#What I've played so far is pretty epic though!

[genericpuff]

holy crap okay so

I'm two episodes into Kaos

normally I keep my expectations pretty minimal because, let's be real, the Internet - and especially Tumblr - has a tendency to severely overhype new series to be way better than they actually are and it often leaves me sitting there like "that's it? that's what people were freaking out over for weeks?? that was just a bunch of cheap ships and tropes that i've seen 123785902380 times before" LMAO

BUT thankfully compared to other series like Hazbin Hotel and The Amazing Digital Circus, I haven't been worn out on excessive fandom exposure prior to watching Kaos, so I didn't really know what to expect going in besides what folks have told me so far - it's a modern-day Greek epic, and it stars Jeff Goldblum as Zeus (which is, unsurprisingly, peak casting).

That said, I'm very pleased to say that so far, the show is absolutely blowing me away. The set designs, characterizations, weaving of all the players into a central narrative led by a very coy narrator, all of it feels both refreshing and respectful to the source material at the same time.

so uh yeah that LO animated TV show... we have reason to believe now that it's gotten picked up by Amazon Prime, at least according to the showrunner's LinkedIn and posting history from February of this year that seems to imply LO may have been picked up by Amazon-

(but still, nothing's really been confirmed because they're being so tight-lipped about this you'd almost think it's because there isn't a show happening at all cough)

But even then, that means at best we still won't see anything of the LO TV show adaption for another 2-3 years, depending on how production goes.

Why am I talking about LO right now? Well it should be obvious - Kaos double-whammied LO by beating it to the punch at its own game.

I mean, just look at the creative choices alone in the design of the Underworld and its rulers, our beloved Hades and Persephone.

And yes, the entire Underworld is color-graded like this, something so simple and yet effective in communicating the nature of the Underworld and what it stands for - a place where the past lives on through the dead, paused in time, devoid of the vibrant color grading found in Olympus - or "Olympia" as its been named in this retelling - which is, by the way, a visual treat to take in every time it's featured.

(and yes, that is S-tier-companion Billie Piper on the left, but I will not tell you who she's playing, you actually really should go into this show as blind as possible for the thrill of figuring out these characters as they're introduced <3)

That's not even getting into the narrative structure of the plot itself or the phenomenal casting and acting, but again, I don't want to spoil too much as the show is quite new, and I want to actually finish watching the show myself before I get more into the details of its story and how it delivers it (I'm very much hoping I will still be singing this show's praises at the end of its 8 episodes, please for the love of god don't jump the shark, I don't think my heart can take that kind of pain again.)

All that's to say though, Kaos is, so far, exactly what us disappointed fans of LO deserve after all these years, and frankly, I feel like whatever is coming for the LO animated TV show is really gonna have to step up to the plate to both live up to the bar that Kaos has set as well as stand on its own without being affiliated as a cheap Amazon knockoff living in its shadow. Sounds a little familiar and a bit ironic, doesn't it?

[yallemagne]

I'm watching people trauma bond with Calypso from EPIC in real-time. Y'all. A character can be a woman and be a rapist at the same time. And her being a woman doesn't mean that ACTUALLY there's some trauma in her past that justifies her imprisoning men on her island and taking them to bed against their will, it means that she's a rapist that just happens to also be a woman.

I love how Calypso is depicted in EPIC, she's just dripping with a nastiness that is only matched by Penelope's entitled suitors. She's sugary sweet at the outset, but when Odysseus rather violently rejects her, she laughs at his rejection, saying he's adorable when he's angry and that he doesn't have any choice but to submit to her will as a god. And then she goes right back to the sweet lover in paradise ruse!!! It's sickening! She denies his autonomy because it gets in the way of the fantasy romance that she's forcing upon him.

So, I'm frustrated with people trying to paint it as though she's the victim in the situation, that what she's doing is somehow okay because she's a pretty woman and they feel bad for her. That's so patronizing.

I've seen people justify her behaviour by saying she's lonely. Tough shit get a hobby. Being starved for affection has never justified being an abuser.

I've seen people insist she truly cares about Odysseus because she tries to talk him down from suicide... but an abuser talking you down from taking drastic measures to escape their abuse isn't them showing genuine care, it's them not wanting the game to end, it's them exerting control over your very life. If anything, it's more disturbing because she is the one who drove him to be suicidal. So she's playing this game where she drives him to the precipice and then tries to lure him back down with "reminders" of "their love", those reminders actually being of the words of his dead loved ones that she's pilfered and warped as though they were her own.

The most ridiculous argument I've seen in defending Calypso's behaviour is saying that we can't use terms like "rapist" for her because "it was a different time" so "it's not certain whether or not what she did would be considered non-consensual for the time"... Like must I even point out that... that sleeping with someone against their will has always been and will always be rape? Anyway, her actions fit the ancient definition of rape to a t anyhow, so it's weird to try and weaponize "cultural differences" for the sake of having plausible deniability in Calypso's favour. Rape is also used to mean kidnapping, which is why we have pieces titled the Rape of Ganymede, the Rape of Persephone, etc..

Even if Jorge were to come out and say that, somehow, nothing sexual took place on Calypso's island in seven years, that despite her explicitly telling Odysseus that his "no" means nothing to her as a goddess she somehow never went so far as to sexually assault him... it doesn't make her abuse any less bad that she spared him that one trauma! Like holy shit dude.

Imagine if there was an adaptation that featured Zeus' rape of Io, and the audience responded to every literally dehumanizing action Zeus took against Io by saying "ooohh but he's lonely. i feel bad for him the most he's just a widdle lonely baby man. his wife is so meaaan."

[racheyace]

Do you possibly have a list of the G/t movies and/or shows? I've been looking for stuff to watch and would love to know what good stuff you've come across!

Okay so I've compiled a list from my poster and from more that have popped into my head as I wrote them down, fairly sure there's even more, but these are the ones I know well, if you know of any more please comment, I'd love to add to the list, there's actually so much out there when you really think about it!

Anyway enjoy and I hope I've listed at least some that you haven't seen before

Gt in media list:

Percey Jackson and the Lightning Theif (Literally a 3 minute scene toward the end of the movie but a great scene!)

Gulliver’s Travels (2011 Jack Black)

Gulliver’s Travels (1996 film)

Black Adam (The Atom smasher is a size shifter kinda like ant man)

Ant Man (Ant man and wasp, ant man quantomania, all three of these movies are great!)

Avengers Civil War (Airport scene)

Earths Mightiest Hero’s (Tv show featuring ant man and the wasp with great gt scenes)

Help! I shrunk my teacher (This movie is in another language however I have been able to find an English version pretty sure on YouTube)

Help! I shrunk my parents (Again in another language but should have English version on YouTube)

Help! I shrunk my friends (Now this one I haven’t been able to find with English version or English subtitles so if you find one please share, but visually even better than the other two in regards to gt!)

Tinkerbell and the great fairy rescue

Disney’s Thumbelina

Disney’s original animated Peter Pan as well as Return to Neverland (Tinkerbell gt scenes)

Ella Enchanted

The Borrowers (1973) A little old but super cute!

The Borrowers (1992) Pretty sure this is a mini series or at least 2 or 3 short films and it is great!

The Borrowers (1997) Classic movie, great visual effects, epic cast, amazing gt!

The Borrowers (2011) Another great remake of the movie, a little more modern

Alice in Wonderland – Whether it be the Disney animation or the Johnny Depp remakes, great gt scenes in this also, I personally like the live action remake

Hook – Oh my god is this movie great! Julia Roberts plays Tinkerbell and Robin Williams as an adult Peter, the chemistry and gt interactions in this are amazing!

Wiplala (Also known as Help! I shrunk the family though not from the same series of movies as the other Help! Movies I mentioned above) This is also found in a different language though English versions are available on youtube – Totally underrated movie and has amazing gt all the way through!

Barbie as Thumbelina (For a kids movie this has a super cute story and great gt enemies to friends vibes)

Jack the Giant slayer

Peter Pan (2003 live action) One of my favourites and I rewatch this a lot! Poor tink gets grabbed a lot sometimes gently and sometimes not so gently!

Honey I shrunk the kids

Honey we shrunk ourselves

Honey I blew up the kid

The Secret World of Arrietty (Another one of my all time favourites and rewatches!)

The Iron Giant (Again just amazing and one of my favourites!)

The Indian in the cupboard (So sweet with a lot of really powerful messages)

The Littles (Kids tv show and just all around great gt!)

The incredible shrinking woman (I personally didn’t enjoy this movie as much as I thought I would but still great gt scenes)

The incredible shrinking man (Again didn’t love this but it is also very old, great special effects for its time)

Fern Gully (Another all time favourite!)

Fern Gully 2 the magical rescue (Not as great as the first one but still pretty good as far as gt goes with more interactions with humans)

Epic! (one of the newer gt animations with a fantastic cast, didn’t like that the human’s move so slow but from a scientic viewpoint that does make sense)

Tom Thumb (This is fairly old and a musical, but has some excellent scenes for its time)

George shrinks (A kids tv show I grew up watching, all around amazing)

Jack and the beanstalk: The real story (Fantastic movie, though it may be a mini series, I can’t quiet remember but great gt again!)

