#I do like the fusion they made but feel like it’s rather bland compared to them both. I MIGHT consider giving them all a redraw. MIGHT

[mrkdicey]

Uuuuuuh was board, so tried giving Gemsona Maker another try…

And they’re little fusion : )

I would say that this dress up game is decent. Really wish you could save what you made tho. I’d give it a 7/10

[tartagliaxx]

hi !! i really love your works and the way u write !!

may i request childe + dandelion ?? tysm in advance !! <3

“ CHILDE + DANDELION ”

━━ ☆ PAIRING: childe/reader

━━ ☆ GENRE: fluff

━━ ☆ SUMMARY: dandelion | faithfulness, overcoming challenges, youthful joy, granted wishes

━━ ☆ WARNINGS: established relationship

back then, very little was made for him.

childe— or perhaps it would be better to say 'ajax'— grew up with clothes too large for him. they were dull-colored and moth-eaten from overuse. his toys were never the latest of the snezhnayan trend, instead, they were antiques, dating back to his father's father and his years. food was never roasted steak or caramelized cakes. on its place were self-caught fishes stewed in tomato, incredibly bland because seasoning was the least of their problems.

he didn't grow up with a lot but he did grow up with midnight hot cocoa runs with his elder sister. his version of a vacation was down by the river a few miles north where his older brothers would push him across the ice before skidding into a stop right before he crashes into a tree. education came in worn-out books read to him by his father and sometimes, it came from the quiet nostalgia of his mother as she knitted yet another sweater for her children— things she wished she had done, things she wished she hadn't done, and things she hoped he will do in the future.

now, he could twist and bend the world however he sees it fit. most of it, at least.

tartaglia jumps from one continent to the other with the finest blades one could find, value no doubt exceeding that of an entire village. he buys all sorts of toys without a glance at their price tag and ships them off to teucer who remains to be blind to having barely anything. he dines in the most expensive kiosks, cuisines he could only dream about at the tip of his fork and they were everything but never bland.

he lived with so many in his grasp and sometimes it's too much because now, all he asks for is more time. forget caviar and fancy fusion dishes, the charred seafood his father grills is far better than those. forget ballgowns and suits, he'd much rather wear that ratty, old sweater he used to hate with all his heart. forget mora and gold and fancy lifestyles because nothing could compare to the cozy, little cabin he grew up in nor could they stand a chance against the people who watched him be who he was now.

all his life he was never selfish. he never pestered his mother for that toy the whole town was crazed for nor did he complain at the tsaritsa's feet when he's shipped off to yet another place he didn't care for. he dealt with it, adjusted, and went on— like a true warrior, he says with an almost bitter smile.

but now, could he be given the luxury to want? to seek and be mad when it's not given? for once, could he be a selfish man who didn't have to worry about someone else's sake?

a minute, an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year longer. he'd take anything as long as he could spend more time with you. chuckling, he lifted his hand as he brushes off a stray strand of your hair that flapped wildly against the heavy liyue wind.

"careful, don't go slipping or dying on me now."

you sent him a weak glare. "do you see that? yes childe, that's the moon. the sun hasn't even risen yet and you're already dragging me somewhere i don't know. forgive me if my half-asleep state is being too sluggish for you, mr. i-have-no-idea-normal-people-actually-sleep."

"now, now," he rose his hands in mock defense. "you don't have to make me sound so condescending. as a matter of fact, we're going ten times slower than what i would have preferred but you're not hearing me complain because i love you and i care about you."

"i swear to god i'm going to kill you someday."

slinging an arm around your shoulders, you could feel his laughter reverberate in his chest. "i'd like to see you try. i bet you'd look adorable."

"leave it to you to make a threat sound like it's some fun, cutesy activity."

"it could be? i mean, imagine laces and knives. in bed—" your stare hardened into something far more malicious. "just kidding!"

"you better. i'll happily castrate you right here and now."

"scary."

you chose to ignore his mocking comment knowing well by now that his true intentions were somewhere in between pissing you off until you could only desire for a fight or pissing you off until you pushed him against a tree and dealt with him. either way, you wouldn't let him have his way with you even if the latter does sound quite appealing.

surprisingly, he didn't push your buttons further. instead, he dropped his arm down to your waist where he grounded you with affectionate little rubs. with that, you went on with your journey to who knows where but if you were being honest, the destination barely mattered as long as you had him as your companion.

"this is—"

"stone gate, yes." he finished for you as he tugged you along to its peak.

"what are we doing here?"

childe hummed in thought— hesitating— before he turns to look at you with a bittersweet smile. "i wanted to take you out on one last date before i leave."

your face softened into one that showed sympathy and understanding. giving his hand a slow squeeze, you asked him to show you where he set up today's activities. while the deep-rooted sadness in his eyes didn't leave him completely, he did seem to brighten up when you switched the topics.

"it's right over there."

you laughed when he began recalling the events that lead to this— how he had to knock on xiangling's door at the dead of the night, how he had passed today's duties to ekaterina, and so forth. there was very little humor in his story but as he spun his arms wildly in between the events, the weight in your heart slowly began to ease.

"—so what do you think?"

"not bad for someone who usually just throws mora around."

"not bad, right? it's not much but i wanted to make today special."

the sudden solemness of the situation— of the reality you lived— sank in too suddenly. so deep in love, you didn't notice how the sun has risen bringing with it a fastly ticking clock that marked childe's departure from liyue. that clock stood waiting, menacing with the claws it had on your neck and you had to remind yourself to stay strong because he didn't need to worry about the tears that were sure to spill when he's already halfway through the ocean.

"wait here for a second."

you blinked, surprised at childe's sudden exit. for someone who was going on and on about not wanting to leave, he sure did leave in a hurry. averting your eyes with a soft smile, they landed on a bunch of jueyeun chilies. you immediately thought of xiangling who went out of her way to make all of this possible when she didn't need to. perhaps you should bring some back.

"ok, i'm back. close your eyes." you furrowed your eyebrows, more than just a little confused. still, you did as he told you without much of a doubt. "hands out."

"i swear to god if you place a frog or a lizard in my hands—"

"don't you have faith in me?"

"not really." instead of being offended, childe cackled out loud and that was enough to make your day.

something fuzzy and light landed on your outstretched hand. it was strange, not something you were used to feeling but it wasn't unwelcome. in fact, there was something vaguely comforting about the feather-like weight on your hand.

"open."

dandelions?

"i don't know if you'd prefer a massive bouquet of roses but i didn't prepare that so," childe rubbed the back of his neck in shame, an emotion you don't often see on the man, "i guess we'd have to make do."

"i like them." you interrupted his words, knowing that the next thing that would slip out of his mouth was going to be an apology.

"really? i guess i'm pretty lucky huh?" in a way he was. luck was the only reason he could think of when he thinks about the odds of meeting someone who loved him as much as you did.

"when—" he swallowed, taking the smallest dandelion in your hands and knotting it to form a makeshift ring, "when you look at dandelions, remember me."

you watched as he slid the ring on your fingers, heart torn and mended at the same time. "i know it wouldn't be easy but... the distance from here to snezhnaya wouldn't deter me. i'll love you and only you. no matter what."

"i know. i know you would and as do i."

bumping your foreheads together, you lifted your hand— the one that held his ring of promise— and allowed it to rest by his cheek. just this once, you hoped it was alright to be selfish and wish that time would pass by slower.

━━ ☆ NOTES: hello!! you’re very sweet! thanks for joining and saying that! i hope this is to your liking! view the rest of the event shorts here! ���

[the-ferocious-kittyrose]

What I would’ve done w/ Lotor’s character

It’s not exactly a secret to anyone who’s been following me for a while that I’m not the biggest fan of canon Lotor. I had high hopes for the character from his 80s counterpart and intro in season 3 but I was really let down by the direction the writers went with him in canon.

When he was introduced, I was so hoping for him to be this cocky manipulative asshole that’s only out for himself. I love that character archetype so goddamn much.

But in canon he was just kinda boring to me. His personality was bland and his motivations never really made sense. He’s introduced using empty promises of peace and comradery to manipulate people, then its revealed that he actually does want peace and comradery and wants to lead a peaceful empire, then that turns into draining Alteans and wanting to kill all Galra...

I also didn’t like how the writers decide to tack on this whole child abuse plot to explain why he was the way he was. As if that’s the only way to make a villain sympathetic. Yeah other versions of Voltron have touched on Lotor’s childhood before and it was never pleasant, but VLD really leaned into that shit, to the point where it felt like the writers were just shoving angst down our throats thinking that equals good writing.

It takes more than a tragic backstory to make a character compelling. It takes an interesting personally and motivations that make sense. And you can make a character tragic/sympathetic in more subtle ways.

For me personally, I wanted Lotor to be a sorta fusion of Loki and Littlefinger in space.

Loki is a sly trickster who grew up feeling like an outcast, unaware of his true heritage. He grew up believing he could be king but when his shity father handed it to his perfect brother he felt he had been robbed and decided to take the throne by force.

Littlefinger is a small man from a small house with no power, and after getting the shit beat out of him trying to win the hand of the girl he loved, he decided he would use his intelligence and skills in manipulation to screw over all these noble lords and weasel his way into the throne. And when he did he would finally get vengeance on all those who had looked down on him.

I feel like this fits Lotor well. Lotor is a prince, so he isn’t small in that regard, but he is not respected in the way a prince should be.

He is a lot smaller than the average Galra. And even though Lotor is still quite strong, developing a fighting style that suits his small form and uses his opponents size against them, in a society so heavily based on physical strength that’s still a big blow to your rep.

