#Not to mention; OP came out of a THREE YEAR HIATUS to post this? What. WHAT?

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Everyone please take a look at what might be the best MDZS art of all time.

rising from the grave to sing @poorly-drawn-mdzs's praises, link to their excellent hollow knight x mdzs au here

[rwbyconversations]

Why Oscar’s writing has been disappointing

Stories rely on their characters. You can tell a grand, sweeping narrative that spans continents and timelines but if you don’t give a rats ass about the people at the center of these events, viewers won’t care. Stories with high kill-counts like Walking Dead, Game of Thrones and Attack on Titan rely on audiences forming an attachment with characters very quickly, so that the possibility of their sudden death is all the more painful for the viewer. Long story short, if you can’t make an audience care about your character, it can be hard to keep them interested. 

RWBY has overall done a fantastic job at getting people to fall for its cast; I’m a case in point with how hard I’ll go to bat for Emerald and Mercury. But be it the obvious choices in the main cast, the wide array of villains to obsess over. The fandom even has a few eccentric folk who stan for people not seen in years! (shoutout to CFVY fans, who knew you’d get rewarded over the whole Coco in Chibi thing by getting a book?) But rather unfortunately, while one character has managed to earn a fanbase happy to see them get content, the writing has consistently failed one particular character, through constant refusals to allow them the screentime they deserve and often putting it in the wrong places when they do get morsels of time to shine each year.

Oh no, not you. I’ll get back to you before this hiatus is out. 

... actually why are his gloves orange of all colors? And what’s with the banages, is he planning on cosplaying Dazai from Bungou Stray Dogs at an Atlas convention during the off-season?

Yeah, no, I’m talking about Oscar Pine. First introduced in Volume 4, Oscar has now been a part of the main cast for half of the show’s runtime. In that time Oscar has developed psychosis, met a ticket-punching man, got stuck in a house for a month, fought a teleporting staircase man, was involved in a train crash, bought new clothes, and stole military property. 

Notice something? Nothing in there mentioned Oscar getting character development. Or rather he does... but it’s always offscreen. Oscar is infuriating in the sense that he has a lot of wasted character potential to be one of the best characters in the show- a simple but efficient design, great voice work from Aaron Dismuke and a charming personality that makes him a likable hero. But in spite of that all, Oscar constantly get the shaft when it comes to his screentime showing him developing from his problems, and each volume so far has had Oscar be faced with a trial that would make for a truly fascinating character arc, only for him to get over it while the camera’s focused elsewhere. And that’s what I’m going to focus on in this essay- I’m going to go over why I think Oscar’s writing has been consistently mishandled, and my hopes for the character in Volume 7. 

God damn I don’t like doing this, I want to like the farm boi most of the time 

1) Volume 4: All these voices running through my head, I’m on fire, face burning red

Oscar is introduced very early in Volume 4- as in, he’s in the first episode and is the eighth character we see onscreen after the villains. Oscar is in fact, if you don’t count Ruby’s character short, present in Volume 4 before the title characters. His first episode is... a lot of nothing, mostly just Oscar doing some farming. Oscar’s introduction does a good job telling us a bit about his character without him saying much- he’s prone to daydreaming while working on the farm, clearly not enjoying himself and his work. It matches up with what we learn later, that Oscar dreams of becoming a hero. It’s a stock motivation, and a stock background, but a simple and effective way of setting up a hero who desires the chance to prove himself in the wider world. His intro scene is a nice, quiet beat between the dark opening of Evernight and Salem, and the more frantic action of RNJR fighting the Geist. But overall the time the fandom was wondering what was up with Oscar- he wasn’t in the OP and nothing had set him up before now and yet here he was, getting focus before the main girls.

It takes until Oscar’s second appearance, three episodes later in Family, that we get the real reason for his importance- Ozpin’s in his head, but it would take another three episodes, in Punished, for this to be elaborated on in an unintentional Christmas gift from Rooster Teeth; Ozpin’s in his head due to their Auras and souls merging thanks to Ozma’s pact with the Archangel Asshole a few centuries back, and now Oscar is starting to act like an Assassin’s Creed character with all the memories that are in his head that he didn’t create. It’s a cruel irony for Oscar- Ozpin plays on how Oscar wants to be more than just a farmhand to try and get him to go to Mistral, but Oscar’s body language and face make it clear that this wasn’t how he saw himself getting some new life choices. Rather tragically, Oscar finally gets the chance to be part of something bigger but the manner in which it’s offered to him is anathema, as it’s coming from a literal voice in his head who claims to be a dead headmaster, and more importantly, he was never offered a choice- this was thrust upon him, a young 14 year old child who never asked for this burden of responsibility. And the last shot of Oscar in this episode already has him cracking under that burden, stuck on his knees and unsure what to do. 

(also btw Oscar’s Aunt tells him to clean his hands but Oscar’s model has gloves on all the time, so... how would he clean his hands? Or does he read books with dirty gloves? Eww)

It’s an interesting place to leave Oscar, at the metaphorical and and spiritual crossroads, and means the viewer wants to see Oscar’s next actions and the deliberation between the easy, boring life he knows or risking everything on a voice in his head telling him to try his chances in the big city. Sounds pretty interesting, right?

Not to the writers, unfortunately. Because when we next check in with Oscar three episodes later during Kuroyuri, Oscar’s already on the road to Mistral with his backpack all ready to go. That deliberation, the consideration, Oscar eventually choosing to trust Ozpin and go along with his plan? All done offscreen. Similarly, Oscar goes from treating Ozpin’s voice as an irritating thing to be annoyed has been chucked out a window- now out on the open road, it doesn’t “feel crazy” anymore. It just feels like such a cheap way to handle Oscar’s writing- rather than show his development naturally, it just fast-forwards until it reaches a point where it skips all that. And unfortunately, this isn’t the first or last time Oscar is victim to the writers fast-forwarding through his development moments. Given how much of Oscar’s arc hinges on this crucial first step, it just seems inane to me that of all of the potential Oscar scenes to cut... him coming around on Ozpin and making the call to leave was what got the cutting room floor. Especially since nothing in his Kuroyuri scene was all that essential for Oscar in contrast, barring setting up the the mystery Hazel and Ozpin’s past.