Attack on Titan (this is an anime series, it’s also really good in the fact that one of the humans, well a few, but the main character can become a titan and helps to protect his city and his friends, now this show is not for the weak stomach, the titans are quite disturbing and there is a lot of vore and gore so fair warning)

Dinosaur (Disney movie – gt found family the tiny lemurs take in a dinosaur and raise him as their own, inspired my most recent story)

Transformers (There are many of these and can be hit and miss with regards to gt, but its there)

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale (Another anime, actually just started this and its fantastic in regards to gt)

Night at the museum (All three movies as they all include our favourite tiny cowboy and roman)

Robotech (I’ve been told this is great as it contains giant mech people and some gt scenes)

Land of the Giants (TV series, it’s fairly dated but well worth a watch)

Downsizing (Starring Matt Damon, I personally didn’t like this film, it had so much potential and just missed the mark but there is some great gt in it)

Monsters Vs Aliens! (I can’t believe I almost forgot this movie and it’s not in my gt media poster ahhhh! Amazing gt all the way through, one of my favourites!)

Dwarfina (Such a cute tv series, it is in another language but I was able to understand a fair bit, following the series on youtube can be confusing but it is so worth the effort, the story is so sweet with amazing gt and romance)

My little lover (A Japanese series, though I believe there is an english dub, I’ve heard there is a remake now out but I’ve not seen it, the original is fantastic though!)

Okay I’m gonna list a few more below, they all have the same sort of vibe, I didn’t personally enjoy them they were like on the cusp of pornography but for the sake of the gt in media list I’ll put them here:

Attack of the 50 foot cheerleader

Attack of the 50 foot woman (There is two of these, an older one and a remake)

Attack of the 60 foot centrefold

The 30 foot bride of candy rock

The Amazing colossal man

Village of the giants

[amerricanartwork]

Hi! I just wondered if you've played Hollow Knight based off how much you like Rain World. I'd be interested in any thoughts you had on it. :)

Thanks for the ask! No, I have not yet played Hollow Knight, BUT my interest in the game has been piqued! However I still have to see if the gameplay itself seems up my alley, or get invested enough in the characters that I want to discover more than I've already found out (and I have spoiled quite a lot for myself) before I actually decide to buy the game.

Regardless, from what I do know it does seem like an interesting story, albeit one far more tragic than Rain World's in my opinion. The characters I've seen are also pretty cool, both in design and personality. In fact, it was some ship fanart I found a few weeks ago that got me interested in diving deeper into the game once I realized it was where the featured characters were from, especially since one of the characters I had remembered hearing about before.

Here's a little sketch of some characters I was thinking about and whom I've been meaning to draw for a bit! Hornet because she's very Shaped™, Quirrel because from what I've seen he's quite wholesome, and Tiso because he was the first character I heard about and I think he's kinda silly!

Also, some more comparing/contrasting thoughts about the game below:

Firstly, I like how the premise of Kollow Knight involves anthropomorphic insects! It's something I never realized until recently despite being aware of HK for at least a few years, but I usually tend to take interest in stories starring non-humanoid creatures, so it's a plus! I also enjoy the more gothic/Victorian-looking magical high fantasy aesthetic, though it's pretty different from Rain World, which I'd consider far more sci-fi and specbio-esque in its aesthetic.

Now to get into themes, so far Hollow Knight seems to share Rain World's theme of lost/dead civilizations, which is also a very interesting premise to me! However, HK seems to have a greater focus on interacting with the people of its dying civilization and as such you get far more definitive knowledge about what happened to cause it to collapse. The player character seems to take on more of a classic epic hero role, because from what I've heard about the lore and endings, they end up directly influencing the fate of Hallownest, even potentially destroying or defeating the force that caused its ruin. The visuals have this very dark, cool tint overall to sell that gloomy, mournful vibe, and the structures, while presumably old, are still mostly smooth, ornate, and not super deteriorated, with these castle or manor-like appearances more similar to real-life buildings or things in other high fantasy works. Then, the orchestral music I've heard alongside all of these elements really creates this impression in me that it's aesthetic and overall concept is more akin to a high fantasy epic tale, albeit a rather tragic one.

Meanwhile, Rain World seem to have the player take more of an anthropologist role, observing and trying to piece together the story of vast remnants of its dead civilization, which seem alien and impossibly complex because so much of the history they're from has been lost to time. One of the core themes is being very small compared to these long abandoned structures, to really sell the idea that this history is so much older and more intricate than you'll ever know. The colors of Rain World are often warmer, which can be associated with old things, and the structures are far more weathered and broken down, with the only living survivors of the people who made them being the iterators, whom we only get to hear directly from two of. Combined with the focus on simulating an ecosystem, the more directly religious ideas within, the themes of natural cycles and an entire civilization evolving, changing, and ultimately disappearing over deep time, and the overall alien, sci-fi industrial designs of the architexture and strange creature designs that look like things out of "Of Rust and Humus" or some other alien speculative biology worldbuilding project make RW fit well in with that genre of fiction in my opinion.

Sorry if I seem like I kinda took a sudden shift there, but I wanted to talk about this contrast in artistic aesthetics and story genres for a moment because the "lasting impression" an art piece creates something I've recently concluded is pretty important overall in works of art, at least for mine!

But anyway, I hope these thoughts were satisfying for now! Thanks again for the ask!

[kafus]

the epic conclusion to The Freakylocke™

recently i did a hardcore nuzlocke of pokemon firered but with an extra gimmick layered on top to keep me invested: naming all my encounters after my friends, randomly chosen by spinning a wheel of names whenever i get a new encounter. this is not the same as a "friendlocke" as popularized by saltydkdan if you're aware of that btw, my friend's don't roleplay the pokemon or pick what they do, i just livepost my playthrough with my friends and they get to feel like they're involved and it makes it a semi-social thing, which is fun for me. i did one of these in emerald last year with friends from a specific group chat with "club" in the name that i fittingly called the clublocke, and this time in firered i deemed the playthrough the "freakylocke", based off of a running gag in the group chat of friends i named my pokemon after this time (the likodot server!! hi guys!!) tbh if i keep doing these i should really think of a name for this Type of nuzlocke but i haven't figured one out yet... anyway

i did not actively livepost the freakylocke on tumblr because i already had my hands full liveposting it on discord to my friends in question! but the ending to the run ended up being so much fun that i wanted to do a retelling of the E4+champion here to memorialize this run lol

so! after NUMEROUS hours of grinding, i finally got the whole team to level 60, which is the level of lance's highest leveled pokemon, and was ready to take on the E4. my copy of firered is in japanese so for convenience's sake, i've edited these photos of my team taken before the E4 to have the move names in english

a little more detail about the team: first off, they do all have hold items. frosty (frost in-game because frosty didn't fit the JPN character limit lol) the charizard has charcoal, bibi the golem has leftovers, zur the persian has a spell tag, motsu the jolteon has a magnet, mari the gengar has a twistedspoon, and vee the lapras has a mysticwater. multiple of these can be obtained easily, but i had to grind for the magnet, twistedspoon, and spell tag off of wild pokemon that only had a 5% chance of holding them, which was a bit of a nightmare lol. the spell tag had enabled zur to sweep sabrina (barring her venomoth which i swapped out for) by just clicking shadow ball, the twistedspoon was necessary for some damage ranges for koga with gengar's psychic, and i grinded for the magnet before the E4 because motsu's special attack was um... shit. i was making up for the minus special attack nature, careful lol

second, it's worth acknowledging that i half picked this team based on what encounters i thought i had that were strong, and half just because of emotional attachment, ESPECIALLY in the case of zur the persian - for some reason i got super attached to using persian during this playthrough and i was DETERMINED to get him to the end alive, even though persian was definitely not the most optimal pokemon for the job lol. i could go on about my move choices on these mons, but i'll spare you and let the upcoming fights speak for themselves, aside from quickly mentioning. Yes i put explosion on golem. ideally i wanted to go deathless but i figured it could be useful in a pinch if i was driven into a corner.

the first three members of the e4 were uneventful and i made pretty quick work of them, even with motsu's terrible special attack missing some thunderbolt damage ranges on lorelei's water types, forcing me to send out vee, lol. but when things really got heated was during the lance fight. at this point i was playing on my ds capture card to share my screen to my friends, so i have clean photos! (the layout is leafgreen themed, it's something i made literal years ago, i was too lazy to make anything new lmao)

one thing leads to another and i'm staring down lance's ace dragonite with frosty the charizard on half HP. my team at this point is incredibly healthy as i've maneuvered the battle well so far, but now i'm in a bit of a dilemma, because this dragonite has outrage AND hyper beam, both very powerful moves that will definitely get the KO on frosty if i leave him in, and to make matters worse, since both will KO, which one out of the two lance picks is random, so i can't accurately predict what he's going to do. i need to ideally get vee in to use ice beam, which should be a 1-shot, but it's risky... if i wanted to play fully optimally, i would scan my team for which member i would need least during the champion fight against blue and sacrifice them to get a clean swap into vee, but... i'm still dedicated to wanting to beat this E4 deathless at this point, so i decide, okay, vee is bulky, they can definitely live a hyper beam or two hits of outrage, i just need lance to not get a crit

and you won't believe what happens next when i hard swap into vee!

