#anyways guess who's main special interest has been the ocean since they were like 4-

[the-flying-aquatos]

Y’know what, fuck this, fuck you *marine biology’s your psychonauts*  ft. my internet bestie for about one screenshot

Bonus Sam Idea:

[muthaz-rapapa]

Let’s talk TroPreCure! (^∀^ 🌺)

i’m so stupidly proud of this dumb pun “tropurikyua~”, hahahahaha

Last post of the year and wow is there are lot to be excited for!

I even had to make a list for the stuff I want to talk about and I’m sure I already forgot one or two things but we’ll get to them as we continue to float~ along the wave to February 28th, mmkay? :)

Now for what has peaked my interest so far. And yes, we have to talk about the following first:

1) HealPre the shortest Precure season??

Unless they plan for double features in February (which I doubt but you never know), HealPre is likely going to reach only 45 episodes long instead of the usual 48~50 before TroPre I’m using this shortening of the title for now so if there’s a better alternative, tell me and I’ll switch out begins its broadcast.

Understandable because the producers probably want to get back to their normal scheduling as soon as possible (toy sales, y’know) and I suspect pushing the start of the new season back by a month is the most they’re willing to compromise.

As for me, I’m quite happy about this since HealPre’s lost its hold on my attention a while ago so the sooner TroPre gets here, the better. Though the downside might be a scrambled climax and a rushed, underwhelming ending for HealPre (I dunno if it’s January’s titles that feel a bit messy or if the hiatus is still throwing me off) but whatever. We’ll refresh ourselves with the new blood Cures so it’s all good.

2) Tropical movie announced for Autumn 2021, no All Stars??

(source)

First saw this mentioned on Youtube somewhere but it’s all over the fandom forums by now. I mean, HealPre’s movie is set for March, the usual time slot for All Stars release. If Toei intended for there to be an All Stars in 2021, there’s no way they would announce the seasonal movie before it so speculations of them skipping it this year are probably true.

To squeeze it somewhere between March and October-ish would force them to readjust their budgets as well and I don’t think even Toei wants to go through that extra hassle after all the trouble the pandemic’s caused for everyone already. It’s just easier to resume All Stars in 2022.

That, and I think Laura being a major character in TroPre despite not having a Cure title (yet) would make for an awkward situation when the three latest teams gather so perhaps that’s also one of the reasons. But I’ll get back to Laura in a bit.

3) Cure Summer is a RAINBOW Cure

So god help me if I see anyone calling her a Pink Cure.

Yes, she’s the lead Cure for this season. NO, she is not a Pink Cure.

Look, even the official website has a rainbow overlay for her profile pic and text font while everyone else’s respective theme colors are a solid hue:

Therefore, RAINBOW.

In promotional material and merchandising, they’re probably going to advertise her primarily with pink bah and at worst, she might occasionally be labeled as a White Cure with multiple subcolors (her outfit is not pink-dominant) but definitely NOT. PINK.

...also, this goes without saying but f***yea, we finally got a lead Cure practically and unabashedly wearing the LGBTQ flag and you cannot tell me otherwise, Toei!

Own up to it! Declare Manatsu/Cure Summer as the Precure queer icon!

I’m not gonna stop yellin’ until you do! 😠

4) Laura = obvious midseason Cure is obvious

First of all, Laura is a babe. I already love her the best and she’s not even Precure yet. <3

Anyways, the set-up is pretty much in the description. Important main character who’s not a mascot, stated to have a self-confident personality and just speaks her mind (oooh, I like~ :D), magical/foreign being from another world looking for Precure to save her home, possesses her own special item(s), has aspirations to become the next Queen (so she’s a princess-candidate or something to that effect, I suppose).

We’ve seen various combinations of these traits in past midseason (and a few starter) Cures so nobody should be surprised when we all guessed that one of the Cures would be a real live mermaid.

The only question is why not just make Laura a Cure from the get-go if she’s introduced to us at the beginning (like Hime or Lala) and having a team of five with no unnecessary extra add-ons later on (like Smile).

Well, there’s a simple answer for that: formula.

Toei is afraid that if they don’t spit out some new animation sequence at the halfway and third quarter points of the show, the kids will lose interest and abandon the series altogether. Which means failed toy sales. Oh nooo... [/sarcasm]

...Yea. 

And this way they can also have Laura available in the Cure lineup for the next All Stars in 2022 instead of making her sit the fight out if we were going to have one in 2021. I’m convinced that’s gotta be one of the reasons. *shrug*

But ok, whatever. Her debut is gonna be later, that’s all. She’s a delayed Cure.  Midseason Cure, same difference.

Moving along to the more important stuff now like what’s her Cure name gonna be, y/y?

Well, knowing Toei, a translation of the term “mermaid” into another language is the most predictable route even though we already have a Cure Mermaid. Not like that ever stopped them from repeating words before (ex. Cure Happy vs Cure Felice). Though if they do go down that road, I hope they opt for the Spanish/Italian “sirena” and not the French “sirène” because the latter sounds too close to how Cure Selene is pronounced in Japanese. And, putting it nicely, we all know Japanese pronunciation of foreign words is as off kilter as can be.

Hell, even the the Portuguese “sereia” sounds aesthetic as hell so it’d be nice if they can just remember there are other languages that exist out there besides Japanese, English and French when making the final decision at the writing table! *stomps foot* >:/

Alternatively, “nereid” or “naiad” are good choices too but they remind me too much of Greek myths and Laura’s from the Grand Ocean which covers more than just a couple of seas (Greece is surrounded by three, btw) so...

I dunno. But whatever it’s gonna be, she’s definitely got a strong association with water and her powers will probably be based on that.

As for theme color, since there’s noticeably no blue or green Cure in the starter lineup, it’s likely she will take up that spot when she debuts around ep 20.

Pink is also open since Cure Summer, again, is technically not a Pink Cure and Laura’s hair and tail fin are hot and light pink respectively but looking at Laura’s design and concept, does anyone seriously believe that?

Her upper torso consists of aquamarine while the body of her tail is definitely some shade of cyan, implying they’re aiming for somewhere around the middle of green and blue on the lighter spectrum.

And yea, I’m aware that green and blue are considered exchangeable in some perspectives with how close some of their shades are to each other but officially, I think Laura’s gonna be grouped with the Green Cures.

Cuz of the hair. If Laura’s gonna keep it the same or a similar shade after transforming, that is. The Blues have always had cool-colored hair so putting Laura in with them might disrupt that harmony whereas if you put her with the few Greens there are (including Parfait), she’d fit right in.

I mean, we’ll see but that makes the most sense, doesn’t it?

