was until the day him and Minho got in a particularly nasty fight.

You don't know why or what it was, but Gally had gone for the Runner. Alby was busy sorting out the Maps, and in light of Newt's recent injury - it was left up to you.

Jeff came running into your hut, panicking about the fight, leading you to running out after him.

"That's enough!"

You grabbed the boys, yanking Gally away by his collar.

"The shuck do you slintheads think you're doing?"

"He started it!"

"I did not!"

You'd had a hard day.

You didn't need this.

"I don't give two klunks who started it! We ain't got much choice to act like adults 'round here - and you two are actin' like diaper-klunkin' sissy babies! Get a shuckin' grip! I expect better."

Minho apologised quickly.

Gally did not.

"What? Why should I apologise when this shank can't shut his mouth?"

Well, you weren't having that.

"Because I shucking told you to. You're under my care and my order- what I say goes. You may be a Keeper, but that's up to me. Suck it up and do as you're told."

"...sorry.

"Better. Get back to work."

The way that Gally watched you walk away made it obvious to everyone who witnessed the scene that something had changed.

He'd always seen you as weak and a pointless leader, but now?

You'd put him in his place.

Initially, he was embarrassed.

But then he started seeing everything around the Glade, the power you actually held.

He also started to notice how attractive you actually had become.

Safe to say, he started to feel things after you basically called him a bitch.

He'd start showing you more respect after that.

Maybe a bit more than respect.

FRYPAN

Frypan has always liked you.

He's always respected you and been a good friend.

And he used to make sure that you were okay when things got too much.

But as you got older and more confident, you started to not need that comfort as much.

Unlike the others, there wouldn't be a specific moment where he realised.

He'd just be proud as he watched you grow as a person.

And you'd take charge.

It'd be a slow burn of feelings from friendship to genuinely having a crush on you.

You'd make sure his kitchen is always stocked and the Track-hoes do their job and the vegetables are up to scratch.

Though, his feelings came more with the physical transformation side of things.

You hit puberty, and went from being awkward to confident along with it.

Now, Frypan is probably one of the more respectful guys around.

But he can't help but stare when you bend over, or stretch or even just look at him with a smirk.

He's a teenage boy and you're the only girl around.

He's trying his best.

Though he did go from:

"Hey, everything okay? You look stressed."

To:

"H-hey uh, you uh, you need help, or...?"

Man's is down bad.

ALBY

Alby would probably be the person you're closest to.

He's the mouth and the power to your brain

You basically work side by side.

But, he'd always see you as someone he needed to look after and protect.

Then, as you grew up, came into yourself, that would change.

Especially when you started actually being in charge.

For the most part, he really doesn't care.

He noticed the others starting to act differently, but he didn't change much.

Apart from that one time you'd just come out of the shower.

And he just couldn't take his eyes off you.

And he kinda realised you're a woman.

But apart from that.

He's just... there.

Helping you lead.

Sorry for disappearing, this is not my best work but I am currently in full corpse mode.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed :))

[megaderping]

Saw a rather mean post last night, and genuinely, I do not understand how people can play Persona 5 (particularly Royal), and come out thinking Akechi genuinely hates Joker when Morgana outright states for the audience, "You don't really hate Joker, do you?" Akechi laments how they didn't meet a few years earlier and how they could've been "great rivals, perhaps even friends." o_O Like... is this a vanilla thing? I genuinely don't get it. The interrogation room wasn't even his idea (SIU director mentions as much). It's not even about the ship- the game spells out that their bond is more complex, and it just so happens that a lot of people like to explore it as one. Even as platonic, tho, there's a shit ton of depth. Idk, any time I see discourse (especially people making fun of Shuake fans and stuff), I just question how many people actually paid attention to the dialogue. Even the "I hate you speech" reads as him being extremely emotionally constipated and conflicted. Plus, y'know...

Very hateful. Sure. :p Idk, maybe certain playthroughs of the game remove all those moments where the game spells out that they have a special bond (Maruki even states it isn't based on hatred, but that's only if you get his third awakening). Just wish people would get off their high horses, if anything. Sometimes I see people get really condescending about liking Akechi or liking Shuake, and like... just block the tags if you don't like these things instead of posting untagged ship/character bashing and making fun of fans? At least have the decency to tag it as something that Shuake fans can filter because some of those posts are really mean-spirited. :/ You think we haven't heard it all before? I may be new to the fandom, but I have heard that this BS has been going on for years.

I don't think it really matters if there are "healthier" ship options because some of us prefer the messiness, the depth, and complexity. It's not for everyone, and I respect favoring more straightforwardly sweet and wholesome dynamics or wishing your favorite pair got more spotlight. I'm a Riku and Kairi shipper in Kingdom Hearts, for crying out loud. :P I get it, but you're not gonna win anyone over to your side by telling them that [insert ship here] is better. In my case, it makes me more averse because of how deeply their relationship in the confidant, engine room, and third sem touched me and seeing people go "yeah, but you are wrong for feeling that way, THIS is better" is just... yeah. :/ (Also, people gotta learn the difference between hitmen and serial killers. Akechi is the former, which I've ranted about before, but yeah.)

So many fandom problems could be solved if people didn't take the piss out of others for shipping something they don't personally like. x_x; By all means, feel the way you feel, it's okay to not like things.

[eleanorandphantom]

Get to know me?

I kinda realized I never really introduced myself, so uh, hi!

My name is Echo :D I am pansexual and genderfluid, as for pronouns, I have no preferences, just don't call me an 'attack helicopter' and we'll be chillin'

I am 16, currently in Junior year, actually really enjoying it right now!

In most of my DR's my name is Eleanor, which is why its my user! I just feel connected to both names

Some non-shifting facts about me:

I have olive-green eyes

I have been singing/playing guitar/acting for around 10 years and I danced for 8 years (still dance for theater and funsies)

I play acoustic, electric, and a little bass

I am in a band as a lead singer and guitarist, we are called "Vessels of Rebirth"!!!

I am an alto-soprano! which is very fun as I can sing very diverse styles of music (my favorites being folk, rock, and gospel)

I am a Christian and follower of God, to whom I love dearly

Although I am a Christian, I do a lot of tarot reading, and I also see and speak with the deceased as well as have prophetic dreams on occasion. I currently have 3 spirits residing in my house, they are quite nice! (Also if you guys have any suggestions on incense please let me know! I need to add to my stash)

I do a ton of art, whether it be sewing, drawing, painting, photography, or making things out of materials, you will always find me with a new project (I'm currently working on a plushie bee for my friend in my Java class!!)

Speaking of java I am loving coding, that shit is cool

At the moment, I am leading in two shows (one is a murder mystery comedy, like clue, where the audience decides who the murderer is! The second is Spamalot, and I am the female lead, Lady of the Lake!!) I am also in the ensemble of Hadestown and doing crew for Little Mermaid! So a ton of theater stuffs going on (would you believe me if I told you I have 6 different theater-based DR's?? teehee)

I do a ton of reading, I love books; it's one of my dreams to have a Hobbit-inspired book room in my future house, complete with a circle door

I have a massive collection of plushies and stuffed animals, all of which I have named and remember perfectly (I love them sm)

My favorite colors are: forest/emerald green, sunset orange, TEAL!!!, deep purples, navy blue, maroon, pastel yellow, and blue/ashy grey

I am very Portuguese, and I love Portuguese food, my favorite being Bifanas

I have two pets, a 7 year old golden retriever named Ridge and an 11 month old ragdoll cat named Dexter (short for Dexteria, yes I am a DnD nerd)

Speaking of DnD, I am currently DM'ing three campaigns, and I'm in around 10-15 other campaigns, I love DnD a lot, it's one of my favorite hobbies

Onto shifting related stuff!