lance uses hyper beam on the switch and GETS THE CRIT, FAINTING VEE IN ONE SHOT... the reaction in the discord chat speaks for itself LOL

so at this point i'm kind of panicking since not only do i have to somehow make it out of this fight against lance's dragonite, i have to get out of it healthy enough to still handle the champion fight against blue, of which vee was my answer into his blastoise so that's. not good. and to make matters worse, while staring down my options and verbally reasoning out what i should do, i ACCIDENTALLY PREMATURELY SEND OUT FROSTY!! I LITERALLY JUST PRESSED THE WRONG BUTTONS BECAUSE MY HANDS WERE KIND OF SHAKY WHILE TRYING TO OPEN THE SUMMARY SCREEN SINCE I WAS INVESTIGATING WHETHER FROSTY (THE PERSON IN THE CHAT) WAS RIGHT ABOUT THE DRAGON CLAW 2HKO 😭

my one saving grace is that dragonite is now in hyper beam recharge, so now that i've accidentally sent out frosty i'm able to fire off a single dragon claw for free...

and it's not even a two hit KO 😭!!! so the dream of just outspeeding dragonite and 2 shotting it with dragon claw is in the dust now and i have to make some tough choices.

ultimately, i decide frosty could potentially be too important for the champion fight to let them go down, and i decide to switch into bibi the golem... my thought process was, i definitely needed bibi the least for the fight against blue, so if dragonite picked outrage and bibi went down, i would be able to get a clean swap into something that could take on the last of dragonite's HP, or if dragonite picked hyper beam, bibi would tank that like a champ on account of resisting normal and having high physical defense, and be able to get a free hit in during the recharge turn.

i send out bibi holding my breath AND...

LANCE CHOOSES HYPER BEAM!!! YES!!! and HILARIOUSLY it was ANOTHER CRIT, but bibi still shrugs it off like it's NOTHING

so now i'm in one last dilemma: i have two options here, taking the KO with a super effective rock slide, or taking the KO with an incredibly powerful explosion. rock slide seems like the obvious choice, but the issue is... it's only 90% accurate, and if it misses, bibi definitely dies next turn, and living the hyper beam would have been for nothing. on the other hand, explosion ensures the battle is won, but bibi definitely dies, in that case. i'm excessively indecisive on what to do so i ask my friends and their answer is pretty damn clear

so i click rock slide. AND!!!!

BIBI, THE ABSOLUTE CHAMP, LANDS IT!!!

bibi clutching up against lance lets her not only live another day, but it means that i get to fight blue with a team of 5 instead of 4 or even worse! ...this does NOT mean the blue fight is going to be free, though.

blue's team is actually pretty threatening at this point, especially without my lapras to tank blastoise's potentially rain-boosted hydro pumps. before jumping into the fight, i think very carefully about my options, but ultimately my prep work amounts to taking the charcoal off of frosty and giving them a chesto berry, just in case i have to hard swap into exeggutor and take a sleep powder, so i can one-shot it with flamethrower easily in that scenario.

my lead is pretty straightforward, i just take out pidgeot immediately with thunderbolt from motsu.

next, blue sends out Rhydon. i debate on what to do for a moment, since obviously i need to swap out, but i'm unsure if rhydon will use earthquake or rock tomb - if EQ 1-shots motsu, it will definitely use EQ, but otherwise there's a huge chance it could use rock tomb since the gen 3 AI loves to use moves that lower speed if you currently outspeed them. ultimately i realize with a quick bit of thinking that there's no way EQ doesn't KO motsu, even from full, so i send out mari the gengar on it, who has levitate and takes no damage from it, letting her outspeed and fire off a massive psychic attack into rhydon's pitiful special defense

unfortunately not pitiful enough for Mari to get even close to a 1 hit KO, forcing her to take a rock tomb in the process. but despite the speed drop, she still outspeeds and is able to take out rhydon with another psychic on the next turn.

out next comes alakazam and i decide alright, i can handle the rest of this fight without gengar, and i don't want anyone to swap in on the obvious upcoming psychic, i don't have any mons that can tank that... so i decide to sacrifice mari

...but then blue just... goes for future sight??? LMFAO so the hail mary hypnosis that i clicked just in case something like this happened fires off and actually lands!

this massive luck plus some lucky sleep turns allow mari to take out alakazam with two consecutive thunderbolts, leaving her alive when blue sends out arcanine next... but she takes the future sight damage at this point and is left too low to survive a flamethrower from the arcanine, which outspeeds her because of the rock tomb speed drop from earlier... ultimately, mari is still sacrificed. but taking out alakazam was a MASSIVE help, she performed amazingly

my next move is fairly straightforward - i send out bibi the golem who can survive any move arcanine tosses out and KO it with an earthquake (something i couldn't have done as easily if she fainted against lance!)

unfortunately, this brings in the pokemon i was afraid of, Blastoise, and considering bibi is weak to and doesn't outspeed both of blue's remaining pokemon, blastoise and exeggutor, there's no reason to preserve her life over getting a clean swap into another pokemon, so i let her go down to a hydro pump.

MASSIVE salutes to bibi though, her surviving hyper beam during the lance fight and landing the rock slide against his dragonite pretty much saved this run. coolest golem ever

at this point, i have just motsu the jolteon, frosty the charizard, and zur the persian remaining, and even though motsu cannot get the 1 hit KO on blastoise with a thunderbolt, even with the magnet item due to their pitiful special attack, it's still the most obvious choice to get guaranteed damage off, so i send in motsu and use thunderbolt. at this point, i'm pretty relieved because i've essentially won the fight - even if motsu faints from a hydro pump (i'm unsure if they can live one or not), the thunderbolt will get enough damage for zur and frosty to clean up the remainder of his HP, and then frosty can 1 shot exeggutor with flamethrower like planned. but, there's still a little more left to this story...

motsu actually does live a single non-crit hydro pump on the red, so they're able to finish off blastoise with another thunderbolt, leaving blue with only exeggutor. the answer is obvious - if i just swap into frosty right now, i can win the battle instantly, not even risking getting put to sleep because of the chesto berry i put on them before the fight began. BUT...

remember how i said i was really emotionally attached to my persian? i'm overjoyed that zur was going to live to the very end like i wanted, but they also didn't get to do anything in this fight and i thought that was lame. i knew they had spell tag boosted shadow balls which were super effective into exeggutor, so surely they might be able to take it out instead of frosty, right? and beating blue's final pokemon with a persian in a hardcore nuzlocke was HILARIOUS in my opinion.

this is in addition to zur using shadow ball being a running joke during this run; back when i fought sabrina, i mentioned this before but i was able to grind for the spell tag and 1-shot all of her psychic types with zur, making the fight super easy... and back when i was liveposting that to the discord server, my friend babs said this in response to me making a typo on shadow ball

zur "blasting bals" became a running gag from here on out so it would be ACTUALLY poetic for me to finish this run with a shadow ball. i HAD to try.

issue: motsu's special attack was still GARBAGE and the bite i used (a special attack in gen 3 as a reminder, all dark type moves are special there) to get some damage on exeggutor first wasn't enough to ensure that zur could follow up with a clean shadow ball knockout. my friends were encouraging me to send out zur anyway, but i really didn't want to because it could go south so fast and if zur DIED in the champion fight i'd be REALLY UPSET. but THEN. i REMEMBERED.

ZUR! HAS! FAKE OUT! I JUST FORGOT!

and so, with a combination of the free fake out chip and the spell tag boosting shadow ball's power, zur is just barely able to ensure a KO onto blue's exeggutor, winning the fight and the entire run, resulting in maybe one of the funniest nuzlocke end screens ever (to me at least)

and that is how i managed to beat the freakylocke despite some terrible luck while taking a massive risk against lance LOL. this file is no longer in "nuzlocke mode" and i've been using it for other gen 3 shenanigans, which i will post about eventually...

special shoutouts to the four deaths other than vee the lapras of the run as well:

kris the kadabra, who fainted to an easily avoidable crit from a koffing because i was playing tilted and tired (oops)

serena the gyarados, who fainted to a crit from a random trainer's weezing (less easily avoidable but still sucked, i had put a lot of time into training her!!)

kay the paras, who was sacrificed nobly against sabrina's alakazam to allow a free swap back into zur for the shadow ball KO after the rest of my team handled her venomoth

babs the growlithe, who i was really excited to use because it's a version exclusive and i almost always play leafgreen instead, but who died to a random crit from ANOTHER koffing that i didn't think they'd faint to (the koffing line was enemy #1 of this run i guess)

oh and in speaking of babs, to commemorate the run, they drew this.

it's incredible. i'm cherishing this art forever. you can see more of their art on their blog @vulturevanity LOL

[dayshipper]

I just had a thought...

What if JJ and Kiara are no longer together after the 18 month time jump? Hear me out...

