#LOOK AT BOTH OP’s GORGEOUS ART

[sol-dial]

╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

me & @olivtr33 had a whiteboardfox and... these.. were the results. Here's the best doodles!!

the greatest captain america drawing of all time (by yours truly)

aa stony kisses <3

the brainrot:tm:

mcu steve NOOO

the stupid

he

mv!stevetony (minevengers!stevetony) doodles SDSJFJS

aa stony canon

mv!tony doodle

baby girl!!

the husband <3

apron 616 tony dkfkdsfgsd

cw!steve when ults steve

the gays

more brainrot

pretty princess aa tony!

mcu steve is dumb i think

aa stony sjdsjfas [ that's all you guys!!! this has so many versions of steve and tony i've decided to tag them all, go say hi to oliver for me :D, likes and reblogd are GREATLY APPRECIATED XD ]

[rebornofstars]

MY FAVOURITE PARTS OF THE UPDATE

BECAUSE THIS HAS BEEN MY FAVOURITE UPDATE EVER

all comic panels from crescent flame by @linkeduniverse. readmore bc its LONG

can we start with the gorgeous lighting please . like this has to be one of the absolute prettiest palettes i dont know how the colour wheel works but PLEASE im dying over this peach coloured light. and the camera angles??? absolute fire

and we already knew he had it but as far as i can remember this is the first time we've actually seen legend using his lantern????

somoene will have to help me (SOS 😭🙏) because ive lost the spreadsheet matching each item in the december art with its name & game of origin so FORGIVE ME IF IM WRONG BUT ISNT THIS THE SAME LAMP FROM LINK'S HOUSE AT THE BEGINNING OF ALTTP??? legend you sentimental freak (deeply affectionate). hes everything.

and!!!! rulie with the candle. i dont know why im going crazy about a candle but i AM. the fact that rulie uses a light method less modern than legend's old lamp is speaking to me and the inevitable conversation about legend's legacy and the gulf between their eras. this is canon and we've been talking about it for years but seeing them together in direct comparison like this is really hammering it into my skull. and of course jojo's attention to detail is once again UNPARALLELED

also the architecture in this dungeon is just gorgeous. jojo can u design my house pls??? 🥺🥺 i'm in love with all these zoomed out shots as well like holy shit. so effective in creating an atmosphere

PLEASE the fact that hyrule holds his candle right over it to look but then backs off a bit when legend comes over so he can light it with the lamp?????? WORDLESSLY??? i dont know if its just because he knew the lamp would do a better job but the TEAMWORK??? THE COOPERATION??? I LOVE THEM???? i used to think that downfall duo was mostly a fanon invention cause legend and hyrule didnt spend much one-on-one time in the comic but FUCK THAT I BELIEVE!!!! I SEE THE LGIHT!!!!! legend's little grin is telling me everything i need to know

his face im wheezing 😂😂😂😂 rule please how did u survive this long 😭😭😭

and then it doesnt even attack them it just runs away!!!!! accurate!!!! dfd (downfall duo? is this an acceptable acronym?) are TOO OP

im actually fucking dying over this panel u dont understand. strong contender for one of the panels of all time. four has STRUCK UP A POSE. nobody walks down stairs with their hands behind their head that boy is RECLINING DRAMATICALLY.

and WIND DOING HIS LITTLE LEAP. ITS TOTALLY UNECCESSARY. IM SO GLAD IT EXISTS. and time descending in the middle of the stairs staring straight ahead 😭😭😭 equally theatric in his own stupid way im wheezing this is too much. the drama kids. old man & the Youngsters

THE ARGUING ABOUT WHO GETS A TURN AT WHAT. SOOOO SIBLINGS CODED. IM DEAD ON THE FLOOR

wiat wait wait fuck. wait fuck HOW OLD IS FOUR. theyre thinking so furiously theyre gonna hurt their brains. recontextualising every single conversation theyve ever had with the smithy!! im actually sooo sooo happy abt this panel because cheekily mysterious four (especially about completely unecessary things like his AGE) is my kryptonite & i feel like this couldve come straight out of a crackfic. the chaos is unmatched. jojo is on our WAVELENGTH ‼️‼️‼️

they are soooo sooo comfortable with each other. hyrule sasses everyone its true BUT LEGEND IS TAKING HIS SASS AND RESPONDING TO IT. theyre having a debate. legend is expressing all his grumpy opinions and hyrule is like lmao ok i see ur point. ahgsjdbgsj

the way the games are baked into every panel and plot point of this comic.. im actually deceased. also legend's stance is cracking me up

ADORE the way this is framed. love love love

the MISCHIEF AND GLEE ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ WHAT IS A LINK IF NOT A DESTROYER OF POTS‼️‼️‼️ this whole page im obsessed with i read it like 3 times cause i couldnt believe my eyes. they ARE besties they ARE. theyre both being so playful & theyre both in their element & pairing them up was a gorgeous fantastic idea and i am SO here for it

in conclusion every update is getting better and better i am LIVING for this dungeon arc and i adore this comic to pieces. thank u for coming to my ted talk

[colealexart]

story time! i met the cr cast this past weekend at mcm london and they were the kindest people imaginable, but my interaction with laura and marisha was just. incomprehensibly sweet and the best thing to ever happen to me.

first up was laura. my friends izzy (@wvearp) and abby (@overnighttosunflowers) went before me in the queue and they got my art signed by her. when they did, she said “oh, best art” and they told her that they were here with the artist. she immediately was like “what?! where?!” and started looking around frantically. i was standing just to the side and i waved awkwardly and she was like “NO WAY! YOU!! i favourite this shit on twitter ALL THE TIME!” which i find hilarious because yeah, i freak out a little every time she does.

when it got to my turn, i said hello and asked her how she was doing. she did not answer my question and instead said “cole, are you kidding me? these are gorgeous” about the two prints i handed to her. (the one pictured and a different one i got signed.) she said she remembers seeing this after the episode aired and i was like “yeah, it airs at 3am here so i drew this in a frantic, sleep deprived stupor at 7am” and she said “you did it so fast, i remember! i sent it to marisha! people are SO QUICK with the fanart, you guys are insane.”

after she signed the print, she held onto it for a moment and just sat and admired it, before looking at me with the BIGGEST smile and saying “you are seriously the best. thank you.” and i don’t know how to handle sincerity so i handed her the dice i got for her. she was so excited about them and immediately rolled the d20 and got a 10 (edit: i misremembered, she got a 3 lol). i then asked if we could play rollies and she beat me. i got a 5 and laura got a 7. i said i’m sorry they’re not rolling well and she was like “it’s fine, they just need charging up!”

i also got a selfie too, but the guy helping her at the table took the photo for us instead of me trying to take it because i suck at taking selfies. she gave me a really tight side hug and when it was done, she thanked me again with the biggest smile.

i also didnt realize until afterwards but instead of writing a character quote, laura wrote “you are everything” on my autograph 😭

next was the group photo op. as we walked up i said hi again to laura and she immediately recognized me from before. she grabbed onto my shoulders and literally spun me around to marisha and was frantically saying “marisha marisha, this is the person that does the amazing imodna art!” but there was a lot going on and marisha was looking at me with the most bewildered expression, until she eventually understood what laura was saying but we had to rush to take the photo. laura held onto my arm and marisha leaned against me and i didn’t realize until afterwards but liam and tal also had their hands on my shoulders lol. it was A Lot. i told marisha i would probably be heading to her autograph queue next so i’d see her there and she was like “awesome, i cant wait!”

so after that, i met marisha. i was probably the most nervous to meet her because she’s just so cool and intimidating but in reality she is just so warm and has such a calming presence about her. she was like “cole, good to see you again!” and i handed her the same imodna print that i had laura sign. she said “ohh, aww this is amazing! this is what laura was talking about, i was so confused!”

then we talked a bit about the live show because her voice was hoarse and i asked her how she was feeling. she said it was just her voice that was gone, but we agreed that it was absolutely worth it because the live show was incredible. i also congratulated her on the how do you wanna do this, then gave her the dice i got for her and we played rollies too. we both got an 18 at first and when we rerolled, she beat me with another 18 to my 16. then she was like “oh these roll really well, i’m definitely gonna use these!”

we took our photo together and afterwards she said “thank you for your art and everything. seriously, you’re so talented” while rubbing my shoulder, and then i headed off to join ashley’s queue.

i’m probably gonna make a separate post about meeting ashley and sam. i just wanted to write this down mostly to immortalize on my blog. i expected them to be kind but i did NOT expect to feel so loved and appreciated. laura was about as excited as i was, and made me feel so special. (this is also a pretty small thing but i dont think i pass very well, so the fact that laura said ‘person’ and didn’t misgender me meant a hell of a lot too.)

i did bring extra prints to give to them as a gift but was overwhelmed and forgot lol

anyway, that’s it! for anyone wondering if the critical role cast are as kind in person as they seem online, they absolutely are and then some. i’ll never forget this past week.