He employs half breeds, which we know are looked down on in the empire. And there are definitely rumors about Lotor himself being a half breed. I think after 10,000 years Zarkon would’ve done a pretty good job at hiding Lotor’s heritage from the public but just looking at him compared to the average Galra there’s going to be some suspicion there. On that note Lotor is probably considered butt ugly by the Galra.

And Lotor works in the shadows and achieves his goals through lies and trickery, which Lotor himself says are things the empire looks down on.

So yeah, the people in the empire hate Lotor. Even Sendak who’s all ‘Gung ho empire’ has no respect for Lotor. And because of this it would probably be up in the air whether or not Lotor would even be allowed to take the throne if his father were to pass, even though it’s his birthright.

And in the face of all this rampant disrespect, Lotor decides that he is going to overthrow his father and take the throne. And when he does he will take vengeance on everyone who had ever undermined him and expand the empire beyond anything his father could’ve dreamed of.

And don’t try telling me, “oh that’s so out of character! Lotor would never take pleasure in the pain of others!” Because he does.

Remember Throk? Remember how Lotor sent him away to the worst station in the empire and joked about letting him, “rot with the ice worms?” Remember how Lotor later invaded his station then watched with a grin as he was tortured by Haggar?

Lotor 100% takes pleasure in hurting those who would hurt him, because it makes him feel powerful.

Now let’s talk about Lotor’s planet. The one given to him and destroyed by Zarkon. I always felt weird about this plot. Obviously it’s a very sad thing to have happen, but I always liked the idea of Lotor’s promises of peace to be empty, a means of manipulating people. So this whole situation being genuine feels weird to me.

In my version, Lotor didn’t get banished for being too kind. He got banished because Zarkon caught him in a plot to betray him.

When Lotor was put in charge of the planet, he seduced and married the princess Ventar. He filled her head with promises that her people would be free and they would rule the universe together and convinced her to secretly round up her armies and send word to her ally planets to do the same, so they could start planning a way to overthrow Zarkon.

It’s left ambiguous whether or not he was being genuine and whether he really loved Ventar and intended to keep his promises to her or if she was just a tool to get the throne. But either way, it ends the same. Zarkon finds out, destroys the planet, kills Ventar, and exiles Lotor.

Still sad/humiliating thing for Lotor, and definitely a story that could gain sympathy from Allura.

Speaking of Allura and Ventar, let’s talk about Lotor’s relationship with the women in his life.

(Trigger Warning: Brief mention of of a rape scene in GoLion)

In the 80s Lotor was incredibly misogynistic. He walked around with a harem of half naked women, tried repeatedly to kidnap and marry Allura against her will, and in GoLion it’s heavily implied that he raped Romelle because she looked like Allura.

It’s a common joke in the fandom that he went from this to drinking respect women juice in VLD but I don’t know if I’d go that far.

He’s definitely better in VLD than he was in the 80s, but even in VLD he manipulates, uses, and hurts most of the women in his life.

Allura is the obvious example, but you also have his generals. Acxa talks to the paladins, Allura in particular, about how persuasive Lotor could be. Implying that she and the other general were manipulated the same way Allura was.

Well not EXACTLY the same way Allura was, romantically I mean. Though there are people who believe that Acxa was also in love with Lotor and he used that to his advantage, which I can see.

But I feel like it was more about giving them a place in an empire that didn’t care about or accept them.

I hate The Last Jedi but I really feel like the line, “you’re nothing, but not to me,” fits really well. They were outsiders with no place to go until Lotor swooped in and gave them a purpose.

Do I think that there was a part of Lotor that genuinely wanted to help them because he saw a kindred spirit in them? Yeah. But I also think that at the end of the day, they were more tools than real friends. And he had no qualms about killing them if they betrayed him.

The situation with Narti proves that. As well as the fact that Ezor and Zethrid seemed very scared of the prospect of Lotor being alive and coming for them.

And then you have Allura. Lotor’s lust for Allura has always been a very important part of his character. In the 80s the reason behind his obsession with her was that he had a lot of baggage about his mother and had a thing for women that looked like her. Also the fact that he just didn’t like not getting something he wanted.

There was never any love. He didn’t want to be with her, he wanted to own her.

In VLD, his want for Allura seems to stem more from the fact that she’s Altean than an Oedipus complex. As well as the fact that she’s powerful and skilled in Altean alchemy, which makes her rather useful.

I don’t personally believe that Lotor ever really Loved Allura. I think he liked the idea of her and what she could do for him, but the end of the day she was more a means to an end than anything else.

Allura’s been trough a lot. Zarkon betrayed her family and destroyed her entire planet only about a year ago from her point of view, and she appears to have a pretty bad case of survivors guilt and PTSD. And to make matters worse, while Lotor was on the ship she was fighting with Shiro, someone she clearly cared about. The idea of loosing him after already losing so much must’ve been really painful.

She was hurting, conflicted, and lonely. Which made her all the more vulnerable to Lotor’s manipulation.

He took advantage of her loneliness and insecurities, making her believe she had found someone who understood her and could help her avenge her family and planet. She trusted him, let herself be vulnerable around him, which made it hurt even more when it was revealed to all be a ruse.

And then you have his relationship with his mother Honerva/Haggar.

I talked a lot about this in my whole rewrite/rant about Honerva, but I’m not a fan of how they made their relationship 100% negative. I feel like it robs the show of a lot of interesting character interaction.

It’s sad. The whole relationship is really tragic. Shit like this is literally my worst nightmare. The thought of looking my mom in the face and have her not recognize me as her daughter keeps me up at night.

But the thing is, in canon the relationship kinda falls flat because Lotor and Haggar/Honerva have no connection. Haggar was awful to Lotor and Lotor hates Haggar. What reason do I have to be invested in their relationship?

So If you haven’t read my Honerva rant, here’s how I would’ve done the Honerva Lotor relationship.

10,000 years ago, when Alfor came to Dibazzal to convince Zarkon to close the rift, Honerva went into labor. Alfor and many Galran doctors tried there best to save her and the baby, but the quintessence had damaged her body so much that she couldn’t be saved and died in childbirth.

Zarkon went ballistic and Alfor had the doctors take baby Lotor somewhere safe, fearing Zarkon would take his grief and anger out on the child.

After Honerva was resurrected as Haggar and throughout Lotor’s childhood, they had a strange sort of relationship. Lotor was an inquisitive child and was always curious about Haggar and her work, making a habit of following her around like a little shadow and watching as she worked. And there was also the fact that, while his father was never friendly, he was calmer when she was around.

Haggar had no idea what to make of this weird child following her around all the time. All these big strong Galra were terrified of her but this tiny child showed no fear as he tugged on her robes and excitedly asked questions about her work. And she never minded. She didn’t know why or how to explain it, but she cared for the child. As much as a soulless undead witch could care for something anyway.

But as time went on there relationship became more and more strained. Lotor was a smart kid he was gonna find out about his mother and deduce what happened to her.

He resented Haggar. Resented her for not remembering him. Resented her for the fact that he had to go through life without a mother while she was right there. And he resented her for being loyal to Zarkon, who had been making his life hell for thousands of years.

Every time she showed him something resembling kindness he’s conflicted. He knows he should feel happy that she cares, but at the same time, why does she care? It’s not like she sees him as her son.

He turned to denial, insisting that Haggar couldn’t possibly be his mother, even though he new the truth deep down, and a part of him always secretly longed for her to remember who she was, who he was, and embrace him as her son. He hates that part of himself.

And when he does meet Honerva for the first time, it’s... tense... to say the least. Having his mother reach out to him and acknowledge him as her son is something he thought would bring him joy, but in that moment all the pain he went through rises back to the surface and he lashes out. He draws his sword and is about to cut her down but he hesitates. He’s trembling with tears in his eyes. He can’t forgive her, but he also can’t bring himself to kill her.

Then you have his relationship with his father.

It’s no secret that Zarkon is an awful man and a shity father, always has been.

The explanation as to why is kinda shaky. All we get is Zarkon saying Lotor is his greatest shame because he’s Altean but I don’t know about that. Zarkon may hate Alteans but he loved Honerva and I don’t think he would be ashamed of his relationship with her.

He definitely did his best Lotor’s heritage from the public. But I don’t think that’s the reason he hates him.

In my version of the story, Zarkon hates Lotor because Honerva died giving birth to him and Zarkon blames him for her death. He lost his beloved wife and was forced to watch the son that killed her waltz around wearing her face.

It didn’t help that Lotor was a snarky rebellious kid that liked to show off. He did things his own way, didn’t care much for rules, and had a real knack for finding loopholes. All things that made his strict father very angry. He was an embarrassment. Small and rebellious. That’s why Zarkon began training Sendak.

I personally believe the reason Zarkon was so trusting of Sendak and had so much faith in him was because Zarkon had been grooming him to be his “true heir.” Sendak is the epitome of what a Galra should be. Strong, loyal, and brave. He would be the son Zarkon wished he had. The favorite child.

Lotor obviously hates Zarkon, and rightfully so. Zarkon hates him for something he had no control over and constantly disrespects him.

Lotor may not follow the rules, but he passes every trial. He excels at everything he does but Zarkon refuses to see that all because he blames him for Honerva’s death.

Lotor sees Zarkon as an old fool. He knows that he could do a far better job at running the empire.

Lotor dedicated thousands of years of his life to overthrowing Zarkon. His hatred for his father was his motivation, what got him out of bed every morning, so when the deed is done and Zarkon was finally defeated, in the moments after he felt empty.

But he didn’t have time to dwell on that feeling for long. He still had to deal with his father’s men and take the throne that was rightfully his.

Then you have his plan.

Lotor’s plan in VLD is really weird and over complicated. There was no real reason for the whole draining Alteans thing. Just a lazy way of making him 100% evil.