I love Jiara, but I think we all know how mundane some storylines can become when slow burn couples inevitably get together. What if all the Jiara moments we have seen so far, i.e this...

...is actually just a flashback and JJ and Kiara aren't actually together anymore?

While I feel like deep down this is unlikely to happen, I've kinda thought about it and, don't kill me, but I feel like the angst would be soo good if this were to happen! Don't get me wrong, I love Jiara (I've been on this train since the beginning!) and I am dying to see how they act around each other as an actual couple; however, it might also be interesting to see them try to find their feet before they become the ultimate obx couple.

I don't think they have to prove anything to anyone because they have already made it clear that they would die for one another however, we haven't seen them be a proper couple in the real world yet.

Let's theorise. So far, we know the Pogues got the gold at the end of season 3 and they've blown most of it by starting their businesses and recreating Poguelandia 2.0. What if this, along with maybe Luke coming back into the picture, has created a rift between JJ and Kiara. Maybe JJ is trying too hard to become the ideal guy for Kiara by using his share of the money for all the wrong reasons and Kiara becomes resentful of this because after all, she didn't fall in love with what JJ could become, she fell in love with him for who he was, warts and all.

Or, maybe JJ is struggling with his new found wealth and feels that there are expectations he has to live up to so he is distracting himself by entering into dangerous motorbike races and gambling his money away. Seeing JJ put his life in danger isn't something Kiara is willing to support so maybe this causes them to sever ties.

Now that s3 established them as a romantic couple, we are no longer doubting ourselves by thinking 'wait, was he jealous or am I reaching?' because now that they are/ were together, all the moments we get of them from now on will always have an underlying romantic tension. Even more so now. Even if they aren't together, they will always care and find a way back to each other so I'm not saying they won't be endgame (because they are), I just feel like it could be interesting to see them struggle to get there. Even though I know it feels like it has been a struggle already...

Imagine Rafe trying to crack on to Kiara with JJ around or Rafe making fun of the fact that JJ couldn't hold on to his girl 🤡 OMG I would die. Probs won't happen though after Kie abandoned Rafe in Barbados... but imagine!

To me, this photo ^^ seems a bit angsty. It looks like they're having a dmc and JJ is saying something that Kiara is grappling with... Maybe they were lumped together because everyone else is coupled up and they have had to share a bed and Kiara is not feeling comfortable with it because while she definitely wants to be with JJ, maybe the decisions he is making aren't ones she can get on board with and she's frustrated by it all.

Ugh I don't know, I haven't fully thought this through it just popped into my head. I just had this sudden realisation that while it might look like they're together in the teaser, what if they're playing with us and they're not. I think it would be too perfect if all of the Pogues were coupled up and lived happily ever after, romantically speaking.

Realistically speaking though, the likelihood of everything I just said happening is pretty low. 💀 I don't really see this eventuating although, I'm not ruling it out completely. They have been through a lot already so I don't think they will want to break them up. But if they did, it won't be for long, maybe only a couple of episodes before they get back together for good, hopefully in an epic way. Can't have too many of those!

Either way, I CAN'T WAIT to watch them be together, whatever that may look like!! J4L

[subtle-as-an-earthquake]

i am finally home and i'm pretty knackered but aaaahhh what a weekend!! ✨✨ so much happened in such a short amount of time, i'm still processing i think (also some personal stuff, that i won't bore you with). but yeah, the shows were absolutely epic, they were such good crowds for london standards. very rowdy but overall the atmosphere was amazing, and tbh that's probably in part because miles just exudes such incredible energy himself, if you ask me

just a little snippet of don't forget who you are from yesterday (night two) to illustrate:

also, a few random things i'm remembering now (which i'll put under the cut because i apparently remembered more than i thought):

miles seemed really really into it both nights, and really centered somehow? he was clearly having a blast and had everyone eating out of the palm of his hand, he's just SUCH an incredible showman. that's nothing new of course, but I was once again struck by just how very special and awe inspiring and just incredibly fun it is to watch him do his thing on stage. no one does it like miles fucking kane, baby

also, there were so many men in the audience who were just really letting go during the show, hugging their mates and singing the lyrics at each other, even full on crying when miles played colour of the trap (not even kidding, actual tears streaming down their faces). i don't think i've ever seen that at another gig to that extent, really. miles and his music seem to have - for want of a better phrase - a sort of liberating effect on a lot of men that's really nice to witness

on night one miles slipped on a spilled drink on stage and took a little tumble, but he recovered like a king and honestly it just made him look even cooler somehow lol

his arms and shoulders......... are sooooooo...... 🔥🔥🔥 dear fucking lord. his shoulders are broader than ever and honestly it was very hard to concentrate on anything else 🫠

after the show, we were chatting to ben for a bit who was just the sweetest and again talked about how he was a fan first (of arctic monkeys and tlsp and miles) and then sort of organically came to be a part of the band, and has just been having the time of his life so far! we were still chatting to him when miles came out after night 1, and when everyone started whooping, ben started screaming 'aaaaaahhh miles!!!' really loudly as a joke, before starting an impromptu chorus of the don't forget who you are 'la la la' that everyone joined in on. it was pretty hilarious

liam was super sweet too, and when he learned that i was dutch he was like 'oh we're playing a show in holland next week!' so i was like 'i know, i'm going!' and then he offered to put me on the guestlist, which was very kind of him even though i already have tickets lmao. he and ben both were very excited for that show for some reason, which made me even more excited as well!!

after night two ben and liam shared a massive hug outside and they both seemed really emotional, which was very sweet to see 🥺

nathan is the loveliest man alive. he said this tour was definitely the best one yet because the energy's just been amazing! he also asked us what are favourite album and song of the night was (his own fave was never taking me alive) and when I mentioned i just loved the bassline in coup de grace so much, he said it was as fun to play as it sounds, and that on the album it was actually miles who played it (that's probably common knowledge, but i didn't know!)

he also said that the band really is very close and they're all equals, and miles always says "we", and that he really is as kind and lovely as he seems 🥺 i mean, we knew that, but it was still really lovely to hear!

and of course, miles was once again just the most wonderful, gracious man ever with his fans, chatting to as many people as he could and taking pics with them and cooing at turtle paraphernalia, all while looking and smelling absolutely diviiiiine. he did seemed pretty knackered though, especially after night two, but that makes sense i think. and yet he still came out! truly a hero

as for my own chat with him, i for some reason went up to him like 'hiiiiiiiiiiiii' with my hands held out to him (idk man), and he just reciprocated my enthusiasm and took my hands and then held them and looked me in the eye while i rambled at him about how incredible i thought the show and he himself were, and he was just completely lovely, as always 🥺 such an angel

oh and finally, maxie is apparently staying with miles's mum while miles is on tour 🥺

i'm sure i'm forgetting things but this is already long enough 🙈 going to catch some zzz's now, i need them after this weekend

[chocouniversa]

Playing the Epic Mickey remake and my gosh there's some new stuff here! I've only just reached the Gremlin Village so this is likely not all but here are some things I liked:

There's a map!!! I love this, especially since they seem to emulate the style of the collector's edition guidebook :D

UI is def updated though. (Sorry tumblr cropping sucks ass)

There's also a briefcase that showcases all your pins now!

That's pretty neat! Idk if these are the same ones from the first, I've only gotten as far as the Haunted Mansion in my first ever playthrough so not sure but I can't wait to collect them all.

Speaking of collecting, I guess we have five costumes

Three already since I pre-bought it, but I wonder what the extra two are. Though I can assume none of them are Sorcerer Mickey

-,3,-)

And here we have some concept art and the menu for checking the cartoons, very sleek very nice. And something new!

Photo mode! Limited in the side scrolling sections of course but in full over world you can rotate the camera and change between like five or six filters. It's awesome 👍

And that's about all I noticed right now! I'm still only scratching the surface I'm sure but so far the game runs well, especially on my steam deck. I hope you're all enjoying the remake as much as I am ^^)

[doomreed]

I’m not hyped about the new fantastic four news either. though I think what I kind of hope will happen is marvel doing something like they did in the last mcu spider man movie where we see 3 peter parkers team up.

I think it would be super cool to see the cast from the 2005-2007 fantastic four movie meet with the ones from the newest movie. and have the 2005-2007 Doom (Julian McMahon) meet with the Doom from this upcoming fantastic four film too.

so we have more than one “fantastic four” team and also more than one Victor von Doom in the same movie. that would be pretty epic to see in my humble opinion. (if this really is the case, I still have hope that marvel won’t mess it up, because it sure has the potential to be great.)

