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sleepanonymous · 1 year ago

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im trying to get into sleeptoken - one of my friends is dragging me into it and i love it - can you just give me like a huge timeline and lore overlook? im looking around your feed, and im SO confused but also SO intrigued !! would love to hear from you :)

Hi! New fans always make me so happy! I’m glad you’ve been shown Sleep Token and you like what you’ve heard so far! I always recommend this video and this article regarding Sleep Token lore, but… yeah, I will take a stab at a complete timeline for you. I’ll be honest: I never was very into the lore of “Sleep” as much as I was curious about the band itself (which is typically why I recommend the two above sources for lore purposes). I know that much of the lore is from fans’ deep analyses of Sleep Token’s lyrics and not anything official from the band or Vessel. Almost everything is fan-made, so there are a lot of differing opinions—anything official or stated by Vessel and the band in interviews I included. If anyone is interested in my take on the lore, I might make a separate post about that.

This ended up becoming a massive post. Take what you think is massive and then double or even triple it. Fun fact: I aggressively fact-checked this and actually learned some new things about the band myself. I have marked any unverifiable statements and opinions in this post with an asterisk. Due to the band’s secrecy, the sentences with an asterisk are either heavily opinion-based or my best guess at what might have happened during a specific time period. Take them with a grain of salt.

Anyway! I have a problem; below the cut, I am making it everybody else’s problem.

In September of 2016, a video was posted to YouTube. The video was a black-and-white depiction, through short clips and flashing images, of what appeared to be a lone masked man, Vessel, performing a ritual by candlelight. The music over the video, a hauntingly beautiful mixture of indie pop and prog metal, was met with heavy praise from commenters. The description had three links to a new band’s social media and a Bandcamp account. Below the links was the following description:

Sleep Token are a masked, anonymous collective of musicians; united by their worship of an ancient deity crudely dubbed “Sleep”, since no modern tongue can properly express it’s name. This being once held great power, bestowing ancient civilisations with the gift of dreams, and the curse of nightmares. Even today, though faded from prominence, ‘Sleep’ yet lurks in the subconscious minds of man, woman, and child alike. Fragments of beauty, horror, anguish, pain, happiness, joy, anger, disgust, and fear coalesce to create expansive, emotionally textured music that simultaneously embodies the darkest, and the brightest abstract thoughts. He has seen them. He has felt them. He is everywhere. Sleep Token, led by the perpetually tormented, supremely talented Vessel, creates music that brings to the fore our most submerged thoughts and feelings, coaxing them from the desolate, terrifying caves of our subconscious mind.

The band officially formed in April 2016 (The YouTube channel, for reference, was created on April 14, 2016), but things had already been in the works for nearly a year before the uploaded Thread the Needle music video. In July 2015, Vessel came into contact with a talent scout/independent project manager by the name of Tom (I won’t provide his full name since Googling him brings up biased, embellished, and most likely false information about the band and its members).* In 2015, Vessel was already a skilled, trained, and experienced musician with the ability to play several instruments, including the piano, guitar, and bass, and the knowledge to compose and produce his own music. That being the case, Tom introduced Vessel to a drummer, dubbed II, as well as a skilled producer by the name of George Lever.*

On November 10, 2016, a second video was posted to Sleep Token’s YouTube channel, a music video for the masked collective’s second release, Fields of Elation. Much like Thread the Needle, Fields of Elation was met with enthusiasm and praise by Sleep Token’s growing fanbase.

Finally, on December 2, 2016, Sleep Token independently released their first EP, aptly titled “One”, on their Bandcamp page. The EP included Thread the Needle, Fields of Elation, and a new song: When the Bough Breaks. Accompanying the three songs, the band also included piano renditions of all three songs, performed solely by Vessel.

On the last day of February 2017, Sleep Token posted another video to their YouTube channel, a sombre piano cover of Outkast’s Hey Ya. Following the release of “One” and the cover of Hey Ya, Tom, now acting as Sleep Token’s manager, got the band signed to a label called Basick Records.* By May 2017, the band had another three-song EP, dubbed “Two”, already written and set to release that summer. This was announced via the release of Sleep Token’s third music video, Calcutta. By this time, Sleep Token’s manager had gotten a stand-in bassist and guitarist, dubbed III and IV, respectively, for the band’s first live Ritual. This was mentioned at the end of Sleep Token’s first-ever published interview with Louder. You can read it and the accompanying short article here.

On June 17, 2017, less than one month after the release of the Calcutta music video, Sleep Token took the stage for their first Ritual at The Black Heart in London. The band played seven songs live, including the three songs from “One”, Calcutta, two unreleased songs, Nazareth and Jericho from their upcoming EP “Two”, and their cover of Hey Ya. Very little is known about this Ritual. Most online sources seem to not know of its existence at all. The only concrete facts known about Ritual I are that doors opened at 7 pm, it was 18+, and tickets were £8.00 each. It is unclear how many people attended the Ritual; no footage or pictures have surfaced from that evening.

Sleep Token’s second and third rituals were performed in London in October and November 2017. The band opened for Motorpsycho and Perturbator, respectively. Because they were openers, any visual or audio documentation is nearly non-existent, but the band did appear in a few online articles reviewing the concerts.

In this article, author Roger Trenwith wrote the following about Sleep Token’s Ritual II:

“The support act Sleep Token was an odd mix of metal and pure pop, played by a band in horror masks and cloaks. Musically they were somewhat formulaic, in the tried and trusted quiet-loud-quiet-F’KIN LOUD nature of most of the songs, and accompanying theatrics by rote. When they diverted from the formula, they showed some promise, mostly down to the singer, whose extraordinary range made them just about bearable.”

Ritual III was met with similar criticism. This article, written by a much more helpful and open-minded Chris Keith-Wright, stated the following*:

“Remarkably, by the time Sleep Token take to the stage to start the evening off, there’s a very respectable amount of people front and centre to check them out. Perhaps this is due to the up-swell of media attention on the band since their signing to Basick Records and the release of their second EP, cleverly titled Two, that landed this summer. [...] The conceit surrounding the group is that the band are representatives of an ancient deity known only as “Sleep”, and that their frontman is an appointed-one dubbed ‘Vessel’. Whatever one makes of that, the fact is that Sleep Token’s Vessel has a most extraordinary set of pipes. [...] With a lighting show in time with their music and Vessel’s strong, soulful melodic voice featuring some impressive falsetto, they quickly engaged the audience. With the amount of vocal harmonies and extra musical depth that came over the sound system, I have to admit that it felt throughout their set that they were missing a band member, someone who could control and wield the keyboards, samples and electronics in a live setting. Donned with the obligatory cloaks the band produce a strong performance with their points of difference, clearly thought out prior to their live debut only a few weeks before. Their odd masks obscure their faces and during the quiet, vocal-led passages the guitar and bass players stood stock still. It’s simple, understated, but effective, producing quite the spectacle. Sleep Token’s transition between soulful, repetitive vocal melodies and brutal Meshuggah-esque riffery, and after a few songs this formula felt well-trodden. This is unfortunate as on record these transitions between the two disparate styles are far better executed – live there was far too much juxtaposition. Despite this, I and the majority of the growing crowd were transfixed by their performance.”

In March 2018, Sleep Token opened for two Holding Absence/Loathe shows, two bands with which Vessel would later collaborate. By April 2018, Sleep Token had parted ways with their manager and the Basick Records label.* It is unclear if both of these departures were related or amicable. As a once again independent artist, Sleep Token released the single, Jaws, on June 3, 2018, using footage filmed for their Nazareth music video that their previous label did not utilise. Through the spring and summer of 2018, Sleep Token performed their rituals at UK music festivals, further growing their fanbase.

In August of 2018, Vessel gave his second interview to Kerrang! UK. Interestingly, the article refers to the frontman not as Vessel but simply as Him. The main focus is on Sleep Token’s music and the single Jaws, released two months prior. A transcribed version of the article can be found in my Google Drive

Following these successful rituals and the Jaws interview, the band released another single, The Way That You Were, on October 8, 2018, along with its music video on YouTube.

This release preceded the last Ritual the band would perform that year. On October 11, 2018, Ritual XI was held at St Pancras Old Church in London, dubbed the band’s Inaugural Headline Ritual. It’s rumoured that all 120 tickets to the Ritual sold out in seconds. The band performed ten songs in total, including the live debut of the song Blood Sport. It is also worth noting that this is the first ritual Sleep Token performed with an opener being a band called Exploring Birdsong, which would become a staple opener for later ritual dates. Several members of Exploring Birdsong would also later become touring members of Sleep Token as the Choir.

At an unknown date in 2019, Sleep Token signed with a new label, Spinefarm Records. Together, the band and label began releasing music from Sleep Token’s first full-length album, “Sundowning.” Starting with The Night Does Not Belong to God on June 20, 2019, the band methodically released a new song bi-weekly at sundown BST until the record’s full release on November 21, 2019.

Interestingly, Sleep Token’s biography on Spinefarm differs from what the band had previously had in the description of their first two music videos. It is as follows:

Beneath the Sleep Token banner, lies the unique, broad-based vision of one individual – anonymous, silent, masked, armed with a staggering vocal range, a deft touch on the keyboards, plus a live approach that is never less than fully engaged.

While all factual statements to Vessel’s capabilities and talents, it appears that the band and their new label had retconned the lore surrounding them, granting the creation credits solely to Vessel himself. This is further evident by the Kerrang! Interview Vessel had previously given, which was removed from the internet, as well as the band’s Facebook page getting scrubbed of all posts prior to April 2019. Replacing them is a video of Vessel sitting at a piano and removing his mask, reminiscent of what would later happen at The Room Below Ritual in 2022.

Sleep Token would return to the stage on July 2, 2019. During this Ritual, Sleep Token opened for Amaranth and headliner Babymetal. This Ritual is notable because two key stage members, the guitarist IV and the Keyboardist, were replaced. The new guitarist took on the same moniker of IV, and the Keyboardist was replaced with three women from Exploring Birdsong, forming the Choir (or, as fans have dubbed them, the Vesselettes). The Choir was not yet a ritual staple, and there were several festivals and rituals where they did not accompany the band on stage, such as Sleep Token’s first US tour from November 7 to December 15, supporting Issues on the Beautiful Oblivion tour. The replacement for IV, however, did accompany Sleep Token on this tour.

With the release of “Sundowning,” Sleep Token once again gave an interview to Kerrang! UK to accompany an article reviewing the album. The article can be found online here, but no longer has the accompanying interview section. A photo of the original magazine review + interview, and a transcription can be found in my Google Drive.

Returning to the UK, Sleep Token performed several more rituals in late January 2020. Due to COVID-19 and subsequent lockdowns, they did not conduct another ritual that year. Nearly one year after the release of Sundowning, the band released a deluxe version, including new covers of Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody and Billie Eilish’s When The Party’s Over, a piano version of Blood Sport, and a new original song titled Shelter.

Sleep Token would not perform another Ritual until the Download Pilot festival on June 18, 2021. Despite being Sleep Token’s first Ritual in over a year, this festival also had IV replaced again by another guitarist donning the same moniker. The Choir also returned to the stage with Sleep Token, completing the lineup that we know today. This festival was the same day that Sleep Token dropped their new single from their upcoming second album, Alkaline, along with a music video on YouTube.

Another reason the Download Pilot ritual was significant is that it was the first time a spoken message had been given to the attendees of a Sleep Token ritual, not by a band member but by a prerecorded, AI-generated voice. The following text was the message:

Let’s not deceive ourselves There is a reason we are here It follows us wherever we go We were in love We are in love It is what floats above us as we try to sleep It is what stands beside us as we gaze into nothingness It is drowning us It is eating us alive A million outstretched arms in complete darkness They will reach forever Remind me We’re both dying to find out what happens when we die We’re both scared of being We’re both stolen pieces of each other We’re both exploring our own frontiers of grief We’re both just strangers We’re both just particles We’re both so lost in what it means to be lost We’re both a house that remained unoccupied for too long Let’s not deceive ourselves.

Sleep Token released another music video for their upcoming album’s second single, The Love You Want, on August 6, 2021. Sleep Token played the same spoken message before taking the stage at the 2021 Heavy Music Awards on September 2, 2021. On stage, they performed several staple songs from “Sundowning” along with new singles Alkaline and The Love You Want, with the latter including the same dancers from the music video.

Two weeks later, on September 17, 2021, Sleep Token released their third and final single from their upcoming album, Fall For Me. Unlike the previous music videos for the band, this video focused on a single man, whom keen-eyed fans had identified as Vessel, though he was maskless, paintless, and in street clothing. Over the video, words will flash across the screen. When strung together, they give the following message:

The truth is I am due a harsh lesson In truth itself and how bitter it can be Will you teach me? The truth is, I am ugly, I am inadequate, I am lost, I am no god The truth is, I want to want to live And so do you I just can’t do this any longer I am afraid Are you afraid? I want to understand what it is to let go So for now let me serve as a living drama of your pain If we are to be submerged let us be submerged Together

One week later, On September 24, 2021, Sleep Token released their second full-length album with Spinefarm Records, titled “This Place Will Become Your Tomb.” This album was the first to find a spot on the UK music charts, reaching #39 for UK Albums.

That following November, Sleep Token had their first multi-date headline tour supporting their second album. They toured with another of their staple openers, AA Williams, and played eight rituals in total throughout the UK.

On November 26, 2021, an instrumental version of “This Place Will Become Your Tomb” was released, stripping all songs of Vessel’s vocals, except for Missing Limbs, which was not included. Surprising fans, just over one month later, on January 2, 2022, Sleep Token released a cover of Loathe’s song Is It Really You? The cover is listed as a collaboration between both bands but is simply (though still beautiful and enrapturing) Vessel singing alongside a piano rendition of the original song.* A year later later, the vocalist of Holding Absence, Lucas Woodland, would also announce that his band had collaborated with Vessel on an unreleased song on his Twitter.

This unofficial announcement accompanies another that was made in March of 2019 by Lucas, who stated in an interview that Vessel assisted Holding Absence with playing the piano in the song Purge.

On March 30, 2022, Sleep Token released an instrumental version of their first album, Sundowning. Nearly a month later, on April 29, 2022, Sleep Token, or rather Vessel and the Choir, performed an intimate ritual at the Lafayette in London. The Ritual was dubbed “From the Room Below.” This performance is one of the most significant rituals for two reasons. Vessel sang and played guitar for the first several songs, then removed his mask and played the rest of the set while sitting at a piano with his back to the audience. The second reason is that Vessel, once again, played an AI-generated message to the crowd of 600 people while he openly sobbed on the piano bench. His full message to the audience was this:

We are here to silently connect. To project ourselves onto one another. We are here to remember. We are here to forget. We are here to worship. Some time ago, I was given a message. It was a message that originated from one of you. Someone possessed by a strong desire to tell me something. The message read very simply: You saved me. I have thought about this message a great deal since. It left me with a feeling that I have somehow been mistaken for someone else. I did not save anyone. I do not believe I have the capacity to save anyone. All I have ever given anyone was a small window into the emotional waiting room of my mind. I do so whilst doing everything in my power to minimise my own vulnerability. In this way, I am selfish. I chose not to give what others can, and yet I am the benefactor of this thankful praise. I experience a great deal of pain in my life. However, I do not believe I have suffered as you have suffered. Perhaps that is another reason why we are here. At the very least, we have all suffered. I would also like to take this chance to tell you something. To love oneself is not the easy task we are sometimes told it is. We are all limited by something. We are all guilty of something. My own path towards a place of greater self-acceptance is paved with the art that I create. It is a path that I continue to stumble down at the expense of everything else. I am nothing without this music. I am nothing without this mask. So, in this sense, the message I received was true, but only in an inverse sense. The truth is I did not save anybody. You saved me.

After this first Ritual of 2022, Sleep Token had a busy year of touring, performing rituals in the UK, for the first time in Australia, and returning to the United States. In all, fifty-four rituals were performed, making 2022 Sleep Token’s busiest year— until 2023.

On January 4, 2023, Sleep Token dropped a new YouTube video, a visualiser for a new song, Chokehold, from their upcoming third studio album, “Take Me Back to Eden.” One day later, on January 5, Sleep Token posted another visualiser to YouTube, this time for the song The Summoning. This song is specifically responsible for Sleep Token’s sudden skyrocketing into the spotlight of modern music. To date (late November 2023), the visualiser has over 13 million views on YouTube, and the song has over 80 million streams on Spotify.

Around the same time as Chokehold and The Summoning were released, Sleep Token also added new merchandise to their store. Among the new “Take Me Back to Eden” themed shirts and pullovers was a crewneck sweater with a poem written in runes. The poem read as follows:

I am hunting something, and in turn, that same thing is hunting me. The beholder, the void beyond. I am the line between. I am the teeth of God.

Sleep Token released six singles for their third studio album: Granite on January 19, Aqua Regia on January 20, Vore on February 15, and DYWTYLM on April 19. “Take Me Back to Eden” was released on May 19. Dubbed the end to a trilogy, Sleep Token’s third album reached a peak point of #3 for UK Albums and #16 for the US Billboard 200. With this success, Sleep Token and Vessel were featured on several magazine covers, but the accompanying articles lacked an interview by the band or their servants.

Sleep Token spent the time between single releases touring Europe, the UK, and Australia. In September of 2023, the band returned to the US, for the first time with the Choir, for a headline tour, using AA Williams as their opener. At every date on this headline tour, a series of interludes were played between songs. All four interludes are below.

Interlude I Mask: They think you fake it Vessel: What do you mean? Mask: When you cry on stage, they don’t think it’s real. Vessel: That’s a reasonable assumption. Mask: Do you fake it? Vessel: No, I don’t. But it is something I do consistently, so if I was a member of the audience, I would probably assume that it wasn’t real. Mask: Do you ever see them crying? Vessel: No, I can only ever see them smiling. That’s good. I want them to smile. Mask: Do you think they want you to cry? Do you think they like it? Vessel: Not as such; I think they just want to know that I am feeling something, feeling what they are feeling, perhaps. Mask: Do you think that this amount of crying is healthy for you? Vessel: I don’t know. But at least I feel something; if I don’t feel anything, then why would I even do this?

Interlude II Mask: Why am I here? What is my purpose in all of this? Vessel: Your purpose is twofold. You protect me from them, and you also protect them from me. Mask: How is it that I serve to protect anyone from anything? That makes no sense. Vessel: In order for all of this to work, there has to be a certain boundary in place. They need to be able to project themselves onto this without anyone else’s identity getting in the way. In turn, I need to be able to show my true self to them in a way that does not compromise their ability to connect. Mask: So that’s what I am? A boundary? Vessel: Yes. Mask: I don’t believe you. I believe there is more to it than that. I believe you are afraid of something. Vessel: We are all afraid of something, are we not? Mask: What is it you are so afraid they will see? Vessel: That I am exactly like everyone else.