The plot could’ve been a lot simpler. He gains the paladins trust, gets them to help him build his ships and overthrow Zarkon, and then once he has the throne he pulls an Uno reverse card and is like, “yeah, nothing personal but this was all a trick and imma lock you and your lions up now.”

Obviously more complicated than that but that’s the basic idea.

One of my main problems with VLD is that they had a bad habit of over complicating the plot. People don’t care about VLD because of the plot, they care about the characters and their relationships, the actual plot doesn’t have to be anything spectacular.

It’s strange to say but I feel like the writes tried too hard with Lotor. He had the potential to be an amazing villain but the writers were too focused on tricking the audience and making him angsty that they forgot to make him compelling.

[yoon-kooks]

Witch Hazel- Pt.2

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Genre: FanficWriter!Jungkook, Idol!Reader, College!AU, Angst, Fluff

Summary: There are two students in your art class with a secret: you and the quiet Jeon Jungkook. You’re a problematic idol singer, infamous for your ice cold reputation and perpetual resting bitch face; he’s the artist and author behind the viral comic series based on a certain ice queen idol. After a blowup of destructive rumors, lost motivation and inevitable solitude, you stumble upon Jungkook’s comic and find a new and unexpected light.

Word Count: 3.6k

Parts: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // ?

A/N: yikes i haven’t updated this in super long aaaaaaaaa also happy birthday to the nuttiest kid in all the land, jeon jungkook :-) 

“Hey have you read Witch Hazel yet?”

“Of course I have… Who hasn’t?”

“True, it really went viral after Snow made that tweet, huh.”

“I can’t believe how much power that bitch has…”

“Yeah but that jk.seagull boy is super talented regardless.”

“It’s just a shame he wastes his talent on Snow of all people.”

“Right? Like, can you imagine if he wrote something about Park Jimin?? It’d be even more popular than Witch Hazel will ever b-”

The gossip dissipates as you walk into the art room, as if your classmates know you’re the idol they’ve been shit talking. But of course, that isn’t the case. It’s simply your chilling aura that halts any conversation for a brief moment.

You set your guitar case down and take your usual seat at the same table as the only two people who don’t seem to mind your presence.

“Y/N, did you hear? Jungkook became an overnight sensation,” Taehyung whispers to you as he points at the black mass that’s slumped over the table.

“Are you trying to tell me he’s the one who wrote the infamous Witch Hazel?” you yawn, unamused. But out of curiosity you look over to the boy who’s all bundled up under his hood with his head resting against the table, trying to catch up on as much sleep as possible before class begins. There’s no way he could write a fanfic comic about you.

“What? No! No, no, no, no,” Taehyung laughs and pulls out his phone to show you the same tabloid you’d seen the other day—the one that claimed Snow and Jimin were secretly dating. He points to the ominous hooded figure in the background of the photos. “Someone pointed him out in the midst of the whole Snow-Jimin chaos and now he’s a Twitter meme.”

“What kind of meme…?” You only ask because Jungkook does give off major meme vibes. Maybe it’s the way he pairs his round Harry Potter glasses and baggy hoodie with the tiny silver gauges in his ear and the ripped jeans that hug his thighs. He’s like some weeby hipster fusion, and you aren’t quite sure how to feel about that.

You don’t know what you were actually expecting, but it does feel a little shitty when you find out the meme in question features Jungkook as a shocked grim reaper who accidentally kills Snow’s career. Suddenly, you remember why you had chosen to stay away from social media.

“Funny, right?” Taehyung pats his sleeping friend’s broad back to wake him up. “But what’s even funnier is the fact that the cold-hearted Y/N reads fanfic, too??” Jungkook’s head pops up and tilts when he spots you sitting at their table. Oh no. The weeb thinks you’re one of them.

“I don't really read fanfic, okay? It’s just that Witch Hazel happened to be all over the internet, so I was curious.” You wave your hands in defense, praying they don’t get the wrong idea.

“Did you like it?” It’s literally the first fucking time you recall Jungkook ever speaking to you. His voice is much softer towards you than when he chatters with Taehyung, and there’s a genuine curiosity and innocence in his eyes.

“It was fine.” It’s not like you can just say no to those big doe eyes. “I just can’t believe there are people out there who really see Snow as their muse…” And what a relief it is to know.

Jungkook nods, although it seems like he’d say more if he wasn’t so shy. You watch as he pulls out two pages from his sketchbook, one with a realistic sketch of Taehyung’s face, and the other a comic version of a nerdy Jungkook.

“Thanks, friend.” Taehyung slides the beautiful portrait of himself over to the desk space in front of him and angles it towards you. “Stunning, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, too bad you didn't draw it yourself, you snake,” you shake your head. Despite all the hardwork Jungkook put into the portrait, you can’t help but feel bothered by the fact that his friend almost fucked him over with their little deal.

“Aww, don’t be so bitter, Y/N. I’m sure Jungkook would be willing to draw you too if you gave him something in return~” Taehyung winks at you, and as much as you’d love to tell him off, you can’t.

“Shut up, Tae-”

“I don't need his help,” you cut Jungkook off, pulling out your own self-portrait. Somehow it looks a lot uglier now than when you had first finished it. But whatever. At least it’s your own work, your own art. “I don’t need anyone’s help.”

Both Taehyung and Jungkook stare at your art, not really knowing what to say. The more you look at it yourself, the more you see that it doesn’t resemble you.

“Hey it kind of looks like Sn-”

“Alright everyone, it’s time for class to begin.” You’re thankful that your professor cut Taehyung off before his loud mouth said too much. You can’t believe your idiot self accidentally drew your portrait as a glammed-up Snow with her beautiful blue eyes rather than as a bland college kid Y/N with no shits to give. “Let’s start by taking a look at all of our self-portraits.”

You watch as your classmates take out their drawings, some better than others, but none quite as terrible as your own. You suppose you shouldn’t feel bad, considering you didn’t enter a school of the arts with the intentions of becoming an artist with paints and a sketchbook like most of your drawing class did. You entered school with the intentions of becoming an artist with your guitar and notebook. And the only reason why you made the decision to include this unrelated class on your schedule was to escape your failures as the musician you wished to be.

“Taehyung, since you love to talk, why don’t you start us off by introducing your piece? And then we’ll just go around the classroom one-by-one.” Your professor gestures to Jungkook’s drawing of Taehyung’s face. Great. The last thing you want to do is show off your ugly Snow portrait to an entire room of people you don’t really feel close to. If any of them find out you’re an idol, you’ll have to quit school. That was the agreement you made with Seokjin after he encouraged you to give school a chance.

“Well, I’d like to think my portrait is pretty straightforward. My approach was to be as realistic as possible while accentuating my most defining features such as my long eyelashes and beauty marks. And I did this by…” Taehyung goes on and on in such detail about the portrait that he didn’t even draw. It’s actually quite impressive. You envy his ability to speak with such confidence and charisma in a way that makes everyone believe his shitty art skills could produce something so beautiful. He knows how to make everyone his friend.

“Can you believe Taehyung’s that talented at drawing despite being a photography major?” You hear two girls whispering amongst themselves. “He’s incredible.”

Next is Jungkook. You snicker a bit at his drawing because it’s not exactly what you’d expect from the art genius of the class. While he had made Taehyung’s portrait super realistic, his own portrait looks like a bespectacled nerd that came straight out of a manga. Weeb. The thing that stands out most is his big nose. But you find it kind of cute.

“I just drew myself in comic form because that’s what I was most comfortable with,” he says, staring down at his sketch. You can tell he kind of trolled by overemphasizing with some dynamic lines for a more dramatic effect on his meme face.

“Amazing job as always, Jungkook,” your professor gives the boy a thumbs up in approval and elaborates further on the refined techniques he incorporated into the assignment. Jungkook only nods in response to the nice feedback. You appreciate how humble he is despite the professional level of his art. In the corner of your eye, however, you swear you see the same pair of Taehyung fangirls roll their eyes.

Finally it’s your turn. It’s unfortunate that you have to show your shitty artwork right after Jungkook’s two masterpieces, but it could be worse. After all, this wouldn’t be the first time your artistic ability has been criticized and compared with others. As an idol, you deal with that all the time.

“My self-portrait doesn’t look like me because it’s like a mask that superheroes wear to conceal their identities. So people don’t know what’s really hiding beneath the surface.” You don’t mean to darken the mood, but that’s the best way to put it without explicitly saying you have another identity as Snow. No one in your class makes a comment, but you suppose that’s expected. They wouldn't understand.

“And the blue eyes?” You wish your professor wouldn’t prompt you with more questions. Why couldn't she just say you did a good job and move on like she did with everyone else? You feel singled-out.

“I think they’re prettier than my real eyes.” You don’t want to tell everyone you’re a cold-hearted ice queen, but you aren’t completely lying either. Back when you first entered Polar Entertainment, you remember thinking it’d be cute to wear those icy blue contacts for your audition. And you suppose it paid off because you were told you were beautiful with a beautiful voice, perfectly suited to be an idol. But an idol was never what you wanted to be. Beauty wasn’t what you wanted to be remembered by, but that seems to be the only thing people ever praise Snow for.

“So your portrait is more of a reflection of who you’d like to be?” Wrong. Absolutely wrong.

“Yeah,” you say, in hopes that your professor will move on to pestering the next person. Thankfully, she does.

After wasting the majority of class on showcasing everyone’s artwork, your professor announces that there’s a “phase two” in the portrait unit. The new assignment is basically to draw yourself again, “but with the interpretation and direction from two of your classmates.” Your professor also notes that this group project requires a lot of work and interaction outside of class, and that you should get to know your groupmates really well in order to succeed in this assignment. Fantastic. You hate group projects.