[yumedoca]

And UY's third cour's final PV dropped.... which means it's time for me to share my thoughts!!

(And as usual. Ignore the shitty quality of the screenshots)

First up, I have to mention the fact that MAISONdes is doing the OP and ED again!! The new OP is 'Rock On*' feat. Hashimero, Meguru and the new ED is 'Raizakura' feat. 9Lana, SAKURAmoti. Here are the gorgeous album cover arts for both songs and oh my gosh, they are so precious!!

*It might either be 'Lock on' since the Japanese pronunciation for 'L' and 'R' sounds the same.

(Edit: Seems like it is 'Lock on' after all!!)

As for my thoughts on the songs themselves, so far they sound great, but to form a proper opinion I need to hear the whole thing as well as see how it pairs with the visuals.

Now to the actual PV itself.. (Attention: Spoilers!!)

First up, as expected, there's a lot of new footage shown. Many of them are from the episodes shown in the previous PV which I've already discussed (go read it if you haven't, since this is technically a part 2) so I'm not going to talk about any episode shown previously unless it's new or specifically worth mentioning..

First, I want to talk about the adaptation of the hilariously deceptive 'Lum becomes a cow' chapter. Let's be honest, this is hands down the funniest AtaLum chapter of all time and it looks like the remake is making the AtaLum moments in this one extra dramatic (they even added rain for more effect!) just so the final payoff would hit us in the most hilarious way possible (unless those bits are from something else but I doubt it). AtaLum enjoyers (me included) are being really well fed this cour, huh?

I don't know where these and a few others come from (please tell me if you know!!). I'm guessing the fourth one might be from the chapter about Ryu's mom since it was already confirmed previously and the montage looks like a flashback with lot of beach vibes but I might be wrong. The Kotatsu Neko one might come from the Kitsune (fox) chapter with the photo and camera since I remember a similar scene which looks like that shot, but again I might be wrong. There are a few other scenes as well (Onsen-mark getting hit, Ten hanging from a tree and such). Maybe they're anime original scenes? Who knows, but we'll know sooner enough...

That's really all I have to say anything new about the PV, everything else are chapters I've already pointed out. That aside I do have to give props to how absolutely gorgeous everything looks as well as the fluid animation. The above shot of Lum and Ten sleeping is so pretty!! There are others but there's too many to count and it's obvious which all they are. I also like how Inaba's bunny realm looks and I'm also in love with AtaLum's outfit colorings for their 'date' in the electric jungle arc, they're kinda caramel coded!! Speaking of AtaLum, the PV also showed a lot of their key moments which surprised me since I though they'd keep those a secret till the episode airs, but to be fair, it's only bits and it did end up making the PV a bit emotional.. :')

(I had space for one more image till I hit Tumblr's limit so here, have an Inaba coming out of a trash can. He looks so proud of himself XD)

Anyways, that's all for now. This cour seems to be very AtaLum focused, to the point where the OP and ED album cover arts have both Lum and Ataru in it!! But it still has other fun storylines as well and I'm excited for all the episodes, may it be big or small. There's one week left and we'll probably get next weeks episode titles on Tuesday (as how it always is). One more week, here we go!!!

[wyntereyez]

I'm going to talk about Holiday Matsuri before I forget everything.

I found out about the convention at nearly the last minute, probably due to deleting my Twitter account, so I didn't see Neil announce he was going. Since I hadn't seen Neil since MegaCon in February, I was excited. He was going to be near me again! The tricky part was that it was the weekend before Christmas, and I wasn't sure I'd be able to get time off my retail job. However, I was prepared to call in sick if needed, because after the hellish holiday months, I deserved this.

Turns out, I didn't have to call off. Which was kind of disappointing. So much for my small act of rebellion.

I was able to attend Friday (I just worked five hours in the morning) and Saturday, which I had off. So I planned to get some ops and autos with other guests on Friday, and devote Saturday to Neil's line.

Due to CIRCUMSTANCES, it was nearly a disaster. I ended up still being in the looooong registration line about ten minutes before my first photo op. I may have been panicking a bit. By which I mean, a lot. Fortunately, one of the staff was going down the lines doing arm bands to save time, and when I explained my situation, he told me to go up to a desk, and they took care of me. So, now it was five minutes to my op, and I hadn't had any time to figure out where anything was. A staffer showed me on a map - but it ended up being a different photo room from the actual celebrity ops. Those were on the complete opposite end of the convention center from where I was.

And the convention center is huge. I was sweating by the time I actually got to the right place, with a lovely glistening face and frizzy hair. Joy. But I'd made it.

My first photo op was with Maggie Robertson, Resident Evil Village's Lady Dimitrescu herself, as well as Baldur's Gate 3's Orin the Red.

I was the only one in line for her.

I was also the only one for the following photo op, which was an RE Village op with both Maggie and Neil.

Maggie asked if I was there for RE or BG3, and I told her both, which seemed to delight her since she'd mostly been encountering BG3 fans.

After we took the photo, Neil was brought in for the RE op, asked if I wanted RE or BG3, and when I said Resident Evil, he immediately started doing Heisenberg lines while Maggie just elegantly loomed over us (she's tall, and Neil was crouching). It was hilarious!

Once I'd finished, I immediately went to Theo Solomon's autograph line. He saw me wearing a Legend of Zelda shirt, which I'd joked was appropriate for a holiday convention because it was green and Link is elf-adjacent, and we talked about those games for a couple minutes. I also thanked him for coming to another American convention, because he's done very few of them compared to the others. For my autograph, I picked the gorgeous art print he had of Wyll, and admitted that I thought Wyll looked really good with the horns. Theo agreed. (Look, the circumstances about how he got them sucks, but he did look good, okay?)

I then went to Maggie's line and selected a Lady D print that matched a Heisenberg print I had. There was an option for Maggie to draw her special Vampy doodle for an extra $10, but I was spending enough as it was, so I just went with the regular signature. Maggie warned me she liked to deface herself in prints with her photo, and asked if that was okay - I was fine with that - and she went to town on the print. And drew the Vampy I didn't pay for. Oops.

For our table selfie, she directed me through a variety of poses, and it turns out I will in fact let Lady Dimitrescu boss me around with no question. LOL.

And that was my first day.

On Saturday, I'd arrived early, intending to secure a good place in Neil's autograph line. And I would have been third in line, but there was a snag - they weren't letting people hold places in line for photo ops unless you had someone else actually, physically there with you to hold your spot. I had a photo op with Neil, and autographs didn't start until after the photos, so I would have ended up waiting four hours only to lose my spot.

Yeah, not happening. I'd take my chances and get in the auto line after my photo. But that freed me up for the BG3 panel!

There was already a line for that, even though it wasn't for another hour and a half. So I sat down in line and made myself comfortable and sat on my foot, which fell asleep.

Deeply asleep.

When the line started moving, I stood up, took a step, and promptly fell, scaring the hell out of some volunteers. I got up, then fell again. It's like my foot just wasn't there. So now I had some lovely bruises on my knees, and my hand somehow, and some freaked out staff. (I'm fine besides the bruises; I just didn't give myself any time to get feeling back in my foot because I didn't want to hold up the line.)

I got great seats for the panel, though.