Interlude III Mask: Are you afraid of me? Vessel: Sometimes. Mask: Why? Vessel: I think I am afraid of becoming you. Mask: What does that even mean? Vessel: My life is becoming gradually consumed by you. Before long, all that I am will be contained within you. Then, one day, when I no longer wish to wear you, there will be nothing else left. Mask: It seems you have forgotten who you are. Before you had me, you were nothing. All of this artifice, all this pathetic conjecture about your identity, it is nothing but a manifestation of how short-sighted and solipsistic you have become. I lifted you from misery and obscurity. You would be better to become me. You are nothing without me. You always were nothing without me.

Interlude IV Vessel: You. Are. Wrong. In the end, my fractured sense of self was only another piece of fuel for the fire that burns in the eyes of these people before us. They, too, are pained. They, too, do not know who they truly are. They are each stood alone on a stage of their own. And yet, they are here. United by that sense of never truly belonging. They see something beyond their own bleak horizons. And they reach for it. Together. So let us join now. To reflect their joy and to serve as a conduit for their anguish. To swallow their fear.

Though only one month remains in 2023, Sleep Token still has a set of rituals to complete in Germany, as well as their largest venue as a headliner: OVO Wembley Arena, with a staggering 12,500 capacity—tickets sold out in ten minutes when they went on sale earlier this year in June. With the band’s continuous and foreboding statement of “nothing lasts forever,” many fans worried that this would be the last we ever saw of Sleep Token, with everything starting from “One” and culminating to a peak with “Take Me Back to Eden,” only to evaporate into nothing come the new year. Fortunately, several 2024 tour dates have already been announced for Sleep Token, including a tour in Australia where the band will be supporting Bring Me the Horizon and a festival date for the USA in April. Though all we can do is speculate what may come next for Sleep Token, one thing is for certain: This is only the beginning for our favourite band.

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sketchdeath · 3 years ago

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I’m comfortable in my body like I’ve never had gender dysphoria about being born a women. But I don’t really get jealous of other women and sometimes when I’m looking at pictures of men I just feel really sad bc I wish I looked like that. Like I really wish I was born with a dick and masculine features. But also I love my femininity. I guess I never really let myself think about my gender so now idk what the fuck is going on.

well. im not really sure what you wanted me to say in response to this ask, but i can try and give some advice.

trans experience is different for everyone. not everyone (and truly, most do not) fit along the neat lines of what is supposed to be a trans childhood/teenhood/internal knowledge/timeline/etc. i do and dont fit some of those. i always "knew." but at the same time i was always very much a little queen. (and i still am!) and i transitioned into an ~effeminate man~ (that's an option!)

gender dysphoria doesn't always manifest itself in bodily discomfort. in the beginning stages of my coming out process, a large part of my gender dysphoria was grief, longing, and homesickness for the life i was "supposed to" be living. of course, there were bodily things as well... (a lot of which i don't feel comfortable talking about it publically.) but body isn't all there is, not for everyone at least. and, importantly, gender dysphoria is not hating your body. in my experience... it's a lot more innate. instinctual. like a phantom limb (sometimes literally lol) you don't have to have a set bullet checklist of things you do/feel to be trans. it just is what it is.

i wanted to share my personal experiences to give you a wider picture of what trans people experience, of course, i have a biased opinion because i only know what i know/have experienced. i know what wishing to be born with a dick/masculine features feels like, so... of course im going to want to say i relate to you in *that way,* but…that still doesn't mean anything for you.

…for my REAL real advice, and maybe this isnt what you wanted to hear: but only you know what you are. no one can tell you otherwise how you "really" feel. there is no (in my worldview) higher power or universe controlling the narrative of your life. no path leading you to an ultimate happiness destiny. you are at the steering wheel of your own life. (repeat that last sentence like 10 times in your own head.) if you are looking for permission, you already have it. you have that power, and more power than you know. you are allowed to be whatever you think will be best for yourself long-term. (or short-term. or whatever. its your life.) if you want to be a guy, be a guy. try thinking about yourself as both, or neither, or "sometimes" for a while. its okay to say nah, im a chick whos more masc than i allowed myself to be before. think about misogyny, transphobia, homophobia, and all that. seek out a varied amount of experiences. throw some spaghetti at the wall. it's okay to think long and hard about these things. you're literally switching around the entire idea you have about yourself in your head and all by yourself, its a difficult thing. it takes time, there's no rush.

if you have any big takeaways from reading this just know that you, and only you, have the power to drive your own life trajectory and that you, and only you, have the power of knowing who you are. even if no one in the whole wide world knows but you. and no one else has the power to tell you otherwise.

this is just my personal philosophy/spiritually (or i guess, lack of.)

#ask

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mybg3notebook · 4 years ago

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Gale Extensive analysis

Disclaimer Game Version: All these analyses were written up to the game version v4.1.104.3536 (Early access). . As long as new content is added, and as long as I have free time for that, I will try to keep updating this information. Written in May 2021.

The majority of sources used for this article are in the game itself (this includes my Gale-solo playthroughs as well as a combination of the videos by munmomuu and selphie1999), and the dev’s notes provided by pjenn. Gale as origin is not taken into account since it’s not finished and has little Gale-related content. There will be little datamining content as well since pjenn said the game contained almost no gale-related notes (only in theWeave and in the Revelation scene).

The itemised list will show some instances of approval or disapproval as they are seen in the game. To make the reading of this article easier and shorter, you can skip them since they are basically the proof I use to sustain the introductory concept of each block.

We can infer a lot of Gale by analysing what he approves and disapproves of. Sometimes, we can even lightly infer some information from his neutral reactions, but let’s be honest: this way of analysing a char is pretty poor since it leaves everything to speculation. Neutral reactions can only be analysed by contrasting the same situation in other contexts, and seeing what other options Gale approves or disapproves of. With these considerations in mind, we can proceed to describe this character.

Disclaimer: this is a meta with my personal interpretation of the character, sticking as much as possible to the facts and leaving little to “desires” or “projections” of what I want him to be. If I do so, I will state it explicitly in the text for the sake of analysis honesty. I want to be clear about what is canon (facts shown in bg3 EA), from what’s personal interpretation with little proof.

Also, this list is extensive, gathering as much as I could in my many playthroughs, but I’m sure it’s not absolutely complete. Some details may have escaped me, but honestly, I believe that any new approval will be easily fit in these blocks once the pattern has been seen.

Understanding Gale by enumerating his reactions and approvals

What we can do is combine what we know and make our deductions.

---Gale

[[1]] The most notorious aspect we see about his approval is that Gale supports all actions that prevent, via persuasion, intimidation, or deception, the unnecessary violence and bloodshed. His attitude can be summarized as “the means (as long as they don’t kill gratuitously) hardly matter if the end is worthy”. He will always prefer diplomatic and persuasive approaches, but he can be flexible when his main objective is to avoid unnecessary bloodshed.

He approves of using intimidation, deception, or persuasion against Gimblebock, in the ruins of the Jergal Temple.

He approves of intimidation or deception against the tieflings that have Lae’zel in a cage.

Gale approves of diffusing the tension between Zevlor and Aradin, using intimidation or persuasion. He keeps neutral if Tav uses violence to knock out one of the two. Once more, this shows he prefers any verbal approach before heading into physical violence.

He approves of dealing with Nettie without bloodshed after she poisoned Tav. Gale even has an extra comment on the matter praising such an approach since he says he would have not been able to do it himself. This is also the first time we see a glimpse of his support for the philosophy of “giving people their own medicine”. However, it's a comment made in the heat of the moment. He ends up praising a peaceful resolution of the situation.

He approves of saving Lae’Zel’s life when she attacks Tav in the camp. This can be done via deception, persuasion or knowledge [medicine] as long as it spares Lae’Zel’s life when she is feeling the first symptoms of the transformation.

He approves of any means that allow a peaceful entrance to the Blighted Village.

Gale approves of using persuasion/intimidation/deception against the goblins to avoid combat with all of them and to save the deep gnome tied to the windmill.

Gale approves of paying for Oskar’s freedom or using persuasion/intimidation, and then setting him free.

He approves of intimidating Spike (the goblin who is torturing Liam) to cooperate with you.

Gale approves of persuasion/intimidation options to pretend to be a True Soul in front of Dror Ragzlin, avoiding combat with him and all his goblin lackeys.

Gale approves of the persuasive approach with the githyanki patrol, promising to help them to find this weapon they are looking for. It’s clear that any other approach will end up in a fight and therefore, bloodshed.

He also approves if you tell Lae’Zel to deal with her brethren while “playing along”. Again, the goal is to avoid fighting/bloodshed.

He approves of intimidating Karlach, saying that “I heard you are dangerous, so I am”. Since Karlach is aiming at the group, he approves of diffusing the imminent violence.

In similar fashion, Gale approves of intimidating Rugan, once he presents himself as Zhentarim, to give you the chest. This can be interpreted as a way to prevent further violence from a Zhentarim. Since there is no approval when you use persuasion to have the chest, one is more inclined to think this approval is about danger-control than curiosity. Or it’s just a bug.

[[2]] As it was said before, we can assume that diplomatic approaches are the best ones in his opinion. They not only have a positive effect in the short term but also are means that may guarantee useful resources for the future:

Gale approves of ensuring an encounter with Lorroakan in Baldur’s Gate via Rolan, establishing diplomatic relationships with what could potentially be a powerful useful ally.

Gale approves of promising to rescue the Duke Ravengard in the Moonrise, one of the most important figures in Baldur’s Gate.

Gale approves of managing a peaceful entrance to the Myconid colony. He highlights in a comment afterwards how useful it could be to have the Myconid as allies.

[[3]] Gale certainly is a great protector of life. Gale is against killing people just for fun, whether they are innocent or not. He will defend and respect the life of innocents without question, but he even will defend the life of dubious characters.

Gale approves of helping the tieflings to get rid of Lae’Zel because “she is dangerous to innocent people ''. We can see here that like any human, he has his own (reasonable) biases about Githyanki, considering them dangerous. Only after meeting Lae’Zel he recognises a good ally with the possibility of access to a cure to their tadpole problem.

He approves of convincing Rolan to stay in the Grove and defend it. This can be interpreted as gathering resources to reduce the bloodshed and therefore, the loss of life when facing the goblin attack. After all, Gale believes that “a wizard is a mighty weapon to have in your arsenal”

He approves of stepping in front of Arka whose crossbow is aimed at the caged goblin Sazza. Due to the anecdote he shares after, we know explicitly that his approval is due to the prevention of murder.

In his anecdote on the Yawning Portal, we know he prevented murder of three humanoids: a dragonborn, a drow, and a cleric of Cyric. The last two are highly morally dubious due to lore reasons, reinforcing this concept that Gale protects life whether they are innocent or not.

He approves of inviting Wyll to their camp and team. He is a fighter and a good resource to add in order to protect the team’s life.

He also approves of helping Zevlor when he comments about the Blade of Frontier’s plan of killing the goblin leaders.

He approves of helping the tiefling called Guex to improve his technique with the sword. More chances for him not to lose his own life.

Approves of helping Auntie Ethel when she's confronted by Mayrina’s brothers when Tav’s perception check fails. This is because neither Tav nor Gale perceived her as a Hag until the brothers called her such.

Gale approves saving Mayrina from the hag’s clutches. If Tav deals with the Hag, accepting her power and saving Mayrina, Gale will remain neutral (he is displeased with sparing the hag, but it’s nullified with the fact that Tav ended up rescuing Mayrina.) He will disapprove of giving Mayrina to the hag and accepting her powers instead. He is always approving of saving Mayrina’s life and killing the Hag, saving more potential innocents in the future. He explicitly says that hags should be extinct due to their malice.

He approves of avoiding a fight by convincing the man to let the party pass into the Zhentarim hideout.

He approves of saving Rugan’s life in the hideout. This reinforces again the concept that Gale values life including the morally dubious ones’.

Gale approves of saving Benryn’s life, the man screaming during the fire in the inn at Waukeen’s Rest.

Gale approves of accepting to rescue the Duke Ravengard, and probably saving his life.

Gale approves of saving the deep gnome in the windmill without asking compensation, just for the sake of saving his life.

Gale approves of attacking the goblins that are throwing stones to the caged bear. (He does it whether he knows that bear is Halsin or not)

Gale approves when Tav shields their memory and denies the access of the location of the grove to Minthara.

Gale approves of killing Minthara, the greatest danger for the tieflings and all lives in the Grove.

Gale approves of killing the Duergar slavers Gekh Coal and his company.

He approves of killing the dying hyena which is giving birth to a gnoll. This is a way to protect innocent lives in the long term.

He approves of using the tadpole against Flind, commanding her to devour the other gnolls. Gale approves again if Tav orders her to kill herself.

He approves of helping Baelen from escaping the trap of poisonous inflammable flowers he is surrounded in the Underdark.

[[4]] He dislikes greed and likes offering help without asking for a reward, just for the sake of helping.

Gale approves of helping Zevlor with the refugee situation.

Gale approves of incorporating Wyll in the group and of helping to get rid of the problems of the grove.

Gale approves helping Alfira in composing her song.

Gale approves of saving the tiefling kid Mirkon from the harpies.

Gale encourages Tav and approves of meddling into Mayrina's troubles when they see her being mistreated by the Hag.

He disapproves of asking for compensation after saving the deep gnome at the windmill. Gale approves of saving him and telling him “you owe me nothing”.

[[5 ]] He has a consistent approval of treating kids in a compassionate and forgiving way. There is a line he says after Arabella’s scene that sums up his position with kids (and adults too): “She was not innocent, but that doesn’t mean she is guilty.”

Gale disapproves of not interfering in Meli’s situation, the tiefling child who stole Barth’s medallion. Using intimidation against Barth at this moment doesn’t give approval penalties. Not doing anything does.

When Tav’s perception prevents them from being pickpocketed by one of Mattis' associates, the child immediately starts crying. Gale Approves of telling this child “Relax. I won’t get angry. You didn’t manage to steal anything from me”.

He approves of telling Arabella's parents that the druids overreacted. This approval is explicitly explained later by gale: one should be more kind and forgiving with the transgressions of youth. Here there is a bit of self-projection of Gale on the situation.

He approves of saving Arabella with active persuasion/intimidation. He disapproves of not doing anything during the tense situation with Teela.

He approves of choosing the option “Only a monster would threaten/kill a child” when speaking with Kagha the first time.

Gale approves of helping Mirkon. He disapproves of scaring him.

Gale approves of telling “I’m sorry for your loss” to a goblin kid whose parents were killed by the adventurer they are kicking.

[[6]] He is an animal lover in general, so treating animals in a good way will always earn his approval.

We know he has a cat. When he was a child, he used to have a Tressym (winged cat).

He approves of convincing Scratch of joining the camp via speak with animals.

Gale approves of petting Scratch.

Gale approves of leaving the cave of the Owlbear mother and her cub without combat. Or he approves if Tav can speak with animals and convinces her not to kill them.

After killing the owlbear mother, Gale approves of sparing the owlbear cub’s life.

Gale approves of convincing the goblin Krolla to hand over the Owlbear cub. Paying for it will not earn his approval.

Gale approves of feeding the owlbear cub at the camp. However, Gale will state that it's a dangerous pet. Gale approves of feeding the owl afterwards, offering a funny phrase that may be more meaningful for his character: “The hand that feeds is the hand that’s loved, now he wont leave your side”. I personally found it funny since he is the char that Tav is feeding with artefacts.

Gale approves of petting the owlbear.

Gale approves of attempting to heal the Owlbear cub in camp.

He disapproves of shooing the Owlbear cub.

Gale approves of freeing the spiders in the goblin camp. This can be interpreted as well as a tactical advantage for the battle.

Gale disapproves of suggesting to the goblins to use sharp stones at the caged bear so they can inflict more damage. He also disapproves again if Tav joins them in throwing stones.

He approves of helping the bear to attack the goblins. (This happens whether Gale knows that the bear is Halsin or not)

Gale approves of leaving flowers at the grave of the dog Myrna in the Underdark.

[[7]] Therefore it is only natural to see that he disaproves of animal cruelty

He disapproves of kicking and killing the squirrel Timber when entering the Grove.

He disapproves of prodding to death the bird that Nettie was healing

He disapproves of killing the owlbear cub once the mother was killed.

Gale disapproves of suggesting the goblin kids to use sharp stones to hurt the caged bear.

He disapproves of Tav throwing stones at the bear.

Gale disapproves of attacking the owlbear cub once it went to the camp.

[[8]] Since life is valuable for him in general, he will always disapprove of gratuitous killing, murder, and bloodshed. In short, he disapproves of unnecessary death.

Gale disapproves of asking the fishermen to hand over their values. This situation ends up in bloodshed.

He disapproves of joining Lae'Zel against the Tieflings that had her caged.

Gale disapproves of not helping Zevlor, knowing the tieflings will be massacred by the goblins.

He disapproves of telling Rolan to leave the grove before the arrival of the goblins. Without this wizard the tieflings have more chances of failing at the resistance.

He disapproves of helping the goblin Sazza to escape. This will guarantee that Minthara knows the location of the Grove.

He disapproves of telling Zevlor that Tav won’t help the Blade of Frontiers against the imminent massacre of the tieflings.

He disapproves of not doing anything to help Arabella

He disapproves of Tav ignoring his need for artefacts because “there is more at stake than his own meager life alone”. He disapproves of this decision that puts many innocents in danger, but he keeps appealing to Tav’s good side, encouraging them to do the “right thing”.

He also disapproves of killing Crusher when he is begging for his life after the “pungent poetic justice” of kissing Tav’s feet.

Gale disapproves of killing Rugan in the Zhentarim hideout when Zarys orders to.

Gale disapproves of killing Ellyka, the tiefling who was watching the githyanki patrol from a distance.

He disapproves of opening the gate for the goblin raiders.

Gale disapproves of joining the goblins in massacring the tieflings. During the party he will attempt to leave the group. Only a high persuasion or insight roll will keep him in the group. It requires a DC 15.

Gale disapproves of helping Glut to destroy Spaw, the peaceful leader of the current Myconid colony. Doing this will end up in the massacre of the Myconid.

He disapproves of abandoning Baelan surrounded by poisonous inflammable flowers in the Underdark.

[[9]] He doesn’t like gratuitous humiliation or torture of any kind, whether psychological or physical. Once more, it’s shown that he disapproves gestures of cruelty and unprovoked violence.

Gale disapproves of telling Elegis (tiefling on the gates of the grove) that she is pathetic for fearing the goblins.

