#and that’s the point. to be ambiguous and keep discussion/hype going while there’s no new content coming out

[ectonurites]

… y’all know actors making ambiguous comments about highly debated elements of a show at cons to keep discussion going while the show is on hiatus is like. a marketing thing. a pr strategy. you guys know this and anyone taking it seriously is joking right. right

[dizzydancingdreamer]

Going To Disney With The Avengers Gang™ | Planning The Trip

Part One of my "Going To Disney With The Avengers Gang™" headcanon series

Includes: (The Whole Gang) Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Wanda Maximoff, Pietro Maximoff, Vision, Sam Wilson, Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, Thor Odinson, Loki Laufeyson

Word Count: 3.9k

Relationships: The Avengers x F!Reader, Ambiguous; just how we like it ;)

Going To Disney With The Avengers Gang™ Master List

→The whole idea starts when the team is lounging at the compound doing regular™ team things

→A.K.A Wanda, y/n, Pietro, and Vision are in a pile on one of the couches cuddling, Clint and Nat are across the room playing pool, Bucky is making ramen in the kitchen, Steve is trying to convince Bucky to add an egg or something for more protein, Bruce and Stephen are talking neuroscience and bickering over techniques of spinal fluid something, Thor and Loki are fighting over the remote before Loki finally rolls his eyes and picks up the book y/n had left on the coffee table, Sam is asleep on the floor, and Tony is just tired

→In the madness though he picks up on the conversation happening between the four people on the couch

→“You’ve never been to Disney World?”

→Three rounds of “no” “nope” “I’ve only had a body for a year, y/n. When would I have gone to Disney World?”

→”Okay, yeah, good point, Vis. But y’all would love it. I haven’t been since high school but I want to go again so bad. We need a vacation.”

→Tony doesn’t even stick around to hear the rest, he’s already walking away while speaking to FRIDAY, telling her start pulling up the Disney site and analyzing it, disappearing to his lab and using all of his monitors to compare the resorts and try to decide where to stay that everyone would like (and where they would all fit because there’s too many of them)

→It doesn’t take him long to realize they’re going to need large accommodations

→Bruce is the first to notice that he’s gone, sneaking into the lab and scaring the hell out of Tony

→“Whatcha’ doing?”

→“Ah shit-- Bruce! How are you so quiet?”

→And then he points to the seven open listings on the monitors and explains that the team needs a break and that he heard y/n talking about Disney World and that he wants to surprise the team-- Bruce agrees immediately (the man is always in need of relaxation)-- and that’s how the team’s geek squad ends up playing Disney Dad #1 and Disney Dad #2 and planning the most extravagant vacation in less than three hours

→They have it down to a science after the first twenty minutes-- dividing what needs to be done and tackling it individually while bouncing ideas off one another

→“Do you think they want to eat at Beauty and The Beast Castle or Ariel’s Grotto the second night?” “I’m not sure-- book them both.” “Tony we can’t--” “FRIDAY, book them both.” “You got it Mr. Stark.”

→There’s a lot of Bruce wondering if what they’re booking is too expensive and even more of Tony reminding him that he’s a literal billionaire and that he could buy the Disney company if he wanted to-- that still doesn’t stop Bruce from suggesting more frugal methods from time to time-- it only makes Tony want to spend even more money because you need to lighten up, Banner

→The next person who realizes Tony and Bruce are gone is-- surprisingly-- Sam

→Honestly it’s only because he has to pass Tony’s lab on the way back from his room and he sticks his head in to tell them that “Romanoff and Barton ordered pizza if y’all want any… holy crap is that Disney World? Are we going to Dis--”

→Tony literally grabs him by the collar and tells him to hush it, birdman before pulling him into the room and explaining his plans for the second time-- “Yes, we are going to Disney World and I want it to be a surprise.”

→Sam just nods, his eyes on the screen and his brows beginning to push down and-- “Okay but why are you booking dinner at Mickey’s Backyard Barbecue on the same day that you have fast passes for World of Color at Epcot?”

→And Tony and Bruce blink and are just like “What?”

→And Sam is already at the computer, fingers stuttering over the weird ass hoverscreens while pulling up the page which shows that the World of Color has a whole ass dining experience-- Tony and Bruce have no clue that was even a thing-- and suddenly Sam is the one telling them what to plan because, as it turns out, this man loves Disney World and has been upwards of thirteen times and knows it inside and out

→Thank gods for Sam because these two Disney Dads™ were really shooting blindly into the abyss of trip planning without ever having gone to Disney World-- he has to shift around fast passes, dining reservations, water park tickets, and even the family portrait session that Tony demanded Bruce add

→He shows them all the things they don’t even think to plan-- firework shows, dessert parties, literally all of Downtown Disney-- Tony wants to be mad but he’s too busy picking his jaw up off the floor when Sam manages to book them for an After Dark Party in Magic Kingdom

→Bruce gets so excited when Sam tells him that’s a thing that he almost gives the plan away when Natasha comes rushing to see what all the noise is (it’s Banner jumping up and down like a toddler) -- he has to rush to the doorway, make up a lie about him dropping a piece of equipment, and then walk her back to the common area and play a round of pool with her to keep her questions at bay

→It’s all fine because Sam puts the final touches on the plan and has Tony give the order for FRIDAY to book it all and then it’s ready to tell the team

→They sneak back into the common area, it’s nine pm and everyone just looks so worn out

→Stephen is literally half way to snoring, legs curled under him on the love seat, doing that thing people do when they’re falling asleep and their head slumps and then they spring back awake, repeating the process an embarrassing amount of times but nobody’s even paying attention

→Steve and Bucky are talking quietly in the corners about whether or not they should just go to sleep because it’s Thursday and there’s really no point in staying up any longer

→Clint and Thor are sharing a bag of popcorn and half watching John Wick while discussing the inaccuracies of the movie-- “If he had a bow none of this would have happened.” “Or a hammer.” “Yeah, that too.”

→Yeah, they’re exhausted, and it makes the Disney Dads™ and Sam that much more excited to share the news

→Sam’s twiddling his hands behind his back and sharing smiles with Banner who’s trying to keep his excitement at bay and Tony is rolling his eyes but smiling too and for a moment nobody notices their cheshire grins and nervous foot tapping until finally y/n lifts her head from Pietro’s chest-- who complains at the action and lifts his head too-- and lazily asks

→“Tones, what on earth are you smiling about?”

→And the man opens his mouth but before he can even get the words out Bruce and Sam are already jumping up and down again and screaming “We’re going to Disney World!”

→And the room goes dead silent for three beats-- one, two, three-- and it feels like a million seconds and Tony’s face is dropping slowly and he’s ready to be like sike and then she jumps up, literally stepping on Pietro’s stomach, hurtling the back of the couch like a damn track star and rushing the man at full force, flinging herself at him and jumping into his arms and there are tears streaming down her face and she’s screaming

→“Tony you didn’t! Oh my gods you didn’t! You’re lying oh my god no! Are you serious?”

→And he’s nodding but he still can’t get a word in edgewise because she’s still rambling-- “You heard me oh my gods! You heard me and you did it! Tony that’s insane and reckless and oh my god I love you! Are we actually going? This isn’t a trick? Please don’t let this be a trick!”

→And he just laughs and spins her around and tells her that no, this isn’t a trick I’m not the mischief god here and Loki rolls his eyes but he’s also kind of excited despite the frown on his face

→They’re all excited

→Pietro and Wanda and screaming with Sam, slapping each other and just full on freaking out like children, incoherent and happy and raring to just go already

→In turn this wakes Stephen up who hears the madness and jumps up, on edge and ready to literally fight before he realizes what’s going on and calmly sits back down, nodding his head but not speaking because if this literal grown man opens his mouth he knows he’s going to freak out too because holy shit Disney World-- even sorcerers like Disney!

→Steve and Bucky are kind of confused-- they just barely remember Snow White when it came out but Disney World? They made a-- what is it? A theme park? Regardless they’re excited, ready to break the old men lull they’ve fallen into-- Bucky hears y/n ask if Tony booked water park tickets and gets super excited

→Vision is also confused but he sees everyone getting turnt over Disney World and decides that he is also excited-- Wanda momentarily stops being hyped up to ask him if he’s waterproof in which he goes into explicit detail about how yes, he is and he’ll show her if she’d like and she has to slap her hands over his mouth and tell him to hush

→Thor and Clint also turn into children but they’re the run around the room yelling types as opposed to the stand in a circle and scream types-- the gang is apparently just like fifteen children who barely manage to get things done apparently because they’re all hyped as fuck

→Clint sprints over to Nat whose hands are already up, ready to fight the man off because she knows what’s coming, but he’s too fast and too happy and uses all his assassin training to dodge her kick, grabbing her around the waist and spinning her around until she’s giggling and slapping his back

→“Natty we’re going to fucking Disney World!”

→“I know you lug, I heard Stark too. Let me down!”

→He doesn’t-- he just shakes her harder, cheering with the rest of them

→Thor slumps down next to his brother, nudging his shoulder-- “Migardians are strange”-- and Loki nods but pulls out his phone and starts looking up what’s actually at Disney World and-- “Look, brother, our home… wait is that us?”-- and the brothers get sucked into a rabbit hole of the Norwegian pavilion and whatever the hell the Frozen ride is and why their pictures are there

→It takes thirty minutes for everyone to calm down enough for them to actually have a conversation about what on earth Tony and Bruce and Sam did-- it takes another ten minutes after that for Stephen to finally break through the chatter to ask the most important question-- “Guys, seriously. You can ask about the plans after. The main question here is when are we going.”

→And Tony glances at Bruce and shrugs and is like “Tomorrow.”

→And they all erupt again-- y/n and Wanda because they have to pack and Stephen because normal people don’t just up and go on Vacation, you’re supposed to make time and Clint and Pietro because holy shit we’re going to Disney tomorrow!-- but Tony just brushes the worry off and reminds them-- again-- that they’re superheroes and that he’s a billionaire and that they can go on vacation whenever they damn want

→Cue fifteen more minutes of freaking out and y/n tackling Tony and then tackling Bruce and then, finally, tackling Sam who scoops her up and all but tosses her in the air before thanking her profusely for putting the idea in Tony’s brain

→They spend the next few minutes fangirling together-- Sam raves about all the food he’s going to eat-- Mickey bars, corn dogs, pretzels, those huge turkey legs-- and y/n talks about how she wants to get all the autographs she can-- especially Goofy and Pluto-- and then Sam mentions the After Dark Party and, like Bruce, she freaks out

→Finally Wanda has to split them up, grabbing y/n with one hand and hauling her over to the other redhead who’s still being held hostage by the resident archer and grabbing Nat with the other-- when Clint protests she curls her fingers, warning him with a pinch of red magic, and he holds his hands up, backing away slowly but telling Nat she’d better come see him before they leave

→On the way out Steve asks where they’re going and Wanda almost threatens him too until Nat tells him they’re going to pack for tomorrow-- he then turns to Bucky and reiterates the idea to a less than enthusiastic super soldier who tries to argue that I can pack in the morning but Steve just isn’t having it-- it takes five minutes but finally Buck agrees (but only after Steve says Bucky can just throw his stuff in his bag)

→The girls spend the rest of the night giggling and packing, holding up dresses and putting them down, shoving things in each other's bags and dancing to a playlist of oldies from Wanda’s phone-- Nat is the most boring packer but after some threats to get resident archer involved she gets her act together

→Pietro comes in when he’s done and Wanda scoffs at what he has packed but he only shrugs, slumping on y/n’s bed and giving her grabby hands until she rejoins him

→“But Pietro what if I forget something?”

→“You worry too much-- can’t Stange make portals?” He has a point

→What they all pack:

→Tony: Suits and graphic t-shirts. He’s either rolling up to Disney World in a Metallica t-shirt or a full three piece suit there’s no inbetween. He’s really not concerned about packing-- he can just buy whatever he needs there. After a text from y/n though he throws in a few pairs of shorts that he didn't even know he owned and his M.I.T. hoodie. He tops it off with a few gadgets he thinks he might need-- FRIDAY’s chip and some nanotech-- and he’s good to go. Billionaires don’t need to pack.

→Steve: Clothes and toiletries. Boring, basic, forgets swim trunks until he sees Bucky put his swim trunks and nothing else into Steve’s bag. That’s how he remembers most things actually; by looking at what Bucky doesn’t put into the bag. Along the way he suggests what the super soldier might want to pack while adding a few extra of his own just in case. After thinking about it for a few minutes he adds two books-- one for each of them. He also adds some tools-- a screwdriver and some pliers-- in case Bucky’s arm starts acting up. He’s sure Stark will have something but in case he doesn't, those will hold it over.

→Bucky: Swim trunks. And, when Steve begs, he grumbles and adds a few button downs and henleys. He also sneaks in a few knives, burying them in the henleys. He watches Steve pack for him though and leaves it at that-- what’s the point of packing when the super soldier can just do it for him? He’s not stupid-- he’s tired and Steve is fussy. He’ll have what he needs and if he doesn’t then he’ll just make y/n go swimming with him. Then he won’t need anything. Easy peasy.

→Nat: She’s the most level headed packer of the bunch, spare maybe Bruce and Sam. She Packs what she’ll need-- not too much and not too little. If anything she packs too many of Clint’s hoodies (three). Part of that, though, is her knowing that he’s probably going to forget one. She packs her normal toiletries, making sure to add an extra stick of deodorant and a bottle of Wanda’s red nail polish because-- despite the fact that she spends an hour watching Wanda pack her entire room-- she just knows that the woman forgot a bottle of that stuff and that she’ll be upset if her nails look chipped in the pictures. Wanda and y/n make her pack a bikini despite the fact that she has two scars from Bucky still and they threaten to get Clint involved if she tries to refuse-- “I suggest you put that little black number in that bag right now unless you want some aggressive compliments, you hear me woman?” She didn’t have to be told twice.

→Clint: Not as much as he should. Never as much as he should. He packs boxers, a pair of swim trunks, a few regular shirts and shorts (not enough), a couple nice shirts and a pair of jeans, and his toiletries. He’s gone longer with less but-- like-- he doesn’t have to this time? Nat walks into his room as he finishes packing and takes one look at his bag before marching to his closet and adding a hat, a pair of sunglasses, a jacket, a pair of sweatpants, and socks because who the hell doesn’t pack socks when they’re going to be walking around for days, how the hell are you an accomplished assassin Clint?

→Wanda: She literally packs as much as she can-- think the essentials times three and then some, like five different dresses, two leather jackets (even though y/n reminds her that Orlando is hot), her laptop and her ipad, two pairs of headphones. She has a notebook, a sketch book, and a regular book. Six bikinis and a one-piece. Three hats, four pairs of sunglasses, enough panties to last a month, let alone a week. She packs heels, boots, sneakers, flats, and sandals. Two purses and a backpack. Wanda Maximoff is the epitome of team mom-- anything Nat and y/n forget she’ll have it. She also packs a few things that she thinks Pietro will forget-- a few nice outfits for nights out and his main toiletries. Oh-- and sunscreen! Lots and lots of sunscreen!

→Pietro: Well, let's just say that it’s a good thing Wanda thinks to pack some things for Pietro because this man barely remembers his toothbrush let alone his phone charger. He gets the basics-- the bare necessities-- like three t-shirts, a pair of shorts, some (?) boxers, and like seven pairs of shoes because with how fast this man is he’s going to need them badly. He does, however, remember to pack his bathing suit and that’s more than a few people on the team can remember. Poor baby just wants to get there already-- he can just buy whatever he forgets.

→Vision: A very strange assortment of items. He doesn’t need clothes-- he can make whatever he would like appear on his body-- but he does want to feel included so Wanda gives him one of her backpacks and he puts like kind of random items into it. He sees a phone cord and shoves it in and like a hairbrush-- all items someone will need eventually but not him (later will find out that it’s the cord to Sam’s Iphone and will hand it over and have the audacity to say you’re welcome Samuel after doing it).

→Sam: He packs at least four ball caps. Nothing besides that really matters; he just knows how fucked you are if you don’t bring a hat and he’s bringing enough for the people who forget. As much as Bucky gets on his nerves he also packs him one. Besides that he packs normally-- t-shirts, shorts, shoes, socks, boxers-- all regular amounts. He freaks out a little when he can’t find his phone charger but he’ll just buy one when he gets there. He also brings a Polaroid camera and a shit ton of film-- some of his team members have never been and he will be documenting it all.

→Bruce: He’s the most boring packer and that isn’t a bad thing-- it’s the reason he has so many doctorates-- because he’s smart and level headed. He packs the clothes he needs with one extra of everything. He packs his toiletries. He doesn’t pack his whole room and he doesn’t pack nothing at all. He’s perfectly in the middle-- a Disney Dad™! He does, however, forget his swim trunks-- oops.

→Stephen: One backpack with a t-shirt, sweatpants, and swim trunks. That’s it. Why would he pack anything else? The man can open a portal whenever he needs! He’s always one step away from his bedroom! Stephen simply flicks his wrists and can change and rejoin the group in less time than it takes the rest of them to pull shit from their bags and wait for the washroom to free up. It’s actually a genius play.

→Loki: Despite being the most outwardly unenthusiastic he packs almost the exact same way that Wanda does. He’s a nervous packer. His brother laughs but, like, he has a point. Safe is better than sorry. It’s comical that he packs like five sweaters though considering that he can snap his fingers and make the sweater appear. All his clothes are either green or black. He packs at least one all black suit. Thor has to force him to add a red Hawaiian shirt and he scoffs at it and shoves it to the bottom. Definitely packs three pairs of swim trunks because he doesn’t like putting them one while they’re still wet. He doesn’t even know if he’s going to go swimming but he’s still doing it anyway. He also packs the scrunchie y/n gave him to keep his hair out of the way and when Thor tries to say shit about it he pulls a dagger from thin air and just chucks it. After dodging it Thor asks why don’t you just make your clothes appear the same way?

→Thor: Enough but, like, definitely not enough. The normal things but like less. He figures he’s going to be spending most of his time in his bathing suit anyway. Loki tries to remind him that he can’t go shirtless in the parks (he looked it up already) but he doesn't listen. It really is a good thing his brother can make things appear from thin air. He’s the type of guy to be content in a pair of flip flops and an open button down. He does, however, bring one of those dad-esque fanny packs and somehow he makes it look hot.

→Y/n: Literally packs the same as Wanda, if just a tad less. So many clothes that it’s insane. She, however, has the added bonus of her old Mickey ears-- a pink sequined pair that are a little worse from wear but still pretty. She packs a bucket hat to pin collectable pins to. She makes sure to leave extra room in her suitcase for souvenirs. She’s had her eye on the luxury bath salts from the Grand Floridian ever since the Disney Instagram posted them a few months ago and now that she’s going she won’t be leaving without them. She also packs the strapless dress she’s been meaning to wear for months now-- she doesn’t know who’s going to be there to admire it but she’s sure there’s at least one person who will. Besides, Nat’s been telling her to wear it for ages.

[mykedrop]

Persona 5 Royal Thoughts

     Alright so there’s a lot I want to talk about here. Fair warning, this write up is actually like, really damn long. Also like HUGE spoiler warning below the cut! I played the original when it came out, bought a PS4 practically only to play Persona 5 not even knowing if I’d like it. But I did! I loved it, loved all of it. Beat the game in just over 100 hours I think. Easily became my second favorite game ever. So now here comes Persona 5 Royal, adds a bunch of new stuff, a lot of little stuff and some pretty huge additions and reworks, includes all the dlc from P5 which is nice. It’s a strictly better version of the game I already thought was amazing enough.