They didn't cover any new ground; they'd been doing panels for about a year now, and mostly this was the panelists having fun and the moderator, Wee Claire, doing her best cat wrangler act.

She tried to bring them out one by one, but when she got to Jen and Aliona, Jen had Maggie's hand and Maggie was pulling Neil behind her.

They tried to start with a lightning round with fast, short answers (the other guests all turned to Neil here, LOL!)

Things we actually learned:

Ranch ornaments are a thing

Wee Clair doesn't like Ranch, which caused Dev and Jen to walk off stage in a huff

Neil is BAD at answering questions where you're supposed to choose between two things without thinking about it. (For example, Wee Clair asked for them to choose between Christmas sweaters and Christmas pajamas. Everyone else snapped off an answer. Neil seemed at a loss, then defended that he doesn't wear either. He continued to be bad at this game.)

The cat that Astarion was based on passed away. Apparently, he was old; he'd been a neighborhood stray for 15-20 years, so he'd had a long life of mooching off his various families!

Wee Claire said she'd read Neil would have been happy to play a goblin in a tavern if it meant he could be involved in BG3. She then asked him to act out a goblin character, which she named Kevin.

My Neil photo op was next. The line was pleasant, because we all shared common interests, obviously. The woman ahead of me was going to do a Y'allstarion op, and had brought a cowboy hat to give to Neil if he wanted it.

When I saw him wear the hat in her op, I realized I had a dire need to also get a pic with him in the hat. So I did. No regrets.

And then came the autograph line. We'd been assured that Neil had gotten faster, and the line did seem to progress pretty well. I think I was in it about three hours? Still long, but nowhere near what his waits had been.

When I got up there, I included my internet handle as well as my name, because I wanted to see if Neil continued to ignore my real name and call me wynter.

Blue Owlz Medic was sitting next to him, chatting with everyone waiting, and to my surprise, she recognized my name! I wasn't aware I was that visible, yikes?

And then it was my turn for an auto. Neil was once again very polite when he introduced himself, then he looked down at the little post-it with my name and immediately recognized my handle. He remembered that he'd seen me somewhere earlier this year, though not where (I'd seen him at MegaCon), and then broke my brain because he thought I was one of his mods.

How... how am I so visible he thought I was a MOD?! I'd considered applying, but decided against it because I'd never been a mod before and that would be an overwhelming community to start with. But it sounds like I would have had a chance to get a position because they 'know' me?!

Halp.

Neil and Blue both thanked me for my contributions to the community (halp?) then I got my table selfie. And Neil asked if he could hug me. I've never had to ask him for a hug, but I've gotten hugs every time I've seen him.

And that was my Christmas present to myself. I managed to accomplish a lot in two days!

And that was basically it for me. There was a search for an Astarion charm that I saw next to Blue; someone had given it to her and I had a DIRE NEED for one.

[the-mercurial-star-o-vesper]

TF: ONE - A REFIRE

Alrighty its been a bit, and still gotta give both kudos (and null rays) to the TF medium that got me into Transformers.

I already did an initial critique, so more or less I'm gonna end up repeating myself (like I dunno remember entirely what I said... And its my blog anyway, BROKEN RECORDS BABY!)

As it were though, just in case, Spoilers Below.

I'mma reiterate. The art style and the environments? Gorgeous. And the animation, smooth as hell. The animation and art departments out did themselves here, this shit is Awesome.

( And who ever is doing model placement is clearly a fan, because you can spot just about everyone in the crowds everywhere... even if its a bit nonsensical. )

And the Quintessons? Scary as Hell.

The concepts behind the story, are also awesome. There's a lot of implications to think about, there's a greater world build going on... Also glorious.

And the history of relationship between Orion and D16? That's a new one, that's something to think on. (D16 effectively replaced Dion in this canon).

...

The problem is, is that all of this would make a great series... ... But an awful Movie.

And while several of the lore changes are cool, most of them are also nonsensical.

That results in a Lot of Character Breaking, even for TF.

Its an awful movie because of the pacing issues. Everything is too Damn Fast. Certain scenes are placed in areas that, honestly, break the line of thought. Fights are too fast. The environments go by too quickly. Character Personas and choices are rushed.

The movie wants to fill itself to the brim... and instead of overflowing, the damn cup broke beneath the weight.

All that's going on, would've benefited its story far more, by having a TV series (Or hell, a book). Slow things down, let us get a real good look at the environments being shown, at the characters being portrayed. Because so far, the environments are speeding by too fast, character decisions are being made at a flip of a switch as opposed to build up (leaving some pretty nasty implications, given the overall messages of the film).

The lore shifts are... nonsensical. What I mean by that, is less backdrop (because that shit has been nonsensical since after Beast Wars), and more character lore.

Like, why is she going by Elita-1, when she's mean to be Ariel? A fanfic could prolly have a damn good answer, if not more, but I'm asking the Movie why that is, not the fans.

( I suppose in a sense she's meant to replace ironhide, which okay, cool--but bulld up to the why would've solved the question. This goes back to "This need to be a Series, not a Film". )

Elita-1 was built along side Optimus, they're a paralleled pair here, so the shift here comes off as less story and more like "Oh fans will recognize Elita-1"

(And I gotta tell you, a movie by recognition alone isn't a movie, its a budgetted fanfic--you want substance. )

Over all though, Elita-1, historically, has always had issues with inconsistant character portrayals, because she really wasn't treated as a character in the OG Comics and OG Cartoon, and its hard to make any kind of homage to "CHARACTER WHO IS A GIRL". Dat shit wasn't good in the 80s and its still not good now ( turns out, if you're sexist, you're also an awful character writer--Who knew. )

So her taking the place of Ironhide, one of OP's longest companions and friends, is honestly a pretty awesome idea. The problem here, however, is that its not explored within the time it needed.

(ONCE MORE FROM THE TOP: It needs to be a SERIES not a MOVIE )

Why is Bee there? Bee is the kid character. He's explicitly portrayed as the former Rookie of the Autobots, and the youngest member. But him here, in this canon, makes him one of the Oldest Autobots instead.

Which okay, that's an idea... And he is funny and comedic...

... But he's not really a character, is he?

By what this film has built up within itself, this Bee is one of the OG autobots and has received the absolute worst the system has to offer (bar being executed), and still comes off as optimistic even by Optimus' standards. ( There's an idea of "The only thing you can control is your attitude" going here--which is a real life lesson to take if you're looking to get your morality from TV. )

However. The moment the line happens. They get captured, Bee is along side Dee when all the shit goes down, and Dee doesn't actually explicitly do anything to Bee (and in fact, goes out of his way to avoid upsetting Bee--albeit, prolly to avoid upsetting the nusto-bot on level 50, and in fairness, I can't blame him). And its at that point that Bee, kinda stops being a character, and more or less stays a joke.

Because imagine, what kind of scene you'd get, if Bee actually stepped in and tried to talk Dee down or do Something.

You wanna tell me that Bee, the guy that is explicitly going to become Bumblebee one of the most Iconic Autobots, just... gives up on the thread entirely? Goes nuts with Knife hands and decides that "Y'know my new buddy I just saw being tortured really isn't worth the trouble".

Hrm.

A character has impact in-story that isn't just upon their audience. Characters are fancy talking objects within the story, their actions create the story as it goes (which is another reason why this should've been a series), their core character gives reason to those actions even as their surface character gives irrationality.

(Welcome to complex Character Dynamics!)

If you have neither, then it become Plot Demands, and you've effectively just made kindergarten storybook. If that's what you were trying to achieve, congratulations! this will be the greatest kindergarten story ever, and you're going to inspire a lot of kids to like robots.

( I know back when I was in kindergarten, this story would've have fucking Awesome as is. I'd prolly try to draw all the cool robots. )

If not, back to the drafts with you.

Dee and Orion.

Y'know, there's a history here that needed more time to explore. The on surface character relationship is great, but it does rob the nuance of the situation the moment the Line happens.

FOR ONE THING ORION KILLS A LOT MORE PEOPLE IN THIS FILM.

