#I miss that dynamic so much but I have no clue how to expand it

[starfall-spirit]

In that awkward position where I’m missing the vibes of my discontinued fic and want to reopen it, but have absolutely no plot ideas.

[chasedeys]

Firstly your fics are INCREDIBLE I absolutely adore them <333 if you ever wanted to expand on Joe’marr vacationing/visiting NOLA together I’d love to read!! Maybe ja’marr’s family makes an appearance?? I love reading how others react to the ship in fics and what their dynamics are :))

hi!! thank you so much!!!!!!! i too love to read outside povs to a ship lolllll. prefacing this with i will try to write an actual fic/drabble of this!!! i will attempt it i swear!!!!! but please don't hold your breath 😭 in the meantime take this uncensored babble:

god id loveeee to write them cruising around nola so baddd. but like horrifically unsure abt actually writing this for real bc the research id have to do…��.like i dont have the slightest clue what new orleans is like and i want to write the neighborhood and city yk?? 😭 and writing about their family gives me anxiety literally double triple overthinking everything like it matters that much like it's rpfiction i could technically just make shit up but 😭

BUT ANYWAY like i mentioned in this one paragraph –

They’ve spent what felt like hours just rutting inside the other once, during an off day—no media, no interviews, no meetings, no football—just the two of them locked in their tiny hidden rental somewhere in Bayou St. John with no expectations other than just being with each other. Joe’s nipples were so puffy. Ja’Marr’s throat hoarse from screaming. He misses the little private bubble of just two of them with such sudden intensity before it gets drowned out by their current act: still together, still in love.

in love with the idea of them having this tiny place in a quiet neighborhood in nola where nobody knows them (unlikely, i know, especially in nola of all places lmao) or just 1 or 2 neighbors who clock them and are fiercely protective of them!! it won't be the place for them to settle ofc joe loves ohio too much, ja'marr loves his friends too much social butterfly Needs to be surrounded with the guys he loves etc but this quiet nook for them to settle when it gets too much and they want to get away sometimes is Very Important to me okay. a little place somewhat near ja'marrs family home so he can recharge with them too!! the family home being a space where joes own family cherishes!!!!!

Driving out visiting ja’marrs old house when they can to do large family cookouts or just plain random dinners, annoying the family dog. Living alone trying and attempting to cook together bc both of them are class A disasters at it, slowly learning together making these breakfast omelets and cajun fried rice, finally not just eating unseasoned scrambled eggs and sad little protein shakes for breakfast, late night doordash or midnight meal runs to the weirdly open 24/7 chinese place idk. Morning runs to the nearest park and pushing each other on a rickety swing and joe falling over laughing bc ja’marr just slid on a muddy puddle and is now drenched in brown dirt only to skedaddle away because the mans sprinting at him stay the fuck away etc etc.

Just!! the large family cookouts?? both unable to cook for shit somehow getting roped to checking the seafood boil just standing🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️ dead quiet staring down at the closed pot like they're actually doing something while behind them ja'marrs mom stares at them incredulously and throws her hands up in exasperation, playing backyard football with the little nephews and nieces, joe’s own family arriving and meshing in with the chases, joes older brothers needling at jamarr for one thing or the other, getting to sit tangled up in one armchair together during movie night sessions, jamarrs sister throwing peanuts in their direction when they're being too grossly in love, jamarr losing a bet to his sister so he has to hang the laundry up in the morning but he drags joe to help him with it bc he's a dick and says random wedding vows for some reason and that gets joe moving for some reason, little football strategy sessions with the jimmys and all the other siblings and aunts and uncles turning into a mini food fight because they just won't get to a consensus because everybody in this mesh of family is so fucking stubborn etc etc. when jamarrs parent said something about how jamarr was a very hyperactive (?) child and they tried pushing him to football to tire him out only for him to get even more bouncy etc and smiling at each other when they clock jamarr settling down easy when joe has a hand on his shoulder to catch his attention for a convo aaaaaaa you get my vision????

And it pains me that joemarr don't do halloween bc i thought nola was all abt that afhjaskfsjj like girl what about the parades……..WHAT was the horrific scarring halloween experience?? but anyway imagining them dressing up over the top as to hide their identity taking the little nieces and nephews on a candy hunt, trying out a haunted maze booth thing and promptly latching on each others hand shaking bc the fuck is that hyperrealistic dead body doing there but joe stops to observe it closely in a dads-watching-construction-esque way while ja'marr gapes at him incredulously the worker in charge of that section has to peek out to awkwardly tell them to keep it moving sigh anyways this is all i can give you rn hehe

bye <3

[dragonform]

Dragons Rising Season 2 Pt1 overall thoughts!

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS DO NOT CLICK UNLESS YOU'VE WATCHED THE WHOLE THING

In no particular order:

Wow, this season was the heaviest one yet. I'd been a bit disappointed by how Season 1 seemed a bit light on the life lessons that I found so compelling in Ninjago. Well, DR2 delivered in spades, from the theme of secrets, to the issues of mental health. Never should've doubted Ninjago writers!

WHY LEAVE SO MANY UNRESOLVED THREADS THOUGH. Not even clues for fans to speculate on?!?

Like what happened in Cole's journey to follow Master Wu?

What really is that glowing orb sprite thingy? Because it showed up in the Monastary of Spinjitzu to close the portal gate, right? How was it doing that before they'd even traveled to Mysterium? Have I misunderstood something? (Granted, I had to do chores here and there so I really might've missed something... need a rewatch)

Where did Cinder even come from? How did Ras recruit him? What's his story?

What really is Arin's object spinjitzu power?

Of course I'm sure all of this will be resolved/revealed eventually, but it seems a lot to conclude in the next 10 episodes. Oh wait, they've said they have enough material for a few more seasons right? Well, sure looks like enough for at least a third season.

I think the ones who are gonna have a falling out are Arin and Sora. It's gonna be revealed, maybe at some critical point, that he didn't actually do object spinjitzu to get them the win, and it's gonna destroy his self confidence as well as his trust in Sora.

They're gonna get all of the Forbidden Five out eventually, possibly by shoving more ninja through the gate. Which is fine, because the ninja will just meet up and come back through the Power of Friendship!

SO CURIOUS to find out what the elemental powers of the Forbidden Five are.

I was a little disappointed by the lack of Euphrasia though. I thought for sure she'd have a more major role this season, but she still remained a side character for most of it. Oh well, patience!

BONZLE. I did NOT expect her story to go this way. Still trying to wrap my brain around a sentient spell, but hey. It's Ninjago.

Love her so much though she's so precious.

Speaking of precious, ZANE. That's it. That's the whole thought.

No, I AM going to expand on that. Look at how he had such a vast knowledge of the Administration's rules and regulations. Look at how he stalled them with it. Look at the pride he had in helping them raise their efficiency by NINE PERCENT. IT COULD'VE BEEN TEN YOU GUYS. IF HE HADN'T GOTTEN RESCUED.

MR FROHICKY. I need that Frohicky plushie like YESTERDAY.

Also PUPPY COLE PLUSH WHEN

COLE. He's still protecting and trying to comfort everyone. What an amazing fight he put on at the monastary, almost a one-man army against the Adminstration's mechs, with Gandalaria's support. I bet his failure to protect Zane would have devastated him if Zane had been deactivated permanently. Fortunately Gandalaria knows more about nindroids than she should...

GANDALARIA! Endlessly positive and chirpy and disorganised. Like a more established Fungus. Wish I could be her. Loved seeing her dynamic with Cole being her straight man (hush, yes I know.)

So happy to see Kai get his focus for a change. Love Lloyd but he gets the focus like... every season. Kai needs the love. He's really cool this season.

Nya gets the least focus :( I miss her

WHY are all the ninjas' powers only as powerful as the plot calls for it :/ Zane's frozen way more than just a runaway mech back in the day!

I still think Ras looks too cuddly to be taken seriously as an antagonist. I mean would you not hug a Ras plushie? Look at those eyes. Look at that nose.

Is Ras's master a Source Dragon or the Overlord? OR BOTH?

Love Rontu, but she is such an archetypal (?) Nurturing Mentor to Egalt's Grumpy Old Master

Egalt has dragon cancer :( he looks way cooler in the show than he looked in the promotional materials and the set

I haven't talked about Jay, have I? JAY. Oh how my heart skipped a beat when he showed up pointing that gun/taser at Bonzle. I literally said out loud "OH NO OH NO OH NO".

I think that was the single most terrifying part of the whole season for me. I don't even know why it was so visceral. I think I was worried that his entire peronality had changed, though I don't know why I thought that, since in Pt1 he was literally playing video games instead of working.

So I was actually relieved to hear that he felt he didn't really belong in the Administration. Pre-merge Jay probably couldn't even fill out a single form properly. He probably had Nya or Zane or Cole do all the paperwork for him.

He clearly wasn't suprised that he had control over lightning. Why did nobody know about it? He's the kinda guy who'd use his powers for entertainment if he didn't have a good reason to hide them.

He didn't recognise his own ninja outfit D:

Lastly, the Finders - I'm also a little troubled by how Cole seems to put them ahead of his ninja family, but then again. He knows the ninja are all very capable warriors who can take care of themselves. On the other hand, for who knows how long, he had felt responsible for protecting his little newfound family. It makes sense that he would continue priotising them even after finding his old family.

In conclusion, Cole is such a dad :D

And to wrap it up, NEED PT 2 NOW 6 MONTHS IS TOO LONG TO WAIT NETFLIX /shakes fist

Sorry that was so long and rambling! Fun though.

I had wanted to do a blow by blow reaction post of every episode, but I can't seem to get clear photos from my device without major reflection issues. Still trying though!

[o-uncle-newt]

OK, below the fold another slightly more spoilery but not ACTUALLY FACTUALLY spoilery (I carefully removed all details) thing from E1-2 of Good Omens 2, specifically related to John Finnemore

So JF’s minisode is in Episode 2 and as I mentioned in the other post it is easily the best thing in those two episodes. Not necessarily a reflection on the rest of the scenes, because they’re clearly setup and the minisode is a complete story, but it’s also just very very good.

The highest compliment I can give it is that it felt like an episode of Double Acts, just visual and with too many people strictly speaking for a Double Act (but, you know, the right number for the thing it is). It definitely really GETS the Crowley/Aziraphale dynamic, it has a very funny running callback to the Flood scene from S1E3 that tickled me a lot, all the characters are used very well, it has some fun with the Davison-Tennant stunt casting, but most of all, and the reason for the Double Acts comparison, it has that classic JF “you don’t even know he’s seeding clues to the dramatic denouement” thing that he does so well in JFDA. That moment when it all comes together is kind of delicious and very characteristic of his work. Neil called it “wise” and theologically speaking… well I never really went to JF for his take on religion and I don’t think much of his version of the Biblical story in question is going to particularly surprise anyone, exactly, but that’s not remotely the point. Where he really shines in the minisode is in how he uses that to expand on the dynamics of a) the characters in their roles in angelic/demonic society and b) the characters as, well, characters, particularly Aziraphale and Crowley. He does it so cleverly and so beautifully and I adored it. I felt like it filled in super valuable missing gaps, but even more so made them just jump right out of the screen. (It is also, genuinely, super funny. But that’s a given.)

Basically, be excited for this!

Also when I was stuck in traffic in my Uber home last night I fancasted the minisode with JFSP castmembers but as that will give away minor plot points and I can only use one cut per post that will have to wait.