I mean marvel did just very recently confirm that all the events prior to the mcu (so… sony’s spider man and fantastic four) are also canon to the mcu, and I doubt they would say that if they didn’t plan to do something with it (they said it after the event of the last spider man movie with 3 peter parkers), especially when mcu is heavily heading towards the direction of multiverse, various timelines, various variants of the same person (character) right now. I mean we basically have 3 peter parkers (from both sony and mcu) and literally a bunch of lokis. so let’s see what’ll happen next.

also not related to the topic but I should just say that I’ve been a fan of your blog for some time now. thank you for all the DoomReed goodies

The only part of the casting I agree with is Ben. It feels like Marvel is playing it extremely safe with casting Pedro, like since Multiverse of Madness they've clearly been aiming for the "soft dad" angle with Reed, probably in an attempt to get ahead of possible complaints about him based on canon? I love Reed Richards to a fault, but he's always been a little bit of an asshole. Not intentionally, and much of that perceived assholeness stems from him being on the spectrum imo but it's there, and ignoring that does him as much a disservice as playing up Tony's alcoholism purely for laughs and then never mentioning it again was to that character--another thing the MCU has done.

The poster, the casting, idk. It radiates a nuclear-family blandness, with a camp overlay used purely for aesthetics that will probably be quite popular with general audiences and leave F4 fans from the comics and old movies and other sources of media quite cold. We are not the audience Marvel Studios wishes to court, they've made that very clear.

I'd love to be wrong about how this will play out, though. Pedro is a gifted character actor when he's allowed to be, the trouble is, studios know too well how much audiences love him as a person, and are too prone to mixing the two to improve audiences' appreciation of a character he's playing, rather than just letting the man cook. 😔

I don't have a firm opinion of the other cast other than: this will be the most money anyone named Kirby has ever made on Fantastic Four, so good on her. 👍 And the Ben casting feels right. I'm outside the Johnny demographic so no real opinion there.

I had read that the baddie for the first movie will be Galactus, which is like leading your football season with the Superbowl? But no one asked me, so... 😅 maybe they have a set up that will make that work, who can say.

I've also read (on reddit, so make of that what you will) that Doom will have a "cameo" in the first movie, but no clue what that means or even of it's true.

I like your idea a lot. I think the Deadpool & Wolverine movie will have a Fantastic Four cameo of some kind, probably. The comic book we see in the trailer next to Wade's head on the desert world is Secret Wars #5, which is a recap of the story so far and how everyone got to where they are--so it's possible the desert world they're all on is Battleworld, run either by future-verse Doom or (more likely) the Beyonder. I do think the movie will include them in some way bc the studio will want to start building hype for that as their next big project, going into the MCU version of Secret Wars.

And ofc SW will have crossovers galore, since Marvel Studios has unfortunately set audience expectations for that being what it's about 😅 so, worst case, they'll turn up between those two films no doubt.

I'd love to see Julian McMahon's Doom encounter a closer-to-comic-canon version, but a thing to know about Victor is that he kills every variant of himself he meets. Like, historically, that's just his thing (it's an expression of his own self-loathing, which is really tragic in a way) ...I dunno if the MCU will carry that fun little trait over, but as a writer I can say it's an easy, low-stakes way of showing "this character is a bad guy and also there is something very wrong with him" so... yanno. I am expecting it. 😁

Sorry for the negativity on this, I'm trying to stay upbeat about it all but so far they're not inspiring confidence yet. We'll see what future developments bring, if nothing else we'll always have fanart and fics and the comics themselves. It's not like this fandom hasn't dealt with bad adaptations before, I think we'll be alright whatever happens.

[lobinilo]

What are your favourite Jonah’s projects? ☺️🎬

~ plays TikTok Sound~

OH MY GOODNESS I LOVE THIS QUESTIOOOONNN

So since May 2023 (what happened there? I have no idea 😉) I've watched everything Jonah-related I could get my hands on (except for Little Women, but I'm definetly going to watch that later this year).

My top 3 Jonah projects OTHER than The Little Mermaid (because truth be told, I think it's pretty clear how obsessed I am with that movie and it's not really a fair comparison to some of the more indepent, even low budget projects Jonah has starred in) so far:

1. World on Fire (2019 - 2023)

created by: Peter Bowker directed by: Chanya Button, Thomas Napper, Adam Smith, Andy Wilson Jonah plays: Harry Chase

Big shocker, right? Given how much I already rambled about Harry and Kasia (my traumatised parents) and how upset I was when they cancelled it. I will always mourn this show for the huge potential it had.

World on Fire is a BBC-show following different people in Britain, Poland, Germany and France (with some American viewpoints as well) as they have to endure and navigate their life through World War II. Doesnt really sound like anything we haven't seen, right? However, World on Fire is worth checking out imo, since it differs a lot from the usual Hollywood-infused war epics, because rather than focusing on the politics or the big battles, the show looks more closely at the everyday person that actually had to live through this tragedy and how they deal with what's happening. That being said, obviously this is still a show about WW II, so there definitely IS depiction of violence, murder and torture, as well as bombings, gunfire etc., so please be careful if you find any of those things triggering. I personally found some episodes quite hard to get through.

I think it's interesting that Jonah's filmography is very heavy on projects set during or related to WW II (additionally to WoF you have The Song of Names, Ashes in the Snow and ofc coming up The Tattooist of Auschwitz). Theories on why that is are welcome!

Harry Chase (brilliantly brought to life by our favourite British simp) differs quite a bit from many of Jonah's other roles in that he`s not your heroic, clean-cut good guy (like Andrius, Lucas, Mo or Prince Eric). He's insecure and a little helpless, even cowardly at times. Harry starts out as a translator, but later joins the British Army and the SOE. He fucks up repeatedly, both in his role as lieutenant, as well as in his personal life. Even though most of the time he means well, his cowardice ends up hurting a lot of people and leads him to be in the middle of a love triangle. (Though to me it's not a triangle, but rather a straight line, Team Kasia all the way.)

Harry, though deeply troubled, is a very kind and soft soul. That doesn't really pair well with the acts of war, as well as british society in the 1940s in general, which leads to conflict with other characters and their idea of who he should be. Especially when he clashes with his mother Robina (portrayed by the absolute MAGNIFICENT Lesley Manville, shes giving Emily Gilmore in the best way possible), Jonahs acting is ON POINT. His performance is so nuanced: He's angry, he's desperate, he's sad, but also condescending, sarcastic and hostile towards her. The interesting thing about Harry is the journey he takes. To watch him try to better himself by dealing with past trauma and taking responsibility for present mistakes. The real standout for his character is episode 5 of season 1 where he finally steps up and takes charge. This is also when he starts earning the respect of his sergeant Stan (Blake Harrison) for the first time - they have a real bromance, both on and off the show, I LIVE for these two.

But - just like in real life - he doesn't have this one breakthrough moment and everything is smooth sailing from there. He fluctuates, just like a real person would. He still has the tendency to run away from his problems, but I think what he's seen in the war, what happened at home and (yes, I'm making this about my ship) his love for Kasia (Zofia Wichlacz) make him realise the type of man he wants to be and he would probably try to act accordingly IF WE GOT A THIRD SEASON, BBC! 😤😡🤬

2. Old Boys (2018)

directed by: Toby MacDonald Jonah plays: Henry "Winch" Winchester

If you can only watch one Jonah movie, I beg of you MAKE IT THIS ONE!

I`ve found next to nothing about Old Boys and that seriously has to change. (watched the entire movie again, getting my non-existing gif-making skills ready, just the night before I got this ask, talk about fate)

This movie is so underrated, it doesn't even have a Wikipedia entry. Make it make sense! How is nobody watching this cutie-patootie work of art? Its adorkable in the best sense of the word, it's heartwarming, a little silly and oh! so funny!

It's losely based on the play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, set in an all-boys british boarding school in the 1980s. Given the source material, catfishing is definetly a thing here, keep that in mind if you might find that topic difficult.

Alex Lawther's character Amberson (cliché school nerd and victim of bullying) falls in love with the new french teachers daughter Agnes (Pauline Etienne) who in turn has a crush on First-Class-Himbo Winch (portrayed by a beautiful, dimple-faced, british actor). Because Agnes is very artistic and looking for someone that matches her vibe, Amberson helps Winch to try to impress her, because Winch himself is... well... a little dim 😅.

Winch is easily my favourite Jonah character to date (yes, including Prince Eric). I have seriously considered changing my tumblr-name to themightywinch because of him. I mean... he's corteous and punctual, after all 🤣😍.

While not the main character, he's definetly the highlight of the movie. Jonah is likeable, charming, the right kind of awkward in the right moments, has fantastic comedic timing and great chemistry with Alex Lawther.

Just look at that scene alone! IT`S. SO. CUTE!!! (cute-raging over here 😡) Watching this just makes you wish Jonah would star in more comedies, because he definetly has the skills for it! This is just a feel-good movie that leaves you smiling with a warm, fuzzy feeling in your heart. It has easily become one of my new comfort watches. Old Boys just never fails to make me laugh and I wish it would get more attention and recognition since it definetly deserves it! (like at least write a Wikipedia article about it) Btw, I bought this on Prime for 99ct, best money I ever spend!

3. The Last Photograph (2017)

(the trailer says 2019, but the movie was originally shown at the Edinburgh Film Festival in 2017)

directed by: Danny Huston Jonah plays: Luke Hammond

Fair warning, this movie is gut-wrenching. I don't know if this qualifies as an actual trigger-warning, but this movie deals with the loss of a child/ death of a young person, as well as the real life tragedy of the Pan Am Flight 103 bombed in 1988 so proceed with caution.