Every bot we see is a person, even if they look like a Vehicon. That's still people. If this is a dictator regime, then guess what, your guards and your army are still folks in a bad situation (even if it comes with more perks than mining).

Circumstance Makes Us. Judging Circumstance as Intention is part of why governing systems get so bad.

[ ONCE AGAIN, it would've benefited being a series, that explore who these folks are. ]

So far, the film is going "Its okay to kill folks if they're faceless and you have good intentions and ideals and its all Impersonal!"

The OG Optimus would have Agonized over it. These are all people, and he's having to kill them--that would burn something bad in him. That would make him Sick. That would take him outta commission for a while.

Meanwhile, Dee here injures one guy (In a fight that was expect to occur--like he didn't just haul off and attack him, the Bandits the High Guard became did fights like that for position), and kills a dictator, and that's apparently a start of darkness.

And oh yeah, he's angy, he's passive aggressive, he's kinda selfish...

BRAH IF THIS WAS A DISCWORLD BOOK, YOU JUST MADE DEE INTO FUCKING STONEFACE VIMES. You made him into mother fucking Tiffany Aching.

Quote: Turn selfishness into a weapon! Make all things yours! Make other lives and dreams and hopes yours! Protect them! Save them! Bring them into the sheepfold! Walk the gale for them! Keep away the wolf! My dreams! My brother! My family! My land! My world! How dare you try to take these things, because they are mine!

TF:One Optimus is a character that is far scarier than Sentinel ever was, because he's charismatic, and he still kills people as he holds his high ideals and thems who follow him are just, Okay with that.

( You can excuse a lot of death and destruction if you think its for the greater good. )

( OG Optimus, would not have liked TFOne Optimus )

Meanwhile, TF:One Megatron talks big, and but realistically loses his mind over the course of some heavy revelations--he was already coping to survive, and now he can't cope and has to face it. He takes the pragmatic options, he uses his selfishness as a weapon to stop someone (Even if its for personal vendetta, the point is, Sentinal had to be Stopped--and let's face it, the Public Opinion thing wasn't going to work anyway. Back to the Discworld: The dictator is just as often in power because the Rich are also benefiting from him, and the rich hold power over the system--if you're going to play the Fascism Analysis, You have to include EVERYONE).

For the guy who says he won't show mercy anymore, he is the most merciful. The most hesitant. And yeah he's brutal, but he also isn't Wrong. He mostly just talks big.

( And frankly I wouldn't fuckin believe in Primus either. Gods don't help people. People help people. )

But at the end of it, because Hasbro is obsessed with the status quo and boiling complex people down into base components, and our over enthusiastic filmmakers want Iconic over Substance and Aesthetic over Character (You can convince anyone of anything if you have enough music and lights), Megatron is still the "Bad Guy" and Optimus is still the "Good Guy".

( Evil starts when you treat people as things. That's an idea from Granny Weatherwax of the Discworld. I would argue that Optimus treats people like things more than Megatron does here, Megatron agonizes every step of the way, where Optimus doesn't even mention the bodies he crushed up. )

And now the Character Breaking Backdrop...

... You mean to tell me all this happened in less than two days? They snuck outta a secure city like Sherlock Holmes, had a trip to effectively the Tomb of Durin LOTR-style, got caught by TinTin Bandits, and then got coptured by the Wicked Witch Sentinal and his Flying Monkeys...

... In just... Two days?

Yeah... Yeah no. No. The pacing is Fucked brah.

And. Shockwave doesn't act like that brah, your argument is invalid.

ADDENDUM:

Y'know, I don't actually take that much issue anymore with Starscream having more experience, but I still question him being older than Megatron. But again, it's an interesting twist that separate TF:ONe from the rest of the "usual" canon. And in an ironic parallel, he becomes just as effective in story as Bee does. You could've just removed him entirely, removed the entire bandit scene, and frankly, not a damn thing would've changed about the film. Dee could've gotten his cannon any other time. If anything it might've improved the pacing by a lot.

It does however raise a lot of world-build questions--like if he's High Guard, who was his Prime? Who outta the 13 did he serve under? ( Someone is gonna bring in the idea that he worked with Sentinal to betray the primes--but I think that's too easy. Its far too easy to make Starscream into one-sided evil, and this film, even at its stupidest, doesn't like doing that. And frankly, I'm tired of one-note Starscream Portrayals. Like Bee, you gotta give him more depth than his Sunbow Counterpart. Look the guy is petty but he ain't shallow. )

The fact that the High Guard has hit and run tactics and didn't really try to help anyone... is because they can't. They're jets. They'd be shot outta the sky by every bigger player Iacon, and good chance they've been whittled down consistently over the years.

Of course, there's the "Dee shot Orion" thing. Orion ran right in front of a gun, and frankly, there... wasn't any saving him after that. He still would've died even if Dee had pulled him up. Orion was being Stupid. Good intentioned... still fucking stupid, man. Good intentions don't save you from guns. And Sentinal here was a Dictator who did awful things, and frankly, likely would've continued if spared. I sure as hell wouldn't have stepped in defense of him. And of course, remember that Orion has killed a lot of people by this point, and now he's trying to save the Dictator.

The best aspects of the film are the things that kept getting skipped over for pLoT. I'm tired of the gods damn Plot, give ME CHARACTER. I am beyond tired of Shiny Pretty Graphic mediums who have no character or writing beyond a Rag Magazine. Immediate fail if you have good graphics and bad writing. I've had Years of It. Decades even at this point, and I ain't havin' it no mores.

[xcerizex]

Lovebrush Chronicles: Godheim Review

_________________________________________

My very long, informal, and definitely biased review. This will contain minor spoilers for the Godheim arc only so take caution. This review is also only limited to the Godheim series so there will be no overall thoughts on the game itself. I followed Otome Kitten's format and I really hope it helps out any beginners to LBC.

____________________________________

ART:

I found the art very pretty and was extremely glad to see that they did not skip out on giving us CGs either! The sprites all looked good, but I personally have some issues with Lars' outfit (the orange did not look good on you sweetie 💀).

Not all CGs are drawn by the same artist however, which may be off putting for some. The total count number of proper CG's for each route (not including common route) boils down to around 4-5, so that also may be a pet peeve for some.

On another note, there are also mini CG's which appear as small boxes, whether you consider it as an actual CG is up to you. Personally, I enjoyed the roles they played towards aiding the narrative.

Unrelated note, I'm banging on the floor crying and wondering who the hell did Ayn's CGs (the one where he was cleaning his sword was my absolute favorite 😍) and why didn't they come back.

MUSIC:

If there's one aspect of the game that I shall praise to the ends of the earth, it's the music.

Colour me shocked when I listened to the intricate and deep soundtracks for the first time, they just took my breath away! There were many gorgeous orchestral scores that depicted the fantasy setting perfectly. Not to mention the battle ost's which had more effort put into them than necessary.

My personal favorite OST's would be the "River's End", and "Starry Sky", which plays the same tune as the OP song you hear when you log onto the game. It's honestly so iconic. 😭👌

Opening theme:

VOICE ACTING:

I was absolutely flummoxed by the stacked japanese voice cast, which all included extremely famous seiyuus from the otome industry:

1. Ayn Alwyn

[JP VA: KENN]: Shelby Snail (Cupid Parasite), Yukimaro (9R.I.P), Limbo (Bustfellows)

2. Alkaid McGrath

[JP VA: Tachibana Shinnosuke]: Seiya (9R.I.P), Henri (Piofiore), Rafayel (Love and Deepspace)

3. Lars Rorschach

[JP VA: Junichi Suwabe]: Artem (Tears of Themis), Van Helsing (Code: Realize), Sukuna (Jujutsu Kaisen)

4. Clarence Clayden

[JP VA: Kosuke Toriumi]: Rei Mukuni (CollarXMalice), Ichiya (Variable Barricade), Chojiro (Nightshade)

5. Cael Anselm

[JP VA: Daisuke Hirakawa]: Saint Germain (Code: Realize), Tower Overlord (Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk), Lucas Proust (Virche Evermore)

COMMON ROUTE:

To my delight, the pacing was done very well. Nothing was dragged out and the introduction to the overall plot of the game was well established minus a certain plot point which definitely could have benefited better by being introduced in the common route itself.