On another note, I just want to say that I love how they added frills to her arms instead of letting her elbows go bare naked. It definitely makes her look more like a genuine mermaid than if she didn’t have them (remember, half fish doesn’t mean half the body :P).

5) Magical Items

Frankly, I’m tired of seeing the transformation device being a compact again even though one of the main motifs is make-up this season. But at least, as far as Precure compacts goes, the Tropical one is my favorite cuz of how cute and delightfully colorful its toy version looks! So I guess I’m okay with it.

The Heart Rouge Rod, though? ...I dunno. I think it would’ve been fine without that...straw (?) jutting out at the top. It looks weird, doesn’t it look weird? :S

As for the collectible clip-ons, I can live without those for the rest of my life. Yeesh.

Laura’s items, the Aqua Pot and the Ocean Prism Mirror.

Again with the portable, travel-size housing. *sigh* 😩

Alright, I can let this year slide cuz Laura (I’m so soft for her, omg) probably won’t be getting legs for 20 weeks so she’s got to move about on land somehow. But unless they’re really thinking about turning this idea of carrying your apartment around in your bag/pocket/purse into a reality (cuz that would be effin’ awesome), please be more creative with your toys.

On the other hand, I’m much more interested in the Ocean Prism Mirror but from what Kusyami (the Precure merchandise reviews I follow on Youtube) said in his latest vid, this is the ED dance item so don’t know if it’ll actually have an relevance to the story or not. But I did hear him mention it having something to do with the Queen as well and since Laura wishes to become Queen, maybe it’ll be important after all? Maybe it’s her transformation device?

That’d be super cool. Let’s continue the trend of the midseason Cure having a different transformation item than the starters. Honestly, we should alternate every other year or two but we’ve gone three seasons with all of them using the same henshin gimmicks up till HealPre and I just want a break from that.

6) Fin sleeves??

These look so impractical for combat so maybe it’s exclusive to group attacks.

And/or a sort of precursor to the super forms?

*GASP* Does that mean they all eventually turn into mermaids? 🤩

7) Yui finally became Precure!! 😭

lol, it’s all crack from this point on so don’t take it too seriously but man, after Yuni’s deceptive braids, I thought I wasn’t gonna see anything that reminded me of Yui for a while and lo behold, Sango.

kehehehehehe xD;

Though Yui might be closer to Minori in terms of personal interests (fairytales and storybooks).

8) Akira, the actual Onee-chan version

I didn’t think this when I first saw her but once I read “Onee-san” in her profile, there’s no saving you now. Sorry, Asuka. 😅

Also, damn, do her sandals make her feet look big! Compare them to the heels she wears as Flamingo. Are they even the same?! lololol

9) ...this sounds awfully familiar...

Translation:

Tokimeku Tokonatsu! [Exciting/Thrilling Everlasting Summer!] Cure Summer! Kirameku Hoseki! [Sparkling Jewel!] Cure Coral!  Hirameku Fuurutsu! [Flashing Fruit!] Cure Papaya!

Japanese reiteration:

Mallow/Mao: Pink no tokimeki! Lillie: Blue no kirameki! Lana/Suiren: Yellow no kagayaki!

….........

@Toei 

Care to explain yourselves, punks?! 

୧(ʘ ∀ ʘ ╬)

[ginasneesby]

September - Viv and Andy part 1

2 years late but in enforced lockdown seems the best time to complete these blogs if I am able to remember to any degree what I actually did.

My first visitors were my sister Viv and her husband Andy, they had planned to come to me for 10 days, sandwiched between short trips to see friends in Australia; meaning I didn’t get the jet lag portion or the sad our trip is almost over portion! Viv had also done a lot of research and even booking in advance so most of the activities were sorted and paid for. This made it easier for me having only been nursing since coming back in July and then having taken more trips than I should have done really given how much money I had saved, spreading the cost meant we could all do everything and any extra costs were paid for with those weeks’ wages!

Their flight got in around 4pm on Thursday 6th, the day after I got back from Queenstown and a few weeks after Rarotonga so sort of felt like I was living at the airport; my carbon footprint this year was pretty shocking. They had booked a posh flat in central Auckland just round the corner from the Sky Tower which I drove directly to, luckily arriving late enough to miss parking restrictions so I could come in and see the place too. Having this flat the whole trip meant they could pack small bags for our planned trips and leave all the rest behind, also there was a gym in the complex which apparently is important ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It did however mean their self-catering kitchen was empty, so first job was to head to a supermarket to grab some essentials, the next day we hadn’t planned anything out of town so coffee and milk were a must. We decided however to go out for dinner rather than cook so I took them for a short walk down to the Viaduct and Wynyard Quarter to see the harbour bridge, marina and view across to Devonport. We ate burgers or something similar at a bar and had a couple of cheap cocktails making it to well gone 9 o’clock before all the travelling (and I’m sure some jetlag) kicked in and we all headed home.

The next day I left the pair to figure out Auckland transport and met them at the Devonport ferry terminal, from here we took a gentle hike up Mount Victoria behind my flat (also known as the windiest hill in Auckland) with great views of the harbour, bridge and skyline. There is also an old gun turret type thing that was positioned here because it’s near the opening to the Hauraki Gulf and, I guess, the Pacific Ocean. Obviously we had to take the ‘there’s a giant gun between my legs’ photos but the classic NZ weather of blue sky, crazy wind and blazing sun directly in your eyes led to some interesting facial expressions. We had a late start to the day so after a few hours and a quick stop to see my flat, we were ready to head back over to the city and go for a drink. I took them to an Irish bar which I know seems so wrong but actually there isn’t really what you’d call a typical New Zealand pub (unlike the outdoor bars in Europe) so any pub was good; this one I knew did some classic NZ beers which was good enough for a local feel. We didn’t stay long as we were booked in for a full itinerary of activities on the Saturday but it was nice to end our first full day with a couple of beers, that’s what holidays are all about isn’t it.