[theskoomacat]

this was..... the entire season? he REALLY wants to continue THIS? a cannon is too soft of a punishment

like okay i will write down what i think here so i stop cluttering your dash with this nonsense.

edit: i have listened and i have learned. i refuse to defend the outright bad pieces of writing, but i am overall more chill about the situation

in the beginning it was... eh. you could see there was little to no actual plot, so they interspersed with. very long flashbacks. which is not bad per se but they provided little to no support for the main plot. most of the things we were shown were what we'd already known about the guys. i think in this regard the graverobbing flashback was the most novel, but i don't think Azi getting a lesson on the lesser of two evils had any impact on the plot later. coming back to the main plot, they presented it as some kind of mystery, but in actuality there was no mystery solving, it was just Azi bumbling around and then Crowley getting all the info directly in heaven. the places Azi went to actually held No clues and were just. places that G&B have visited together, that's it. kinda disappointing

speaking of G&B. excuse me..... what the actual fuck???? this was extremely out of the blue and unpleasant, and if they aimed to parallel A/C, it didn't work. and so Now they don't want an apocalypse?? what was the entire s1 about then? also the amount of times i went "these stuck-up angels would never do that" over the course of s2 is staggering, I feel like they've forgotten that not all of them are Azi. anyway...

speaking of parallels to A/C - Maggie and Nina! it was stupidly obvious that they were a device to hurry on A/C, and the characters themselves were 2.5-dimensional enough to not amount to much more than that. they just weren't written well imo. and it's funny that the story started off with the guys wanting to bring them together to cover their tracks (because THE POWER OF LOVE makes their miracles too strong~~), but like 2/3 of the season in it became irrelevant because everyone knew they were hiding Gabriel anyway! so they were just... there. playing the role of matchmakers🙄

speaking of A/C!!! i found it extremely funny that while s1 had a lot of charged romantically-tinted moments, they were mostly absent in 2 - their dynamic has evolved into that of an old married couple. and i realized that i was absolutely fine with it - in the absense of n*il constantly mocking them it stopped being a big problem to me. i mean, i don't have any problems with the kiss itself, it was cute and only a bit spoiled by the surrounding bad writing. it's just that its entire concept was marred by the wank and people living in the acorn house in n*il's ass.

i'm sorry, can we talk about how over the entire season Azi has had his moments of doubt in heaven, then he learned that freaking GABRIEL quit heaven to avoid carrying on with the apocalypse - and then Azi decided that waltzing back in there was an idea good enough to risk losing Crowley? that's just bullshit🤷‍♀️

um. i am probably missing something, but whatever. overall to me this season's vibe felt like a slightly weird D*ctor Wh* special. Michael and David absolutrly carried everything. it did have its funny moments, but overall i think it has been a disservice to the original work. if i am going to be honest, it seemed like it was made not to expand on it, but to showcase how big of an ally to everyone n*il is. well, I am NOT his ally and so i am beating him with hammers

[chorusfm]

Koyo – Mile A Minute

The new EP from Koyo comes hot off the heels of their well-received debut LP, Would You Miss It?, and features two re-imagined songs from their catalog, plus a new song indicating where they can take their sound in the future. Mile A Minute impresses by showcasing what this band is capable of creating when they strip away most of the energy behind their songs and get to the core of what makes Koyo unique. “Ten Digits Away (Deluxe)” kicks off the record with an acoustic guitar-based approach, and vocalist Joey Chiaramonte dials back his trademark growl to a smoother approach that took me back a bit in its crisp delivery. The expanded song comes from a previous EP of the same name, and acts as a great companion piece to the original, while adding in some piano and other backing instruments to round out their sound. ”I Might Not Get Through All Of This” is drastically different than the original found on Would You Miss It?, called “I Might Not,” and instead turns the track on its head by adding in some brooding synths and complex beats much like how Yellowcard did on their collaborative record with Hammock (A Hopeful Sign). What Koyo does best on this re-imagined version is by highlighting how the band can evolve from their hardcore/pop-punk delivery in new and imaginative ways. The title track closes out the EP with a more familiar approach that longtime fans of Koyo have grown accustomed to, and it delivers the goods in a crisp, three-minute banger that offers some clues of where the band can take their dynamic sound next. Frontman Joey Chiaramonte explained, “This is the first full band, full-send Koyo track after releasing our first record–for sure an intimidating prospect. We’ve been slowly but surely getting more music together, maybe keeping everything a little closer to our chests than usual. So we wanted to select one proper Koyo track to hold everyone down for a while. ‘Mile A Minute’ is a strong foot forward in this moment.” It’s hard to not agree with Chiaramonte’s sentiments here, as Koyo continue to evolve in unexpected ways. --- Please consider becoming a member so we can keep bringing you stories like this one. ◎ https://chorus.fm/reviews/koyo-mile-a-minute-2/

[mandareeboo]

SU Music Rankings

Bc I can and I wanna start some Disk Horse rip. These are all in order of preference, with explanations, etc. It’s a long bitch. That said, I’m not counting little short jingles or small joke songs like Little Butler. This is the meat and potatoes of SU music- just under 30 songs. I might do the rest if people like my takes lol.

I scored it mostly on three bases- how dear it was to my heart, how much/often I relisten to it, and also what it means to the plot. That said, little fun songs don’t automatically go farther down than big, plot-heavy songs either! It’s a strange little balance.

Special Note: I don’t dislike any of this music! I love SU and that includes its bumps and glitches. I just pick favorite children lol.

1.) Change

Was there ever a more Steven moment than when he wiped the blood off his face and kissed it into sparkles? I think not. 

If “Be Wherever You Are” is an ode to young Steven, then this is teen Steven’s. Talking about change, and how much and how little it can do. How he holds his arms up for Spinel to hug him, so trusting. How he seems able to just. Break into soft tears at will, and not to be manipulative- it’s just his kind nature. The warmth in his voice. Fuck yesssss.

2.) Change Your Mind

This song is only fifty five seconds and it’s EVERYTHING to me. It really felt like someone was speaking the words I’d always held deep inside of me, unsure of how to say. It feels like a goodbye to someone who never really loved me. 

As much as I enjoyed Future, if this was the finale of SU, I would’ve been perfectly okay with that.

3.) Drift Away

This song gave me legitimate shivers the first time I heard it, and it still haunts me to this day. Spinel stayed, and waited, and all she got was a transmission thousands of years later. Fuck.

4.) Here We Are In The Future

THE MOVIE IS SU AS ITS BEST AND I WON’T BE SWAYED ON IT. Steven being a teen who loves his weird family but is growing just a bit sarcastic to their drama. The adorable love he and Connie share. His slow realization that he will always be working, always have things to do, is both somber and real. The Crystal Gems won’t be safe with one epic battle. They’ll be safe with years of hard work and love. HIS LITTLE HANDSHAKE WITH AMETHYST.

This is a helluva bop and a great way to summarize the main character’s backstories.

5.) Let’s Only Think About Love

Did ya’ll know that Zach Callison killed his throat with that last note? He gave his all for this performance in a vocal range he no longer comfortably do and by god did it SHINE. The FLAIR. The FORESHADOWING. All of the Gems all being awkward about Rose and Steven trying to bring them to the present. Peridot having a mini-existential crisis in a cute yellow dress. I love Zach Callison’s normal singing voice but man is that a fucking bop. Nothing will ever beat it.

6.) Here Comes A Thought

This bad boy helped me out a LOT with some mental issues I was dealing with in high school. I was unmedicated, unsupervised, and full of anxiety. I’d have break downs when I tried to speak about certain things. I couldn’t function. This song inspired me. It helped me feel okay with my intrusive thoughts.

And the episode! -chef’s kiss-. Once again bringing up the morally gray area of training child soldiers. Connie expanding her social group. Steven’s trauma hauling ass in that second half. The ANIMATION. Stevonnie’s gorgeous singing voice. GOD yes.

7.) It’s Over Isn’t It?

Just barely squeaking above Stronger Than You, this ballad is everything gorgeous. The whole episode is. I think Mr. Greg stands in the top five of my episodes for the entire show. It even got nominated!

There’s just so much about this song that I love. The gentle melancholy of Pearl’s voice. How the crew had to redo the shots for this bit bc Deedee went so fucking hard. The hard cuts between Pearl, remembering the love of her life, and Steven, who has begun to feel like he took her away. I’d recommend this song to anyone, regardless of what they do or don’t know about SU, simply bc it tugs so many heartstrings of love, loss, and responsibility.

8.) Stronger Than You

Did you realize this episode aired SEVEN years ago? This bitch was what got me into SU! Hearing about Ruby and Sapphire made my little gay heart so happy inside, and then getting a whole song confirming that they were a couple, that their love powered the strongest Gem on the team? Aaaaaaaaa

To this DAY I get excited when I hear Estelle start singing. This song is timeless. This song will live in media history. God I fucking love this song.

9.) Other Friends

I’m not the biggest musical person, so I hadn’t heard of Sarah Stiles before her casting as Spinel, but JESUS CHRIST the lady went hard. She went SO fucking hard. Sarah Stiles started on 100 and somehow just kept CLIMBING. You can just hear the sheer manic energy building in her voice, the anger and resentment. 10/10 Sarah Stiles is a queen.

10.) Independent Together

This made the list entirely bc the crew was like “you’re gonna get a himbo ass Steven-Greg fusion singing with Opal while Garnet flies across the moon on Lion while floating” and I am forever thankful to them for it

11.) Who We Are

Bismuth deserved more songs. ‘Nuff said.

12.) Peace and Love (On the Planet Earth)

It Could’ve been Great is EASILY one of my favorite s2 episodes. I love the entire concept of this song. Of Steven making music to reflect how much Earth means to him and his family. Of him teaching Peridot some self-care. Also Peridot’s singing voice is really cute and squeaky. 

I know it’s silly, but I would’ve really enjoyed a flip around of this in Future! Like Peridot reminding Steven how much he loves music, that he needs to take time to relax for himself, maybe with a new verse or just a remix of the original song!

13.) Something Entirely New

I watched this episode as it aired, and I legitimately almost cried. I love Charlyne Yi’s voice so much ya’ll- her raspy, not perfect singing voice against Sapphire’s deep soothing lull is great.

And to have Ruby and Sapphire’s meeting be the way it was- for Ruby to bemoan Sapphire losing Homeworld, to being stuck with a single Ruby, while Sapphire is a noble who has always been taught everyone in her “caste” is vitally important (and has, in her own mind, taken that to mean every Gem, as she should) and how they come together and make each other happy. Good shit good shit.

14.) I’m Just a Comet

The fact that Greg’s music career never really blasted off pisses me off to this day bc Tom Scharpling’s voice is fucking BUTTER. Also the song really feels like a jab at his parents now that we know the kind of dynamic he had growing up. “This life in the stars if all I’ve ever known” is definitely him wiping away their existence after reminding them (and himself) the things they used to say about him.

15.) Do It For Her

This episode. This fucking episode. This episode got me permanently hooked on SU. I’d just binged season 1 and was kinda meh about it overall after the bop of Stronger Than You. “Oh,” I thought to myself, foolishly, “I’ll probably just casually watch this from time to time.”

Like three days later Sworn to the Sword aired and that was it. I was hooked! Pearl’s gentle training song turning darker and darker, Connie’s accompaniment from nervous to determined to fully into such a toxic mindset. The fact that SU had the BALLS to discuss the repercussions of training child soldiers, now and later. This episode was everything to me, STILL is everything to me.

Six years and well over 100 fanfics written later, I think it’s safe to say this show swallowed me whole and never let go.

16.) System/Boot.pearl_final(3)

I debated putting this on the list because it’s not anything crazy important, just a way to show things are Wrong, but I had to do it entirely bc Pearl is so damn SALTY.

Like telling us about the Gems makes sense, she felt like she was given a duty, but she went so damn petty. WHY is that Ruby alone. Gross. This Amethyst is a trash dump. Wtf are you people.

17.) Full Disclosure

This episode really feels like a turning point for SU. Before, the show had its dark moments- but now we’re in the thick of it, and it’s not going away. Full Disclosure felt like an rebuff to the idea of returning to any normal we’d established in season 1. Gems are actually a giant species now. Gems tried to kill us now. There’s this Yellow Diamond bitch who got namedropped. Something about a Cluster. 