Oscar doesn’t appear again after his encounter with Hazel until the finale, when during the montage of Ruby’s letter (that consists of half her dialogue this season) we see Oscar on the train to Mistral, which really only caused a problem thanks to all the people who used it to ask why RNJR didn’t take a train. He also appears in the post-credits scene, meeting Qrow at a bar and asking for his cane back, the volume ending on Oscar extending the cane experimentally. 

Being blunt, I feel like Oscar should have been cut from Volume 4 and just introduced in Volume 5 with the bar scene. Volume 4 already had to juggle far too much in RWBY and Cinder’s plots, and adding Oscar to the mix unfortunately meant the screentime for some characters had to suffer- especially Yang. His time this season ultimately goes nowhere and only gives him a basic background that most fans would have already guessed from his character design, and the already wobbly Jenga Tower that was Volume 4′s screentime didn’t need more blocks thrown on top. I like a fair few things in Oscar’s arc, but it’s content that ultimately I’d have been fine having left on the cutting room floor. Hell, if nothing else, Oscar’s first scene should have ended with Ozpin’s reappearance, that these are two separate scenes is mind-boggling and left the fans wondering what the hell was Oscar’s purpose for weeks. 

Oscar’s debut arc has its ups and downs, much like the volume itself. His intro scene and argument with Ozpin are both well-executed and show the viewer the vocal dynamite of Dismuke’s performance or just set up his base character, but for every good thing to come of Oscar’s arc, it’s fraught with issues- most notably, his scene of choosing to leave his home being omitted and beginning the unfortunate tendency for Oscar to get the short end of the stick when it came to development and agency, which undermine his choice to leave. But overall, Oscar built himself a small but dedicated fanbase with his debut volume, even immediately shooting up to become a potential target for Ruby’s affections in the fandom shipping wars. It was a rocky start, but surely now that Oscar was going to have his plot merged with RNJR, he’d be able to handle his screen-time more effectively, right? 

Right? 

Volume 5- Two for one on meatsacks

Volume 5 is Oscar’s worst volume so far, being blunt. It’s a lot of people’s worst volumes though (Cinder, Ruby, Weiss, Mercury, Adam, mine) that at least he can share the load. It doesn’t help that he’s not in half the damn thing because his body is being used by Ozpin to regale the audience with expositon that makes them actively yearn for the sweet embrace of death... or just the return of the World of Remnant shorts. Oscar’s first scene in Volume 5 is just a recycling of the Volume 4 post-credits scene, which raises the question of why the scene was used in Volume 4. I don’t think it’s even touched up, they literally just copy-pasted it. Much like his first scene in Volume 4, his intro scene this volume is intercepted by comedy relief- last time it was Jaune’s miserable attempts at being a strategist, this time it’s Drunkle Qrow.

... You know, this scene ages poorly in hindsight given how just one volume later Qrow’s alcoholism is treated with ice-cold severity. 

Episode 3 follows up on this and gives us Ozcar’s first major scene of the volume, and unfortunately also sets up their dynamic this volume. Oscar gets some awkwardly charming moments with Ruby but overall the scene is dominated by Ozpin taking over for the first time and explaining his reincarnation powers alongside setitng up RNJR’s plot for the season- “training.” An episode later sees the entirety of this training, with Oscar and Ruby engaging in hand-to-hand combat and Oscar getting a lore dump from Ren (in hindsight this is novel not just because they’re outside during it but Ren’s the one delivering the infodump and not Ozpin). Ozpin barely even factors into the episode barring some fisticuffs and a generic speech at the end. But the scene is overall just pointless to the narrative beyond loosely setting up Jaune’s own Semblance unlocking, and this is the last we hear of RNJR “training” for the upcoming trials at Haven. Hell, even though the story makes a point of noting Oscar still hasn’t unlocked his Semblance, that still hasn’t come up two years later. This scene really only pays off in one immediate way:

This is Ruby’s sole contribution to the Battle of Haven after getting KO’d by Emerald outside of just yelling orders for offscreen fights, and all this helped do was begin to convince people that “MERC’S A BAD FIGHTER WITHOUT EMERALD.” 

Lighting the Fire’s training scene is one of Oscar’s only major scenes where he interacts with RNJR to boot for the entirety of Volume 5, and it’s quite sad that nothing really comes of it. It just serves to highlight how little Oscar interacts with the other kids, as most of his dialogue this season is just as Ozcar.

Necessary Sacrifice then, should be great on paper. It’s an entirely Oscar and Ruby scene with Ozpin only chiming in at the end. It has Oscar confronting Ruby and himself on his fears and how Ruby can put up a brace face, and Ruby finally gets to open up a little about losing Penny and Pyrrha at Beacon. But the scene just falls flat on its face and botches the execution. Putting aside Ruby’s own problems in this scene (her speech feels incredibly pre-rehearsed, as if she spent hours practicing it in the mirror to ward off anyone actually prying into her life). Oscar’s anger and fear come out of left field with nothing setting this up in his prior scenes this volume. Ruby needed a scene where she talked about losing Penny and Pyrrha, but it should have been during Volume 4, with Jaune. Having it now with Oscar feels like the writers apologizing for having Ruby get shafted for screenitme during Volume 4... during the volume where she gets shafted by literally everyone else. The scene is frustrating to me, it could and should have been a lot better (musically at least I love the reprises of When It Falls and Lets Just Live), but it just feels like a hasty patch note. Oscar doesn’t really develop from the situation and his fears are just forgotten for the rest of the volume. 