I didn't really expect it to turn out as dark as it did however. The common route + modern prologue took me around a total estimation of more than 4 hours but in reality the prologue itself shouldn't take that long at all.

ROUTE ORDER:

Once you've completed the common route, you are given the option to start either Ayn's or Alkaid's route. After you've completed both, Lars' route is unlocked. And once you've finished all three routes, Clarence's route unlocks as the grand finale.

This was my personal playthrough and I wouldn't have changed it if given the chance. I believe it had the best flow of story progression. Though that was mainly because I wouldn't have enjoyed Alkaid's route as much if I'd played Ayn's first:

Alkaid = Ayn = Lars = Clarence

____________________________________

AYN ALWYN:

- Crown Prince of Godheim

- Tsundere

- Sweet tooth ❤️

Ayn is Lars's cousin, but you soon find out that there is not a hint of familial love between them. He shows up as a mysterious figure during the common route and portrays a conflicting character, making the heroine unsure of his standing. While he appears blunt and crude, he is a determined young man who's sworn vengeance, and with an unexpected love for sweets.

Ayn's route in my opinion had the best consistent pacing as well as romance. I did find the romance somewhat abrupt early in the story, but the strong chemistry between him and the heroine more than made up for it! 🥰 It was just so enjoyable to watch them banter with one another and watching them just click.

I enjoyed the storyline for this route a lot and I think it had something to do with the fact that Ayn's route provided a different perspective in comparison to the others. In this route, we learn more about the the political situation surrounding Godheim and the royal family.

I also loved Ayn as a character, and not unexpectedly became my oshi ❤️.I do think a lot of people will enjoy him as a love interest. His route also has a wee bit of spice 👀, so for y'all thirsty gamers be sure to savor it slowly, as it's the only bit of spice we're getting here lmao. I did find some of his actions, mostly in the bad ends, to be OOC, but I easily brushed it off seeing as how much I liked him.

ALKAID MCGRATH:

- Member of the Noventrate

- Good, sweet boi

- Tea

Devoted and caring, Alkaid is the mage assigned to guard the heroine during her stay in Godheim. He's always expressing his concern for the heroine and will do anything to help her, even if it means betraying his mission.

Alkaid is the character who the heroine interacts the most during the common route. His romance with the heroine was sweet, even if it did feel way over the top in it's initial stages when I first played it. But once I got to learn more about him, I realized that he truly just wanted the best for the heroine, romantic feelings aside. 🥺

The route was fine. But I personally wasn't the biggest fan of the direction (?) it took on halfway. Some parts of it felt irrational to me and didn't really feel like it had any real relevance to its own story.

On another note, Alkaid is such a dreamy man. 😩 I adore just how respectful of a man he is in general (women respect juice, bottoms up!), and it was so sweet how attentive he was in making sure the heroine was always out of harm's way. I guess you could say he was someone akin to a hero in fairytales.

LARS RORSCHACH:

- Emperor of Godheim

- Good at combing hair 🥰

- That chest doe 👀

Known as the "Tyrant Emperor" from the heroine's manga, he immediately sweeps her off her feet, claiming her as his bride the moment she first arrived at Godheim. While his initial impression was flirty and playful, he lives up to his name as a cold-blooded tyrant. For some aspects at least.

His route focused more on the Silver Knight, which was the main (and wrong) reason why I enjoyed his route so much! 😆 On that note, I think that the writers had a bone to pick with Lars. They just had to force him to share the spotlight with an intriguing side character lmfao. The route itself was paced and executed well for the majority, but the quality of the writing towards the end was slightly skewered.

But to be honest, I quite enjoyed Lars a lot as a character, rather than a love interest. It was interesting to see the conditions surrounding his birth as a tyrant and his motivations for his questionable actions.

That's not to say that the romance wasn't enjoyable. I actually quite liked the relationship between him and the heroine. I found some moments they shared together really sweet. I also adored the development of Lars' feelings, and you can see just how important the heroine's existence was to him at the end of the route.

Though I guess I would have found the romance more believable if the heroine articulated her feelings for Lars more. I found it difficult to see the romance from her side. In short, the romance wasn't it's strongest point.

Clarence Clayden:

- Godheim's Archmage

- Get the tissues

- I've never been the same since...

Clarence has somewhat poised himself as an antagonist, only giving leeway in Lars' route. Distant and cold, he is stubborn in wanting to use the heroine for his goal and is willing to sacrifice anything to achieve it.

This route was an emotional rollercoaster. It broke me down, dumped my heart 6ft underground, trampled on its grave, and then some. It left me broken for a whole week for real goodness gracious...😭

This route can probably considered the "True Route", seeing as how it tackles the problem straight on unlike in other routes. The pacing slows down a little bit for a few chapters, but once it picked itself back up, it picked up HARD.

Now let's get to the romance. Out of all routes, some may say it had the least sugary romance, and a part of me agrees. But do igaf? No! ❤️Clarence turned out to be such a longingly sweet character and despite all the harm and pain he's done, I have no qualms in forgiving him and wanting to love him with all my heart🥺, as does the heroine.

I honestly don't want to say too much as it may ruin the experience. I went into this route completely blind and boy was I glad. All I can say that this route was the most popular out of all the routes for good reason. Got me playing up to 2 am with no regrets.😆😭

CAEL ANSELM:

- The Silver Knight

- The bias wrecker

- The sus

- He ruined me...

He is known in Godheim as the Silver Knight as well as the leader of the Rebellion. Decisive and apathetic, the heroine is unable to affect him emotionally in any form.🤡

Cael does not have an actual route, but a personal story, labeled as Expedition from his POV which may serve as an epilogue to the Godheim series. In his story, any unanswered questions are explained here, as well as the many actions he took that did not make it on screen.

If this wasn't a review I'd spend one whole section brainrotting about him so be grateful I'm trying to keep this short. 😅 Cael is a surprisingly interesting character by nature and it was very liberating to finally get a glimpse of his true feelings and thoughts throughout the heroine's journey in Godheim.

I'm scared to say more in case it may ruin any surprises. In my opinion, I enjoyed his story a LOT! It definitely made me feel depressed and empty in its own way and it hurts my heart to see that he never got a route of his own for reasons I won't get into right now. Absolutely amazing and one of my favorite parts of the Godheim series!

_________________________________________

TRUE EPILOGUE:

Once you've finished all routes, the game will give you the option to choose one "True Ending", wherein you choose one of the boys to have a happily ever after with and by your own accord.

"One can only paint a world in which they believe in." 🥰

Please note that you can only choose one boy at a time. Your choice will then give you a Pictura based on which boy you choose.

To change your "True Ending", buy the Diadem from the shop to change your choice. You will not receive a different Pictura however.

I think the best thing about these endings were the music.😆 Each soundtrack was unique to each character and drop dead gorgeous to listen to. 😩

HEROINE (LITTLE PAINTER):

- Cheeky

- Anonymous manga author

- Needs a therapist (rly tho)

Despite China's strange attempts at creating self-insert heroines by leaving them nameless, the Little Painter was far from a blank slate! She's extremely relatable when it comes to her reactions and actions. Often times I would react a certain way to something an LI said or did, only for her to do the same thing! 🤣 I guess that could also count as a self-insert personality.

But if there's one thing I admire her greatly for, it would be her drive and determination to save Godheim. Her journey was far from easy and I doubt I could ever stay sane the way she did. Tbh, I didn't like the fact that her sufferings were never truly addressed properly, or rather, professionally ig?

I also found her quick adaptation and flexibility to her new environment extremely impressive. That goes the same to the way she wielded her powers for the first time. And how she grew stronger to go head to toe with even Clarence in his own route! You👏 Go👏Get👏 Em👏 Girl!

That said, she's not perfect. Some people found her to pushy and annoying though I personally found it okay. I was really glad how she didn't force herself to tolerate any crap and got that anger out rightfully.😆 (Asmoran deserved it...)