     I remember being a little wary of going for it and reading a non-spoiler list of all the changes, which are actually A LOT when you list them out. Then I thought about how much I loved playing the original, and figured I’m not doing much else right now, so I got it. And BOY that game just checks all the boxes for me. It’s the same game, but better now. There’s a little more depth to playing the game and more stuff!

   One of the biggest additions and probably my favorite addition is Maruki’s story and confidant. Everything involving him I thought was incredible. First of all the man is a dreamboat. Secondly great voice actor. Thirdly the story built around him was really awesome to play through. Every time some new story beats came through while playing through the first parts of the game I always thought how great it all fit in. It made sense, it kind of opened up the world of the game a little more narrative-wise and it all felt right. And the SONG (Ideal and the Real) that plays in Maruki’s office is so GOOD. That song plays in my head 24/7 and I love it. He’s got such a great personality and story and it was a great time getting to rank him up. The song ALONE made me want to hang out with him as much as possible. It’s an angle I wasn’t expecting, his story I mean, and while the “right” choice was pretty clear, it still made me think about what he was trying to accomplish. And they drove the point home real hard during the final stretch of the game before you figure out what’s going. It’s so hard to look at your friends having such a good life and go, “yeah no I don’t think so.” But that’s a whole different  discussion. It felt sort of morally ambiguous, which was really cool. And I also like that Maruki gives you a choice, not only once but twice. Which again, gives you pause, even if only a short one.

    So that brings me to another one of the biggest additions: the new palace. BOY I love this palace. From the way it’s first introduced so early on, to how you keep peeking in every once in a while making a little progress here and there. Until finally you’re able to just go wild at the end. This palace feels like the team designing this was told go all out. The aesthetic, the mechanics, the layout. Going through this I had a big ol smile on my face the entire time at how different it felt compared to those in the original game. Those are good too, don’t get me wrong. I don’t have any palaces I dislike. But I can easily imagine some ideas and how incredible some palaces would be with the level of detail and complexity of Maruki’s palace. It’d be kind of ridiculous and extremely difficult no doubt, maybe even a little too much to ask for I think. Anyway, seeing the garden section of the palace for the first time was INCREDIBLE. They went so crazy with making almost every part of that palace look amazing! And that last area was easily my favorite of the palaces in terms of looks and theme. They did a good job of conveying the scale of that giant tree where the treasure is at with those stairs. Plus it’s another great moment to show of the smaller details of the palace like some flowers, the lighting, some other really neat effects. It was great! And the whole boss fight at the end was so fantastic to watch! I’ll say that even at the hardest difficulty, my SO (who is a turn-based combat FIEND) didn’t have too much of a difficult time with the fight. But the mechanics of it were so interesting! I loved the ideas they went with. Again it felt like they really gave it their all with this palace. The story beats during the fight were incredible as well, and they gave me one of my favorite moments back that used to be in the Yaldabaoth fight: Press X to Fire! The fight with Maruki at the end was also pretty novel too, and so dramatic! The snow falling at the end, the glass platforms collapsing, it all looked so GOOD. One of my favorite things in any game like this (remake/remaster/GOTY version/etc.) is getting to listen to NEW MUSIC. And this palace KILLED IT with music, as did the rest of the game as usual. There’s no feeling that compares to being right at the edge of beating a Persona game. And this palace was a hell of an out of the park home run. After 170 hours, it was so bittersweet to beat the final boss and move on towards the rest of the story. I loved playing through that palace and it’s a shame I’ll never get to experience it for the first time again.

    On to one of the more advertised additions: Yoshizawa! My first thought when I saw her way back when when they first revealed her is I thought she’d be a female protagonist. Which I thought would be INCREDIBLE. Even if it’s not exactly my preference, I would’ve been so HYPE to romance one of the guys. I didn’t really think about it from a gameplay standpoint, as there are way more girl confidants than guys, but still I thought it’d be fun to potentially explore that! Obviously that wasn’t the case, but now on to what I think of the new confidant! I love her! Like absolutely 100% love her so much! Let me tell you just how those concept meetings went down when they were making Yoshizawa: Cute girl, in cute clothes, who has a cute personality. Done, the perfect character. Of course she’s much more than that, but on the surface level it’s easy to see where they were going with this character. Playing the game I had zero idea about her eventual involvement in the final section of the game, so seeing her only have 5 confidant levels I was a little disappointed! Maxed her out as fast as possible and waited... Seeing her story woven through the original narrative was also super fun. Like Maruki, I really liked seeing her in places where she wasn’t before, and adding new scenes and such around to flesh out her character throughout the first two semesters. Then came the new part of the game after the holy grail fight. I was absolutely not expecting that twist with Yoshizawa. I had no idea that they would go somewhere like THAT in this game! It totally caught me off guard and I LOVED IT. What an incredible story all around. And like super fucked! The whole reveal moment was FANTASTIC! Had my jaw on the floor and everything! Her entire confidant was fun, using her in combat was fun, and her romance path was extremely fun! There’s nothing I don’t like about her really. She had such a wild story and such an amazing arc that I can’t not love her! She’s not my favorite confidant, but still adding in a new character like her into such a tight-knit group like the phantom thieves that i already loved as is is such a risky move! It’s so hard to improve upon a dynamic like theirs I think, but they made it work when they needed to! Anyway I love her character a lot and her story and all that. Beautiful.

    Speaking of adding new characters to a dynamic, this might be my favorite addition/rework in the entire game: Akechi. Holy crap I can’t tell you how much I LOVED HEARING AKECHI JUST GO OFF EVERY BATTLE, or while we went riding through mementos, or just all his new dialogue and confidant level ups. Akechi very quickly and easily became one of my favorite parts about the new part of the game. His character was such a HUGE CLASH with every other character in the party, especially Yoshizawa! Which I have to imagine isn’t an accident. He is fuckin CRAZY. Unlocking his Showtime attack was BONKERS. That whole sequence with Yoshizawa and Akechi in Maruki’s palace was so GOOD. Having Akechi be part of the team was an amazing breath of fresh of air. Trust me when I say I have ZERO problem or complaint with the overly positive nature of the party. But MAN it is FUN to see Akechi just be an ABSOLUTE ASSHOLE. Every new interaction with Akechi was a TREASURE. Dropping the “detective prince” act was 100000% the right move. Even more fun was seeing Haru and Akechi’s interactions in mementos. The way every character acted towards him was pretty good, but something about Haru’s overbearing positivity towards him was really fun to watch. I can’t stress enough how much Akechi added to the experience of the final act of the game. His persona? Badass. His personality? Absolutely cutthroat and also badass. His hair? Still incredible. Also the only character in the game who will only play 701 in darts. That threw me for a fuckin LOOP the first time I invited him out for darts. Dude is a STUD in like every way. Love Akechi A LOT. He singlehandedly brought the experience up from an 11/10 to a 12/10. This game is so much better with Akechi being able to go batshit crazy. One of my favorite interactions is during battle: when you heal the whole party, with Akechi and Ryuji being two of the active members, depending on their order, you’ll have Akechi say “No time for thanks” right before you hear Ryuji say “Thanks!” Just thought that really exemplified how much of an ass he is, and how much I love him for it. He is THE badass asshole character this game didn’t know it needed but absolutely deserved. How much of a bad ass do you have to be to able to look at your inevitable death in the face and say “this is how it has to be.” One of the coolest parts of the whole game is him not only accepting his eventual fate, but actively driving you towards making that decision.

     Next up I suppose I’ll talk about Maruki as a character. Love the way he was included, and liked all his interactions with all the characters during the first part of the game. He’s just so likable and honestly very relatable for me. Helping people through counseling has always been a personal goal of mine, so it’s always interesting to see how characters doing the same are portrayed. And while his overarching plan is something I don’t agree with, wanting to help people drives you to do crazy things sometimes. I felt for the guy. I enjoyed all the hangouts with him, and felt like I really understood his goals. The way his entire story was crafted did an incredible job of divulging all the right information at the right time. Before Akechi 2.0 came around, he was my favorite part of the game! I love the confidants and the stories they tell and interacting with them and all that. I looked forward to ranking up Maruki and trying to see what he was all about. The more I learned the more I liked him. Before, during, and after the palace my feelings about him didn’t change much. The man went crazy sure, but I still couldn’t bring myself to hate him or even dislike him. I love the man! My SO had no mercy for the man during the boss fight, but I felt bad seeing her kick his ass! I thought they did a good job mixing up the motivations for Maruki as a villain. Making him a confidant made it so much more difficult to picture him as the big bad evil guy. Plus he has like one of the best songs tied to him in Ideal and the Real. I’ll mention that as much as I feel is necessary.

      So now I’ll go through all of the smaller details that I really liked in no particular order. Kichijoji was a great destination, gave me a lot to do over the course of the game. The phone calls after you hang out with a confidant are a very welcome addition! It’s a way to fit in more dialogue which I always love, and gives you a chance to rank up the confidant a lot quicker. There’s the fact that Morgana no longer forces you to sleep nearly as often, letting you at least mess around in LeBlanc, which helps rank up your social stats. I LOVE THE DARTS MINI GAME. And I’m so glad it also gave you an upgrade for your baton passes. I did not play enough darts. The jazz club was also MY JAM. Again more dialogue, great music, and a fun way to give your confidants new skills or stat boosts. One thing that I find really funny is the way they handled Valentine’s Day. They CHANGED IT. I know they added a lot of new stuff to them for new story reasons. but they CHANGED THE CONTEXT OF THE DATES. For example, in the original P5, Kawakami makes it VERY CLEAR what’s going down later. Ann too! But in P5R, that context is GONE LMAO they really went and changed the dialogue to be less sexual. It’s strange, but mostly I found it funny considering Takemi’s max rank conversation is untouched, among plenty of other ones. Anyway White Day was a GREAT addition! The final part of the date overlooking the city is AMAZING. That reveal made my jaw drop. Speaking of things that changed, the Christmas date also changed, and I like the change a lot! Watching the snow fall from the window on the bed was a great touch. The changes to boss battles and some parts of palaces because of the grappling hook were very welcome. The grappling hook itself was also extremely handy. The thieves den is an incredible addition that adds SO MUCH NEW DIALOGUE AND CONTEXT THAT IT’S A CRIME THAT IT’S HIDDEN IN THE DEN! Anyway. I’ll never say no to new personas. The showtime attacks are a GEM. The new music in this game is AWESOME. I can’t stop listening to the soundtrack. I really enjoyed getting to see a little bit of the dynamic between Sojiro, Futaba and Wakaba. I never knew just how much I wanted to see that until I saw the bit of it in the late part of the game. I don’t remember if it was in the original game, but I LOVE that one of Yusuke’s battle lines is “How do you want to do this?” LOVE IT. Oh Chihaya’s confidant boosting fortune reading was SUPER CLUTCH. Extremely good quality of life right there. I love the extra little bit they added to the warden’s confidant, getting to take them out of the velvet room and show them around. Super cute. Iwai’s gun customization was pretty sweet. Adding Jose to mementos was strange, but very welcome! It made going around much more interesting. Oh speaking of, buffing Ryuji’s instant kill was a GREAT idea. Haha Morgana go vroom vroom. The alarm in the velvet room was also awesome and made making the perfect persona a million times easier.

     It’s been a few weeks now since I’ve finished the game, and it’s unfortunate that I can’t remember more of the little things. This whole write up has been an on and off thing since I finished P5R. Still I love the game and don’t really have any complaints. Well maybe one: LET ME FEED YUSUKE. Someone please feed that man. I forgot how much I loved playing the original game, and going through it again with all the new stuff was a total pleasure! And obviously the 3rd semester was an incredible experience. If you like the original a lot, and it’s been a while since you played it, get P5R. If you never played the original but were interested in it, get P5R. Anyway that’s all I got to say about it.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 245: The Second One

Previously on BnHA: We kicked off day one of New Internships with a fun-filled morning of shenanigans. Highlights included: (1) an old bearded man gallivanting around town telling everyone the world is going to end (and making a surprising amount of sense); (2) Bakugou and Deku attempting to rough up a group of impassioned hobos, only to have their thunder stolen from right underneath their noses; and (3) Hawks, the thunder-stealer himself, who proceeded to be all “what’s up fellas, hey Endeavor did you miss me?” Endeavor, who totally did miss him, pretended like he had not, and meanwhile Hawks introduced himself to Endeavor’s new trainees: Finger-Smashing Kid, Kid Who Used To Work For The Guy You Just Murdered, and Shouto (Just Shouto). Then he pulled out a copy of Re-Destro’s book and was all, “hey Endeavor have you heard of this book which was really important to the plot in the previous arc? I think you should read it, for reasons!!” and Endeavor just kind of stared at him, which wasn’t exactly inspiring. Anyways let’s see if these two idiots can manage to pull this off.

Today on BnHA: Hawks shoves the Liberation Army’s book into Endeavor’s hands while staring at him with the intensity of a thousand suns, and then, to avoid suspicion, proceeds to hand out another 500,000 copies of the book without even being asked. He then flies back to the PLF headquarters and is all “good news gentlemen, I gave out copies of the Army’s book to everyone in Japan!” and they’re all “that’s great, Hawks!” because somehow it turns out that this was actually a good plan. Back at the Endeavor Agency HQ, the kids meet Endeavor’s 30+ other sidekicks, who are all “now let’s all stand around and wait for Endeavor to tell us what to do.” Over in his office, Endeavor shrewdly deduces that Hawks was trying to tell him something, and pieces together the hidden code Hawks left in his book, which basically reads “IN FOUR MONTHS WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE.” Back at the PLF, the League cheerfully discusses their plot to blow up the entire world come Springtime. Which apparently everyone is on board with. So, uh, does anyone else feel like they accidentally fell asleep during a really important part of the movie, because uh. What.

(All comments are my unspoiled reactions from my initial readthrough of the chapter. I did a quick edit for grammar and clarity afterward, and added a few ETAs in the process, but aside from that there are no changes.)

okay so two things: (1) as I mentioned in a previous post, Caleb Cook reported that this chapter took him more than 4 times longer than usual to translate. so like, what does that mean?? guess we’re about to find out!

and (2) HAWKS’S REAL NAME. I started typing up this recap early just so I could liveblog my reaction, since it seems that the databook has leaked, and I figure I’m going to stumble across this sooner rather than later. so I’m just going to look it up now here goes!!

AHHHH TAKAMI KEIGO AHHHH

lol. I have no idea what that actually means. let me look up some more stuff about this

oooh thank you reddit!

ooh damn, I love it!? “hawk” + “vision” lolol HORIKOSHI BACK AT IT AGAIN. but “watchman” is a really nice bonus what with how it relates both to the whole spying biz, and in a more general sense toward what he is trying to do as a hero trying to protect society. plus the name “Keigo” just has a really nice sound to it in general. kind of a boyish, youthful sound. not too hard or soft. idk. I like it. that was my favorite character in Bleach too

also apparently both of the kanji used for “Keigo” mean “enlightenment” oooh. my god I could analyze this all day. this being Thursday night, I’ll have some time to ruminate before I read the chapter tomorrow, so if I have any epiphanies I will add them in later!

(ETA: no additional thoughts on this right now, but there is now a ton of other content out from Ultra Analysis, so let’s take a quick look at some of that!

Haagen Dazs’s gender:  I now feel vindicated in continuing to refer to him as a “he” even after the face reveal! let this be a lesson to everyone never to judge a shounen character solely by how pretty they are. not that it wouldn’t have been nice to have another female villain! anyways the important thing is that I still don’t have his name memorized and never will!

Thirteen’s gender?!: now this, I don’t really like. Thirteen was already in the previous databook IIRC and their gender was ambiguous. which to be frank was awesome. having a canon nonbinary character was sick. why you gotta do this now Horikoshi smdh.

Reason for Shouji’s mask: nooooo poor Shouji. people in quirk society are jerks! lol I get the arms being scary, but his face?? now I really want to see what he looks like though. it would be cool if he became more accepting of himself as a result of hanging with his chill classmates and decided to ditch the mask. anyways my boy needs a hug.

and there’s a lot of other stuff, including a whole series of cute segments showing the characters’ relationships with each other, but I think I’ll save those for another post because otherwise this would get way too off-track. but man, so far I’m really loving this.)

okay kiddos. it is now Friday, and time to take our horse to the hype town road. I have been waiting all fucking week for this shit so it had better not disappoint!

“Rising to Action” ooh, nice. guess this is not much of a “sit still” gang, here

okay so we’re picking off right where we left off, and guys, I just need to know, does anyone other than me find this kind of hilarious

like, I don’t know why but just. Endeavor’s face. omg. he just looks like he’s trying so hard to figure out what’s wrong. I think what it is is that this is the exact same bemused/perplexed expression that Shouto gets on his face all the freaking time, and it just tickles me to no end that the apple apparently doesn’t fall far from the tree. ahh Shouto I know you don’t want to hear this but damn boy you look like your dad

anyways. I think we can all agree Endeavor should not be looking this adorable and what the hell. let’s move on

LOOOOOOL

why is this so funny ahhhhhhh. they’re so fucking serious please stop. I mean, but of course they’re serious, though. the weird one is me, right? whatever!

so now here’s the handoff. between these two super-serious dudes

Endeavor you had better not do like me and be all “of course I’ll read it!” fully intending to follow through (really!) but then you never do and everyone is super disappointed and you start to read something else instead, all the while feeling incredible guilt! my point is, Endeavor, I hope you don’t have ADHD or we’re all fucking screwed omg

lol though thankfully we have a backup!

“oh boy!” clamors Deku, a gleam of excitement in his eye. “homework!”