I have been shifting(minishifting partially, still shifting though!!!) since I was around 8 I guess? I didn't realize that was what I was doing at the time, and around 2021 I found out about shifting through a classmate (who brought it up at the most random time possible, an ELA class lol)

The first actual DR I ever made was a My Hero Academia reality, and by birds all mighty that script was ROUGH

But I still hold it close to my heart, even though it was so cringy

I took a break from shifting for like 7 months to a year at most, I believed in it, I just felt more content in my CR, but now I am at a point where I want to explore and be fully happy and learn and grow as myself!

Here is a list of my main DR's!

MPHFPC

Waiting Room

Phantom of the Opera

DnD homebrew (x3)

Better CR

Ever After High DR (x2)

Theater related (x6)

Apartment DR (x2)

Big Bang Theory

ASOUE

College DR (Harvard obviously)

Mad Scientist DR (before you ask, it's a book I'm writing, and No I am not the mad scientist)

Hogwarts (Not my favorite, but definitely for the vibes, witch-craft and ooo riding brooms is super fun! I kinda stay away from the main characters to the best of my ability, besides George tho, that man has my heart)

Those are my most recent ones, they all have their little quirks and loveliness that make them unique to me, if you have any questions about them I would be happy to answer!

I mainly post about my MPHFPC DR and more recently my Waiting Room, since they are the two realities I go to

I hope you guys enjoyed and got to know me a bit better, my asks/comments are always open so feel free to stop in and say ahoy!

Bye-bye for now :D

[samandmaxmansionplay]

Mansion Play hiatus + discussion of story

If you didn’t know, this project is currently on hold due to the fact that I’m making my own videogame, unrelated to Sam&Max. In fact, I have a lot of different projects I want to work on, and there is also the fact that I have a personal life, so you can see why Mansion Play might take a very long time for its release. This was always a project made for fun, and it is not abandoned forever, I would like to come back to it from time to time, and maybe one day I’ll have something worth showing.

However, it’s true that there is a lot I would like to talk about this ‘game’, and I tried not to talk about it too much when a closer release was possible. But now that it isn’t, I think I would like to discuss a lot of the ideas, events, characters, ect I have for this game. There will be spoilers ahead, but nothing too big, I won’t reveal who the murderer is or a bunch of other twists, but I will still talk a lot about the story, show a couple of art I’ve drawn and a bunch of the script!

This will be long, but I’m excited to talk a lot. Enjoy!

-Early Development

Mansion Play was my idea for how Sam&Max would handle a murder mystery, I thought it was an extremely fun idea and I’m still surprised they’ve never done it before. I had a lot of very clear ideas since the beginning. I knew I wanted the murder to take place in a glamorous party with celebrities and rich people and I knew I wanted the story to take place in a snowy day, which is why one of the first decisions I made was to give Max a more blue-ish white than usual.

I always liked the idea that the cancelled Sam&Max game ‘Freelance Police’ had, that it had a lot of minigames that made the story flow better. The telltale games tried to do that a couple of times, but it was clearly not the same. A big idea for this game was to revive that concept, aside from the usual puzzles, you would have to go through the occasional minigame to progress the story. It’s one of the reason why this game is called ‘Mansion Play’! Just not all…

I and many others were big fans that the Devil’s Playhouse let you play as Max, so this ‘game’ was going to present a Max feature as well, but only on certain rooms. He doesn’t have psychic powers, he’s kind of useless, but we love him for that!

Overall the idea I had for this game was very vague, but it started to develop further and further and I really liked where it was going. I decided who the murderer was very very early on, it was not a last minute decision, it could not be someone else other than that character and the moment I came up with that idea I was so excited to continue with this project.

(^ actual notes I wrote.)

-The Characters

The game features new side characters and tons of NPCs. These are a bunch of them!

They will help you with puzzles, with the mystery or maybe they won’t and they just give you a bunch of fun dialogue.

But then there is the secondary characters, who have a lot of protagonism and are very important for the story and mystery.

One of the characters has a fun game mechanic, and that’s the fashion designer, who is enjoys reading murder mysteries and would like to solve this one just for fun. She features an Ace Attorney-like mechanic where you can present her objects and she can tell you something about them, or even reveal something you hadn’t seen before.

-Mansion and Game Structure

The game is divided in the different parts of the mansion you can explore, although the game does allow you to walk around freely most of the time.

The mansion is very luxurious but seems to have a lot of toys laying around as well, given the fact that Manny Money, the owner of the mansion, is also the owner of a big Toy company, which is the reason why he’s so rich in the first place.

In the different areas, there is an important character you’ll need to interrogate, but they won’t let you interrogate them that easily, you have to earn it!

Aside from that, there are a lot of secret rooms, some you will need to find to progress the story, others you can find if you want, to learn more about the sam&max mansion play lore.

The game starts outside the mansion and you proceeds to a couple of different areas: the entrance, the main party room, the restaurant and even a kid’s play area. Then a murder happens, whoops, and now it’s time to explore the rest of the mansion!

You start with the Casino/VIP play area. There you will find the capitalist pig character, who is too distracted playing poker and having a good time to waste his time with you two.

Then you will go to the Pool/Aquarium area. There you will find the fish character, they are very anxious and you need to find a way to calm them down.

Then you will go to the library/computer area, you want to talk to the fashion designer character but it seems she has questions for you too. She is a reporter after all, nevermind if it’s for a fashion magazine.

After that you go to the theater area, to talk to the theatrical skeleton supervillain character. But he wants to enjoy some good theater, you shouldn’t bother him, he has minions and a gun. You should find another way to convince him to talk.

After that well… a lot happens! Keep exploring the mansion, maybe the mystery will start to make more sense. Or maybe it will make less sense, which means you’re doing a good job!

Aside from the mansion. Each chapter begins with a short flashback with Sam and Max as kids! It will make sense later.

-The Demo

Maybe I can’t talk much about the rest of the game… but I think we can talk about the first chapter! In fact, I would like to summarize it. I want to share some of the story already, I don’t mind if it’s just the beginning. There will be spoilers though!

You have seen the opening already. (And if you haven’t, here it is!)

After that you already know (another video!) that you need to convince the body guard that you’re totally one of the guests of the list. You collect a bat in the process. After that, you enter the mansion! You get to briefly talk to a woman with a gossip podcast and to one of the butlers of the mansion.

---

Sam: This sure is a nice party, huh?

Gossip Lady: Oh, you bet! I can’t believe how fast Manny Money has organized it despite the short time… and the break up, and his company crashing and burning as we speak… I guess he really needed this party, huh?

Sam: You know normally my partner and I go through a dialogue tree and a tedious amount of object hunting to get the information we need, but you’re just giving us those unfortunate news about Mr Money like an old classmate in a highschool reunion.

Gossip Lady: What can I say? That’s my job.

Gossip Lady: By the way, did you know Mr Money is actually 46 years old? A whole. year. older. than what he says he is!

Max: Scandalous!

Gossip Lady: I know right?

---

You go use the elevator (or the stairs, in Max’s case) and arrive to a hallway. Suddenly, the capitalist pig shows up and shoves Max out of the way, what a jerk.

---

Sam: You okay, Max?

Max: I will be when I break that guy’s legs!

Pig: Mhm? Oh I’m sorry, I’d say that was an accident…

Pig: But it wasn’t! I just like pushing people inferior than me!

Max: Well how about I push YOU down the stairs?!

Pig: Hah! I’d never use such a commoner thing like the stairs! Good luck trying to push me off a high class elevator, though. Now, I must leave, I hope you think about this experience tonight, crying helps you fall asleep easier!

Max: Grr!!

Sam: Just ignore him, Max, I’m sure that guy will get enough punishment in the afterlife

Max: I’ll gladly help him get there as soon as possible.

---

You walk down the hallway, there are two doors: the kid’s area and the main party area. But outside the kid’s area there is a kid playing with an electric toy car. The toy works with a mic, which you might need later. For now, you talk to the kid and find out he’s Manny’s nephew. And he’s a jerk too!