Luke Hammond (Dimples McGee) is on said flight to visit his long-distance girlfriend Kate (Stacy Martin) in New York. Kate's and Luke's first meeting is a little awkward imo, I think it's meant to be like a meet-cute, especially with the whole "Bird"-thing, it just doesn't really work for me. But the rest of their love story is very endearing, they're just two young people experiencing love for the first time. Their time together is told through seemingly random, incoherent flashbacks and memories, just giving little glimpses of what their relationship was like and it's the cutest thing. Little intimate touches, hidden smiles, shared laughter... It's shot in a way as if you're watching them through rose-colored glasses, which is probably the point.

I love the way this movie uses different lighting and colour changes to depict a difference in the time line as well as the emotional state of the characters.

We only see Luke in flashbacks (guess why) and follow his dad Tom (Danny Huston) in present day (which in this case means 2003) as he is desperately trying to retrieve the last photograph (hence the titel) he possesses of his son after his bag was stolen. To see Tom slowly losing his grip as he grows more and more desperate to find the picture is truely heartbreaking. (It's a polaroid, so there are no copies, this is truely the last memory he has of Luke. God, I'm tearing up while writing this.)

Because Luke is basically just seen through the memory of his father who obviously holds him in high regard/ romanticizes the idea of his son, he is portrayed in a solely positive light, which usually wouldn't give much dimension to his character. Yet Jonah still manages to fill this role with life and witt and charisma, making you understand why Bird fell for him. He's sweet, romantic, a little bit shy, which works really well here, has the cutest laugh and clearly cares really deeply for his father. He's definetly portrayed as the "you simply have to love him" kinda guy, which is why his absence cuts so deep.

This is also in huge parts due to Danny Huston's performance. Honestly, the sweater-scenes (or jumper, if you're british 😉) almost broke me. And don't even get me started on his letter to Kate or Kate's letter to him... ugh. It's. So. SAD.

This is obviously not for everyday watch. However, even though The Last Photograph is heartbreaking, it doesn't necessarily leave you hopeless and depressed. This movie feels like a loving tribute to an actual person and therefore has a beauty in its melancholy. Throughout Tom's journey there is hope and forgiveness towards himself. There's a beautiful symmetry to the whole thing. The ending feels almost satisfying if you can say that in this context.

I also wanna give a shoutout to This Is The Night (2021). The movie itself isn't that great, it's a little all over the place and I think they tried to do a little too much all at once. But I looo~oooved Jonah in this, Christians character arc is by far the most interesting one and I wish the script gave their character justice in the way Jonah's and Naomi's acting did. (Also this is the HOTTEST he's ever looked which is a bit ironic).

This list is probably going to be outdated soon, since he has a lot coming out in the near future (I'm especially excited for Rich Flu).

Sorry, if this is too long and rambly and if it took too long for me to answer, I got a little carried away and suddenly had a lot of gifs to make 😅.

Thank you soooo much for the ask, @measuredmotion ❤️.

[enchanted-lightning-aes]

A Gratifying Visit

A/N: just a tale for pride month staring hwan and tegan! where-in they're working in the same place (a theatre) and an office is involved. kinda off-screen yet a regular thing between them.^^ 📜 🎮 🌈 🎮 📜 🌈 Word Count: 786 T.W/C.W: romance, i guess

***

After taking a sip of Mocha coffee, she sets the cup on her desk's surface. Leaning back on her chair and cracking her knuckles.

It'd been a slow day at work, thus far. She had some stage-hands approaching her and asking for assistance in setting up the stage. They're putting up a rehearsal for a show later in the week. A period play from the looks of it.

Fancy costumes, faux accents, and props resembling objects from the 16th century. Hwan hasn't heard much, she's only had peeks. She'd watch if she had tickets and eagerness to go. Except she doesn't.

She pulls up a tab on her browser just as a knock reverberates, causing her to raise her head.

"Enter," Hwan says, removing her headphones.

Who is standing outside? Is it someone who accidentally reset a password? Or someone seeking for some technical guidance?

The door opens and someone stumbles in, flailing her arms then regains balance.

"Hwan, hi," Tegan murmurs with a wave.

"Hey." She waves back, her stomach flipping without her permission.

All morning, she’d been looking forward to Tegan’s random visits. She’d been doing it since Hwan’s second week of her job.

"I'm sorry for barging in," Tegan blurts out. "I wanted to… check in! To see if you've had lunch! And you did, obviously. I… yeah."

When Tegan scratches at her elbow, her breath goes in and out of heavy bursts. She shoves some tendrils of hair from her face, though, it doesn't do much for her hair fixed in a bun.

Asking what's wrong might be erring on the side of freaking her out more. And asking how's she feeling is a probably careless move since it's obvious.

"What's up?" she settles on asking instead, furrowing her brows.

"Oh, I… don't worry about it!" Tegan flaps a hand around, her voice unsteady at her chuckle. "Just… just the usual stuff. The screenplay that I'm supposed to… yup."

She's heard of what her idea's about: it involves fairies, satire ala Jane Austen, and a land inspired by various cultures.

The process must be taking a toll on her.

Hwan's watched behind-the-scenes videos of her favorite games, aware they aren't easy to work on. It takes effort, energy, and time for creative projects. Script-writing isn't any different.

And Tegan must be seeking for… something. She can't tell what exactly. Perhaps, a pep talk? If so, she isn't quite skilled. Although… a form of distraction could do the trick.

"Hey, have you heard of a new restaurant at Main Street?"

"Huh? Oh, uh… which? I don't think I have."

"It's owned by Teniku Itiniua, a Tuvaluan chef that's a popular food blogger."

"That's cool."

"I've been following her updates online and the cuisine looks good. I've had some Pacific Islander type of foods back in Japan. Maybe you can try it out when you visit."

Hwan shrugs, watching Tegan's shoulders sag and her face going partially slack. She gulps and chews on her lower lip. Her eyes dart across her workspace before going down.

"The other day you’re playing a game in your tablet, which has a game-play involving cards. Have you unlocked more? You’ve mentioned you wanted some specific cards."

"Ah, my Hearthstone collection.” Hwan flicks a glance at her tablet screen and Tegan nods. "I’ve managed to get some epic cards. I’d been checking through a plethora of card packs and got them."

Tegan taps her cheek. "Wow, that's gotta be tons of fun. With the amount of upgrades you can use."

"Yeah, it's definitely fun," Hwan replies, sliding a finger on a card. "I’ve combining different things to see what I get. Yesterday, I managed to get sixteen cards."

"Sixteen?" An inquisitive intensity filters Tegan's voice. She raises her brows slowly. "That's pretty… it's pretty awesome. Any progresses on other games?"

"I finished some levels in Angry Birds." She taps on her tablet screen, sliding to her list of apps. "However, there’d been some that— "

A beep goes off and Tegan yelps, looking down on her satchel. She gets her phone out, pressing its switch button.

Tegan sighs, shoving it onto her jacket's pocket. "Crap, my break's over. I guess I gotta go back to work."

"Yeah," Hwan replies, her pulse rate dropping.

"Although, thank you for the company," she says, bestowing a small smile. "It took my mind off some stuff, so…"

"No problem." She nods, her breath hitching in her chest. She clears her throat and tries grinning. "See ya around?"

Tegan chuckles, shuffling out to the hallway. "Yes, I'll see you around too."

Despite any initial disappointment, Hwan basks in a warmth rushing within her adrenaline.

Maybe she can visit her when she gets a break.

***

[balanceoflightanddark]

I saw your earlier post about live action Azula and a few thoughts came to mind.

I know a lot of people are (rightfully)worried about the live action. I understand that they have cause to be wary.

As for me, I’m just hoping we get to see Azula kick the Zuko’s + the Gaangs (including Aang and Katara) collective asses! She got jipped quite a few times in the Og show regarding PIS and her mental breakdown.

And who knows? Maybe Netflix will make big changes and we’ll get to see an Azula redemption.

They also have an opportunity for epic trolling by having either Azulaang become canon (in the netverse anyway) Or having Katara fall for Zuko’s little sister instead of him. If nothing else, it would be good for a laugh.

I doubt any of these things will happen. But a person can dream, no?

In a similar vein to myself, do you have anything you wish to see in regards to Azula’s character?

How do you think Azula will be handled on Netflix?

Thank you for the ask anon.

I think one of my biggest fears is that they're going to play up her insanity and her breakdown. Unfortunately, her entire character has been colored by that breakdown both by the fandom and the franchise. Almost all of her post-canon work focuses on her mental instability to the point she's portrayed as a rabid animal in that awful Legacy of Fire book. Sure, we've had some more nuanced portrayals of her in recent years (Azula in the Spirit Temple comes to mind), but that's over a decade of her being portrayed at her worst moment.

And that's not even getting into how she's been demoted into little more than a glorified punching bag for Zuko and the Gaang in the Yang Comics.

So, yeah. I'm right with you about being apprehensive about Netflix's portrayal. If the creators can't get what made her character special, I don't exactly have confidence in a company who's had a pretty spotty track record when it comes to live-action adaptations (One Piece being the exception from what I've heard).