You remember the horror stories from high school of being that one kid who couldn’t find a group, or having incompetent groupmates who let you down. You’d much prefer to do the work all on your own. Especially when you know your class has some pretty incompetent students of its own, namely Kim Taehyung. You’d hate to be stuck with that guy.

“Psst, Jungkook, Y/N. Wanna be in a group together?” No, you do not want to be in a group with Taehyung. However, you’re in no position to turn down his offer. Because you’re sure everyone else in your class wouldn’t appreciate having you on their team. That's just the way things are.

“Sure,” you say. Jungkook nods after you. Perhaps working with Jungkook will outweigh being dragged down by a slacker like Taehyung.

“Great, should we hangout after class today? Today’s like the one time I don’t have a date planned.” Taehyung flips through the filled calendar on his phone before handing his phone over for you to give him your number. After doing so, you check your own phone for a text from the boy with his number, but instead you find a message from your boss.

2:46PM monster lady👹 “Snow-- Seokjin informed me that you’ve requested to take time off from work. In light of this and the current situation regarding Park Jimin, please drop by my office today so we can have an open discussion about the best option for you moving forward.”

“I can’t, I have somewhere to go after class. Sorry guys.” You only feel bad because you’re the one holding them back.

“Where do you have to go? Is it a date?” Taehyung asks. Why does this guy only ever think about dates?

“No…” you answer, praying he’ll stop being so nosy.

“Then what-”

“Actually, I’m busy today too,” Jungkook adds before the other boy can say anything else. “I have to do a bunch of drawings for my animation class.”

“Excuses, excuses,” Taehyung shakes his head at you and Jungkook, as if he’s the responsible one in the group. “How did I get stuck with the two most antisocial people in the class?”

“You’re the one who asked us,” is what you want to say, but Jungkook says it for you.

“Fine, fine,” the other boy gives in because he knows he’ll fail the class without his buddy. “I’ll go get laid tonight, I guess.”

You nod, packing your things into bag and picking up your guitar. Before you leave, you realize you forgot something.

“Can I get your number too?” You point your guitar case in Jungkook’s direction. Flustered, he feels around his entire hoodie for his phone, only to remember it’s in the ass pocket of those tight jeans. He looks a bit hesitant about swapping phones with you, and you think it’s probably because he’s never gotten a girl’s number before.

But of course, it’s actually because he’s embarrassed by his lockscreen, a bright photo of Snow with a soft yellow sundress and her guitar. You remember you’d been excited for that photoshoot because you didn’t have to do any of the usual pin-up modeling that your company loves to milk out of you. But it’ll forever leave a bitter taste in your mouth because of the guitar. It was merely a prop, and nothing more.

You don’t say anything as you input your number into his phone, but you’ll never understand his infatuation with an idol as one-dimensional as Snow. Especially when he hasn’t even met her.

-

As you walk down the halls of your company’s building, you try not to get your hopes up. Sure, your boss might’ve sent you a friendly little text about having an “open discussion” with you, but you know she probably already has her mind made up on whatever’ll be best for herself and her company.

Knock. “Come in,” an authoritative voice calls out from the other side of the door. A middle-aged lady with round reading glasses and an edgy A-line bob sits at her desk, hands clasped together, when you step into her office. Yang Sooyoung, CEO of Polar Entertainment, the woman you’ve despised for the majority of your idol career, gestures for you to take the seat in front of her. “How are you today, Snow?”

“Good,” you lie. She doesn’t really give a shit about your well-being anyway, so why bother humoring her.

“That’s good,” she nods. “Were you busy earlier?” You know she’s only asking you this because she’s ticked off that you didn’t come sooner.

“I was just running some errands on my day off.” She isn’t aware that you attend school, and you’d like to keep it that way.

“Oh, I see. But please do try to make this your priority, just as we make you ours.”

“Of course.”

“That being said, we believe it’s best for you to apologize for the recent incident with Park Jimin. After we release a statement, you’ll be able to enjoy your time away from idol work, free of stress.”

“What exactly do you want me to apologize for?” You try your best not to come off sounding too annoyed, but you were never good at acting. Or being fake.

“For being too friendly with the boy, and as a result, causing a misunderstanding.” For being too friendly with a boy? All you recall doing was talking to Jimin for five minutes max.

“I need to apologize for that?”

“Yes,” she nods, completely serious. “I know you shouldn’t have to apologize, but it’s the most efficient way of handling the situation. I spoke to a representative from Bloom Entertainment, and they’ve already dealt with Jimin’s side.”

“I’ll clarify what happened in order to clear up any misunderstanding,” you say. “But I’m still not going to say sorry when I did nothing wrong.”

Your boss raises her pointy eyebrows and shakes her head. “Snow, for the sake of damage control, please just apologize. It doesn’t matter if it’s genuine or not. We just need to handle things professionally here.”

It doesn’t matter if you’re genuine. Just hearing those words infuriates you. “I can’t pretend like I’m obligated to apologize all the time just because I’m an idol with flaws. I don’t owe society anything.”

“But you do owe me and my company something, don’t you think? Who gave you the opportunity to become an idol in the first place? Me. So if you can’t suck it up and apologize to preserve my company’s reputation, then don’t call yourself an idol.”

What you want to do is quit and let your shitty boss rot with her company. The only reason her company has prospered is because of you—not the other way around. Ever since becoming an idol, you’ve felt more dead than alive. Snow, the fabricated idol, may be prospering. But Y/N, the actual girl behind Snow’s mask, is fading.

At the same time, you know you can’t quit. Not for the sake of the company, nor for the sake of money and fame, but for the sake of becoming someone’s hero, anyone’s hero. If you could achieve that goal through other means, you would. But at this rate, being the idol you hate is all you can do to make people happy. At least for now.

So you make your apology and let PR handle the rest. In exchange, you’re given a maximum of half a year to get your shit together before your contract expires.

-

That night, you lay sprawled out on your bed in your pink penguin pajamas. Rather than filling your mind with the toxicity you’ve been dealing with for the past few days, you try to let it go for now. Despite the frustrating talk you had with your boss, reality is sinking in that you have a nice long break ahead. You can’t remember the last time you’ve felt so relieved. Free.

You even made a promise to yourself that you’d steer far, far away from anything Snow or idol-related for the next few weeks. And there are only two exceptions you’ll make.

The first exception is your manager. As your one and only friend, you do rely on Seokjin more than you’d like to admit. Because not only does he keep you from doing irrational things as an idol, he also keeps you company on your days off from work and school. The two of you get along quite well, and he’s the only person you can be yourself around. He’s like your life boat—without him, you surely would’ve sunk long ago.

The second exception is Witch Hazel. And as soon as you curl up into your bed, you go to the jk.seagull blog, now bookmarked on your phone’s browser. He has several short posts added to his blog since the last time you checked.

“asdfghjkl;;;;”

“sHE!!!”

“i cant believe snow saw witch hazel?? and even tweeted about it??”

“guys this makes me so happy :((((”

“brb crying”

“ok im back but holy fuck wow”

“anyway thank you guys so much for showing this comic a lot of love and support :(((”

“ill try my best to make pt.2 even better! i might be a little busy with art school, but please anticipate another update soon!”

He’s an art student like you. He’s enthusiastic about sharing his art with others, like the way you feel when releasing a new album. He’s genuinely grateful for the support from his audience, like the way you feel at the end of every concert. But he does it all behind a mask, just like you.

Just as you’re about to close your browser and text Seokjin about spending the night, a new post pops up on jk.seagull’s blog.

“lmao heres a sneak peek of pt.2 that no one asked for~”

Beneath the caption is a sketch of little Snow trying to make friends with a bunny boy character, but she fails because she’s too much of a stubborn tsundere. You assume this new bunny character must be a fellow superhero of some sort, a possible ally or maybe even a romantic interest. Either way, you find it both cute and hilarious. Snow could never have a romantic interest in real life, but you suppose it’s nice to dream. At the same time, you laugh because it’s true that you struggle with being too stubborn and closed off to make friends. Somehow, this jk.seagull guy knows you too well.

With that, you close your browser and open the messaging app on your phone. But rather than texting Seokjin like you had originally planned, you start a new chat.

9:37PM Y/N “Taehyung, Jungkook, let’s meet up tomorrow morning if you guys are free to work on the project”

9:38PM Y/N “💃💃💃”

You aren’t sure why you felt the need to include a stream of dancing girl emojis, but maybe it’s the least you can do in an effort to be more friendly.

9:40PM Taehyung “Yeah I’m not free lol”

9:40PM Jungkook “im free💃💃💃”

You’re so distracted by the fact that Jungkook reciprocated the same dancing girl emojis that you skim right over Taehyung’s message.

9:41PM Y/N “Good. Let’s meet at the mall tomorrow at 10?”