He disapproves of pocketing the ring when Mattis (tiefling kid) asks you to choose heads or tails.

He disapproves of using intimidation against Pardima, threatening her to break her neck (she is the tiefling who is paralysed inside the small building).

He disapproves of smashing Alfira’s lute

He disapproves of telling Kagha that Arabella’s death was “quite a show”. This is related to Astarion’s concept of “fun” that Gale will bring into conversation subtly in an option during Mayrina’s quest.

Gale disapproves of psychologically torturing Lorin (wood elf trapped in Ethel’s house).

When Tav kills Connor, Gale will lament about the tragedy of the couple. He is sad for the story of lovers being over due to the whim of a hag.

Gale disapproves if after reviving Connor, Tav decides to keep him as a combat pet.

In the post before the Goblin camp, Gale disapproves of Tav smearing dung on their face. Gale has a sense of confidence and pride that he prefers to see in Tav as well. He is neutral if Tav throws dung against the goblin guards. On one side he probably approves of Tav’s pride transpired in that rebel action, but on the other hand, he doesn’t approve of provoking the goblins, since in the beginning of the scene he warned Tav that they come by the dozen, implying that they likely will be outnumbered.

He disapproves of obeying Crusher and kissing his foot, or licking it as a prank.

Gale disproves of volunteering to torture Liam inside the defiled temple of Selune.

Gale disapproves of siding with the Goblins in general. Once done, in the party, he disapproves of telling him to stop whining after the massacre when he is sharing his regret of having participated in it. He answers "You really are heartless".

(Datamining) In the Duergar encampment, Gale disapproves of killing the slave gnomes under the command of the True Soul Nere.

[[10]] Despite showing some signs that he may support some bias commonly spread in Faerun, he keeps open minded and quite self-critical about his own slips on different races.

During the meeting he uses the Rashemi group as a synonym for lack of intelligence. I personally see this as a foreshadowing detail of future frictions with Minsc.

He approves killing Lae’Zel in the cage if Tav supports the fact that she is dangerous to innocent people. This situation may suggest that Gale considers most Githyanki as dangerous (acceptable conception lore wise)

When talking with Aaron (the halfling merchant of the grove), Gale disapproves of saying that the tieflings can deal with their problems because they have devil powers.

Despite goblinoid races being despised by most people in Faerun, Gale recognises their powers, culture, magic, and ability to bond and love.

He is a human of Waterdeep, his human-centric vision slips in his line (with a non-human Tav): “Now more than ever, it's important to recall what makes us human. Well- you know what I mean.” He immediately noticed it and acknowledged it.

[[11]]He is against slavery:

Gale disapproves if Tav pays Oskar’s freedom to get him as a slave. He approves of leaving him free by any means: paying for him, intimidation, or persuasion.

Gale disapproves of helping Gekh Coal (Duergar) to find the slave gnome who stole the boots in the Underdark.

Gale disapproves of handing over Astarion to Gandrel. This action can be interpreted as a way to not support slavery (because the story of Cazador), even though a better interpretation is related to Gale’s abandonment issues (see bellow).

(Datamining) In the Duergar encampment, Gale approves of helping Beldron in using the explosives to get free of the Duergar slavers.

[[12]] There are several elements related to acceptance, forgiveness, compassion, kindness and acknowledging of mistakes deeply entangled in his character. Gale wants these values for himself as well as for others. Examples of this can be seen in the following approvals:

[[12a]] Acceptance: of his persona, which means respecting his privacy, boundaries, and needs

[Privacy/Boundaries] He disapproves of every use of the tadpole on him. He has been more than clear from the first moment about his privacy and secrets, promising that he will eventually share, given the circumstances (he clearly leaves open the possibility of trusting in Tav and never denies having secrets). This behaviour of him is also understood later not as a whim but as part of his abandonment issues: he explicitly says several times that “some truths are more difficult to share than others”. We need to remember that his secret is directly entangled with Mystra, her abandonment, and the mistake of the orb. See the post about "Gale Hypotheses- Part 1", section: "Abandonment Issues" for further interpretation.

[Privacy/Boundaries] During the scene of the stew, he disapproves of using the tadpole again. He attempts to leave the group for the breach of trust. A persuasive or insightful comment will keep him in the group, excusing the natural mistrust in Tav (Gale will always respond better to reasoning and negotiations than anything else). Once more, Gale forgives Tav’s intrusion.

[Privacy/Boundaries] During the death protocol, he approves of telling him that he can keep his secrets until he is ready to share them, despite the many questions that the whole event arose.

[Privacy/Boundaries] During the scene of Loss, he approves of letting the topic of the loss rest. However, at this point, even if Tav keeps pushing, Gale will approve and will share a bit more about his folly with Mystra.

[Needs] He approves of Tav with each artefact he receives. This can be understood as an action of caring for Gale and his life as well as for preventing the death of innocents.

[Acceptance] Accepting to share the experience of the Weave with him is key in his relationships with Tav. Magic equals Weave, and Magic is his life, so he is sharing in that moment a strongly meaningful part of him with Tav. Acceptance of the event is a direct acceptance of Gale as a person for a future deep friendship or romance.

[Acceptance] If Tav is a Wizard or a Cleric of Mystra, Gale approves the praise options: "I quite agree. There is no greater deity than Mystra" and “Praise be that Mystryl was reborn as Mystra.” Despite the abandonment, Gale still remains a great devotee of her, and accepting her is an indirect way to accept a big part of his own life.

[Acceptance] He approves even more if this acceptance has romantic connotations (this means, options of kiss/holding hands in the Weave or “more than friends” during Loss).

[Acceptance] When Tav resurrects Gale, he doesn’t approve the resurrection per se, but the “welcome back” comment, implying that he values the action a bit more when Tav is glad for his own persona to be back.

[Forgiveness] He will approve acceptance of his own persona and forgiveness of his secrecy after the party.

[[12b]] Forgiveness for others: He approves of forgiving kids [5] or all those adults who show honest regret by their past mistakes. This can be understood as a projection.

When Tav first meets Gale, he states he is a reserved person. He disapproves of the use of the tadpole even though he understands the drive of curiosity. He forgives Tav who acknowledged their mistake.

Gale approves of telling Arabella’s parents that the Druids overreacted, that Arabella “is just a child”. Once Arabella is saved, Gale will explicitly emphasise later about forgiving the transgressions of youth.

After finding evidence that Kagha is working with Shadow Druids, Gale approves of exposing her while making her see her own mistakes. A path to redemption is granted with this action, and this resounds deeply in Gale.

Gale himself wishes Mystra’s forgiveness for the mistake done in his youth. Despite wishing for it, he is quite resigned to never receiving it.

If Tav uses the parasite powers a third time despite having agreed with the rest of the group not to, Gale will approve a sincere apology, as long as Tav acknowledges the mistake. He will answer that he knows about weaknesses and will recommend to stay stronger from that moment on. He forgives and passes no judgement, understanding Tav’s mistakes due to his own experience (to be fair: all companions with the exception of Astarion forgive this slip into the powers of the tadpole).

Taking Silvanus' idol may potentially end up in killing the druids. If this is the case, Gale will be affected by this tragedy since it was a lot of unnecessary death he doesn't like [1,3,8], and shares the burden that those deaths caused him since he suggested taking the idol as last resort, expecting to save more lives due to his bomb-condition. We see that he wants to survive and protect others from the orb, but not “at whatever cost”. He reflects with a heavy heart “at what cost” a greater evil was prevented. He speaks about “what’s wrong is wrong”, implying with all this scene that forgiveness, in this case, may be not possible.

He approves of being forgiven/supported in his friendship/romance despite the mistake of holding the information of the orb and Mystra. At this point it is strange that Tav has not realised all of this alone, unless the player had a bug that prevented them from seeing Gale’s scenes. (Gale’s scenes suffer the lowest priority in the triggering list).

When Gale explicitly apologies in the morning after, he approves of telling him “It's fine. In the end I'm glad you told me.” The other options have no approval penalties. Once more it’s seen that a compassionate, forgiving attitude increases his approval. This can be seen as a direct result of his traumatic and constant present fear for abandonment (Check the post of "Gale Hypotheses- Part 1", section: "Abandonment Issues").

[[12c]] Compassion and kindness: He approves of most actions based on compassion and kindness (on him or others) and disapproves quick judgement on others when the whole story related to them is not completely known.

Gale disapproves of telling Arabella's parents that the situation is their fault. This can be interpreted as a quick judgement when they still did not listen to the other side.

After saving Arabella, Gale has a special comment related to the “transgressions of the youth”, about mistakes, and about innocence and guilt.

In Waukeen’s rest, Gale is neutral about keeping the dowry as a payment, but he approves of giving it to Benryn (the man rescued from the fire who found his wife dead). This could be considered a gesture of compassion.

He approves of most compassionate options when he is speaking of Mystra during the scene of Loss. It doesn’t matter if Tav doesn’t understand the whole situation; he always appreciates receiving support.

Instead, he disapproves if Tav considers arrogance as the cause for his pain and loss (later we will know his folly was not because of arrogance but because of young love/devotion). He doesn’t approve judgement in this instance (since the whole story has not been said yet) but he will not disapprove Tav’s judgements later during the scene of the Revelation, where he receives the most aggressive words without approval penalties.

Curiously, during the goblin party, he explicitly says that these two aspects of his persona (compassion and kindness) are affected by the shadow within (the orb) and the shadow without (the revealed Evil-Tav).

[[13]] Gale is a man of the City who indulges in the fine pleasures that urban life and some degree of privilege can offer. This is quite reasonable in terms of lore, since he is from Waterdeep, where humans hold the political and social power, plus his wizard profession. Wizards tend to come (even though it’s not exclusive) from high income families or from nobility since wizardry studies are quite expensive:

He comments about the hardness of the wilderness.

He missed the civilisation: soft beds, home cooked meals, minstrels, and scented baths.

Gale approves of giving Oskar (the slave painter in the Zhentarim hideout) 200 gold to fight the “discomforts of the road”. He is the only companion who approves this action.

Gale disapproves of participating in the pain ritual with Abdirak. I personally prefer to interpret it in relation to his dislike for evil entities, but it can be also interpreted as a statement: pain “is not his cup of tea”.

In the same way, during the Weave, he disapproves of the image of being kicked in the gut.I know this should be common sense: if someone kicks you, you disapprove. The detail I see here is that, judging by his reaction, it seems to hurt him more than the image of the severed head. Maybe he has an extra sensibility to pain as the result of living with the orb stuck in his chest. The orb seems to be an ever present fear/pain (one can assume pain due to the extreme facial gesticulation in Gale when the process of absorption happens)

[[14]] He may disapprove of worshipping dubious or evil gods. This seems coherent since Mystra is a neutral good entity.

Gale disapproves of participating in the pain ritual with Abdirak. He explicitly says that pain is not “his cup of tea”, but it’s possible to interpret this scene as a disapproval to worshiping evil gods. Loviatar is one whose followers offer pain to celebrate her. In all options of this dialogue Abdirak explicitly says this is a ritual to offer pain to Loviatar, so it can be understood as a form of worshipping her in the moment.

Gale disapproves if Tav accepts to be a Chosen of Booal.

He approves of Tav claiming that they don’t need of Booal’s powers, “I'll just kill you and claim it for myself”

When Shadowheart confesses being a worshipper of Shar, Gale will share a comment that displays his discomfort.

Gale approves of purging the evil in the dying hyena when a good-aligned Cleric blesses them.

[[15]] Gale is a scholar, and therefore, quite an open-minded char, who advocates for unconventional ways to solve problems:

He approves of considering the Creche solution for their tadpole’s problem, incorporating a githyanki to their group.

Gale approves of considering Gut the Priestess as another option.

Despite his years studying The Arts, he is not judgemental or dismissive to Warlock/Cleric/Paladin Tavs who acquired the ability to cast magic thanks to the gift granted by superior entities.

Gale approves of saying “Then fix it, or die at my hand” to Raphael, quite an aggressive option for his usual style.

Gale suggests outsmarting Raphael; his logic is reasonable: these tadpoles are powerful and unusual, and Raphael probably wants them instead of their souls. If he is right, a good deal can be established. He knows that cambion’s deals tend to be unfair but he wants to exploit the fallible (human) side of Raphael for their benefit.

He is neutral when accepting the solution offered by the Hag. He probably doesn’t disapprove completely because, like a good scholar, he is waiting for the empirical result. He knows beforehand that Hags are twisted and evil entities that hardly could give them a good deal. In this case, he is not even proposing to outsmart her.

Gale approves of giving the wand of control of Connor to Mayrina so she can find a solution in Baldur’s Gate. Despite this is an unconventional way to fix this situation, I personally feel there is a bug around, since his following comment is more consistent with a disapproval.

[[16]] He doesn’t like rushed decisions without thinking about all the possibilities. He encourages logical and reasonable discussions, free of biases or misconceptions as a scholar does. This aspect can be also understood as a reflection of his own past mistakes. Taking the orb after Mystra’s abandonment was a rushed decision of his youth which made him pay a big price.

During Raphael’s scene, he disapproves of the option “I’ll do anything to get rid of the tadpole”. That fast answer would only cause troubles.

He approves during Raphael’s scene the option that allows reflection: “I need to think this over.”

He encourages Tav to not discard the option of looking for the priestess Gut so quickly. He knows how magic is called among the goblinoid races and how much they value healing for being a culture of war.

Although he disapproves of the intrusion into his mind with the tadpole during the scene of the stew, reasonable arguments using persuasion/insight can be enough to prevent him from leaving the party. He reinforces the idea that he “may have spoken in haste” and he has reconsidered to stay despite Tav’s transgressions.

[[17]] He usually disapproves of using unknown magic in an irresponsible or careless way. This can be interpreted as a way to prevent mistakes similar to the one he did with the orb.

Gale disapproves of Tav reading the book of necromancy or giving it to Astarion. The reader will have access to the “forbidden knowledge” tag. Gale thinks himself more adequate for it since he is wiser than before, his experience with the orb book has taught him a great deal. He approves of giving the book to him.

Gale disapproves of accepting the brand of the Absolute. In the moment Tav accepts it, they learn that it has a unique magical effect that only True Souls can notice. Gale suspects this magic may cause mind control on goblins. "Charged with magic? Perhaps that explains the ease with which these goblins submit to True souls."

He approves of being cautious with the powers of the tadpole once they start seeing that its usage has physical and psychological (dreams) effects.

He disapproves of using the tadpoles after seeing a dangerous pattern with the dreams.

[[18]] He approves of poetic justice, and he seems to follow the philosophy of “give others their own medicine” when he is attacked or harassed.

Gale approves of dealing with the situation with Nettie without bloodshed. However, Gale states that having been him, he would have handled it in a different way, recognising that he may have forced Nettie to pay with the same coin. “A taste of her own medicine is what she deserves.”

Gale encourages and approves of reinforcing a “pungent poetic justice”, making Crusher kiss Tav’s foot.

Gale approves of helping the Myconid in killing the Duergars. “Wicked killers deserve wicked ends”

[[19]] He supports or at least doesn’t easily judge acts of self-preservation, but not at any cost. This follows his line “one respects life by fighting for it, and one respects death by fearing it”

Gale disapproves of keeping Astarion in the party after the bite scene. This happens if you use two options: “you can leave option” or “he won't hurt us”. Keeping Astarion is a danger in his eyes.

Gale approves of convincing/deceiving Lae’Zel not to kill the party during the night of apparent transformation into mind flayers. If those rolls fail and Tav kills Lae’Zel, Gale will remain neutral in the forced action that they had to take due to self-preservation. He describes the situation as “brutal” and shows pity and sadness for the tragedy. Then he asks Tav how they are doing with the experience: he is sympathising with Tav, not judging them.

Gale approves of dealing with Nettie without bloodshed but he states that he would have fought in order to preserve his own life.

When Tav speaks to Kagha after Arabella’s death, Gale keeps neutral to the comment “You protected your own without hesitation - my compliments.” However, Gale would only approve expressions related to calling out Kagha. Gale can understand the self-preservation sentiments, but his line is drawn when life is taken gratuitously.

Gale approves of pretending to be a True Soul in front of Dror Ragzlin and avoiding a fight when they are outnumbered.

He approves of being cautious with the powers of the tadpole once they start showing that they can endanger their own lives.

He suggests stealing the idol of Silvanus as a way to keep his condition in check (which is more than just self-preservation due to the massive destruction it may cause). If Tav killed the druids to obtain it, Gale shows regret. He embodies the sense of survival, but not at any cost. He suffers with the consequences, but he also endures them since they are the lesser evil. He prefers to cause the least harm possible if there is no choice in avoiding to hurt a side.

This can be better seen during the goblin party. The only arguments that Tav can use to convince Gale to stay in the team are those related to self-preservation: “We make each other survive” and “You don't stand a chance alone”, both statements that Gale can accept only after a high DC 15, but always regretting his need and the excess of blood.

[[20]] Gale’s secrecy about Mystra and the orb have a clear source: he has serious abandonment issues that can be easily seen in his most apparent “strange” approvals/disapprovals:

Gale disapproves of handing over Astarion to Gangrel, even though he dislikes and mistrusts keeping Astarion as part of the group during the bite scene. This is quite surprising since Astarion is seen by Gale as a danger.

Gale approves twice defending Astarion against Gangrel. If Astarion is not in the group, the first approval happens when Tav recognises that Astarion is part of their companions/friends (therefore, they care about them). The second approval is when Tav reinforces their loyalty to Astarion insisting that they won’t give his location. Although Gale will explicitly question if this decision was right, he secretly approved it (meta-knowledge that only the player sees). We can interpret this as Gale seeing in Tav a person who will never abandon someone they care for, even if that person endangers them.

During the scene of Revelation, Gale approves of not being abandoned/pushed away by Tav despite his “secrecy”.

This post was written in May 2021. → For more Gale: Analysis Series Index

#bg3 meta #bg3 early access #gale of waterdeep #bg3 gale #gale #bg3

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dangermousie · 4 years ago

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My very biased, subjective and unkind opinions of the first five minutes of Dream of Chang’an

Which should have been titled “Nightmare of Editing” instead.

Warning: if you are loving this drama, probably skip this post for it is full of the bitterness of disappointed affection aka a fancy way of saying I was looking forward to it so and now I am pissed. It’s like going to a blind date expecting a hottie and getting a sentient slice of pizza instead.

Anyway, moving on...

The good thing is, even in the middle of the cut ep carnage turning this into the editing equivalent of the battle of Kursk, Cheng Yi is gorgeous.