The song itself is BALLER, with its ingenious use of Steven’s ringtone and photos as he tries to decide whether to clue in Connie on all this nonsense. Meanwhile we, the audience, already know damn well Connie about to yeet some common sense into him.

18.) What’s the Use of Feeling Blue?

I’mma admit it- I’m a Yellow Diamond stan. I’ve always loved her- her anger, her poise, her hardworking nature. I actively argued against the “Yellow Shattered Pink” theories back in the day. But, man, when this arc leaked? I got so overexcited I was too jittery to watch it for like two days. It’s easily my favorite arc of the series. The sheer alien nature of the zoo, the Famethyst, and absolutely Patti Lupone’s beautiful ballad. Goddamn. Yellow singing to Blue to try and help her regain her old status, the warble in her voice as she reminds Blue she misses Pink too, the movement of the bubbles as she talks about attack. It gives me shivers to this day. FUCK.

19.) Tower of Mistakes

This is, fun fact, that only SU song I have completely memorized. The story itself is kinda funny! See, we lost internet at my house for a solid 5 to 6 months when these episodes aired, so I only got a very brief window to view them all. But this was the first Amethyst song in a long while, and I didn’t want to forget it! So I keep replaying it in my head for ages. And that’s still definitely a thing.

Anyway will never not be sad that this entire song was about making it up to Garnet for Amethyst’s perceived slights with Sugilite (which was a two-way road), only for Garnet to pressure her into fusion later when pissed and never discuss it again bc Garnet probably never thought twice about it and Amethyst has the emotional openness of a clam that’s just been told its ugly. Helluva way to make someone feel like shit, G. Helluva way to bottle that shit, Ames.

20.) On the Run

I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times: Amethyst! Needed! More! Songs! 

The dichotomy between Steven’s play and Amethyst’s honest desire to run away from home is so well-done, especially when you consider a lot of Steven and Amethyst’s actions are playing together. The song is also near and dear to me simply bc it’s my favorite Amethyst episode to exist (well, maybe second to What’s Your Problem, but not by much). Moments like these are all the proof I need that they were right to fuse first.

21.) Be Wherever You Are

This tune really just feels like an ode to who Steven was as a kid. Trapped on an island with no way home, and he’s just happy to be with his friends. The stars are beautiful and not oppressive. Also that one animatic with Lars and the Off Colors playing in the Homeworld Kindergarten to this music was iconic and made this song get stuck in my head for a solid month.

22.) Familiar

I ADORE how the crew use bright neon colors to show how alien Homeworld can be. And Steven recognizing that the Diamonds treat him how the CGs used to, and how prepared he is to “fix” a broken family. It’s a soft, gentle tune about melancholy. Also the Pebbles are beautiful.

23.) Let Me Drive My Van Into Your Heart

Such a cute little love ballad, but every time I listen to it now I just imagine the heart attack Rose must’ve had at the line “And if we look out of place/Well, baby, that's okay/I'll drive us into outer space.” like there’s a Vietnam war flashback if I ever heard one

24.) What Can I Do?

I’m kind of neutral on this one? Rose and Greg both have great voices, but the song itself lacks many lyrics. I think it was definitely a good way to show Rose’s flaws in thinking.

Also, I’m shocked they managed cram that much vaguely sexual innuendo into two minutes, followed by how Not Hetereo that dance between Rose and Pearl was, and not get their asses chewed by it. You go guys.

25.) Cookie Cat

I love a lot of the vibes this song has. The lyrics are so damn prophetic, but they also sound like the kind of weird 90s commercials I grew up on. It’s been like two decades since I saw the Shirley Temple commercial but I’ll be damned if I don’t remember “Animals crackers in my soup! Monkey and rabbits loop-de-loop.”

26.) Giant Woman

I am. NOT the biggest fan of Steven’s original singing voice. I feel bad saying that, since it was just Zach Callison as a kid, but he never jived well with me for some reason. So I wouldn’t listen to this on the fly. 

The song itself is still really good though, with all sorts of fun animation of Amethyst and Pearl being bitchy to each other. It’s a bit sad in hindsight to see tiny Steven trying to get his moms to get along. Ahh, season 1.

27.) Strong in the Real Way

This song has SUCH a strong start. Pearl reflecting on Sugilite’s problems, but the show making sure to show us that Pearl’s lack of enthusiasm towards her also lends itself to jealousy as well as just general malaise. How much she cares about Steven, and wants him to grow up strong. 

And then Steven just kinda. Ruins it? I appreciate his enthusiasm for tryna bulk up but to take what was starting as such a rich, personal song and broadcasting it to random strangers just makes me a bit sad. Almost a bit angry on her behalf?

28.) That Distant Shore

I KNOW this is gonna create some discourse, but I’m just not the biggest Lapis stan. I love her voice. I love the visuals of the song. And I get why she felt afraid and needed to flee.

But Lapis never got to take responsibility for her own actions. And, in the end, the song feels hollow to me- because we all know she’ll never talk to anyone about it, know she’ll burst back in and destroy the barn, and no one will ever question it. I like Lapis a lot, but I feel like her arc never was fully finished. She never got help. She never learned to feel safe.

29.) Dear Old Dad

I’ve yet to meet a single human being who likes this episode tbh. There’s some great discussion about what kind of parent Greg is from it, and what kind of dynamic he has with the Gems that he felt he had to fake an injury to hang out with his son. Honestly the first half was fine and dandy. It’s just that then they Greg just went out of his way to drag Steven away from missions and such. It never jived well with his character before or after.

Also, is it just me, or does Zach himself sound like he hates the song as he sings it? There’s no passion or heart in his voice. It sounds like they told him to read off cue cards and he did. Tom Scharpling’s best attempts didn’t save this one for being a skipper. But the episode, unfortunately, isn’t, so it gets a spot on here.

[kyber-queen]

Equilibrium (Kix x Reader)

Summary: This is pure softness. Kix doesn’t take his own medical advice. Kix and Jesse dynamic duo vibes. Jedi!reader is in LOVE. Lotsa cuddles, this is capital f Fluff

Rating: Everyone

Word Count: 1k

Warnings: Mentions of injury, mentions of death

Author’s Note: This one’s for the lovely and talented @morganas-pendragons, Kix’s actual wife !! Please enjoy !!

***

“Commander, are you in here?” Jesse called from the hallway outside your quarters.

You looked up from the water you were boiling. Was that a trooper? You had no clue how or why he had swindled his way into the Jedi temple—the only clone that knew where your quarters were was Kix, and he was supposed to be deployed for two more rotations. You shut off the heat on your stove and made your way over to the door, the metal floor cold against your bare feet. Your hand rose to the keypad. A second voice grumbled from the other side of the door, piquing your interest. Was that Kix?

You slammed the button to unlock your door. The durasteel slid open to reveal Jesse, propping Kix up with one of his arms as Kix attempted to squirm away in protest. Your brows furrowed in confusion.

“Sorry, Commander, he—”

“Tell her I headbutted a droid’ika, Jess,” Kix interjected. His speech was slurred slightly, and he wobbled into his brother’s grasp. Was he drunk?

“As I was saying,” Jesse punctuated his words with a harsh glare at his brother, “he fell down the stairs on his way off the ship. He didn’t sleep much this mission—no time. The 212th medic checked him out and said he’s got a concussion. He’s been asking for you—d’you mind if I hand him over to you for tonight?”

“Not at all,” you replied. Maker, that man was going to be the death of you. Kix broke away from Jesse and stumbled into your quarters, making a beeline for your bed.

“Thank you, Jesse,” you added.

Jesse nodded before turning and walking back through the hallway. You made a mental note to ask him how exactly he got into the temple later. For now, you needed to make sure that Kix was resting and comfortable.

You turned back around into your quarters. Kix had collapsed onto your bed, still in his armor. You sighed and shook your head.

You knelt down to his level, and began to strip his armor off, piece by piece. He grumbled in protest.

“Sarad, I’m tired. Come to bed,”.

“I know, Kix. Just let me get your armor off, first,”.

With effort, Kix hauled himself into a seated position to remove his chestplate with fumbling fingers. Next came the pauldrons, and then the vambraces, and finally all of his armor rested in a messy pile on the floor next to your bed.

He curled in on himself, gripping his head in his hands and taking a sharp inhale. His head pounded as his face screwed up in discomfort. Your brow furrowed—you’d ask one of the troopers working in medbay for more bacta in the morning. With a flat palm to his bare chest, you gently pushed him back onto the bed. He needed rest more than anything, now.

You crawled onto the mattress, your weight depressing the foam as you melted into his side. He rolled on top of you, resting his head against your chest and pulling your blanket over your intertwined forms. You pressed a gentle kiss to the crown of his head as he nestled his body in between your legs, wrapping his arms underneath the small of your back. He was heavy, his warm body molding against yours. He hummed contentedly.

You turned your gaze to his face. He buried his nose into your chest, inhaling deeply. He had missed you. You would talk tomorrow—tonight, all he needed was sleep. Even in the dim light of your quarters, the dark circles under his eyes were difficult to miss.

“You need to take care of yourself, Kix. I worry—”

“I know,”. His voice was soft. He sounded almost apologetic, and your heart broke a little.

It wasn’t his fault that he came home exhausted and falling apart at the seams half the time. He was a clone medic—his life was war and death and pain, and yet somehow, he was still the kindest person you had ever had the privilege of knowing. No matter how many dying brothers he had to comfort, no matter how much violence he had to experience, he always found the space and time to come home to you. He was soft and kind and gentle and so full of love it made your heart burst.

You held him just a bit tighter.

By now, his breathing had slowed and mellowed, his weight pressing comfortingly into your chest. You scratched your nails lightly over the skin of his back, leaving little goosebumps in your wake. You stared at your ceiling, and blinked back a tear. Maker, you loved him.

You worried for him, all the damn time. His life was dangerous, and there wasn’t a thing you could do about it. Here he was, after what was supposed to be a low-risk mission, chronically sleep deprived and concussed.

Your hands smoothed pathways over his skin. You channeled as much serenity as you could into his body. Maker knows he needed it. You breathed deeply—he must have showered in the medbay. He smelled like soap and bacta and something uniquely him that you could never get enough of. You sighed. He was safe in your arms, now, and you didn’t have to worry. Loving him was terrifying—and yet you wouldn’t trade it for anything in the galaxy.

He pressed a sleepy kiss to your chest. Your hand trailed up to cradle the back of his head, and you let your eyes flutter closed.

Your breathing synched with his. He was asleep soon after, his little snores vibrating against your chest. In the morning, you’d find some way to escape the comfort of his grasp to allow him a few more precious moments of rest. For now, you were content to remain in this equilibrium—it seemed as if your bodies expanded out for miles, painting the night sky with the picture of your intertwined forms.

You loved him, and it broke your heart and stitched it back together every day.