A/N: next time on dragon ball z, y/n and jungkook will legit interact, i swear💋

[thatalfredpennyworth]

Dragon Ball Super Broly Review

Oh god, it's happening, BROLY NOW OFFICIALLY EXISTS IN THE DRAGON BALL UNIVERSE!...*sighs* BRING IT ON! *Spoilers DUH* For those of you who don't know a year ago I watched Broly the Legendary Super Saiyan and found it to be a hot mess. It had a weak and bland villain, over the top dialogue, even in the context of DBZ, and after it happened, I decided it was by far the worst dragon ball z movie I've ever seen...at least it was until I discovered another Broly movie that was even worse. And then came movie three which is without a doubt the worst one. Then this movie came along and it is a Broly movie once again meaning I have to review it. Now I was going to review Quest For Camelot but trust me that atrocity is coming later. This is Dragon Ball Super Broly This is without a doubt THE BEST Dragon Ball Z movie of all time! Quick Note For Families: You don't have to be a fan of Dragon Ball Z to enjoy this one. When I came into the theater, I saw a wide variety of people there and oddly enough, there were a lot of young kids in the theater that fell in love with this movie. Honestly, for a Dragon Ball Z movie, it's surprisingly something that would be pretty appealing to all age groups and even all genders. Most of the DBZ movies are definitely fans only but this one gives viewers enough backstory that you can just jump right in and enjoy it. That said though if you are considering taking any little ones with you, please keep in mind that there are some scenes and characters that sensitive viewers may be uncomfortable with but it really depends on your kid. I honestly don't believe in the Focus on the Family bullshit that if a movie has this many fight scenes or this many swears that it's (in the words of Mermaid Man) "EEEEEEEEEEVVVVVIIIIIIIILLLLLLL!" because it really depends on your kid. Most kids should enjoy it ok, all the kids in my theater loved it and most of them were little girls. I know several people on twitter who have told me that when they were kids back in the toonami days, they were afraid of Vegeta who I would say at this point is a kitten compared to some of the newer characters. Just know your kid and if they can handle all the action, they will have a great time on the adventure. Let's just say, if your kid can handle Star Wars, they can handle this fine. And Now On With the Review: Broly as a Character: When I first came into this I admittedly in some ways got what I was expecting, but in all honestly, there were plenty of surprises and interesting choices made here. In the original story, Broly was not only extremely powerful but he was a violent ball of rage who could not say anything other than his infamous "KAKAROOOOOOOT". He was pretty bland in the original story and was just kind of there to be the huge boss fight. In some ways, he was a bit of a big lipped alligator character. Here Broly is more of a Quasimodo type character, someone who could do some serious damage if pushed far enough but is a misunderstood gentle giant. Yeah, we've heard this story, it's Ferdinand the bull but with saiyans though what they do with it is surprisingly compelling and actually kind of relevant to the way some conservatives go too far when parenting children who don't necessarily fit in with social standards. In that case, the Frollo of this story is Paragus. He's a complete asshole who's constantly nitpicking and micromanaging his son because of the fact that he was born with an abnormal CP. He doesn't let Broly speak unless he's told it's ok, he calls Broly a danger to others, refuses to let Broly pursue his own interests and even hooks him up to an electrode device...I'm not kidding, that's in the movie. Gee, where have I seen this kind of parenting before...Oh yeah, the F%$king Judge Rotenberg Center treats their students EXACTLY like this! For those of you who don't know, there's a video on youtube of a news reporter visiting this place to find out if hooking mentally divergent children to shock devices is an abusive practice. In this video, she meets a young girl named Rachel wearing a shock device on her arms, neck and legs which is hooked up to her. Rachel seems to be calm but refuses to speak. The reporter asks to see the shock device remote and as soon as the aid pulls it out off a belt on her waist, Rachel tries to back away, moans and starts to cry. There's a scene in the movie that actually goes almost EXACTLY like that and for some people, it could be triggering. What's interesting about what they do with Broly is the fact that there's some animal motifs with his character being likened to domestic dogs, ,more specifically, bully breeds like pit bulls and rotties, dogs that have some of the strongest bite forces in the animal kingdom but are in general pretty gentle animals that don't attack unless seriously provoked. We even see that at one point Broly had a pet that was kind of like a space dog. Paragus of course wanted Broly to be a fighter so he considered the "dog" a distraction and shot its ear off. Broly decided that he'd keep the animal's ear pelt as a makeshift blanket to wrap on his waist in order to remember his pet. Broly is also socially awkward, shy and even a bit emotional when he finds someone he trusts, that person being Cheelai. Broly does not want to be a soldier for Paragus but would rather live a peaceful existence on Vampa, of course Paragus disapproves of this and forces him into Frieza's army to which Frieza can manipulate him more. Broly is not fighting Goku because he wants to, he's fighting because he's been provoked far enough by his father and Frieza and cannot control his suppressed emotions. He's a complex social outcast who cannot control his own power yet and just wants to have a friend or two in his life. This Broly is 1,000 times better than the original and there were moments when I was actually crying. This Broly is a reflection of real world child abuse and for a dragon ball z movie, they tackle the abuse of divergent children by parents and teachers rather realistically and thoughtfully. Cheelai is not a peer to Broly, she's a legitimate friend and what comes out of their bond is really heartwarming. I can say this, you will end up rooting for him and smiling when he gets to pursue his own life in the end. Positive Elements: The rest of the cast is also pretty well put together. We see character development from almost everyone, and yes, even Frieza has several moments of this. Goku and Vegeta are the highlights of the movie besides Broly and are just a ton of fun to watch. Goku's got some good one liners, Vegeta's got some softie moments and of course, the fight choreography BLOWS the rest of Dragon Ball Z away. This movie's fight scenes kicked ass and no expense is spared here. The animation is superb and is without a doubt, the best in the franchise. I'd even say it reminds me of Don Bluth animation, it'd gorgeous to look at and although a bunch of craziness is flying at you, it looks amazing. The backstory on our saiyans is also well thought out and executed. We meet Goku's parents, a loving saiyan couple that sense something is up with Frieza and want to save their son by sending him to Earth. We meet Vegeta III who's an ableist power hungry jerk, and we get to see plenty of other new saiyans with distinctive personalities. Everything is connected in this story and it really shows how hard they were trying to write a thoughtful and compelling piece. We get to see plenty of amazing new locations, some excellent backdrops and get more insight into what makes these characters tick. The humor in this is also some of the best in the franchise. We had people in my theater cracking up when Goku and Vegeta left Frieza to deal with Broly for an hour while doing the fusion dance. There's even a nice little message about being who you are which is really nice to see out of a dragon ball z movie. The musical score is also pretty well done. Unlike any other dragon ball z movie, the score here is more orchestral and feels theatrical. The Gogeta transformation is absolutely perfect and is everything fans of Gogeta were hoping for. The final fight is just phenomenally animated and really blew  me away on the big screen. Also, the fact that they chose to let Broly live on as a friend to the main cast with more adventures to come for him is a positive way to further the message of the movie. The way this movie is executed is near perfect and serves as an experience that both fans of the show and newcomers can go and enjoy. What can I say, this movie is a fun and emotional popcorn flick that will leave you on the edge of your seats and cheering for our main cast. Nitpicks: There are definitely problems as with any movie. I'd say the biggest one is the waist of Beerus as a gag character. This is the friggin GOD OF DESTRUCTION and they reduce him to a throwaway gag early on. They also don't do a lot with Whis and that was kind of disappointing. We do finally get to see Whis in combat but it's blink and you will miss. Also, Frieza has lost a lot of his intimidation at this point. I'd say he's more of a troll than an evil emperor and his purpose in life is now just to mess with Goku rather than blow up his planet. It gets some good laughs but it feels out of character. These are the only true problems I have with the movie and honestly, these are really just nitpicks and not true criticisms. I really can't find any real faults with this one, and that's saiyan a lot The Verdict: Rarely do I consider a movie, let alone a dragon ball z movie, in the ranks of classics like Star Wars and Close Encounters, but Dragon Ball Super Broly truly deserves to be recognized as a cinematic classic in its own right. I hate most of the dragon ball z movies with Wrath of the Dragon and Battle of Gods being the only ones I really liked. This movie BLOWS all the previous films away and for me, even surpasses the entire franchise. New risks are taken here, more challenging topics are talked about, and our characters are more grey rather than just black and white. What makes this movie truly spectacular is that it can reach an audience beyond the fanbase. I saw people of all ages in that theater and I'd say about half the theater was non fans interested in checking the movie out for a popcorn flick night. I've only ever given a standing ovation in a theater to Star Wars VII, Coco, Arrival and Black Panther. Dragon Ball Super Broly is now on that list of films I've stood up clapping for. The visuals are stunning, the characters are multi dimensional, the story is near perfect, the music gave me goosebumps, it's a masterpiece of science fiction. I'd tell you to go see it, but let's face it, you probably already have. This is one super saiyan sized flick that will leave you cheering and asking for more. Story: 10/10 Characters: 9/10 Animation: 10/10 Rating: 9.5/10

[ardenttheories]

What if Garnet is a Maid of Blood Roleplaying as Seer/Mage of Doom/Time

I want to point out, before I start this, that Garnet actively says in her song to Jasper “I am made of love”. I can’t believe I actually missed the most obvious indicator that she’s a Maid ever. I��m so furious with myself you have no idea.

But anyway, onto the ask!

I wouldn’t say she’s roleplaying, if I’m honest. Roleplay is a much more Heart thing, not a Blood thing - we even see this with Karkat, who seems to actively hate roleplay - and doesn’t give credit to some of the things she is capable of doing. To roleplay is to pretend; what Garnet does is become one from two, and take on everything those two are.

The closest we can compare it to in a SBURB sense is a sprite. In essence, Ruby and Sapphire have jumped into a sprite and merged together, becoming one being. They are not entirely Ruby, and similarly not entirely Sapphire - but they’re also not completely distanced from Ruby or Sapphire, either. This is the circumstance we have with Davepeta; they are not Dave, but not Nepeta, and instead create their own existence based on the two people they were made from. 

I’m pretty sure if I remember right that Davepeta also has, to some degree, both Dave and Nepeta’s powers. They’re merged into something perhaps a bit more unique, yes, but they’re still a combination of powers that once existed and continue to exist. 

Garnet’s ability to use Sapphire’s Future Sight as her own Future Vision is pretty much that! 

Whereas Sapphire seems to have a more direct ability to see, Garnet actively looks through all of the possibilities before them and comes to a basic conclusion based on factors around her. Yes, both take a similar path, but Ruby’s impulses give Garnet the added information to understand that unexpected things could happen, and allows her to see through the future a bit clearer. 