OH MY GOD

WHO ARE YOU, OPRAH

ff now he’s just SLAPPING THEM INTO THEIR HANDS omg. this is amazing

love how Katsuki is keeping an extra 1.5 meters of space in between him and the others because cooties. or something

anyways! I really want them all to read it actually so this is awesome! KACCHAN YOU ESPECIALLY. I want you to read it and then give it a disgusted 1 star review on goodreads. show me how much you’ve grown kiddo

lmaooo

Todoroki Shouto. god’s perfect idiot. bless this child. someone explained Occam’s razor to him one day, and he just sat there nodding like “yes that makes perfect sense” and proceeded to apply it to every fucking thing in his life from there on out. “what’s Hawks doing carrying around 10,000 copies of The Book of PLF and just handing them out to strangers like an old lady on Halloween? processing... processing... oh I see, he probably just REALLY LIKES THE BOOK how keen”

this is what Hawks is up against. this squad of certified morons with two whole brain cells shared among them on a good day. boy literally brought three backup secret messages just in case Endeavor was too dense to figure this out, only to watch these kids exclaim, with perfect sincerity, “GOSH, HAWKS MUST REALLY LIKE THIS BOOK, HUH”

and meanwhile the best Endeavor can do is “............something.......... feels.... off.......” fml. we’re all gonna die. Hawks, I’m sorry. you tried!! next time give Momo your secret message instead!

so now he says that he’s actually recommending this book to all of his acquaintances omg. don’t tell me this handsome canary is actually going around handing out books to every single person he knows?? all to cover up this one action of giving Endeavor the book with the secret message highlighted in it?? okay guys help me decide: is this brilliance or stupidity? like, what is even going on inside Hawks’s head. “I’ll just fly around handing out copies of Atlas Fucking Shrugged to everyone I meet. that’ll seem really natural”

I s2g Endeavor if you don’t follow up on this...! THE WORLD IS COUNTING ON YOU YOU BIG MEATHEAD. GET TO READIN’. MAKE LEVAR PROUD

and now Hawks is flying away with his hands in his pockets

godspeed you dramatically casual bastard

now Deku is all “you know, he’s not much older than us, but he really seems like he’s got his shit together!” which, yeah. don’t you hate that? the truth is though it’s all an act, and he’s actually just as screwed up as the rest of you! the moral is: never trust any 22-year-old who seems like they’ve got their shit together. because, no. he sits on a throne of lies

Endeavor are you actually being thoughtful??!

oh my god. we may actually have a chance here. praise be

now we are cutting to the Endeavor agency! guys, fucking look at this fucking ‘E’, though

ngl that shit is dope. I’m mad. I would buy his merch just for the logo and I hate that about myself

holy shit

the... flaming hot... oh my god

holy shit there’s so many of them

(ETA: hold up -- “Bakugou” and “Shouto”? this is a crucial detail here; they’re using Bakugou’s last name, but Shouto’s given name. so either they’re calling him Shouto because they know his pop, or -- more likely -- they’re calling him “Shouto” because that’s his hero name. in which case, “Bakugou” most likely also refers to “Bakugou” as in the hero name, not his actual name. meaning that still is his hero name. meaning he is still undecided. fucking... Katsuki. honey. why.

ffff and the new databook seems to support this too. instead of a hero name, Horikoshi just wrote “XXX” indicating he still hasn’t made up his mind. welp. looks like it’s back on that slow burn character development train, folks. maybe by the end of this arc, though? please? Horikoshi? Horikoshi damn it look at me.)

so this is how the number one operates, huh. meanwhile All Might only ever had one sidekick, and reluctantly at that. he really was so far out ahead of everyone else that he was basically untouchable. crazy

anyways, yes! they don’t know anything about anything so please teach them!

good grief this girl says Endeavor has over thirty sidekicks?? lmao and her name is “Burnin’.” please tell me the missing g is an actual part of her name please I need this

wow, Burnin’ really went and tried to pick a fight with my famously hot-tempered son knowing full well what his personality is like. and just look at him keeping his cool and firing back though

oh, Katsuki. [hair ruffle] he will thrive here

damn these guys are passionate

Endeavor seriously picked these people as his sidekicks? that Endeavor? they didn’t annoy the shit out of him?? that man is an enigma

btw can we all just stop here for a moment and give a shoutout to this horse-looking dude because. look at him. amazing. new fave

anyway so now the mummy-looking guy is explaining how they organize their shift schedule

so professional. this really is the big leagues

yoooooo my boy is FIRED UP. READY TO SAVE SOME BITCHES! YESSSSS WIN AND RESCUE LET’S DO THIS

LET’S FUCKING GOOOO omg I love him so much. Kacchan you need to cool it or I’m going to spend this whole fucking chapter ruffling your hair

(ETA: incidentally, here’s something I neglected to point out earlier: in spite of being a belligerent asshole in general, Katsuki for the most part is actually surprisingly respectful to most adults, especially heroes. so it’s interesting then that so far, this doesn’t seem to apply to Hawks. he almost seems to consider him another rival rather than another mentor/teacher-type figure to learn from. I wonder if this is because -- as Deku pointed out earlier this chapter -- Hawks is much closer to them in age than the other heroes. it’s interesting that that was pointed out -- and that in the very next panel Katsuki was grumbling about how Hawks pisses him off, at that.

anyway. this BakuHawks rivalry seems to be an established thing now, so I’m very curious to see how this develops.)

lol now Mummy Guy is all “that’s great! now we just need to wait for Endeavor to tell us what to do!” and Kacchan is like “WHAT”

I mean, he’s got a point lol. “we’re so busy!” “great let’s get to work!” “actually we don’t have any work yet!” like, what a fucking tease. don’t worry Kacchan, they’re just waiting to make sure they assign you boys a job that’s plot-related so we don’t waste any time

ahhh, and now we finally come to the moment we’ve all been waiting for! the part that apparently took four hours to translate! ENDEAVOR READING A BOOK

yeah he was acting like he had a freaking gun to his head. why don’t heroes have secret code phrases they can use to let each other know some weird fucking shit is up? or maybe they do, but since he’s being recorded and since PLF has some heroes on roster who probably know those same codes (looking at you, Slidin’), Hawks didn’t want to risk one of them figuring it out. that makes sense

ahhh, here we go

don’t tell me Caleb tried to translate this whole thing. though I gotta admit I am hella curious

anyway. so the rest of this page is Endeavor metaing about Hawks, and it’s some good stuff, ngl

he really is fond of him, huh. look at all those pictures. how many mental snapshots did you take of this kid smiling?? he’s so adopted it hurts

and look at the concern in that last panel! “why is he acting so weird, that’s not like him, I’ve got to get to the bottom of this.” damn, Hawks really did put his trust in the exact right person and it’s paying off

ENDEAVOR STOP MAKING THESE SOFT WORRIED FACES ABOUT HAWKS RIGHT THIS INSTANT I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THESE FEELS

god damn!! I don’t know why, but I continue to be surprised and impressed at how the character development of Endeavor is actually a subscribe and save deal and not just a one-time purchase. fucking look at Todoroki Enji, proud annual recipient of a different “world’s worst dad” mug every Father’s Day, actually caring enough about another human being to notice the subtle changes in his behavior and realize something is wrong. bruh. good for you!! human compassion is a damn good look for you, negl. fucking growth right here and I’m here for it

anyways, on to the hidden code!

and here are all of the highlighted portions for your code-breaking pleasure

fucking feel like I’m reading Detective Conan right now. yeesh

oooh!

BINGPOT LOOOOOL WHY DID I GET SO EXCITED OKAY LET ME GO BACK AND READ!

“the” “enemy” “liberation” “army” ahhhhhh! HAWKS YOU SNEAKY SON OF A BITCH. GOOD JOB ENDEAVOR!

and now we’re cutting back to Hawks, nooooo I wanted to see Endeavor’s reaction! come on!

lmao although it’s worth it to see Hawks mentally roasting Endeavor exactly like I was mere pages ago omg

his fucking face omg. that’s right Hawks, he’s not the brightest crayon in the box. not the sharpest tack in the bulletin board. he’s a few fries short of a happy meal. the elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top floor

but give him some credit, though! because he did figure it out! not necessarily because he was clever, but because he knows you!

oh shit lol

OH SO YOU PLANNED THAT PART TOO. WELL OKAY THEN

goddamn. he really is a clever bastard. and okay but in all seriousness, I fucking love that he has enough faith in this weird connection between them that out of all the ploys he could have gone with, this is what he chose. he seriously put all his eggs in the “Endeavor will figure it out from my face” basket. and it fucking paid off. this is awesome

AHHHHHHHHHHHH HERE WE GO

LOOK AT HIS EYE OH MY GOD. YOU CAN SEE THE EXACT MOMENT WHEN HE REALIZES HOW SCREWED THEY ALL ARE, YES, FUCK, THIS IS WHAT I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR OH GOD

and we’re cutting back to Hawks again! I’ll just assume the rest of his message went something like “we” “are” “boned” and Endeavor’s face was like :o

BACK AT THE OL’ VILLAIN HOTEL!!!

LOL WHAT IS THIS

THEY HAVE A FUCKING COUNCIL NOW

whose seat is that over on the left? Hawks’s? is Gigantomachia actually wearing a shirt?? AND SHOW US TOMURA’S FACE HORIKOSHI YOU COWARD

lmao oh my god are they really buying this shit

look at him. so trustworthy. nothing to suspect over here! just a 100% sincere born-again villain committed to the cause!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

NOOOOOO MY BABIES ARE EXPOSED. HORIKOSHI YOU BETTER PROTECT THEM I SWEAR TO GOD!!!

wow is the whole conversation just shifting over to the topic of Deku now, seriously?

oh my god oh my god oh my god. like. it’s been so long since the forest lodge and Kamino that I almost forgot that the League already knows these kids. they did fight Deku and Shouto briefly in the woods, and then they had an extended fight against Katsuki later on, although Dabi was unconscious for that part. anyways, shit. just like that they’re on their radar again I’m getting chills omgggg

(ETA: at least they’re underestimating them, though. “looks like he hasn’t gotten much stronger.” boy have you not heard about his bloop? that bloop will fuck you up just you wait!)

so now have some weird panels of Hawks walking through a door

(ETA: ohhhh you can see the door closing on the tip of his wing close-up! sneaky!)

ooh! wtf are you serious he can use his feathers to eavesdrop?!

(ETA: it only just clicked on my second read-through that Spinner of all people appears to be the mastermind behind this plan? like, am I reading this right? is he Tomura’s second-in-command now or what? damn, boy, good for you.)

okay, question. if he could do this the entire time, why did they even need him to pretend to join the League at all? I guess you never know when having a man on the inside who can possibly influence their decision-making will come in handy. but still, it seems to me like he could have easily done the spying bit without ever having to join up. ehhh but I guess there’s probably a range limit, and too much risk of the feathers getting caught and destroyed... eh, fine. I’ll allow it

AHHHHHHHHHHHH

WHAT THE FUCK WHAT EXCUSE ME WHAT?????

AND OF COURSE THAT’S THE END OF THE CHAPTER, LOL, FUCK. EXCUSE ME WHILE I GO STAND IN A CORNER AND SCREAM

lol “danger lurks” fucking you think?? what the hell! so they have an actual plan already, with the details outlined to the extent that they actually have a freaking timetable and everything? and the Liberation Army is on board with this whole thing too? the “destroying everything” part and all? this is too much to process all at once fuck me I can’t

okay! so four months from now is also when the kids will enter their second year! so that means Shinsou can get in on this action too. I’m trying to think of other significant plot things this could potentially imply, but none are coming to mind right now, other than it’ll be the anniversary of USJ. but that’s basically it. -- oh, wait, this also means that there’ll be a new first-year class of students at U.A. too! so that could be interesting. some potential new characters, and a chance for Deku and the others to be senpais. incidentally, to the best of my knowledge the kids will all stay in the same class and Aizawa will continue to be their homeroom teacher in year two. so nothing will change really aside from them becoming 2-A rather than 1-A. and Shinsou joining them, as mentioned. omg

anyway! let me see, any other stray thoughts before I wrap this up? I guess it’s worth noting that Toga’s eye is fine. the League has healed up pretty nicely in general actually. like, that’s seriously impressive for a group that doesn’t have Recovery Girl on staff. how long has it even been since Deika? a few weeks? this is almost ridiculous

and the “boom” -- is that literal? like they’re actually planning to blow everything up? or is that a metaphorical boom. fucking what kind of plan did they come up with where they actually think they can destroy THE ENTIRETY OF JAPAN all at once? is there a doomsday device?? what exactly is this “power” they’re talking about? HAWKS WHY DIDN’T YOU PUT THAT IN YOUR STUPID MESSAGE YOU BOOB

hahaha. anyways. it came down to the last two pages, but that certainly was a reveal worthy of all the hype. to sum: yikes

[theteenygemthief]

I don’t get it part 1

So I am one of those old school geeks. 

You know the ones. 

The type of old school geek who would get excited over the new release of the next Naruto or Bleach publication, or would sit alone in a library for hours discussing the moral ambiguity of X or Y fictional characters with overgrown men who were too noisy to form a legitimate opinion over whether or not it was appropriate to be trying to impress a fourteen year old who had just finished their end of the year chemistry project before being shipped off to their absentee mother for the summer. 

The kid who was always finishing their school work in the back of the class room so the teacher wouldn’t bother them as they slept or drew to escape from the present and also the kid who pretended to go to the bathroom to just get away from the classroom so that they wouldn’t have to deal with misinformation passed around in out dated text books. 

Yet when you opened their bag, you would find notebooks littered with stories and comic books and manga alike. You would find a giant bottle of tea and snacks from Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and the Phillipines that were hidden behind a very carefully sealed container of unknown contents, a tackle kit and a neatly folded towel....as well as maybe a romance book here and there. 

Now imagine that specific geek, grown up and living their life with a family of their own. 

Sure, they’ve listened to the occasional ASMR here and there, but no one and nothing too big or too serious. So as they are going through tiktok, they keep hearing about one ASMR artist in particular. 

Yagami Yato

At first they shrug it off. They pay little mind to the name, thinking “Oh it’s no big deal. It’s probably just a bunch of kids enjoying some new youtube personality.” And go about their day. So the next few months go by and Yagami Yato only pops up here and there, maybe once or twice every other week. Until suddenly, the pandemic hits and then that once or twice every other week begins to grow to twice or thrice every single week.

However, the geek being who they are, they ignored it. 

At this point, dear reader, I think it’s fair to say that said geek is yours truly. And to be honest, I’m not exactly the easiest to impress. I love artwork. I love comics. I love anime. Hell, I love anything with a good storyline. My appearance, neglects to state otherwise. 

Anyway, so several months go by and October comes around and I had already watched My Hero Academia and had also gotten to know a certain character named Hawks....while eating spicy fried chicken. So tonight, as I explored tiktok I found something pertaining to Hawks and Yagami Yato along the same coin. Specifically Incubus!Hawks.

(cough)

I will not deny that the slow burn reminded me how long I had gone without spicy fried chicken. I will not lie about the fact that my mind is preoccupied with work and deadlines and tends to forget about the occasional need. And seeing Incubus and Hawks in the same sentence or subject material, reminded me that I had an itch that needed to be scratched. And that itch was in need of some spicy fried chicken material.

So into the rabbit hole I dove.

What. the. fuck. was. I . thinking?

My happy ass decided to roll for initiative.

I rolled a 20.  So I continued and strayed away from the SFW content.  Not safe for work, kiddies. 

So I continued to listen and listen and found content that I enjoyed. 

Velvety voices that had me going to places that I hadn’t been in ages. 

Storylines that I found myself getting immersed in and holy fuck, I get it. 

I get the hype. 

My sapphic nerdy ass GETS THE FUCKING HYPE!

And I am dead. 

My body. 

My ears. 

Gone. 

Goodnight.

[probabltbry]

Carole & Tuesday [Rants/My Opinion/Controversy]

THIS TOOK SO LONG TO WRITE, PLEASE SKIM IT AT LEAST (T.T).

This is very different than what I usually post and I want to begin by saying that I may not have all of the facts! I am basing this on what I’ve seen other people say on this site (and others) and fact checking. I am open to learning and understanding more, and I will read any and all comments (if this post gets any lol). If this changes anything, I am making this post through the lense of a black bisexual female, so my view on things may be different. :)

I try to keep this spoiler free in general, but since I’m going to talk about characters and episodes that have released that’s a little impossible, so I will warn you if there are any spoilers in the section I discuss. I want people who haven’t seen the anime to get a taste of what it is! 

In this long post I will touch on the following; LGBT+ representation, POC representation, exposure of the anime(streaming and where to find it), the community/fandom of C&T, Cybelle????!!, and other characters. Remember- this is my opinion and that is always subject to change.

For those of you who don’t know about Carole & Tuesday, it’s a Spring 2019 anime directed by Shinichiro Watanbe in association with the popular Bones studio. Shinichiro is well known for his other successful series such as Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloos and Space Dandy and Bones studio has produced many popular animes like Noragami, Soul Eater and Ouran High School Host Club, etc. [Fun fact, Cowboy Bebop and Carole & Tuesday are said to be set in the same universe and I died when I heard this.]

The plot of Carole & Tuesday, as provided by wiki is:

Set in the future on a partially terraformed Mars, teenager Tuesday Simmons runs away from her posh lifestyle as the daughter of a politician and makes her way to the populous Alba City to pursue her dream of being a musician with just a suitcase and her Gibsonacoustic guitar. On her first day in the city, she crosses paths with Carole Stanley, another aspiring musician who plays the piano, and the two decide to team up as a singer-songwriter duo under the name Carole & Tuesday.

Where can I find this? Why haven’t I heard of it?

I actually discovered Carole & Tuesday through google since I was looking at new and upcoming animes for the Spring and Summer of 2019. Sadly, the website I used show that Carole & Tuesday was an anime many people weren’t looking forward too- but that was only a handful of votes. Personally, I had been super ecstatic since, just from the promo poster, I assumed Carole and Tuesday would possibly be a couple, there’s a person of color as a main protaganist, and they’re both SUPER CUTE. This all made me happy beyond words. 

As of now, Carole & Tuesday should only be available on Japan Netflix. Japanese viewers tend to prefer weekly released episodes whereas Americans prefer to binge shows. I am assuming that once the show has completed airing in Japan (there are going to be 24 episodes) it will appear on other Netflixs around the world. 

I believe that’s why the promo for it has been severely lacking and the fanbase appears non-existant. The fandom is there, if you squint (which is why I’m surprised there’s already controversy). The fact that I had to look through a list on an unknown website and scroll to the bottom to find this anime is very showing of how unknown this anime is.

I also saw a post comparing Yuri!!! On Ice to Carole & Tuesday and I personally believe that OP took the wrong approach. I forgot the posters name (I will edit and tag if I find it again) but the post said something along theses lines; YOI is so popular because it’s a mlm show whereas C&T isn’t nearly as popular because it’s a wlw relationship with poc. 

While this can prove to be true in the future, there are some major differences that were overlooked. I was into the YOI hype when it was first released but it didn’t truly become popular until Yuri and Viktor were canon and everyone was speculating whether it was a kiss or a hug, etc. Yuri!!! On Ice is also a relationship with a person of color, Yuri, and the anime was also supported by Crunchyroll, a major streaming service for Americans/others. It has had two years to become popular, grow and this is one of the very few animes that had positive lgbt+ representation since the relationship grew just as normally as any other type of relationship. It also wasn’t labeled a yaoi/shounen ai (though this sadly didn’t stop the fetishization of the characters and No.6 did it first but let’s move on-). It felt like a big step in the anime lgbt+ community and it won’t be forgotten! 

Carole & Tuesday has just started off! Not much promotion is being shown in other countries outside of Japan and the first episode premiered in early April this year. I believe it’s harsh to compare C&T to such a popular anime when it’s literally just begun. It’s also exclusively on Netflix (besides pirating sites) so there is a little foreseeable loss since it won’t be available on Crunchyroll. But despite that I know there’s hope! Though mlm couples tend to be more popularly viewed, and any pairing that doesn’t have completely white/asian/white-presenting people in the relationship they tend to not garner much interests, but I don’t think C&T will fall into that pit. There’s simply not much promotion of it yet but it still has defied odds and has a fanbase with people from many different countries already!

Though I do see the OP’s point and concerns and they have facts on their side (look at fandometrics popular characters/couples, they’re mostly male) I think it’s too soon to point fingers.

Just imagine how large it’ll get when it has proper streaming (because many people do choose not to pirate in order to directly support the anime and it’s creators!). I think this is where our patience comes into play because if you have seen Carole & Tuesday already, you are most likely not using the most legal means. We are all early to the party.

LGBT+ and POC Representation (spoilers in part of this section, read first line):

I will say this, and this will only be the only spoiler free line, I think it has decent lgbt+ representation and that there’s more to unfold. If you’re going to watch exclusively for lgbt+ representation then I don’t think you will be too disappointed but the anime has a ways to go before it’s finished so my opinion can change.