---

Max: Sam, I normally love kids who are massive jerks. Why do I wish for this kid to fall down the stairs?

Sam: He’s rich, Max.

---

You make your way to the main party room, and you see all of the main characters having… a conversation? Not a super pleasant one, though. Here shines the personality of each one of them.

---

Manny: It’s about time you show up. I was starting to get excited you were not coming!

Pig: Ohohoho, Manny, your attempts to embarrass me in front of so many people are pathetic, even if it’s working.

Manny: Forgive me, old friend, I know you’re not good at comebacks

Pig: … Heh.

Manny: Before you interrupted us, we were having a bit of a predicament. I was wondering if someone else would like to give a speech by my side.

Mysterious Woman: Why would you want that?

Manny: It’s yearly event, dear! We are all busy important people, when is the last chance we’ve gotten a chance to all meet together?

Mysterious Woman: Don’t call me ‘dear’.

*Skull shows up* Skull: What is this I heard about a speech?

Manny: Ah, hi Skull…

Skull: I would love to join you, Manny! You know I love a good audience. I give speeches all the time to my enemies- That is to say, to my business clients.

Manny: Right.

Manny: That is… so kind of you-

*Fashion designer shows up* Fashion designer: Mr Money, hi, can I have a few questions?

Manny: Oh! Is this an interview? I’m great at those too! Gossip magazines love me, I’m great at creating conflict, right Mr Pig?

Fashion designer: No, fashion magazine. So, what are you wearing? Tell us.

Manny: Ah. Well, a… beautiful expensive blue suit.

Fashion designer:…

Fashion designer: Mr Money do you know anything about fashion?

Mysterious Lady: He doesn’t.

Manny: Ah! Hahahah! You got me! I suppose this old man knows more about kids toys.

Fashion designer: It seems he does, yes.

---

Manny then reveals that this is going to be his last party! But why? Oh well, it seems his mic is broken and can’t make his speech, so if you want to talk to him you might need to help him out with that. But before that, you have characters to talk to! Like a talking goat that just became a millionaire for winning last week’s lottery, a fun music band that is excited to play in a billionare’s party for the first time and both the fashioner designer and the fish characters!

---

> Magazine

Sam: This is a big party, a good opportunity for your magazine, right?

Fashion designer: Yeah I guess, but it’s all what I expect… I wish there was something interesting in this party this year…

Max: Like what? A robbery? Oooh or maybe someone stealing some celebrity’s jewelry, creating a big commotion!

Fashion designer: That’d be cool.

Max: We can make it happen if you ask us to!

Sam: Maybe later, Max.

Max: Ooooh what if there is a murder?!

Sam: Don’t scare the nice lady, Max. Forgive him, he’s always like this, so I’ll keep him away for a while-

Fashion designer: No, that’d be cool too! You know a bit gruesome, I would not want to see the body, but I’ve read a couple of mystery books lately so you know, it’d be a fun coincidence, I guess.

Max: Let’s cross our fingers and wish really really hard!

Fashion designer: Looking forward to it!

Sam: As long as it isn’t me, sure.

Both Max and Fashion designer, at the same time: Spoilsport.

> Manny Money

Sam: How much do you know about Manny Money?

Fashion designer: As much as anyone. He inherited his father’s toy company, the company was successful for years but lately it’s getting close to bankruptcy and for whatever reason Manny keeps making more and more toys, even if it will probably be his downfall. Really weird, but I do like the company’s mascot, it’s cute.

Sam: Well, we didn’t know any of that.

Fashion designer: ...

Max: Stop giving her perfect set-ups for insults, Sam

Fashion designer: It’s fine, I won’t say anything.

Max: To our faces.

Fashion designer: Yeah, you might not want to check my magazine this week.

----

> Life of a celebrity

Sam: How is it like being a celebrity?

Fish: Stressful.

Sam: Yeah, I guess most jobs are.

Fish: Most things are for me.

Sam: But it’s worth it if you have fame right?

Fish: Oh no, I don’t really like being famous.

Max: What? I always thought the main objective was fame! And the ability to be a complete jerk with no consequences!

Fish: Not me, I just really enjoy acting. And making fans happy is nice too… I’m not great at talking with fans but I’m not that good at talking to crowds in general. I’m just glad to inspire people or make them feel emotions with my performance.

Sam: That’s nice, kid.

Max: If I was famous I would ask my fans to make an altar of me and pray every night to give me enough power to become a god.

Fish: W… why?

Max: I need to have something to do after I retire!

Sam: See? It’s a good thing he’s not a celebrity.

Fish: Maybe.

---

You leave the room and ask Manny’s nephew to lend you his mic, but the kid won’t share. They both enter the kids area, and there are a bunch of kids really really bored. It seems like the entertainer is not here, apparently his suit burst into flames or something, so you feel kind of bad for the kids. Maybe you might be able to help each other. They ask you to bring them a bag of candy that is in the kitchen and they will help you with the toy car problem, they hate Manny’s nephew anyway.

When you go back to the hallway to take the elevator, suddenly you see Pig grumbling something to himself about Manny. Weird.

You make your way to the kitchen, there are a couple of NPCs here as well: a grumpy but passionate chef, a celebrity couple that really do not want anyone to know that they are dating (but they totally are), an influencer girl too busy with her phone to talk to you, a kind bartender man and a sad depressed horse. It seems like Mysterious Lady and Skull are here as well.

You try to enter the kitchen, but the chef is strict, if he thinks his food is not ready then it’s not ready, you don’t rush art! You might need to find a way to enter the kitchen without him noticing but how?

---

> We don’t care.

Sam: You’ve got it wrong, we didn’t mean to bother you or find out about your relationship

Celebrity man: W-what relationship?

Celebrity woman: Wait, you’re not paparazzis?

Sam: Huh? Why would you think that?

Celebrity woman: You keep interrogating people and picking random objects. That’s what paparazzis do.

Sam: No no, we’re detectives!

Max: And we’re nobodies! We have no one to tell gossip to. Except each other. Hey Sam, did you hear? These two might be a couple!

Sam: No way…

> So are you two together?

Sam: So are you really dating?

Celebrity man: *sigh* Yes, but it’s meant to be a secret. I’m sorry, honey…

Celebrity woman: It’s fine, I was nervous too, I would have probably panicked too!

Celebrity man: *gasp* Sweetie…

Celebrity woman: Honey…

Celebrity woman: Um… platonic honey!

Max: Platonic honey should be a thing.

----

> The chef

Sam: Do you know the chef personally?

Bartender: Yeah, you could say I do.

Sam: How much do you know?

Bartender: Well, I’m married to him.

Max: That doesn’t answer the question!

Bartender: I know plenty about him.

Max: That’s better!

Bartender: Why? What is he up to right now?

> Candy.

Sam: A bunch of kids have asked for the bag of candy in the kitchen, but your husband seems to have strict rules about the kitchen.

Bartender: Oh yes, he is extremely passionate about his culinary job. Which I find endearing, since I’m passionate about mixology.

Sam: I bet dinner time in your home must always be paradise

Bartender: I don’t like to brag. But yes.

Max: One time I tried to make Sam dinner and the food became sentient

Sam: I appreciated the gesture, little buddy.

---

Skull: Gah! You two!

Sam: You know us too?

Max: Wow, two guests in total! It’s a new record

Skull: What are you doing here?!

Sam: Well, technically we’re only here for a mission. But we should probably tell people that we’re just regular invited guests.

Skull: Ugh, unbelievable… Well… Even though we share a deep rivalry… For the sake of the guests and this party, we should postpone our personal missions with our destinies. For now, we are but strangers sharing a nice evening, but don’t believe this will last. For next day, we’ll be back from the very beginning.

Sam: … Huh?

Max: What’s your name again?

Skull: Hah. Very good, you’re already in character! Anyway, strangers, you’re bothering us, please leave.

Max: Wait, we haven’t said anything yet!