[delwrites]

Dating Tom Holland Headcannons

if you’d like me to expand on any concepts, drop me a request! I have loads of ideas oof

also, these are just my opinions and thoughts! so there will definitely be some ooc and we may disagree, but do feel free to tell me which points you disagree with! would love some feedback :)

right i’m sorry I’ve no clue why but I just see him as quite an emotional person? like him being so mature that he’s just fully intact with his feelings and doesn’t ever feel the need to hide them around you because he knows you wouldn’t judge him. like him having a lot of rough days but as soon as he sees you just instantly perking up a little bit

or literally just collapsing in your lap when you’re trying to watch something on the sofa and him just letting it all out for you to listen to as you hug his head to your chest and run your fingers through his hair

him being so scared he’s gonna lose you as you’re literally a goddess in his eyes so he always makes sure you’re happy 

him always letting you choose whatever you guys watch (as most of the time he will concentrate more on you than the tv)

he would build you both a blanket fort with fairy lights and pillows and it would be the most comfy thing ever

if you choose to put on a scary film, expect him to be stuck to your side like glue, hiding his face in your neck/ chest in the scary scenes because he doesn’t care about being a mAnLy MaN

he would DEMAND that you carry him up to bed because he insists that if he leaves the cocoon of warmth that your providing, the monsters may get him

him being the bigGEST MAN-CHILD WITH YOU OH GOD

like you two literally just playing games and stuff

playing just dance and him being surprisingly good?

but then beating his behind at Mario kart

also side note but you and paddy would get along SO WELL and you’d spoil the life out of him and play games with him, and whenever you play Mario kart with him and Tom, you’d let paddy win, you’d be in 2nd place and Tom would be all the way back in 11th absjdjd

“well, at least I didn’t lose?”

and both playing animal crossing together and visiting each others islands and his is a mess whilst yours is all vibes and lovely

you and him having FIGHTS over monopoly BSIDHSHS that game RUINS friendships I swear

DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON LEGO HSCGIYSEGCI

him buying you a promise ring AWWWEEE and then claiming it’s because he wants a part of him on your person at all times (so naturally, you never take it off)

him going shopping with you because he’s the biggest hype man and always going in the dressing rooms with you so you end up buying loads of outfits because he assures you that you look incredible in all of them

him carrying majority of your bags and holding open all of the doors for you (which would admittedly be a bit of a struggle with the amount of bags he ends up carrying for you VUGJYBEK)

the pap pictures this would provide!!!

also you going on dog walks with him and Tessa and him always insisting you take his coat if you ever forget yours

always visiting him on set whenever you can

whenever he has free days spending them not doing anything just cuddling into your side

him trying to teach you basketball but you always being clumsy and dropping the ball

if you ever trip best believe he wouLD NOT LAUGH ITS LIKE YOU’VE DIED

RDJ literally adopts you because we all have daddy issues and we all need that in our lives

then tom and his dynamic becoming so much more like Tony and Peters dynamic HDSBDYAB

tom asking rdj for permission before doing practically anything with you 

“um, sir, could I borrow your daughter? for like, the rest of our lives?” FUHIFUEHIUFH

rdj being so protective of you oh lord

and you always going to him for advice because he’s a wise soul who can always help you, especially with relationship advice 

tom getting low-key jealous pretty often, like although he has full trust in you, he (as previously mentioned) views you as a goddess who is just the definition of beauty and love and believes that you could have any man in the room (which you can queen go off) and constantly being nervous that something will happen

him being really good at not showing it though

death stares from across the room and then giving you the sweetest smile if you look (like seriously, too sweet, suspiciously sweet)

I feel like when you both get alone his demeanour just instantly changes and he goes really cold and distant all of a sudden, it’s almost as if he deflates, the drive home being so tense and him going directly to his room when you get home, but later on he gets sick of ignoring you and goes to you to talk about it properly and makes it up to you

your confidence sky-rocketing when getting with him because he gives the most obscure and yet heartfelt compliments at any chance he gets, so you know they've come from heart with how random they are 

“yes darling work that top!”

“love, I don’t think I’ve ever told you this, but you ears are really pretty?”

right I know this is literally everywhere but lets be real here, he ADORES you in his hoodies. sharing clothes is so intimate to him, and each time he sees you walking about so casually in his clothes, he falls that little bit more in love with you (no matter how much he thinks that that isn’t possible)

you accidentally walking in on his lives and either saying the most chaotic or the most lovely things, and the chat absolutely living for it

“Love, are you busy? I was just thinking about taking Tessa on a walk, to that park she loves?”

or,,, “THOMAS STANLEY HOLLAND! IF I HAVE TO TELL YOU ONE MORE TIME TO TAKE YOUR DIRTY PLATES TO THE KITCHEN, I WILL SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUST! I AM NOT YOUR MOTHER, NOR YOUR CARER, SO DON’T TREAT ME AS SUCH!”

the chat blowing up being little shit stirrers like ‘oooohhhh she called him by his full name he’s in troubleeee’

Tom just pointing at his phone timidly being like “darling.. I’m live right now..”

“I DONT CARE! SORT YOURSELF OUT, YOU CAVEMAN”

him getting so embarrassed BDKDNDJD

also I’m sorry right but bathing together after a long and difficult week, or after not seeing each other due to contradicting schedules and what not, not in a sexy times way or anything but just being so intimate and comfortable around each other

and obviously this little pamper night would call for doing face masks together and painting each other’s nails

him finding it so fun to paint your nails (even though they end up really messy BDJDNDJD)

he is a magnificent chef and no one may tell me otherwise

having the arrangement of him always cooking dinner and you always washing up the dishes

but after he sees you dancing around the sink, ending up joining you (after watching you for a minute of two with heart eyes, of course)

even though he is an incredible cook, being such a bad baker. like, for one of your anniversaries, he tries to bake you a cake, but it ends up literally bubbling in the oven and spilling over the sides and never cooking all the way through and it just being a mess

you trying it out of pity and ending up getting ill, so he stays in with you to take care of you because even though both of you fail to admit it aloud, it was him who made you poorly

you decide to do all the baking at that point

every time you do decide to bake anything, always saving him the biggest and best piece

and don't even get me started on how well you’d get along with his family

like the first time he introduced you to them they were all so so so welcoming and loving and literally just took you in as their own (not as much as rob did though rdj is number one)

again, always playing with paddy

teaching paddy how to bake AWWW and always getting him the best presents

you, harry and sam literally just embarrassing tom with stories

you and harry deciding to prank tom together because tom pranked you once ages ago but after your reaction, decided never again, so of course you have to get him back

Tessa loving you so much, and tom always being able to tell when she misses you (mainly because he can relate)

having an argument that he didn't think was a big deal and where he thought you were overreacting but then hearing you call him Thomas and it setting in that it is a big deal to you and fixing it

again, please do send me an ask or pm me if you'd like me to expand on any of these! im just overflowing with ideas for this incredible man, so do ask :)

[zephyr-paladyn]

masculaxi character analysis/appreciation

it's been over a year since gala masculaxi's release and i'm still not over it

(heavy dragalia lost spoilers ahead)

(gala mascula does not exist btw) i just love how mascula and laxi are designed as two parts of a whole, basically one half of the same ideal/same person. you can't have one without the other. if you heavily favor one over the other i dont trust you... only half joking. when laxi went berserk and mascula had to save her by giving her his heart in their debut ch11, that was just... such a moment... it shows them at their most "separate" (laxi in berserk/annihilation mode, and mascula stopping at nothing to disengage combat.) which sets us up for their development as two hearts in one body. in masculaxi (flame blade)'s story, they're still at odds but they begin to learn to cooperate in the same body, and this is the beginning of their "convergence." in ch14 of the main story is when we see the beginnings of eden mode. when all the androids sacrifice themselves for euden and co to advance, mascula realizes it his empathetic heart that influenced them and led them to their painful deaths. he then shuts down his ego circuit out of guilt. when the team is in a tight spot, and only masculaxi can save the day (since their body is unaffected due to the miasma only affecting organic lifeforms,) laxi goes into their heart to search for mascula and plead him to help her. all this time, laxi had envied mascula's heart for being "more human," but realized that maestro had written the fear of death in all of the android's hearts, and as such, laxi understood the weight of their yearning for peace, with the act of their self-sacrifice for euden. (later we do learn with gala masculaxi that mascula had been influencing laxi more. here we see laxi's influence on mascula to urge him to fight.) laxi gets mascula out of the gay baby jail zone, releases her limiters, and activates annihilation mode hastily. mascula then guides her attacks to the correct targets, which is the first instance we see of mascula engaging in any sort of fighting. in this state of laxi's annihilation mode combined with mascula's guided assault, a new mode beyond annihilation mode becomes available to them: eden mode, when their hearts become one. this mode concentrates all the mana around them inside their body's mana kiln, and gives them even more power. mascula still dislikes fighting and does not want to do it as much, but has a newfound conviction and will not run away when he is needed. an interesting line here is mascula saying this: ▷It's as if he knew our hearts would one day become one. But how...?◁ indicating that from the start, they were truly two halves of a whole ideal. shortly after the release of ch14, we get the release of the flame dagger gala masculaxi unit, which contains eden mode in their gameplay, and expands upon the "two hearts acting as one" deal they have going on. laxi, mascula, and luca head to the ruins of maestro's lab in order to gain more clues on how eden mode works. laxi equips a new armament meant to accommodate eden mode (and demands praise of how good she looks, lol. also laxi is much more snarky in this story which is a treat. she's so funny. but also this shows mascula's emotional influence on her!!!!!) laxi learns of how eden mode works, and essentially it's a release of all limiters and rerouting all circuits to their internal mana kiln, but elimination protocol is activated automatically as well which does not make any distinction between friend and foe. it enhances laxi's combat ability, but mascula has to take care of elimination protocol since he has access and control of it. hence, in eden mode, laxi goes all out in attacking, while mascula controls the body's movements and targets. however this is only possible if their hearts act as one. the two are attacked by dyrenell forces and activate eden mode against them, but mascula temporarily loses the will to fight in the middle of the battle, destabilizing and deactivating eden mode. luca is captured and a villager shields them from an oncoming attack, believing in mascula's peaceful ideals. laxi engages tactical retreat and they escape. they engage in a plan to save luca but are attacked by imperials again. they try to go into eden mode but mascula once again disengages eden mode. mascula tells laxi of his regrets and frustrations that he keeps holding her back, but laxi tells him that she found herself synchronizing with him. with the villager (that mascula had saved before and in turn protected masculaxi earlier,) laxi found the value in mercy for enemies. by having laxi bend towards mascula's will, they're able to take on the imperials who chased after them with a truly synchronized eden mode. ▷Laxi, give me the strength to fight!◁ Granted. Now give me the kindness required to temper my actions. ▷Heh. Take all you need!◁ their system strain falls, and they're able to defeat the imperials. laxi, mascula, luca, and euden talk together after all is done. laxi takes interest in a cat, while mascula teaches her how to interact with it. Euden: Laxi and Mascula say the maestro who made them was a peace-loving man, but... Luca: No, I getcha. Why would some peacenik give something THIS much power? ch14 and their gala story really shows how the two embodied different sides of the same ideal -- "fighting for peace," and how they begin to converge upon that ideal. initially laxi only focused on "fighting" and mascula only focused on "peace," but A compassionate heart. ▷The courage to fight.◁ -Eden Mode, activate!- their character development after this is a bit wonky at times because it sets up for gala mascula who is really poorly written and doesn't necessarily align with the ideals established within ch14 and gala masculaxi, or even the development directly before it either. with ageless artifice and ch18 (when the team first enters the faerie kingdom and gets lost,) we get teasers of mascula with his own body. in ageless artifice, eirene steals mascula's body and intends to use it against masculaxi, but mascula takes control of his body and proclaims that his body isn't necessarily him, but what IS him is his resolve to fight for peace alongside his friends. (stays in line with gala masculaxi, right?) in ch18 we also see mascula having a "nightmare/illusion" in which he gains his body back but at the cost of laxi going berserk once more, showing that they truly cannot function at their "fullest ideal" without each other in the same body. laxi asks mascula if he wants his own body back, and mascula says he sometimes misses it but overall he wants to continue fighting with her the way they are. this is echoed in ch19, take this exchange for example: Mascula, I know you were thinking of your own body while lost in the mountain's illusions. You gave up your body to save me, and I owe you an apology for that. ▷Don't apologize—I wanted to do it. Plus, being with you makes me happy.◁ I want to see a peaceful world just as we are in this body now—together. ▷I feel the exact same way.◁ ▷No more hesitation. You and I are going to fight with Maestro as a team.◁ And together... ▷...we will bring peace.◁ reaffirming their ideals together and keeping in line with their development, right? mascula doesn't WANT his own body back. he wants to keep fighting with laxi, that's THE WHOLE POINT OF THEIR CHARACTERS. which does not make sense when we get the remote control BS IN THE SAME CHAPTER??? (teased from the ending of ageless artifice with chelle) and mascula has his own body again as a remote control system. now the portrayal in the main story wasn't AS bad but... the real problem comes to gala mascula as an adventurer with his stories and voice lines. this "mascula" proclaims of how much he loves/misses his body and how he "doesn't need laxi dragging him around anymore." like sure he sometimes feels being in laxi's body with her is bothersome but overall, at his heart, he wouldn't really say something like that??? mascula your voice lines are so contradictory to what just happened in the main story and what you said in ageless artifice what happened!!!!!!! his adventurer story lacks the cooperative laxi-mascula dynamic we knew and loved, and instead pushes mascula front and center to try to push him to do things himself. we didn't really need mascula getting his own body back anyways, but you COULD'VE AT LEAST written it so that they have more emphasis on cooperation with each other?? god im sorry i just. AUGH he's so OBVIOUSLY hastily pushed into their development arc and he loses his characterization. it's obvious gala mascula wasn't intended to be a thing in the initial plan for masculaxi... i am not forgiving every single one of you who sent in feedback for playable mascula. once again only half joking... maybe only a quarter joking. 1/8ths joking. radioactive decay graph joking. (also just a tiny nitpick: you can apparently run gala mascula and laxi/gala laxi on the same team. lore compliancy who? eden mode can't be activated while the remote control unit is active. but whatever) though another interesting plot point is brought up in his story though? maestro's origins, the writing of "seek peace" on mascula and laxi's bodies being in a language that only the sky city ark people would know.. with such an elaborate plan for such a complex android duo, and everything else mysterious about this man, just who is he? his master plan of masculaxi was really amazing to see come to fruition... maestro fought on the side of dyrenell, against dragons -- against elysium you could say. although ex machina seeks the destruction of terrestrial life because they "allied with the dragons" (a misconception,) on the contrary maybe maestro aimed to create an ultimate weapon for terrestrials to defend themselves against the dragons. however this weapon had to also understand the value of what it was fighting for -- learning for itself how to go about "fighting for peace." thus, the creation of the twins mascula and laxi; two halves of a whole. by having a compassionate and adaptable heart, they can change with the times, understand the people around them, and decide on their own what the best course of action is in various situations. i love love LOVE masculaxi and how they're written!! (for the most part.) two of my faves in the game and i love them and their characterization so much, i just wish more people could see the intricacies of their relationship and how they're literally like. 1/2 of the same thing. it's such a beautifully written dynamic and development, and i want others to appreciate it too.