But the most recent episodes and commentary has caused a ripple in viewers beliefs.

Anne and Marie 

I literally adored when Marie kissed Anne whilst Carole and Tuesday sat there blushing. Then, Marie was careful to ask if either of them had a boyfriend or girlfriend not assuming C or T’s sexualities at all. This happened on in an early episode so this left me to believe that more casual representation was on the way!

Cybelle

This was where it began to become uncomfortable for me and a few others. I actually couldn’t figure out whether Cybelle was a female, male or left to be ambiguous intentional (I just concluded she was non-binary until they used she/her pronouns). But many people concluded that since it was clear Cybelle was a female with an infatuation (not a crush, an infatuation) on Tuesday people simply labeled her as lesbian. A few are labeling her interactions with Tuesday and Carole as a harmful and negative commonly used trope when involving wlw characters.

Cybelle was being creepy and aggressive towards Tuesday, constantly touching her abruptly and without consent and going as far as biting Tuesday’s neck and leaving a mark. Actions like these feed into the trope that is commonly used in anime/television shows and it actually demeans real lesbian couples. It’s like a scapegoat; saying ‘here’s your rep’ but it’s very, very, very bad rep.

The controversy comes in since there are people defending Cybelle’s actions because she’s a girl, and people are literally calling others ‘homophobic’ because they choose not to ship Cybelle and Tuesday despite their ‘canon interactions’ but they still want Carole and Tuesday to become a couple.

My personal stance is that none of Cybelle’s actions were consensual and I will never want her and Tuesday to become a couple. I think the creators fed into a bad trope (I’m not sure if intentionally or not), and the real only development we got from this was Tuesday learning to stick up for herself. I also think that Cybelle is simply a crazed fan who is not in a sound mental state and that her gender may not necessarily play into this; maybe she was meant to just be an aggressive fan that overstepped boundaries and made people uncomfortable and just happened to be female. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be representation and should not be labeled as such.

But these are just thoughts!

Mermaid Sisters - Galatic Mermaid  

I was personally pleased that the Mermaid Sisters blatantly said they weren’t male or female, just like mermaids aren’t fish or human. Non-binary representation is my fucking jam!

But there are worries that this group was used as a comedic affect due to the way the characters were dressed and how they presented themselves, and the fact that they were POC who were interrupted, immediately lost and were shown to be aggressive directly after. 

When I first viewed this I was more focused on the fact that they were non-binary, had amazing voices and had sang a song that was clearly not the most appropriate for Mars Brightest. Now I understand that how there were presented can be damaging and as a person of color, I am disappointed but I’m still conflicted. This scene caused people to ‘cancel’ the show and they’re trying to discourage others to not view it but I want to watch until the very end.

Overall I am super happy with the POC representation in the show! Especially since various races and skin tones are show quite frequently.

Dahlia

The same can be said about Dahlia. People feared the a negative trope of transgender females was being displayed though it’s stated that Dahlia is currently male but their sex varies from time to time, on the official website!

The Community/Fandom

Honestly besides the few odd balls who stir the pot and clearly use harsh words when not needed, the fandom is chill. The artworks are sooo cute and a little scarce but you can find Carole and Tuesday content here, on twitter, on YouTube, Deviantart- literally where you would find any other fanbase! Most people are friendly and (NEED) are willing to talk with you! If you’re still hesitant to watch just message someone who constantly tags Carole & Tuesday because I assure, they’re dying to rant to someone about what goes on lol.

Here’s my last little tid bit on whether or not to watch!

You should watch this show because you want to. Don’t do it because someone else keeps saying you have to because it has representation, or because they think Pyotr is hot or whatever. Of course I am the biggest hoe for Carole & Tuesday and if someone wants a new anime to watch I will suggest this one!! But!! Watching a show just because you feel you have to and you have no genuine interests will dull the experience! You should watch and support the show if it makes you laugh, feel love and genuine enjoyment. That’s the point of anime and that is definitely the point of Carole & Tuesday. 

I have already seen so many people drop the show because they were forced into it and promised things that weren’t delivered (it’s still early on) and then they bad mouth the anime. If you want to start watching when there’s more hype and a fandom, then wait!! If you’re unsure and want more convincing, message me!! If this doesn’t seem like this anime suits your tastes and, then why did you read this far (kidding)?!!! Regardless, I just want everyone to have a good experience when watching so we can have more good vibes all around.

I would definitely give this anime a shot if you love music, beautiful voices, dancing, poc/lgbt+ rep, suspense and just amazing animation all around, though! It’s has a baby fandom but it’s surely going to grow and I can’t wait to see the outcome of the anime and what becomes of our lovely Carole and Tuesday! <3 

I’m also in love with Roddy, just look at him~ | I’m still not super fond of Angela but I am wishing her the best to achieve happiness in the end!

[braverytaught]

WHAT WERE MINERVA'S THOUGHTS ABOUT 'THE LIFE AND LIES OF ALBUS DUMBLEDORE' ??!! did she (eventually) read it? did it change anything about how she saw albus???? WE NEED TO KNOW !

@lamentedhope || send me meta topics || always accepting

unsurprisingly, minerva was absolutely disgusted to hear rita skeeter’s announcement about the life and lies: it was clear that rita was capitalizing off of dumbledore’s death, which minerva, of course, found repulsive, not to mention hurtful to those who were grieving him. she had no desire to read the book, nor to trust anything rita might have to say about dumbledore; as we know, minerva tends to believe very few matters of public hype that aren’t corroborated by people she trusts, dumbledore among them, and she’s well aware of rita’s penchant for dramatizing, if not straight-up lying.

so she stays as far away from the life and lies for a good while, and though it’s impossible to avoid hearing the rumors about it, anyone who discusses it in her presence gets a poisonous look from her. she has no interest in listening to the tripe of someone who intends to besmirch dumbledore’s name for the sake of commercial gain and notoriety, certainly not when she herself is still grieving him, and would much rather remember him fondly than not.

now, the contents of the book...someone who plays dumbledore, like u, would be a better authority than me on the matter of how much dumbledore might have divulged to minerva, but i want to point out the passage in the pottermore ebook that says, “Albus Dumbledore offered both comfort and wisdom [after discovering Minerva in tears over the news of Dougal’s marriage], and told Minerva some of his own family history, previously unknown to her. ...Minerva McGonagall was one of only a handful of people who knew, or suspected, how dreadful a moment it was for Albus Dumbledore when, in 1945, he made the decision to confront and defeat the Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald.”

if we go by this, it implies that dumbledore, in comforting minerva over her decision to leave someone she loved, told her something about his own childhood love and heartbreak -- or, at least, implied enough that she was able to realize that the person he alluded to was in fact grindelwald. i do not believe that minerva would have any knowledge of the fact that dumbledore colluded with grindelwald’s plans, that they plotted wizard supremacy together -- i doubt dumbledore would have told her anything about that; rather, he told a story of loving someone he shouldn’t have, and the difficulty of having to oppose them, or what have u. something analogous enough with her own experiences to bring her comfort.

anyway -- that, at least, implies that minerva would not be shocked to learn that dumbledore had known grindelwald in his youth; she already knew, or suspected, that much to be true. however, if she learned that rita had written, not just of dumbledore’s involvement with grindelwald, but of their collusion, then she would be both shocked and angry. she would immediately scorn such accusations, and the people who believed them. the dumbledore she knew opposed everything about grindelwald’s ideals, and she trusted her own observations over a fifty-year relationship with him (from student to colleague to friend) over the word of a gossip-mongering hack journalist. 

not to mention, she was in the middle of one of the worst times of her life -- trapped in a hogwarts that no longer belonged to her, opposing the reign of someone she had once called a friend, trying desperately to keep her students safe from literal torture, which sometimes meant putting herself through it instead. you will recall that when harry says that he’s working on dumbledore’s orders when he returns to hogwarts, dumbledore’s name seems to help minerva regain strength and resolve; she straightens her back and takes charge. that is not the response of a woman who has come to doubt him and the validity of what he stood for. during this time, she needed to believe in dumbledore’s cause. she needed to believe in her own cause, and how could she do that if she was plagued with doubts about him?

which is not to say that she had no doubts during that year. of course she did. it was comforting to think that everything rita said about dumbledore was a lie, but she was right about dumbledore and grindelwald’s acquaintance, and minerva had never fooled herself into thinking that dumbledore told her everything. of course she knew it was possible that rita’s words held truth. and when minerva doesn’t know something, she prefers to investigate it herself. i’m sure that she struggled with an unhappy desire to see for herself, to read this book, during that year -- and i’m sure that, every time, she managed to wrestle it down. because she knew it would anger her. she knew it would upset her. she knew it would not solve her worries, as much as she wished she could use it to decide once and for all that it was all nonsense. 

instead, she decided to accept that there were things she did not know about dumbledore, perhaps things she would not like. and, knowing that, she decided to believe in him anyway. she needed to. she had always accepted an amount of ambiguity from him, had always chosen to trust him even when he would not tell her the full story, when he asked her to act in faith rather than understanding. she could continue doing that. for as long as this horror continued, she could continue doing that. 

so no, i don’t think she read the book during the 1997-1998 school year, and while the rumors that reached her of it did shake her, she chose not to let them destroy her faith in the man who had guided her throughout her life. 

but. i do think she would have read it eventually. sometime after the end of the war, after the dust had settled. sometime when she no longer depended on him as a symbol for her strength, when she could approach the matter with a presence of mind that wasn’t available to her during the turbulent months after his death. she sat in the chair in her rooms off of the headmistress’s office, and she read it. and she cried. and she felt at turns angry, and at turns sad. she scoffed at rita’s obviously biased tone throughout, but she paid due attention to the testimony of bathilda bagshot, and reread the letter in dumbledore’s own handwriting many times.

did reading it for herself change her view of dumbledore? it couldn’t not, in some ways. it was certainly very strange for her. the dumbledore she saw in rita’s book was not the dumbledore that she had known -- and while minerva understands the extent which people can change, because she’s witnessed it, she’s also never experienced it in herself; though she has certainly gone through changes of temperament in her life (most notably the years she spent in the ministry as a young woman), minerva’s core beliefs and personality are stable and frank enough that she has never undergone a truly radical or lasting change in values. that made it hard to reconcile the possible dumbledore of the past with the one that she had known, and certainly learning of his former convictions -- she, who fiercely loves her muggle father and has always been a supporter of muggleborns and half-bloods -- would have struck her and hurt her. but ultimately she chooses to remember the man that dumbledore became, not the man he started out as. if he made mistakes in his youth, if he espoused such unhappy views, then he made up for it in the way he lived the rest of his life. 

it did perhaps distance her somewhat from dumbledore, but it was not enough to seriously tarnish the respect that she had for him.

[bethgreeneishopeunseen]

Bethyl Interview Masterpost

Yesterday I had no plans so, being me, I cobbled together a collection of quotes related to Bethyl and its romantic development. (Quotes under the read more.) I like masterposts because they help me to see the whole picture, similar to putting a puzzle together. Overall, the marketing crystallized. Bethyl was a big talking point leading up to season 5 and up until Coda. It was one of the biggest questions of the season. There was some ambiguity, but in general, it was pretty clear from everyone involved what Bethyl was becoming. For context, Still aired on March 3rd, 2014 and Alone on March 10th. Norman’s take on Beth’s effect on Daryl — that she was his rebirth of hope incarnate, the light at the end of the tunnel, etc. —obviously has romantic connotations. Bethyl is so Beauty and the Beast that I used the pairing for a semester-long research paper on modern adaptations of the story. However, by reframing from using “romance”, Norman created this picture of an epic pairing, the kind you hear about in old stories. Daryl was like the archetypal warrior who would travel the world for his lady. While Emily was a bit more explicit that there was a burgeoning romantic connection, she would make sure to stress the deep emotional connection. She often described their connection as “special”. Everyone else talked about this too: Beth and Daryl’s emotionally intimate relationship and the balance they created. I really did get a feeling of epicness while reading through these quotes.

On the whole, TPTB wanted to have their cake and eat it too when it came to Bethyl. They wanted to audience to feel the weight of Daryl’s loss when Beth “died” while also leaving them room for ambiguity for later. Even if people didn’t believe that Daryl loved Beth romantically, they would know on a deep level that he cared for the Beth in a way he hadn’t before her. It would make the hallway scene that much more devastating. At the same time, TPTB have never officially acknowledged Bethyl as canon. They have never said, “Yes, Daryl and Beth were starting to fall in love, but she died and Daryl will never have resolution.” Just because characters sometimes can’t get resolution doesn’t mean the audience can’t. Beth’s death caused a digital riot; the petition was so big it made national media and international media (x) (x). Team Delusional even came up internationally at least once (x). Hardcore Beth Greene fans make up a minority of viewership (x), but when we can be very vocal. TPTB have shut down fan theories like the blinking-is-Morse-code from season 7. They want to know what Bethyl exactly was. It’s the same reason that they won’t tell us what happened to Beth’s body. By keeping silent, TPTB have a back door. When Beth returns, they’ll use this ambiguity to hype Bethyl up. It will be the classic marketing question of, “Will they?/Won’t they?”

Emily was the only one who discussed Beth’s feelings for Daryl. It makes sense, Beth’s state was more ambiguous than Daryl, who all but had actual heart eyes at dinner. The audience will get to discover her perspective on the relationship. I’ve found at least one documented case of AMC declining to talk about Beth, when reporters were eager to discuss the petition (x), and I remember there being more from the early TD days. Some Team Acceptance/Rejection people think TPTB changed their minds last minute in July 2014, hence Coda. However, TPTB still market Beth and Bethyl. She keeps popping up in Daryl’s storyline and in the general story, often through explicit comparisons. Beth hasn’t been allowed to rest in peace on and offscreen. We’re not allowed to forget because we’ll have to remember. Remembering her will make her return easier for the general audience, more of a surprise than more being sidelined.

“In The Walking Dead Season 4 preview trailer, there is a scene where it appears as if Beth might be a little taken with Daryl. Can you tell us if Beth might be developing a little bit of a crush on Daryl in Season 4?                                                                                         Norman Reedus: I can’t tell you that, but god she’s cute so fingers crossed.”

Norman Reedus: Comicbook.com; August 11th, 2013 (x).

“I like playing these awkward moments in between that build relationships. I don’t ever want to play that character that grabs the girl and has my way with her. That’s just not who that character is. If Daryl falls in love with you, he’s going to love you for the rest of his life.”

Norman Reedus: Daily Dead; October 10th, 2013 (x).

While Norman brought this up when asked about C@ryl possibly happening, it was during the lead-up to season 4. And these themes keep popping up in relation to Bethyl. He’s been shutting down a romantic C@ryl since 2012 (x).

“Established in the first episode you will see one new relationship and potentially a couple more. […] As regards Daryl Dixon […] um, I think there’s a really interesting relationship between Daryl and someone that you may not think… I don’t wanna give too much away. But there’s a beautiful episode between his character and another character that has just been, uh… I don’t wanna say any more than that. It might be someone you least expect.”

Andrew Lincoln: Hangout with FOX; October 12th, 2013 (x).

“When Daryl comes back to her room and says “he’s gone,” and she says “Daryl, I don’t cry anymore,” it was special. That scene, it’s one of my favorite scenes of the episode. Because shehugs Daryl. He looks uncomfortable, and he touches her elbow. When I cut that episode together, I wanted to make sure that he looked uncomfortable. When she looks up at him with her big eyes and her sweater falls off her shoulder and she pulls her sweater back up, it’s such a beautiful connection between the two of them. I love that in the middle of her momentary grief, she looks at Daryl and says, “are you okay?” It’s such a beautiful moment. Emily and Norman really nailed that scene, so I’m so glad to hear that’s the first thing you said, because they did a great job with that.”

Greg Nicotero: Newsarama; October 16th, 2013. (x).

“It's a very unlikely duo. They're getting to know each other on a different level, but not romantically. There are definitely lessons ­being taught in both directions.”

Norman Reedus: TV Guide; February 11th, 2014 (x).

“The Hollywood Reporter: The seed for this episode was first planted in the season-four premiere in terms of Daryl and Beth’s kindred spirits.  How will we see Daryl and Beth’s relationship evolve now that he’s finally opened up to her?That may be addressed. I like seeing those two together. They’re not characters who you’d normally see or partner up together. Being stuck with each other, this episode starts with Daryl in a dark place and he doesn’t want to go on and he’s growling at Beth the whole time. But it ends on a positive note. Beth showed him something about himself. He struggles a lot of the time and he’s got a chip on his shoulder; he doesn’t think people like him. But Beth helps him shed some of his old demons and feel good about himself and the need to let those things go and move forward. That’s a lot of what our show is about. He definitely has a soft spot for her forever. They’ve bonded during this journey.

Is their relationship more like siblings or could Daryl and Beth’s friendship turn romantic?Everyone pairs Beth up with Carl in this weird way and she’s much older than Carl. He’s looking for comics and she’s looking for food. They’re definitely not the same age. I can’t tell you if there’s going to be a romantic thing; we’re not allowed to talk about that stuff. But never say never! She’s a cute girl in the zombie apocalypse and Daryl could do much worse.”

Thanks to Beth, Daryl closes the book on his past. How will this free him up emotionally now? He's definitely moving in the right direction now. He's interesting in that he's very guarded and very loyal. Once he breaks that wall down with someone, he's loyal forever. Especially with Beth in this episode: she means a lot to him and took time to get to know him and open up to him and that got him to open up. It created a stronger bond between these two. He still thinks everyone else is dead and has little hope for the future, but Beth gave him a little light at the end of the tunnel and that means a lot to him. 

Norman Reedus: The Hollywood Reporter; March 2nd, 2014 (x).

Inside Episode 412:

“He admires her naïve, hopeful way. For him to find strength in possibly the weakest physical person in the group but emotionally the — one of the strongest — I think is very beautiful. And he allows himself to be honest.” - NR

“Beth is able to reach out to Daryl. Pull him back from the edge.” -SG

“They definitely have a friendship that is on a very deep level.” - EK

March 2nd, 2014 (x) (x).

“Reading that episode between Norman and Emily’s characters, I just thought: That would be interesting... Because of the age difference; because of them both thinking it’s the end of the world. Him being such a guarded, sort of damaged soul; and she’s so young and sweet. And just... that’s real in this world! That’s real things that people need from each other and can help each other.”

Lauren Cohan: Associated Press; March 5th, 2014 at 1:47 (x) (x).

“So, talk to us about the tension between Daryl and Beth? “There’s definitely some tension there. The thing about it is, she’s a woman. She is not a little girl. Everyone grows up real fast in this world. Daryl, being a man, starting out was really child-like. There is an emotion; he makes a decision. A sort of distinctive honesty that kept him mentally in a non-grown-up situation. He had a mother that kept him down. He never really emotionally grew. He never learned how to be around people. And, then you have Beth who is the little sister who’s growing up really fast. Meanwhile she’s not a kid. She was a young farm girl. So, there is definitely some tension going on. It’s not just one layer of tension; it’s a whole bunch of tension. Circumstantial tension. It’s a very volatile episode. Stuff goes on for all of us, not just these two characters, but for all of us.””

Norman Reedus: Refinery29; March 9th, 2014 (x).

“In [Alone], Daryl and Beth are the happiest we’ve seen them.”

Denise Huth: 4x13′s BTS; March 10th, 2014 (x) (x).