Saturday saw an early start to catch the ferry to Waiheke Island, we tried to stay outside on the boat initially but all that wind that’s blow on Mount Victoria, also blows through the Hauraki Gulf and across the bow of the ship, so it was a bit too chilly to remain for the whole journey. There were lots of people on the boat, including a whole host of local primary/middle school football teams who were heading to Waiheke for a tournament; there was a lot of excitement so must have been a big deal! On arrival we were picked up with only about 6 others to head to the Ecozip HQ for the first of our ‘zip, wine and dine’ plans. The sun was blazing as we started out safety briefing for the 3 large zip lines we were about to throw ourselves down, all of which flew over a working vineyard and beautiful patch of NZ bush which we would then walk back through after getting to the bottom. The views from the top were amazing; I love the Auckland skyline anyway but seeing it across the water with the sun shining added an extra splash of magic; always makes a special holiday activity particularly memorable. The zip lines were set up in 2 so Viv and Andy went down together, of course trying to race each other, how else do you zip line, I went down by myself which meant I could 1) take in my surroundings and 2) film the others trying to beat each other. Not sure there’s anything you could actually do to increase your speed but I know they were trying. Each zip faced in a slightly different direction and was positioned high above the bush so each journey down was a new view; I highly recommend doing it as it was great fun. Once we got to the bottom, we were able to loosen our harnesses for the return climb, the guides walked us back up through the bush, pointing out the native plants, trees and animals which the company is helping to preserve and restore.

We were taken back to the ferry port to continue our day which for us meant being picked up by a different coach and taken to the first of 4 wine stops, Stonyridge Vineyard. We had a brief tour of the vines and the cork trees that they grew on site plus a taster of 3 different wines which we were then able to buy a large discounted glass of to have with lunch. Our tables were set up outside on a deck near the cork and olive trees and overlooking rolling green hills, if there’s a better spot to start an afternoon of drinking I haven’t found it. Also a good shout to sell a large glass for cheap at the start, as I found out on a later trip without this option, the tasters as not enough to keep you going for the whole afternoon (and I’m really against paying $15 for a small glass.) The next stop was Rangihoua estate in the centre of the island for some olive oil tasting and some different wine. By this point in typical Auckland fashion the sun had come out in force and wearing jumper, jeggings and boots I was overheating a bit but also determined to catch some sun following a long grey winter. Casita Miro was an amazing vineyard up in the hills towards the north coast of the island, ran by a family with decoration inspired by the Park Guell in Barcelona and Gaudi’s style of mosaic. The vines also grew on a pretty vertical hill, the dad (who was also a Dr) clearly put all his time and effort into the place and it really showed; what free time he could possibly have i don’t know. They gave us a tasting of 5 different wines, red/white and rose, each with a small complimentary snack balanced on a plate on top of the glass; some bruschetta, some cheese and some fruit, classy. Our last spot was Mudbrick Vineyard, with views back towards the city and Rangitoto island across the glittering green water of the Gulf, their vines went up the hill behind the vineyard which must have been near the highest point of the island? The whole place was obviously well established as a venue and even had extra buildings for wedding parties to use a bridal suites etc. We were able to buy more wine and stay longer if we wanted as our return ticket was valid until the last ferry, probably around 9pm. But we decided to head back with the coach and catch the planned ferry, totally in the mood to jump into another bar around the terminal and continue drinking. But in usual fashion the 40 minute ferry journey zapped us of this will and by the time we got back an early start and the best part of a couple of bottles of wine each caught up with us so we decided not to carry on but to crawl into bed probably grabbing something tasty and unhealthy on the way home.

Sunday, after a slow start, we decided to drive up the coast to Muriwai beach where there is a large colony of Gannets living on the rocks, I had been earlier in the year and there were barely any birds there, I guess September being the start of Spring they had all come back to nest. The west shore of Auckland is famous for high winds and crazy waves (they set a whole beach rescue programme at Piha just down the road) so there are some quite dramatic rock formations along the coast. Muriwai has a designated walkway up through the colony and when crowded with birds they literally nest everywhere, right up to the edge of the path so you can get a really close look at them. There was a bit of shagging going up close too which made some of the parents walking around move their brood on swiftly. Down the hill from the birds you can walk along the rock when the tide is out and people come here to fish and look in the rock pools, there’s probably some fresh shellfish being pulled out here and taken straight home for dinner. I had recently discovered a Sunday night market under one of the shopping centres near me which had fresh homemade Asian foods which were all pretty amazing. You could get a pile of dumplings or bao for not many dollars which we did and shared them between us plus some added satay chicken and other deep fried goodies. Not to mention the desserts on offer, ice cream/crepes/waffles all with fruit and chocolate bits and sauces in case the main course wasn’t enough calories. Stomachs filled and plans finalised for our flight the next day, I drove my guests back to their apartment and took myself home to pack for the next adventure down to the south island.

[canvaswolfdoll]

CanvasWatches: The Dragon Prince

Netflix is making a live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series.

Just… no? I realize time and development has been put into this. People are employed. But… the first series was magic, stop trying to recapture it.

Netflix has this problem where they want to propel themselves forward with original content, but that content is very mediocre. They try reviving old series and produce productions that disappoint.[1] The original concepts mostly fade into obscurity, are Stranger Things (which had one pretty good season, and then a mediocre second season), or is BoJack Horseman which I haven’t watched but haven’t heard a bad word about.

Then there’s their irritating handling of Anime.[2]

Netflix is willing to experiment and let creators do what they want. I admire that. But (and trust me, I hate to say this), they need focus testing. They need a stricter format. Edges for creators to bump up against and work around.

A standard season length, for one. An allotted time per episode maybe. Make production a puzzle to solve.

Instead they say ‘Let’s do the live-action Avatar series no one asked for, and is a passive insult to the original!’[3]

Which drags us into The Dragon Prince.

Spoilers! You might want to watch it for yourself (it’s nine episodes), but if you don’t mind spoilers, go ahead. I’m not the City Watch.

So, I think we’ve finally figured it out. We had Avatar: The Last Airbender, which was great. Then we distilled the creative staff, ran experiments and isolated elements.

Legend of Korra was good. Had the creators produce it, but not the head writer. The world was the same, but evolved in interesting ways. Good character concepts and real heart, but still missing the magic and character relationships that resonated so well in the first series.

Now, with The Dragon Prince, we get to see what happens when you isolate AtLA’s head writer, Aaron Ehasz.

You get a cliche fantasy setting, weak main plot, and a lot of cheap AtLA mimicry. But you also get some super charming child characters, intriguing (if not currently complex) villains, and small details that could build up to something great.

Which is to say: go to Bryke for the world and myth arc, go to Ehasz for the character interactions.

There it is! The ultimate break down! Let’s pack this up and…

Okay, fine. You want to hear my opinions on The Dragon Prince. That’s… fair, I guess.

So, in this setting, magic comes from six source: The sun! The moon! The Stars! The Ocean! The Earth! I think the sky?[4]

However, then humanity created a seventh magic! Dark Magic! Ooo, so evil, so dastardly!

Sigh.

Just once, I’d like dark magic to just be misunderstood. If they called it Life Magic, they’d probably have better PR.

Anyways, humanity went to war with the elves, but the Dragon King got sick of the fighting, so he sent the humans west, elves to the east, and divided the continent in half with a lava river.