a little bonus, in this character art, you can see the "star tetrahedron" shapes. in sacred geometry symbolism, the "star tetrahedron" is the sixth shape enclosed within "metatron's cube." these shapes, and this cube, are said to maintain the balance of the world itself and its flows/processes. as for the "star tetrahedron" itself, it represents duality: physical body and spiritual self; male and female; and heaven and earth. this ties into mascula and laxi's characters: mascula controlling the "mind" in eden mode while laxi focuses on the attacking "body;" and mascula and laxi being of different genders. as for "heaven" and "earth," this could represent maestro coming from the sky city ark, and masculaxi being technology intended to aid humans. alternatively for "heaven" and "earth," the fact that the star tetrahedron is enclosed within "metatron's cube" may be a pointer to metatron in-universe. the archangels all have white hair, a trait shared by masculaxi. additionally, sandalphon is somewhat mechanical/technological herself. masculaxi being man-made (of the earth,) versus their potential connection to the angels (of the heavens.)

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Avengers (2012)

Yes, we're talking about The Avengers again. Someone suggested we watch it. I thought "why not?". Soon after, I was once again gripped by its story and enthusiastically looking forward to what was coming next - even though I knew exactly what would.

Set after Thor, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), suddenly appears on Earth, determined to open a portal that will allow his new-found army to attack. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) must find a way to united the world’s greatest heroes against him: Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) are soon joined by Thor himself (Chris Hemsworth) and form “The Avengers”.

With a colossal budget of $220 million, top-notch special effects and action sequences were basically a guarantee. There are many throughout and they’re nice and varied. Thanks to Loki’s manipulations we have our heroes fighting each other, then his innumerable minions. That’s nice, but if you just wanted mindless action you could find that elsewhere. It's what's between the fights that make this movie special. On top of the 6 main heroes, we have the villain and important side characters such as Agents Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders). That's a lot of people. It could've been too many but it isn't. Despite everything, all the Avengers and their associates are fully developed, well-rounded characters. They are the human anchor amid the out-there alien invasion plot.

They all feel genuine because everyone is given not just time by themselves, but also interactions with each other. You learn a lot about Captain America when he comments to himself on how a situation is, and in the ways he argues or agrees with the others. The dialogue shows the team's dynamics; who is where on the totem pole, what their history is like, where they're going.

While the alien army itself isn’t explored very much - they become mindless drones you can blast away without remorse - Loki makes up for it in spades. Whenever he appears, you're forced to pause and think. Who is playing who? Was he planning on giving away that clue as a way to lure his enemies into a trap, or is it simply a demonstration of how deeply his hatred and arrogance run? Is it even possible to trick the trickster god? Though unassuming when compared to his co-stars, Tom Hiddleston brings to life a magnetic villain whose threat is constant because of his intelligence. With so many characters to juggle and the introduction of the team being a large time-consuming element of the movie, it was a smart move to take advantage of someone we already know and have them start running immediately.

With the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers could easily be mistaken for just "another one" but it's a special movie. I'll even call it essential viewing. It’s got great re-watch value and works on so many levels. There's a lot of humor throughout but it never cuts the legs under the rest of the film. You don't even necessarily need to have seen the other stories (though you really should) to get have a great time. I love this movie and I can’t recommend it highly enough. When you see it, don't forget to stick around to the end of the credits too, for a bonus scene you won’t want to miss. (On DVD, December 31, 2015)

[nonconforming-lovebird]

Alright yall here I go. Here are my thoughts:

- I absolutely love how we dive into the episode, no sugar coating it. Ahsoka is HERE and I am living for it. I love her character and I’ve missed her so much. THATS AHSOKA!

- R*sario D*wson makes shit problematic of course. I had small faith it wasn’t her playing Ahsoka but -sigh-

- All of Ahsokas fighting scenes were awesome. I especially love the stand-off towards the end and her robes in general. I got chills as she stood with her white sabers against the fog. It was cinematically stunning.

- The show being so aware of its place in the universe is great. Din having no clue what Jedi are or what the force is or even what a lightsaber is. I love it bc it’s REALISTIC there is no way for Din to know anything about Jedi unless he learned about them. There’s no weird universal knowledge about who the Jedi were and shit like that so ty Dave Filoni.

- Showing the real strength of beskar is so so important and I’m glad they do it. Like they mentioned in season one how valuable it is but showing why is so good. Din deflecting the saber attacks got me good....

- GROGU

- Basically I cried the whole episode as they expanded upon the theme of fatherhood between Din and Grogu. There’s a lot of found love for each other because of how lost and alone they both were when they found each other. Grogu only using the force for Din really just explains their dynamic in general. Pedro does an absolutely amazing job visually representing the contrast of body language between the first and second seasons. He’s so much warmed up to Grogu now, and he truly, genuinely cares about him. I am in love

This episode? Best of the season. 10/10. And no, I’m not going to cry about Ahsoka’s appearance being not quite as we expected. That is Dave Filoni’s Star Wars child and you will let him visually represent her as he pleases. Respect his work okay thank you <3

[bluerosesburnblue]

I’ve been thinking about the Xehanort’s Apprentice AU recently and the really bizarre, but intricate relationships between Sanya, Ventus, and Sora. Particularly the way that subconscious familiarity effects all three of them throughout the events of the story

It starts off with Ven and Sanya, who knew each other from the events of KHUx but not before that. Since I’ve decided to expand the role of Player in the Union Leaders’ friend group for the purposes of this AU, that means that Sanya and Ven are actually a lot closer to each other before the end of KHUx than Player and Ven were in canon. I like to think that they already had a burgeoning “big sister/little brother” dynamic going on, even back then. The fact that Sanya wasn’t a Union Leader would make her seem more approachable and give her more time to spend with Ven than the other Union Leaders. It also puts her in a good position for Ven to go to her for extra training, since her status of being technically outside of the group would mean that Ven wouldn’t feel embarrassed to go to her for help because he wouldn’t feel like he was outing himself as the weakest Union Leader to the others. And then there’s the fact that Ven ended up with the prototype Missing Ache keychain, giving the two of them a connection through their weapons, as well

But then, of course, they both lose their memories of each other when they end up in the future. And I find it fascinating to think about the idea that their hearts subconsciously recognize each other, but they can’t consciously parse it. The bond between them is still there, and at least as strong as it always was. All of the time that they spend together feels so familiar and so right that both of them are certain that they must have known each other in the past, because what else could explain why they fell into such an easy friendship/surrogate siblinghood?

There’s a darker level to this, though, and quite literally, too. Because Ven and Sanya are both hosts of Darknesses. Darknesses that were once all part of the same entity, and could by all rights be considered “siblings.” So not only are Sanya and Ven tied together by the preexisting bond between their hearts, but they’re also tied together by the connection between the dark beings that their hearts have become hosts for, heightening that sense of kinship in a way that neither of them have any hope of being able to recognize. Ven’s Darkness could also easily see the four Darknesses in Sanya as “older” siblings, since Ven’s heart traveled forward in time (shorter relative time), while Sanya’s took the long way so the Darknesses in her heart would have experienced more time

So even when Sanya recovers her memories of Ven, she still has some sense of the Darknesses recognizing Ven’s Darkness to contend with, which are emotions that would come across the same as the subconscious familiarity she had with Ven before recovering her memories. Except, she should have all of her memories back so what is that? Where does she end and the Darknesses begin in terms of what she feels?

Then Sora comes into the mix in DDD and things get even more wild, because Sora has Ven’s heart. Sora can’t consciously know who Sanya is because he’s never met her, but when he sees one of her dreamed-up projections in the Sleeping Worlds, Ven’s heart has this immediate leap of “That’s her! That’s my big sister!” You could say that Sora, being the host of Ven’s heart, has inherited Ven’s feelings for Sanya (though probably to a lesser extent). Since he’s not consciously aware of Ven’s heart in him as of DDD, I think he would probably just interpret this as some subconscious “she’d probably make a good friend” sensor going off

Sanya, too, is in an interesting position. Her dreaming selves are all from a time before she ever met Ven, so consciously (if they can be said to truly have a consciousness) they have no clue who Ven is. And yet, they’re made up of fragments of Sanya’s heart which would still be connected to Ven’s because the Sanya of the present is connected to Ven. In much the same way that Sora is experiencing Ven’s feelings and drawing conclusions based on his lack of knowledge about Ven’s heart, the dream Sanyas are doing the same to Sora and assuming that it’s just a “little brother vibes” feeling they’re getting from him because they have no knowledge of the present Sanya’s consciousness. This gives Sora and the dreaming Sanyas this sense of natural chemistry with each other, making their friendship over the course of DDD feel easier than it should have been otherwise because neither of them are aware of the preexisting connections at play between them

And that’s not even getting into the fact that the Darknesses might still be affecting things at this time, deepening that illusion of an almost fated bond. I never see anyone talking about the fact that because Sora was a host to Ven’s heart for most of his life, that he was also probably a host to one of the Darknesses for all that time, too

Now, do I think that Sora and Sanya would have been friends with each other if Ven’s heart and the Darknesses weren’t involved at all? Yeah, probably. I don’t think there’s many people in the universe that Sora isn’t capable of befriending in some way. Which is probably why Sora will still think of Sanya as his friend even after he returns Ven’s heart to him in KH3; he forged a genuine bond between his heart and her broken heart shards anyway. That still doesn’t change the fact that throughout most of his interactions with Sanya, he would have some inflated sense of how much they meant to each other through their shared connection to Ven’s heart and the fact that Sora, as his host, is occasionally shown to respond to Ven’s strong feelings

Would Sora returning Ven’s heart have an effect on how Sanya feels about Sora? Possibly, but Sanya at some point does consciously become aware of Ven’s presence which allows her to start picking apart what about Sora draws her to him and what parts of that pull are Ven’s influence. And, like I said, they already had plenty of time to forge a genuine bond with each other in the Sleeping Worlds. Which is its own can of worms in regards to Sanya, since she can’t remember what her dream selves did at all, yet the connection between the shards and Sora would likely remain as yet another subconscious bond that she can’t make sense of. Between that and the Darknesses still pulling her towards Ven, it’s probably a wonder that she can make sense of anything going on in her own heart. The fact that her actual bond with Sora on his own is almost entirely subconscious is probably what makes it so easy to ignore in comparison to other characters that she’s consciously close to, yet there’s still this affection that she has for Sora with no actual way to get rid of it because she can’t identify the source

Is this just a bunch of rambling? Probably. Does this actually add anything to the AU? That’s probably up to the reader. These are just things that I’ve thought of that inform their interactions with each other in the AU, I’ve just never written them down before and figured that I should

[thebrownssociety]

what’s the sibling dynamic between buster and elmyra? since elmer and bugs are married in and the looney tunes cast adopted the tiny toons cast

Thanks for the ask! Sorry it's taken so long, I was trying to tie all the threads together.