> Manny’s friends?

Sam: We don’t really know much but in some way you seem to know Manny.

Skull: Manny and I have met in plenty of occasions. We both have a large amount of wealth, we both have our own companies, … Things we have in common brought us together, so in a way, you could say we are friends. Although I prefer the term ‘business partners’. Our accompanies are completely unrelated from each other though, I just simply prefer the business title.

Sam: Fascinating. What about you, mam?

Mysterious Lady: …

Mysterious Lady: Yes, I know him.

Sam: …

Sam: Great, thanks.

---

You find out that the chef always gets distracted by a good performance, especially a singing performance. He appreciates other people’s art, but it has to be good! So now you have to find someone that can give a good performance, you start asking around, but you might need the help of the gossip lady to know whose celebrity here is really good at singing.

Sam and Max can perform a song together, it would be a silly optional minigame, but the chef is not impressed. You can also ask Skull to perform and he will read a chapter of his memoirs. It’s quite impressive to everyone except the chef.

---

Sam: That didn’t work at all.

Max: Well it certainly wasn’t for the lack of talent, I almost weep like a baby watching that!

Sam: Yeah, as overdramatic as he is, I feel like a different person after watching that.

Max: Me too! If I didn’t know I like men already, he would have definitely made me realize it!

Sam: I can see that.

Max: We should buy his book! Or at least wait for the movie adaptation!

---

You go talk to the gossip lady, she shares a couple of interesting information about the main celebrities of the story. You find out that the mysterious lady is a famous singer, so you go ask her to sing. She doesn’t seem to want to. But suddenly, all the lights start flickering and the floor starts trembling a little. But just in a couple of seconds, it stops. What was that? Everyone seem a little scared and suddenly the mysterious woman gets on stage and starts performing, to calm everyone down. The chef goes out, he seems to love the performance! Now it’s your chance, you take the candy and go back to give it to the kids. The kids are happy but still bored, so you get a little cute scene of Sam and Max playing with them. After that they all go right next to Manny’s nephew and the kids take his toy car and threw it off the window. Now he has no toy car to play with so you get the mic!

---

Nephew: My- my toy!!!!!

Kids: There you go!

Sam: We could have done that ourselves.

Max: No way, his uncle would have sued us.

Kids: Yeah! So you’re welcome!

Sam: Thanks kids, you are the true life of the party.

---

After that, the entertainer shows up, with another entertainer following. One of them seems to be extremely energetic, the other one is really tired. They give you a map of the mansion as a thanks for taking care of the kids while they were gone. Now it’s time to give Manny the mic!

… Then when you are back, a butler gives Manny a new mic. However, Manny noticed all the effort you did for him, so he wants to thank you! He offers you to go on stage with him for his big speech. And well… I’ll just let the script talk for this final part.

Manny: I wanted to give a speech with someone tonight, but alas, all my friends have left me… Why don’t you two join me instead?

Sam: Uum… are you sure? I mean, this is a pretty important event and you wouldn’t want Max to say something inappropriate that would disturb or disgust your guests.

Max: Yeah!

Manny: Just one of you two is fine, and I suppose you’re right, not all my guests have as good of a sense of humor as I do, hahah! Sam, right? I’d love to have you there with me!

Sam: Oh, I don’t do well with crowds…

Max: Come on, Sam, just imagine everyone naked or something.

Sam: I’m kind of used to that with you as my partner. Manny: Oh oh! It’s starting! Come on, Mr Sam!

Sam: Oh brother…

- All the guests gather in the party room, Sam and Manny are at the top of the stairs. Max is in the crowd and is soon joined by the Fashion Designer. -

Fashion Designer: Oh hey

Max: Hi!

Fashion Designer: You got that mic in the end?

Max: Yeah, but- eh, we shouldn’t have bothered. Sam just likes puzzles too much

Fashion Designer: …

Fashion Designer: Say, be honest…

Fashion Designer: Have you been on this mansion before?

Max: Huh? No, it’s the first time Sam and I have ever been here

Fashion Designer: Okay then, have you been here on your own?

Max: I don’t really go anywhere without Sam, so, no. Why?

Fashion Designer: …

Fashion Designer: I have a friend who thinks they saw you last year.

Max: Mmm… Oh! It was probably that rich guy that looks like me!

Fashion Designer: … I don’t think so.

Max: Um…

Fashion Designer: Sorry, I’m a reporter, I’m just curious about things.

Max: But you’re a fashion reporter.

Fashion Designer: Yeah, so?

Max: You ask strange questions, but I like you!

Manny: Good evening, everyone!

-We switch back to Manny and Sam.-

Manny: Thank you for coming once again to my annual party. Seeing all of this support is what motivates me to make each year better than the last!

-audience cheers-

Manny: This year I’m joined by a new friend, Sam!

Sam: Um… hi.

-audience remains silent-

Max, in the audience: Woooo!! That’s my best friend!!

Manny: Sam and his friend helped me, a complete rich stranger, in a time where I needed it, even when my closest friends were not there for me.

Pig: [Bleep] you, Manny.

Manny: Hahah! But back to my guest. Sam! How did you find the solution to the broken microphone?

Sam: We made a kid cry.

Audience: …

Max, in the audience: Just kidding! I don’t know this guy!

Sam: Mhm.

Manny: Ohohoho! Splendid! What a hilarious guy, right everyone?

-audience cheers-

Manny: But now I wanted to get serious for a second… Everyone, these events have always meant a lot to me. They have helped me through rough times, they have helped me disconnect from all my hard work. Lately it’s been especially difficult, you’ve probably heard some bad news about my toy business.

I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I for one, I’m not scared. Folks, it’s possible that this might be my last party, but not for this reason I want to end things on a sad note

This is not the end, but merely a new beginning.

-The audience gets emotional, some seem to be crying, probably fake tears but who cares. They all give a polite clap.-

Manny: So what do you say, everyone? Let’s have one last joyful party! And let’s find out together, what the next chapter of Manny Money’s life will be like!

-Suddenly, you hear a strange sound. Sam and Manny look up, but before Sam can react, Manny pushes Sam out of the way. Something has fallen from the ceiling. The screen turns to black.-

Max: Sam!

-Max makes his way to the top of the stairs-

Max: Are you okay?!

Sam: Yeah, I’m fine.

Max: Phew that’s good. Sam: But I don’t think Manny... Mr Money are you okay…?

-We see that Manny’s body is laying inert under a big chandelier lamp.-

Sam and Max: …

Max: Well… this is bad, right?

---

And that’d be the end of the demo!

-Conclusion

Hope you enjoyed reading this! This is a very fun project that I wish to continue someday, and I will! For now, let’s hope we get an actual real new Sam&Max game one of these days (that isn’t VR this time).

[martymcflown]

Oh boy, okay. I just finished Veilguard. I'm going to split my thoughts into non-spoilery and spoilery. I yap a lot.

Non-spoilery:

In terms of enjoyment? I'd say a 8/10. I was emotionally invested in all the characters. I enjoyed the fight mechanics a lot as a warrior (we'll see how I feel in my mage playthrough). I actually felt a lot of motivation to complete as many quests as humanly possible, which is quite different from how I felt during DA:I where a lot of the time I felt like I was running in circles most of the time to complete quests that felt like they didn't matter (and I say this as a DA:I defender).

I do completely understand the critiques from people who say the lore is really lacking. I didn't personally feel like the rich history of Dragon Age mattered much during gameplay. Even choices that can be made in the beginning for your Inquisitor didn't seem to matter much for me (I didn't even get to see the partner I'd chosen for them, kind of lame). I've only heard tell of one variation that matters to the narrative and it's only at the very end. I wish choices like that mattered more, and that the sociopolitical aspects of the series had a greater impact.