_________________________________________

Final Thoughts:

I have enjoyed my journey immensely! The whole premise and setting drew me in, and I was surprised with the impressive narration which absolutely pummeled me to the ground (mostly on Clarence's route and no I'm not shutting up abt that).

The localization was also really superb? Yes it had a few typos + mistakes here and there, but they really pulled out all the stops when it came to making the dialogue natural and relatable. Not to mention a few large words that even I don't understand. 😂

It's not without it's imperfections of course. There are definitely some issues with the writing. And if you're looking for heavy romance or even fluff, Godheim is not the place to go to. 😅

Playing the Godheim arc took me about a week-ish, considering I had to level up and such. It may be a tedious process for some, but for me, it was an iron gate which I violently shook every day, screaming for the next chapter.

All in all, it's definitely worth playing! You don't lose much anyway considering it's free, so just give it a try. You can always drop it if you don't like it. My rating for this game is also very much biased and should not be taken seriously:

8/10

[veradragonjedi]

@airlocksandaviaries

Something about Luke being the spitting image of his father

[nijigasakilove]

Love and Basketball: The Anime 😂 this one has been hyped for such a long time and after the first episode, I completely understand why it has so many fans. Telecom delivered one of the most visually pleasing shows of the year. Gorgeous art and designs really and that Higedan OP as usual bangs. Really eating good with anisong this season.

As a basketball lover it’s cool seeing a love interest who’s pursuing her goals in the sport as well. Chinatsu is not just eye candy, I can tell she has a lot to her that I’m looking forward to seeing explored. Mad respect for her being the first to arrive and last to leave everyday in the gym. Mamba mentality.

I remember seeing panels of this on Twitter a while ago and thinking to myself how tf is this shonen and not shoujo, but after the Hina fanservice shots and seeing how it focuses on Taiki yea it makes sense lol. Still, there’s been some good shonen romances of late so I got high hopes for this one. Hina is really cute too, both girls just seem great so far.

The last 5 minutes of twists were so well done I was genuinely caught off guard. The animation of Taiki running to the gym to convince Chinatsu not to go overseas was sooo good, but the coolest part of that scene is how we don’t even realise the impact the smallest things we say to people can have. Here he is thinking he needed to convince her to stay and his passing comment about seeing how hard she worked and how hurt she was about nationals is what saved her. She’d already chosen!

I went in completely blind so the reveal that Chinatsu would be staying with Taiki and his mom actually had me saying wtf lol. I’m not the biggest fan of this gimmick but we’ll see how it goes!

[hotwaterandmilk]

Following up on this post about bargain shoujo/josei (and sapphic magical hijinks) titles from Sentai, the items I ordered have arrived and aside from the damage to the Princess Tutu blu-ray spine (seen above) I'm pretty happy.

As with all standard Sentai releases these are barebones blu-rays with little more to offer than the series and some clean OPs/EDs. Princess Tutu is the exception as it has had several previous quality releases and features more on-disc goodies like commentaries, outtakes, and some ballet-focused features.

(Though full disclosure, I only got the standard version of Tutu. Sentai does have a far more elaborate steelbook release for the title that die-hard fans may prefer over this normie set. I like the series but I'm not that keen so I settled for this version.)

Petshop of Horrors is an old title and thus only SD, so what we have in this release is about what I was expecting. Flip Flappers! is pretty disappointing though as the individual Japanese blu-rays featured gorgeous illustrations for the packaging (by tanu and Kojima Takashi both), commentaries on disc, and deluxe settei booklets. I understand not being able to bring over some of this more elaborate content for what is obviously a minimalist release, but the use of one of the promo anime images for the cover over some of the lovely OG art is a shame.

Similarly Anonymous Noise had really plush individual disc releases for its anime adaptation featuring Fukuyama's distinctive art on each cover. US releases don't tend to worry about goodies for all but the biggest anime titles these days, so a stripped back release was about all anyone could expect for a niche Hana to Yume title adaptation. But I feel it's a tad disappointing that, like with Flip Flappers!, the generic promo image for the series on a thin wisp of paper is all you really get in terms of packaging.

In saying that though, the actual episode content for all releases is solid. The actual transfer of newer titles like Flip Flappers! and Anonymous Noise = good and the Princess Tutu remaster looks lovely. Petshop of Horrors is the lowest quality video of the bunch but for $4 USD I've been more than satisfied watching Count D fuck with dumbasses in SD.

Ultimately none of these releases feels as considered as the titles I've purchased from Discotek Media recently, they just don't have that boutique, fan-focused touch. However, I do still think they are worth owning if you are interested in the series mentioned.

Physical media is something I feel very strongly about so I'm obviously biased about buying things when you're in a position to do so, but given the way streaming has stripped back our ability to possess modern titles, rewatch them, and even preserve them, I'm always thankful when I can grab a physical bargain for my collection.

[fallloverfic]

Solo Leveling Episode 6 Thoughts

Excellent ep!!! Spoilery thoughts for the anime, novel, and manhwa below, also CW: blood, murder

The OP is still so good. Between Studio PPURI's animation and the song, just ahhh. I'm so excited for the Igris fight in the show T-T

Oooh more Go Gunhee and Woo Jinchul! It's fun to see how much more they're showing up, even more than in the manhwa! Jinchul looks really nice.

lakjdalj I know when Jinchul says, "Would it be all right if I asked for a bit of instruction? . . . It might be the kind of change of pace you need, too." (smile) he's saying, "let's spar" (it's a martial arts thing), but alkdjlaj I love this addition to the cute flirtiness of their relationship. It's very sweet. The novel gave us Gunhee asking Jinchul out for drinks, and now Jinchul is like, "let's spar :3". It's so cute.

Jinwoo v the dungeon boss is pretty cool. It's neat to see Jinwoo move so much, and the animation is gorgeous.

Jinwoo's jacket is giving me Seragaki Aoba DRAMAtical Murder vibes with its ridiculously wide collar lol (Doesn't help they're both that same bright blue).

Gunhee's fond gaze as he faces Jinchul :3 Also it's neat to see Gunhee fight. We're not getting to the Frost Monarch this season, so it's a nice little preview of hopefully future seasons.

They're so cute T-T

Jinwoo sadly accepting he'll get betrayed T-T He's so used to it T-T And Jinho standing by him!!! Love He :3 Even Jinwoo is like : D Jinho still calling him bro, bless.

O.O Park Heejin, Gina, and Lee Bora (had to look her up, since she's a manhwa-original character, and I believe only actually named in Arise) know each other??? And Gina is wearing normal clothes before reincarnation timeline??? Marvels, all!!! And they know Iron??? (And of course he's still a dick lol) This is so nice :3 Folks know each other :3 It's really wonderful world expansion.

Jinwoo with his necromancy shadow energy already, looks beautiful.

The song during the Lizards fight section (Dark Aria &lt;LV2> by Hiroyuki Sawano, lyrics by Benjamin) is gorgeous. I don't know why tumblr is screwing up the formatting here. The link works. It just looks bad.

Jinwoo using dash to appear in front of Kyuhwan was an amazing bit of animation that was honestly terrifying alkdjlaj His face alkdjalj It's terror time, indeed.

Bye Dongsuk. Aww, poor Jinho, just getting nearly murdered and traumatized a dozen times, but hey, you get a sugar baby out of it kind of, so win-win?

I feel like learning a bunch of people died is the really wrong time to geek out over armor releases.

And a little peek of Dongsoo. Bleh.

Wonderful episode :3 Loved all the stuff they added! This series continues to feel like really fun fanfiction in all the best ways. The animation was beautiful! The music was great! Jinwoo is going through so many discoveries and revelations and realizing how confining and horrifying the system is in new ways, and Jinho is having all sorts of discoveries of his own. Can't wait until S01E07.