So, I'm going to include Babs in this as well, as I headcanon Bugs and Elmer adopted Buster, Babs and Elmyra together.

So to understand this we've got to go back to after Tiny Toons had finished filming in early 1992. By that point the kids were all 5 years old and had basically formed a tight-knit group. They were also at the stage in there development when they were starting to expand a little bit beyond what their official characterisation was.

So, take Montanna Max, for example, although he was still hot-headed, obsessed with money and greedy [and those traits would never go away] he was now learning that his friends [and particularly the adults] weren't going to put up with his screaming at them all day and not sharing anything and that if he wanted to remain friends with them he was going to have to change his behaviour at least a little. The rest of the toons would accept what he was created as, but they wouldn't accept him using that as an excuse to act completely out of order.

Buster and Babs upon finishing filming were both enrolled in a two-year long course which was basically going to help them adjust to not being a protagonist anymore. It's a course that every protagonist of a TV show, or a film, does after the completion of there first show, and it basically helps them come to terms with the fact they are not the centre of the universe. The reason for this is because it's been accepted and realised that it's very hard for a toon who's had there entire show revolve around them to suddenly not have that anymore and be sent out into the world of Toons where most Toons don't care.

As a genreral rule in Toontown, unless you've achieved the fame levels of Bugs Bunny or Mickey Mouse, or are associated with them, no one really cares what film you were in. So Anna and Elsa are treated like goddesses in Toontown because, there film was really successful and they're seen as really good characters, contrast that with Princess Aurora [who's film was a box-office bomb at time of release, I believe] who is more respected and liked because she's royalty and she's really nice than because her film was successful.

In short, unless your film is massively successful at time of release, you're just another toon and the two-year course helps protagonists come to terms with that. There are positives as well, it's not all 'you're nothing now'. The toons work on their individual skills and how they may be transferred to other things. [Babs's impression are so good, for instance, that even if Tiny Toons never got rebooted, she'd still have a really good shot at becoming a Toon Impressionist, if she wanted to. Buster's flexibility and ability to 'read' other people means he'd potentially be good as a nurse/doctor/police officer or just a role that's with the public.]

While Buster and Babs were doing that Elmyra spent time with Bugs and Elmer and practiced her toon powers while benefiting from the individual attention being given by her dads. [Just a note, there is a two-year course for villains as well that was introduced in the 60's that helps them to...not be so villainous, but you have to meet a certain level of 'badness' like Maleficent OR Evil Queen to get in there and - obviously - Elmyra doesn't meet that requirement.]

So, back to the actual ask, Buster, Babs and Elmyra moved into Bugs and Elmer's 5-bedroom mansion shortly after filming ended. It was decided they would each have there own room, which they decorated to there own preferences [Elmyra's is very VERY pink]. So this relieved some tension, because Babs HATED the idea of sharing a room with Elmyra. [Elmyra, for her part, was happy about the idea and cried buckets when she was told it wouldn't be happening.]

At first Buster didn't really get on well with Elmyra at all. Over filming he'd kind of managed to build her up into the 'oh, help me, it's Elmyra' figure, and although he knew she was largely harmless, he still didn't like her. Her 'baby-act' and need to be constantly supervised also grated. This was the same for Babs.

Elmyra, at first, adored the idea of living with Babs and Buster and had visions of dressing them up all day in 'cutesey-wutesey outfits'. It may surprise you to know, that Buster and Babs did not WANT to be dressed up in outfits, cute or otherwise, and had no issue anvilling her to get the point across. This led to tears on Elmyra's part and frustration on Babs and Buster's.

This did eventually mellow out though, due to a couple of things, firstly - Bugs and Elmer's determination to teach Elmyra how to handle her new brother and sister properly [and vice versa for the bunny's]. Secondly - because Elmyra did have regular session with Doctor Scratchensniff every week during which they worked on 'how not to strangle animals when you hug them.' among other things and thirdly because Buster and Babs realised things where not all sunny for Elmyra.

That sounds really ominous, but what I may is that a few of you may have remembered that Elmyra actually had a family when she was on the show. A physical one, not just 'mentioned' parents like Buster. [Babs had a mother who was shown, but Babs's mother is a sufficiently flat characters, that if she doesn't have Babs in the house she assumes she's at school. It doesn't matter whether it's snowing, the middle of the school holidays or the middle of the night, as far as 'Mrs Bunny' is concerned, Babs is at school.]

It was decided after Tiny Toons ended that Elmyra should continue to see her 'designed' family [the family she was designed to have] at the weekends. Friday afternoon she walked home/would be dropped off by someone at her designed parents house and she would stay there until Sunday night until she was returned just after dinner. [So Elmyra would miss dinner with Bugs and co]

This worked for a little while until it got to when Elmyra was going into Grade 1 and Elmer realised she was always doing her homework when she got home. Her parents weren't helping her. In a rather tense conversation he asked Elmyra's designed parents if they would help her do her homework. They promptly replied that the homework was to difficult for 'there little baby' and she should be given something age-appropriate. It was during that discussion that Elmer discovered her 'parents' thought she was 4 years old.

Even by Toon standards, this was a warning flag and Elmer promptly excused himself and ran the conversation by Doctor Scratchensniff because the fact Elmyra's parents didn't seem to recognise the fact that A} her designed age was 12 and B} she was actually 6, not 4 - was concerning to say the least.

Now. Normally D.S. doesn't get involved with this kind of thing because otherwise he'd never do anything else, but as Elmyra was already a patient of his and he decided it wouldn't do Elmer/Bugs any good if they challenged Elmyra's parents themselves, he decided he better have a word with them herself.

He had his word. And they seemed to understand. Scratchy went back to Bugs and Elmer and told them they didn't have to worry, that Elmyra's parents understood her designed age was 12 and that she would get older and mature above that [hopefully]. Bugs and Elmer [particularly Elmer] were suspicious about this at first, but Elmyra came back from her parents having had her homework done and with tales of having done exciting things during the weekend. She was also - they noticed - being given age-appropriate things to play with and this lasted...until she moved up to middle school.

Elmyra moved up to middle school a year after Buster and Babs did, which meant they weren't in the same class. However they were in the same house and it became noticeable that Elmyra didn't seem very happy. Specifically she didn't seem very happy with the idea of going to her parents house at the weekend and was somehow even less happy when she came back.

Bugs and Elmer had noticed this and tried to ask her what was wrong, but she refused to tell them. Buster didn't really want to get involved - he felt it would open a long, emotional conversation he didn't really want to have - but when Elmyra came home one day in tears and he was the only one in the house it fell to him to deal with it.

Turns out Elmyra's parents did not like the fact she was in middle school. They thought the schoolwork she was doing was to advanced for her [it was perfectly acceptable work for her grade and she was doing well with it] and her mother in particular was concerned because Elmyra had started Noticing Boys. This did not fit with the notion they had that she was still a little girl who spoke in a babyish voice and called everything 'cuddly-wuddly' despite the fact that Elmyra herself was doing her best to drop the 'cuddly-wudddly's' [unfortunately she still had to keep the babyish voice] and asking that her parents maybe not buy her games and stuff that were clearly designed for a child under 10.

By this point all this had been going on for a few months. Buster - after calming Elmyra down and running the situation by Hampton - told there dads what was going on with Elmyra and they took matters out of his hands.

Doctor Scratchensniff paid another visit to Elmyra's parents with the intention of explaining to them, gently and tactfully, why they needed to change the way they were treating Elmyra because it was risking damaging her and no one has a clue what was actually said in that meeting, but the end shot was that Elmyra no longer saw her parents on the weekend. She could contact them again at 16 if she wanted to, but until then it was in her best interests to stay away from them.

You all may be wondering why I'm going into so much detail about Elmyra's circumstances, and that's because I feel it's necessary to understand the siblings dynamic. Buster, Babs and Elmyra - up until they were about 11 - only spent Mon-Thurs as a proper group. During that time they anvilled each other, teased each other and tried to actively avoid each other [or rather Buster and Babs tried to actively avoid Elmyra when she was at her most annoying] They also played games together, struggled through school-work together and dealt with there annoying parents together. They became a pretty effective sibling team.

Buster and Babs - despite being created to have a crush on each other - came to view each other as adopted siblings and remained close. They laughed together, joke together and messed with people together.

Babs and Elmyra go shopping together, they talk about stuff together - 'stuff' being the subjects of romances and Life in general that perhaps Buster wouldn't want to be a part off - they get on pretty well actually, mainly because they have a good few things in common and on Elmyra's sensible non-complete-moron days they can even have deep conversations about politics and the world in general as well as analysing TV shows and fangirling over there favourite characters.

Buster and Elmyra are a bit of an odd paring. On Elmyra's smart days the two of them can be quite devious and can throw adults for a loop easily. On her less smart days Buster just tries to stay out her way. The things with Buster and Elmyra is that he basically thought of her as an annoyance for the first 5 years off his life. When he was adopted by Bugs and Elmer and found himself now living with her he was essentially banned from insulting her to harshly. ["No anvilling at the dinner table, Buster!"] But part the issue was that Buster was jealous because Elmyra had another family she got too see and he didn't. He knew that Bugs and Elmer were his official family and it was great to be adopted by his mentor but he couldn't help a pang of envy every time Elmyra got in the car to go to her parents house.

And then the breakdown happened with Elmyra when she was 11 [Buster and Babs knew her parents had had a few problems with her before, but didn't know the exact details, To be fair not even Elmyra herself knew the exact details. Elmer had the conversation away from her and then the rest of it was kept away from her. The only thing she was told was that her parents would now be helping her with homework when she went to them at the weekend.] and Buster realised that Elmyra's home life was not a bed of roses and he made a conscious effort to not be so short with her and to be more patient in the way that Babs seems to be able to do effortlessly. [Babs's realised pretty quickly after they all started living together that Elmyra wasn't going to change and decided that rather than fight it she was just going to embrace it. She was hoping that Elmyra would go away after Babs played 'dress-up' with her, but it just made Elmyra like her more. After a couple of months - and a conversation with Bugs - Babs realised that Elmyra literally just wanted someone to spend time with and dress up. But it was more the spending time than the dressing up that Elmyra liked. They managed to work out a system where Babs would let Elmyra dress her up and do her ears, if Elmyra would give feedback on Babs's impressions and watch comedy tapes with her.]