Oscar then proceeds to basically sit out Volume 5 barring Chapters 11 and 12. I still don’t get why he wasn’t part of the dinner scene with RWBJNR, since it would have been so very easy for him to be part of the dinner and get the chance to interact with the rest of the kids. Oscar wants to be a hero, so let him... actually interact with heroes his age. Have him brought up to speed on the crazy adventures the team have, let them get to interact with Oscar without having to deal with his backseat driver. You could even make something tragic of the scene where Oscar is forced to go away so Ozpin can take over, and the team’s faces fall flat when Ozpin gets right to talking shop which leads to the YOU TURNED THEM INTO BIRDS exchange. But otherwise, the rest of the House scenes revolve around Ozpin talking. The kids talk past Oscar, and again, you can very easily make something tragic of that as Oscar could grow to resent Ozpin because none of the others see him as himself, just a puppet on strings. But again... Oscar’s just not allowed to develop onscreen in this show.

And perhaps the worst thing about all this is that whenever Ozpin actually is called out on his tactics, one of the most pressings ones in his possession of Oscar,a  14 year old boy, is never used as fuel. Granted, yes, Ozpin has no control over who’s his next host but surely someone, somewhere is going to opine how morally bankrupt it is that Ozpin essentially conscripted a child not even old enough to get a learner’s permit into his eternal shadow war. It’s times like this that my theory that Jaune was going to be Ozpin’s original replacement before the backlash to Jaundice made them backtrack looks more and more possible. 

The Haven Battle episodes quickly have Ozpin force control away from Oscar, but it’s not like Oscar did much before then anyway other than serve as the conduit for another lore dump on Hazel’s backstory. He doesn’t try and learn why Leo defected and manages to trounce the headmaster so well one wonders how the hell Leo got put in charge of a combat school. After that, Ozpin takes over (and we admittedly get some of the coolest fighting in the actual Battle of Haven in Ozcar vs Hazel) and Oscar only briefly returns in the last seconds of the finale to drop the sequel hook that they need to get the lamp to Atlas.

Volume 5 is just a bad season for Oscar- this is the one time we don’t get his eternal phantom of offscreen character development because it’s not fair to say Oscar has any development in Volume 5. He’s immediately forced to the back to serve as a projector through which Ozpin can put the audience to sleep, most of his actual scenes are irrelevant or just feel like a waste of time and he basically sits out the entire finale. It’s just infuriatingly incompetent writing- we’ve gone from Oscar being a waste of time in Volume 4 to just being a waste of a character in Volume 5 who barely gets to express himself. Little is done with Oscar that could not be achieved by putting a tape recorder beside a lampshade and calling that Ozpin’s new host. Volume 5′s bad for a lot of characters, but at least most of the rest of the cast had good seasons beforehand to show how well they could be handled or written. Oscar didn’t have that, and while ultimately the blame was placed more on Ozpin for hogging the time, Oscar’s critics began to grow and he was derisively seen as just a plot device to let the writers bring Ozpin back and serve as a mission marker for the heroes. One more bad season for Oscar could spell the end to his character ever having a warm reception among the fans and critics. Drastic action would need to be undertaken in order to regain trust in Oscar. 

3) Volume 6- Tossing out the baby with the water

So the big plan to give Oscar some screentime... was basically cut Ozpin out of the story entirely. Oscar is almost entirely himself after the fourth episode, it’s the longest run of episodes with Oscar as himself that we’ve gotten in the show to date and Ozpin doesn’t even surface until the finale. There’s a lovely line of Oscar’s in episode 4 that finally lets him address some of the fears and concerns he should be rightfully worried about- “I’m just going to be another one of his lives, aren’t I?” Oscar’s tone is just so bleak there, it works super well and it was nice to finally see Oscar expressing human emotions. It even my cynical heart hope that Volume 6 would finally see Oscar get the limelight he had been denied for two years running.

But then the ball is just dropped hard. Oscar’s left in a background role for the Brunswick episodes, stuck working on a tire while RWBY encounter the Apathy. What’s already a somewhat rushed resolution to the whole plot of “RWBY express concerns about going onward to Atlas in light of Jinn’s revelations” now leaves Oscar, the guy carrying Ozma’s soul in him, out of the moment. He just gets to be tired and tell Blake to make food if she’s hungry. 

Argus at least alludes to putting Oscar in the driver’s seat for his own solo arc where he explores the city alone after Jaune physically assults him (why didn’t anyone stop Jaune from hurting Oscar two people saying Jaune’s name with all the concern of someone stubbing their toe just feels cheap). Even though I was cold on the episode as a whole, Dead End did set up the wonderful idea of an Oscar episode, one where he maybe forces Ozpin to come out so they can talk frankly for the first time in two volumes. Maybe they could even rip off Avatar (some more) and have Oscar meet Ozma himself, using his conversation with the two as his own chance to rally onwards and decide to bring the fight to Salem.  It could have been a really sweet moment of him backing Ruby up in her desire to keep going, the two forming a mutual bond of bolstering each other’s hopes as they carry the burden for their team. 

But no. Because I can’t have nice things, in an otherwise near-perfect episode where I actually got Mercury and Emerald screentime and the lovely Pyrrha statue scene (which I low-key feel like Oscar should have been a part of but that’s a subject for another day), Oscar just gets over his issues, buys a new outfit and dodges past his problems, getting to develop past them, off-screen, for the third time in a row. 

As far as I care, Oscar stole the money for this costume from either Qrow or Jaune and I don’t care if Miles says to my face he earned the money legit, I’m keeping that headcanon. Also, why are his gloves still orange? They don’t fit the rest of his costume.

