#AND THE ENDING

[randompolykin]

folks, watching this as nonhuman huuuuurrtssssss. please watch it. please. its amazing. and relatable.

[rock-and-compass]

"Fool for Love" is so freaking good. SMG and JM are incredible. The writing is great (Dru's dialogue alone is brilliant), and the photography is amazing. I've seen it so many times and it just blew me away again

[just-mebs]

I finally finished playing Outer Wilds and I'm like,, this game has completely crushed me

[amewinterswriting]

So, I've been playing the remaster of Baten Kaitos lately and for a JRPG of it's time (2003, originally) I'm actually quite amazed by how the narrative subtext frames disability. Major spoilers after the read more, and I will explain everything so you should understand even if you know nothing about the game.

In the world of Baten Kaitos, islands are kept aloft in the sky and the people live on them because of a disaster that poisoned the earth. Most of these people have wings on their back that they can make appear and disappear at will. They are referred to as 'Wings of the Heart' and their appearance is unique to each person, symbolizing their hopes and dreams and personalities. The people of the Empire do not have wings (? or perhaps choose not to use them, according to the prequel) but compensate with mechanical 'winglets'. It's also worth mentioning that the Empire is a major antagonistic force for about half the game, so even though there are friendly characters who come from the Empire, the association of no natural wings is predominantly 'evil'.

The protagonist only has one natural wing, and a prosthetic wing to compensate. It is shown that he has faced prejudice because of this - people treating him with suspicion and hatred because if his wings are deformed, it follows that his 'heart'/soul must be deformed as well.

In fact, this is a major motivation for him deceiving the rest of the party and the player themselves, aligning himself with the evil god we were trying to prevent from being resurrected the whole game. His 'payment' is a second, natural wing to match his existing one.

The plot then follows a secondary protagonist who eventually manages to confront him with a magical artifact that disrupts the evil god's power for long enough that he can choose a different path. And he does so, physically ripping off the wing he was 'gifted' and returning to the good guys and using his prosthetic (which the second protagonist had kept safe for him in the hope that he would one day rejoin them and he might need it).

While I have a lot of criticism for some elements of that plot (the one-winged protagonist should definitely have had more of a 'redemption' arc after deceiving the whole party and the player in a way that nearly destroys the entire world, but five minutes after he's rejoined the party it is almost as if it never happened), it is interesting that a game of this age does address the fantasy of 'what if I could just be magically fixed' and reject it. It actively frames the use of the prosthetic (something crafted for him with love and care from his family, later protected and cared for by the party in the hope that he'd come back to them) as something positive and better than a magical cure for him.

It's definitely not a perfect story (I would have loved to see some kind of connection between the party members - even at the end of the game, it does feel a lot like a group of strangers just happened to be going the same way and tagged along with each other), and I can't bring myself to decide whether the 'prosthetic' plotline is helped or hindered by the idea the the prosthetic is not a physical inconvenience in any way (never seems to need maintenance and works just as well as a natural wing, even adjusting as the protagonist grows) and only a social one (characters comment on it, some in negative ways and he admits he's faced that kind of prejudice his whole life). On the one hand, it's nice that he only actually faces any problems because of other people - it's a fantasy story, why shouldn't his inventor grandfather be able to make the perfect prosthetic for him? On the other hand, not having any physical ramifications (that the player is aware of) really does make his flip flop to the darkside and back for an hour seem a little cheap. Like, you've been bullied a bit, that sucks, it's still not worth screwing everyone else over, including all the people who have actively fought beside you to prevent the very thing you're doing?

But overall, the handling of his disability and the fact that the game doesn't just hand him a magical 'cure' as his happy ending? That feels pretty good to me.

[emrys-merlin]

Season 5 is so painful to watch if Merlin is your favorite character.

Can we just let Merlin exist and be happy.  Can we just let him live his life.  Can we just let him know that his life is not only about Arthur and Camelot. Please.

[axolotlinabottle]

The Barbie movie is exactly what I expected and it was fantastic, amazing, brilliant, stunning, sparkling, and pink! 10/10 I will be watching it again

[sketchnskribbles]

Guess who watched Across the Spiderverse last night?! Me! And WOW—

[yilian0203]

Memory that burns

I wish to go back time, to when it just began, to do this over.

I wish to go back time, to when there was just us and things were alright.

I wish to go back time, to be able to see you, to touch you and hold you closer.

I wish...it was not too late to say goodbye.

[cassketti]

Him agiain :3

[pealeii]

now that you've seen it, thoughts on astv????

OMIGOSH IT IS AMAZING

When I say I was shaking, I was shaking.

It feels like I’ve waited my entire life for this sequel and it absolutely blew everything out of the water.

It is an absolute blast of passion. EVERY SINGLE FRAME just bleeds and bursts with intensity, detail, life, and blessed, needed creativity.

THE USE OF COLOR YODIYXIDKYYXICKHCHLCJV

Like in the beginning when Gwen hugs her dad and there’s a blush of pink 🥺🥺🥺 Bro I cried. The whole design of Gwen’s universe is GORGEOUS. The watercolor aesthetic!! And just how light bounced off things—like how light came out of the police car headlights. And I love the rhythm of the opening—with Gwen talking over her drumming.

AND ALL OF THE OPENING—THE RENAISSANCE VULTURE RARARARAR

My sister said something like: since its so fast paced, when they hold a frame for even a second, it is so impactful. You know it’s important.

I LOVED the themes of parenting—whether that be Peter B. Parker, Gwen’s dad, Miles’ parents. I absolutely adored the scene where Miles’ mom talks to him, and every scene with Gwen and her Dad was so good. (And ofc I love Peter B he has always been a fav 🥰🥰🥰)

ALSO AS A KID I WANTED PETER B PARKER’S KID TO BE IN THE SEQUEL AND GUESS WHAT HAPPENED

[pbpsbff]

before i put this next fic out (that is currently at about 3.3k words), i would like to appreciate the fact that r&r's word count is currently in the 69,000s

[crushermyheart]

Happy Valley / Series 1 / Episode 6

[olichat-reads]

not me trying to finish the final chapter of mrow & have my brain come up with 4 new completely unrelated wips 😌

[theotherbuckley]

The only good part of 6x18 was Bathena finally getting their cruise.

[halchron]

icb I forgot all about type 0... that game is so underrated