Though who he is, how he is connected to the evil Mickey He (and who evil Mickey He is), who are the family they are taking down and why and honestly, what the hell is even going on, is beyond me. I am not sure if it would have helped if I had better knowledge of Emperor Wuzong’s reign either because trust me, even if they threw me into e.g., Ivan the Terrible taking down Andrey Shuisky, i.e., a random historical topic I known a bunch about, this still would have been jarring as hell and they are NOT showing some super famous event in Chinese history here either since the family taken down is fictional.

Less than two minutes in and the heroine’s hot dad/brother/uncle/second cousin/who the hell knows got shot with an arrow through the eye. And I laugh because I think it’s supposed to be tragic but we’ve literally known the man for one second so the dramatic close up of his staggering and a girl’s upset is just ridiculous. Maybe, just maybe, if they didn’t shred god knows how many episodes that existed prior to this I’d care, but instead I find myself flashbacking to Monty Python.

Mickey He, always reliably saving on his meals and chewing all the scenery in sight. I am not even snarking, I love this man.

He is also full of excellent advice about one’s health! What’s not to like?

Ah yes, brisk walking, a great way to burn off those pesky pounds. But not as good as an arrow through the chest - skeletons are suitably svelte!

I laughed again - this drama is turning me into a psycho. But once again, I have no idea who any of these people are and what their beef with Mickey He is and why I should care. There is a way to make me care about an extermination of a family we haven’t even met - Glory of Tang Dynasty does that with its opening scene where a Minister’s family gets taken out as the King plays music with his favorite concubine and the Crown Prince kneels begging for mercy. I did not know any of those people but the way it was filmed really made you feel the brutality and injustice and horror of the time. This - is just ridiculous.

Moving on to the sole good thing in this drama - Cheng Yi, of course, still looks hot. I am not sure what he’s supposed to be feeling because we know nothing about him and his goals or motives or, once again, what the HELL is going on!

Are we supposed to believe that one of the girls thinks Cheng Yi killed the grandpa and not evil Mickey He? Or maybe she just wants to see something beautiful before she dies. Who knows.

Is Cheng Yi shooting his future love interest (or her sister) to get in with evil Mickey He? Is he only pretending to shoot? Who knows. Which should be the mantra of this drama, honest.

Just a leeeetle flavor of the amazing subtitles, which you may have gotten an inkling of already with the “brisk walking” comment.

I make my own MTL of web novels through deepl and they are rather more coherent than that. No, I do not know who CLWY is - they do not explain. “Never explain” is their motto. “Always complain” is mine.

In conclusion - Cheng Yi is hot. But so was Vic Chou in Palace of Devotion and we all know what a dumpster fire that drama ended up being and its editor appears to have migrated over here. 2021 continues its reign of terror of taking one’s drama hopes and setting them on toxic fire.

#cdrama #dream of chang'an #cheng yi #mickey he #mei xing chang an #song of the emperor

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fiveisnumber1 · 5 years ago

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Family Support | Five x Reader

Summary: When Five doesn’t know how to deal with his feelings for you he asks his family for some help and things don’t go exactly as planned.

A/N: Five and you are both going to be like 19 in this and everyone else is their normal age. Also AU-ish in which they managed to save the world in 2019.

Word Count: 1,535

Warnings: none

_____________

The Hargreeves children were a lot of things. Powerful, combative, traumatized to say the least. All of them however were not good at one thing: expressing feelings. All of them were bad at expressing feelings in different ways. Klaus was too open, Vanya barely expressed them at all, Diego was too strong with his and Luther and Allison well they were confusing. And then there was Five. Unlike the others Five had trouble understanding his feelings, let alone expressing them. For some time he was fine with his situation but then you came into the picture.

Five remembers when he first met you. It was during one of his trips to Griddy’s Donuts. You were working there as a server to help pay your way through college. As usual he sat down at the counter with his head in a book and ordered one black coffee from Agnes. She lightly placed the cup in front of him and he picked in up to drink. When he took a sip though it was as if fireworks went off. This was the best damn cup of coffee that he had in years. Calling Agnes over he questioned who made it and when she pointed to you it was as if the world faded away. From then on he would go to Griddy’s anytime you were working. The coffee you made was great but seeing you was better. It took him a few weeks but he finally worked up the courage to talk to you. From that point on the two of you quickly became very close. Your kind and happy demeanor was refreshing and somehow meshed with his tough and sarcastic one.

And that’s where his issue was. Even though he enjoyed being around you it made him so flustered. He had no clue what was going on with himself recently. Every time he was with you his heart started racing, his palms became sweaty, he felt warm all over, sometimes he felt like he couldn’t breath. He wondered if he was sick or maybe even dying. Trying to grasp what was going on he turned to his family for help. He called them all over to the house only telling them that it was an emergency.

When his siblings arrived they all sat in the living room staring at him.

“Well what’s the emergency? The world ending again?” Luther questioned impatiently

“I think i’m dying” Five responded

“Oh shit.” Diego says

“Oh no. Five, what is it? What’s going on?” Vanya questions sincerely

“Well I don’t know for sure that I’m dying but I think I am based on my symptoms.” Five responded

“Which are?” Allison asks

“Heart palpitations, excessive sweating, possibly fever, trouble breathing, lack of concentration.” Five answers “And they always happen when I’m around (Y/N).”

Klaus starts to laugh.

“What’s so funny about my imminent death Klaus? Keep laughing and I’ll make sure you pass first!” Five shouts at his sibling

“Now I might not be a MD but I am a doctor.” Klaus replies

Everyone looks at Klaus for explanation.

“I’m a love doctor and you my dear Five have caught the lovebug.” Klaus says turning his attention to Five

“What? Love? No it can’t be. I mean I just like spending all my time around her and talking to her but I mean I wouldn’t say that’s love is it? Oh shit am I in love with her?” Five starts to rant to himself “I- I don’t feel well. I feel all warm and my heart is racing again. I’m going to lay down.”

His siblings all give each other knowing looks. Five is absolutely, deeply, madly in love with you even if he couldn’t see it himself, but they had a plan to help push him in the right direction. Without his knowledge they decided to set up a blind date for the two of you. Luther, Diego and Klaus were tasked with writing the note to get you to come over and Allison and Vanya were to plan the date. The three boys put their heads together to write the invitation, each writing on section of it and then had Diego deliver it to you at work on your break. Going into the back room you read it. It said,

Dear (Y/N),

You are a girl and that is pretty cool. I think you do a great job at your job.

In my opinion you’re absolutely kickass. I wish I could be as cool as you are. Talking with you is like lighting a library on fire.

Your eyes draw me in like a nice glass of aged whiskey. I feel like i’m teetering on the verge between life and death when I am with you. You’re a radiant sight to see and are prettier than the kaleidoscope colors of a good LSD trip.

So I’ve heard at least! I don’t do drugs!

But I’m not lame as hell either. I’m really cool and tough and brooding. I’m a man of mystery.

But like my dad’s liquor cabinet I’m easy to unlock and there is so much good stuff inside of me.

But I only drink in moderation with adult supervision! Anyway you’re really awesome, and I think it would be cool if you could come over to hang out, with me later today, after your work shift is over because it would be odd to hang out at my place if you’re still at work because you’d still have to work.

My address is on the back. Come by later.

Sincerely,

Five, the handsomest ball of sarcasm ever

You laughed to yourself, you knew this wasn’t produced by the Five you knew and very much loved. Nevertheless went back to work and decided on stopping by his place later. Back at the house though the ladies were trying to put together a nice time for the two of you. They decided on...well they couldn’t decide. Allison wanted a movie night and Vanya wanted a relaxing dinner with music. Granted, they were biased in their ideas because they wanted to show off to you. Allison wanted to show you her movies and Vanya wanted to play her music for you. Luther supported Allison’s idea and Klaus supported Vanya’s and by the time Diego got back the living room was a mess of pillows, string lights and miscellaneous foods laying about. The siblings started to argue amongst themselves about how each of their ideas was better. Startled by the sound of commotion downstairs Five went to check it out. He stumbled upon the 5 siblings all arguing.

“Luther your parts of the invite were so bland!” Diego yells

“Well I had to compensate for all the crazy stuff Klaus wrote!” Luther retorts

“Crazy? You mean crazy romantic!” Klaus adds

“No! Crazy! Just like this clusterfuck of a venue! What did you two do while I was gone?” Diego asks his sisters

“Movie night is more romantic!” Allison replied

“Not when the movies you’re watching are of you! What are you some kind of narcissist?” Vanya yells

“Oh that’s rich coming from you Vanya. You only wanted the dinner so you could show off your violin playing!” Luther replies

“And you only went with Allison’s idea because you love her!” Klaus chimes in while taking a drink from the liquor cabinet

Five had seen enough. Fed up with his siblings arguing he yelled,

“What are you pathetic excuses for human beings arguing about this time?”

All of the siblings stop their arguing and turn their attention to Five. They all look away in embarrassment at the situation.

“Well?!” Five presses

Klaus steps forward first and says,

“Well we just thought that...”

“Since you were having trouble telling this, (Y/N) how you feel about her...” Luther continues

“We thought that it would be nice to invite her over...” Allison adds

“And set up a surprise date...” Diego continues

“For the two of you.” Vanya finishes

“YOU WHAT!” Five yells “I can’t believe that you’ve done this! I really like (Y/N) and I mean REALLY like her. She’s going to think I’m a psychopath and want nothing to do with me if she sees all this. I get it you want me to admit to myself and her that I have feelings for her, but this? This is a mess! She’ll never want to be with me like that if she sees all of this!”

Five looks at his siblings who all have wide eyes.

“What? What are you sad sacks looking at?”

“Probably me,” You say making your presence known to Five

“(Y/N), I- I can explain.” Five stutters out as he turns around to face you

“No need. I do think some of your claims are false though,” You reply

“Huh?” Five questions

“I think I’d still like to be with you even with all this mess. I really like you too.” You say placing a gentle hand on his cheek

“Well if that’s the case then would you’d like to get some coffee with me?” Five asks

"I’d love to.” You answer

Five extends his hand out towards you and you grab it. With your fingers intertwining the two of you happily walk out the door together. As five is closing the door to his home you whisper to him,

“Your family is weird.”

“They are but they’re the best.” He says

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fellowstrangetownappreciator · 4 years ago

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Playing Favorites (part 2)

Here we go again! Another 4 TS2 premades that really strange my town! (I’ll see myself out.) Anyway, I have to preface this with saying that so far I’ve only played the 3 base game hoods and although I really enjoy PV and VV, I added them to Strangetown just recently, so I’m still getting acquainted with their casts. That’s why my Playing Favorites posts are so dominated with desert-dwellers - but I definitely plan on including more non-ST Sims once I got to play with them more!

And I also low-key love everybody in Strangetown.

TOP 15 TS2 Premades (according to my personal tastes somewhere in May 2021) (not in any particular order) (and I can’t guarantee I stop at 15 either)

Tank Grunt (Strangetown)

Yes, I am one of them. I am a Tank Grunt apologist. Brace yourself!

Similarly to the Pleasant twins, I view Tank as a victim of his father (Buzz Grunt, the esteemed Strangetown's Worst Parent Award nominee). Of course, that's not to say he's innocent. He is absolutely guilty of bullying Ripp and Johnny and equally guilty of being a bigot. And, most importantly, totally guilty of casually wearing camo face-paint. (that he canonically gets tatooed on his face down the line, which is... its own kind of tragic.)

But that is exactly why I like him so much!

Let me elaborate.

Tank is a very multilayered character, albeit a bit cliché. He is very artistic a eager to always do his best, whether that is in school or home where he competes for his father's affection and approval. Buzz provides both of that but it always feels conditioned – if Tank was to stop getting A+, stop parroting his opinions, stop working out, stop following in his footsteps, would that go away? Even though the answer depends on your interpretation of Buzz and his levels of horrible, Tank definitely thinks so. Just take a look on how his father treats Ripp!

I read Tank as somebody who believes firmly in order and good but has a very twisted understanding of both given his militaristic and hyper-masculine upbringing. He has an enormous potential for character growth. Can he gain (psychological) independence of his father? Can he follow his dreams and become a dancer? Can he free himself of his father’s biases now that he’s out on his own? Can he mend his relationship with Ripp and Buck? (...or maybe even Johnny?) It makes him so fun to play.

Also, I think that it was indeed very cowardly of the developers not to set his gender preference as gay.

Conclusion: Tank is fun! (Although he would probably resent me for saying that.)

Dina Caliente (Str- wait, Pleasantview)

Finally someone who doesn't live in the desert! Both Nina and Dina are such interesting characters, with their connection to Bella’s disappearance, their alien bloodline and their opposing personalities and ambitions.

I feel like the sisters are often getting unjustly demonized. (or mixed up together, I’m looking at you, TS3 and TS4) They’re young, very attractive and in unconventional relationships, thus often labeled as predatory. They’re not.

Dina is a very nice Sim, with Nice points above the average and many Playful points and she tends to roll wants to start a family by the start of the game, although she is not a Family Sim. She’s actually a Fortune Sim, smart and business-oriented. She’s a widow who wants to remarry and has her sights set on the husband of her missing former sister-in-law.

I know that doesn’t make her sound that nice but there is nuance. First of all, the man in question is Mortimer Goth, well in his twilight years, a father of two, simply an adult. He is not a hapless trophy, the decision to start an affair with Dina not long after his first wife got pronounced missing, is his own. He knows he won’t be here for long and doesn’t want to die alone, he wants someone who can make him feel young again and loved once more. Dina, on the other hand, pursues a shotgun wedding to take an advantage of the Goth fortune that will kickstart her business ventures but she is ready to provide what Mortimer needs. She canonically loves him. (proven by the love flag in her relationship panel)

In my personal gameplay, I had Don take Dina on a date before their marriages to their respective Goths, and Dina kept rolling wants to flirt with Mortimer instead. Later down the line she also helped out the Brokes financially, and after her close friend Brandi died young in childbirth, she took in her youngest children, so that her oldest son Dustin could go to college and not worry what’s gonna become of his younger siblings in his custody while he’s gone. I figured it made sense because of Dina’s Nice points, her relationship with Brandi and her now being partially in charge of so much money it isn’t even funny.

In conclusion: I support and condone Dina! Even if it’s somehow implied that she and her sister might’ve just staged her rival’s alien abduction.

Circe Beaker (Strangetown)

Circe is yet another... unwholesome character on my list. She canonically tortures people, namely Nervous Subject, and her bio eludes to there being more in the past or the future. She's cunning, ambitious and very mean.

But she is also very fun to play! Her aspiration being Fortune (not Knowledge) puts an interesting spin on the whole evil scientist routine. She doesn't do it for the love of discovery like the Curiouses and she doesn't care about credit as her husband does. She's out for power and she may as well get it.

Her rather extreme personality would lead one to think she has to be rather disliked around the town but her default relationship panel says otherwise. She doesn't have any close friendships except her husband, though. That makes me think she is superficially charming and tends to act diplomatic to obtain people's loyalty without necessarily caring about any of them. It makes playing her unique from most other Sims.

She is also canonically bisexual! I personally have a deep appreciation for each and every Sim that Maxis sneakily preset to be LGBTQ+. I may not seem like a big deal now but it is.

Conclusion: "She could gaslight, gatekeep and girlboss me any day.” - half of Strangetown’s population

Lazlo Curious (Strangetown)

Lazlo is a ray of sunshine in the Curious household! A very sloppy ray that makes messes wherever it goes, true, but sunshine nonetheless.

I’m very fond of Lazlo because he’s the type of person that looks like he can barely count to five with his easy-going and messy nature but is in fact very clever and, by some measures, the most competent Curious brother, since he is the youngest and it seems like he’s fresh out of college, yet holds a higher career position than his older brothers. “A smart person that doesn’t necessarily seem smart on the first glance” is a trope I have a big soft spot for. (...and it shows)

In my current gameplay, Lazlo wanted to resurrect Vidcund (who died in childbirth), so he switched from Science to Paranormal to swipe a Resurrect-O-Nomitron and, like the madlad he is, succeeded before their round was over (in a span of few days). It was a combination of dumb luck and him having a compatible degree that gave him a hefty bonus but it still made me realize Lazlo could achieve whatever he sets his sights on.

Luckily, his sights are generally set on pizza and video games.

(relatable)

Anyway, I find Lazlo somehow cute, most probably for his constant and very unfruitful attempts to make Vidcund laugh, and in general, how friendly and easy to get along with he is. While he doesn’t have that many Nice points (5, which is a pretty average number), combined with his playfulness he usually tends to act very amicable.

In conclusion: I simp for Knowledge Sims and it shows.

Ok, I’ll be back with another 4 when my horrible procrastinating gruel of a brain feels like it. See ya!

#the sims 2 #ts2 #premades #simbrl #the sims #lazlo curious #circe beaker #dina caliente #tank grunt #strangetown #pleasantview

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starr-fall-knight-rise · 5 years ago

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Humans are Space Orcs, “The Admiral’s Children.”

This is also in response to a request someone made, so hope you you guys like it :)

Eris floated through the darkness. She had seen the memories of sunrises and sunsets in other people’s heads, but she had never really seen one herself. Noctopolis was a terraformed world kept artificially livable by a great deal of technologies. It didn’t require the warming heat of the sun.

The warm musty breath of Noctopolis’s metal mines washed up into her face, and not for the first time she regretted inheriting that particular sense from her human donor. She turned, long dark hair flowing around her body in great swirling wisps as she floated back into the hybrid compound.

It was mostly quiet around here, and it had been for a while since the news. She knew it was unrealistic, and hardly fair for Commander Vir that the had collectively accepted his DNA role in their existence. After all, he had not been a willing donor, but out of all the people her hybrids had chosen to emulate, they could hardly have picked a better man, though she recognized her opinion was rather biased.

Still, she had seen inside his head at one point, and seen what thoughts lingered there.

While there were some pretty horrible thoughts, harbored in the back of the head and hidden under the conscious folds -- like every other human -- his greatest urges had been nothing more than kindness and duty to upholding what he believed to be right.

She respected that, and was glad to share his genetic signature.

She hoped that the others would take the opportunity to learn from their surrogate. His sacrifice would hopefully push them towards greatness in the future.

Her long flowing locks brushed against the back of her thighs as she floated inward.

The hair mixed with her sparse ribbons, and hid the strange and useless vestiges from view.

She floated inside smiling reassuringly at her hybrids, who spend their time in various stages of study and play. Play that they were allowed only after all their work was done.

She would not have uneducated hybrids.

Eris herself knew all that she needed to know, as she had the collective memory of anyone who stepped into her circle of thought. It was both a curse and a blessing. A blessing because she had all the life experience she needed to have without ever having to experience it herself, not to mention all of the knowledge that came with it.