If there was anything that got cut from Volume 6′s final half, I’d bet money on it being Oscar’s solo arc. Kerry himself has admitted during the RWBY Rewind for the finale that stuff got cut, and it’s very likely (going off comments from Miles that The Lost Fable was a huge resource drain) that this content was going to be part of the entire episode that was cut (Volume 6 initially had 14 episodes but around Christmastime this was remedied down to 13). It’s actually downright insulting and infuriating that Oscar got the shaft again, especially when Volume 6 finally seemed to be addressing the issue of Oscar never getting growth or focus. He was free of Ozpin, and with Ozma’s history revealed it was the perfect time for him to embrace the past forced upon him and resolve to become a hero. But no, the episode count went down so we had to wave goodbye to Oscar’s agency again. 

Just think of how beneficial it would be for Oscar to actually confront his sorta-not-really ancestor, who may have had to watch as soul after soul gets consumed for him. Has Ozma ever had someone tell him none of this was his fault? I feel he needs it. 

If I was a more suspicious person I’d say it almost feels deliberate, that someone on the writing team doesn’t like Oscar and is purposefully keeping his growth offscreen out of childish spite. But three volumes in a row now, Oscar’s growth has felt artificial and fake, and leaves him feeling like an afterthought. I know it’s not a problem of RWBY not being able to write new characters well, just look at how fleshed out and beloved Maria was after just her debut season. But Oscar just can’t catch a break and it’s frustrating to watch. In a volume that otherwise made huge strides in solving many of the pre-existing issues in Volumes 4 and 5, that 6 still refuses to treat Oscar with anything other than mild apathy is just mind-boggling. 

Like, what was even the point of having Jaune say Ozpin was just pretending to be Oscar? To make Jaune look irrational? To plant the red herring in the viewer’s minds?  The rest of the volume itself shoots the idea down hard, and it feels like it was going to be used during Oscar’s potential cut scene, but again... it was cut. I can only go off what’s in the volume and unfortunately, Oscar in Volume 6 is only marginally better than he was in past Volumes. Bless his heart, Aaron is trying to save this character but the writing itself is dragging Oscar down every chance it can get. 

4) Volume 7- The potential breaking point

Oscar’s character is currently in a make or break spot, and Volume 7 will either finally solve his growth issues or this will be it and his fandom will reach a boiling point. The worst thing is, it’s a very easy solution to fix Oscar.

Just put his character development onscreen. 

That’s it, the golden answer to all of Oscar’s problems is to just stop cutting his development and agency short. Oscar has potential to be the most tragic character in RWBY- someone who wanted to be a hero, only for the responsibilities to be forced on him without his consent. He’s someone who the rest of his companions oftentimes don’t see as a person, just a walking telephone to their boss. Imagine how dehumanizing it would be, especially after Qrow’s “Don’t lie to him, we’re better than that” line? Imagine being someone effectively living on borrowed time because sooner or later, your consciousness will be absorbed what makes you you will be but a distant memory? Oscar could easily be a shining example of character growth, he could easily have a great arc of learning to deal with the burdens of Ozma’s struggle, of being the target of Hazel and Salem’s ire when he did nothing to earn it. But it needs to be soon, or all the potential in the world won’t be able to save Oscar. 

Perhaps Volume 7 will have a flashback to Oscar in Argus having that confrontation with Ozpin and getting his new outfit. Perhaps Ironwood will be mistrusting of Oscar claiming to be Oz, and Oscar will have to step up and prove he is who he says he is. Qrow never apologized to Oscar for punching him, so an apology would serve both Qrow and Oscar’s arcs as Qrow reignites his spark to fight. A potential confrontation with Salem where Oscar may try something the previous Oz lives didn’t could work wonders for Oscar. Volume 7 could still easily have Oscar get spotlight, but with how many plates the season is already planning to spin (Tyrian and Wattts going to Atlas, Cinder and Neo going after Ruby, Weiss dealing with her family, Ruby learning about the Silver Eyes with Maria, a likely return of Faunus racism for Blake and Yang, Atlas class warfare, the token reminder that Pyrrha died so Jaune, Ren and Nora can be sad, etc.) I’m already accepting that Oscar is the most likely candidate to get the boot again. It’s happened before, and I try to avoid being a sucker who falls for the same thing over and over. Definition of insanity and all that. 

5) Conclusion

Oscar is... I hate to say this again, but infuriating to me writing wise. He has so much potential as a character in terms of his growth but despite having had main character status for half the show’s runtime now, it’s hard to really care. Oscar keeps getting the short end of the stick, and if it turns out that the whole reason he got shafted for years was because of M&K’s mystery fetish, I might actually throw a chair out a window.  

What makes it worse is that Oscar is not a character with no hopes of being salvaged! There is a very easy way to remedy the problem and it’s just to let him have his time to shine and develop offscreen. Flashbacks covering the lost events such as his leaving his farm or gaining confidence in Argus (or even giving Oscar a character short specifically to address these issues) might be belated and feel like damage control- let’s be fair, after Adam’s short this wouldn’t be the first time they resorted to doing damage control in their shorts- but it would be a step in the right direction and show the team are committed to working to salvage Oscar. But they want to do it, it has to be now. If Oscar leaves Volume 7 suffering from the same problems, he might as well get killed off in Volume 8 because that will be it for his character, no one will defend him and Oscar will fully become the heroic Cinder in that no matter what, you can rest assured they won’t get onscreen development from anything that happens. In the meantime, all I can do is hope that this time, things will work out for the farm boi. There’s a goldmine of a character here guys, someone’s just gotta put the work into finding the first nugget. 

In short, Oscar can be a great character, if the writing lets him become it onscreen. But until then, it’s going to be a frankly depressing journey to get there.

Thank you for reading. 