Humanity didn’t really like this, so they killed the dragon king and his egg. So that’s vengeance.

Except this upset the elves because, y’know, murder’s bad. So they send a party from the assassin elf faction: The Moon Shadow Elves! They turn invisible under moonlight![5]

They’re gonna kill the Human king and his son to make things even. Because suddenly murder’s not so bad?

However, a member of the group is a child who couldn’t will herself to kill.

Basically, that cool and exciting setting you created when you were fourteen? Good news, it’s a Netflix Show now! Yay!

Also, the first season is Book 1: Moon.

And the title card is formatted exactly like Avatar, but with white text on a black background.

So the world isn’t special, and they’re deliberately aping some Avatar trappings. But that’s fine, there’s still the characters and plot. We could bicycle this!

So, what do we have with the humans? A beloved king with a dead wife and two children? Okay… both are sons,[6] so at least it’s not the usual nuclear structure. And, hey, the eldest prince is the king’s step son! Nice change.

Who else? King has an advisor that uses dark magic, suggested killing the dragon king and the egg, and talks above his station. But, hey, Lord Viren has two charming children, and he seems genuinely concerned about his king’s survival and the good of…

Oh, he gets a magic makeover in the final episode to make him look more inhuman, and spends the season plotting to take the throne.

Ugh. Of course.

Well, what about Viren’s children? Claudia is a mage like her dad, and is a cloudcuckoolander. Good choice. And she doesn’t do much that’s actively evil. We’ve got Ty Lee in Zuko’s role. I’m game.

Soren is… well, he’s going to be Azula. He doesn’t have her sadistic streak, but he’s been given the job of eliminating claims to the throne, is a competent combatant, and Viren motivates him with being in line for the throne.

He could turn, but my money’s on just being Azula.

Now, to be clear, Viren wasn’t obviously evil. There were plenty of early moments that hinted that he could be sympathetic and non-evil. However, he does spiral into torture and deceit, so once the season is over, there’s no ambiguity. Sorry.

Hey, what about the main cast?

Prince Callum is voiced by Sokka! Awesome! Jack De Sena needs more work. This time, he gets magic and impressive artistic skills! But he had to give up his sword abilities, and kept the daddy issues. But there’s still that snarky edge and loving brother personality, though the weight of them have been swapped.

He’s the half brother of Prince Ezran, who is the heir apparent of the kingdom. He’s… a goofy young boy. I dunno. Aang light. No overt talents. He’s fine.

So those two are hanging out at the castle, when suddenly their father tries to send them off to the winter cabin, despite it being not winter. He suggests made making a dirt man or going mud sledding.

Callum finds this suspect, and eventually logics out that King Harrow expects to be assassinated and wants to get his sons a safe distance away.

Meanwhile, the Moon Shadow Elves are planning their assassination, making a vow on a magic ribbon that will amputate a limb if they fail. Two targets: King Harrow and Prince Ezran to make up for killing the Dragon King and his egg. Even, you know?

Of course, they dragged a literal child along and had her make the same oath with the same ribbon, so screw ‘em. Child soldiers are bad.

This girl is Rayla. She’ll be the rogue of the main cast! Yay![7]

However, after making this promise, they find out she let a guard go so the humans know they’re coming. You’re off the mission Rayla! Turn in your fancy switchblades and ribbon!

Except the ribbon is magic and won’t come off until the job is done, so keep that I guess. And it’d be mean to take away your knives, so… look, stay at camp while the five adults go murder a dude and an actual kid.

Please remember, these jerks wanted to murder an innocent child.

Rayla decides to redeem herself, and sneaks into the castle. She finds the two princes, Callum attempts to martyr himself for Ezran, shenanigans occur in secret tunnels, and… oh, look, it’s the Dragon King’s Egg. Guess they didn’t actually kill that?

Well, let’s call the whole thing off!

Oh, nevermind. Rayla’s Uncle still wants to kill the king and prince. What a jerk.

So our three heroes escape the castle with the egg, planning on returning to the Dragon Queen. We got our mission!

Oh, and the elves killed King Harrow. So… that’s fun.

To be honest, I wouldn’t discount Lord Viren using dark magic to sidestep this. But he’s also trying to claim the throne, so maybe the king is actually dead.

Could go either way.

The kids head off to the royal cottage, where they stumble onto Callum’s aunt. She’s mute! (Maybe deaf, not one hundred percent on that, since lip reading was referenced but also some ambiguity…)

She’s a military General, fights with a shield, is super awesome, and I’m sad how Callum didn’t bring her into the scheme.

Like, yes, for the plot to work, Lord Viren needs to know the princes are alive and the boys have to be careful and having General Amaya know and supporting the boys would’ve caused other troubles.

But… c’mon Callum, literally signing to Amaya that Rayla is a monster and forcing the elf to do a Blue Spirit act is terrible. Like… they’ve established a sweet way for Callum to communicate a secret past her soldiers, and they didn’t use it for a sweet twist?

Ugh. Intentional miscommunication and unnecessary secrets. They are hitting a bunch of my hated tropes.[8]

The children run off and… don’t really do anything very interesting for a couple episodes.

The villain side of things is where the real fun is! General Amaya goes to the castle to report on the survival of the princes and stop Lord Viren from taking the throne.

However, Lord Viren offers her the throne. Again, how the scene is written and acted, I still found myself doubting what role Viren’s supposed to take. He seems genuinely concerned for the general populace, and offers compromises at every turn, and communicates honestly and…

I want Lord Viren to be a misunderstood good guy. I really want Dark Magic to not be an irredeemable evil. A story without a Big Bad, just factions with cross purposes would be great. There’s so many good escape routes for a more interesting story.

Then Lord Viren throws the man Amaya chose (her interpreter, Gren. He’s neat! I like him!) to lead the Prince Recovery Team into a dungeon, where he can watch Viren torture Rayla’s uncle for information.

Yeah… this is who our villain is.

In Gren’s place, Viren sends his children. Soren is given secret instructions to insure the princes don’t make it home alive, and Claudia is given secret instructions to prioritize the safety of the egg. So that’s our Zuko and Azula doing the Avatar hunt.

They have a fun dynamic as Soren doesn’t put much stock in magic and Claudia is an adorable dark magician girl![10] I look forward to more of them.

Now, back to the D&D campaign of the kids: Callum is trying to learn magic after stealing Claudia’s storm magic orb, and he’s pretty good at it. Rayla is worried about the ribbon cutting off her circulation and is an awesome rogue. Ezran… needs to learn healing magic so we can have a Cleric.