HOWEVER, I'm also not as invested in the lore as others clearly are so it didn't detract enough from gameplay for me to say I was unhappy. More like, I think it could have been better. Most of my negative opinions are in the spoiler section though. So, uh. I do recommend this game! I think it was a ton of fun! I'm already playing through as a different character because I was itching to try different choices, even knowing the ending. This is definitely one I'll replay a lot, potentially even more than the last game which I invested hundreds of hours into.

Spoilery thoughts:

Complaints:

-The Varric twist had some emotionally impactful moments, but also I find it pretty cheesy and hard to believe? It was something I'd guessed early on because Varric never interacted with anyone else, but then I convinced myself it was too cheesy to be the actual twist. WELL.

-I thought the ending was pretty anticlimactic, all things considered. I'm pretty sure I got the "good" ending (I only lost one party member...well, two in my opinion because I count Assan as a party member). I guess I sort of expected something like DA:I where there's a celebration at the end where you get to have pleasant goodbyes, as opposed to just "Hey we're about to die but I love you kiss kiss."

-In general, the pacing of the game felt kind of bananas. I can't tell how much in-narrative time passes in the entire game, but if you told me it was only a week I'd believe you. I don't know if I have a great solution to that. Maybe some indication that seasons are passing, or maybe a wait time is necessary between certain quests ("We have to wait for the frost to melt before we can go through the Gate of Blorbus" or something). Part of my disbelief for the Varric twist in part is that NOBODY talks about his death, not even Harding? They've known each other for years. But I guess the breakneck pace is partially to distract you from that.

Random things I really liked:

-Manfred and Assan. I REFUSE TO BELIEVE ASSAN IS GONE, BYE. I also just realized some people have played a version of this game where you lose both Manfred and Assan. I'm so sorry. ANYWAY. Positives. I just think they're precious.

-Loved the environments. Dock Town was probably my favorite, but I enjoyed exploring every map I encountered. Which, big improvement on DA;I (where if I saw one more green expanse where I had to run for three hours to get to a quest marker I would have killed everyone in this room and then myself).

-Thought it was a great touch that companions would continue their conversations after a fight. "Where was I?" etc. It's a small thing but I found it really added to feeling engrossed in the world.

-I like that the companions all have relationships to one another and that there are little touches throughout the game to show they each think about each other. I know there were complaints that everyone...acted like friends? Which, I dunno man. Have you ever made friends? I guess to each their own but their bonds all made sense to me, as well as how the various pairings developed their relationships.

-Even if some of the gender identity stuff felt clumsy at times, I love that it's an option to explore. I love that being trans or nonbinary provides specific dialogue options or changes Rook's relationship to certain characters. I can't imagine playing the game as a cis Rook now.

-I thought there were some fantastic performances from a lot of the cast. I really liked my Rook's VA and was shocked at how moved I was at certain moments in the ending. I think the performances were a major contributing factor to how attached I became to everyone, particularly Lucanis and Emmrich and Taash for me. Oh man, and Harding during her personal quest? Amazing.

-THE LIGHTING!!!! SO GOOD!!!!

My romance with Lucanis:

-Loved it. This is one thing I really don't understand the complaints about, but maybe that's my asexuality showing. I found his character arc really moving and I think the romance added a really nice layer to that. Also, the fanfic potential of Lucanis falling asleep and Rook + Spite playing naked cards? Come on.

My friendship with everyone else:

-I think most of the companions had one really strong theme that carried through each of their narratives. Some of them connected more with me personally than others, but I enjoyed all the personal quests and I cried at pretty much all of their resolutions. I think the only one I found lacking was Neve's? But that's probably my fault for certain choices I made. I'm so sorry, Neve. I doomed our city for the sake of Crow bussy.

-Some of the writing for Taash's storyline felt a bit cheese. However, I'm coming at that from the perspective of a trans and gender nonconforming person who's consumed a lot more media that discusses queer themes than vidya games. So, Taash's storyline sometimes felt like "baby's first coming out", but that was probably for more general audiences who consume the game (and I think the complaints about the game being "too woke" are just...outrageously stupid).

[imtrashraccoon]

It's the moment you've all been waiting for, folks! The Return of the Killer Robot! Yeah, I didn't plan for him to return, but why not? He's a fun character to write what can I say? More fun to follow, I assure you!

@scrambledmeggys

First Day, Previous Day, & Next Day.

Day 26: Dinner Date

You were reading an astronomy book that you'd borrowed from Sans, when Papyrus came into the living room with his cell phone in hand, as if he'd just gotten off a call. His expression seemed a mixture of confused and annoyed which didn't bode well.

Raising an eyebrow, you sat up straighter. "Something happen?" you asked.

"Yes actually," he answered slowly. "Mettaton called just now..."

Now his confusion made more sense. You quirked an eyebrow and closed your book, giving him your full attention.

"Really? Isn't he like a celebrity down here?" When Papyrus nodded, you asked a follow up question, "What did he want then?"

"He Claimed I Had Won A Contest And The Prize Was A Free, No Strings Attached, Dinner For Two at his resort. He Also Said It Was A Once In A Lifetime Offer, But That It Will Go To Someone Else If I Do Not Accept Within Twenty-four Hours."

Your scam alarm was going off and you steepled your fingers together thoughtfully. "Okay... Did you enter any contests recently?"

He shook his skull. "I Did Not And I Would Have Known If There Were Any Such Contests Going On Anyways." When you chuckled and gave him a knowing look, he grumbled and added, "I Would. I Am One Of His Biggest Fans...Even If It Is Only In Secret."

"Right..." You weren't sure why Papyrus had been hesitant to tell you about that, but it was definitely something to file away to explore another time. "Weird contest aside, I'm assuming you're feeling conflicted because this is an actually good deal?"

"Exactly, Mettaton Has Never Been One To Pass Up Any Chance To Make Money. It Is A Rather Tempting Offer, But I Am Not About To Put You In Potential Danger Just For A Dinner Date. And No, There Is No Way I Would Even Dream Of Bringing Anyone Else Along."

"Hold on a moment..." You trailed off as a chilling realization came over you. "Is he trying to trap you and, by extension, me? Could he know who I am?"

Papyrus' eyelights disappeared briefly before he frowned and clenched his fists. "No, He Should Not...We Have Been Very Careful... Unless, He Found Out From Alphys About You."

"Alphys Knows Mettaton?"

"Yes, She Built Him Actually. I Was Worried This Would Happen As Alphys Is Known To Be A Gossip." He pinched his nasal bone and sighed.

You shook your head. "Alphys wouldn't betray me. We're friends and she's been working herself to the bone trying to find another way to break the barrier. Maybe you should call her and find out if she did tell Mettaton anything before we ultimately decide what to do."

Papyrus nodded and glanced at his phone again.

"One more thing," you added before he could actually dial her number. "What's the resort like anyways? Is it pretty popular?"

"Quite Popular, The Dining Room Is Rather Large And They Often Have Entertainers In The Evenings," he answered.

"Ah, I figured," you murmured and tapped your chin thoughtfully. "I do think it would be a bad idea to go, unless, there are private dining rooms anyways. Surely, if the offer really is 'no strings attached' that wouldn't be a problem, right?"

That got Papyrus to smile at least. "That Is A Good Idea. I Will Talk With Alphys Then And Find Out What Happened," he bemused.

You watched him dial up her number quietly. This had the potential to be a ton of fun. You hadn't been out to eat in ages, let alone to a fancy restaurant. Maybe you should come up with a better disguise though?

< ~ - . - ~ >

Alphys was insistent that she hadn't mentioned anything to Mettaton beyond that Papyrus had found a partner, you, that she had become good friends with. However, Mettaton was also a gossip and when Alphys refused to tell him anything else, must've taken it upon himself to do some digging.

Alphys assured Papyrus that because you had barely been outside in the last eight months of being in the Underground, there was essentially no record of your existence. While Mettaton did have access to the surveillance cameras, he didn't have access to anything that old, at least without express permission from herself. Any other information he could have discovered would have had to have come from the residents of Snowdin and you both knew that no one in the town knew anything damning.