The other thing I'm a bit concerned about is...well, I don't think they're going for a redemption. With how modern media is like, I doubt they're going to stray too far away from the original series. Especially with Azula since her breakdown is iconic for all the wrong reasons. I mean, I'd like to hope for a redemption, but considering how Bryke and almost all the creative team keeps shying away from the possibility, I sincerely doubt Netflix is going to do better. Kind of frustrating when they've been leaving us up in the air for years at this point.

Now for what I'm hoping...I want Azula to get more sympathy. Basically, bust as many bad faith interpretations as possible. Don't tie in her story so closely to Zuko. Let her be a badass. And maybe leave her story on a positive note unlike the series. She seems to be getting a bit more focus, so I'm hopeful this might be true. Though it's all up to the writing team at this point.

I'll be honest, it's going to take a lot to convince me they have a handle on Azula's character. I mean, all respect for her actress and I'll be rooting for her. It's just...well, like I said in my previous post, over a decade of toxicity towards Azula and wishing the worst for her with creators that keep feeding that attitude has left me a little estranged. A part of me is hopeful, but until I see otherwise, I'm going to be skeptical.

Feel free to leave your thoughts.

[thehyperfixationspeedrunner]

so uh… thunder saga. are you alive.

Do not get me started.

I am not gonna lie when I got into this fandom (around January) and found out about the different sagas the one I was least excited about was the thunder saga (not for any reason in specific, it's just that I was most excited for the underwold, wisdom and Ithaca sagas, I love Circe with all of my strengths and the vengeance saga (I think that's the name) has Dangerous and another song that I'm always forgetting but that I am so hyped for and I hate fights between friends and this saga has a song called mutiny) so I did not have much expectations for this. Boy, did I understand that wrong. It is currently my favourite saga.

Suffering - SO DIFFERENT. Jorge always likes to play with old-fashioned and modern music, but he went all in for the synths. The melody was so pretty and the fact that in the chorus Odysseus picks up the you from penelope/sirens line "I will take my suffering from you". Also, fuck you Jorge, you made me believe that this wasn't sirens and I was already thinking of an alternative universe where he didn't go to war and spent his time with Penelope and instead of a son they have a daughter but because of his other self's shit he is also afraid of water (yes, I know, way too far but that's how my mind works)

Different beast - FUCK YES, I LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCH. THEY SOUND SO FUCKING BADASS THAT I ALMOST BELIEVED THAT THEY WERE GOING TO SURVIVE THIS EVEN THOUGH I KNOW HOW THE STORY GOES. FJENENRGKVKCDKSMSNEFNFJCJ IT MAKES ME FEEL POWERFUL. New favourite song from the musical in case it wasn't obvious. AND IT'S SO FUCKING CATCHY, I'VE BEEN SINGING THE CHORUS FOR THE PAST 2 DAYS

Scylla - this was the song I was most hyped for and it did not disappoint. Holy shit those harmonies were everything AND HER VOICE??? *chef's kiss* I do not have much to say because I was in awe the entire time (also is it just me or whe Odysseus says "the lair of scylla" it sounds weirdly like when Athena says "goddess of wisdom" in the first berse of warrior of the mind)

Mutiny - I was so scared of this one and I was right, it was horrible (<- in a this destroyed my feelings kind of way not in a this was a bad song kinda way). As I said before I hate when friends have fights, so this was... a struggle, but I got through it, barely. I absolutely love the fact that in the Odessey, Odysseus men were just dumb. They were warned by Tereseus and still did it. HOWEVER, in Epic, they just seem so exhausted and pessimist. It's just heartbreaking to hear. The do not have hopes of getting home and their too blind with hunger. Also, when they start singing "how much longer must we suffer now" and Odysseus starts overlapping? 😩👌 Perfection. Also, the men singing full speed ahead while Odysseus just screams faster is also everything to me.

Thunder bringer - holy shit this was so much better than I thought. When I heard in the snippets "If I were to make you choose/ the life of your men and crew or your own/ why do I think they'd loose" I thought it was just a reference to Odysseus' monster side NOT THAT ZEUS WOULD ACTUALLY MAKE HIM CHOOSE. Anyways I heard the last instrumental part of the song one (1) time, which was in my first way through the saga. I cannot listen to that knowing that Odysseus is drowning and his crew is all dead because of his choice, I just can't.

ANYWAYS, after this I just have to say one thing: CALL👏BACK👏SAGA👏. There were SO MANY references to previous songs.

BUT WHAT DID YOU THINK. WHAT'S YOUR OPINION????

(To answer your question the only reason I didn't perish is because I have to reach the end of this musical)

[helix-enterprises117]

My Headcanon Star Wars Timeline

This might also double as a "Star Wars: A Beginner's Guide," so if you want, you can also use this as a reference for Star Wars stories you can pick up if you want to get into the franchise; but ultimately, this is not the main point of this post.

Pretty much all Pre-BBY Legends stories: How the Sith and Jedi came to be, how lightsabers were created, the first wars, how everything started out as a high-fantasy before it evolved into proper sci-fi, the fleshing out of the midi-chlorians as entities in Star Wars... it's all so damn fascinating.

KOTOR - KORTOR II: SITH LORDS - SWTOR: The Knights Of The Old Republic games, and it's unofficial third entry in the form of 'Star Wars: The Old Republic,' are stories that take place in an even LONGER time ago in the same galaxy that's far, far away. The first game talks about Revan, the second talks about 'The Exhile' and the third game has both characters be greater-scope forces in the background that influence the events of the game.

The Prequel Trilogy: I never had a problem with these movies. I grew up playing the LEGO games, so I guess it never registered to me that these were bad. But I love the prequels.

The Clone Wars 2003: Unpopular opinion, but this is way better than Clone Wars 2008; no offense to anyone who loves the 3D Show, but the 2003 cartoon is a flashy and high-octane series that NEVER stopped and it had an appealing art/animation style. More importantly, the characters here are far more faithful to their film counterparts than 2008!CW. Plus, Grieveous was a straight BADASS in this show.

Republic Commando (both the book & the game): The book is generally a good read, but the game is basically "What if Star Wars made a Halo game?"

Revenge Of The Sith - Junior Novelization: While RotS is a good movie, the book is... it's just so much better. It goes in-depth into Anakin's descent into complete madness, properly fleshing out his paranoia and his trust in Palpatine; it makes everything he's gone through in the film more believable.

Jedi Fallen Order, Force Unleashed, Force Unleashed II, Jedi Suvivor: These four games, all taking place in-between episodes III and IV, are two sides of the same coin. Both are epic hack-n'-slash games where you play as a lightsaber-wielding force-user. But that's where their similarities end, the Force Unleashed games are power-fantasy games where you are so unbelievably powerful that you can do just about anything; the Jedi games are a more traditional journey from zero-to-hero where you start out weak and the gameplay requires a bit of legitimate skill to properly master.

The Han Solo Books: The REAL origin story of Han Solo. Born of a family of thieves, Han joined the Imperial Navy because he wanted to fly. He meets Chewy and loses his job. Other goofy stuff ensues.

Rogue One: Didn't think a movie that was based ONE LINE IN THE OPENING SCRAWL OF THE FIRST MOVIE was gonna be as good as it was, but here we are.

The Radio-Drama version of the Original Trilogy: I love the movies, but I love the radio-drama adaptation WAY more; as it expands upon and fleshes out the things in the films that left me scratching my head, it has more context to a lot of it's scenes AND it has a bunch of other extra scenes that weren't in the movies that make listening to the radio-drama a fresh experience.

The Mandalorian (seasons 1 and 2): I haven't seen season 3 (I'm sure it slaps, though), but I think this is an awesome sequel show to the original trilogy.

The Courtship Of Princess Leia: I just— this book is so damn funny, I can't wrap my head around it. (Plus, I love Han and Leia as a couple).

The (original) Thrawn Trilogy & Dark Empire: While I'm well-aware that the Thrawn books are pretty much loved by many a Star Wars fan, Dark Empire (I've noticed) is a lot more contested... but I love the Dark Empire SO MUCH. I love the idea of the World-Devastators and Luke turning Dark is awesome.

All of the Post-BBY Books from the Legends continuity: Mara Jade, the Solo kids (Jacen, Jaina and Anakin) and Ben Skywalker are such cool characters that I'm actually depressed that they get de-canonized.

Star Wars Legacy: Cade Skywalker is a very interesting character, as he's a Skywalker who became a hedonistic criminal who doesn't want the burden of responsibility weighing on him by proxy of being a Skywalker, the Empire is actually kind of chill, and everything that we all thought we knew about Star Wars gets flipped on it's head. Legacy, in my mind at least, is an interesting way to end the story of Star Wars.