They accidentally drop the egg into a frozen lake and are afraid the baby dragon within is dying, so they head off to get help at a town. There’s a fun kid moment with Rayla turning a snowman into a snow-elf (it was a cute moment and Rayla needs more).

Then the group picks up a girl, Ellis, so abruptly that she might as well have been a player that joined between sessions. Ellis rides a giant puppy named Ava, so we’ve got a beast-master fighter!

Ellis tells the boys about a magic healer on the top of a scary mountain filled with scary monsters. With no options, the four go to the mountain.

They fight one monster, have some self reflection, get to the mountain, learn Ezran can talk to animals,[11] and the monsters there are illusions.

They get to where to where the healer is, only to learn that, nah, she’s just a powerful illusionist and Ava only has three legs.

The only way to save the egg is to hatch it. But they need a storm to do so.

Thus, Callum shatters his magic orb to release a storm, the egg hatches, and the titular Dragon Prince is able to gently bite off the magic ribbon Rayla couldn’t cut off with a magic sun knife.

(Either the dragon is magic enough, or saving the baby dragon was considered equal to assassinating Ezran).

Soren and Claudia use a spell to pinpoint the group!

Lord Viren inprisons Rayla’s uncle in a coin and transforms into an eviller looking form!

Also, there’s some mystery with a magic mirror? Cliffhanger stuff.

So… The Dragon Prince is not amazing. The dialogue and character interactions and relationships are great, but the story and world is paint by numbers.

The next season has plenty of room for subversions and interesting experiments, but… until I see it, I honestly think the show’s skippable in its current form. Filler episodes to build the world and characters would do a lot to help, and committing to nuances hinted at for Lord Viren would be great.

Also, hopefully they improve the animation. I’m not normally one to care about frame rates, but boy did the animation stutter a lot for a finished product.

It’s average.

Thanks for reading this review! Consider checking out my other writings, sending me comments and questions, check out my webcomic or RPG Blog, or whatever. Next time, Netflix is releasing an Anime I’ve been excited for nearer the end of the month. Keep an eye out for that, which will post to my Patreon first. I’m also slowly rolling out a Review of Digimon there!

Until we go flying with dragons,

Kataal kataal.

[1] Admittedly, modern fandom is filled with loud obnoxious people, but I haven’t heard anything good about Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, even from my less frothy-mouthed sisters. [2] If you’re gonna simuldub series in Canada, you can do it in the US, you jerks! [3] Everything can be improved. But actually remaking something just says the original wasn’t good enough. That’s why people hate reboots. [4] Can’t remember if that’s under the purview of the stars or not… [5] Which is Warcraft, Ehasz. [6] Unless there’s a spoiler with Ezran’s voice cast. [7] Canvas likes playing rogues. [8] Let’s see if season two can get inappropriate student-teacher relationship![9] Then they can get a free sandwich. And my eternal ire. [9] For the record: when Claudia inevitably defects and starts teaching Callum magic, that’s not going to count. The two are close in age and it’s not an institutional power imbalance. [10] I want a show about Claudia, Rayla, and Amaya on awesome adventures. [11] He’s a druid! Learn to heal, nerd.

[dramallamadingdang]

Lotsa replies

Figured I’d better do ‘em before I get absorbed in writing up this tutorial thing...

These go back a ways because I’ve been, as usual, lazy/preoccupied. :) They’re for @esotheria-sims, @maybesomethingdunno, @nerianasims, @penig, @holleyberry, @plumbobsquareface (who has an awesome username), @immerso-sims, @eulaliasims, @lisac-h, @mustluvcatz-reloaded, @sim-boo, @acquiresimoleons, @pensblr, @didilysims, annnnnnnnd @mrningbrd...

Geez, I need to not put off doing these like this... And I should probably split this up, but...meh.

esotheria-sims replied to your post “So, um....”

Well, with an introduction like this, even if I *weren't* interested in the stuff you have to offer (spoiler alert: I am), I'd still be curious to see what it is at the very least. :) Some of those old Pandorasims sets (if those are what you were referring to here) could definitely use better textures.

Yup, some of the stuff is from Pandorasims, indeed. And from xxxsims. Slig did some nice recolors of some of the latter’s stuff, at least, but I want to high-res ‘em a bit and do some different colors for my own uses. The Pandora stuff, though? Needs serious help. I mean, I get that the textures for these items were probably not the main attraction and all, but...well, such things are important to me. :) I want my game to look nice even if no one sees this particular aspect of it but me. And I imagine storytellers would want better-looking textures, too, for pics/videos.

maybesomethingdunno replied to your post “So, um....”

Generally speaking, I feel like if you want to create something (whether it's Sims content, a story, or a goofy sketch), then create it. When it comes to Sims content, there's always someone who'll download and appreciate the content. Simmers are a diverse breed with a wild assortment of stories, hoods, and gameplay needs/desires. So on the heels of "If you want to make it, make it" is "If you want to share what you've made, share it." Kinky Sims for all! :D

*high five* Yeah, I know what you mean and that’s generally my attitude, too. This stuff, however, was going to be just for me, but then I got to thinking about how there’s a dearth of nice-looking stuff of this type and...Well, I can do something about that. I think, anyway. We’ll see, with some of the stuff. But, due to the more sensitive nature of this kind of stuff...Well, I second-guess. :)

nerianasims replied to your post “So, um....”

I'm interested and have no need to be anon about it. (Also grr 50 Shades times a million, such a horrible example and SO badly written to boot.)

OMG, don’t even get me started. I mean, OK, yeah, the whole thing sort of normalized mine and my husband’s lifestyle a little bit which on the one hand might be a good thing....but on the other hand, it didn’t do it right. Even if it was well-written (which it totally isn’t; it was a bad Twilight fanfic that was obviously written by someone who’d never had even remotely kinky sex, much less any contact with real people who practice BDSM), it portrayed an abusive relationship, not the sort of thing real people who are into this sort of thing practice. Just...ugh. Awful, awful thing. >:(

penig replied to your photo “Owen has…interesting…jammies.  And, like Aaron when he was a kid, Owen...”

What pervert even made those in a kid's size?

Skell, I think. I think it’s part of her repository project. I don’t think it’s necessarily perverted, though, especially not in game context. I mean, if you go by the speech bubbles, kids regularly talk about sex with their parents/siblings at the dinner table in the game. :) But even if that wasn’t the case...Well, kids will wear or have or do inappropriate things that they don’t know are inappropriate. They just think it’s pretty or something. Like, in this case, I imagine Owen likes those jammie pants just because they have purple hearts on them. He’s purple, so he likes purple things. :) He has no idea what they mean, and his parents probably think it’s funny. Because they’re that way.

holleyberry replied to your photo “Do you think she adores him? I think she adores him. He, of course, is...”