So, you ultimately decided to accept Mettaton's offer, although not without the private room condition, and you overheard Papyrus make it clear to the robot that he'd better not find out any of your time there had been recorded. He threatened the celebrity with telling Alphys and personally dismantling him otherwise. You raised an eyebrow at this, but stayed quiet as it wasn't your place.

Neither of you bothered to really dress up but you didn't care anyways as you weren't trying to leave an impression. Before you did leave, Papyrus presented you with a black masquerade-style mask that had lacy detailing and a few red gems. It was absolutely gorgeous and matched your collar so well. Of course you accepted, especially because it would cover most of your face and head, while leaving your mouth free so you could actually eat food.

The journey to the resort was lovely, at least for the boat ride anyways, traveling through Hotland was less fun. Still, you couldn't help but marvel at how diverse the different regions of the Underground were. It must be magic or something because there was no way such a place could exist on the surface.

Dinner was pretty good, even if some of the items were questionable looking. Like a burger with a pink bun that had edible sequins, a parfait with pieces of fruit cut into star shapes, a sub sandwich shaped like a sword, and even a steak with grill marks in the shape of Mettaton's face.

You and Papyrus enjoyed yourselves immensely, making jokes about the food, the gaudy decor of the resort, and just making general conversation. You knew this was technically a date, yet you couldn't remember ever having a date as fun as this one had turned out to be.

You had finished up dessert and were just making idle chatter, when Mettaton himself rolled into the private room. Up until this point, you'd only seen one or two staff and they had been clearly uninterested in both you and Papyrus. Although now, you could feel a different sort of vibe coming off of him, like this was where the other shoe would drop.

He looked the exact same as he did on tv, although this time he was wearing a red three piece suit that somehow suited his rectangular body quite well. He still wore his trademark red and yellow pairs of gloves though.

"Hello darlings! I hope you enjoyed the meal?" he asked. You flinched slightly from the sheer volume but also from the grating tone his robotic voice had.

You nodded slightly and glanced at Papyrus, who generally did most of the talking for the both of you in public anyways.

"Yes, Thank You For Your Generosity," he answered. You could tell he was putting a great effort into being polite but he also seemed rather tense.

"Marvelous!" Mettaton exclaimed. Turning to you, he leaned against the table slightly and added, "When I heard from the great Dr. Alphys that she'd made a new friend, I was honestly surprised. Why, she's so much of a recluse that I didn't know she had any friends left! Ah, I joke, but seriously, you must be pretty special for her to talk so highly of you, darling..."

You narrowed your eyes slightly but shrugged. "I wouldn't say that, we just share similar nerdy interests..." Your voice was a lot quieter than it usually was, but you were doing the best you could not to say something that could be suspicious.

Mettaton glanced over at Papyrus and if he had teeth, you swear the robot would've flashed a charismatic smile. "I won't take up too much of your time, but you have to understand how curious I am about you two. May I ask you some questions at least?" he asked, his tone just oozing overconfidence.

Papyrus glanced at you but when you didn't protest, he agreed. "Fine, But Remember What I Told You Earlier..." he growled.

Mettaton waved at him dismissively, "Right, right, understandable, darling." He made a noise of clearing his throat before diving into the first question. "How did you meet each other?"

Papyrus seemed to hesitate, so to save face, you decided to answer instead. You let out a slight chuckle and shook your head, "Well... It was a sort of 'wrong place, wrong time' situation."

Mettaton seemed to latch onto this and he leaned closer to you. "Ooh, you don't say?" he asked in a now softer tone.

You nodded, "It's a long story, but let's just say he takes his job quite seriously." You even winked at the robot in a conspiratorial way.

"I imagine," Mettaton chuckled. "How long have you been together?"

Papyrus shot you a look that you took to mean "Be Careful..." so you smiled patiently let him answer instead.

"Close To A Year," Papyrus stated simply. You couldn't disagree with that so you nodded along.

Mettaton fully turned to face Papyrus, although he continued leaning against the table, practically exuding a relaxed, casual demeanor. "Interesting, you two must be serious then..."

When Papyrus made no further comment, Mettaton proceeded to his next question, seemingly unbothered. "What made you pick her?" he asked.

Without missing a beat, Papyrus answered, "It Was A No Brainer Really, As She Understands Me Like No One Else Has."

His response warmed your heart and you couldn't help but smile, although you brought your hand up to cover it so Mettaton wouldn't see. Good thing too, as the robot immediately turned to you next.

"Very cute," he commented, but his tone seemed pretty insincere to you. "So, Rihanna, Darling," he started to say and leaned closer than before towards you. "What's your favorite thing about him?"

"That's a tough question... I don't think I could possibly pick just one thing, so I'll say his confidence," you answered with a shrug.

Mettaton clasped one of his pairs of hands together in a satisfied manner. "Good choice, confidence is quite attractive in a partner."

You caught the faintest of a smile flicker across Papyrus' skull but he seemed to quickly repress it again. You didn't like that, not one bit.

"So why all the secrecy, Papyrus, darling? You haven't acted this way towards previous partners..." Mettaton's voice seemed to drop an octave and you now knew for certain that this was what he'd really been wanting to know all along.

Papyrus narrowed his eye sockets and for a moment, he said nothing. You could practically see the gears turning in his skull as he struggled to come up with a decent answer.

"...I Have Never Progressed To This Stage Before With Anyone Else, So I Never Had To Be As Protective Either..." he finally answered through gritted teeth. You could immediately tell that the question had struck a nerve with him and could sense the tension in the room had risen significantly.

Mettaton made a low humming sound, but to your surprise, didn't press further. Rather he looked at you again and proceeded to move on to another question. "So...how are things between you two...? Have you done the whole toss in the sheets yet...?"

Papyrus immediately protested but before he could actually say anything, you saw red. Standing up abruptly, you glared at Mettaton while clenching and unclenching your fists. You were certain your cheeks had turned bright red but prayed your mask would hide it.

Taking a deep breath to calm yourself so you wouldn't attempt to punch a robot, you spoke up before anyone else could. "That is an inappropriate question and we will not be answering it. We've gone along with your meddling plans without complaint up until now, but you've gone too far. Thanks for dinner, we'll be taking our leave now. Good night, Mettaton."

You strode around the robot and paused next to Papyrus, who while still furious, seemed actually impressed? He stood up quickly and took your hand, beginning to guide you out of the room.

Mettaton didn't try to stop you and neither you nor Papyrus glanced back to see his reaction. You just wanted to get out of public so you could relax again.

While he was silent for several minutes, once you'd gotten into the elevator that would take you through Hotland, Papyrus leaned down to whisper in your ear.

"He Is Right, You Know? Confidence Is Very Attractive, Precious..."

You swear you turned several shades darker all of the sudden and couldn't find the words to even begin to respond. Man, he was one smooth character...

[szkin-art]

very mixed feelings about the ending of gwitch. Overall I can say I enjoyed the show as a whole a ton, and still think it’s really strong, but the conclusion wasn’t what I wanted. More under the cut.

Gundam Witch from Mercury Episode 24 Spoilers!

I’m glad they didn’t magically resolve the entire central conflict of the setting. The Bennerit Group is gone (good) but Earthian-Spacian inequality isn’t going to go away after just three years, and all those assets *can* just be bought up by Spacians again. If we get a sequel series ala Zeta, this is a clear hook.

We get a brief sketch of how gund-tech has proliferated in the epilogue - Petra’s legs, the nape commlinks Suletta and Miorine have, and so on. All fine, though I still hope we eventually get something set in AS that explores the transhumanist potential that’s hinted at in the Prologue, even if its just a manga or something.

Suletta and Miorine are explicitly married. They are more explicitly a couple than most straights in Gundam. On the other hand, in a show so uniquely focused on their relationship, it feels like a copout to not have a properly romantic conclusion. Let them kiss Sunrise.