The only issue we have with this example is that it’s now holding us back. Gem fusion and sprite fusion is not the same, exactly; whereas gems see fusion as the creation of a new person existing as a relationship, physically someone different as a basis of the two gems who created them, sprites are more what you’d expect would happen if you merged two people together and blended in the lines until they were seamless. 

Sprites will almost always end up sharing the classpects of their components; I’m not entirely sure Davepeta is a brand new classpect so much as a combined Knight/Rogue of Time/Heart.

Fusions have the ability to become someone completely different by taking parts of the gems they’re made from and fusing them into a personality; hence, Garnet can be a Blood player and a Maid while Sapphire and Ruby maybe aren’t.

I can’t quite explain it, so I might have to mull it over a bit until I can, but that’s as close as I can get for now!

Additionally, having written out a whole lot on Sapphire being a Seer of Time/Doom as part of this post, I’m now considering that she’s a Seer of Mind, and simply focuses on what she thinks is more likely to happen based on things she knows, and completely discounts all other courses. This would also account for her being so bland and accepting of her fate, and then becoming confused when it changed; this isn’t so much a Doom player accepting the inevitable so much as a Mind player who’s seen the most likely option based on known factors and gone “well. I guess that’s it.” Sapphire still feels, is still furious; she tries not to let her emotions get the better of her because she knows how things will end, without realising that she’s actually got to get there first. This could be both Time and Mind - the tamping down of her emotions and her seemingly colder personality vs. the focus on the end rather than the journey there - so is something I’ll need to think on more.

Saying that, I’m pretty sure Ruby’s a Heart player. I’m just not too sure yet what.

So basically, I don’t think she’s roleplaying! I think that’s very much just what happens when you fuse a gem like that; they keep the abilities even if the classpect changes. 

[neni-has-ascended]

Since everyone else has been bombarding you with questions about what you dislike about Persona 5 in comparison to Persona 4 and past games, now, is there anything you LOVE about Persona 5? You claimed that you like Persona 5 in one of your responses on your asks, but it seems to me that isn't really the case.

FINALLY. 

By god, yes! Yes, I DO love Persona 5! It’s a brilliant game, the best in the series objectively seen, even! I could never dislike it!

Let me explain!

The hands down best Dungeon Design in the series, not even a contest. This has previously been my biggest complaint with the series, and I am SO GLAD they addressed it finally! Dungeons were always supposed to have some psychological symbolism behind them, but due to them all looking like they’d been created of a tileset of 5 individual pieces, this never really came out before. Up to Persona4, all story dungeons were bland, boring, and a slog to get through. Now, I said that back when I played Persona Q, but I also praised the dungeon in that game and said that I hoped this game has been used as a training exercise for Persona 5 and BOOOY HAVE I EVER BEEN RIGHT! Persona 5′s dungeons are beautiful, interesting, a joy to play. Every item placed is there for a reason, the dungeons are like characters in their own right, sparking with personality and truly seeming like an extension of the Shadows who rule over them. The puzzles are fitting and smart, they are paced perfectly, and story bits are handed out naturally during them, rather than just in randomly appearing textboxes. These dungeons really DO live up to the series’ psychological themes, and I ADORE IT.

The battle system is streamlined to its logical excellence. Oh gosh, is the battle system beautiful! It’s fast paced, versatile, perfectly mapped to the controller in a way that seems natural and all its most annoying aspects have finally been dealt with; Swapping between Personas is a lot less frustrating now and the “Baton Touch” Mechanic not only fits the game’s style, but actually makes One Mores a JOY like never before. I actually went briefly back to P4 and played some of Yukiko’s dungeon during my playthrough of P5. You have NO idea how tedious P4′s battle system felt in direct comparison! The inability to baton touch over to Yosuke after downing a Hablerie made me feel awful.

Best. Social Links. EVER. I am not kidding. This is the first time the Social Links (Confidants, whatever) did NOT make me feel bored or like I am wasting my time at ANY POINT during them! There were no characters I didn’t wanna link with after trying Rank 1, I loved all of them! Everyone was so powerful and full of personality, and I wanted to be with all of them constantly. Nothing like the Tower SL in P3, which just depressed me or the Temperance SL in P4, which made me want to smack Eri Minami in the face. I was actually looking forward to the longer stretches of nothing but Linking between story parts and I am genuinely upset for every single link I didn’t complete! Not to mention that the Confidant Abilities make it all even more worthwhile! Fusion bonuses were always a neat thing at best, but stuff like cheaper weapons and baton touch and more time to read REALLY make the whole system fit so much better into the game proper! Plus, the ability to see all your SL possibilities for the day right on the map. It is marvelous.

The organization of the main cast. This is an advantage especially towards P4. In P4, the entire IT felt incredibly incompetent at what they were doing, to the point it was laughable. Even Naoto’s competence was questionable at best. Compare Naoto’s actions before she joins to Makoto’s actions before she joins and tell me, in all seriousness, and Makoto is not the more competent investigator. The Phantom Thieves always feel like they have at least a semblance of a plan, with the except of Ryuji, they think their actions through, they scheme, they gamble, they aim for flawless victory. Compare that to the IT, who usually seemed to be LUCKY if they ended up achieving anything. Any and all attempts to plan ahead on their part were doomed from the start, which is nowhere as evident as in--- Actually, strike that, it’s evident EVERYWHERE, from how they dealt with Kanji, to randomly attacking a fanboy to “safe” Rise, to just believing the bullshit about Mitsuo being the culprit, right down to Naoto pretty much throwing herself into a TV, risking to get herself killed, just because her ego had been bruised. The PT feel a LOT more competent and it is VERY refreshing.

The scope of the game. There’s always something to do. The game world NEVER feels “empty” or “dead”, as it often would on rainy days in P4 or on random days in P3. The possibilities for what you can do or how to raise your stats are endless, and it actually *does* feel like you have a choice in how to spend your time, rather than there being one single true “walkthrough path” that will get you everything in one go. Despite how the individual areas are cut off, it really does feel like you’re exploring Tokyo, and that’s just a great feeling, especially if you’ve been there before.

The general aesthetic of the game. It’s breathtakingly detailed and awesome. Every inch of the scream exudes the love the designers put into it. A far cry from the dead-eyed models and lazy animations in the PS2-era games and uselessly clunky menus in the PS1-era games. This game has a personality and a flair from the moment you boot it up, and that’s definitely worth for something.

Forshadowing. This game is GREAT at setting up all the pieces in the plot so that they’ll fall into pieces perfectly and it will make flawless sense, but without making the workings of some things too obvious. There were a couple “AHA!” moments when it really felt like I had a lightbulb lighting up in my head. In P4, it still often felt like stuff was pulled out of nowhere. That’s no longer the case and I love it. 

The overall themes of the game. Without saying anything specific and giving away spoilers, the social critique in this game is probably the strongest and most biting to come out of the series in a while, and it actually makes you feel guilty and reflect on your life as you play, which I find really powerful. By the time you’re fighting the final boss, you’re actually wondering if you, as the player (NOT the protagonist) aren’t just as bad as the NPCs in this game, which is something none of the other Persona Games ever managed to make me feel. It was pretty great. 

So? What can I say? I LOVE this game. No amount of gripes I have with it is ever gonna change that!

[equalmeasurefiction]

Cooking Head Canons: Republic City and the Krew

Korra, Mako, Bolin, Asami, Amon, Tarrlok... etc... All the other people. The Gaang The Gaang’s Kids

The Lieutenant Is A Gourmet Having grown up in Republic City in a mixed family, the lieutenant has a diverse culinary palate.   There’s a bit of Water Tribe, a bit of Fire Nation, and a bit of Earth Kingdom in every dish.  And the dishes are usually well-balanced and delicious. Since he has a limited budget, he usually goes for ingredients that are cheap, long-lasting, and easy to store.  This means that anything that he makes isn’t just good, it’s economical.  But sometimes he has to improvise since he doesn’t have all the tools he needs for a particular dish... Talent: Cheap, but delicious meals made with diverse ingredients and unusual techniques.   Weakness: Can be a little too experimental at times.  Not everyone wants to try Water Tribe Ice Cream with a Fire Nation flare... Pro: He can make fabulous dinners easily and with anything you put in front of him. He’s a masterful chef and understands the subtleties of food and flavor Con: He will try and convert you to equalism, and you might just do it because the food is just that good.  Also, stay away from the ice cream... it’s 100% pure blubber with berries and inferno fire flakes. Advice: Sit down, enjoy a rousing conversation, listen to him talk about the proletariat, engage in debate... Be prepared for when he comes over next week for dinner, because you’re supposed to return the favor (all things being equal and all).

Korra Is A Great Cook Korra was trained in the arts of cooking by Katara to ensure that the next Avatar wasn’t completely useless around the fire-pit/only prepared vegetables.  Korra learned all of Katara’s tricks and was trained to make a delicious and wholesome meals with whatever was placed in front of her.  She can prepare a delicious, wholesome snack out of three nuts and rock or even the best frog soup you’ve ever tasted.  And you would not believe how delicious her pickled jelly swamp-vine is. Talent: Like Katara she can make anything taste good, but unlike Katara she actually likes cooking.  Her favorite part, however, is putting things together so they look nice on the plate. Weakness: Sometimes making things look nice means that she occasionally puts things together on a plate that might be unpleasant to consume in the same meal...  This tendency to focus on appearance rather than edibility has hurt many a poor, unfortunate stomach in the past... Pro: She creates beautiful, delicious meals and often assists Pema in the kitchen (Pema makes sure she keeps things that don’t go together off the same plate). Con: Militant in her opinions about cooking (she was taught by Katara and Katara instilled certain values), particularly about respecting others styles and eating whatever is put in front of you without complaint (unless it’s poisoned).  So while she can cook, she will never actively volunteer. Advice: Ask her to cook.  Tell her to keep things simple.  Make sure she doesn’t coat the sugary, arctic yak-milk flan with the lemon-spice-grass mustard.  Yes it looks beautiful and the mustard makes the flan glisten like honeyed sunshine, but you will suffer horribly for hours after.