“Yeah I do think [Maggie would approve], actually. I’m enjoying, as an audience member, watching this happen. [...] There’s a lot of love blossoming these past few episodes.”

Lauren Cohan: 4x13′s Talking Dead; March 10th, 2014 (x) (x).

“Well, I think it says something about these characters feeling very lonely, and it makes me happy that the audience is sort of picking up on that, that these two people are people that need someone. It makes sense to me that people would hope that each of them would find someone... but yeah, I don't know what's going to happen. I do feel like now, after [that] episode, that Beth and Daryl know each other on a much deeper level, in an intimate way. I don't think they feel alone the way they did before.”

Emily Kinney; MTV News; March 11th, 2014 (x).

“What do you think it is about Beth that’s allowed Daryl to open up?She’s so honest, there’s not a bad bone in her body. She’s such a non-threatening person. I think them being in this situation and him protecting her and her becoming a light in the tunnel for this guy [has got him] following her lead and showing him hope. I think that that’s something that he finds very brave and he looks up to her in that way. They’ve sort of adopted each other.//

When Daryl and Beth are in the house and he suggests that maybe they should just stay there together and Beth asks what changed his mind about whether people can be good, why do you think he’s reluctant to say that it was her? It just seems like they’re always running again and running again. Then Daryl says to Beth, “This is kinda nice. We’re having dinner together and I can protect you. You take care of me, I’ll take care of you.” She sort of sparked hope in him and I think he took that spark a little further in his head and turned it into a little fire. I think it’s a big thing for Daryl to say. For him to say that…I don’t think he’s the type of guy who puts himself out there emotionally. I think those are hard words to come out of his mouth. [...] But she’s sparking a hope and a feeling in him.”

Norman Reedus: The Daily Beast; March 13th, 2014 (x).

“I think it’s constantly changing, you know. Just like our relationships with each other. You know, I think the more she’s getting to know him, it kind of shifts. So I think that there’s been moments where she saw him just as a protector, and moments where she’s seen him as a team member and moments where she’s seen him almost like, maybe like a brotherly sort of friend kind of thing. And then probably moments too, where she’s been like, ‘Oh, maybe there’s something extra here. Something special’. So I think it’s the whole range of how she views him. I think, like, we’re still exploring that. [...] He better find me! He better not forget about me!”

“So in this last episode, you were asking Daryl ‘how do you know there’s— you still think there’s good people out there? Why?’ And then you had a realization. Was it that he knew because of Beth? Do you know what I’m saying?”Emily Kinney: Yeah, I think she realized how much he cares about her. 

“I don’t know, my theory is— I definitely think Beth was having a ro— felt romantically inclined towards Daryl. That’s the way it came across to me, at least.” Emily Kinney: Yeah, I think there’s realizing that there’s something else there.”

Emily Kinney: WSC Chicago; March 14th, 2014 (x) (x) (x).

“Access: There was that great moment you and Norman had in last week’s episode. You know it. It’s the one where [Daryl] admits to [Beth] that he has changed and explains why through grunting. And it’s this awkward moment. What do you think Beth was thinking about at that point in time? What were you, as an actress, thinking about?

Emily: I was thinking that at the beginning of that scene that she doesn’t know, and she’s like, ‘No, tell me. Why?’ and I think that just, through his looks, she sort of realizes that he…. really cares about her, in a really… special way and, you know, one of the reasons that he thinks there are good people is because of her, and there’s something like maybe this isn’t – as much as they’re trying to find other people, if there are other people – like, they’re okay kind of together. I think she still doesn’t completely know because he doesn’t ever say exactly, but I think she has a hunch that – she does say at one moment, like, ‘Oh,’ and I interpreted that — I mean, I don’t know what’s to come, but I interpreted that as she understands that he cares about her on a deeper level.

Access: There are a lot of things that you could read into that. It was such an awkward moment. If he does have romantic feelings for her, because he’s very innocent in many ways, you don’t know if she feels the same way.

Emily: I think that she definitely really, really cares about him and their relationship has grown and she’s like really connected to him [in] a friendship way, but I don’t think that it’s necessarily occurred to her… that like, ‘Oh, this could be something more.’ But I definitely think in that moment, that sort of realization that, ‘Well, this is like really special — this kind of connection that has grown.”

Emily Kinney: Access; March 16th, 2014 (x).

“I would say that Daryl has already found familial love, if you’re talking romantic love, I’m going to say, ‘I think so.’” 

Scott Gimple: Larry King; April 2014 (x).

Scott Wilson: @valhallapics; April 24th, 2014 (x) (x) (x).

“As the episode progressed, he saw something in her that was sort of like a little candlelight at the end of a dark tunnel. And she was saying that there are good people left, there are reasons to go on, and don’t give up hope. And I think she was that little glimmer of hope for him. And I think that’s what he was attracted. If he misconstrued those feelings as a possibly like a crush, but that’s even better. But I don’t think he went in there like, “Hey me and you.” I think he kind of like, “There’s something good in you, and I haven’t seen anything good in forever. It’s like being lost in the woods for miles and miles and starving and finding an apple tree with an apple. There’s something good out there and maybe that’s you. And maybe you could show me whatever you know and you can make Daryl have those hopeful feelings too. And I think some people might have interpreted as he thinks you’re cute or he wants to be with you. But I think it’s deeper than that.”

Norman Reedus: GoldDerby; June 12th, 2014 (x) (x) (x).

In the full interview, Bethyl comes up at 6:40. Full transcript here (x).

“It actually was a lovely place, and there is…it was a lovely place.”

Scott Gimple; Walking Dead Season 5 Preview Special; July 6th, 2014 (x) (x).

“It’s been very interesting to have this grunting, wild animal paired with this nice, young, eloquent girl who speaks her mind. [...] One taught the other how to fight, and one taught the other how to feel.

“...Beth explained to him that she thought it was pretty that somebody took the time and effort to put makeup on the dead bodies at the funeral home, to keep them alive in a sense, for their relatives to see. Daryl just didn’t understand that. She opened his eyes to the fact that there are good people out there. So many bad things have happened to both, but she shows him it doesn’t have to be this hard, that maybe there’s a glimmer of hope, a candle at the end of the tunnel showing him there’s the possibility of a good life. […] People hinted that there was more of a love thing going to happen, but I think it was much more a basic need to have something good in the world. Beth showed him that’s possible, and I think he was clinging to that hope. Then, of course, she gets ripped away from him.”

Norman Reedus: Walking Dead Magazine, Issue #9; July 15th, 2014 (x) (x).

SDCC 2014 Panel/Interviews:

“When Reedus got the script, did he think anything would happen with Daryl and Beth? Does he want them to hook up and get it over with, or does he want something deeper for his character? “This is how I took it, doing it. I took it like, if Daryl had feelings for Beth, he didn't understand them. So he was like a child, like, 'I don't understand what this means.' But, it was more intimate than a coupling.”” -NR

“Nicotera agreed with that sentiment and seemed to think Reedus nailed it perfectly in that scene. “That's what made it effective," complimented Nicotera. “When you're standing there listening to her play piano, you're just standing there watching her. And you feel like he's thinking, 'This may be the last living person I ever see.' So, I thought that was a really great connection. A lot of it wasn't in the script. The script wasn't like, 'Beth and Daryl totally hook up.' It wasn't there. But when I watched the episode, I felt I kind of wanted that, which was what he brings to it and what Emily brought to it.”” -GN

“When they pitched Season 4, they were talking about when the prison goes down and having Daryl and Beth be bunkered together. And it's interesting because I get to see all the cuts and I see all the edits from the director's cuts onward. And I loved the scene in the kitchen when they're talking, and I got the sense that Daryl was starting to kind of fall in love with Beth a little.” -GN

“I think the scenes between Beth and Daryl was a chance for the audience to get to know both of us in a different way.  We have many scenes where we were talking about ourselves and our past.  It was a chance for these two characters to connect and while we connected, you guys got to know Beth a little bit better.  People are longing for something more than just death and destruction.  We want romance, we want music, and these characters feel the same way the audience does.  We don’t want to just be surviving, we want something more.  I find it so fascinating that the audience immediately goes to—just because this happened or that happened, they want that.  That’s what we live for, love and romance and art.  It’s interesting.” -EK

“Beth and Daryl spent more time together in the second half of Season 4 than they ever had before, but “The Walking Dead” Executive Producer and Special Effects Makeup Supervisor Greg Nicotero tells Zap2It that the seeds for their relationship were actually planted earlier in the season, when Daryl tells Beth that her boyfriend Zach (played by Kyle Gallner) had been killed during the events of the first episode. “Just that little scene, which was not a big scene, really laid the groundwork for all the other stuff that came for these guys,” Nicotero says.””

“I hope so," says the actress [when asked if she wants their relationship to continue growing]. "I think they definitely have a certain connection that has grown from surviving together. They have gotten to know each other on a different level that's really special, whether its friendship or something else. It's a deeper relationship.” - EK

“Our episodes, she was like the little bright light at the end of the tunnel. And I was getting warmer and closer and closer, and then someone blew it out.” - NR

July 25th, 2014 (x) (x) (x) (x) (x).

“That song at the piano, at the funeral home was one of the ones where we were really searching for the right song. Because Scott [Gimple] said he knew he wanted there to be that moment of like, you know, singing and finding the piano and stuff. Because Daryl makes fun of her in one of the earlier episodes for singing. So, um, so they need that moment and it was just finding the right song. And what’s cool about the show is they do try to find music that maybe not everyone has heard. We went through a lot of songs. I would even learn them on the piano, send him a little iPhone voice memo, and he’d be like, “Ooh that’s cool, that one’s cool, that one maybe wouldn’t work...” So, we went through a few songs, and I was really happy when we decided to do that one because I really like Waxahatchee.”

Emily Kinney: Radio.com; August 5th, 2014 (x) (x).

Still DVD Commentary:

“Scott, the showrunner, came in to the beginning of the season with this idea that once everybody was scattered to the winds he kind of knew which groupings he wanted, and one of them was Daryl and Beth, and we were like ‘what? Have they ever even said like two words to each other?’ But makes for an interesting pairing, because it’s not who you’d expect to wind up together.  I give him credit for having a very interesting, out of the box idea for these two characters.” -AK

“Well, I think it’s, you know, I think you’re exactly right everything’s been stripped away and when it feels like everything is just at the lowest point and you have lost everything like, you know, it’s not comfortable for Daryl, I think, to be intimate with somebody, like, not even just romantically, but just in terms of sharing who he is of himself because there’s so much shame.  Not so much in what you’ve brought to the character and how you’ve played him, but there’s so much shame about who he was, but there is such …there’s something about Daryl that’s so real and honest and he just is who he is and Beth kind of is the same way.  Like, even though they’re really different characters, there is a core kindness and sweetness to both of them that they can just talk about, you know, their real feelings in this moment.” - AK

“I did an interview with J Mascis for Dinosaur Jr, and right after we shot this— I listened to [Very Nervous and Love] the whole time on repeat during this whole episode, and I was gonna ask him, y’know, what is that song, tell me about it, and then I was like, you know, I don’t even wanna know.  Like don’t even tell me…That meant this to me.” - NR

He pitched it for the closing song.

August 26th, 2014 (x) (x) (x).

“It’s a gradual change [Daryl’s arc]. It’s a progression; his relationship with Beth, too. They’re always doing this sort of like chocolate thing: ‘Here, here, it’s delicious. Oh, psych!’ and they take it away…. These characters get harder as it goes on. They have more experience with loss and grief. Everyone’s in fifth gear right now…. You know, Beth was kind like this little flame at the end of a long dark tunnel, and he was getting closer and closer, and it was getting warmer, and then someone blew it out. You know, they took my chocolate again….The whole Daryl and his thing for Beth…I always saw it as if he didn’t understand those feelings. He might have felt them, but he was sorta hopeful; that with those feelings there might have been hope there. Down the line. And it was taken from him. Same as with his brother…taken. Found his family in the prison…taken. I mean, over and over and over again. That happens to all of us.”

Norman Reedus: Horrorhound; (Sept/Oct 2014) p. 8 (x) (x).

“TV Guide Magazine: Daryl's relationship with Beth (Emily Kinney) last season could be viewed as fatherly, brotherly, or romantic. How do you interpret it? Reedus: At the end of a dark tunnel, she was the flicker of light when Daryl didn't think there was any light at that time anywhere. She gave him a little hope that there's something good left. But I think if he had any sort of romantic notions toward Beth, he didn't know what it meant. Just to have the little butterfly feeling for a second is something. It might have been like one tiny moth, but it was a flutter, and that was good enough for him.”

Norman Reedus; TV Guide Magazine; September 23rd, 2014 (x).

“Last year, I definitely felt like there was a really special connection between Daryl and Beth that happened. My take on it was that there was a very deep growing connection that could become something more romantic or could become just … you know that was my personal understanding of it. I do feel like Beth has opened up to Daryl in a way that she hasn't with other people and I do feel like Beth has never been really in love even though you've seen her with the two different boyfriends. I don't think she's ever been like, 'grownup in love' in the way that you feel like someone actually understands you and in sort of that special intimate way. And I do feel like she's been closer to that with Daryl then with anyone else.”

Emily Kinney: Business Insider; October 9th, 2014 (x).

“Kinney says that the song they were originally going to use in the scene was Neutral Milk Hotel’s “King of Carrot Flowers, but the band wasn’t interested in licensing their music. Something Kinney understands. “If you make something, you’re very precious with it,” she says. “I would love to cover that song on my own.” For now, she’s performing “Be Good” in her sets, along with another song Beth has sung on the show, Tom Waits‘ “Hold On.””

Emily Kinney: Radio.com; October 10th, 2014 (x) (x).

“And this is the room, one afternoon I knew I could love you.”

“Would Hershel support it?/What is a father to do? [...] You know, affairs of the heart are, are, are uh very personal, you know, regardless of what someone else thinks in the best interest of someone. It doesn’t mean, it really is because you can not read their heart. So if something, so if something that is mutually agreed upon, then you have to be careful with what you’re doing with that, because you can hurt them.”

Lauren: Our dad just wants us girls to be happy. He wouldn’t stand in the way of love.”

Scott Wilson & Lauren Cohan: WSC Atlanta; October 20th, 2014 (x).

“Q: Do you think Beth was fortunate to be kidnapped and ended up in a hospital rather than go to Terminus? Emily: Terminus was awful […] Although she would be with her family and that’s worth a lot, isn’t it? She’d be with Daryl... and her sister.”

Emily Kinney: 5x04′s Talking Dead; November 2nd, 2014 (x).

“What could’ve happened with Daryl.”

Emily Kinney: 5x08′s Talking Dead; November 30th, 2014.

“There’s been a lot of speculation about Daryl’s relationship with Beth. I saw him as a big brother to her, but some think he had more romantic feelings. What’s your take on their connection? I think it was very intimate and very, very close. They helped each other in these beautiful moments of grace, where the only two people who could possibly help each other helped each other and learned from each other. I think it’s beyond platonic and romantic. Those are really binary terms. All I know is they were two people who meant a lot to each other, and her loss is going to help shape who Daryl is. She’s already shaped who Daryl is. She helped Daryl put away some of the bitterness and believe there is light in the world. And yet her light being snuffed out brought out a ferocity in him. We saw that anger before the anguish last night.”

Scott Gimple: Vulture.com; December 1st, 2014 (x).

It’s okay, Scott. You can refer to them as soulmates explicitly, since you know, you already gave us the definition.

“I can make it official – Daryl Dixon is actually straight.”

Robert Kirkman: People.com; December 1st, 2014 (x).

While I usually ignore what Kirkman says, as he’s known for lying/trolling (x), it’s no coincidence that this interview came out the day after Beth “died”. It has to do with the timing. It happened the day after Coda, after the audience saw all of Daryl’s love for Beth.

“I have one song called ‘Last Chance’ on my next album[.] And I realized while I was writing that song, I was like, 'Why am I writing this weird song?’ and I realized a lot of it was just because of the thoughts that have gone through my head as Beth. I was like, 'Why do I keep feeling like I need to say this?’ … You’ll see, but it’s kind of about the end of the world.”

Emily Kinney: Access Hollywood, December 19th, 2014 (x) (x).

Norman Reedus: AMA; December 21st, 2014 (x).

“I think the chances [of C@ryl] are better now that Beth is, sadly, out of the picture. But the truth of the matter is that C@rol is definitely in a different place now than she was when they were friends. You don't really get the sense that they're as close as they used to be.”

Greg Nicotero: MTV News; February 13th, 2015 (x).

“I like all the awkward things in between that make a person and make it honest. I think that that character, once he shacks up with somebody, he’s going to be with them for life. I don’t want to blow my wad, so to speak, right off the bat, you know what I mean?”

Norman Reedus: Inquisitr; April 22nd, 2015 (x) (x).

“Allowing himself to fall in love is something Daryl Dixon wouldn’t have done until after he’s lost everything and the world’s gone to shit.”

Norman Reedus: The Guardian; September 22nd, 2015 (x) (x).

Allusion to Beth and what happened to Daryl with the loss of the prison.

“MTV: In this episode you also had Abraham and Sasha sparking up a romance of sorts — and it’s the second one on the show for both. So when are we going to finally get a romantic relationship for Daryl?Reedus: Right? [Laughs] I love them in this episode, I have to say, they’re super cute together. They’re playing with it, it’s fun to watch. Daryl’s hopeful that somebody may be that close. I don’t think he’s waiting for it, or maybe he’s already found it and has to realize it. It’s a touchy situation. But when it happens, it happens. It only happens once… It’s interesting storyline to be a part of. I’m looking forward to all of this.”

Norman Reedus: MTV News; November 11th, 2015 (x).

“Everyone was talking about Daryl and Beth having a romantic connection, was that something that you felt like it was happening?                    Emily Kinney: There were definitely moments in the script that made me feel like it was leading towards that, like holding hands and looks to each other and things like that.”

Emily Kinney: Stalking Dead; February 14th, 2016 at 39: 20 (x) (x) (x).

Norman Reedus: Montclair Film Festival 16; May 7th, 2016 (x) (x).

“That was just devastating, he chased that car all night long until it was daylight and he just couldn’t move anymore.”

“Daryl’s in such... a dark... state of mind, because of he lost Beth.”

Norman Reedus: The Journey so Far; October 2nd, 2016 (x) (x) (x).

“I feel like [Daryl] is such a loyal animal, so when he does that, he is gonna be with that person forever. I don’t think he was set up or raised in a way that he’s a show off in any way. I feel like once he gets over this wall, which he is getting over this wall, he’s gonna be very honest in everything he does. I think he is super loyal. I always describe him as, kind of like if you saw a coyote in an alley and it was raining, and if you fed him, he would just follow you… forever. And I think he is kind of like that with matters of the heart. When it happens, it’s gonna happen.” 

Norman Reedus: Popcorn; October 10th, 2016 (x) (x).

“Daryl is a good man. He’s a good man. I think all of you know that. At what point does a father lose control of what he thinks? How much influence does it really have? She’s a grown woman now. She’s a grown young lady. It is what it is. I don’t know that he would’ve thrown a fit if they’d grown together, if they’d become united or whatever. I don’t think he would’ve been too terribly upset. It isn’t like Daryl is... You don’t see him really getting drunk, you don’t see him carousing, you don’t see him... You know, he’s a good guy.”