[beersfromthebleachers]

2019 Season Review and Post Season Predictions

The 2019 MLB regular season is in the books as October approaches and the playoffs get underway. To compare what I predicted at the beginning of the season, click here for the original post. This post will break down each division champion and their pathway to the playoffs. Finally, this post will finish with my predictions on what will happen in the playoffs. Let's dive in:

American League Wild Card Teams:

Oakland Athletics

Another year where the Athletics will face off in the Wild Card matchup, and this time they have home field advantage in order to advance to the American League Division Series against the Houston Astros. The Athletics finished the regular season at 97-65, ten games behind the first place Astros. The Billy Beane faithful kept the competition together from the second half of the season while the remainder of the competition fell apart amongst the Texans, Angels, and Mariners. Mike Fiers was the club's best pitcher, throwing his second career no-hitter during the first half of the season. Shortstop Marcus Semien led the team in WAR, setting a career-high with 8.1 and also led in RBIs with 92. First baseman Matt Olson and third baseman Matt Chapman led the team in home runs with 36 apiece respectively. The Athletics are out for revenge after being eliminated by the Yankees last season. They will be hosting the Tampa Bay Rays in the Wild Card Game on Wednesday.

Tampa Bay Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays remained in playoff contention from the very start of the 2019 campaign. In the beginning, they led their division for the first third of the season. By the time the Yankees took over at first, the Rays did not trickle far off behind. The Rays finished the season at 96-66, stomping out the reigning champion Boston Red Sox from returning to the playoffs. Free agent addition Charlie Morton brought talents to St. Petersburg and led the rotation over Cy Young winner Blake Snell, who struggled with injury on and off during the season.  The Rays' hitting was slightly below average, but the team's OPS was .757. To win in the playoffs, you must have the bullpen bolstered in order to close out games. The Rays, however, they know how to take advantage of bullpens late in the game. It will be interesting to see how this team will do facing the Athletics on Wednesday in the Wild Card game.

American League Central Champion Minnesota Twins

It was unfortunate to see the Cleveland Indians fall apart and start to see the beginning of their "window close" for a chance to go for a title after being in the World Series three seasons ago. The Minnesota Twins took advantage of the American League Central and did not let off the gas to win the division for the first time in almost a decade. The Twins had the second-best record in franchise history at 101-61 and was one run short of tying their best record in a regular season. The Twins' rotation was spearheaded by Jose Berrios and a handful of ragtag pitchers like Jake Odorizzi and Kyle Gibson. The rotation alone owned a K/9 of 8.76 which is more than impressive from a group of seasoned veterans. The Twins' hitting is also nothing to sleep on either, as their entire staff holds an OPS of .832. These boys can hit, get on base, and score very fast. Behind All-Star Jorge Polanco, this is a Twins team that will look dangerous in October.

American League East Champion New York Yankees

After watching in the shadow of their all-time rival win another championship, the New York Yankees went to work and geared up to take the division back and make it rightfully theirs. The fight for the division was not easy, the Yankees started the season battered and bruised without some of their best players. Players that stepped up for the Bronx Bombers were Gio Urshela, Luke Voit, and DJ LeMahieu, who was arguably the best Yankee this season. Yankees pitching struggled to keep their rotation's total ERA under four, as the only one that went under that number was James Paxton, who the Yankees traded for in the offseason. However, Paxton struggled with injury and could not maintain his dominance as he had with the Seattle Mariners. The Yankees' bullpen is still one of the best in the league and will be the most difficult to hit against in the American League playoffs. Expect the Yankees to run deep, but they need to get passed the Twins first in the division series.

American League West Champion Houston Astros

Insert the team that is out for blood and looking to return to the Fall Classic after winning their first franchise title two years ago. The Houston Astros were cut short of returning to the World Series after losing to the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series. Locked and loaded with even a better roster than the season before, the team looks like the favorite to win it all once again. The batting is familiar, but it is Alex Bregman that takes charge as the best player in the batting order, followed by the man who was the MVP for them when they won it; George Springer. Not to mention their rotation is lethal for postseason after adding Zack Grienke to go alongside Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole. The Astros are scary good and will take a miracle to beat. They will host the Wild Card winner between the Rays and Athletics.

National League Wild Card Teams

Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals did everything possible to return to the playoffs for the first time, and they did it without the player that they missed out on resigning; Bryce Harper. With tenacity and skill, the Nationals ended the season with a final record of 93-69 which earned them the first Wild-Card spot of the National League. Their pitching has remained consistent behind Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and the newly added Patrick Corbin, while their offense has been firing on all cylinders especially behind third baseman Anthony Rendon. The bullpen for the Nationals is what holds the biggest question mark for the team. Struggling to close out games that are close, their bullpen will most likely need help from their starters going deeper in games this October. This postseason run might be all or nothing for the Nationals, they might be losing some key players in the off-season, including Rendon and Strasburg.

Milwaukee Brewers

After scrapping and clawing their way back from the brink of elimination, the Milwaukee Brewers returned to the playoffs in back to back seasons. With help from division rival of the St. Louis Cardinals, the Brewers were able to return as a Wild Card team after the elimination of the Chicago Cubs. It didn’t come easy for the Brew Crew, but the team limped to the finish line with Final season record of 89-73. In a season after being crowned the National League MVP, Christian Yelich looked like he was going to continue where he left off from last season. His numbers included 44 home runs, 97 RBIs, and 30 stolen bases while hitting .329 in batting average. The Brewers pitching, however, is in some trouble, even in an elimination game format they will have a tough time sending Brandon Woodruff to the mound against Max Scherzer. Sleeping on the Milwaukee Brewers could be dangerous, as they have a fast-hitting offense and a great caliber defense. If they get past the Wild Card expect them to give the Dodgers a difficult time. 