On the other hand, she had all the pain and memory of suffering that came with the same, sometimes making it hard to be in the presence of others for too long lest she be overwhelmed by their memories.

Today she sensed sadness and followed its trailed to the next room, where four large figures sat brooding, three of them curled up together and one of them curled up alone in the corner.

The spiderlings were big now, probably as big as they were going to get somewhere between human size and the size of the adaptids. At the shoulder Glados was nearly five and a half feet tall with her ten spidery appendages and doglike head. The soft peach fuzz of human hair that had grown atop her skin had thickened in recent months giving her a light coating of hair so the skin was no longer showing. It was a more pleasant look now that it had been before.

Eris floated over and rested a hand on Glados’s back.

Glados tried to pull away, but Eris kept hr hand there.

She knew what the spiderling wanted despite the spiderling not wanting to admit it.

“I know you miss him.”

“Go away.”

“I know he would miss you too.”

Glados snarled, “No he doesn’t. He left us here to rot.”

She didn’t mean it, but Glados often said things she did not mean in the heat of the moment, so eris did not take it personally.

“He knew what was est for you, so don’t even give me that. And we both know that he loved you.”

“I’m not human.”

Eris sighed inwardly. She sure thought and acted like a human if her raging mood swings were anything to judge by. Eris scooted closer and cradled the large soft head in her arms resisting when Glados tried to get away, “He was unprepared, no more than a child himself when he was asked to take care of you. And he did love you.”

“Then why didn’t he come back?” She wondered softly, her strange robotic voice filling the room with it’s forlorn echo.

Eris went quiet, “I am sure he tried his best little one.”

The news of his memorial had reached them weeks after it had all happened. Granted there were plenty of ways in which the information could have reached them, but somehow things always seemed to come slowly to Noctopolis.

Eris remained there, stroking a hand through Glados’s hair as she sat in contemplation.

His absence had been hard on the entire galaxy. Things had happened that no one had expected to happen following his disappearance including, but not limited to a sudden slow in commerce between worlds, a drop in interstellar tourism, and increasing tensions between specific nations.

The only reason she knew they were managing to hold together had something to do with the burg war.

It was funny how the universe seemed to hinge on the ability of one man to keep himself alive, and one rather dumbass man at that. The thought sort of mad her smile in a sad way, because she knew her thought process wasn’t the truth. It was hardly giving him as much credit as he deserved.

She had chosen to accept him after all.

There was a soft scuttling at the door and she looked up to find the spiderthing walking into the room.

He had grown up quickly, and aside from having a lower half that looked like an adapted, his upper half looked like a gangly tweenage human boy.

“Eris, a ship is coming. They want to talk to you.’

“Do you know them?”

“No, their name is the Omen.”

She had never heard the name before, but she assumed it was her job to go and greet them despite not wanting anything to do with other people at this current moment in time.

She got to her feet patting Glados’s ears before hoving into the next room with a sigh.

She couldn’t sense any thoughts yet, though her range was actually way more limited than she would have liked to admit.

The spiderthing followed along with her as they walked outside and watched the slow descent of the ship.

She floated there adjusting her long, dark tresses.

She liked them long, and hoped that one day she could grow it down to her ankles, despite knowing that was probably a bad idea.

A sharp clattered allerted her to the shuttle touchdown, and she moved forward, barely listening to the inner voices of the people inside. She was sure she would be able to read their intentions when they stepped out.

Eris was not often surprised, but when she was, she really was.

Because she recognized those thoughts the moment they stepped out onto the tarmac.

-I wonder how Glados is going to react to me being alive…. Lets be honest, she is either going to kill me or hug me…. Or totally both-

She froze on the spot, and the spiderthing turned to look at her with great confusion and concern.

-And Eris, she can read minds so she will totally know about how me and Su- no no, don’t think about that, don’t think about that, don’t think about that. Conn already knows, that twinkly bastard, and the less people who know right now the better-

Eris still did not move as another voice intruded on her thoughts.

-I wonder how happy they will be to see him. Will they be angry because that is something I can completely understand…. Still he is rather adorable, it is hard to be mad at him for more than five seconds-- an internal sigh of frustration followed -He is a great exercise of my patience though, if things between us continue to advance this slowly, I am going to be old and desaturated by the time he figures himself out-

Eris shook herself staring forward at the figure who walked up the little walkway towards them.

He had on a beaming bright smile.

When she didn’t move, he simply walked forward and folded his arms around her. He was warm and inviting.

--I hope she is ok with me hugging her. I probably should have asked--

She hugged him back in response, so tight she thought maybe she was going to break him and half hoping that she would.

She pulled back blinking in shock as Adam smiled back at her.

Memories came rushing into her head, and she had to blink a few times to figure it out.

“Wow, a lot has happened to you since you last visited.” She said breathily.

Admiral Vir tilted his head, “Didn’t you know I was coming, I would assume the entire universe would have known by now.”

Eris sighed in frustration and mild anger, “No one tells us anything on Noctropolis, and even less people come and tell US what is going on.”

Behind him, a young woman stood staring wide eyed and nervous at her.

Her thoughts were everywhere -- who is this! The admiral never mentioned a starborn with hair, or a starborn that isn’t wearing clothes…. Am I supposed to look away? I don’t know. And is it just me or do they sort of look alike in some weird way….--

Eris chose to ignore her for the moment. She touched hands on his shoulders and hugged him tight again, “I am so glad you're alive. Everyone was devastated when we got the news the first time…. Glados has been… well she…”

“I missed her too. I missed all of them.”

Eris continued to beam in disbelief.

His radiant smile seemed to lighten up her day as he took her by the elbow, hand resting comfortingly over hers. He was more comfortable with that that he had been before and the reaction made her heart beat just a little faster. For a moment she could almost pretend like she didn’t have the needs of so many people resting on her shoulders

With him there it felt like everything was going to be alright,

She could hear it too, echoing in his own head, the need to take care of everyone just like she felt.

Maybe it ran in the family.

“This place looks amazing, Eris. I can’t believe what you’ve accomplished.”

His compliment spread warmth through her insides like he was pouring warm water down through the tp of her head She beamed, “It’s all thanks to you.”

“You always give me more credit than I am worth.” He laughed

They turned the corner and Admiral vir paused just outside the room looking in, not sure how he was supposed to feel about that was to come next. He wasn’t entirely sure if he should be expecting to get hit or not.

Eris smiled, “I think you are ok to go in.”

***

Glados lay by herself staring at the corner wall her legs tucked underneath her. It just wasn’t fair.

It just wasn’t fair that everyone else was finding all of this so much easier than she was.

Everyone else had always found everything so much easier than she did,

They weren’t so angry all the time like she was and they didn’t miss dad like she did, and no one seemed to see how annoying it was that he had gone and left them here to learn and do school things without even coming to visit, and no one else seemed annoyed that he had stupidly gone off and died without even really thinking about them in the first place.

She thought it was selfish of him.

She hated him for it, but even thinking about hating him just made her want to cry which made her even more angry. None of the others could cry, none of the other had inherited tear ducts like she had. None of the others had to deal with all the stupid human problems than she had inherited above them

None of them got it,

She just wanted to scream in frustration and rage because no one understood her, and even when they did understand her, lke Eris, and sai all the things sh wanted them to say, that didn’t mean she wanted to hear them say the things that she wanted them to say.

Eris was cheating anyway. She didn’t have to try and figure things out like everyone else.

It wasn't hard for her, but it was for Glados.

“Wow, you…. You’ve all gotten big. I remember when you guys hatched you were no bigger than my ifst. Now you might as well be taller than me.”

Glados paused in her musings just long enough to be angry, and then she went back to her brooding.

Another annoying person that she didn’t care to talk to

Behind her the others began to squeal and shout which just made her even more annoyed on top of all the annoyance that she already had. She just wanted them all to SHUT UP.

In anger she turned around, waiting to chase anyone out of the room who dare intrude on her anger and solitude, but as soon as she did that, she froze in place, eyes wide and staring at the figure who knelt on the floor Next to Hal and Cortana.

Before she knew what she was doing, she rushed forward bowling the other two to the side and then mashing the third figure into the floor.

The familiar smell was overwhelming, comforting, and she hated every second of it.

“WHERE WERE YOU!”

She shrieked.

He grunted, “Wow, you talk better than I remember.”

“You were gone FOREVER.”

“I am really sorry about that, but I didn’t mean to.”

Glados snarled, and host pulled back hands raised, “I’m sorry Glados, I am sorry. I didn’t mean to go missing and I am sure you have to know that.” Her hearts were hamming inside her SHe didn’t know mother, and she didn’t know father, but she did know host, and he had left her alone here thinking that he was dead, and now he just turned up

“I hate you.” She snarled

His single green eye softened slightly, and she could see that she hurt him, and though she didn’t want to care, she very much did

She wanted to run away to go feel bad somewhere else, but he sat up tightening his arms around her body until she couldn't move, “Well it doesn't' after if you do hate me alright. I just want to say i am sorry and I love you and there isn’t anything you can do about it.

Her anger melted after a moment ans she gave in in frustration. He was so small now, she could probably rip Host’s throat out with her teeth though the thought made her physically ill to think about. The others scooted forward and pushed at her.

:Move over Glados.”

“Yeah you remember what they said about sharing.”

She snarled but knew that she would only get in trouble if she tried to tell them what she really thought. She tired to move away but Host grabbed her foot and she was unable to move anywhere.

He hugged the others while still keeping her pinned in place, “I missed you all, and wow have you gotten big, what has Eris been feeding you.” Glados finally gave in at some point, knowing there was nothing that she was going to be able to do about this

He had won.

She lay down on the floor and rested her head in his lap as he stroked a hand over her ears.

She listened to him talk without really paying attention.

Humans had such nice voices, and Host had the nicest voice of all.

This was not an opinion, it was a fact and anyone who disagreed with her could take it up with her teeth.

***

Off on the other side of the room Sunny leaned back against the wall arms crossed over her chest smiling internally to herself as she watched Adam reunited with the spiderlings. Glados didn’t like her much so she decided to stay back, but it was a pretty endearing reunion all the same.

The young lieutenant stood wide eyed off to the side clutching her holo-pad in front of her chest.

Sunny smirked.

“What…. Is all this?” the young Lt asked.

Sunny shrugged.

“Oh those are the spidelrings.”

“The who?”

“The spiderlings. They are the product of an adapted using his body to hatch eggs not long ago.”

“What!” her voice went up a few octaves Sunny reckoned, and she hissed slightly through the breathing holes at the base of her neck. A deep rumble of amusement broke through her chest, “Listen most of the hybrids here are technically his children if you want to mince about with words I suppose.”

Lt Simon just stared at her, “Is this a problem that occurs often?”

“Yes,, you will likely have many alien hybrid children.”

Simon stared at her, and Sunny stared back determined not to let simon know if she was bluffing or not.

It was probably mean to do this to the kid like she had, but it was still kind of funny, and she left her stewing as she walked over to speak with Eris.

They were going to stay for a week or two to make up things to the spiderlings, but then they were going to have to be off again.

Space, wile ancient, waited for no one,

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tsuzuruchipalace · 4 years ago

Text

rating mankai company based on character design

Note: I will take into account hair, color scheme, sprite poses, mostly outfits that are not from plays or scouts, and memorability. This is half an objective view and half my personal opinion.

Disclaimer: I curse a lot for comedic effort. I am mean because I am funny. No, you cannot disagree.

Spring 🌸

sakuya: you get what you see. a literal spring babey. his hair and color scheme’s a little generic, but he’s mankai’s poster boy, so that’s understandable. speaking of generic, his main pose is just this emoji 🧍‍♂️ his outfits tend to be kinda basic, but any outfit with a mostly pink top gets him bonus points. 6/10

masumi: okay his hair is elite. probably one of the most memorable character design aspects among the cast. his mole and eyes also make him very pretty. love my boy’s dark color scheme. unfortunately, points must be docked for baiting us with the emo fit, then as the story progresses, he starts dressing like the trust fund kid he is smh. 9/10

tsuzuru: i love you tsuzu but. my mans is so basic. if he didn’t have such a great personality, he’d be as bland as untoasted white bread. the saya of a3. his best design aspect is the fact that he doesn’t dye his roots. his outfits look comfy, but not necessarily eye-catching. 4/10

itaru: everyone who starts a3! with no knowledge of these characters has one (1) thought about itaru. sec sea man. so obviously there’s something appealing/good about his character design. i think part of the appeal is his fuck-all demeanor. obviously, his eyes and hairstyle are attractive, but the way the artists draw him gives him an air of not caring, which is also attractive in a way. his dyed tips are also nice. he looks kinda lame when he dresses professionally, but his casual outfits hit. especially the ones with light pink. 8/10

citron: although i’m not a big fan of the “character is foreign and therefore must talk and dress different and be funny” trope in these types of media, his fashion does make him stand out from the other characters who tend to have more basic clothes. citron’s summer, travel, and autumn outfits SLAP and anyone who says otherwise has bad taste. his hair and eyes are interesting, but his overall color scheme can be a bit repetitive. 7/10

chikage: i hate this guy’s fucking bowlcut. fucking salad bowl lookin ass. every outfit is the same turtleneck and sneakers in two alternate colors. his outfits are so plain. only thing i like is his casual outfit glasses. HOWEVER. that’s the point. he’s supposed to look boring and blend in because he’s a spy. it’s a smart design, i just don’t like it so im docking points. stay mad about it. 5/10

Summer ☀️

tenma: im yawning. you think tsuzu was boring? this guy has orange hair and i still find his design boring. that’s how you know he’s basic. he’s got generic messy shounen protag hair. he could be from any property. if i drew fanart of him, people would ask where he’s from. he either dresses like your slightly homophobic frat boy classmate or a grandfather who gets his shit stolen by the asshole kids next door. 2/10

yuki: he has the r a n g e. all of yuki’s casual outfits hit. they’re all different, but cute in their own way. to no one’s surprise, one of the best styled characters. though i like his general color scheme, i’m personally not the biggest fan of his hairstyle. it’s okay, but a little plain at times. but i think it suits him well. 7/10

muku: i love him. muku’s design is what i love about this game. you see him, and you immediately know what his character archtype is supposed to be. he’s the soft, cute boy. and if this was a mediocre series, that’d be all muku is. but since this is a3, he’s so much more than that. he’s smart, passionate, sensitive to others’ feelings, and protective. a3 does a great job designing characters that look exactly like their archtype, but having a much more developed personality than that. getting back to the actual subject at hand, i love his hairstyle and color, as well as his outfits. you can never go wrong with light pink hair. i may be biased but fuck you. 10/10

misumi: another great memorable design. his eye shape and hair style are really unique. his outfits also elevate his design. street fashion is always a plus for me. though sumi’s design is special in the world of a3! where most of the characters are just. guys. regular lookin dudes. i think that outside of the game, his design would not be as unique. 8/10

kazunari: personally, im a fan. maybe it’s cause i have an affinity for blonde anime boys. but his hairstyle is pretty unique and his trendy looks set him apart from most characters, even outside this game. and he has a pretty lovable expression in his sprites. his fatal flaw is that his fits are either a hit or miss. they’re either really cute or wtf. at least he’s memorable. 8/10

kumon: i love that he reminds me of an owl. his hair and eyes are very cute and his color scheme is great. and i think they did a great job making him look related to juza, but still very much his own character. but he dresses like your classmate from middle school that looks like a nike-sponsored highlighter. yeah, he’s the sporty one, and i like the windbreakers but... i cannot excuse his summer fit. also, i find his design a little tame compared to some of the other characters in the game. 6/10

Autumn 🍂

banri: i hate his hair. i hate it so much. i know in canon it’s nice and he takes good care of it, but it looks so fucking greasy. the style makes him look so greasy and it makes me mad. he looks like an asshole. i mean, he is, so it fits. if this dumb bitch changed his hair more often, i’d like his design so much more. you saw this coming; his love for cheetah print is fucking repulsive. BUT, maybe unpopular opinion, minus the animal print, his sense of fashion is not bad. why do yall clown on it. if the fit is fresh, the fit is fresh. anyway, he looks like an ass, but objectively his design is kinda eh. 5/10

juza: im sorry im DEADLY fucking biased when it comes to juza, but he’s so handsome. his hair is a such a rich, pretty shade of purple and his eyes are so mesmerizing. his hairstyle is so attractive. his face is so pretty. yeah his design isn’t crazy unique, but the simplicity just works. im so sorry im this man’s whore i didn’t choose this life... but i can stop being a simp for one second to say that he has a boring fashion sense. i mean it’s kinda hot how simple his outfits are but his travel fit is good-- wait a minute i just remembered the fucking sandals. docking one point. 9/10

taichi: okay shut the fuck up i LOVE taichi’s design. so eye-catching and fun. as i’ve said i love street fashion, and taichi’s lil e-boy fits are right up my alley. that shade of bright red goes so well with his fashion sense, making a really cohesive design. with his main outfit, you can tell he purposely dresses like that to be trendy and it’s so smart. 10/10

omi: im sorry omi stans but his design is kinda,, boring. i legit had such a hard time identifying him when i first got into this game. the scar saves it a bit. but... only a bit. he’s just got. hair. and a dad outfit. i mean his tits are huge, but i don’t think i can call that a character design aspect. kinda forgettable design. i don’t dislike it though, so he ranks higher than tenma did. 3/10

sakyo: im not sure why but i really like sakyo’s design?? the contrast of his light hair and his dark clothes is nice. also, megane rights. even when i thought he was an npc during my first playthrough, i really dug his design and thought he was memorable. i actually cannot pinpoint a reason why. i wish i had more constructive things to say... but upon thinking about it, he has a karen haircut, which kinda dampers my thoughts on his design. i like his moles, but i honestly did not notice them until the game pointed them out. 7/10

azami: azami has a damn good design. i don’t think anyone can deny that. the long hair, the contrast of black hair and bright blue eyes, his eye shape. all very eye-catching design aspects. and the street fashion style strikes again. the color scheme matches well with everything. this review is lame, but there’s really only good things i can say about his design so. 10/10

Winter ❄️

tsumugi: it’s so late and im so tired of looking at these sprites. anyway, tsumugi’s design is okay. i think his color scheme’s a bit limited and his outfits are a bit meh. he has a more respectable bowlcut than chikage, but it’s still a bowlcut and it’s still boring. i think the best part of his design is his eyes, they’re very soft and kind. but other than that, tsumugi looks pretty basic. 5/10

tasuku: tbh, i didn’t even realize that the godza member tasuku was the same character as the winter troupe guy in the game’s opening until the middle of episode 3... yeah. im slow. ooooooor... tasuku has the worst fucking design in the game. yeah i said it. come at me, but tasuku’s design fucking sucks. i literally thought he was a minor character until they forced me to realize he wasn’t. his fashion sense is... questionable at best. i look at that man’s hair and think he doesn’t shampoo. he looks so bland i could dry up from looking at him. im sorry but his tits do not make up for the sheer fucking snorefest of his character design. he’s so boring i won’t elaborate anymore. 1/10

hisoka: ya get what ya see part 2. i like that i can tell he’s the sleepy and mysterious character just by his design, but honestly, that’s a character trope im generally not a big fan of. so i wasn’t thrilled by hisoka’s design at first. but it’s effective. i like the hairstyle with the white hair, but i’m not too fond of his color scheme. his outfits look comfy and soft though. it makes sense, but it’s nothing too memorable if you compare him to characters outside the game. 5/10.

homare: ah, now this is a memorable character design. his hairstyle annoyed me in the beginning, but now i love it. it’s so unique and fun. and i like the purple. i also like his outfits. very classy. but honestly, most of his charisma lies in his face. i think that the pure eccentricity of the hairstyle is enough to put him in the top tier without considering any other element. you really could not find this design in any other media. fuck it. i don’t need to consider anything else. 9/10

azuma: i’ll be honest. im not a fan of long-haired anime men. especially the pretty, flirty types. i don’t know, i just don’t vibe with them. originally, i didn’t like azuma’s design, but now i do. i don’t know how, but i think it’s because azuma is just that powerful. his ponytail makes it more bearable for me and i like the way his bangs frame his face. he just has pretty eyes and face. unfortunately his color scheme is a little too repetitive for me and his casual outfits are a little boring. 6/10

guy: maybe it’s because he looks dead inside, but i love him. i don’t even know this character that well yet, but i think his deadass expression is great. the darker under-eyeline sets him apart from the other characters and i love how he dresses. i think his hair is kinda eh. i personally like it, but objectively, it’s meh. it’s a solid design, but ngl it’s nothing special when i really think about it. 6/10

#for legal reasons this is a joke #this entire post should be underlined with a /lh #i love them all very much im sorry for being mean #except for chikage he deserves it #long post #a3!#a3! act! addict! actors!#A3! Actor Training Game #mod tsuzu talks

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iturbide · 4 years ago

Note

I don't often see stuff about these two, but I'm curious what your thoughts are on Vaike and Maribelle as characters?