Scott Wilson: WSC Nashville; June 3rd, 2017 (x) (x). 

“Reedus is not a fan of 'shipping, but did note that there may have been something in the past with C@rol, and maybe with Beth. Season 8 won't be season date though. He's not in the right head space for romance, and ultimately, "I don't know if Daryl would recognize it when it's happening.”

Norman Reedus: 100 Secrets From The Walking Dead’s Hundredth Episode; September 27th, 2017 (x) (x).

“Actor Norman Reedus is so close with Greg Nicotero, a special effects master as well as the show's producer and sometime director, that they are able to finish each other's sentences. The two also send each other songs to explain the emotion they want to bring to a scene. Before Daryl and Beth, two characters, burned down an old shack, Reedus sent Nicotero "Very Nervous and Love" by J Mascis.”

The Associated Press: 10 Things You Didn’t Know about the show; September 27th, 2017 (x).

[threeambiguouswords-blog]

Shadow Of The Colossus? More like Great Experience Of The Colossus Amirite?

What can I say about this game that hasn’t already been said? I’d bet not much if anything at all to be honest, but on the near to impossible chance that this is the first you’re hearing about this game and I have the pleasure informing you about it (or you’re just here for the mad bants) then strap in.

Kitted out in all the gear.

Quick semi-disclaimer, purely for the fact it's the version i've played most recently and it gives me more delicious cinema like screenies I'll be on the most part talking about the "hot off the press" remaster for ya boi the PS4 rather than the PS2 or the PS3 versions which I definitely own and have definitely 100% completed (Insecurities bleeding through). So then lets get kicking.

General Overview

Gen. Overview, we meet again for the first time. So then, you’ve just bought shadow of the colossus, you’ve remembered the past or heard the hype and decided to indulge and buy yourself a copy for the PS2,3 or 4. After the JapanStudios and Bluepoint logos break the emptiness of your screens you’re met with a stunning scene of a full moon caught amongst shadowed peaks and as it begins to dawn on you what caliber of game this will be and the choir kicks in and after following an eagle soar through this landscape the camera catches and follows out protagonist and his companion Wander and Agro.

So by now the cutscene has ended, 5 or 50 minutes of you sat stunned have past and you realise what you’re in for. You select new game on normal difficulty (because obviously you’re a good gamer but you’re not going to choose hard pfft this game could be crazy) and the game begins properly, for real. Even without knowing anything about this game, reading colossalpedia or reading any item descriptions at all it’s pretty easy to get the jist of what this games about. You’re bae has died and a big gender ambiguous hole in the roof tells you to kill 16 colossi and they’ll return the favour once you’re done, off you pop.

Controls

If you read, watch, listen to other reviews for this game you’ll find that over and over again that this game has terrible controls and that more often than not it’s the games one fault. I however, happen to disagree (oooooh EdGy alternative view), admittedly the original PS2 camera was a tad whacked up but it was a small price to pay for the sheer magnitude of such a game on that console, and even then they made up for it by giving you some wicked collectible postcards in the game box so it’s all cool. Even so, this problem was fixed with later remasters with more fluid camera controls and better graphics to turn “bad camera angles” into “cinegraphic shots”

Photographic proof I’m a hipster collector and can say I know what i’m talking about, even if I don’t.

I’m going to avoid talking about the colossi at the moment as much as I can since i’m going to discuss them later and make this even longer than it’s already going to be so for the remainder of this section i’ll say some stuff about mechanics, scenery and maybe throw some of the bonus stuff in. I don’t know i’ll decide when i get to it.

Gameplay

Once you’ve finished meeting Dormin (The holy hole) and you’ve hopped on Agro you hold up your sacred sword which helps you find where your next victim and you follow it as closely as you can tackling puzzling environments and the most agoraphobic world you’ll ever encounter between your location and your destination. (If only I had that sword I might be able to find where this reviews actually heading). Once you reach your destination and before the cutscene your next epic clash it’s easy to see that each area is specifically designed for how you’re meant to tackle this foe, whether its an open area made to emphasise your battle partner or an enclosed field with brittle spires to take advantage of, every part has been meticulously crafted to make the encounter easier without taking away the incredible feeling of defeating these giants on your own.

Big mommas house.

I’m running out of words for epic and colossus so i’m going to smoothly transition over to mechanics now. Each fight at its core is the same, you have to find a way onto the colossus, hold on, find the weak spot and stab it till it dies, using two main mechanics of Holding/Climbing and Stabbing. Seeing how theres 16 Colossi in this game (A mere glimpse of the planned 48) it would make sense to think that this would get repetative. However, each colossi is so different from the last with only a few showing similarities (ahem the minotaur bros) and this partnered with utilizing the environment, the horse, or the bow in different ways for each and sometimes not at all makes each battle a brand new experience in of itself. Which is great considering you have to play this game at least 4 times to be able to say you’ve completed it, which in a way is like fighting the original 48 planned colossi.

After you’ve completed your first run, experienced the twist ending and had your adaption back into our reality you get to play through it all over again but this time in the aptly named “Hard mode” which is essentially the same except some of the colossi have more weak points, you do less damage but take more and the colossi try to shake you off more and oooooh do some of them try to shake you off. There is no real reward for completing Hard mode except being able to say you’ve done so and no one likes that type of guy (I’ve completed hard mode). With Hard mode out the way you’ve experienced the twist a second time and while the magic of the game never leaves the initial oomph does fade and it’s at this point the time trials come in. From here on it becomes less of an experience and more of a game.

To begin time attack you have to pray at the shrine of the colossus you wish to challenge (which probably has a meaning but this isn’t game theory with mousemat so i’m not going to figure it out). Depending on the difficulty the time you have to defeat it changes but aside from that it’s the same as the previous fights but without the travelling and time pressure is thrust upon you. The best part about the Time attack mode is that for every two colossi you defeat you get a dandy new thing to play with ranging from a harpoon to the worst parachute ever, to save this being any longer than it needs to be i’m going to refrain from listing them all but trust me, they’re alright.

The Colossi

Now ladies and gentlemen the moment i’ve been waiting for, I get to spend an hour writing about each colossus individually hopefully saving whatever respectability there is in this sub-par review. So in no particular order, aside from the order they come in in the game, the Colossi: #1 Valus [Minotaur A]

I’m horny and he’s scared.

I’m going to keep these short so don’t worry, not long left. Valus the shortest of the 4 bipedal colossi and the first of the minotaur bros, valus is an excellent tutorial, not the smallest to take away from the sense of scale but not the biggest allowing for more oompah later on in the game he is an excellent introduction to the game. The platforms on his back have often been criticized but if they weren’t there then where would his pet birds rest. Good/10

#2 Quadratus [The Mammoth]

Only half as horny as I.

Coming in at number two on a list in chronological order is Quadratus, still seen as a tutorial colossus he is the first colossus where Agro and your bow can be incorporated easily. To new players without a walkthrough the only real challenge is getting onto him as his leg hairs aren’t easily accessible but once thats out the way you can prepare for another epic feeling riding this beast for its final moments. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)/10

#3 Gaius [The Knight]

Duck me.

Strolling by at the tallest of the bipedal colossi its general consensus that Gaius is where the game begins, his battle includes a puzzle, he is a challenge in himself to scale and he has more than one vital spot. His arena gives impressions of being custom built for a champion like him as it’s a flat platform raised above a lake, with little background scenery sans the temple on the horizon accentuating how lanky this challenge is.It’s no mystery why gaius is plastered all over the promotions for this game. 9/10

#4 Phaedra [Kirin]

A stallion, Baby! I can whinny! I can Count!

Phaedra? More like puzzle because holy moly this one took a while to figure out, another where jumping aboard isn’t just an option you have to use the environment and then hop on its banging dreads and once you’re on its head you better hold on because larger Agro bangs his head like he’s bopping along to the games own soundtrack. This is the last colossus at the moment with its weak point on it’s head and things really change up in the next battle. I’m Trotting/10

#5 Avion [-]

I died getting this shot.

The story hasn’t started developing yet and you’re beginning to feel a slight lull at this point, you get the jist, there’s big things you got to kill. So far they’ve all been roughly the same size, had the same pattern and been one of two designs. Enter Avion and you had best jump when he enters or you’ve got no chance at catching this speedy boi, this battle brings back the original feeling of grandeur and sprinkles new flavours of epic over the top. The feeling of flying is portrayed so well here with the wind rush graphics and the resistance you can feel the resistance in the controls. Also as you can see this one’s got a helmet so you’ve got to find those weak points elsewhere. 9/10

#6 Barba [Minotaur B]

Prick

The second of the minotaur bros and by far the worst, I could have done without this guy. After solving the easiest “puzzle” ever you just think back to your training with Valus but instead of go up his back... go up his front! On his big dumb beard. Remember how I said phaedra bangs his head? That’s a spirit level compared to how much this guy shakes and everytime he shakes you have to charge up your blade all over again. If it wasn’t for a slight exploit where you can cancel his shaking animation if you time the stabs right I could have broken my first controller over this spice. -0/10

#7 Hydrus [The Eel]

I wouldn’t swim through that warm bit if I were you.

Another innovative and creative battle? Surely not. Well yes, yes indeed, a slippy boi this time and one of my top three, I love this battle. Often ridiculed for having bad AI or tough combat people ridicule this snake for not coming up to the surface, well i’ve got as word describing people like that bad at games all you have to do is imagine his line of sight and splish around in it and he comes up, you grab on and either tackle the electrode spines or avoid them entirely. Not the only subterranean colossus but the only water one unfortunately. ~~/10

#8 Kuromori [The Gecko]

Not the most annoying mouth cannon i’ve seen.

So far the most Aggro colossus we’ve met and on of the better puzzle ones, it doesn’t get so caught up in being a puzzle it stops being a fight. This colossus is one of the colossi who know you’re coming for their life and he’s not going to let you just take it. Unfortunately once you’ve cracked his puzzle he’s a cakewalk on later repeats but the first time he was the first I considered to be an opponent. Appreciative Head Nod/10

#9 Basaran [The Turtle]

The most annoying mouth cannon i’ve seen.

Here we go, the only other of these creatures I despise, the other being Minotaur Beard. The trick to this one is surgical precision and digitally accurate timing, if you don’t have that then good luck. This monstrosity needs tipping over (Because his developer names turtle *fake laugh*) and the only way to do that is to get him standing over one of the nearby geisers when it goes off, then you shoot his legs out and climb up him when he’s flipped. After the trial and effort it takes after all that you’re met with another run up it’s back and stab its head scenario exactly like quadratus. Also did I mention if you’re not at the exact right range he will spam the hell out of that cannon attack, I did not feel bad killing this one. Fuck you/10

#10 Dirge [Naga]

It took 15 mins and this was the best shot

Similar to his sibling from another parent dirge is the second subterranean colossi and definitely the less chill of the two, you still want to ride this one and stab his back but you don’t have to worry about splishing to get his attention this time. He wants you. One of the better puzzles of the game but not entirely obvious at first you have to get this one to crash into a wall and take the opportunity then to get on his back and land the killing blows. Quite an average experience to be honest lots of people place him at the bottom or the tops of their lists but I feel once you’ve got the trick down he’s a big pushover. Onix/10

#11 Celosia [The Lion]

You mess with the bull, you get the horn.

You find the sunken city, you continue on alone as Agro can’t handle stairs and you enter a temple with flames licking the was. Destroyed pillars? A roof? Before you can begin picturing the type of colossus you will fight an overweight cow with anger issues jumps down from the roof and you have to abuse its psychological fear of fir to break its armour and take advantage of the bare flesh. With it being further in the game it’s another colossus that feels like more of a puzzle than a duel but even so, overpowering a creature closer to your size is just as satisfying as a walking obelisque 50 times your size. 2 Horns/10

#12 Pelagia [Poseidon]

About as large as a blade of grass.

Swimming takes a while in this game. It’s not bad or hard to control, it’s just slow. and this battle has the most need for thought out swimming. Avion was just a swim to the start and Hydrus was just a splish and ride, but Pelagia moves while you swim which takes slight angling. When you get on his rear nub and worm up his back to his head you’re met with a crown of teeth rather than a weak point and with this you get to drive a colossus *play revived power*. It’s the inclusion of the steering your new whip and the incorporation of towers to access the colossus that make this fight original and shows you that the developers still had new ideas this close to the end. 7/10

#13 Phalanx [The Snake]

Game of the year 2005

Here we are, the star of the show. The fan favourite and it’s no question as to why, after a few experimental colossi that required thinking and plans this battle brings it back to the roots. There’s a big thing, you’re hopelessly insignificant, it’s completely innocent and you’ve got to kill it. The only one in which I had to take a screenie of the cutscene as it is too huge to fit in one shot during gameplay. Surely a colossus in every sense of the word and one where the magic never fades. 11/5

#14 Celosia Cenobia [Cerberus]

Mess with the Boar? You get the tusks?

From reading other reviews i’ve found that ceonbia is often cited as the worse of the two diddy colossi saying that Cenobia was a retexture of Celosia in a convoluted puzzle. I disagree though I think this is only because Celosia came first, Cenobia is the more aggressive of the two as it doesn’t have an apparent fear and it’s puzzle is way easier to figure just from looks. My only gripe is that the time to charge its charge is the exact amount of time it takes to get back up from a knock down so if you go down then you might as well move out because you’re done. CtrlV/10

#15 Argus [Minotaur C]

I’m so tired

The third and final minotaur bro and the biggest of the three, Argus. By now you kind of get the jist with these guys you have to get on their head and stab it with maybe another point on his chest, arm or even hand?? Once again often bashed for being another copy especially at the penultimate spot but I think it’s location, this guys cool as hell. Plus he’s the only one with black hair. C/10 #16 Malus [Evis]

He’s just too big for one shot

Finally, the big boss. This is a great boss fight, it doesn’t take away from the grandeur of the previous bosses but he has a whole sense of scale not seen in any other battle yet, and half the battle is just getting to him never mind on him. Also holy moly is he aggressive from as soon as you get up the initial ramp just to see him he’s firing lightnin out of his hands and waving his kilt like a nutjob. He fits perfectly on the difficulty curve of the game and is an incredible end to an incredible game. 16/48

Final Say

That’s all i’ve got to say really, it took me about 5 hours to write this and if that dedication to this game doesn’t convince you to play it then... fair enough it’s not really much of a reason to play it. Although you definitely should, it’s an alright game.

[swimintothesound]

Lil Pump Versus The Elderly: A Long and Storied History

Letter From the Editor: The writer of this piece would like to apologize in advance for the abject stupidity contained within the following wall of text. If you’re brave enough to subject yourself to the mania that’s about to unfold, then you have my admiration, gratitude, respect, and appreciation. Thank you for understanding, and may God have mercy on your soul.

Pumpology 101: The Mystifying Origins of Gazzy Garcia

Lil Pump is a dreadlocked 17-year old rapper from Florida who first began making waves in late 2016 when his song “D Rose” became an unexpected viral hit. Over the span of a few short months, the wrist-obsessed track had garnered millions of plays on Soundcloud and over one hundred million curious YouTube clicks. By the end of 2017, Lil Pump (whose real name is Gazzy Garcia) had established himself as a mainstream success when his song “Gucci Gang” peaked at #3 on the Billboard charts. Spawning from his self-titled debut, the alliterative hit quickly became the focal point of a heated debate on the declining state of rap music rap music, the ongoing idocratization of popular culture, and the bare minimum required to pass for lyricism in the year of our Lord 2017.

Expertly covered by both Rolling Stone and The New York Times, Mr. Pump has become a figure at the forefront of the budding “Soundcloud Rap” movement. This subgenre is a spin-off of Trap that’s focused on crafting a particular brand of blown-out, vapid, and repetitive hip-hop that, while lyrically substanceless, still manages to be catchy, memorable, and (most importantly) energetic. It’s hype-up music that’s been distilled so many times that words practically don’t matter.

I’ve already discussed my conflicted feelings on the genre back in August, and while some members of this scene are still objectively-horrific human beings, I’m willing to admit that I’ve come around to Lil Pump thanks to the catchiness of the aforementioned “Gucci Gang.” While the man himself should never be looked up to as an idol, Garcia is still making exciting creations within a field that I’m morbidly fascinated by.

The Lyrics (or Lack Thereof)

Like most rappers, Pump’s songs typically center around the same award-winning trifecta of drugs, money, and women. What makes “Gucci Gang” unique is the fact that it ticks all these boxes while also managing to be accessible to a mainstream audience. Soundcloud Rap’s previous biggest success came in the form of “Look At Me!,” a song whose lyrics are probably just a touch too edgy for mainstream audiences.

Meanwhile “Gucci Gang” has just the right mix of garish colors and catchy lyrics, both of which are accompanied by a distinct feeling of “newness” that helped it stand out from the crowd. Additionally, the song’s bouncy three-syllable chorus proved perfectly memeable, ripe for parody, and endlessly reworkable, all of which led to a song that hit, and lingered in the cultural consciousness for longer than anyone ever expected. Possibly even a reflection of our society at large, “Gucci Gang” is an undeniable success no matter how you cut it.

Outside of the song itself, Lilliam Pumpernickel has also gained fans through numerous extra-musical antics including second-floor balcony jumps, a love for iCarly’s Miranda Cosgrove, and a running joke that he’s a Harvard Graduate. Essentially, he’s not afraid to be a meme, and that lack of fear makes him even stronger. Complete with his own catchphrase, there are many reasons to be entertained by Lil Pump, and all of these elements combined help explain his meteoric rise to success.

The Emergence of an Astronomical Happening

Though my numerous listens to “Gucci Gang,” I began to approach the song the same way that many others did: first with curiosity, then ironic enjoyment, then genuine adoration. I can’t stress enough that the lyrics are nothing to write home about, however one stanza in particular stands out amongst the rest like a bright, shining star:

My lean cost more than your rent, ooh (it do)

Your momma still live in a tent, yuh (brr)

Still slangin' dope in the 'jects, huh? (yeah)

Me and my grandma take meds, ooh (huh?)

These bars initially seemed like a single metaphysical barb amongst a sea of relatively-straightforward brags and boasts, so I explained them away as a one-off lyric with no deeper significance. Unbeknownst to me at the time, this line was just the tip of the iceberg.

By the time December had rolled around, “Gucci Gang” had won the honor(?) of being recognized not once, but twice in Swim Into The Sound’s 2017 Un-Awards. While part of a largely-negative post, I shined a relatively-positive light on “Gucci Gang” as my second-biggest “WTF” moment of the year (second only to Bhad Bhabie) in which I found myself surprisingly endeared to both equally-trashy artists. Later on in the proceedings, I cited the lyrics above specifically as the single “Weirdest Flex” of 2017 (barely edging out a Drake lyric about napping).

In researching the Pump-penned lines for that write-up I found myself jumping between various Genius pages and in doing so, I quickly began to uncover a conspiracy deep as the Carly Rae Jepsen Cinematic Universe: Lil Pump has an unshakable fixation with the elderly.

The Quest For A Universal Truth

It’s no secret that artists tend to use the same concepts, thoughts, and ideas over and over again throughout their work. Usually in hip-hop, these recurring topics (like drugs, money, and women for instance) are framed by using twists on conventional language that are given new meanings within the scene’s culture. From “bricks” to “bands” to “bitches” every possible theme has dozens of different synonyms that can be switched out interchangeably to keep the rhyme fresh and the topic from going stale.