Tahno Could Rival Katara (If He Wanted To) Like the Lieutenant he grew up in Republic City and has a diverse palate.  But his interests are further diversified by his home environment- his family came from the swamps, so he grew up with an even broader culinary palate than most.  His mother’s cooking fused traditional water tribe recipes with swamp-tribe recipes and added a unique Republic City Spice flare... and he used to help her in the kitchen. Of course, as soon as he started hanging out with the tough-guys and pro-bending he stopped assisting.  He didn’t want his tough buddies to know he had such a feminine talent or that he was a “mama’s boy.” Talent: Exotic fusion cuisine. Weakness: Focused on athletics and has absorbed the ‘men don’t cook’ tradition from his water tribe neighbors and friends.  (His mother hates his friends, because she never gets to talk/spend time with her baby anymore!) Pro: If you can get him in the kitchen, he will make something delicious. Con: He will not set foot in the kitchen unless he’s desperate. Advice: Don’t even bother trying to get him to cook for you.  He won’t set foot in the kitchen unless he’s desperately hungry.

Bolin Is A Skilled Cook So, this one time, when Bolin and Mako were very desperate, they did a stint at a local restaurant.  They started off as dishwashers, but Mako got promoted to busboy and then waiter.  Meanwhile, Bolin cozied up to the chef and managed to become a helper.  He learned some great skills. Unfortunately, things went south when the Terra Triads got into a fight with the Triple Threats over disputed territory.  Since the restaurant was in that disputed territory, it was destroyed.  However, Bolin hasn’t forgotten how to make delicious foods... He’s just “too busy” to bother. Talent: Several delicious dishes of high-quality restaurant foods. Weakness: He’s lazy and thinks cooking is boring.  He’d much rather play with Pabu, or practice pro-bending, or go on a date, or... (you get the picture) Pro: He’ll cook if he’s not alone, will get praise for his talents from a pretty lady, and is in the ‘right mood.’ Con: He will always try to weasel out of kitchen/cooking/dinner duty if he can manage, because there’s always something way more fun to do... or someone more interesting to pay attention to... Also, Mako will steal kitchen duty from Bolin if he’s there and Bolin is only too happy to stand aside. Advice: Come over.  Bring the ingredients.  Convince him that you’re hungry and that you don’t know how to prepare a dish... Ask him to show you.  Talk to him and ask questions throughout the process.  Make sure Mako’s not there to take over half-way through.

Mako Is An Above Average Cook Mako can cook.  He’s been cooking and feeding his brother for years.  And while he knows his brother can cook, he is reluctant to let Bolin manage an open flame (seeing his brother near fire makes him nervous).  So he always takes over the cooking process half-way through if Bolin is at the stove. Despite his experience, not the best cook in the world.  He has a few specialties, but on the whole his cooking tends to be a little less than palatable.  This is mostly due to the fact that he typically doesn’t care what a meal tastes like, he just wants to put it on the table before it’s too late.  The work-day starts early and food is necessary for survival, so it’s important to choke something down before the day starts and at the end of the day... that’s his philosophy... Also: fire is energy, so meals should be hot.  Bolin is a bit of a picky eater (comparatively), so he made Mako up his game a bit Talent: He’s amazing as long as it involves fire and a pan.  His stir fries and fried noodle dishes are to die for. Weakness: Anything more complex is going to involve more peppers.  In fact, amount of peppers is directly proportional to the amount of complexity the dish calls for.  The fancier it is, the more your insides will burn. Pro: If you want a quick, fried meal that can be bolted down and still tastes pretty darn good, Mako is your man. Con: DO NOT ASK FOR ANYTHING FANCY.  HE WILL PUT A POUND OF BURNING DEATH FIRE PEPPERS IN IT.  EVERYTHING WILL HURT. Advice: Mako is your man for a quick, simple meal.  Avoid the Burning Death Fire Peppers.

Tarrlok Is Able To Cook A woman’s place is in the kitchen, but when there are no women around men must make do.  And when you’re in the Northern army, there are no women around ever. If you’re old enough to marry in the North, you’re old enough to serve in the army.  And if there’s a conflict, the Northern throne will draft young men to join the army.  When Tarrlok turned sixteen, the Northern Tribe got into a conflict with some Nomad Warrior Clans and he was drafted. New recruits always get stuck with mess-duty for the first few weeks.  This ensures that every individual in every squadron knows how to prepare quick, simple, utilitarian meals made from easy to locate ingredients.  Yessir, starvation was a thing of the past in the Northern Army! So, Tarrlok learned to cook simple, bland meals to keep them going in the often harsh environment.  And he hated it. The bland, flavorless food, the feeling of emptiness, the sense of existing on the edge of starvation, and eating meals that barely meeting nutritional requirements... it was awful. The politician has his own private chef and eats out whenever possible.  He abhors military food... but if he needs to eat, he will cook. Talent: Basic, utilitarian dishes that do not taste good, but will keep you alive (barely) Weakness: He always overcooks vegetables, and everything tends to be bland because he’s not comfortable with cooking spices (what does he do with this fancy crap?). Pro: You won’t starve. Con: It might be kind of boring.  In a soul-crushing kind of way. Advice: Maybe come over when his personal chef doesn’t have the day off.  Cooking his own food makes him very crabby.

Asami Can Cook... Maybe...? Asami is capable of cooking... in theory.  She once almost successfully completed a meal (it was a baked item.  It burned because she forgot it was in the oven)... In fact, home economics was the only class she nearly flunked out of in finishing school (the teacher passed her because her father was Mr. Sato and Asami completed every single Shop assignment and project even though she wasn’t in the class). Yes, for all her picky eating, Asami has never once successful prepared a single meal in her life.  She always gets bored half way through the process and starts looking at the kitchen appliances... and not in a ‘what do I do with this’ kind of way... Talent: Following clear and explicit directions.  She can do that.  She knows she can do that. Weakness: She gets bored and inevitably takes the stove apart before the meal is finished.  But don’t worry, she’ll rebuild it!  Bigger!  Faster!  More efficient!  Durable! Pro: She fixed/optimized your stove and added several useful extra-features, which will make your cooking experiences in the future amazing. Con: She forgot where she was in the cooking process and you’re stuck with half-prepared food... which has been sitting out on the counter too long and is now inedible. Advice: Invite Asami over to fix the stove before asking her to cook.  When she does cook, sit with her throughout the entire process, because if you don’t she will wander off to invent the refrigerator or the microwave.  Expect to have to finish the cooking process for her when she inevitably wanders off to examine your electrical board.

Amon Turns Everything He Cooks Into Coal And Ash (Even Water) In the north pole, men don’t cook.  That’s what women are for.  But you’d think that being on his own would have pushed him to learn some cooking skills, but that’s just the thing, he’s never been on his own.  From the moment he left the north pole, Amon has always sought to be surrounded by people. So wherever he is he’s always near someone who can do the cooking for him... That’s not to say that he hasn’t been asked to cook dinner.  It’s just that most people never ask twice. Talent: Raw food.  As long as it’s never been near a fire, it might be edible/palatable. Weakness: Burns everything.  Even a pot of water can become a conflagration.  He also doesn’t cut things up or do much prep-work before tossing it on/in the fire (except meat, he knows what to do with meat before cooking it, so it’s always artfully prepared before being reduced to coal), so he tosses everything together and charbroils it.   Pro: He makes the best charcoal.  Sometimes you can almost taste what it used to be. Con: He expects you to eat it.  He always expects you to eat it without complaint.  And if you do complain the look he gives you is so devastated and heartbroken that you feel like a monster... so eat the charcoal and smile weakly. Advice: Just eat the charcoal and pretend it’s good.  It’s better than putting up with his hurt feelings. If you complain, he’ll be passive aggressive about it for weeks.

BONUS ROUND

Saikhan Prepares The Food Of The Gods Secret Best Chef.  His father prepared meals for the Earth King in Ba Sing Se.  After the Earth King died and Hou-Ting took over, things went downhill for the family.  Hou-Ting had some strange and ridiculous demands, which offended and insulted Saikhan’s father’s sentiments about the fine and respected art of cooking. Saikhan’s father resigned and they decided to immigrate/flee to the United Republic.  There, the family set up shop and founded several well-respected an very popular restaurants in Republic City.  They enjoyed great fame and popularity and became accustomed to serving the broad and cultured tastes of Republic City’s elites. Everyone expected Saikhan to follow in his father’s footsteps, but he wanted to be a cop and a metal bender.  So he left home, went to the academy and never looked back.  His siblings, however, stayed in the Restaurant Business and are doing quite well.  His sister even married a gentleman named Kwan and set up a lovely little high-end establishment uptown. Saikhan can cook.  He was raised to be an artisan chef and master of the culinary arts... but he will never admit that to any of his buddies on the force.  Oh no, he hides his secret talent and prepares one fine dinner every week for himself to keep his skills sharp... in case he wants to impress a significant lady-friend. Talent: Cuisine suited for the Earth King’s tender and delicate palate. Weakness: Fear of being picked on for his talents.  He will not cook for you if he doesn’t believe you can keep his shameful and not-policeman-worthy secret. Pro: Whoever he ends up with will never go hungry or have a bad meal for as long as they live... once he trusts them enough to cook for him. Con: They can never tell anyone about it.  Not even their closest friends.  They must take the secret of his talents to the grave or he will never forgive them. Advice: As long as you’re okay with keeping secrets it’s a good bet.