Eri becoming a gay keychain is very funny.

Nika’s gay ass haircut singlehandedly carrying half this epilogue for me. I wish we got more of Earth House.

El5n doing his little hiking expedition emotionally destroys me after recently finishing 00.

Guel’s epilogue scene is funny, but I maintain they fundamentally botched his character. After the One earth episode, they pretty much hit the brakes and rolled his entire arc back. Spacian Capitalism and Parental Abuse is Fine Actually, but at least he respects women now.

Shaddiq is just getting sentenced to death or SuperJail or something now? Idk. He feels like such a wasted character to me. Biggest case of “why is this plot in the show if you never intended to do something with it”. I’m glad his mean girl squad are out and thriving.

Idk - the ending feels a bit like an anime that was given a set amount of episodes and then abruptly cancelled near the end. Yet S1 was paced perfectly and we already knew the show would have 24 episodes back then. So I’m genuinely mystified by how this happened and what decisions were taking place behind the scenes. Did they expect a third season and just not get it? That feels kinda insane given how well the show did.

I think with how much they’ve left open, there’s absolutely room for a movie or a new AS show with a different protagonist, but Suletta as a protagonist has definitely concluded her arc. Mind you, it’s satisfying and well done (but also SUNRISE, LET THEM KISS YOU COWARDS)

Above all though - it’s been extremely fun watching the show from week to week, sharing theories, art, opinions and everything else with other fans. It was my first time watching a Gundam series as it aired, and the show will be irrevocably special to me for that reason alone.

[seventeendeer]

i will provide a question: did you ever get to play the oxenfree sequel? if yes, thoughts?

I did indeed! I had a good time with it. I don't think it comes anywhere near the brilliance of the first game, though, and in certain ways, it diminishes the impact of the original imo.

I think the first game played to the genre and writers' strengths extremely well. the tight focus on a handful of kids exploring a spooky island is inherently vulnerable, which is great for a horror game, doubly so for a very emotionally impactful horror game. the characters being snarky, petty and immature a lot of the time makes them feel like real teens trying to be cool in the face of some crazy shit. I found the entire cast incredibly likeable, which was super important, since the majority of playtime is spent having conversations with them.

by contrast, the sequel has a bigger scope, the main characters are adults, and they have a lot more resources at their disposal. the dialogue feels stilted and juvenile coming out of adult characters - one or two adult characters sounding like teens would be fine as character traits, but when every adult character sounds like they left high school yesterday, it breaks believability. with so much help, information and tech at their disposal, the scares also seem less like a threat and more like a challenge ... and since you really have to go out of your way to fail most of the scenarios, there's precious little left to create real tension.

a big drawback of the sequel is also just that ... we're stuck with two main characters who have negative amount of chemistry. the first game had a small web of complex relationships already laid out for the player to explore. the characters' motivations for wanting to know each other on a deeper level were rock solid. on the other hand, the protagonists of the sequel are work colleagues who have never met before, forced to work together by circumstance. there's no reason for them to try to open up and bond the way the kids do in the first game, so the long conversations about childhood trauma and whatever else comes off forced. this is a big problem when 90% of the game is just mucking about in dialogue trees while walking from place to place.

another problem, I think, is that the sequel leans too far into building lore that ultimately goes nowhere. it does a whole lot of explaining that serves no thematic purpose and is generally uninteresting. by the time everything is explained, the story is over and precious few elements come together in a meaningful way. the first game did well at not getting in its own way, simply explaining just enough for us to understand the context in which the characters exist and the framework on which the themes and emotional gut-punches are built. it feels more immersive because it doesn't stretch believability further than what is needed to tell the story it's telling.

I really wanted to love Oxenfree 2, because it's protagonist is fun, faceted narratives surrounding parenthood are in terribly short supply, and the visuals and vibe are all great.

unfortunately, I feel like everything about it is too ambitious for the limits of its genre and the skill level of its writers. it pulled a Stranger Things season 2 and took a "more is more" approach, instead of realizing that for character-driven horror stories especially, "more" is often less.

I still love the original game a ton, though the way the sequel wraps up that story is unsatisfying and anticlimactic to me as well. it honestly kind of kills the vibe to watch a beautiful tragedy play out and then it's followed up by a little final toot of a fix-fic ending. I think finally getting to undo the tragic ending of the first game could have been an incredible emotional journey for the player ... if, again, there was actually a real risk of failing, and the themes and emotions of the narrative were given room to breathe, instead of being crowded out by everything else.

but yeah, that was my experience playing! a perfectly fun romp for the spooky season, but ultimately forgettable compared to the absolutely legendary first game.

[dustinsacramentocruz]

My First Official Recommended Character from Smiling Critters

"Hiya! I'm Laughy Noobie, are you ready for the party started?" "Hihihi! You know what is calls for? A PARTY! *Giggles*" "Get ready to get yourself Excitements" "You always Realized of Everythings that you Want it!" "Time for Excited that you ever seen, Time to Light it UP!" "You don't have to be standing somewhere by yourself as Alone" "Come on! Let's get you something else that you need!" "Just don't leave behind, I don't wanna lose more friends" "You know that I am Alone, for not having anything is none" "*Sigh* Huh...?" "*Screaming*" "*Crying*"

Aliases: Noobie Gender: Male Pendant: Balloon Scent: Flax

Description: A trustful friendly Laughy Noobie. As a Party guy, his making a Celebration, Decoration and Creation to everyone else that makes it Happy joy. For inclusion trouble, his always finding out from Everyone and Anything, having Important, Problems even Matters that what things happening. Noobie absolutely always know what to do, for own Destiny, Harmony full of life a Reality, feelings that things of Happiness, Funniest and Cheeriness. For more info of making things him to do of Creating, Musical, even a Laugher. Having giving everybody a Joyful, Tons of Fun and Excitement hugs. For being Technology Engineer either! For excited having fun to play making Games, Machines, even some Projects! Laughy Noobie is not an ordinary a Critter, he's actually a Human Person like a Player. Everybody Appreciate of him for a Guarantee of future from him. Because of this lonely kid, could make a biggest difference.

Noobie. It's excited to explore form every towns he goes, of "Paradise City"! He's living that town anyways, he's explore of any Business, Shop Marts, even Foods travel, his always finding out of anyone got Sad, Scared, Nervous and Painful. Noobie will do it to know! He's giving them a Sweet treat, of Kind and Happiness! Noobie is living of his own Professor without his Family, actually his Parents it's... absolutely... gone... He was Afraid, still standing on his room, not doing anything of thinking of his Family, but that's okay! He's still going of his future, long away of own City! Noobie's color is Navy, he's loves it that he wants making himself as a Laugher! that is anything of he's History.

When the whole crew of Smiling Critters has discover of the world of Paradise City, by they went to the secret Gateway Portal. They walkthrough ahead to see of every buildings and the whole town. After everyone didn't know it what they saw that is Smiling Critters, When Laughy Noobie check way to see of what's goin' on and that's why Laughy Noobie and the whole crew of Smiling Critters they seen each other after they meet.

Poppy Playtime © Mob Entertainment

[b-else-writes]

The Great CLAMP Re-Read Part 1: RG Veda

Part 2 (Man of Many Faces) | Part 3 (Tokyo Babylon) | Part 4 (Duklyon) | Part 5 (Clamp Detectives)| Part 6 (Shirahime)|Part 7 (X)| Part 8 (Chunhyang) | Part 9 (Miyuki-chan)| Part 10 (Rayearth)

At the recommendation of a friend, I decided to pick up RG Veda. I've read a few CLAMP manga across the years, and had always been curious to read Tsubasa, but put it off because of all the meta. So this became an opportunity to try to get through their whole oeuvre.

I'm just putting my reviews on this blog since it's my "writing" blog. I read the 2016 Dark Horse omnibuses. RG Veda came out in 1989 and was CLAMP's first official work, spanning about 10 actual chapters, as they intended the work to fit exactly 10 volumes. Some spoilers!