However, slang goes in and out of popular vernacular like the tides of the ocean, and Monsieur Pump is not above these familiar tropes. While drugs, money, and women remain the primary topics around which Pump waves his tales, he, on more than one occasion, has used his grandma, or the grandmother of the listener as a reference point for these interests.

Of course he likes lean, and naturally, he talks about it, but what makes Pump unique is his ability to relate that commonplace idea to the elderly in a hilarious and unexpected way. He’s using age as a barometer by which to measure his own life; the elderly representing an extreme through which he can cover these well-trodden topics.

It’s quite the signature flair for a 17-year-old to brandish, but perhaps through these lines he’s revealing his own obsession with death and mortality. Maybe these grandparent-based lyrics are allowing us a brief peek into the inner machinations of Lil Pump’s mind and we are learning what troubles him on a deep, cosmic, existential level. The philosophical reaper that keeps him up at night. These lines act as an illumination of the human experience as told through the grounded eyes of one man who yells “ESKETIT” like it’s his Pokemon name. What follows is a comprehensive list of every time Little Pump has rapped about senior citizens. You are welcome.

Exhibit #1 - “Gucci Gang”

My lean cost more than your rent, ooh (it do)

Your momma still live in a tent, yuh (brr)

Still slangin' dope in the 'jects, huh? (yeah)

Me and my grandma take meds, ooh (huh?)

For the sake of completeness, we’ll begin with lyrics that started it all. The quote above comprises exactly 25% of the sole verse found on Lil Pump’s breakout hit “Gucci Gang.” In it we find Pump surveying his surroundings, living situation, and pattern of systematic drug use over a bassy beat and twinkling piano line.

First, we get the worrying comparison between the upkeep of his own opiate addiction to monthly rent, then the (uncalled for) implication that the listener’s mother is homeless, and the final cherry on top: the fact that Pump spends quality time popping pills with his grandmother. While the specifics remain vague here, it’s implied that he’s taking drugs recreationally while she is taking them for health reasons.

This being one of Pump’s numerous references to the elderly, the topic’s pervasiveness now leads me to believe that this is both a genuine lyric, as well as a thinly-veiled cry for help. As distressing as the lyric may be, at least he’s spending some quality time with his elders before they pass. Even if it’s a drug-fueled haze, I hope that both parties treasure their remaining time together and cherish each other's company.

Exhibit #2 - “Fiji”

I got Fiji on my neck

I got Gucci on my chest

And my grandma sippin' Tech

Off a Xan like Ron Artes

In this one-off Lil Pump loosie, Young Gazzy uses the artesian water brand as a descriptor for both his jewelry and his sex life. Following a similar structure as “Gucci Gang,” this track features a brief intro, and one verse sandwiched between two short choruses. Clocking in at a mere 88-seconds, “Fiji” is a striking minimalist creation that embraces reductionism and revels in ambiguity.

Within the world of hip-hop, “Water” can actually mean many things. From sex to swagger, the use of ‘water’ in-song is generally something you have to pick up from context clues, and this track is no different. In “Fiji” Pump walks a beautifully-ambiguous line between these typical definitions of earthly possessions and literal water, turning the brand’s name into a primal chant of “I pour Fiji on her neck.”

After a brief water-laced refrain, Pump proceeds into the meat of the song: a 45-word verse that discusses his public persona and ticks all of the seemingly-mandatory drug-based name-drops. He has jewelry on his neck, a Gucci logo tattooed on his chest, and most importantly the incongruous mention of his grandmother casually enjoying some hitech (aka Lean).

Perhaps elaborating on the lines of “Gucci Gang,” this lyric implies that maybe he and his grandmother both enjoy drugs on the same recreational level. Later on in the song he continues:

Slice your auntie in the neck

Lil Pump disrespect

Run up on you with that 40

Grab your grandma by the neck

After the verses earlier drug revelry, Pump seems to “set his sights” on the listener, attacking us via multiple familial ties. In a single moment of clarity he utters “Lil Pump disrespect” as if he knows what he’s doing is morally reprehensible, but remains out of his control. A haunting sentiment to say the least.

His hunger is insatiable, and your grandmother is his target. Violence is the only thing he understands, and your grandmother is the only thing he can grasp onto, both physically and metaphorically. And then, just as suddenly as the attack unfolded, the song fades into nothing, leaving the listener in the bloody aftermath.

Exhibit #3 - “Smoke My Dope”

Whippin' up dope in the trap spot (what)

Sellin' cocaine to your grandma (yuh)

Whippin' up dope in the trap spot (yuh, yuh)

Sellin' cocaine to your grandma (yuh, yuh, yuh, yuh)

In this early-album cut Lil Pump and fellow Florida rapper SmokePurpp trade verses for a compact and chaotic 2-minutes. In Garcia’s second verse he exerts himself enough to present one specific instance of creating and selling drugs over a series of escalating “yuh’s.”

In this simplistic portrayal of Pump’s supply chain, he gives his process away to the listener:

Whip up an indeterminate amount of “dope” within the “trap”

Proceed to sell that cocaine to the listener’s grandmother

Perhaps connected to the seemingly-uncalled-for violence depicted on “Fiji,” these lines seem to explain how Pump has obtained his wealth. I imagine that the elderly are comparatively easy-going when it comes to the purchase and intake of drugs, so it’s presumably easy money for Pump and a decent enough business model. Backed up by voracious twitter claims that echo the song’s lyrics, Pump has given us no reason to doubt him or his business acumen when it comes to selling the white stuff to the Greatest Generation.

Exhibit #4 - “Had”

My loud pack smell like fish tank

My backwoods filled with dumb stank

I can't fuck with you, cause I know all you ni**as stains

My grandma selling loud pack and she selling cocaine

She run up on your block and she'll shoot you in the fuckin' brain

With “Had” it seems that there’s a new wrinkle to Pump’s drug operation as it’s revealed that he’s running a family business by employing his grandmother as a key player.

Depicting his bubbe as savage and violent as himself, this example could possibly explain Pump’s own outwardly-destructive actions as a learned behavior. In portraying a systematic issue within our society, this line directly tackles how family can fail us, or lead us to repeat the same mistakes as those that came before us. It’s a tortured and agonized call for help as Pump removes himself enough to realize the trauma that he has indirectly absorbed and the conditions that he has had no choice but to grow up in.

This all said, it’s still nice that people like Pump’s grandmother can find purpose in the fast-paced working world and be driven by the fulfillment of a hard days work. The fact that she’s willing to kill on top of the drug dealing means that she’s committed to the cause, and is likely quite experienced, even in her old age. At the very least, Pump must come from good genes!

Exhibit #5 - “At The Door”

I got junkies at the door

I could serve you 2 for 4

I could serve you couple Xans

I could feed your bitch some coke

Yeah my Uzi automatic

Make your grandma do a backflip

On this mid-album cut, we see yet another allusion to the violence that Pump has inflicted upon the listener’s grandmother specifically. Perhaps wielded by Pump himself, or maybe even his grandmother (as we saw in “Had), it appears as if the drug dealing illustrated on “Smoke my Dope” has gone sideways for one reason or another, and Pump has been forced to resort to violence.

This line is actually one of the multiple familial references within this verse, the others being father, daughter, and aunt, so while this reference fits squarely in the bounds of the topic at hand, there’s no getting around the persistently-elderly angle that Pump takes.

This is yet another line later echoed in a Tweet by Pump, either lending further credence to his unfeeling savagery, or (perhaps) his commitment to our society’s collective physical fitness by inspiring the elderly to do advanced-level gymnastics.

In Conclusion

None of this was good. While Pump’s initial references to the elderly seemed to be a twisted form of mutual enjoyment, things quickly devolved into selling drugs, and eventually inflicting violence directly on the listener's grandmother.

This analysis is absolute stupidity, but I find it too amusing that a 17-year-old who has so few songs officially released has referenced the elderly half a dozen times throughout the history of his recorded work. The way I see it, there are a few explanations for this lyrical ouroboros:

It’s a creative crutch.

Lil Pump has that little to say that he keeps defaulting to “grandma.”

Deep-seated familial trauma in his own past that Pump may or may not be cognizant of.

Pump thinks that the savagery of his grandma implies, dictates, and directly translates to his own.

By “attacking” the listener and showing disregard for their loved ones, his devil-may-care attitude is preemptively deflecting any criticism they may have of Pump or his music.

Lil Pump truly does fear the uncertainty of death and projects that concern through the multiple references to the elderly in his music. 

It very well could be all or any combination of all of these, but in any case, I feel it’s safe to say that this qualifies as an unhealthy fixation. Whether it’s a profound fear of death, a thinly-veiled attempt to address his own mortality, or irreconcilable childhood trauma, I genuinely hope that Gazzy Garcia can get the help he needs to get over this mental block.

He’s still got many years ahead of him, and a full life to live. If he wants to make it to the status of “Grandpa Pump” he’ll have to overcome this irrational fear and tackle his issues head-on, or else they will continue to emerge in unhealthy ways.

Here’s to you Mr. Pump, I hope you get the help you need and deserve.

I’m sorry for writing this.

[diversemymedia]

Into the Badlands Always Gave The Only Main Black Woman the Shortest End of the Stick (Spoilers)

When Season 2 of Into the Badlands returned, I was excited to see where everyone was, especially Veil (Madeleine Mantock). Season 2 takes a six month gap after the Season 1 finale. Veil had just given birth to her son, Henry, but had been kidnapped by Quinn (Marton Csokas) and lived under him and his henchmen in some forsaken place. I was disappointed by her situation because I could see the incoming trauma that plenty characters of color must face if it meant survival. I thought that it could be the beginning to a meaningful character development and I hoped for the best. However, I wasn’t foolish enough to think she could be exempted from death, and it’s something that forever lingers in the back of my mind with any character of color. One day on Facebook, I came across an article titled “Into The Badlands Gave Us The Worst Character Trope In Its Finale”. I never read it and just by seeing the headline, my guess was right on the money. 

When I first heard about Into the Badlands, I was hesitant. However, actor Daniel Wu, who portrayed the series’ lead character, Sunny, gained my support as I did more research and discovered that he was part of the producing team. Around this time, there were strong discussions of representation going on, and Asian males were part of it. So you could imagine how glad I was when it wasn’t part of the ongoing trend of appropriating East Asian culture & martial art traditions by whitewashing it and giving the lead a white face. The pilot wasn’t the greatest, but I supported the diversity. I was ecstatic to see a martial arts based series that could wholesomely portray an East Asian male without writing him off as some silent caricature or magical Asian stereotype. To add to the hype, his love interest, Veil, was a black woman doctor. He also found a protege named M.K. (Amaris Knight), who’s actor is part South Asian. There were other minor characters of color, but when I first saw Veil, I knew that I had to keep my eye on her because she was the only woman of color with a main role. Mantock is a biracial, light skinned actress, so in my mind I immediately thought of colorism and women in Hollywood. I figured she probably wouldn’t have gotten the role if she weren’t, but I considered her black nonetheless and the showrunners showed their stance also.

Since I was small, I always noticed the token black friend, but after stumbling into online threads and videos posted by black fan girls, I began to notice the unfair and bizarre disconnect with Black woman characters in television, games, books, etc. They were virtually nonexistent and it made me realize that black actresses have a much harder time getting on-screen compared to black men or their non-black counterparts. To make matters worse, the few black woman characters are poorly handled and are written with overused characteristics that translate into unhealthy stereotypes (e.g. the “strong black woman” trope, the “easily angered black woman” or the “sassy black woman”). No one is saying that strong, upset, smart-mouthed black women don’t exist, but it’s not all those black women are. Those same self-sufficient, lively and outspoken women have vulnerabilities and flaws too, and it was a side I rarely saw utilized to counterbalance the issue.

Veil’s backstory was minimal but interesting: She was an orphan under Quinn’s care and was adopted by her parents as a sign of gratitude from Quinn. In Season 1, Veil discovered that she was pregnant with Sunny’s baby and wanted to leave the Badlands. She does whatever it takes to remain alive so she can give birth to her baby. Unlike many other women, she lacked fighting prowess and I figured she’d eventually learn something being with Sunny, a peak martial artist. She didn’t. I didn’t stress it because I figured there were future seasons where I could look forward to that. To make up for it, Veil was intelligent. She could outsmart and be clever without falling into the black genius trope. She invented prostheses to aid the disabled and overall possessed a natural maternal instinct. And while those were great, she’s wasn’t reluctant to risk her life if it meant survival. Her choices were irrational at times but it added depth and complexity to her character’s flaws. Ultimately, she was able to sway a situation in her favor because of her well-known profession. It was something I loved. Veil’s character didn’t have the best writing, but I was blown away seeing that she survived the first season despite being in the middle of so much carnage.

There were few issues that I noticed, like the erasure of her black parents (or parent, considering she’s biracial) and it’s an ongoing trait I’ve began to notice whereas if a character is biracial or racially ambiguous, the character’s parents/relatives of color are out of the picture (e.g. Vixen in the web series, Vixen. Madison Pettis in The Game Plan, Rashida Jones from Parks and Recreation, etc. [Note that it’s mostly women]). Personally, I see it as a tool to avoid confirmation of racial identities and to avoid casting “too many” actors characters of color. Sometimes, there can be a complicated portrayal of race when it comes to biracial characters. In some cases, I find it even weirder when biracial characters have two monoracial parents. Eventually, Veil’s parents are tragically murdered by Quinn, and although it’s still one of the worst traumas any of the characters face, I have mixed, thankful feelings that both weren’t black characters made to instantly be killed off. However, to reaffirm her race, I think I would’ve been fine with a black parent dying off-screen alongside their white partner.

When Veil died in Season 2, I was struck with some emotion. Not only was the death scene heartbreaking, but I was upset by how easy it was for me to predict the scene before it could happen. I thought about the many times black characters have had to sacrifice themselves for the needs of others (commonly known as “Heroic Sacrifice”, racially as “Sacrificial Negroes”) and it bothers me when I see it done to upcoming black actresses because roles for them are scarce to begin with. Since fridging women was a common thing before white feminist leads became a thing, it’s like the fridging torch was happily passed down to women (and even men) of color. Very soon into the season, I had issues with Veil’s predicament since there was nothing she could do to escape her kidnapper’s abuse. She was repeatedly caged in cramped rooms, was always punished by being separated from her baby and went to disastrous lengths to kill one of Quinn’s henchmen during a failed attempt to escape. To add insult to injury, she was still defenseless unlike plenty of the other powerful [white] women in the series. Even Lydia (Orla Brady) showcased some kind of self-defense when killing off thieves that ransacked her father’s group. She’s a Baron’s wife, so it wasn’t questioned. So, why not Veil? She’s the one dating the deadliest Clipper in all of the Badlands and I find it difficult to believe that a character like Sunny never once thought about the potential threats that could follow Veil—I sure fucking did. Just look at where it got her. 

Halfway into Season 2, Veil managed to escape and seek sanctuary at The Widow’s fortress. Unfortunately, a decision that Veil made in Season 1 is casually brought up by the Widow (Emily Beecham) and she is so angered she gives Veil and her baby back to Quinn, despite her belief to “protect all women”. The scene was so pointless, I would’ve preferred the writers not make Veil escape at all. At this point, Veil is abused even more because of her escape. She’s physically assaulted, forced into marriage, nearly raped and more secrets (such as killing the guard and slowly killing Quinn under the guise of treatment) have been revealed in a manner that unintentionally downplays her initial cleverness. When Sunny finally arrived to rescue Veil, I was happy and praying that my own suspicions on Veil would be biased and wrong. During the fight with Sunny, Quinn was stabbed for the hundredth time and still managed to stand and hold a blade to Veil’s neck. For the protection of her loved ones, she sacrifices herself by thrusting the blade through her own throat and into Quinn’s. At this point, I was moved by the acting, but pissed by the writing. Jade (Sarah Bolger), Lydia, Tilda (Ally Ioannides) and Bajie (Nick Frost) are white characters who were all so close to death this season. Jade was spared by both the Widow and Quinn, Lydia avoided natural death situations three times over, Tilda was beat to a bloody pulp by The Widow and Bajie was stabbed in the side with a rusty scissor—yet they all miraculously happened to live. I just never understood it. I can appreciate Sunny being alive, but when I see white main characters constantly outwit death and outlive main characters of color, what other conclusion am I suppose to come to?

Veil’s death instantly reminded fans about the controversial death of Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie) from the now cancelled series, Sleepy Hollow. A year before the Into the Badlands Season 2 finale, the showrunners of Sleepy Hollow had Abbie killed off by making her sacrifice herself, trying to fool others that she did it for the greater good. Abbie was the epitome of a disrespected black female lead. She was given less focal episodes and put through countless traumatic experiences: She got the worst of beatings in fights, spent weeks in dark/demonic dimensions, all to constantly be rescued by her white male co-lead. This time around, Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) had also recently been killed off from The Walking Dead. Although it is understandable that the actress was going to be leading a new series, her character’s death followed the same sacrificial circumstances.

I think fans of the series could agree that Veil’s character was wasted potential. It’s just unsurprising to see that a series trying to uplift bad ass women only seem do the job for the white ones. Just as The Widow’s ‘feminism’ was selective enough to cast out Veil from her fortress, the showrunners ironically did the same. Even if her death was used in a way to motivate Sunny’s story, that’s practically the definition of fridging. What Veil had experienced was enough to motivate Sunny’s arc, Henry’s arc and potentially her own. In retrospect, she could’ve fled with Sunny and learned to defend herself and her son to her best ability. Veil would’ve started out rough but improved overtime (similar to of Daisy from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.). I’m sure plenty of other fans would’ve died to see a face off between The Widow and Veil if they ever crossed paths again. With Sunny and the Widow going toe-to-toe on plenty occasions, Veil could’ve done the same, and it would’ve served the Widow right to get her ass handed to her by the woman she singled out...but nope. White feminist antics are apparently more important. Just the thought on how it could have gone makes it all the more depressing. If it was intentional or not...damn you, Al Gough. With the Abbots around, there’s a chance Veil can be resurrected. They can either save Veil for Season 3 or introduce another black female character.

Into the Badlands, Season 2 Rating: 1.5/5 stars

Feel free to follow my blog for more posts on racial diversity & representation.

[sparda3g]

Attack on Titan Chapter 98 Review

There are good times to go out and have fun with friends and neighbors. There are bad times to go out and destroy enemies and former allies. Marley is preparing to hold a special festival for the earth-shattering news. It’s going to be an extravaganza event. Whom should you be thankful to? Eren. Why? We will know soon enough. While the massacre didn’t occur, the sign and omen is enough to foresee the worst in this nicely build chapter.

The preparation to attack Paradis Island is underway, but we are treated with more reflection of these characters. It’s an eerie display of four kids working hard to become the next warrior; as if it’s a normal lifestyle. It’s also sad to be reminded of Reiner’s flashback when he became a warrior; no matter what generation, history will always repeats itself.

It’s telling that Porco and Colt have their personal opinion about the system being hazy, which is a taboo thing to comment on. Luckily, Zeke is their superior, so he warns them to keep it in their head. It’s also telling how Falco outpacing Gabi at sprinting became possible once he discussed with Eren. I mean, Mr. Kruger.