What's a Gilsbruty to do?

Not much, apparently. *grumble* CERTAINLY NOT PROCREATE! *glares at Simon and wills him to pass on his genes, dammit!*

plumbobsquareface replied to your post “Were-Klingons! Actually, wouldn't that be a nice idea for a default...”

i'm so glad to see other simers that are also into star trek :')

Ohhhhh, I’m a big huge honking dorky Trek nerd. Even published a fanzine, back in the day, was heavily involved in Usenet newsgroups in the early days of the internet and was staff on one of the big-at-the-time forums when such things came to be. I’m not in the fandom per se anymore at all for various reasons, but I’ll always watch the shows and read fanfic and that sort of thing. (DS9 is my fave. TOS will always have a special place in my heart, of course, but most of my Trekker heart belongs to DS9. :) )

immerso-sims replied to your photo “Aaron GilsCarbo, dancing like the nerd he is.”

Dem pink sandals tho ;)

Aren’t they precious? He actually aged into the outfit all by his little self and the pink sandals just sort of define him. That and the surfer hair. :)

maybesomethingdunno replied to your photo “This is Josephine. Young, pregnant with an unknown number of babies,...”

Next she will become addicted to Sim cat nip :P

...And then she’ll be in and out of rehab for the rest of her life. Such a sad, sad tale of woe. :)

lisac-h replied to your photo “Aaron rolled up a want for that “I was abducted by aliens”...”

Mark Twain saw Worf and said, "Werewolf!"

He did, didn’t he? HAH! :D God, it’s been forever since I’ve watched TNG. It’s not my favorite of the shows, but I should give it a rewatch one of these days...

eulaliasims replied to your post “Oh, God, it’s the 10 questions meme again!”

I would add an evil laughter gif here, but Tumblr won't let me, so you'll have to imagine it. :P Yeah, it can be surprisingly hard to find historical fiction that isn't focused on romance sometimes. I don't mind some, but when it seems to take over the rest of the story... meh. That's what I read fanfic for. And now I have the Ride of the Valkyries in my head too, but at least it's not Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer again.

It’s not that I can’t deal with ANY romance in historical fiction. I can if it makes sense within the story and the real history because, hey, these were real people and they fell in love and had relationships and all that. One of my favorite books (The Sunne in Splendour, by Sharon Kay Penman) is about Richard III, and a chunk of the 1000-page plot is about the relationship between him and his eventual wife and what impact that had on him as a person which in turn affected what kind of king he was, and that’s all good. But then there are those that are set in, say, Henry VIII’s court and it’s all thinly-veiled trashy romance novel tripe. (Yes, Philippa Gregory, I’m looking at you.) If I want that, I’ll sit and watch The Tudors, for God’s sake because ooh! Really hot men, gayness, AND boobies, yay! :) I’d rather read about about how that court really was. I mean, it was intriguing enough without having to pruriently sex it up. :p 

Geez, this is my “ragging on popular books” post, apparently. :) And you’re welcome for Ride of the Valkyries. *evil* It is now, thankfully out of my head.

mustluvcatz-reloaded replied to your post “Oh, God, it’s the 10 questions meme again!”

I'm half tempted to answer your questions just because they're so NOT about the sims, but I may be too lazy to right now, lol.

You should do it! I want to know what brand of TP you use! :)

acquiresimoleons replied to your photo “Aaron got his wish to grow up, ‘cuz, y’know, it’s not like it’s...”

I never could work out how to make a restaurant run properly either.

The “secret” is to run them with as few employees as possible. Especially at first. Because they will suck out all the money you make and more. So, you either have to have the owner do all the functions (Host(ess), cook, waitstaff) -- which you can do at first because you won’t have a lot of customers until the place levels up to at least Level 3 -- OR you have to use slave labor family members to fill the roles. 

Also, having a limited menu of items that don’t require a lot of cooking skill is necessary, unless/until your cook levels up. Otherwise customers will end up with a lot of burnt meals, which lowers loyalty and makes it harder to get stars and level-ups and all that.

acquiresimoleons replied to your photo “And Owen, Arcadia’s other alien sprog, grew up, too. He looks like a...”

His face kinda scares me ��

It’s the eyes. They’re creepy. But it’s what the PT who spawned him has, so...

sim-boo replied to your photo “Simon being macho… …and, afterwards, not so macho. :) And that’s it...”

R u saying bubble baths arent macho?

Well, anything that a macho man does becomes macho, right? :) But, traditionally? Not so much, no. :)

didilysims replied to your photoset “Simon taught Suzy to roll over….and then cleaned up an ocean of dog...”

Wow, that's more pee than I'd think would fit inside that little dog!

*laugh* Well, it is two dogs’ worth of pee. :) And one of them is a big dog. They just both chose the same pee spot. Right by the front door, of course. *eye roll*

pensblr replied to your photo “Nekkid treadmilling. Saves on laundry.”

*laughs* Just imagine how unfortunate it would be if sims experienced the real life pain of falling on a treadmill...while naked.

I know! I have visions of dangly bits caught in the mechanism, and OW! :) That’s totally a bad kind of ow, too.

mrningbrd replied to your photo “Oh, Benny. Benny, Benny, Benny… Of course, it happened right after...”

tell simon i can relate. this happened the other night at 4 am. my condolences

Oh, God, you poor thing. My dogs at home in Colorado are constantly having skunk encounters lately, apparently. (I’m not there, at the moment, but the ranch hands report in regularly. :) ) It didn’t used to be so bad, but apparently there’s a skunk population explosion in the nearby area...