National League Central Champion St. Louis Cardinals

The Saint Louis Cardinals returned to the playoffs after a four year hiatus. The Red Birds loaded up on talent in the offseason by filling their gap at first base with Paul Goldschmidt, who made a huge impact on the team with 34 home runs and 97 RBIs. Marcell Ozuna finally came out of his shell and got back to looking like the player he was in Miami, slashing with 29 home runs and 89 RBIs. Paul DeJong made a statement being one of the best shortstops in the game on both sides of the field, and he complimented it with his bat with a total of 30 home runs. The Cards' pitching was also phenomenal led by Jack Flaherty in the rotation that exceeded expectations accompanied by Dakota Hudson and veteran Adam Wainwright. The Cardinals have some of the best experience with handling the postseason. They have all the right tools to run deep enough in the playoffs and compete with anyone. It will be interesting on how the division series will matchup against the Atlanta Braves.

National League East Division Champion Atlanta Braves

Alongside the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Atlanta Braves are one of two teams that defended their division title and is returning to the postseason for the second year in a row. The fruits of the young farm system are coming in at the best time for a team that is young and hungry to becoming a championship caliber team. The Braves ended the season 97-65, defending against a heavily talented division that was loaded with competition. Ronald Acuña Jr. was on his way to make history and became a 30-30 man with 41 home runs and 37 stolen bases before getting injured. He was accompanied from the heavy bats of Josh Donaldson, Ozzie Albies, and Freddie Freeman. Even former first overall draft pick, Dansby Swanson finally started pulling his weight with the team. The Braves pitching is sneaky with getting quick innings done. A rotation including Mike Soroka, Max Fried, and Dallas Kuechel is more than ready to face any opponent in the playoffs. Watching this series between the Cardinals and Braves will be more than entertaining, whoever comes out of this fight will most likely be a fan favorite in the National League Championship Series.

National League West Division Champion Los Angeles Dodgers

If at first you do no succeed; try, try again…and again…and again for the third time in a row. The Los Angeles Dodgers have been the favorite to compete and win the World Series, except this year they have everything to show for it. After dropping the World Series for the second straight year in a row, the team has been succeeding with a formula of having as many players as possible play the field and score late in games. The playstyle is almost foolproof, there is little to no show of failure in this Dodgers team. Cody Bellinger was the only baseball player showing his talents and challenging Yelich for his MVP title. He finished the season with 47 home runs, 115 RBIs, and a batting average of .305. His supporting cast is collection of young talent that has transitioned well with Max Muncy, Austin Barnes, and the resurgence of Corey Seager to the Dodger lineup. The rotation also had the rise of Hyun-Jin Ryu who led the National League in ERA for the first half of the season. Walker Buehler also did not fall to the sophomore curse and proved his worth to bolster the rotation. Clayton Kershaw kept his cool and remained supreme being the ace of this rotation. The only Achilles' heel to the Dodgers is their bullpen, who have been giving up more runs late in the game than they should. Still, they were the king of the walk-off, so do not be surprised if you see late-game dramatics from this young Dodgers team.

Where does this leave my prediction of the playoffs? In a perfect world, I would love to see a team that has never won a title in their franchise history between the Tampa Bay Rays or the Milwaukee Brewers, both Wild Card teams that no one should ever sleep on in the playoffs. The realist in me has strong consideration of seeing the return matchup between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers, with the same result as before. Zack Grienke will get his bitter revenge by blanking the Dodgers in a championship game resulting him to be the World Series MVP. The pennant championships will be wild series to watch as well. The American League Championship Series will be the Astros beating the New York Yankees in quick orderly fashion. The National League Championship Series will see the Atlanta Braves dragging out a seven-game series against the Dodgers, who will go on to win it in walk-off fashion. It will be one crazy October to watch, let's see who we will see in the Fall Classic!

[mrgameandwrite]

E3 2017 Wish List

Ah, summer time. The days are longer, movie theaters are overrun by superheroes, and E3 is almost upon us. E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) is an annual conference where Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and various game developers showcase upcoming games, consoles, accessories, etc. During the summer when game releases tend to slow down, E3 is a breath of fresh air for the gaming landscape, exciting gamers for what’s coming on the horizon. In anticipation of the June 13th event, here is my wish list for E3 2017 announcements.

Borderlands 3

Right up there as my highest anticipated games of E3 has to be the third installment of Gearbox’s marquee franchise, Borderlands. The RPG-FPS hybrid has been attempted numerous times after Borderlands, but never to the level of perfection that Borderlands (2, specifically) has reached. It’s been relatively quiet since it was first announced back at PAX 2015, and it’s no certainty that it will make an appearance. But I can feel my Tiny Tina tattoo tingling, so that means that I feel some Borderlands news coming my way (that or I have a rash).

WHAT I WANT TO SEE

Borderlands 2 struck gold and is still widely regarded as one of the best co-op experiences in gaming. Borderlands 3 does not need to do much to improve the franchise, but I would like to see more characterization with the playable characters, such as in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (JUST LET ME BE TINY TINA PLEASE). Also, while there has been a break between Borderlands 2 and 3, the series took steps in a different direction with Telltale’s Tales from the Borderlands. Hopefully, the characters that stole my heart in that game make some kind of appearance in Borderlands 3.

Last of Us 2

Back in 2013, Naughty Dog released The Last of Us on PS3, a far departure from the Crash Bandicoot and Uncharted series that made them a household name. This post-apocalyptic game focused on the unlikely duo of Joel and Ellie as they struggled to survive in a world torn apart by infestation. Arguably one of the best games to come out of that console generation, the sequel is due to make another appearance after its debut trailer at Playstation Experience.

WHAT I WANT TO SEE

A new trailer and a release date, simple as that. I don’t know what improvements could be made to a game like The Last of Us (maybe tying multiplayer into the story somehow?). This is one of my favorite Playstation exclusives and I want to know when I can pick up the story again. 

Project Scorpio

While Microsoft will surely have some games to showcase, the biggest event of their press conference will be focused on their new console, Project Scorpio. Microsoft has promised that this mid-generation upgrade will be even more powerful than the Playstation Pro and it has the specs to back it up. If gamers are looking for a top of the line system that can handle gaming in 4K, this is the system.