[yakuzabrainrotlive]

Y4 Finale thoughts part 2 time! I hope I can shove everything here labdksnsnqqlqm

This ending was... really good. No, this WHOLE GAME was just an incredible experience. SO glad I got to play this 100% blind! Gonna have to ponder my order of faves a bit, not gonna lie👀

I hate to bring up other media, but this absolutely epic cutscene of them taking off reminded me strongly of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 3's start when the Stardust Crusaders take off at the start. You know, the classic:

The group dynamic, the badassery, the raw masculine energy, the whole vibe... ahhhh. Thoroughly enjoyed it. One of my favourite cutscenes in the games this far.

Okay hold on... Arai has lowkey been just utterly and completely BASED this entire time. BESIDES the whole shooting Kido thing, I've honestly been loving the energy he brings to the table. I found myself agreeing with him a lot and cheering him on. What a great character.

As for Daigo; seems I was kinda spot-on about him. I understand why he did what he did and I actually really like the idea of rebuilding the falling clan entirely, but... I don't like him betraying Majima. Not just because it's Majima, it's because of how much Majima and his family have contributed to the clan. Very disrespectful, even if it's supposed to be for the good of the clan. It clearly wasn't a decision Daigo made lightly, though, so I can't bring myself to hate him.

GOD, why is this finale just pure EPICNESS. I was amazed the entire time. Peak cinema🔥🙌🏻

THAT'S MY KING!! Hell yeah! This is SO necessary, for both of them. I hope they can build a healthy and mutually (more) beneficial partnership in the future.

Not to be like... insensitive or to rain on your parade here Kiryu, but... you were officially the chairman for how long, exactly? 10 minutes?? 😭 Pretty sure Daigo knows pretty damn well how heavy the responsibilities of being the Tojo leader are. I know Kiryu has experience as a representative and liutenant advisor of the clan, and he fought in many major battles but uhh... Daigo has had to deal with like... EVERYTHING. For years on end. Through more than a few massive crises. Cool line, though!

As for the fights! I really like that all the playable characters got their own fights.

Akiyama vs Arai was quite simple and I atomized Daigo in... probably like a single minute. Saejima vs Kido was tricky because I never really learned to properly use Saejima's style (I HATE using those charge move thingies), but it was doable.

NOW. WHAT ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH WAS THAT TANIMURA FIGHT😭 I did manage it first try, but h o l y s h i t. At the start I thought it was a scripted loss and the rest of the lads would come help, but NAH. Wow. The rest of the guys got to go 1v1 while Tanimura had to fight - to quote Max0r - "90 enraged apes". I thought Kiryu would be doing the heavy lifting so all my staminan sparks and best gear were on him💀

Majimaaaa hi!!! Congrats on your release!! Glad to see you and Daigo made up! I would pay real money to see how THAT reunion went, though.

I was KINDA maybe hoping a little bit Kiryu would make a comeback as chairman, but I also knew 100% that it wasn't happening. Eager to see where Kiryu ends up being at the start of Y5! Also very happy for Saejima for becoming a patriarch!! ❤️

[kurenaicrush]

Omega Quintet first impressions and a rant about it's character Takt

So I just started playing Omega Quintet and I've got about 5 hours into the game. I'm enjoying it so far, so I'd like to give my first impressions. It's a game I've been thinking about getting into for a while and a recent sale finally persuaded me. I was really interested by the premise of it, it sounds very similar to Symphogear, an obscure anime I really like. 

Omega Quintet is a half jrpg, half visual novel game. The world is thrown into chaos by an entity known as Blare (or Beep in the JP ver.) Blare produces monsters called MAD that cause mass destruction. Blare can be destroyed by a special girl known as a Verse Maiden, one who can use the power of song to defeat them. Otoha is a young girl who always dreamed of becoming a Verse Maiden like her idol Momoka. Her dream finally comes true when a certain incident gives her a chance to step up to the plate. 

Other than this I won't go into much detail about the story since I'm not that far in yet, but it's a good premise so far! I'd mostly like to give my thoughts about the gameplay itself and a certain critique I have about the game so far.

Early thoughts about the gameplay:

The battle system feels very complex and they throw a lot of information at you that you won't digest right away. I don't fully understand how it all works yet, but it's at least fun so far! I'll explain what I do understand for now. The game features the same combo type system that other Compile Heart games like Death End re;Quest and Neptunia have. You can pick multiple skills to chain together in a combo and it feels pretty satisfying. The animations are decent too! The battlefield seems to have different layers/rows to it that make certain attacks effective at a particular range. There are many different weapon and element skills, some having different effects like knockback. 

There's a character named Takt that I'll talk more about later. He's basically like this game’s Jack if you've played Mary Skelter. He supports the Verse Maidens in combat by adding an extra attack in the girl's combo chains and can also block an attack for a party member. He also has other supportive abilities that I don't quite understand yet. 

Now this wouldn't be a Compile Heart game without some kind of fan service. I don't quite fully understand this mechanic yet either, but Omega Quintet features an outfit break system. If a party member receives too much damage, their clothes will start to tear off and you'll lose any buffs you had applied to that particular outfit. I know it's really silly, but I honestly love it. I've always personally thought that battle damage in stuff like Dragon Ball Z or Senran Kagura was the coolest most epic thing. It just adds an extra sense of drama and intensity to fights, despite the intent to show off some panties. 

These are the main points I wanted to mention, but there's so much more to the battle system, including Voltage. Like I said, it's very complex. I hope to get a better understanding of it as I progress.

I'd briefly like to mention the game's art. This Compile Heart game has a different artist that I'm not familiar with, but I really like the style! It's all really cute and pretty and I think it really fits the characters. It's hard to describe, but everything just feels super girly and I love it. The character designs are so good! It's cuteness overload for me! There's also a few visual novel illustrations too!

The rant about this game's negative:

Sadly though there is one negative I have about this game so far that I feel the need to criticize. Do you ever consume a piece of media that has a character so badly written and integrated that it almost ruins the experience of the whole thing for you? Well for me that character is Takt. Takt is this game's male secondary protagonist support character that Compile Heart games commonly have. Takt and Otoha are childhood friends who grew up together. They're the closest thing each other has to family since they both had no parents.

I have a couple problems with Takt. Firstly is his personality, or lack thereof. Really his only personality trait is being cold and disinterested and he really doesn't contribute anything significant. It feels like he only stays friends with Otoha out of obligation, again always acting cold and disinterested when interacting with her, even being a little mean to her at times. The story wants you to think that deep down he genuinely cares for her, but they haven't shown much to make it convincing. Aside from that, he has his moments where he acts recklessly heroic, but only because the plot needs him to be. I'm curious to see if maybe Takt will have any character development that will make me think better of him, but I have my doubts about that due to my secondary reason for not liking him. We're really off to a rocky start for this one.

My second reason for hating Takt is how the game needlessly pushes him as being a self insert character. A lot of the game's story feels like it is viewed through Takt’s perspective. He also doesn't have a visual novel portrait in cutscenes, I assume because he's supposed to represent you viewing the story. You also control Takt instead of Otoha when exploring the Verse Maiden headquarters before accepting a mission. I just feel like a self insert for this kind of story was really forced and unnecessary. The game would've been so much better without him. Takt has no likable qualities and doesn't contribute much to anything. He just feels shoehorned into the game because the developers wanted the game to be more appealing to the male audience I assume. He literally just has no reason for being present, once again he barely contributes anything to the plot. Even some of the actual characters in game make comments about his useless presence, almost as if the game is self aware. The game's excuse is that Otoha gets nervous without him being there, so he always has to be following her around. This eventually leads to Takt becoming the Verse Maiden’s manager and he supports their team in combat. The worst part about it is how uninspired and indifferent he is about everything. He's not even interested in helping the girls, he's only there to keep Otoha company because he's got nothing else better to do I guess.

Speaking of him helping in combat, I've got another thing to rant about! For the gameplay he just gets a big ass anime sword and powers for literally no reason. I kid you not, the game gives absolutely no explanation as to how he obtained all that. I don't know if it'll get explained later, but so far the game hasn't acknowledged it. His abilities have no story relevance so far. The characters just comment on having an uplifting energy when being supported by him. 

That one fish from SpongeBob: “Oh brother, this guy stinks!” I'm so sorry reader, but the rant doesn't end here I'm afraid. Sadly there’s still more! So I'm not too far in to really see where this goes, but there's also a relationship mechanic. You can increase your affection with certain characters. Not sure what this does yet though. I'm just mad because of course the writers have to make all the girls like him too, because he totally deserves it (sarcasm). 

To top it all off, let's talk about his design. He's even got that cookie cutter boring protagonist anime boy look to him. His design feels very uninspired compared to the rest of the game's characters. Takt just feels like an insult to an otherwise good game, which is why I felt the need to criticize his unnecessary inclusion. The only redeeming quality about him is his role in the gameplay is a neat mechanic, but this easily could've been replaced by a different supporting character instead of forcing a self insert.

Alright so that's all my thoughts for now. If I continue to put a lot of time into the game I may give an update to how I'm enjoying it. Thanks for reading and I'm sorry this turned into a big rant. I didn't originally plan for that lol, but Takt was just too insufferable for me. But when I criticize something, it's because I like that thing and think it deserves better. Omega Quintet is so cool so far, it really didn't deserve to be held back by this character. Takt’s existence is negatively affecting the experience for me.