[rana-capito]

blue, navy blue, i'm as blue as i can be, cause my steady boy said "all of them", one hundred something questiiiions

1: How tall or short do you wish you were?I’d take a couple more inches but like this is fine2: What’s your dream pet? (Real or not)It would be so cool to have a snake…but a dog is also really good…3: Do you have a favorite clothing style?cool jackets are cool…for myself I like target man tshirts4: What was your favorite video game growing up?I had these Magic School Bus computer games that were truly excellent. there was one about whales and dolphins and one about rainforest animals5: What three things/people do you think of most each day:idk…the Majority of my thoughts are either very self-centered or just the song that it’s time to have in my head6: If you had a warning label, what would yours say?fuck idk. warning: occasional stupid bitch 7: What is your opinion on [insert person/thing here]?hmm! vague8: What is your Greek personality type? [Sanguine, Phlegmatic, Choleric, or Melancholic]I got sanguine on a quiz I took once and I like that because I like blood9: Are you ticklish?yeah, not Extremely tho10: Are you allergic to anything?guinea pigs, cats, pollen11: What’s your sexuality?i’m Gay12: Do you prefer tea, coffee, or cocoa?Tea13: Are you a cat or dog person?they are both good and i really like both…i’ll say dogs because i’ve been seeing a lot of very good ones lately + the cat allergy14: Would you rather be a vampire, elf, or merperson?VAMPIRE15: Do you have a favorite Youtuber?I watch beckiejbrown a lot and I think she’s cool16: How tall are you?5'7"17: If you had to change your name, what would you change it to?Benjamin..perhaps…but there’s too many bens so I guess I’ll just have to be Larl18: How much do you weigh? [Only ask this if you know the user doesn’t mind!]between 144 and 150 pounds19: Do you believe in ghosts/spirits?eh…nah20: Do you like space or the ocean more?The ocean..has more animals in it21: Are you religious?non22: Pet peeves?when people call frogs venomous or spiders poisonous23: Would you rather be nocturnal or diurnal [opposite of nocturnal]?diurnal…i like Sunshine24: Favorite constellation?i like cassiopeia she’s spiky25: Favorite star?uhhhh I don’t have one26: Do you like ball-jointed dolls?i think they are..flexible?27: Any phobias or fears?MIRRORS IN THE DARK MIRRORS IN THE DARK scary. 28: Do you think global warming is real?yeah lol29: Do you believe in reincarnation?not really30: Favorite movie?hmmm. i liked inglorious basterds a lot but i’m mostly saying that because i can’t think of any movies that have made an especially big impression on me at the moment31: Do you get scared easily?..yes i’m sensitive32: How many pets have you own in your lifetime?1 frog 2 tortoises 4 guinea pigs & a lot of fish33: Blog rate? [You’ll rate the blog of the one who’s asking.]8/10 content is great but posting frequency is too spread out34: What is a color that calms you?green like my room at home35: Where would you like to travel and/or live?I want to go to like..australia. or some other place with cool and weird animals!36: Where were you born?atlanta :P37: What is your eye color?brown38: Introvert or extrovert?IntroVert39: Do you believe in horoscopes and zodiacs?not really but i like to read things about them anyway40: Hugs or kisses?WHY not both41: Who is someone you would like to see/visit right now?clarissa…so far away…an entire TIMEZONE42: Who is someone you love deeply?Antonie Hvan Leeuwenhoek43: Any piercings you want?maybe something extra on my ear?44: Do you like tattoos and piercings?they’re cool45: Do you smoke or have you eiver done so?i neiver have done so46: Talk about your crush, if you have one!sexy. very shapely calves. extremely good at calculus and physics and programming. 47: What is a sound you really hate?when my shoe scrapes on the sidewalk48: A sound you really love?the echoes from the main staircase in the mlc49: Can you do a backflip?no :(50: Can you do the splits?no51: Favorite actor and/or actress?i like..karla souza52: Favorite movie?this has been asked previously and i still don’t have a good answer. 53: How are you feeling right now?cool! kind of tired54: What color would you like your hair to be right now?uhh this color’s good55: When did you feel happiest?jeez idk that’s pretty hard to answer56: Something that calms you down?my green chair in my room at home57: Have any mental disorders? [Only ask this if you know the user doesn’t mind!]i do not58: What does your URL mean?it’s vaguely homestucky59: What three words describe you the most?cool. sexy. innovative.60: Do you believe in evolution?hell yeah61: What makes you unfollow a blog?content that i don’t like or no content for a long time62: What makes you follow a blog?content that i like63: Favorite kind of person:cool person64: Favorite animal(s):guinea pigs. orcas. cane toads. naked mole rats.65: Name three of your favorite blogs.teensplop.blogspot.com is my ultimate favorite blog ever. my favorite tumblrs are of like random people who i follow and i would feel weird @ing them66: Favorite emoticon:girl with carrots67: Favorite meme:bode was pretty good68: What is your MBTI personality type?i think i got infp when i took it69: What is your star sign?capricorn70: Can your dog roll over on command, if you have a dog?i don’t have a dog :(71: What outfit out of all your clothes do you like to wear the most?dark gray vneck from target and my Excellent jeans72: Post a selfie or two?i’ll do that..later73: Do you have platform shoes?no i’m tall74: What is one random but interesting fact about yourself?my blood type is A positive75: Can you do a front flip?into a pool or on a trampoline76: Do you like birds?hell yeah! i wanted to be an ornithologist in 6th grade and if that ended up being my life i would be satisfied and happy77: Do you like to swim?Yeah Put Me In The Water78: Is swimming or ice skating more fun to you?hmm. i guess swimming? ice skating is very fun though. and it has to be the correct context of swimming like the water is clean and i can swoop around in it79: Something you wish didn’t exist:*****es80: Some thing you wish did exist:my huge future muscles81: Piercings you have?one in each earlobe82: Something you really enjoy doing:dancing in a loud bar83: Favorite person to talk to:different people have different good talking qualities but there is a special kind of conversation i can only hold with my sister84: What was your first impression of Tumblr?this sure is The Place For Fanart85: How many followers do you have?15086: Can you run a mile within ten minutes?hmm…i feel like yes but i would be very tired after87: Do your socks always match?almost always yes88: Can you touch your toes and keep your legs straight completely?i used to be able to but no longer89: What are your birthstones?i think turquoise?90: If you were an animal, which one would you be?something sneaky and timid and nocturnal91: If a flower could aesthetically represent you, what kind would it be?it has 5 smooth white petals and a smooth green stem and i was so into it for like some time in second grade92: A store you hate?urban outfitters93: How many cups of coffee can you drink in one day?ideally zero94: Would you rather be able to fly or read minds?fly95: Do you like to wear camo?not particularly96: Winter or summer?summer for sure..i like Sunlight97: How long can you hold your breath for?i don’t feel like testing this rn98: Least favorite person?let’s say johnny rives99: Someone you look up to:my veterinarian cousin is cool100: A store you love?binders is pretty cool101: Favorite type of shoespumas 102: Where do you live?in a College Town103: Are you a vegetarian or vegan? If so, why?no i love MEAT104: What is your favorite mineral or gem?star sapphires are pretty cool?105: Do you drink milk?on occasion106: Do you like bugs?yeah :)107: Do you like spiders?yeah :)108: Something you get paranoid about?people thinking i shouldn’t be in a place109: Can you draw:yeah i think so110: Nosiest question you have ever been asked?nothing comes to mind111: A question you hate being asked?what kind of music do you like?112: Ever been bitten by a spider?maybe…i had this huge itchy leg bump the past few days that i think might have been from that113: Do you like the sound of waves at the beach?yah it’s nice114: Do you prefer cloudy or sunny days?mmm sunny115: Someone you’d like to kiss or cuddle right now:Antonie Hvan Leeuwenhoek116: Favorite cloud type:Ummm ones that are interestingly shaped! not just stratus. everything else is cool117: What color do you wish the sky was?blue is good118: Do you have freckles?yah119: Favorite thing about a person:do people like actually have an answer to this in mind120: Fruits or vegetables?VEGETABLES121: Something you want to do right now:eat dessert122: Is the ocean or sky prettier?mmm sky!123: Sweet or sour foods?sweet…124: Bright or dim lights?uhh depends on the mood125: Do you believe in a certain magical creature?…no?126: Something you hate about Tumblr:some of the discussions on here happen in really weird and negative ways but i’m pretty much never involved so whatever127: Something you love about Tumblr:lots of nice content128: What do you think about the least?i don’t fucking know since i’m not thinking about it129: What would you want written on your tombstone?something about science contributions maybe130: Who would you like to punch in the face right now?i’m not in a really violent mood rn131: What is something you love but also hate about yourself?nothing comes to mind132: Do you smile with your teeth showing for pictures?yeah133: Computer or TV?computer IS tv134: Do you like roller coasters?yeah :D135: Do you get motion sickness or seasickness?sometimes…not recently136: Are your ears lobed or attached?lobed137: Do you believe in karma?eh138: On a scale of 1-10, how attractive would you say you are?this really varies but like in the middle somewhere. not a 1 and not a 10 for sure139: What nicknames do you have/have had?sarah calls me em…that’s it140: Did you have any pretend or imaginary friends?hmm sarah and i had an imaginary little sister named lucille and an imaginary dog named ruby141: Have you ever seen a therapist/shrink?non142: Would you say you are a good or bad influence to others?i try to be a good influence?143: Do you prefer giving or receiving gifts/help?i like…giving ;)144: What makes you angryjohnny rives145: How many languages do you speak fluently?One146: Do you prefer boys, girls, and/or non-binaries?i’m a lesbian147: Are you androgynous?hmm i think i’ve reached that somewhat148: Favorite physical thing about yourself:i like..my feet149: Favorite thing about your personality:i try to…be nice150: Name three people you would like to talk to right now in person.julia clarissa sarah151: If you could go back into time and live in one era, which would you choose?i’m good staying here thank u152: Do you like BuzzFeed?it can be entertaining but i don’t think it’s good153: How did you meet your spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend/partner? [If you have one.]introduced by a mutual friend is the most basic explanation154: Do you like to kiss others’ foreheads or hands for platonic reasons?yeah!155: Do you like to play with others’ hair?yah156: What embarrasses you?being in the gym157: Something that makes you nervous/anxious:the gym158: Biggest lie you have ever told:i can’t say it here…it’s illegal159: How many people are you following?130160: How many posts do you have on your blog(s)?4,507161: How many drafts do you have on your blog(s)?2162: How many likes do you have on your blog(s)?27,596 wow163: Last time you cried and why:thursday night and i have no Fucking clue164: Do you have long or short hair?short165: Longest your hair has ever been:i think it got past my boobs in the first semester of 9th grade166: Why do you like, dislike, or have neutral feelings about religon?i don’t really have any religious affiliations at all so. neutral167: Do you really care how the universe and world was created?..yes? like i think it’s cool and stuff168: Do you like to wear makeup?Not like, regularly, but I like doing my 3am editorial looks169: Can you stand on your hands or head for more than thirty seconds?No170: Did you answer the questions you were asked truthfully?mostly. i didn’t think Too Deeply