The contrast between him and Reiner’s influence to Falco is noticeable, though a bit sad since Eren is technically against them. I still hope he will spare Falco. It’s rather funny how Falco worded it oddly about defeating Gabi is for her sake in a confession stand. Young kids are truly growing up so fast. Now the pairing is in tease mode, but Gabi is not having it. I do like how Zeke and Colt are casually playing catch, only to falter by the end of Gabi’s rant. It’s done in a symbolic way that would carry on to the next and prominent scene.

The setup continues on in this chapter, only this time is setting up its grand stage. The Internment Zone is a stage that claims to be the declaration of war announcement. The main priority is to gather up the high status people of countries in one setting and supposedly bring the war to an end by joining to one side. It’s a bit unsettling because the subject these kids are talking about is the ideal of no battle with everyone under one roof. It begs for Eren and others to be the one to bring that end with total annihilation. It sounds like the perfect time to take down as many as they can.

The chapter focuses more on a scenery and preparation for the major downfall that everyone is unaware of. The art is solid in capturing the atmosphere of a pleasant and peaceful time before the highly potential massacre. The night party with Willy Tybur is a possible sign to see him in all cheers one last time before the faithful tomorrow arrives. The thought of a festival is a perfect excuse of thousands of gatherings in one fixed area.

The pleasant sight-seeing of the festival is nerving due to the fact we have spent a while in this setting. I actually feel worried for the kid cast because they are still young and only doing what they were told what is right. Falco is more of breaking the mold since Reiner gave him a notice that the country is nothing but misery. Gabi did detect off-putting feeling as well. While everyone is more or less corrupted by the system, the younger generation needs to escape.

It’s funny to see how Reiner acts like a father figure to the kids and spend his money on food. One-by-one, he grows depressed in a comical fashion. At least he is providing them with care rather than leave them be; now he just have to hope for them to escape from this hellhole. The sight of them smiling and having fun gives a sense of potential last scene. It wouldn’t hurt to do a slice of life chapter…

There are two major signs or ominous foreshadows from this chapter that clearly hints Judgment Day is upon them. One is with Gabi having too much fun and sense that a change is coming. Usually in writing, this only leads to the path of great change and now the seed is planted or should I say the root is growing. The other one is the baseball hurling towards Eren. It left on an ambiguous note because we didn’t see if he catches the ball or not. It is a sense of omen that can only mean the day is here or not. Is the festival really the time for massacre or is it saved for another time? An eerie but a crucial sign.

The main highlight is without a doubt towards the end with Mr. Kruger. Whether you already guessed it or not in the last chapter, this one is concrete confirmation. I love how it was building up the anticipation for Reiner to meet someone Falco has been thrilled to see. The long passage way only grows the excitement and once they meet up, goose bumps rises.

It happens once Mr. Kruger says, “It’s been 4 years.” The confrontation somehow feels surreal; the entire build with Reiner and Eren as friends and foes is capitalized for this moment. I got chills when Eren was glad that Reiner has return back home. The one founding note of his is going back home and here they are, only not on the same term. I don’t know what to expect from this moment but I cannot wait for the next chapter.

It’s a setup chapter for a drastic event and it’s only going to get crazier from this point forward. The nice set of scenery is gentle yet behind lies a dark foreshadowing downfall. The cast are displayed more human than a warrior than usual, creating the tone of human kills human. The last pages are nothing but hype for the long-waited clash of literal two titans. Hell is knocking; it won’t be long till the door opens.

[1dhomeroom]

Harry Styles didn’t just become a rock star – he always was one

Let’s stop pretending that boy bands and rock bands are direct opposites.

Harry Styles has undergone a radical transformation. Say goodbye to the manufactured, sweet-cheeked pop baby of yore, and say hello to the authentic rock star of tomorrow. This is the narrative the vast majority of coverage of his debut, self-titled album (released today) will offer you.

The New York Post led with how “Harry Styles went from teeny-bop to classic rock”, after “years of being cooped up in the cage of One Direction”, leading to a shift in “the teen-girl hysteria” that followed 1D “like a screeching shadow.” The Daily Mail quipped that he has moved “in a very different direction”, while Metro agreed the album is “a definite departure from his One Direction days.”

“One Direction’s fans have grown up” NME wrote, and “Harry’s music has too.” Buzzfeed announced that “Harry Styles Isn’t Following The Pop Star Playbook”, while Stereogum headlined their review “Harry Styles, Prince Of Pop, Takes A Stab At Rock Stardom”, opening with “Here’s a sign of the times for you: The most famous member of the world’s leading boy band is trying to become a rock star”. The Telegraph’s review found the departure so stark that it offered the following intensely patronising speculation: “It is so old-fashioned it may actually come across as something new to its target audience. After all, most One Direction fans wouldn’t even have been twinkles in their parents’ eyes when this kind of ragged confection was all the rage.” Because, tragically, society has still not discovered a way to make music from the past available to modern ears.

Of course, there is some truth in the observation that this is not a One Direction album. More relaxed, dishevelled and playful than any One Direction product, Styles experiments with a diverse range of influences on this debut, and lyrically, you can absolutely tell that these are the most sincere words of a 23-year-old, not an experienced adult songwriter trying to get inside the brain of a teenager.

But fans of the band will see this album as a natural next step for Styles after One Direction’s increasingly classic rock-influenced songs. After their first two albums, Up All Night and Take Me Home, the band began to become more guitar-heavy and nostalgic: established publications were outraged that Midnight Memories’ lead single “Best Song Ever” dared to reference The Who, while the bands final two albums – Four and Made in the AM, are packed with varied rock references, particularly songs on which Styles has a writing credit, even if more traditional music press insisted the albums remained “bubble-gum”.

Harry even chose to play one of these One Direction tracks on his Today appearance this week, Four’s “Stockholm Syndrome”, which takes the experience of being taken hostage as its central (potentially problematic) conceit. It’s a favourite amongst fans who never thought they’d devote themselves so sincerely to a boy band – “Baby, look what you’ve done to me.” It sounded complimentary to the songs he played from the new album “Carolina”, “Sign of the Times” and “Ever Since New York”. For me, “Sweet Creature”, the second single from Styles’s debut, is a natural extension of One Direction’s “I Want To Write You a Song” and tracks co-written by Styles, “If I Could Fly” and “Walking in the Wind”.

In terms of music, then, Harry hasn’t made as radical a departure as many suggest – so why is the predominant narrative still one of an aspiring rock artist desperately hoping to shake off his pop past? Certainly, he’s long looked like a rock star – always the most androgynous and bohemian of his bandmates, experimenting with floral suits, women’s jeans and heeled boots. Pictures of the four boys together sometimes seemed as though they were taken in an alternative universe where Marc Bolan had accidentally stumbled accross Take That on the red carpet. He single-handedly brought back the pussy-bow, for God’s sake. He’s always had the charisma of a rock star, the mystery, the mischievousness, and the style of a rock star.

Styles is, in fact, very much the traditional rock star – his very appeal may be due to the fact that he is the most traditional one we’ve had in years. Like McCartney, John Lennon, David Bowie, Jagger, Marc Bolan, or Kurt Cobain, Styles is creative, interested in fashion, androgynous, boyish and followed around the world by a stream of enthusiastic fans, who are mostly young women. Like boy bands past and present, the rock canon is littered with pretty boys with ambiguous sexualities engaging in over the top homosocial bonding on stage – Harry could not tick these boxes more enthusiastically. Harry Styles didn’t just become a rock star overnight – he always was one.

The boy band is still often seen as the antithesis of the rock band, despite their many cultural similarities in terms of audience and marketing. In fact, bands like The 1975 and Blossoms are exploiting those overlaps by positioning themselves somewhere between boy band and rock group. But the boy band remains dismissed and derided while rock groups are mythologised and worshipped as art.

One person who seems less interested in this particular narrative is Styles himself. In his Rolling Stone interview, Styles said of One Direction, “I love the band, and would never rule out anything in the future. The band changed my life, gave me everything.” He went on to celebrate the young women who have supported his career. “Who’s to say that young girls who like pop music – short for popular, right? – have worse musical taste than a 30-year-old hipster guy? That’s not up to you to say. Young girls like the Beatles. You gonna tell me they’re not serious? How can you say young girls don’t get it?”

In a small cinema in Notting Hill last night, Styles hosted an intimate screening of a new documentary, Harry Styles: Behind The Album, for a group of fans from One Direction’s golden age. After introducing it, he stayed to watch from the side-lines. The hour-long film is a striking look at the last year or so of Styles’s life, including clips of him drinking and swimming in Jamaica, lounging around in Hawaiian shirts snoozing in the ocean on a surfboard; shots of his much-discussed haircut of 2016; an impressive Bob Dylan impression; and several minutes devoted to Styles’s bromance with his guitarist Mitch Rowland, with clips of them flirting and exchanging guitars and declarations of love. (The album’s executive producer, Jeff Bhasker, told the New York Post of Rowland, “He’s kind of like the Keith Richards to Harry’s Mick Jagger. That type of dynamic between the lead guitar player and the singer needs to exist for the type of music Harry wants to do.”)

About 15 minutes in to the documentary, we cut to black and white clips of One Direction playing their biggest stadium shows, while Harry reflects on the strangeness of the narrative being imposed upon him. “When you leave a band – a boy band – you feel like you have to go in a completely different direction, and say, ‘Don’t worry everyone, I hated it, it wasn’t me.’”

He pauses and smiles.

“I loved it.”

Cheers erupted from the fans in the row in front of me.

“And I don’t feel like I have to apologise for that. I never felt like I was faking it.”

Perhaps the main thing that separates Styles from some of his rock counterparts is his enormous respect for pop music, young women, and the extraordinary dynamic that can emerge between an artist and their fans. Whether this is a calculated fan-servicing move or not – it’s one that critics should aspire to.

“The thing with the band,” Harry continues in the documentary, “was that it went so well, from the start, that it almost felt like everything had to get a little bigger each time. I think at some point it’s quite stressful. There’s only so high you can go, at some point you’re not going to make that expectation. Going out on a high and now feeling like I’m starting afresh, I came to terms with the fact that that was so great, and if I never get to do that on that level again, that’s okay.”

Styles has confronted the fact that the sweaty combination of youth, beauty, hype, and sheer devotion that propelled him and his bandmates to ridiculous levels of fame is unsustainable. To keep moving forward, he knows they had to change. But changing, for Styles, isn’t a simply clean break. And it doesn’t involve discarding, rebranding or disowning the people who helped him get where he is.

Harry Styles is out now. Harry Styles: Behind The Album is out on Monday on Apple Music.

http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/music-theatre/2017/05/harry-styles-solo-one-direction-rock-pop-boyband

"I loved it." ... past tense

[latestbycloud-blog]

What's in store from Google's occasion on Tuesday Pixel telephones, Daydream VR, Google Home, and that's only the tip of the iceberg!

Is it true that you are prepared for some equipment? On October 4, at 9am PT (Noon ET), Google is facilitating a major dispatch get-together for its new telephones and potentially a wide range of other Google Hardware gadgets.

Given the way that Google kept its occasion welcome properly ambiguous, the talk process has been in high rigging. So with not as much as seven days until the enormous day, it's an ideal opportunity to deal with it all and decide the plausibility.First up: Hype. Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google's SVP of Android, Chrome OS, and Google Play, has been talking this occasion up in the most grounded conceivable terms. He contrasted the occasion with the dispatch of Android 1.0 eight years prior, and "has an inclination" we'll be discussing the 10/4 occasion quite a while from now. That is fundamentally encouraging this occasion will be up there with a standout amongst the most huge occasions in Google's history. Solid words.And it's not simply tweets—Google is making the unordinary stride of publicizing this dispatch occasion to typical individuals. There are announcements and statues in real urban areas, TV commercials on primetime demonstrates like Monday Night Football, and promotions at the highest point of Google Calendar and the base of Google.com.

In the event that you focused on Google I/O 2016, you may get a touch of history repeating itself from this occasion. Google reported a ton of items at I/O, yet nothing was truly discharged. The Android N Developer Preview was at that point out, and nearby that Google discussed Allo, Duo, Android Wear 2.0, Daydream VR, and Google Home. With Allo and Duo as of late discharged, and a significant number of these items reputed for the October 4 occasion, it appears Google is at long last prepared to flaunt all that it discussed at I/O. Gossipy tidbits aside, the majority of these items were declared with a "not long from now" discharge date, and since it's nearly October, there isn't much "year" left. They must turn out soon.

Notwithstanding what number of items are discharged, the 10/4 occasion will be the turning out gathering for the Google Hardware division. Early this year, Rick Osterloh, the previous leader of Motorola, was entrusted with making another division inside Google particularly for buyer equipment. Osterloh's LinkedIn profile announces his title to be "SVP Hardware at Google." Being a senior VP at Google is a major ordeal, putting the equipment bunch on balance with the Android, Search, and Ads groups, which permits Osterloh to report specifically to CEO Sundar Pichai. Google Hardware is clearly going to be a major ordeal.

Google Hardware is the new watchman for all physical Google items. The expectation is by all accounts that Google will deliver a strong equipment portfolio, rather than having a few groups all doing their own thing. The business as usual for Google Hardware from the get-go seems, by all accounts, to be items that are really marked "Google." We're seeing the beginnings of this with the "Made by Google" battle prompting 10/4.

New Google telephones—The Pixel and Pixel XL

We should begin with two items that are certainly propelling at the occasion: the new Google Phones. These gadgets are referenced in the welcome, which unmistakably portrays a diagram of a cell phone. All the pre-discharge spills indicate Google discharging two telephones called the "Pixel" and "Pixel XL," essentially a similar plan in two distinct sizes with some spec contrasts.

Before jumping too profound into the gossip rabbit gap, how about we discuss the dependability of these sources. Most by far of this data originates from Android Police, which has as of now gave a few bits of information on the Pixel pair. The site nailed the codenames the distance back in April, which we know are genuine on account of AOSP references. In July, it made a beautiful spot on render for the gadgets, which coordinated up well with spy shots that turned out months after the fact. The site likewise accurately anticipated the date of the occasion 19 days ahead of time. Android Police has been on focus for Pixel information up to this point. (Notwithstanding the site, we'll likewise reference things from Evan Blass. Through his @evleaks Twitter record and position at VentureBeat, he's turn into an installation of the pre-discharge tech news cycle.)

With the approach of the Google Hardware division, Google's telephone marking is getting totally redone. Previously, the organization had a lead line of "Nexus" gadgets, however the agreement is that Google will receive a brand made by the Chrome OS group, calling the new telephones "Pixel" gadgets. Not at all like the Nexus gadgets, it likewise appears like the "accomplice" OEM marking is run with Pixel. The gadget producer seems pretty much unknown; these are "Google Pixel" telephones with no other marking. Google's "Made by Google" promoting effort in the keep running up to the occasion lines up pleasantly with this talk.

In any case, the "Made by Google" crusade appears to be only somewhat guileful. We know these gadgets are made by HTC. It's not recently that the gossip process has reliably pegged them as worked by HTC; HTC really documented the FCC printed material for these gadgets. As HTC-constructed telephones, these don't look altogether different from the organization's most recent outlines. Like the HTC A9 and HTC Desire 10, the Pixel telephones appear to be intensely affected by the iPhone plan.

As indicated by Android Police, the assemblages of the Pixel telephones are metal with back glass windows and iPhone-style radio wire lines. The Pixel and Pixel XL are essentially indistinguishable plans in two unique sizes. The site says both gadgets have a Snapdragon 821 processor, 4GB of RAM, a 12MP back camera, 8MP front camera, raise unique finger impression sensor, and a USB Type C port. The greater Pixel XL, codename "Marlin," will have a 5.5-inch 2560×1440 AMOLED show, a 3450mAh battery, and 32GB or 128GB stockpiling alternatives. The littler Pixel, codenamed "Sailfish," will have a 5-inch 1080p AMOLED show, a 2770mAh battery, and no less than a 32GB stockpiling alternative.

Try not to get excessively energized by the new "Snapdragon 821" processor—it's only a clock-knock rendition of the Snapdragon 820, which hops from 2.15GHz to 2.4GHz. The Pixel gadgets will be one of the first with the "new" chip, thus far the Xiaomi Mi 5s is the main other telephone we are aware of with the same SoC.

One of the best parts of the Nexus gadgets has ordinarily been their incentivized offer. The 2015 Nexus 6P was a top of the line metal telephone for $500, while the Nexus 5X matched marginally bring down specs with a plastic body for $380. As indicated by Android Police, the low costs wouldn't survive the move to the "Pixel" mark. The site reports the littler Pixel telephone will begin at $649 with month to month financing alternatives accessible from Google. That is a genuine cost increment, and with Google charging "iPhone cash" for these gadgets, there is no reason for bargains or cut corners.

That same report expresses the accessible hues as blue, aluminum, and dark, with Verizon joining to convey the gadget. One of the best parts of owning a Google gadget is the fast refresh cycle contrasted with whatever is left of the Android biological system. In any case, if history is any sign, Verizon can—and will—defer your updates, so don't purchase from Verizon in the event that you can help it.

Programming is another high point for Google telephones, with fast updates and an untouched AOSP interface. Previously, Nexus telephones had the incidental select element; most quite the Google Home Launcher on the Nexus 5. It appears Google is significantly growing the restrictive programming lineup for the Pixel telephones. As indicated by Android Police, the Pixel telephones will dispatch with a selective home screen, settings, System UI, a night mode, and a few different elements. None of the elements have been extremely eye-popping up until now, however we'll see what the occasion brings.

The primary Daydream VR headset

At Google I/O, Google reported "Wander off in fantasy land VR"— another Android biological system standard for telephone fueled virtual reality. The idea works a great deal like the Samsung Gear VR: a telephone spaces into a "stupid" VR headset, giving the show and figuring pull for virtual reality. Google is one-increasing the Gear VR by ordering that each Daydream headset accompany a solitary three-pivot movement controller, giving designers a standard controller to produce for. The controller ought to be more like a Nintendo Wii remote than the positionally followed HTC Vive controllers, however it would even now give clients some similarity of hand controls. Not at all like the Gear VR, Daydream will be interested in any Android OEM that meets the base necessities.

Android has had a low-quality VR arrangement called "Google Cardboard" for quite a while, however Android 7.0 Nougat rolled out a few improvements to the center OS that ought to make Daydream VR a higher-quality ordeal. Once more, a large portion of this is following in the strides of the Gear VR while bringing it to everybody. To attempt to keep up an astounding knowledge crosswise over merchants, Google is setting out a few necessities for telephone and headset producers, and the organization will guarantee gadgets as "Wander off in fantasy land Ready."

Google hasn't said anything official in regards to Daydream showing up at the occasion, yet an Android Police report guarantees the main Daydream VR headset will dispatch at the 10/4 occasion. The new Pixel Phones are required to be one of the main Daydream VR perfect gadgets, so having the VR headset prepared close by them bodes well. Google's VR SDK as of late "graduated out of beta," and Google guaranteed "the primary Daydream-prepared telephones and headset are coming this fall." All these points of interest loan more assurance to the possibility of a Daydream dispatch one week from now.

We've as of now observed early takes a gander at how Android will change to oblige a VR interface. Google has discharged screenshots of a VR-driven home screen and Google Play Store. The huge news will be what the headset and controller resemble, how well the controller works, and what it will cost. The cost shouldn't be excessively costly. Not at all like the Gear VR, which packs a couple of additional sensors, Google needs the headset to be totally "idiotic," depending on the telephone to do sensor obligation. You'll essentially pay for focal points wrapped in a hunk of plastic alongside.