More episode thoughts:

Season 1: Episode 5, Episode 6 (you are here), Episode 7, Episode 8, Episode 9, Episode 10, Episode 11, Episode 12

Season 2: Episode 13, Episode 14, Episode 15, Episode 16, Episode 17, Episode 18, Episode 19, Episode 20, Episode 21, Episode 22, Episode 23

[sol-dial]

: D

I see that and i give you 3490 natasha stark’s supervillain origin story - wherein civil war was avoided but steve d*es anyway. 

you cant convice me that tasha stark wont go apeshit if her husbands gets k-worded in front of her

also on twitter

[mental-mario]

My WONDERFUL Diagnoses

Hey friends! I hope you enjoyed reading about my experience in the mental hospital. Next time I will have to get myself thrown into solitary so I can recount what that's like as well! I went for a follow-up with psych the other day, and he threw a couple more diagnoses in my hat. I thought it would be fun, if you humor me for a moment, for me to list my ongoing disorders in alphabetical order!

Feel free to sing along and list yours in the comments!

Antisocial Personality Disorder (except for you fine folks!)

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Binge Eating Disorder

Bipolar II ("can't rule out")

Borderline Personality Disorder

Cannabis Use Disorder (not a disorder!)

Major Depressive Disorder

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Oppositional Defiant Disorder

Substance Abuse Disorder

So looks like we're up to 10 and counting! I'm sorry if there's any of you I'm forgetting. I'll be sure to give you a shout out as well!

Now, onto my uber mega important review of SMB Wonder! It's late, but that is because it's far more prestigious than any of these so-called "professional" outfits!

I'm reminded of the phrase "an elephant never forgets," and Elephant Mario (or character of your choice) does indeed make for an unforgettable experience! Yes, this is another positive review, and if you happen to think the game sucks, you're wrong.

I don't think I have heard or seen a negative comment about this game, aside of some complaints about the frequency of the talking flower, but Nintendo did give the option to shut the voice off. For me, it isn't a big deal, and I actually enjoy it for the most part.

It really can't be said enough just how beautiful and vibrant this game is. The art is gorgeous, and the animation blows me away! I particularly love the different animations for entering/exiting the warp pipes, and I also love the attention to small details, such as the use of both hands alternating when throwing fireballs. The various facial expressions throughout the game also really help bring it to life.

If I had to provide any critiques, it would really be nitpicking. I guess maybe if Prince Florian could remind us about 100 more times that we can change badges by pressing R, maybe then I would remember...seriously though, I wouldn't mind having up to 6 players for co-op, some of the Wonder scenes are a bit repetitive, showing practically the same theme of effects in different courses. I might've liked more variety of power-ups, but again, nitpicking. I would also love to change the entire button mapping to suit playing with other controllers, but that's a complaint I have with many Switch games. I mean, why sell the retro controllers and make it so I can't use them?!

I love that the game moves so fluidly, even in multiplayer. I like that the game doesn't hiccup when a player dies, gets hit, or gets a power-up. I love that the game has accessibly easy courses for my kids to play along, but also some legit challenging 4 and 5 star courses for more experienced old grizzled vets like myself (not to mention the secret exits and courses). I also like the star rating system for each course's difficulty. It is also rather funny, and my family and I were hysterical plenty of times throughout the campaign. I think the piranha plant parade deserves its own spin-off!

Finally, I absolutely love the online mode. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it, but it really works. It can be toggled on/off with a quick pause of the game, and I think having shadows of other players only added to my experience. I would've liked to see some more emojis to communicate a bit more with others, but I am happy to see that I didn't experience any latency or slow-down with the online play. The heart point system for reviving players, sharing a saved power-up, and reaching the goal concurrently also makes for some nice feels, especially when playing solo late at night and feeling lonely while smashing a full family sized box of Pop Tarts. I regret nothing! I recall having one spot in particular where I was stumped and threw the question mark above my head, and someone else immediately ran over and mimed what I should do. It worked, and that was an awesome feeling! That and having someone else share a power-up with me made me feel like somebody cares and that I'm not alone, and I've actually been able to friend a lot of the players I've encountered!

In conclusion, you couldn't wipe the smile off my face while playing, especially in that first hour that I was playing it for the first time when it dropped at midnight, and putting that smile on faces is exactly what SMB is about. I've heard a lot of comparisons to Mario World. I don't know if I would go that far, but I do recommend playing the game with the SNES controller if you have it. That controller is still the best of all time, but that's for another post!

Please tip your blogger. My psychiatrist is worried about me, and I could use the help! Besides, I have to buy the family a new box of Pop Tarts! And be sure to friend me on Switch so we can play some online races and campaign together as well! I'd love to get a whole party going online. Then I can feel like I've got real friends while also being able to cater to my introverted ways and bounce if I need to! I'll try not to do that to you, though! It would be nice to play with each other for once, instead of the usual playing with myself...

Friend code is: SW - 4419 - 5159 - 3401

[jessicajagg]

King of Fighters: Maximum Impact (2004) PS2 Review

SNK was in a weird spot during the early 2000s. Their contemporaries had shifted nearly all of their focus on 3D games made to be played at the home but SNK continued to produce their coin-op titles for a dwindling arcade industry.

In an era where arcade games were largely released in collections, SNK put out single game home conversions with little to no extra features while Neo Geo emulation became more prevent online.

None of this is to say SNK's output at this time was lackluster. Metal Slug, Garou, Samurai Shodown and King of Fighters continually pushed the standards for pixel art, still looking gorgeous to this day. But the market trends had shifted and without a digital market place to sell shorter arcade games they had trouble finding an audience outside of hardcore enthusiasts. Hence in 2004, rather than another yearly entry of KOF we would receive a 3D spin-off "King of Fighters: Maximum Impact"

Maximum Impact ditches the staple team battle system for a traditional 1 on 1 bouts. Team battles are only available in versus mode and have loading screens inbetween each round. The game still mainly takes place on a 2D plane with the only 3D manuver being a side-step that I personally didn't find particularly useful. What is incredibly useful are the 'body slams'. Simply hold forward or back while mashing punch or kick and you'll perform a little combo string, no doubt a mechanic implemented to help newcomers but it can go boths ways and you can easily find yourself cornered.

Which brings me to the most frustrating aspect of this game, the final boss Duke. Now we all know and accept SNK final bosses are bullshit but Duke has to be the cheapest and most uncreative version of an SNK boss. Duke has an aoe super that will drain more than 80% of your life in a single hit. He can activate it instantly and unless you hit him just before it activates he has super armor, meaning most of the time if you press a button he can just activate his super and get you. Said super also breaks your guard when you block it, can't be jumped over and because Duke has infinite meter he can just spam it over and over again.

But the thing about Duke is that it's also insanely easy to break the fight if your character has a good jump kick. I've had fights last between 1 minute to an hour entirely depending on my characters ability to bullshit their way through the fight.

The game features 20 characters, 6 of them being original. The story sees two lead characters, brothers Alba and Soiree take on the KOF Tournament to wrestle control of Southtown from the aforementioned Duke and avenge their friend Fate. If you play as anyone else you basically get the same intro and outro cutscenes for everyone with minor dialouge changes.

The original character designs are rather hit or miss. The only real stand out is the disciple of Kim Kaphwan 'Chae Lim'. The others range from unremarkable to bland, it's not surprising alot of them haven't made any return appearances.

The game does however feature some stellar alternate costumes and models for each character. Some of which are so good, you have to wonder why it isn't the default. The alternate costumes for Mai and Yuri in particular are ones I'd love to see make a comeback.

The visuals while they don't match the visual splendor you'd see in the previous years KOF 2003 or Namco's 3D fighters of the time they get the job done. The music doesn't quite hit the mark but there are a few standout tracks. The english voice acting however is hilariously horrendous as nearly the entire original KOF cast are given voices that don't match the characters at all. The voice acting was the biggest point of contention from reviewers of the time, so much so that the Xbox port gave the option to swap to the Japanese.

Maximum Impact for all it's faults is a fascinating time capsule of the times and SNK's efforts to break into the mainstream. The game was successful enough to see a sequel 2 years later that would greatly expand on the foundation this game laid out.

[glassmarcus]

UI Overlord

So after going through the Kingdom Hearts games again, I've been thinking a lot about menus. Mainly what percentage of a game can I handle being comprised of navigating menus. And I'm gonna cut to the chase and say that my conclusion was that the percentage doesn't matter at all. Navigating menus actually rules as long as the menu is worth navigating.