Going back to Buster, it took a while and, while he and Elmyra are never going to be 'best friends', Buster eventually realised she wasn't that bad and started to enjoy spending time with her.

Elmyra, for her part, has made a conscious effort over the years to not hug her siblings [or any other cute, fluffy creatures for that matter] to tightly, dress them up against their will, or chase them round the earth till they just give up. She still hugs and does like going shopping [or 'grown-up dress up' as Babs calls it] and will chase them to give them a hug if she's having a particularly stupid day or thinks they look upset, but the main thing is that Elmyra is trying.

Very very trying.

[readingaccountability]

the queen of attolia - megan whalen turner

my playlist

final thoughts:

so unfortunately instead of following my initial plan of writing these before starting the next book, im basically uhhh 3/4 the way through book three and only NOW recording my thoughts on book two. best laid plans, i suppose!

anyways, book two i somehow enjoyed even more than book one, which i adored. the queen of attolia is much more political, and even more surprising, than the thief was. i think that its biggest risk is also its biggest strength- widening the scope beyond eugenides and becoming more intricate. the shift from first person perspective in book one to using third person in subsequent books helped with that a lot. though honestly i adore eugenides so much that i did miss being inside his head quite a bit. those rare moments of clarity where we understand whats going on up there are made ever more wonderful when there are fewer of them. that little bastard is just so great. his arc in this book was insanely incredible?

from here we are going to get more spoiler heavy!

utterly heartwrenching start to the novel. him losing his hand felt visceral, so well written, and his recovery was very well done i thought. not only because hes so petulant as a person already, but because the author shows the full transition as he learns how to navigate the world. later on when hes more sure of himself, it never feels unearned, because that always echoes all those moments where hes still adjusting and frustrated and tired. honestly the most emotionally satisfying aspect of this to me was when eddis and he are talking about how he is still the queen's thief, even if he might have different limitations on what exactly he can steal. it never felt like he was limited, just that they reimagined what the scope of plans were. though he would no longer be able to pull off the plot of the first book, due to the international nature of the second book, honestly he straight up graduates into a whole new realm. it was really thrilling to watch unfold!!

at first the narrative transition/revealing of his plans regarding attolia were surprising. i thought that he might be veering in the direction of planning to become king (despite really not wanting to) at a few different points, as the author is really good at leaving clues that dont feel overly obvious, or that just begin to pique your interest/attention. however i would not have guessed that he loved attolia. it was pretty clear that attolia loved him (all those little asides to what she was thinking about and it was always her checking up on him, etc? PEAK enemies to lovers plot thread) and i thought it would end up being reciprocated but not right out of the gate. at first i was a little uncertain but hoooo boy i love their dynamic (particularly now that im into book three pretty solidly- heart eyes) and i think that book two did a great job setting the stage for the next.

the setting feels much expanded upon, i particularly loved the time spent in eddis proper. eddis herself is such an incredible queen, and her dynamic with eugenides is sublime. her keeping the war from him, and by extension the audience, was great, because it also showed how he was keeping it from himself- eugenides totally could have figured out what was going on if he had bothered to. one thing i love about third person pov is that you might still be centered on one character, but since it isnt absolute, the reader can pretty easily forget that the info theyre taking in is still, on many levels, skewed towards the understandings of that character. those moments where that gets pointed out are always really revealing, i felt. absolutely amazing writing throughout.

another setting thing that i liked was the usage of the dystopia, and the plan that they came up with for traversing it. it was such a goddamn cool way of bringing back a really striking aspect of the landscape and then expanding upon it, 10/10 shit.

have i mentioned how much i love eugenides. he just DOES SHIT and i go insane! like yes, pretend to be holed up in your room and then take out sounis' whole navy and kidnap the magus in one fell swoop. i was hooting and hollering. also what a great way of bringing back the magus, i adore him.

the myth in the middle of this novel was also really great. i loved those interludes in the first book, and was glad to see the author bring back that motif in the second. im a big sucker for parables and in particular when you cant see how it ties to the theme until later on. i also loved how stunned the magus was to discover how personal tellings could shape the contours of the story. it emphasized how much of an academic he is, but was also so melancholy because of him having lost his family. the characters just feel so real, even the side characters.

attolia is absolutely amazing. i loved how every layer of her shell felt so realistic and needed as we learned more about her past... and as how ruthless she has had to be made more and more sense. killer queen indeed. and by god the contrasts between her and eddis were always so bittersweet. the fact that the ultimate, big difference, was in level of support? heartbreaking. eddis having that big family, advisers she could trust, people who loved her more than they feared her- aagh! the book so effectively shows us the comfortable setting of eddis and then contrasts in each glimpse we see of attolia. it also really effectively sets up the next book, which primarily takes place in attolia, but gotta save that for the next post. a good hint that i should sign off, i guess XD

[a-shakespearean-in-paris]

Thoughts on The Last of Us Part 2

This critique is spoiler heavy, so tread with caution. I also talk about more than the game. However, non-spoiler opinions: (and again, I want to stress this is my opinion)

This game does not have the same DNA as the first last of us. That’s not a total strike against LOUP2. Yet the first game succeeded so well in creating a relatively simple road trip narrative that was rooted around character growth, with the provoking questions it raised comknf naturally. TLOUP2 revolves so heavily on the message it’s trying to send, that the character and narrative writings suffers to mold around the parable...which doesn’t fully even succeed in that regard. Environments and game play however are pretty solid, and if you liked those aspects of the first game, they outdid themselves here, so you’ll probably like this game’s go around. Does it make it worthwhile to play? That’s a case by case basis, but I have to say that exploring the world made me want to continue the game. And if anything, I’d say this game is a relatively easy platinum trophy to collect. And despite this very long critique where I really dive in, (because that is what I do, it’s in my nature.) I’m glad I played, because I had an enjoyable experience.

anyway, on with the nitty gritty. Please keep in mind that even as I seem harsh, I did not hate this game. Aspects of it pissed me off , and I think it’s broken in a lot of respects, but certainly not a failure of design, game build, and acting.

When I think of the perfect sequel, (and please, bare with me) Shrek 2 comes to mind. It expands the world in a meaningful way, introduces new characters that seamlessly fit in with the dynamic, lets the established characters have more growth without cheapening what happened in the first part, and stays true to the core DNA of the first film. I’m not saying that all sequels need to follow this formula, (I love Silent Hill 2) but The Last of Us 2 was not a fulfilling sequel in any of these regards. Joel and Ellie in the first game, as well as the other characters, felt like real people who made decisions that made sense for their characters. In this game, we have a clumsily patched together narrative that is simultaneously simple and yet far too much for it to handle. This is not a narrative-driven story, but a parable about the dangers of revenge. And while not a bad parable to tell, I could easily pick up Moby Dick or a myriad of other works that detail the “revenge is all consuming and unhealthy” narrative. Now, was LOU particularly new with it’s story? No. But the characters made it worthwhile and fresh. Additionally, the narrative of this game is so riddled with hypocrisy that the parable it’s trying to tell almost misses the mark.

Before further diving in, I also want to talk about one more detour as a preface: Game of Thrones season 8 (and please, bare with me again.) My biggest issue with season eight was how unearned everything was. Most egregiously and infamously, Dany and Jaime’s fates was not rooted in her past actions, therefore making their fates make sense, but rooted in the final outline Benioff and Weiss had. The writers had a plan, and they made the characters fit that plan no matter what, no matter that the characters had grown and changed and had arcs that didn’t make sense with the final plan, leaving a lot of people, including me, note how unearned everything was. LOU2 feels similar. Druckman had a plan, and he made the characters fit that plan, no matter how many gaps in logic there was, no matter how unearned it was. Joel dying the way he did was not very Joel-like as established in LOU. That man noticed an ambush right on sight as he was driving with Ellie into Pittsburgh, while this Joel walks right into an ambush and let’s himself be cornered by a group of unknown people. Maybe you can say that he got softer living in Jackson, or the storm gave no alternatives, but it reads to me as more as Druckman needed Joel to die to set off his plot.  

And with that, now’s a good time to talk about Abby, because rather than being an organic character that fits seamlessly into the narrative, she feels inelegantly shoved into the game to fit the message and parable. In the prologue we learn little about Abby and are forced to run away and learn about the game mechanics with her, and most players are here to continue Joel and Ellie’s story, so cutting away to this new character away from Ellie is intrusive. You as a player may have also have heard Druckmann say Ellie was the only playable character and purposely avoided the leaks, so you’re bamboozled as well. It gets worse after we shift to Abby for a good ten hours after Ellie kills Owen and Mel. We’re supposed to feel compelled to play as Abby for a ten hour needlessly complicated side quest when the game jarringly cuts to her...even though she mercilessly beat Joel with a golf club and just shot Jesse, who, IMO, is one of the most likable new characters (and also one of the many minority characters in the LOU franchise that serve as props to the main characters and ultimately meets a sad end, but that aspect of the game is worthy of a whole other post.) 

Playing as Abby for as long as you do at the halfway point is a tough and unearned pill to swallow, not helped by the fact that we know how this long extended flashback is going to end, so the stakes are never high. No matter what happens, Owen, Mel, Nora and Alice are going to die, and Abby is going to find Ellie. Furthermore, you’ve spent a long time as a player buffing Ellie with supplements, upgrading weapons, and using her arsenal. Suddenly, you have to rewire you’re playstyle and get used to new weapons. They’re not totally different, but I can see how going back to square one when you’re halfway through the game can put a player off really quickly. I read the leaks so I knew this was coming, but I had no clue how bloated this section would be with the meandering plot and WLF/ Seraphite conflicts that still somehow aren’t explained well enough. In Abby’s section, plot things and character development things go at such a hyper speed, with relationships developing mega quickly, that I had a hard time believing it, especially compared to the first game when relationships took time and were earned. I think the sex scene is a good metaphor for this section of the game as a whole. they talk, talk, talk about unrelated things, Abby pushes Owen, and then they randomly have sex. which by the way, was done pretty tastelessly in my opinion. ND could have just cut away when they started making out, or if you absolutely had to hold the frame, if you really had the actors to do that in mocap suits, maybe make the situation more morally grey...because it is morally grey. Owen has a baby on the way with another woman. What a way to endear these two characters. I’m not one who gets squeamish with sex in media, and I understand the game’s M rating has a warning. But when you cut away a love scene between two women before things get too heated, but have no problem with showing that, I’m going to raise some eyebrows. 

Abby’s section is like an overly complicated side quest in the larger narrative, with missions that have little to nothing to do with Ellie, so watching Abby’s story play out doesn’t feel like a meaningful look into the character and world we don’t get as Ellie, but an overtly complicated way ND created to get us to like Abby and invest us in her found family. But it took a whole game and about a full year for Ellie and Joel to be father and daughter, and by the end of Abby’s section we’re expected to believe she and Lev have that same bond. It’s so glaringly apparent that they were trying to mirror Ellie and Joel with Abby and Lev, but they banked so hard on us as the player assuming and understanding that aspect, that the development wasn’t cultivated well enough for me. I think more time was needed--especially since you don’t even meet Lev and Yara until you’re an hour or so into her story. Abby’s section feels like a whole other game was tacked on, and not a piece of the puzzle that neatly fits into the larger narrative.  In fact, both Lev and Yara feel like tacked on props to make Abby more likable. 

However, ND is inconsistent with this likability factor, because there are key elements to Abby’s writing that don’t make her endearing to the player. Unlike Ellie, who is visibly shaken with each kill, Abby displays no regrets whatsoever. She doesn’t have any qualms killing her fellow WLF soldiers later in the game, but more infuriating for players, she has no regrets about killing Joel. She does it, and she moves on. The game even seems to celebrate her, with some of her friends saying he deserved worse, despite the fact that  Ellie was on the floor crying and begging for her to stop. (BTW Mel is pretty hypocritical to me. At one point she says she regrets taking part in Joel’s murder, but during it, she wanted Ellie killed. Then later says Joel’s death was too brutal...even if he deserved worse? It’s just another thread of inconsistency in this game.) 