I never hear about either of these two and this makes me so excited

How do I feel about this character?

I love The Vaike. You know that thing that’s come up a couple times now, about me having a major soft spot for the characters that have more muscles than brains? Yeah, Vaike counts. From the minute he showed up on screen, I was dying over this muscle-bound fighter talking himself up and getting shot down by my favorite non-delicate princess. And he just keeps doing such outrageously stupid stuff like losing his damn weapon on the road how can you miss something like that sir??? He’s just such a fun guy and he’s always making me laugh, which is something I treasure in a character and which clinches a lot of my favorites.

Also, his supports are generally just so good? Despite being a total jock, he’s got such heartwarming ambitions, given that he came from the slums and joined the Shepherds in an attempt to lift his entire community out of that situation. On top of that, he’s just a really nice guy who looks out for the people around him, and even if he’s a little blunt in how he talks to people, he’s both honest and encouraging, doing his best to help where and how he can. He’s just such an enjoyable character and one who I never see enough of.

Who do I ship this character with romantically?

Hilariously it’s the other character you asked about (spoiler alert for the other half of this answer). I love Vaike and Maribelle as a couple, this very prim and proper noblewoman with a long and storied pedigree and enough manners to teach Miss Manners a thing or two falling for a man from the literal back streets who doesn’t know a ladle from a soup spoon. I love the way they balance each other, especially: Vaike gives Maribelle more insight into the common folk she wants to help as a member of the magistery court and makes her better able to engage with and help them; meanwhile, Maribelle has the funds and clout to help the village he came from get a better footing and lift itself up. And overall I just think their interactions are great, with Vaike being able to ignore Maribelle’s over-the-top dramatics and cut through to the real issues, while Maribelle can bring him down to earth when his ego gets a little too inflated. They just make for great partners that balance one another out and I love them together.

Who is my brOTP for this character?

Chrom and Sully! Honestly the idea of these three making trouble together is so great to me, and I feel like they would just egg each other on into increasingly daring and stupid antics if left to their own devices. Chrom is someone that Vaike really respects, which is why he challenges the prince so much and treats him as such a worthy rival, and I love the idea of them getting stronger together and pushing one another to new heights. And Sully is just great, I love the fact that she’s so much better with women than he is, and I feel like they would end up with a friendly rivalry of their own -- so having all of them together is just perfection.

What’s my Unpopular Opinion™ about this character?

Look, Vaike does not get attention at all from fandom. He barely registers enough with people for there to be opinions, let alone popular ones. The idea that he deserves more attention is unpopular enough, I’m pretty sure -- but I stand by it, because he’s really fun to me and I really wish that more people would engage with his character.

What’s one thing I wish would have happened with this character in canon?

I kind of wish he’d just gotten more attention in general. I know that there are limitations to who can take focus, and Awakening doesn’t have a lot of room for extraneous stuff with how its story is built, but it would have been really nice to have more little moments with the characters outside of Supports, just seeing them doing things together and interacting. Vaike only got a few small moments to shine as a character right at the beginning, and then the focus shifted away to other people and things; I just wish we could have seen him shine more often.

and who could forget the noblest of Ylissean nobleladies

How do I feel about this character?

Oh, Maribelle. Maribelle is such a strange character for me because on a theoretical level I adore her -- she’s got such drive and passion and conviction, she literally wants to change the system to make things better for the masses! -- but her attitude drives me up the wall. I love her interactions with Lissa and how much she cares about her friends, but every time she’s dealing with someone that’s not nobility or royalty my irritation is boundless. The game, sadly, doesn’t do a really great job showing her growth into a more open and fair-minded person even in her supports, so I don’t usually care for her in canon, but in fanfiction (and especially Future Built where I can put in the real character work and show her change) I absolutely love her to bits she’s so great. She’s capable and talented and ambitious in a way that really could bring about changes for the better in Ylisse, and I’d be eager to see how she does it.

Who do I ship this character with romantically?

I’ve already spoiled this part haha it’s Vaike. I love how they interact so much and honestly Brady just makes so much sense with Vaike as his dad? The gangster attitude, the rough language and casual way of speaking, coupled with a ton of noble knowledge -- he uses tea cozies it’s perfect -- just feel like the perfect mix of both parents.

Who is my brOTP for this character?

Lissa, obviously! Maribelle and Lissa are so great together, I love their friendship and how Maribelle will pull out literally all the stops for Lissa’s sake because Lissa was really the first person who gave her a chance and wanted to be her friend. Maribelle really shows how kind she can be when Lissa’s involved, and it’s really sweet to see; I just wish she’d do it more often with more people. Also, it’s really fun to think about her and Gaius eventually working through their issues and becoming friends and allies, and I deeply enjoy her friendship with Robin (primarily in Future Built, because I am in fact super biased).

What’s my Unpopular Opinion™ about this character?

Are. Are there popular Maribelle opinions? I don’t see much of her around, so I’d be pretty surprised to find out any...but I guess if I had to pick something, I’d say that I actually think she’s really prejudiced. Yes, she does want to help the common people, and that’s an incredibly admirable thing to do -- but the fact that she talks down to them constantly in her supports and makes it clear that she thinks she knows better than them (like trying to push new clothes onto Kellam despite how important his armor is to him). That’s a really, really bad attitude to have, and is antithetical to the work she claims she wants to do. She needs to work on that if she intends to get commoners to work with her: she has to be in their corner and support them, rather than expecting them to match her expectations, which is something that’s sadly not on display in canon.

What’s one thing I wish would have happened with this character in canon?

I really wish her supports had done a better job of showing her personal growth, rather than usually ending with a joke. Maribelle as a character has so much potential, especially considering her ambition to join the magistery court; it’s really a shame that so much of that is squandered by how poorly handled most of her conversations are. She never even gets a sweet moment with Brady, which I will forever be bitter about -- let them bond like so many of the other parents and children do! Let him play the violin for her! Let her be moved by the power of his performance! I just wish the game had bothered to do her justice.

Give Me a Character

#answered #anonymous #meme #fire emblem: awakening #vaike #maribelle #i love these two and i love them together #though i will be honest #future built is what really made me love maribelle #i wasn't a huge fan of her before i started digging deep in there #but she's such a great character and i love to see her shine #and vaike is just endlessly great i love him

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shiny-procrastinates · 4 years ago

Text

(re)Watching Magia Record S1 - part 1

Hello and welcome everyone to the first post on this watch-along commentary of the first season of Magia Record! Whether you are just now watching it for the first time, or are re-watching in preparation for the second season, or have only played the game and are curious about the anime (in which case I'd be surprised you even exist) I hope you can have some fun reading these ramblings as I try to put my thoughts into words (actually turned more into narrating the show) throughout all 12 13 episodes.

Before we can get to it, though, I have a few warnings to give:

1 - As much as I'd love to be able to memory swipe so I can watch this fresh all over again, such an ability is sadly still beyond my grasp. In other words, this isn't my first time watching (or second, for that matter; more like the sixth… or seventh…). That being the case I can't claim that these are my first impressions and it's very likely this commentary will be somewhat biased by my previous knowledge. However, I can guarantee one thing: I will do my best to keep this spoiler-free, so you don't have to worry if this is your first time watching.

(I will, however, be assuming that you have watched the OG series and Rebellion, so beware of that).

2 - Please don't come into this expecting it to be Madoka 2

Also no, this is not a continuation of the OG, it’s an alternate universe spin-off.

This one's for first-time viewers.

Well, ok, this sounds like vague tweeting and I'm kind of whining here, but I have seen a number of peeps on the internet saying that Magia Record is bad only for their argument to boil down to "because it isn't OG Madoka!"

Yeah it isn't. I'm pretty sure there's "Side Story" written somewhere in the title too.

Leaving aside the matter of nostalgia glasses and whether the original series was that much of a masterpiece or not (it's been over five years since I last watched it, so I can't say anything either way.) it seems kind of weird to me that someone would bash a spinoff on the grounds of how close it is to the original. Because here's the thing: to me, the whole point of spinoffs is taking an already existing scenario and putting a spin on it to make something new. That's exactly what makes them fun!

MagiReco didn't need to be a Madoka clone or to try hard and beat the original. That would probably have made it bad, actually. What it did need to do was to create an interesting story using the world set up by the OG Madoka and the other spinoffs, and that, in my opinion, it did, so I hope people can give it a chance and judge it on its own merits rather than only compared to the original. I'm not saying you can't hate it, either, I myself have my own problems with it, it's just that I want to see more reasonable reasons than "it's not the OG so it's bad".

3 - As you can probably already tell from these warnings, these posts are bound to get looong, so I'd recommend setting aside a fair amount of time and getting real comfy if you're gonna read it all. I also don't mind if you just skip ahead and only read the interesting parts, I'm not the internet police.

3.5 - I don't want to use it as an excuse, but I think I should make it clear that English is not my native language, so I apologize in advance for any mistakes and awkward/stilted text. It's hard to tell by myself, so feel free to correct me if you find something.

SO, with that out of the way let’s get down to what’s really important:

Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story: Magia Record Episode 1

Whew, now that’s a mouthful.

You know, in my mind I always thought a “side story” was something that happened alongside a “main story”, like another POV, so I’m not sure that’s the most appropriate title, but who am I to judge?

So here we go, we’re off with some beautiful futuristic scenery already, that’s the Madoka series I know.

As the classic Sis Puella Magi plays in the background, two unseen narrators tell us the tale of the so called “magical girls” as we are shown the reality of being one, meeting our first witch for this series.

Risking your life to save a cat doesn’t seem like the smartest of things. Rather, witches eat cats? That’s mean.

No, you really, really don’t. This narration definitely seems made to make everyone who saw the original say this, particularly with how silly are the wishes these girls suggest.

And hey, look, even this girl who supposedly had her wish granted doesn’t seem very happy.

Hang in there, this is only the first episode.

Man, this scenery really is pretty though.

After an exciting fight with a witch in the train, our girl here silently goes home to find

Whatever the heck this is.

So, our girl here seems to be having strange visions whenever she enters her room, that is very very suspiciously cut exactly in half. Protagonist, you sure have an unique sense of interior decoration.

She goes on with her day, makes two lunchboxes and… oh, it seems she’s all alone.

Is this something you should be telling your own daughter?

Long story short, Iroha’s parents are abroad right now (as is suspiciously the case with many a anime protagonist parents). I actually love the parallel this scene draws with OG Madoka: whereas Madoka’s parents seem responsible and Madoka even looks up to her mom and they’re a happy united family, Iroha comes off as being the responsible one in her family and her parents are gone from the get-go. This way, the lonely atmosphere of the previous scene also starts making sense.

So, it seems like there’s something Iroha wants to do here, and that’s why she decided to stay behind.

Perhaps. Did you wish to save a black cat?

Wow, this teacher is speaking fast. Calm down lady, we’re not here to speedrun the content, geez. Though I guess we should be happy she’s at least giving a proper class, unlike a certain other teacher…

Oh great, it's this guy.

Ok, Iroha doesn’t remember what she wished for and Kyuubei doesn’t know either, although he knows she used her wish for the sake of someone. Kyuubei theorizes that the reason she doesn’t remember might be that not remembering was part of her wish, but Iroha doesn’t think she’d wish for that. I don’t think you’d ever think to wish for something like that until you had to wish for something like that though.

She’s got a fair point. After all, wishing in this universe is basica— the heck is going on in the background there?! O-kaaay…

Iroha was having a weird think-spot mental conversation with Kyuubei there, and missed speedrun teacher’s lecture entirely. Being meguca is suffering.

We get some school motto propaganda, and now we’re on the roof. Oh? Where did all the friendship stuff from the propaganda go? Seems like Iroha’s not following the school spirit. Unless she considers the white weasel a friend, so that’s why she gave him her extra… wait, Kyuubei can EAT? I thought he was some alien machine-like being. H-Huh...

Classmate A: Tamaki-san, maji tenshi!

She’s probably just shy. According to her classmates, Iroha used to be busy doing something or the other, but no one can remember what that is.

Cute.

But maybe don’t do that somewhere someone could easily walk in on you, Iroha.

Iroha gets a call by the girl from the combat scene from before, whose name is Kuroe. I couldn’t tell from their conversation if they’ve known each other for a while or if they just met each other for the first time in the fight before.

On the train, although she’s the one who called her over, Kuroe remains silent. Iroha, clearly uncomfortable, tries her best to make conversation. Poor Iroha, I know the feeling.

We learn from her that the number of witches around has been decreasing. She comments that being unable to get Grief Seeds is troubling, but it’s better than having witches causing trouble. Poor girl has no way to know just how much of a bad news it is running out of Grief Seeds.

What’s with pink-haired girls and lacking self-esteem? Iroha, are you sure you didn’t wish to save a black and forget that you did? You did save a white one just before.

Kuroe finally decides to talk, and she tells us this:

If you go to Kamihama, you’ll be saved. To anyone that saw the OG, the first thought that comes to mind is that they’ll be saved from their destiny of turning into witches, but it seems Kuroe doesn’t know the truth yet. She just doesn’t want to fight witches anymore. I think.

The train lights up, and…

...this is extremely unsettling considering the truth about witches and the conversation they’re having right now. There’s a lot of this, but this just hits different having watched the original.

Iroha’s not inclined to believe what Kuroe’s saying. Of course, despite not remembering her wish, she’s the type that’s happy with fighting witches if she can save someone, and Kuroe’s not being very convincing either. The whole thing is apparently a rumor spread by some girls who saw a dream that told them that.

Except that Kuroe actually had the dream too.

Like most magical girls, Kuroe made a short-sighted wish, and regrets it. She now wants to be saved, so she’s going to Kamihama.

...or she was, but before that, they’ll have to defeat the witch they let escape the other day, ‘cos she’s back for more.

I actually have so many questions about this scene. Weren’t Labyrinths pocket dimensions? How come this one’s moving in physical space? We know witches themselves move and their Labyrinth goes with that, but I thought it was more, like, the entrance to the Labyrinth moves. Then how come witches can escape if magical girls get carried with their Labyrinth when they move…? Just... just... what?

The answer to all of that is probably “magic”.

Like that, Express Witch Labyrinth crashes right into what seems to be a train station. Labyrinths don’t have brakes, confirmed.

Brutal.

Looks like it’s not only magical girls who have territorial disputes going on. Although it’s nice that they won’t have to fight two witches at the same time, this is not exactly a relief when you consider these two were already struggling with the previous one, and this one just ripped it apart like crab.

As expected, Iroha’s arrows do no damage at all. When all seems lost…

A wild singing mini Kyuubei appears! Is this a shiny?

The singing Kyuubei distracts the witch and jumps towards Iroha, who uses her pro white cat catching skills to grab it, and… something happens. Whatever this Kyuubei did, Iroha’s having some flashbacks now. Sadly, the middle of a battle isn’t the best time to be having a BSOD and, despite Kuroe’s attempts to snap her out of it, they’re sitting ducks right now, a black and a white one.

Thankfully for them, though, they’re not alone in this barrier. This mystery blue haired girl spams flying spears and makes short work of the witch Iroha’s arrows didn’t even scratch earlier. She’s clearly at a whole ‘nother level.

Also, chibi Kyuubei’s gone. Totally not suspicious. Nope. Not at all.

So, from this OP miss get-the-heck-out-of-my-territory, who didn’t even bother saying her name, we learn that not only there is no salvation in Kamihama, there are more, stronger witches, and there are currently no Kyuubei. She gives them the Grief Seeds from the two witches before, and passes on a warning to them. Not the friendliest of magical girls. Though if you consider what happens when you run out of Grief Seeds, one could understand why it’d be undesirable having too many magical girls in the same place.

With this, Iroha and Kuroe take the train back to their town and things are totally awkward again.

Welp, seems like Kuroe doesn’t want to chat anymore, so we’ll have a dream sequence instead.

Forgive my lack of words, but this scene doesn’t need them. This is just… you couldn’t ask for a better representation of what being a magical girl wishing for salvation is like. Everyone has their own reasons, but in the end, having known despair, these girls are desperately clinging to this last hope called Kamihama. It’s almost a pilgrimage.

“Let’s go to Kamihama. We’ll be saved there”

And in the midst of all that is the mysterious girl from Iroha’s dreams.

(the track here, Paradero de Memoria, is also great btw)

Now, with various wishes written all over in the background, we get Kyuubei’s spiel about magical girls. I think this is word-by-word the same from the original too.

We now get to finally know what our protagonist’s wish was.