I've found that a good menu is either extremely complex or extremely simple. Look at the first Kingdom Hearts game for a perfect example. There are 4 options and 3 drop downs. That's it. In fact it’s so lean that it expects you to play an action game while navigating the menu in real time. Secondary actions such as using items, magic, and summons are done though menu navigation. Simplicity breeds brevity, and Kingdom Hearts keeps it simple so that you spend as little time in a menu as possible. And this isn't cutting out the fat, this is turning menu navigation into an entirely new layer of challenge in a way that Active Time Battles were never able to do. Active Time Battles are basically normal turn based battles that replace turns with cool down timers added to any character action. I've always disliked them because they add unnecessary stress in a way I don’t find all that engaging. I find no pleasure in navigating a menu quickly if that's the only thing I'm doing, so I'd rather just sit still and play at my own pace. The menu in Kingdom Hearts acts as a way to do non standard actions in combat as opposed to being the sole interface in the game, hence why I’m perfectly content with how it is implemented.

Navigating menus is not stimulating, at least not for me. Thinking is stimulating, which is why I love complex ones as well, as they show you a myriad of options to solve any problem thrown your way. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories has more of a rolodex instead of a traditional menu, which isn't any more or less complicated than the original. The complexity comes from the deck builder outside of combat. This is the actual fun part of the game. The combat is just executing on a gameplan you decided on before the encounter started. Ordering cards in the perfect sequence and predicting where the cards will be positioned later in a fight. That's the good stuff and it's certainly better than playing the actual game.

What does this have to do with Unicorn Overlord, the 2024 Vanillaware developed strategy RPG? Well, in Unicorn Overlord, the menu IS the game. It's got wonderful art, charming writing, and a simple yet engaging story, but if you look at its body composition it is like 80% menu. Setting up your party of 50 soldiers is done through a menu. Customizing your character's actions for specific scenarios is done through a menu. Positioning your units before a skirmish is done through a menu. You can explore the overworld to your heart's content, watch the gorgeous fights play out, and view a few cutscenes every now and again, but it won't be long until you return to the warm nutritious bosom of the unit editing menu. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

What separates Unicorn Overlord from a lot of RPGs I've experienced is that you don't play as individual characters, but multiple groups of characters. You normally expect to control a single party of colorful protagonist, or in a lot of SRPG’s cases, multiple individual characters. Unicorn Overlord does both, having you build multiple RPG parties that you can control on a field. I found that the core joy in this game was constantly tweaking my units so that they synergize perfectly. I've always enjoyed doing this with a single party in games, so it's not surprising that doing it with 10 parties gets a little addicting. It’s fun forming a team built for a specific niche and tunnel visioning them into a special ops unit. It's fun getting all the characters you find aesthetically congruent into a squad and making then work. If fun making the most busted all purpose posse you can make. And a big part of that fun is that it lets you use its large cast of wonderful characters instead of letting them rot in the reserves.

I've talked a bit in the past about RPG party structure and I how I prefer all characters be involved in some way rather than being benched for the whole adventure. The way Overlord gets around this is by just having a large amount of those characters be playable at once. There are 10 parties of 5 characters you'll end up making by the end of the game. This means most units are gonna see some action as there are only like 60 unique characters you’ll end up recruiting. I say ‘only’ as if that's not a huge amount, but it really doesn't feel that way. You're never overwhelmed by choices in party members. As you get more available slots for your initially small roster, there will continually be a few characters left out of fray. Every new unit you get and every new slot for your party you unlock makes you rethink your team’s composition and your ability to do so slowly grows. You'll steadily end up managing dozens of characters, eventually building parties not only by battle strength but character affinity as well.

Each character has their own social link with any other character. This link is built up through having them fight in the same squad and dine together (a completely optional mechanic that allows the artist of this game to flex their ability to draw mouth watering food). As the social links build, you unlock buffs to show how your characters are now working with each other more effectively. They unlock scenes which you can find on the map that show off that individual character dynamic. Basically, it's Xenoblade Chronicles, but with 10 times the amount of party characters. And just like in Xenoblade you can track the affection of every character through a large yet easy to navigate menu. Everything in this game is pulled together through menus. I don't really have a larger point than that, I just think it's neat how engaging menus can be. Probably didn’t need to write that much about Kingdom Hearts in the beginning. They’re really only superficially connected. This write up is a mess.

A few more things I wanna mention about this game. For as much of it is quality menus, its time spent being interactive gameplay is just as good. There's a solid gameplay loop in exploring the continents, finding new villages, saving villages from enemies through missions, foraging for materials to give to the villages, and repeating the process until the whole nation is prosperous. On map enemy encounters are also fun because they introduce a way to gain experience and practice without doing missions.

The story is not 13 Sentinels tier. Few things are. But it's satisfactory for what it is going for. It's a simple fantasy narrative, with great voice acting and it is easy to get attached to characters. And boy these characters all have banger designs. Not a single miss. Especially Selphie, Rosalinde and Yunifi, a trio of girls which mark so many of my boxes it's kind of eerie. There's something for everyone here, and most of them aren't extremely horny. There's clearly restraint taken. Though if you are a degenerate, you will be served as this is still Vanillaware we’re talking about. I really want to go back and play their entire ludography one day, because they seem to just never miss.

[curestardust]

Dust Watched: Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2

Genres: Shounen, Action TW: body horror // 23 episodes // S01 (x) M01 (x)

GodDAMN!

✧  story  ✧

Season 1 of Jujutsu Kaisen starts out with about 5 episodes covering the "Hidden Inventory" arc which is a flashback to Gojou and Getou's time as students and the events that lead to them being who they are in the present. While this arc is loosely connected with the rest of the show, it sets a tone for the rest of the season. As opposed to Season 1 which played around mostly with the hallmarks of Shounens that are more comedy and combat centric with low-stakes due to it being the introduction to the series, this season goes absolute balls to the wall from the get-go.

Both "Hidden Inventory" and the following "Shibuya Incident" arc, which the rest of the season covers are grim, brutal, bloody, and unforgiving. Plot armour? Forget it. This is an outright war. People die and the next second we're already back to fighting because otherwise, they're next.

I'll honestly say, that no anime had me literally on the edge of my seat almost every episode in a LONG time. 90% of this entire season are high intensity fights with high-stakes. Although, exhaustion does seep in near the end of the anime. We spend a tad bit too much time with the same characters fighting the same enemy in the same (bland) location. But aside from that, and a very few slightly weaker episodes, this season was absolutely top notch.

✧  characters  ✧

I don't have much to say here as everyone is an established character. Character progression and introspection does happen to a few characters but I don't want to name names cause even that could be a spoiler.

✧  art  ✧

I think we all know about the unfortunate conditions that were revealed to be happening at MAPPA. It was noticable in some episodes but especially the last few that aired after the news came out. However, any quality drop is the fault of the higher-ups and NOT the animators. The stuff the team put out with JJKS02 is absolutely phenomenal. The OPs themselves will probably go down as some of the best in the 2000s. Throughout the anime itself, the use of colours was gorgeous and the amount of insane fight scenes is mindboggling. Honestly just... I've no words.

✧  sound ✧

Besides the obvious bangers for the OP/EDs and the OST, I really want to shout out the sfx team. That scene where the sound of the shower slowly morphs into the sound of clapping literally gave me goosebumps (because I suffer from a mild form of psychosis and this is LITERALLY what it's like and I've never seen it shown this accurately.)

I didn't know where to put this but I also absolutely need to mention the way they set up the atmosphere. Some scenes were near psychological horror levels of suspenseful. I loooooved it.

✧  overview ✧

Season 2 of JJK had a great start, an insane middle, and very slight decline in the end. If the final fight with a certain someone was cut short by maybe 1-2 episodes, I think the pacing would've been much better. Still, what a ride this was, and the set-up for S03 is looking insane already. (Just treat your staff as damn human beings MAPPA, jesus christ.)

My Rating: 9.5/10