WHAT I WANT TO SEE

A release date, sure, but more importantly, the price tag. I know that most of us are hoping for that magical figure of $500 or less, but based on all the tech that’s going into this machine, I would not be surprised to see it exceed $750, which will deter a lot of people (myself included) from even considering getting it.

Super Mario Odyssey

As happy as I am to have a Nintendo Switch, it has not been getting a lot of love these days. Yes, Breath of the Wild is one of the greatest games of all time, and yes, Mario Kart is still fun (even after buying it again on Switch), but to this point, there just haven’t been that many games for Nintendo’s new hybrid console that have peaked my interest. That changes with Super Mario Odyssey. Not much is known at this point other than it looks gorgeous and Mario’s hat is alive now , but with this game being the cornerstone of Nintendo’s holiday lineup, I’m expecting it to take over a large portion of Nintendo’s conference.

WHAT I WANT TO SEE

A release date, duh, but also more details on the game itself. But really, I’ll be happy with a release date. Goofy hat antics aside, very excited to sink some more time into my Switch.

Destiny 2

What, you thought Destiny 2 wasn’t going to make it on this list? It’s like you don’t even know me. After taking a hiatus from the game I’ve poured thousands of hours into over the last three years, I’m super excited to start from scratch on a new journey with new guardians on September 8th.  Enough said (for now, I’m sure I’ll have PLENTY more to say about Destiny 2 when I can get my hands on it).

WHAT I WANT TO SEE

Beta, beta and beta. Bungie has been very forthcoming with details in Destiny 2, including story details, changes in weapons, changes to character classes, etc. You name it, they’ve probably mentioned it in some capacity. The only thing that remains hidden is when Bungie will let us guardians get a chance to try out all these new improvements. I would be so giddy if they pulled one of those by-the-way moments and announced that the beta goes live right after E3. Fingers crossed!

Life is Strange Prequel

I wanna gush about high school girls. Dish dish dish, asked my faithful reader(s). Life is Strange was one of those games that I had no idea would impact me as much as it did when it came out back in 2015. As much as I hate the idea of prequels following up classics, I’m still obsessed enough with the characters from this game to be excited for whatever’s next.

WHAT I WANT TO SEE

Anything, really. Information about this was leaked not too long ago, so who knows whether or not this will even be at E3. All we know so far is that this game will focus on Chloe, so the time travel element should be non-existent, which is a little disappointing. However, I don’t expect that to take away from the narrative and characterization that made the original so enthralling.

Honorable Mention

God of War and bushy beards

Final Fantasy VII remake and the never-ending wait

Kingdom Hearts III and the never-ending-er wait

Spiderman for PS4

Sea of Thieves, Rare’s new project

Bethesda’s conference, where hopefully we’ll get a new Elder Scrolls

All of the surprises that are in store

 What are you looking forward to most at E3? Let’s talk about it @mrgameandwrite on Twitter!

[fluffi]

so should i reply in tiny font or just regular font?

hybe should do better in spreading out the comebacks of the groups under them :/ they're already at a huge advantage, might as well use it strategically. AHA streaming mvs is so convenient for a multi. the filler vids i could use in between could be mvs from the other groups that i stan. also you know what, i still haven't watched a single final performance bc im waiting for a friend to watch with me :D

i have a chinese movie recommendation in case you want something to cry over. i still love its ost and it's been months since i watched it. i'm not sure if you watched it already but more than blue. i've never cried over a movie as much as i cried for that one. the angst *chef's kiss*. i'd do anything to wipe my memory of it and watch it again for the first time.

also sungchan is mc-ing in inkigayo every sunday! and honestly, what the hell is nct hollywood :D but a part of me thinks it's just going to be a bunch of asians living in america like johnny that'll be a part of it. just a hunch tho. imagine having all 4 units coming back in a year with like 1 unit per quarter of the year. i'm not sure if sm even has the money to do this, especially when they filed bankruptcy recently.

and i've seen a lot of twitter memes saying taro's ghosted stans T_T alexa play ghosting by txt T_T sm come on give him smth to do, you're wasting talent.

the mall didn't burn down entirely (like from the outside it looked fine). the ventilation system caught fire so it was more internal—ceilings and all that. covered things with soot(?) and ashes so the entire mall was closed for nearly 2 years. and hey, i've experienced a school fire too back when i was younger. i, too, thought it was nothing but a fire drill until i saw the charred remains of the buildings behind our school : D thankfully, no one died.

the new nct track is for a samsung commercial AHAHA it's funny because nearly everyone uses apple TT_TT and the mv screams neo culture tech tho (well as it should lmao). yes, i was talking about that part in hot sauce but yes, it grew on me too.

ateez really know how to do a performance. they put the standard so high for me when it came to performing. their facial expressions and overall stage presence just impresses me. it's been a while since i've seen idols draw me to them by those standards.

ah, the long stan list! good luck in getting through it and i hope you do have fun as you go :] (also you can check out aurora by ateez and whiplash by tbz. the songs popped up in my head as i was typing this reply, you might like them)

ohhhh, what was the pd48 scandal? i don't watch survival shows so i don't know any of the stuff going on. would you care to elaborate? about their disbandment :(( i hope you're okay now tho! are the other girls still debuting in new groups? anyone eyeing an acting career instead of being an idol?