Abby not thinking things through when Ellie is crying on the floor before Joel’s murder is another example of characters making strange, if not outright bad decisions because Neil needs his plot. Abby could have put the pieces together, realized Joel wanted to save Ellie because clearly they care about each other, and yes he did a bad thing and killed her father, but if there’s a crying girl on the floor, maybe he did it because of love. (Or she could have just killed Tommy and Ellie because what’s stopping her from thinking they won’t want revenge like she does? But again, Druckmann needs his plot.) 

But no, Abby is merciless, and then suddenly in her POV chapters she’s pretty cool to Yara and Lev and wants to help them out. And yes, they saved her from death...but Joel saved her from death too. It could have been so interesting if Abby and Joel were forced to work together longer, maybe she meets Ellie, and then she’s conflicted about extracting revenge. But okay, fine. She takes her revenge and the game moves on. Okay. But Ellie, who I remind, is vilified and punished by losing Dina and the baby in the game, has regrets and is shaken up by her revengeful deeds, while Abby, who is also pretty bad, gets rewarded. If Druckmann wanted to really write a revenge parable, it needed to be clearer that revenge didn’t make Abby happy or fulfill her. If that would have happened, and if time was taken to develop the Lev and Yara subplot, it could have been interesting to see Abby’s story.

Ellie’s characterization in this game is a point of contention for me as well. Some reviewers have said she makes decisions that are so outlandish it’s akin to Dany in GOT season eight, and I don’t disagree. Now, the game implies Ellie continuously puts herself at risk, leaves her friends, and sets off on a near suicide mission because she has PTSD from what happened to Joel, along with a lot of guilt for not patching things up to him. Druckmann and Halley Gross even confirmed in an Indie Wire interview that Ellie has PTSD. Now, there are so many negative stereotypes against people with PTSD as outlined by Psychology Today and other sources. There’s misconceptions that they’re violent and dangerous, and it can’t be treated. I don’t think Druckmann was outright suggesting Ellie went on her rampage of revenge specifically because of this, in fact I think the truth of the matter is he wanted to say something deep and artsy with this game, and Ellie and Abby are props to the message. (Supported by pre release statements of ND saying they wouldn’t call this game fun--it’s art.) That being said, this equation doesn’t sit right with me. More broadly I don’t like the fact that Ellie has been a prop in this game so Druckmann can say something deep (tm) especially when the last game did such a good job molding her character and honoring her in an organic way as the plot moved forward. The way they used her here just didn’t feel right.

Also, like to mention Ellie didn’t go to Santa Barbara to meet Abby again until Tommy’s major guilt trip at the farm, which was a wildly out of character moment in itself. But again, in this game, there’s a script, and we needed a way to trigger Ellie’s journey to Santa Barbara. But looking at the first game, Tommy berates Joel for the lengths he went to to ensure their survival, even saying at one point “it wasn’t worth it.” Now Tommy is all of a sudden going to not take the high road and demand Ellie extract revenge when he can’t? Heck, when Abby had Tommy pinned to the ground in the theatre he told her to go and save herself. When tommy came to her after Joel’s death he actively tried to talk her out of going to Seattle. Now maybe you can say that “oh Abby shot Tommy and now he’s relationship with Maria is in shambles...” but it didn’t compute with me. (And damn, can anyone be in a happy romantic relationship in these games?) But again, Druckmann wants a final fight, where the biggest waste of opportunity is squandered. We could have had a moment where Ellie and Abby talk it out, maybe Ellie telling Abby that she cared for Joel despite what he did (though ho boy, more on that later.) and Abby realizing hmm, maybe what I did was kind of morally grey and we’re not so different at the least. If this parable was going to work, Abby had to have an epiphany about her own deeds in addition to Ellie, and Ellie can’t be vilified while Abby isn’t. 

This game also cheapens the last game’s ending. Joel’s morally grey choice at the end part one is rendered into an indisputably bad choice, because he took away Ellie’s choice. Are we forgetting the fireflies, and Jerry, Abby’s dad that we’re supposed to like, (based on the flashback, which, BTW didn’t work for me, I think Jerry’s an ass) weren’t giving Ellie a choice either? The ending of TLOU asked some fantastic questions about the nature of love without forcing it, and this game completely does away with that ending via telling us how bad Joel is and how he wronged Ellie. I can’t really replay the first game now without thinking of how the sequel cheapens that ending. Overall, the message and thought-provoking questions in LOU came naturally with Joel and Ellie’s development. It was elegantly done and expertly crafted. However, this game is so focused on it’s message and so focused on being an art house drama, that not only do the characters bend to fit the message, but it’s rudely it’s beaten over your head with the final shots of a lone guitar. However, playing through the game for me, seeing the cracks, the message fell flat. Want to tell a parable like this? Go ahead, but make sure it’s delivered well , paced well, and crafted well. I don’t think this game succeeded in any of those regards.

As others have stated, the game is needlessly dark, and though there are moments of calm and light, they are not as frequent as the first game, and all but dissolve toward the end of the story. Obviously ND couldn’t help the current situation of the world the game was released into, but I am tired of this trend of dark narratives and SuBerTing ExpECtatIons that Thrones also pulled, and the easiest, laziest tactic media has used lately to get people talking about their stories: doing things for shock value. Expectations were maybe subverted and there was definite shock value by having Joel die at the beginning, but the events that follow are so bizarre and unearned with Ellie’s vilification and Abby’s “redemption,” that I’m not mad that he died, I’m mad he was fridged to make way for this sloppy mess of a story.  And I have to point out that so many of us had a feeling Joel was going to die in this game, that frankly my expectations would have been subverted if he lived. 

Now with this segue, I think now I should probably mention the elephant in the room: the pre-release footage. Images were altered to make players believe Joel meets Ellie in Seattle, but we know now that it was Jesse. Sony was banking on the fact that fans of the first game love Ellie and Joel so much, that they used their relationship to sell the game and pretty much deceive the player. The fact that the game is very much not about Ellie and Joel’s further development is not only deceptive, but kind of cruel. Games are expensive. People pre-ordered this game expecting one thing and got another. Doesn’t sit right with me. If Sony/ ND had faith in Abby’s story the secrecy wouldn’t have been necessary, but keeping her out of the marketing save for one time, with Druckmann out right lying at one point by saying you only play as Ellie, it just proves that someone in the marketing department had no faith in Abby. Now, I think this is all rooted in anti-spoiler culture, and no doubt that had a big impact on this game and the marketing behind it. Though this is another, albeit related rant, I am tired of the current climate of “keeping the secrets and remaining spoiler free.” Sure, spoilers can ruin some surprise, and it’s not cool to needlessly spoil something for someone, but spoilers should not ruin the experience of seeing a story unfold. We all know the damn ship is going to sink in Titanic, and a lot of people love that movie. Heck. I played the first LOU completely spoiled. I wanted to see what the fuss was about and read the Wiki page. I still cried, I still fell in love. I get maybe wanting the player to be surprised that Abby has such a big section, or even that’s she’s playable, but when Abby’s story can make or break how you feel about this game, I raise some eyebrows at the marketing.  

As I said, I did read the leaks when they came out. Why? Well, I’m not averse to being spoiled and GOT kind of burned me before. I am glad I read the leaks because knowing what to expect certainly eased things for me, and got me used to playing as Abby in a way that going in blind wouldn’t have. It was easier for me to bunker down and accept playing as her, but her story is so needlessly bloated and has nothing to do with Ellie’s up until the end. Her section solely exists just to get the player to like her. As I outlined however, the fragments in her story are broken and don’t come together to form a flattering picture. Sure in her sections you get some, albeit, minimal context to the goings on of Ellie’s chapters and the whole WLF/ Seraphite conflict, but not much to make it interesting or illuminate things further. A lot of it was there just to make you feel like crap for the things you were forced to do as Ellie. Alice was a good girl wasn’t she? Shame on Ellie for killing her in self-defense! And I understand the flashbacks were supposed to mirror Ellie’s flashbacks, but part of me rolled my eyes as I realized I was enduring a damn flashback within a flashback. What kind of a meta world, and an uncool one at that, is the game in? (Heck at one point Abby said “fucking video games” so IDK) I think the game could have been better if you played both sections concurrently--some of Abby’s, some of Ellie’s instead of having an entire flashback to play through as Abby. But I can only guess the game did it this way because of good old spoiler culture and they only wanted early reviewers to talk about certain things. (Heck early reviews pre release had an embargo. Reviewers were forbidden from mentioning anything in the last half of the game.)And truth to be told I think Abby’s sections needed a huge overhaul. Actually I think the whole story of the game needed a huge overhaul, but that’s probably apparent from this long diatribe. However, I maintain that this was the Last of us sequel ND wanted to tell, the crafting needed to be improved.

So what did I like? Well, I liked exploring the world and I liked the ease of the beginning of the game, and...the boat section was kind of cool? now initially I thought Ellie’s romance with Dina seemed pretty rushed, but as you play the game, you realize they’ve known each other for a long time at this point, and it makes more sense. The two have a lot of chemistry that makes the relationship feel more authentic, especially as you roam Downtown Seattle. Playing as Ellie and exploring Seattle was my favorite parts of the game. I really liked the semi-open world section at the beginning, though it didn’t mesh well with the rest of the linear narrative. I hope in future games ND does do something similar and makes the whole game have pockets of open-world esque exploration throughout, and not just one part

I tore Abby’s section apart a lot, but there was also good stuff going on there too. I did Yara and Lev a lot, just wish there would have been more time to develop them. The hospital chapter was wild and fun...the most effective horror chapter in the game, with a big ass monster straight out of Resident Evil. Even if it was gross. And of course, the environments were downright breathtaking, and exploring Seattle made me want to continue. The Aquarium was my favorite location overall, as I found it beautifully rendered and a good focal point for the game. I also find it super fitting Abby and Ellie have their first fight in a theatre. It’s almost like Druckmann’s trying to make a point about how violence is a commodity...kind of like us playing this really violent game and they’re using violence to sell it to you, even though the game punishes you for doing actions you have no say in.

I may have been a tiny bit sarcastic there, but I did enjoy the Ellie/Abby fight, and even if I knew the outcome, it did a great job of putting me on edge. I really didn’t want to hurt Ellie, but seeing how Ellie fights from the other angle was pretty interesting. After that fight however it was pretty draggy to have to do it again in Santa Barbara as Ellie. On a related note, there were too many brawls like that in the game. You have no weapons, just fist brawls twice with cult randos as Abby and then two with Ellie and Abby in the game. Could have trimmed those down, because they kind of wore out their welcome. And while we’re at it, good grief the ending DRAGGED. Maybe that was done on purpose to prove the lengths Ellie will go, but I wasn’t a fan.

Look, a part of me can kind of appreciate what ND was trying to do with this game, I just think that the execution was poor, and a lot of small specifics of things that happened in the game were done in poor taste. Pieces of the puzzle didn’t fit a cohesive whole, and the message is pretty grim and broken because of hypocrisies in the narratives. A lot of people are saying its an apocalypse game, of course it’s going to be dark and nihilistic, but the first game wasn’t nihilistic. It was hopeful, and benefited from the simple story it told. Druckmann always said Part 2 would be a hate story, and that’s fine, but I think it was just so committed to that idea the game suffered and became manipulative. I think now we’re now entering a debate about “can video games be art and have messages?” or “should video games just be fun?” and I really think video games can be art. However, there has to be something in the game that makes you want to continue, and that something is usually “fun.” Video games aren’t like movies. We’re not voyeurs that watch. We’re actually in control of the characters. That has an impact. 

if you read all of this, I commend you. thanks! Really needed to pound out all my thoughts and now I can (hopefully) move on with my life.