ANYONE ELSE?

[xb-squaredx]

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE: Fusion Accident?

During January of 2013, Nintendo showed off a variety of titles for the Wii U in a Direct, with a great many of them being in early development. One title raised quite a few eyebrows, collaboration between Atlus and Nintendo, a merger of the Shin Megami Tensei franchise and the Fire Emblem franchise. The game itself had just started development and it would be years before something more concrete about the game would be shown. While teased as a straightforward crossover title, upon being unveiled as Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE, it was clear this was a game no one could have seen coming. Starring idols that fought alongside Fire Emblem characters in a battle system similar to the SMT games, Tokyo Mirage Sessions managed to alienate two fanbases at once and ultimately the game ended up bombing. But years pass and with the Nintendo Switch hitting it off well, many clamor for a Switch port of the game. With that in mind, I think it’s worth going back and looking at the game, judging it on its own merits. Are these two tastes that go good together, or is it more like toothpaste and orange juice?!

The game’s premise is incredibly, gleefully absurd: strange beings from another world, Mirages, prey on the people of Tokyo, seeking out their Performa, their creative energy and talent. People with great talent can harness their own Performa to become Mirage Masters, partnering with benevolent Mirages to keep the people of Tokyo safe while they hone their own craft. The game follows the exploits of Fortuna Entertainment as they fight off Mirages, grow as performers and try to unravel the reason behind a mass disappearance of performers five years prior to the story’s start. The game’s overall tone is…quirky, and at times the writing feels right out of a Sailor Moon knockoff from the nineties. To that end, it’s fairly harmless but not exactly engaging. The bulk of the game’s story is told at the very beginning and the very end, with a very uneventful, repetitive middle. More time is spent on the various idols, actors and models of Fortuna fending off random Mirage attacks than advancing the overall plot until about the last third of the game, and as a result I found it very hard to get invested.

Things were bad when one of the core driving forces for Tsubasa Oribe, the game’s main heroine, was solved in the first chapter. She wanted to find her sister, who was a victim of the mass disappearances five years prior to the story, and after she’s found, her whole character arc is just “to be the best idol I can be!” Speaking personally, I don’t find that engrossing enough to justify a lengthy RPG. It doesn’t help that most of the other characters are rather bland, tired archetypes that can be boiled down to two main traits. Kiria is the aloof tomboy who secretly loves cute things, Barry is an otaku who loves little girls (but not in that way we swear!), and did you know that Eleonora is biracial and loves Hollywood? Well, don’t worry, because every time she speaks one of those two subjects comes up!

To be fair, I don’t outright dislike most of the cast (except for Barry), and each main character gets a series of side stories about them that does flesh them out slightly and features a little growth, but it’s not nearly enough to make them feel like well-realized characters. Yashiro is a good example of this; one side story establishes he’s so used to having assistants do everything for him, he doesn’t know how to eat by himself. Rather than treat this like a serious issue, the side story frames it as him needing to eat so he can make his acting more believable. Entertainment work is all these characters have to define their personalities and we don’t get to see much of their personal lives at all. Itsuki and Tsubasa are noted to still be in high school, but outside of a quick shot of them in the animated opening of the game, there’s not a single scene at school. I realize I’m ragging on the story and characters a lot, but that’s a huge part of any RPG and considering the pedigree here, with the Persona and Fire Emblem franchises known for making well-loved characters…it’s hard to not feel disappointed.

You might be wondering where the whole Fire Emblem influence fits into all this. Mirages are sometimes monsters…and sometimes they’re characters from the Fire Emblem series, with serious redesigns that make them virtually unrecognizable. Overall, it’s a plot point that feels pretty half-baked and tacked on, though there are plenty of nods to the series in the game. To be fair, the gameplay side of the equation features a lot more influence from both series, resulting in a better fusion of ideas.

At its core, Tokyo Mirage Sessions is like any other Atlus RPG. You travel around small hub areas, then enter rather plain dungeons and fight monsters in turn-based battles, trying to find their weaknesses and exploiting them as often as possible. Things change with the introduction of Session Skills though. In the normal SMT games, hitting an enemy’s weakness grants you an extra turn, while in Persona this sets up you for an All Out Attack. In TMS, however, hitting a weakness can trigger a Session Skill, where your other party members jump into the fight and strike a blow of their own. So if Itsuki uses a lightning spell on a monster weak to it, Tsubasa jumps in with a lance attack, as an example. The Session chains start out fairly small, but as you progress through the game, sessions grow longer and more damaging, to the point where one character’s turn can lead to attacks in the double digits. If there’s one thing this game does right, it’s a constant sense of progression; you’re always learning new skills, creating new Session chains and gaining new party members. There are a number of moves characters can learn that tie into their side stories and character growth too, like Ad-lib Performances (randomly turning a normal attack into a powerful cinematic attack that always triggers Sessions) and Duo Arts (two characters team up for a super move that resets the Session chain).

The Fire Emblem attack triangle and various other unit weaknesses seamlessly integrate into the SMT battle system. Fighting a flying enemy? Nail it with arrows or wind magic. An enemy has an axe? Use a sword move on them. And so on. Knowledge of Fire Emblem really helps out here, as otherwise this game has the same “challenge” of having to guess to see what element or attack type a given enemy is weak to during their first encounter. It can feel pretty satisfying to get off long chains on enemies, whittling them down to nothing, and you’re given plenty of tools to work with, but that does lead into another problem…

Rather than fuse demons or Personas together to get new skills (or party members), in TMS, you gain drops from enemies that can be turned into weapons that the party members and their Mirages wield. The weapons have a separate level up from the party, and impart new skills until they reach their cap, whereupon you’re encouraged to form a new weapon as soon as possible. Players interact with the Fire Emblem character Tiki, reimagined in this game as a virtual idol comparable to the likes of Hatsune Miku, to forge new weapons, or unlock new passive skills. This is a fine system and all, if a little lengthy with elaborate animations each time you do it (which can be skipped), but the problem is that it’s too frequent. You level weapons up ridiculously fast, and gain new drops to make new weapons just as fast. This doesn’t seem like a problem except that it requires you to repeatedly leave any given dungeon to go talk to Tiki. You can take all of ten steps into a dungeon, get in a few fights and suddenly the game wants you to leave to get new weapons and skills. And it’s certainly possible to just hold off on it, but you’re missing out on worthwhile new skills and attack boots; it’s just more efficient to constantly return to your headquarters. The dungeons, to be fair, are designed with this in mind, with warp panels you can unlock that cut down on backtracking a lot, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re constantly starting and stopping, slowing progression down to a crawl.

This really is a result of this game being quite padded. Overly elaborate animations for everything, dungeons that throw enemy encounters at you nonstop, time-consuming hazards and gimmicks in each dungeon…and the constant backtracking to Tiki. A good chunk of my time with the game was really spent just combing through menus for weapons and skills, as well as lots of loading screens, or just watching the same animations again and again. While it’s nice to see a 14 hit Session chain, when you KEEP seeing those same moves again and again and again, it gets old. I feel like some streamlining could have gone a long way towards fixing these complaints, like an option to warp directly to the Bloom Palace where Tiki resides, rather than to Fortuna’s offices, followed by a loading screen to see Tiki. Or better yet, make more use out of the Game Pad by letting us manage new weapons and skills while on the go in dungeons. As it stands, the Game Pad is used to display a rather basic map of any given area, and showcase posts made in Topic, an in-game social media app every main character uses. Considering Tiki’s a virtual idol and she even made an app that lets you know when new weapons and skills are ready, it doesn’t seem like much a stretch to me that at some point in the game, you could have gotten an app that let you make new weapons on the spot…but alas, that’s not how the game works.

In the end, really, Tokyo Mirage Sessions is a game that has a fair bit of charm, but a number of odd design decisions that kept me from getting as engaged as I would have hoped. I actually dropped the game multiple times over the course of about two years before I finally beat it, because of how bored I got. The characters are dull, the story doesn’t really exist until the last ten hours or so, and the combat takes a while to really open up, and even then, it can be kind of repetitive. But having said that, there’s still a lot to like here. The music is pretty on-point, considering idols are a big component of the game. There are at times animated music videos for various characters that clearly had a lot of work put into them. The game’s overall aesthetic is colorful, filled with bright neon greens and pinks, with nice touches here and there on the UI and in-battle animations. Like how Mamori is so small, she needs to use herself as a counterweight to swing her huge axe, or how characters sign their names when doing spells, like doing an autograph. The overall premise, that performers can harness their creative energy and bring to life manifestations of their craft, is cool too. That really comes out when you see some of the Duo Arts or Ad-libs. Tsubasa summons a massive tidal wave to reenact a soda commercial she did, or Touma becomes the tokusatsu super hero he plays on TV for real, complete with theme song blaring in the background! It’s cool stuff, but it only goes so far.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE isn’t really a bad game, though it does have a fair number of issues. The game really had to fight an uphill battle after its official unveiling, as years had passed with people speculating how a crossover of two very different franchises would work. I think it’s safe to say that idols using the power of music to beat back monstrous versions of Fire Emblem bosses weren’t what anyone was thinking. Combine that with some drama during the game’s localization, and you had a game that ended up being dead on arrival. Had the game been announced differently, maybe it would have been better received. There’d still be some issues with the game on the whole, though, and when I see people calling this one of the best games on the Wii U I have to raise an eyebrow a bit. It’s not without its charms, to be sure, but TMS to me was a lot of flash, with too little substance to justify a lot of the busywork found within. It’s still a solid premise I’d love to see Atlus or Nintendo try again someday though.

Until next time,

-B