YES, A PATTERN IN THE BIASES (if you count an analysis of two ppl as a pattern, that is.) because it's the same pattern i have for my biaswreckers :D jake & seungmin, not only do they have the same animal to represent them, they have the same 'golden retriever' type of personality that just makes you go all soft. ygwim ;n; i wish i could elaborate but both boys just devastate me in the same level and my friends pointed out that they were quite similar in some aspects.

jaemin used to send really long bbl messages :< like if there was anything he loved most it was nctzens and it was obv in his messages. speaking of dream, album repackage news today! idk what to feel bc my hot sauce albums haven't even arrived yet :D + i'm dead br0ke.

how do you even manage to read 30k TT__TT i cant handle long fics bc of my attention span :D also, yes, i found the user now, i'll check if i'll like their works soon. <33

YES YOU SHOULDVE BEEN THERE T_T what a day that was. i think seungmin is still sweet and active in bbl. not a single cent goes to waste with him. also i think i'll post the drabble some time this month.

and oml seungmin vs jake :o let's see how that goes O.O XDD

clickity-clackity AHAH do you have a mechanical keyboard? :c i wanted one too but i haven't got around to saving up for one. but yes indeed, typing asmr v relaxing \m/

sunny hyuck day, fullsun sunday, fullsunday T_T feels were very strong that day. i kept seeing edits on my twt tl and i would just s o b : D i've only stanned nct for a year but i've seen him grow so much i just wanted to crie i love him sm :') yk my mom didn't cook spaghetti for my birthday, but she cooked for hyuck's? : D

and i checked ur recs blog and indeed, full of nct T_T

also have i mentioned that your desktop thing amuses me so much HAHAH i got confused for a sec if i had twt opened or tumblr. plus, i've been wanting to mention that i noticed that our mobile themes are opposites. black and red, white and blue. it's cute XDD <3

help, people have been telling me that our asks are long but i highkey love it. i added a ‘keep reading’ for the mobile users though, sorry in advance hh.

honestly, both works. tiny font saves space but regular font does more justice for my poor eyes haha. its your call!

hybe comebacks :( yeah enhypen got lucky because they came back right before cb season so they got three wins (yay)! on the bright side, txt just got their first win and bts has six wins, so it all works out i guess. omg yes, the streaming thing is perfect. i stan like 20 groups so i have a never-ending cycle of filler mvs and its always so helpful. ooh for the final performances - you wont regret watching any of them! literally wild, kingdom's budget and talent are wild.

ooh, I don't watch any cdramas lmao. i want to but i can barely finish kdramas. if its a movie ill watch it! ive never heard of more than blue but ill check it out <3 where can i watch it?

yes yes i have just realized that sungchan is yujin's co-mc! i watched their special stage (which is literally adorable) and was today years old when i realized that the dude is sungchan pls. nct hollywood was so unexpected and i still have mixed feelings about it now. LMAO JUST ASIANS LIVING IN AMERICA...help. that would be interesting (?) but the concept reminds me of those horrendous awesomeness tv shows. lets hope sm pulls this off well and proves me wrong. lmao all 4 units coming back would probably happen, but i hope none of them get overworked :( i constantly feel like mork lee has four clones :'( also...sm filed bankcruptcy??? dang, what happened?

ugh omg yeah shotaros talent is seriously being wasted in the basement right now. as for fires, scary T-T i wasnt that fazed by them until the australia wildfires happened, and i learned about the consequences of fire and got really scared. its good that the entire mall didnt burn down though! although its weird that no one is opening it :( schools really need to tell us the difference between drills though, it might be dangerous for those rebellious kids.

yeah i just realized that the nct track is an endorsement which partly explains why i cant listen to it. the mv's visuals are stunning!! the set and people are so gorgeous aa i cant

oh yeah im not an atiny but i have acknowledged since 2020 that they have one of the best, if not the best stage presence and expressions on stage for 4th gen. i think their only worthy competitor would be stray kids actually. theyre truly one of a kind and all of them are cute especially that yeosang guy. i will definitely check out your song recommendations though!

oof the pd48 scandal is extremely complicated. to condense it in a few statements: all of the girls' rankings have been rigged since the very beginning and it was rumored that they already had their end group before the show even started. it was like this for pf48 and pdx101 (group x1) which was why x1 disbanded within a month of debuting, and izone were on hiatus for like 4 months. im not the best at explaining stuff like this haha, but i think you get it. you can check out yt or search up 'pd48 scandal', a ton of articles and videos. as for new groups, nothing has been made clear yet. theyve only made instagram handles for now and appeared on variety shows haha. as for acting career, hyewon was supposed to do acting but was forced to join pd48 so maybe she'll continue acting afterwards? nothing is confirmed yet!

lmao two similarities, its okay it counts. ah, true, i can see their similarities now that youve mentioned it, as well as how jeno is kind of like that. however, i am currently attached to jaemin so we'll see what happens from there hehe. i swerve easily.

jaemin on bubble grr, that would be a whole experience. from the bare minimum of vidoes ive seen for him wbk jaemin is so whipped for czennies. ah yes repackage! i saw the post on instagram and went to the comments to see everything screaming ‘iM bROke!’ and it was lowkey hilarious lmao. kpop is really trying to suck our money T-T.

ope the longest fic ive read is like...40k words i think? and it was by jeonginks. ill read anything eiko produces lmao, theres always so much substance in her work. ooh, tell me what you think of luvdsc’s stuff, i just finished binging their entire masterlist lmao.

seungmin vs jake yeah, i havent been catching up on skz enha content because im still obsessing over the dreamies but when that saga is over then im going to focus on my ults lmao (which might include dream soon, hehe).

yes yes i have a mechanical bluetooth keyboard that i use to connect to my computer! it literally sounds amazing lmao, its only 10am here but i feel like im going to doze off from the clickity clackitys already. i cant wait for you to get one! tell me when you do, we can match hehe.

hyuck is an aodrable brat please. hes like the best comedian of nct at this point, so hilarious and filled with variety i love him. he rose up my bias list pretty fast too. LMAO YOUR MOM IS SO COOL I LOVE HER ALREADY. if only my mom would cook for my ults’ borndays.

yes my rec blog is a mess right now, ill organize it soon haha.

omg thank you and yes my website theme is one-of-a-kind. even i get confused when i open it or edit it, and i constantly get comments about it. also i just realized our opposing theme colors and i love it! its adorable.