So Iroha wished to cure her younger sister’s illness, but the sister in question is now nowhere to be found. Worse: everything related to her is gone. Even Iroha, who made a wish for her sake, didn’t remember her existence until now. Oh man, that’s no normal disappearance. What happened? Guess that’s what Iroha will have to find out now.

With that, we conclude the first episode of Magia Record(’s s1)!

This is a really strong first episode in my opinion. It decently introduces our protagonist, sets up the mysteries we will be dealing with from here on and also manages to trace connections with the original, while using the viewer’s previous knowledge to give a whole different impression to some scenes. You wouldn’t be like “hell no” at the rumor there at the start if you didn’t know the truth about magical girls, and I doubt that final scene would hit that hard either. It’s just really good at this and it’ll continue doing that from now on. I love it.

Speaking of the final scene, me having watched the original over five years ago might also be part of it but that is really my favorite scene in Madoka overall. I just really really love that scene. (Seriously, I’ve watched this scene so many times I know it by heart now. Help.)

Alas, I lied, the episode’s not over yet, we still have our classic anime first episode ending-opening to watch. So let’s listen, to Gomakashi:

This logo’s real pretty.

So yeah, pretty standard anime opening. If you pay attention, there are some references to Connect too, what with the selfcest and whatnot. Although I managed to mistake this when I first watched, this one’s actually sung by the trio TrySail rather than ClariS. That’s the VAs for Iroha, Asakura Momo; Yachiyo (the get-out-of-my-territory girl), Amamiya Sora and Natsukawa Shiina, whose character we’ve yet to meet. TrySail has a lot of cool songs, so do check them out if you haven’t already. (free ad)

This time, in fact, the episode is over! Whew, I did say this was going to be long, but not even I thought it’d be this long. By the time this is posted I should have a backlog of these, so my plan is to post one everyday until we are done. I hope you had fun reading this here rant and I’ll be looking forward to meeting you guys again tomorrow, same place, maybe same hour, so we can go on and watch episode 2 together!

(P.S.: I am considering doing a series of posts at a later date comparing the anime to the game, but we’ll see. The first few chapters are fine, but the game is stupidly long, so I feel it’d take a lot of motivation and stamina I’m not sure I have at the moment. There’s also the possibility watching the first arc again would bring back my yt copy-apocalipse grief back and that’d suck, definitely don’t wanna go through that again.)

#magia record #puella magi madoka magica #pmmm magia record #this post apologizes for existing

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hazelandglasz · 5 years ago

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Hi dear, how are you? May I prompt a silly thing? I saw Magnum's commercial, so: Kurt and Blaine first met at the beautiful wedding of a couple of girl friends of theirs (idk why, but they never actually got to be introduced to each other before... and maybe they're the bridesmen? eh, what a coincidence!). Of course, each of them catches a bouquet... *wink wink*

Oooh

Link to the Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJXuDkmoFfc

I know it may sound tone-deaf to post a cutesy fic right now, but I feel like we need the levity and relief of just a moment spent in a different universe

I hope you’ll enjoy this little one :)

On AO3

Kurt is just so happy for Santana.

For all her brashness and hard exterior, he can’t think of anyone else who deserves a happy romance, and Dani certainly brings it for her.

They both complement each other so well, it’s uncanny.

And Dani fits so well into the group of misfits who travelled from Ohio to settle in New York, some days, Kurt feels like she was always meant to be with them.

As such, he thought he had met all of her friends, including the potential bridesmaids, bridesmen, and honorary person.

(His money was on Graced Lightning, if someone cares for his opinion.)

Though there is a name that has been repeated enough without Kurt being able to associate a face with the name.

But who is this Blaine? Where is she?

That is, until the rehearsal dinner.

Kurt is minding his own business, going down the stairs while arranging his cufflinks, when he spots someone standing in front of the mirror, fixing their outfit.

“Excuse me,” he calls. “Are you here for the Lopez-Ochoa dinner?”

The person turns on their heels and Kurt has to remember that he is an adult man now, not a teenager who can (and would) giggle when faced with a gorgeous man.

Because this, Sir, is a gorgeous specimen of a man, and what he was arranging in the mirror must have been his bowtie.

A bowtie which manages to both be elegant and pay homage to Dani’s profession, Kurt has to give the man kudos on this particular fashion jujitsu.

“I am indeed. I am Blaine.”

Ah. So Blaine is a he.

“The infamous Blaine,” Kurt says as he shakes Blaine’s hand (manicured, clean, soft. Kurt likey.). “I have heard so much about you, but I didn’t know…”

“That I was a man. Dani loves spreading confusion about me.” Blaine smiles fondly, much like Kurt does when he is faced with Santana’s idiosyncrasies. “And you must be Kurt.”

“Indeed,” Kurt replies, preening under Blaine’s gaze. “And whatever you heard about me is probably true to an extent.”

“To an extent?”

“Santana can exaggerate, and Dani tends to calm her, so. Overall, ya know.”

Blaine’s smile deepens, making his eyes crinkle.

It’s a testimony to how far gone Kurt is that he finds it adorable already.

They start walking around the corridors, and Kurt knows that it’s actually the longer way to the venue, but he can’t find it in himself to care. He’s walking side by side with a gorgeous man who has been giving him the Look™, and he will appreciate it for as long as he can.

“It’s a bit odd, isn’t it,” he starts, following his inner monologue.

“What is?”

“That we’re the best men in a lesbian wedding and we’ve never met each other.”

Blaine nods. “It is odd,” he replies, hands in his pockets. He truly exudes some old Hollywood vibes—really attractive and really inspiring—which Kurt really wants to appreciate in detail.

(Before messing it all up as he would ravish Blaine, but that’s for him and his mind to know.)

“In the past year, I have travelled a lot, I guess,” Blaine continues. “I kept in touch with Dani whenever I had a moment, though, and she let me crash at her place when I was back in town. But now I’m here to stay,” he adds, giving Kurt a sideway glance, “and I will not live with them as a married couple.”

“Wise. Trust me,” Kurt laughs, “you wouldn’t have handled living with them as an engaged couple.”

“Oh?”

“I know I didn’t handle it the most… gracefully, shall I say.”

“No, you did not,” Santana interrupts them, looking smoking hot, if Kurt may say so, in her three-piece suit. “But I forgive you.”

“How generous,” Kurt says in a deadpan, before pulling her into a hug. “You look amazing, ‘Tana.”

“I know,” she replies, brushing invisible lint from her lapel. She blushes as she does so, though, softening her statement. “Thank you. And you must be Dani’s Blaine.”

“You must be the love of my girl’s life,” Blaine replies, opening his arms and waiting for Santana to hug him.

She mutters something Kurt can’t decipher, but she still goes in for the hug. “She didn’t tell me her best friend was also her dad, though.”

“An old man in a young man’s body,” Blaine chirps back, making her laugh and making Kurt look down at the aforementioned body.

His glance doesn’t escape Santana’s attention, and he glares at her smirk.

“Now, come on, let’s get this rehearsal dinner over with,” she says, linking her arms with theirs to pull them along. “Dani’s nana is already hitting on the bar staff.”

“Leave her to me,” Blaine replies, patting Santana’s hand. “I’ll take care of her.”

“As in?”

“I’ll let her hit on me for the rest of the evening.”

“Cocky.”

“Knowledgeable. Nana Francesca loves to pinch my cheeks.”

“Which cheeks?”

“Yes.”

Kurt can’t help the roar of laughter that comes out at that cheeky reply. He doesn’t even notice when Santana leaves them alone to join her fiancée.

Where has Blaine been all this time?

Why didn’t Santana play matchmaker before?

Kurt mentally shrugs it off. What matters is that they do meet, doesn’t it?

“You’re…,” Blaine starts, beaming at Kurt before hesitating. “Um.”

“If it’s a compliment, go ahead.”

“You’re really beautiful when you smile like that.”

Kurt instantly runs his fingers through his hair to keep them from coming in front of his face. “Oh. Um, thanks. I usually… don’t.”

Blaine nods, like he understands what Kurt means by that, and maybe he does.

In which case, they have even more in common and why on Earth did Santana keep Kurt from his soulmate?!

“Come on, let’s take advantage of the bar,” Blaine offers, gesturing toward the already crowded section of the venue.

“Not planning on getting drunk tomorrow?”

“I’m a best man of honor,” Blaine replies, holding one hand to his heart. “I need to be at the ready to fulfill such a position.”

Kurt mentally goes through all the positions he would like Blaine to fulfill while, well, “at the ready,” but he quickly closes that file.

For now.

“And knowing Dani and her family,” Blaine continues, seemingly unaware of the depravation going through Kurt’s mind, “all she will need from me tomorrow will be to keep her mom and her nana away from the waiters. And the bar.”

“Which is a job that requires a full vigilance,” Kurt comments, observing the way the Ochoa women seem to be able to drink everybody under the table.

“Indeed.”

“As Santana’s best man of honor,” Kurt muses, “I guess my job will be to make sure she’s staying hydrated and she doesn’t get her hands on a microphone.”

Blaine looks doubtful. “You know they have a first duet planned, right?”

“What?”

“They rehearsed a song to sing as a married couple’s first duet, to surprise everybody who would expect a married couple’s first dance.”

“Oh Lord.”

“But Santana wouldn’t…”

“Oh she would.”

Blaine winces and Kurt nods. “You haven’t been around her much, have you?”

“Just every now and then, and she’s been perfectly nice.”

Kurt can’t help his snort. “Santana Lopez, nice?”

“In a rather delightfully brash way, yes.”

Kurt snatches two glasses of champagne and hands one to Blaine. “If you find Santana delightful, you’re definitely the man for the job.”

Blaine holds up his glass and clinks it with Kurt’s, a glint in his eyes. “Here’s to being the right men for the job.”

“Here, here.”

---

The rest of the rehearsal dinner is, Kurt must admit, quite a blur.

After a while, the waiter just leaves the tray of champagne glasses at the table Kurt and Blaine chose as their own, and they keep on talking all night long—they briefly pause when Santana’s grandmother and Dani’s father make their speeches, but otherwise, they only go their separate ways because both brides pulled them apart to go to sleep in the early morning.

Kurt can’t believe it took him this long to meet a man like Blaine. So perfect in his imperfections, so in tune with Kurt’s unspoken feelings and thoughts, so funny in a subtly dry way.

So handsome, too, especially at the end of the night when he untied his bowtie and left it hanging around his neck, two top buttons opened…

“Kurt, stop daydreaming about your man and come help me get in this dress!”

Santana’s call effectively wakes Kurt up from his fantasizing and he gulps down his mug of coffee.

“Don’t worry, ‘Tana,” he says, pulling down on the laced top of the dress to keep it in place in the back with tape, “nothing is going to go wrong.”

Santana takes a deep breath and looks at him in their reflection. “I know,” she replies softly. “Nothing can go wrong since I’m marrying my soulmate.”

The certainty in her voice makes something in Kurt’s chest tighten, but he brushes it aside.

Today is not the day to let self-pity take over.

Besides, who knows; today may end with a slow dance in the arms of a perfect man…

“Ready?”

“Ready. Let’s make an honest woman out of me.”

“Ha, as if!”

---

Kurt has not been to a lot of weddings, and he may be biased, but he has never seen a more beautiful couple of brides.

And Blaine looks even more scrumptious today that he did the day before, in his pink suit.

Dani really did a good job of finding a color to compliment Santana’s simple cream choice.

The pink and cream colors are everywhere in the reception, with some darker highlights to remind everybody that those brides are first and foremost badasses, including in the married couple’s bouquets.

Once Santana and Dani charm everybody with their “first duet”—an acoustic version of “Here Comes The Sun” with Dani playing the ukulele—Kurt can finally breathe and enjoy the wedding.

Namely, he can spend all of his time with Blaine.

Or watching Blaine smoothly taking the bottle of tequila from Mrs. Ochoa Senior’s hands and replacing it with tall glasses of cocktails that are more fruits than alcohol, without a word of complaint.

Kurt also enjoys the sight of Blaine’s blush when the same woman manages to spank him lightly as he passes by with a plate of mini cakes.

On his way to Kurt, oh my.

“Hey.”

“Finally taking a break from your bridesman’s duties?”

“Yep,” Blaine says, popping the last sound as he drops his whole body into the chair next to Kurt. As he puts the plate of pastries between them, the back of his hand brushes against Kurt’s wrist, and all at once, Kurt understands the woes of all the Victorian heroines. “In about, oh, ten minutes, they’ll throw the bouquets, leave, and I will have performed my duties as best I could.”

Kurt blames the numerous glasses of Moscato wine he kept on taking away from Santana and drank on the multiple things he would like Blaine to perform, hopefully on him, preferably on a comfortable surface, but he’s not picky.

“Ah yes, the bouquets,” he says instead, picking up a strawberry tartlet. “AKA the Hunger Games of bachelorettes?”

“Yep. Except Santana and Dani want us in the crowd.”

“No.”

Blaine snickers, looking down at his shoes before looking back at Kurt, his smile boyish and Kurt could kiss it off his face. “Something about gender stereotypes being fought on the battleground or something.”

“Eurgh.”

“Hey, it was yours, not mine.”

“They’re ours, now.”

The words come out of Kurt’s mouth before he can stop himself, and he can feel a panic rising in his chest.

Blaine’s smile softens as he cocks his head to the side. “I like the sound of that,” he says, voice barely above a murmur.

And yet, above all the mayhem and the music and the shouts, Kurt only hears him.

“Oh.”

“Come on, let’s stand with all these young people,” Blaine says, standing and offering his hand. “And then, hopefully, you’ll allow me to have a dance.”

“And then?”

“And then we will see.”

Kurt takes Blaine’s hand. “That’s a program I can get on board with.”

There is quite a crowd assembled at the bottom of the stairs of the venue, where Santana and Dani stand, already changed in their traveling outfits, but still holding their bouquets. Blaine squeezes Kurt’s hand before going to Dani’s side of the crowd.

“Ready?” Santana calls, peals of laughter and wolf-whistles answering her. “Alright!”

They both turn and in the same move, throw their bouquets towards the crowd.

Kurt sees it happening in slow motion, lifting his arms to protect his face from the hands and elbows going in his direction.

And yet, his fingers close reflexively around the thing that lands in them.

“Oh,” he says when he opens his eyes and sees the bouquet in his hand, Mercedes clapping her hands and Santana shouting like he just scored a goal.

Over the heads and the crowd, Kurt immediately looks for Blaine.

And finds him with a matching bouquet in his hand, looking as dazzled as Kurt feels.

“Oh,” he repeats.

When Santana passes him by, she pulls him in a hug. “Go get him, Tiger,” she whispers before kissing his cheek. “We can wait for you to get together before we start having babies so they can grow up together.”

“Cart and horses, Santana,” he replies, shaking his head as he kisses her and sends her on her honeymoon way.

Kurt shakes his head, but his imagination is already considering the color scheme that would best suit both Blaine and himself.

“May I have this dance?”

Blaine’s voice cuts through Kurt’s planning, and here he is, holding up one hand with one cream rose tucked behind his ear.

Kurt beams at him, before pulling a pink rose to mirror Blaine’s new attire. He hands over the bouquet to Santana’s little niece who apparently won Dani’s bouquet from Blaine already and who shrieks in delight when she gets his.

“Yes,” he replies, wrapping his arms around Blaine’s neck. “Yes, you may.”

Blaine puts his hands on Kurt’s back, and they stay slow-dancing there, on the grass in front of the venue where the party kicks back to life.

Not a bad way to end a stressful month, as far as Kurt is concerned.

And turquoise and purple would make for a wonderful wedding theme, wouldn’t it?

(It would, but Kurt won’t know for sure for another couple of years.)

_______________________________________________________________

(Should I add a small NSFW chapter?)

#sometimes i write #klaine au #dantana #wedding shenanigans #bridesmen #best #(you pick)#fluff

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caye-otome-translations · 4 years ago

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Hello there! Thanks for translating 100PuRi! I always had will to play it but my knowledge is too small to play an japanese game. I have a question: what do you think of the exclusive characters? I'm sorry if you answered it before, I looked it up but didn't find it... thanks for reading and forgive my poor English! (┬┬﹏┬┬)

Hi! Glad you like it! I wanted to make this for people with similar troubles as you so I’m glad to know it’s fulfilling its purpose! This is the first time someone has asked me something on Tumblr and no one has asked me a question like this before, so you’re completely fine, lol. And your English is really good!

Okay, so the exclusive characters are really interesting actually. I can’t wait to play their routes!

Claude Braque is probably my favorite. He has so much personality and is very mysterious to me since his motives are kind of unclear. He fights with Giles a lot and I just love their interactions (he is cold where Giles is hot). He’s a ladies man and takes no responsibility for it, lol. He talks freely about love. He is also quite dramatic. In the events where he is not an option, he acts like the MC’s best friend a lot. He’s literally the fairy godmother personified, I kid you not. He is like that one shipper who wants the MC and her love interest to get together. I love him so much, lol. He is also one of the older characters (I would say just about Giles’ age), and I tend to lean towards the older ones.

Cain Roche is my second favorite, just because I really like bossy characters. He is sassy, he is arrogant, and he likes to flaunt that he is one of the princes that can take the throne. He’s definitely a spoiled brat and was born with a silver spoon. I thought the way MC and him saw each other at the ball in the prologue was hilarious. MC says he’s the best candidate to be the next King because of his strong personality and how prepared he seems to be for it, which I kind of agree with except I am biased towards Louis lol. He definitely looks like he wants the throne the most out of the three princes though. He is rather flat as a character, but I am hoping he gets more sides to him in his route.

Noah Leonhart is adorable, but I wouldn’t say his character intrigues me that much in terms of wanting to romance him but that’s just my personal opinion. Noah is lazy, a slacker, and tends to complain when he has to do serious work BUT when he does work, he takes it somewhat seriously. On the outside at least, it appears he takes no interest in the throne depsite being a prince. He is also kind of a flat character at the moment but I bet he definitely has some kind of deep story probably that we find out in his route that reveals more layers about how he is the way that he is. He is supportive of the MC right away unlike Cain and Louis who are a little skeptical. Honestly, he feels more like an older brother to me because of how casually affectionate he seems towards MC rather than a love interest. And that one event (Secret Valentine) where he is the MC’s actual brother only makes me think that way even more. I will still do his route though for the people who wish to see it!

I definitely feel like Cain and Noah are slightly younger than Louis and a little less mature (though they can act mature especially when they need to play the part of their roles as princes).

I would love to do more of their events as well but it’s hard getting an event where Byron, Louis, or Giles aren’t in it (those are my top three and I want to make sure I always do them first, and it’s hard getting enough points to play through all of the others when that happens).