Synopsis: Based so loosely off the Hindu and Buddhist versions of the Rigveda, 300 years ago, Taishakuten kills the God-King and the God of War Ashura and takes the throne of Heaven, ruling with an iron fist. But a prophecy arises that six stars will gather when Lord Yasha awakens Lord Ashura's child (also called Ashura), who will bring down Taishakuten. As the wheels of fate turn, Yasha and Ashura gather allies with their own reasons for fighting, and attempt to avert tragedy and find reason to live - but all is not as it seems regarding Ashura and the prophecy.

The Story: Is RG Veda cliche of every sword and sorcery adventure story? Yes. Does it compel me? Absolutely. It's dramatic and over the top and tragic. But once you settle into the fact that everything is larger than life and obsessed with destiny and love and other grand motifs, because this is a story of gods, I loved it. I want to read more sweeping comic epics. Some of the writing is cheesy but again, it works because the story knows it's not meant to be realistic! It's about the spectacle of this tale of the gods and their loves and sins.

The start of the story is clunky since you're dropped into this world with a lot of moving parts and characters, but it had just enough intrigue to keep me reading. The story has a real strong driving force since it's a race towards the palace to kill the God King, while also being rather non-linear as we jump between locations, time periods, and characters to create this incredibly high-fantasy world. It's a little self-indulgent in taking us on side adventures for character development or fun, but this never gets boring or frustrating, every side character contributes to the themes and the story feels like its building appropriately. This race against time while also avoiding tragedy that Ashura inevitably brings is a REALLY smart narrative device because it allows us character development and movement, and to contemplate the story's central questions. Three-for-one.

I'd say the only place the pacing falls apart is the ending, which is really rushed and has a TON of last minute revelations, which makes it hard to register everything. It still sticks the landing thematically, I just think it maybe needed more room to breathe to hit that poignant ending.

The Themes: It's really interesting to see even this early on, CLAMP already had certain themes they would continue to explore in their work: the immutability of fate and our natures, the power, both good and evil, of love, duty and promise, and selfishness vs. selflessness - with that further entangled by our own sense of identity and will to live. Pretty much every character expresses some contemplation of what it means to live and who they are, and whether their wishes or loves will inevitably jeopardize the world and themselves.

I wouldn't say RG Veda is philosophical, but it is mostly consistent in what it wanted to say and do, which is that love is the force that overturns fate, for good or ill, and that being loved by others and finding your community, can make life worth living despite its tragedy. Nobody deserves to be unwanted. There's also a lot of interesting interplay about our culpability in evil due to our birth, the duality within people, and holding onto our promises despite the destruction they cause (something they would deconstruct in later works, but that's stargazing).

The Characters: The characters are definitely highly archetypal but again, it works in the context of an attempt to write new mythology. I liked Ashura and Yasha decently, but they lacked complexity. I found Ashura's death-seeking nature compelling and wish it had been explored more in the conflict between being apocalyptic and unwanted. Yasha never quite grows beyond the stoic dark haired seme but I do think he had an interesting story for being a King that doomed his people to protect Ashura. The side characters are more complicated; I'm obsessed with the tragic pathetic nature of Taishakuten cannibalizing his lover to be with him yet lose him forever. I also really liked Kendappa, Kujaku, Kaara and Kumara, Ratetsu, and Karura and her sister. Ryuu was totally superfluous. Overall, it's clear they wrote most of the characters with the story and themes in mind, so I can't fault their archetypal nature since they are meant to be thematic rather than realistic.

The Art: The art is very late 80s shojo, which isn't an issue once I got past the anatomy (though some of the anatomy is really, glaringly off.). It's such a pretty manga with gorgeous and creative paneling that constantly breaks the grid, overlays panels, and transforms into gorgeous double page spreads, and really gives the sense of a sweeping epic. The backgrounds are especially nice, as well as the costume design, everything is richly detailed and feels beautiful and dreamy. While CLAMP only knows how to draw one face, the character designs are still distinguishable and memorable. There are some issues with readability during action scenes but having read some of their other works, it's clear that's their weakness. Some of the more elaborate panels are lost in detail, but overall, it's pretty.

Questionable Elements: Ashura having no sex so that they can't reproduce and "pass on sin" is iffy to me. Yasha/Ashura is also hmm because Ashura is 300, but stuck in a child's body to protect the world. Yasha raises Ashura and loves Ashura for who they are, so its clear from the ending (and Tsubasa) they're meant to be lovers, but also the relationship is said to be father-child. It's definitely icky and while I understand thematically what they were trying to do with having Ashura be in a child form vs adult form for most of the series, they could have just made him an amnesiac adult the whole time. Ugh. Also, while I adore Kendappa/Souma, it does play into the over-emotional psycho lesbian trope. But CLAMP in general has a poor track record with lesbians (more on that later).

There’s also a discussion to be had on their choice to pull from the Rigveda and their approach to South Asian culture. Please see the discussion here for my thoughts in full on it and discussion on cultural appropriation, but in short, I don’t believe it’s cultural appropriation to make a fantasy pastiche world, but it’s a sad and telling missed opportunity that South Asian culture remains of little interest to Japanese media while being included in their world building.

Overall: A beautiful, entertaining, tragic spectacle that tries to create a sweeping mythological epic that mostly sticks the landing, with some truly interesting characterizations going on. Some heavy pacing issues at the start and end, and it's not groundbreaking or necessarily progressive, but worth a read all the same, if nothing for the incredible panelwork, the mythopoetic scale, and the unique ultra-high fantasy world. Definitely a new CLAMP favourite for me.

[thevalleyisjolly]

Dimension 20/ 1, 8, 9 & 25

Ey, thanks anon!

1 - the character everyone gets wrong

It's admittedly very hard to get on Murph's level and balance the right amount of awful shithead with the right amount of earnest caring, but I can't remember the last time I saw a good take on Cody that really understood his personality and characterization. It's not any one thing in specific, I just don't often encounter takes on Cody that make me go "Yes, this is the character Murph played, he would 100% say this/do that."

8 - common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

The Ravening War is actually really good. I understand if you don't like Matt or his style of DM-ing and don't want to watch the season because of that. As someone who did watch it though, the cast were absolutely impeccable, the season really deepened and explored so much of the lore about Calorum, and I'd say that from a narrative standpoint, even considering that it's necessarily tighter in format as a 6-episode season as opposed to a 17-episode season, it's slightly better story-wise than ACOC. No pressure or obligation to watch it, everyone makes their own decisions about their media consumption, I just think it's really good despite all the pre-season flack it got.

9 - worst part of canon

This isn't about a specific canon event, but I think in general, seasons are stronger when they have clearer rails and narrative beats. The limited-run format of the show as a whole does not lend well to an open-world sandbox approach, and all of their strongest seasons have been ones where the story structure is evident and the players work within and around that structure. Sidequests like ACOFAF and Coffin Run were really great because they had clear goals that everyone at the table understood (navigating the social dynamics of the Bloom to achieve your own goals, getting Dracula's body back to the castle). Likewise, the strongest seasons narratively were FH:SY, TUC, and TUC II. And in all of these seasons, the players still had a ton of room to improvise and make their character decisions. Railroading is negative when it prevents the table from having fun, but having rails is not a bad thing in and of itself, and I wish seasons would go back to having a little more structure and narrative guidance.

25 - common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

It's not a complaint, but I don't think we really need Fantasy High: Senior Year. I wouldn't complain if that does end up being a future season, but I think there's also value in letting a story and its characters rest. Going back to Elmville in, like, a one-shot or in a campaign focused on other characters (i.e. The Seven) is great, but I like the arcs that the original PCs had across Fantasy High and Sophomore Year, and while I'm sure they could always come up with more stories to tell, I'm satisfied with where they concluded in Sophomore Year.