So those are my opinions and impressions on the exclusive characters in 100 Days Princess! Hope I answered your question! :)

#100 days princess #midnight cinderella #otome #cain roche #claude braque #noah leonhart #ask #thoughts #characters

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schibi12 · 5 years ago

Text

Review/Reaction for "Let's Get Dangerous!"

Sorry for posting this a bit late i tried to post these a day before the new episode but this being an hour long episode and i got a really busy week it took its time to write but know its here so enjoy!

This post is gonna be long, longer than my usual posts, not only because it’s a 1 hour special but im gonna be fangirling real hard even though i haven’t watched OG Darkwing Duck so take this as a biased or unbiased review, but still this episode was amazing, everthing was so on point the story, characters, animation, music, action, comedy, etc., everything was great so Let’s Do This!! And LET’S GET DANGEROUS!!!!

Spoilers!! Read at your own Risk!!

Love that intro of Launchpad narrating their entrance to St. Canard, Dewey and LP accidentally revealing Darkwing's identity to Huey and Louie and Scrooge forgetting to turn off the laptop on his video call with Bradford and Darkwing failing to glide like Batman everything was great and then we get the titlecard no theme song oh it was perfect.

I like Taurus Bulba's introduction like we already know he is a villain but i like that he is this friendly and knowledgeable to Scrooge and the kids which can be seen as kind or a bit stalkerish once they reveal his true intentions.

I love Darkwing's hideout, all the gadgets, the super computer every little detail i love it,and that Fenton helped him and that Drake is oblivious to Gizmoduck real identity is just funny.

I love W.A.N.D.A. her sarcastic tone and i especially love that she is voice by Jameela Jamil who also voices Gandra Dee, but i like that she kept her accent.

Of course there is no crime in St. Canard they got the best mayor, and im glad that Owlson finally got a job where she is respected.

Ooh Huey is getting is suspicious of the RAMROD and of Bulba and ew Haggis sounds kinda nasty not gonna lie.

No crime kind of an awkward situation but at least Darkwing had the decency to finish the job for them. Ooh we get to see Gosalyn damn she can hold her own, oh my gosh i think we all have the same thought that the first triplet to be arrested would be Louie, and of course Scrooge doesn't remember Darkwing at all. Interesting Bulba is on DW side but not for long. Damn Huey that hat is like Mary Poppins bag.

They made a set for Dewey Dew Night, these pics of DW and i need that cookbook in real life.

And Gosalyn i love her design, personality everything and Stephanie Beatriz did an amazing job voicing her she had big shoes to fill and in my haven't watched OG Darkwing Duck opinion i think she is a worthy sucessor and a big plus that she is Latina and i love the reference to her original design

And honestly i thought that Dewey was gonna be the last of the kids that she would form a friendship with, so i was genuinely surprised when they teamed up and i loved that they related with the whole mystery of a missing family member a nice callback to the 1st season, and i love that Dewey is trying to make a catchphrase for her.

Of course DW is gonna help her but i do like that Launchpad is the one who encourages him to help Gosalyn, nice shot of all them driving DW motorcycle but where is Dewey in the motorcycle WHERE??? Huey knows he knows Bulba and tell a parent or caretaker how to educate their children, Did Darkwing just dislocated his jaw ouch! and nice hiding spots guys, that’s a really big and heavy book.

Taurus what a good liar and yeah some nice teamwork from Dewey and Gos!!! And that’s a lot of papers and plans for one machine oooh this episodes ties up with the whole missing mysteries plot wasn’t expecting that and wait so that means any Disney Media is an alternate dimension/universe so maybe DT17 is a universe where Mickey Mouse doesn’t exist ok crazy theory aside i like the explanation they have for the RAMROD and the whole dimensional stuff.

Caught in a lie Taurus Bulba!! What a jerk he just hit a child what is wrong with you (well he is a villain so why am i surprised). Good Guy Launchpad helping as always. Some more good teamwork with DW and Gos! Oh my the Fearsome are Fearsome indeed and what an entrance!

So like i have said many times i haven’t seen OG Darkwing Duck so i have no reference to compare or critique but as their own version i really liked it their design. personality and etc., everything was good with these 4.

Come on DW you already breaking down and you haven’t even fought anyone. Aw Fenton/Gizmoduck has his own kind of Iron Man Hud and geez so rude DW. Hey Bonkers another Disney Afternoon show i haven’t seen (im gonna get my Disney Fan Club Card revoked after this post). And aw Launchpad is making another Adventuring Family and Oh my Ducks!! LP is the uncle he has a lot to live up to.

Oh so he is a part of FOWL i was kinda suprised not gonna lie, oh Bulba gone rough and kinda crazy, and the kids with Bradford what an odd team up and of course Louie can pick locks,The chase scene with the Quackerbot and Liquidator and DW and Co. was great, was that a Sonic reference? and that scene with Bushroot was suspenseful and creepy as heck! That saxophone solo was hilarious. Duck boys getting suspicious especially Huey.

Did LP broke the 4th wall?!?! Aw what a funny and wholesome moment with Gos and LP.

Aw is DW is doing the best he can for Gos, aw what a sweet tender moment im not crying your crying LP is crying. LP made pancakes what an uncle and ouch DW can take a beating.

What a reference to OG Ducktales this was really unexpected and hilarious!! And i really like Dewey’s sarcastic tone at Bradford. Holy cow the boys know about FOWL and they are in ther classic design Oh bother!

What a plan LP kind of dumb but it worked. And what a nice message of LP about what it means to be a hero wise words my dudes. And what a fight it was amazing great references, action-packed, clever and funny it was beautiful. Oh those references to OG Ducktales good stuff.

Aw poor Gosalyn having to make the ultimate decision the animation, music and voice acting were great and you really feel for her and i gotta be honest i cried in this scene.

Oh snap!! Scrooge knows about FOWL now!! The tables have turned for this season!

And aw they formed a nice found family and Launchpad is an honorary member of team uncle!

Amazing episode everything was so good this is the perfect pilot for a Darkwing Duck Reboot, Disney if you don’t do it you’re crazy.

This episode was greatly balanced i liked that it wasn’t all Darkwing Duck but it also followed Scrooge and the boys and it all perfectly meshed together with the whole FOWL plot line which i wasn’t expecting at all but it was an awesome surprise and i honestly don’t know what to expect for future episodes or the season finale.

Overall a perfectly made episode funny, clever, action-packed, great character interactions and great introduction to Darkwing Duck universe for peeps who haven't seen the OG like me and others.

I give this episode 5 out of 5 ducks.

🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆

#disney #ducktales #ducktales 2017 #dt17 #dts3 #dtspoilers #darkwing duck #review #reaction

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elencelebrindal · 5 years ago

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Actually, that last one was a really good question, so: for TLC Golds, how would you rate fanfic getting them right? I'm curious!

I don’t read as much TLC fanfics, mostly because a lot of them are pairing-based and those pairings are not my cup of tea, by I did read enough to have a couple opinions. Maybe not as thorough and complete as the one for the classic Golds, so excuse me if I’ll miss some characters. Also, same disclaimer: I might have read different stuff from other people. My opinion could sound wrong to you if you read something I didn’t and viceversa. With some of them I’m not familiar enough with the canon version at this point in time to have a 100% good answer. I forgot at least half the manga because art history replaced all my knowledge, and I have no free time to read it again.

Shion 7/10 I mostly saw good depictions of him, with a fairly good respect for his canon characteristics. Though, some stuff was... questionable. I won’t go into details, because this particular post has to stay sfw, but there’s some things out there were Shion is definitely not in character. Plus, I’ve seen him depicted with a somewhat dull personality more than once, and people apparently (even if it’s a running joke) like to think he’s not as skinny as he actually is. It’d be totally fine either way, obviously, but it conflicts so much that it automatically triggers me. You ever looked at a bulky armor, guys?

Alebaran/Rasgado ?/10 I never read actual fan fiction with him as a character, other than one that was basically just comedy and no character accuracy. So I can’t have an opinion on him. I have a couple posts to use as reference, but they’re not enough to pinpoint what people do with him.

Aspros 10/10 This score is mostly due to the fact that I’ve only read a couple works with him in them. And he was perfect, really to close to his canon counterpart. Since I’ve nothing to expose, I’ll move on.

Defteros ?/10 Same as Aldebaran, I never read a proper fan fiction, just posts here and there tackling him. I don’t even know if my representation of him is actually good or not, I am not familiar with Defteros enough at this particular time.

Manigoldo 10/10 Never seen a bad representation of him in fan fiction. Then again, this man is not that difficult to get right, once you understand his mentality. Bonus for him actually flirting during a battle, pretty sure writers have a blast with this Saint.

Regulus ?/10 The only fan fiction I read with him properly in it was pure comedy. I have no idea how people depict him outside canon, unfortunately. He’s never been one of my go-to characters when searching for stuff to read, so I have almost nothing to use as a comparison. I read some other works, but he was mainly a secondary character with the task of being adorable, so I don’t know.

Asmita 10/10 I only read one single work with him as the protagonist, and it was good. So damn good. I don’t remember the title or where I read it, or I would have definitely linked it to you all. So... kind of a biased score, but it’s all I have. The rest is just random posts, and he’s cool in those as well, so I guess Asmita got lucky.

Dohko Same as the previous, is literally impossible to get him wrong, unless you’re doing something purposefully ooc.

Kardia 10/10 I love every single work I’ve read with Kardia in it. It’s always spot on. His personality is not that easy to handle, being who he is, but so far I’ve only seen good depictions of him, as close to his canon behavior as they can possibly be. Honestly speaking, I almost exclusively read fan fictions with him and Degel as a couple, but still! Those authors never betrayed Kardia. Good job, everybody. The one and only complain I have is the depiction of him that one artist has (not going to say the name, I’m not a snitch and their art is still pretty darn good), but since it’s such a little drop in the ocean I’ll completely let it slide. For now.

Sisyphus 5/10 They either get him right, or he’s the way too overprotective uncle with one too many issues to deal with. I get it, you people want Sisyphus to care for Regulus, but don’t you think that making him act exactly like my mother is a bit much? I’ve seen some very impressive depictions of him, some works where his personality was absolutely amazing, but others... eh, I still wish I didn’t read them.

El Cid 8/10 Most of the time he’s perfect. People nailed his personality and behavior, it’s so close to the canon version that the whole thing is actually scary. But, sometimes, authors tend to exaggerate his traits too much, and then the story becomes unpleasant to read. Perfectionism can be dangerous if not used in the right amount, after all.

Degel 9/10 As far as I’m aware, and I’m only aware of works with him and Kardia as a couple (I’m hopeless, I know), he’s pretty good. His personality is not easy to grasp, and I’ve seen people making him too stuck up or too obsessed with his god-forsaken library, but if you get it right... well, you get it right. And it’s beautiful.

Albafica ?/10 I’m unsure about him. I grasped his whole character myself, because I stuck my head so far into the lore I’m actually still unable to get it out, but even with this I’m not sure how to relate with Albafica in fiction. There’s so many versions of is personality and a lot of them seem good, while at the same time some of those feel weird. To me, obviously, not in general. The fact I mostly read stuff with him in different pairings doesn’t help the confusion I have in my head, because it’s a different behavior with every person. I think that most authors are able to fully understand him, and they wrote Alba with justice for him in mind, but I’m so unsure I don’t feel like giving him a score.

#saint seiya #i cavalieri dello zodiaco #los caballeros del zodiaco #os cavaleiros do zodiaco #gold saints #lost canvas

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talesofafangirlwithadvr · 5 years ago

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APRIL PICKS!

And we’re back with new picks for the month!! Man, this has been some strange times we’re living in. I saw a post that said March felt like 300 days, while April feels like 3. I could not agree more. I’ve watched a lot this month, which isn’t a shocker due to our current circumstances. There’s a pretty big range, so there might be something here that you can check out during quarantine.

Here come the spoilers!

THE SOCIETY

I’m going to start with my latest watch from Netflix, The Society. Wow. I really enjoyed this one. Going into it I knew it would be like a Twilight Zone meets Lord of the Flies show, but there was so much unexpected stuff that occurred. Much like Degrassi the Next Generation, they went there. The students from New Ham, Connecticut go off on a field trip, but the buses don’t get too far due to the storm. This forces them back into town only (maybe) a couple hours from when they left. No one is home when they get back. No adults, kids, or others who were not on the school trip. The town is theirs and there is no way out. At first it’s all partying, but things take a dark turn fast and the teens must come up with laws for there to be some sort of order in this new world if they want to survive and find a way back to their real home. The 10 episodes go by really fast. It leaves a nice cliffhanger for season 2 (which is supposed to be in the works, but I don’t know if Corona affected that at all). This show definitely contains a lot of surprising twists including one very early on that is hard to predict. If you have watched this show previously or are interested in giving it a shot know one important thing.

This is the BEST character on the show.

I have not met one person who doesn’t love Grizz. He is the greatest. (The fan love for him really reminds me of the love for Stiles in Teen Wolf.)

DC’S TITANS- Season 2

At the start of April, I started the second season of Titans. As someone who does not have the DC streaming service I have to wait till the seasons are accessible on DVD. I watched the first season back in December and loved it, so I couldn’t wait to watch season 2. I was excited to see all the characters they were adding to the team. As someone who LOVES superheroes, but gets most of their knowledge through watching TV and movies rather than the comics, I went in not knowing a lot, which made it even more exciting. I would say my only main issue with this season was the staggering of plots. Because there were so many characters to follow and so much going on there were a lot of times when I was excited to start the next episode (because the previous one always ended on the BEST cliffhangers) only to have the episode involve a completely different story-line. While Deathstroke was the main villain for the season, sprinkling in CADMUS and finishing off Raven’s dad at the start felt like a lot for me. Most of the side conflicts added up to involving Slade, but looking back (because I did watch this at the beginning of April) it often felt like a lot in the moment. Some of the moments that were my favorite were finally getting the Nightwing reveal, seeing Bruce and Dick interact, being at Titans tower, hearing Hank sing and all of Connor. I think he was my favorite addition to the show. (I could be biased because I’m a Superman fan.) I’m upset with the ending and they better find a way to reverse it!! I would also like to see more of the team together next season because I really missed that too.

On a lighter note....

NAILED IT!

This is the PERFECT show for the crazy times we are in. It takes your mind off the repetitive news and is a great stress reliever, plus it is super funny and you will find yourself laughing uncontrollable. Maybe more in some episodes than others. Nailed it is the baking game show for people who strive to be better bakers in the kitchen, but are struggling when it comes to appearance (or taste...or both). In the half hour show there are two tasks for the three contestants to perform in order for a chance at the Nailed It trophy and $10,000. They are both often very difficult, with the second creation much harder than the first. Watching the contestants is hilarious as well as their reactions to baking and not having any clue what to do sometimes. I also love the judges. Nicole Byer is too funny and Jacques Torres is one of my new favorite people.

Plus Wes is just beautiful and I loved when Nicole called him the human form of Simba from the Lion King.

Continuing on with more comedy...

I know of several people who quote John Mulaney’s comedy specials on the regular, plus his gifs are EVERYWHERE. So it was about time I watched his specials and what better time than right now when I can use all the laughs I can get. I watched The Come Back Kid and New in Town and was laughing all the way through. If you’re already familiar with his stand-up you can enjoy some of these moments again below. If you aren’t then I HIGHLY suggest you check them out on Netflix or by simply YouTube-ing some of his best moments. (My computer cannot stop putting them in my suggested now.)

Returning to some of my past favorites this month....

(Some of these should not come as a shocker)

ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST

One of my February Picks is back (not that it ever really left). Zoey’s is the show that I can’t stop talking about and even if this past Sunday’s episode (not the one airing tonight because I obviously haven’t watched it yet-while he’s been bothering me I can’t wait to hear Max’s rendition of ‘Bye, Bye, Bye’) gave me issues because everyone was blowing up at each other and there were times I wanted to shout at the TV, I would still suggest this show to anyone. This dramedy has so much going on from captivating (and sometimes heartbreaking) plots, to realistic and lovable characters and songs you will quickly want to add to your personal playlist. It’s honestly just a feel good show that usually puts me in such a great mood (again, despite last week’s...) With only a few more to this season I cannot wait to see what happens next!! (If you enjoy the show check out my other posts on this page!)

NANCY DREW

The CW retelling of Nancy Drew is in the top 2 of shows that I currently cannot stop talking about. It’s still a little shocking to me that I have grown to like Nancy Drew SO MUCH. If you told me that at the start of the season I would have been like ‘really?’ But as this first season has progressed I really fell in love with the show and the characters. While we ended on an earlier cliffhanger than was intended it was still an AWESOME one that has left me with so many questions. I am so happy this show was renewed and I cannot wait till they can start filming the second season. Because I need more of these kinds of moments:

I’m pretty sure I ended my last post this way too. But come on these two are the cutest and deserve to be endgame!

Just like with Zoey’s check out this page for more detailed reviews if you are also a Nancy Drew fan!

I DIDN’T DO IT

I am SO HAPPY that this show is now on Disney Plus. I have talked about this show since it got canceled from Disney Channel far too soon (much like many of their great shows on that channel). But at least they had gotten 2 seasons and both are now available to watch on the streaming service as much as you’d like. (I think I already made it up to episode 12). In my personal opinion season 2 is stronger than season 1 mainly because it doesn’t follow the classic structure of the “I didn’t do it” episode. What I mean by this is starting the episode out with some sort of hi-jinks and having the 5 best friends exclaim they “didn’t do it” or this isn’t how they thought things would go. Then we flashback to events either earlier in the day or week, etc, leading up to the first scene’s events. This style can get very repetitious, but with funny plots and likable characters certain episodes work better than others. However, by season 2 this structure was gone completely and I think the show strongly benefited from it. I truly believe this group of friends felt like a teenage “Friends” sitcom. They had a hang out at a smoothie cafe, two of them were siblings (here twins) and each member of the group resembled a character from the classic NBC show. They even had the two that felt like Ross and Rachel like each other romantically. Who knows where the show would have gone if it wasn’t cancelled. Check it out and let me know if you find more comparisons.

And Last But Not Least...

WORLD ON FIRE

The most recent show I’ve started watching is currently airing on PBS after previously airing on the BBC. This drama throws us into the beginnings of WWII as we follow several characters from different parts of the globe, from England to Germany and Poland. I’m really loving the diverse cast and seeing through the eyes of so many characters during this turning point of history. While I have only watched 2 episodes so far, I already feel very invested in each of their lives and cannot wait to see what happens next. Already so many twists and turns have occurred in such a short amount of time. The episodes go by really fast and will have you thinking a lot after. If you are a fan of a lot of other Masterpiece’s Classics I would highly suggest checking it out.

I hope everyone is staying safe and well!

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