@shovelthefries

[multipleforks]

I recently went to Miami for a work-related event in January, and being a temporary winter migrant from the NYC area, a trip from the cold was a much-needed respite. When discussing the trip with a close friend, she invited herself to join me. Frankly, it did not take much arm twisting!  So, I decided to add a few extra days onto my trip. (Don’t tell me you wouldn’t do the same!) I forewarned her that the trip would be all about good food and specialty cocktails, as I have a mild obsession with both. Luckily, she was on board. I also mentioned we were going to stay in Downtown Miami (aka Brickell) instead of South Beach, as South Beach has become the Times Square of Miami. It has too many tourists, no parking and overpriced restaurants serving mediocre food. However, if you’re looking for the beach, flavored margaritas on Ocean Drive, and great people watching, then by all means do the South Beach thing. I had been to South Beach many times, but truly fell in love with Brickell a year ago because of the upscale restaurants, beautiful rooftop bars and gorgeous people who take fashion to a whole new level. In any case, whether you decide to stay in South Beach, Wynwood, Downtown Miami, North Miami, or other, give one of these places a visit. You won’t be disappointed!

1.       Bazaar Mar by José Andrés

The best way to describe Bazaar Mar, is that it is unlike any restaurant you have ever visited. Seriously-it’s life changing. I’ll prove it. I went once and was so blown away, I almost flew down to Miami multiple times after that just to eat here. However, I don’t exactly bathe in $100 bills, so I waited about 9 months until I had a good work-related reason to visit Miami again and made a reservation. This time around I dragged my two girlfriends, who can’t tell the difference between cheddar cheese and American cheese. They generally just don’t understand my obsession with good food, and presentations; now they are totally hooked.  The Miami police should put this place on the list of things which can cause citizens to start drug addictions, I would take an IV of the food here in a heartbeat! My friends jaws dropped after every dish we ate, and you guessed it, they’re now food lovers like me. I love bringing people over to the other (foodie) side! They agreed that they too would fly down to Miami just to eat here. (If only money grew on trees!) Anyway, the place itself is amazing. It has a fairy tale quality with white dollhouse-like wooden seats and white couches at every table. Sea based characters like mermaids are painted in blue on the white tiled walls and on the ceiling, there are also giant fish heads protruding from the walls. It’s quite the experience!

I can only speak about the dishes I have tried already, but everything was spectacular. Some menu highlights include, Maine Lobster Croquetas: these bad boys just melt warm lobster goodness in your mouth, and the saffron aioli sauce is a perfect complement. The first time I ordered them they came tucked inside a plastic sneaker “dish”. (The entire place is Instagram worthy!) Our next dish, the California ‘funnel cake’ was one of the most unique dishes ever eaten. The dish was served on a metal object resembling an eight-legged octopus, and the salty, spicy, and creamy flavor combination of seaweed, avocado, blue crab, tobiko, spicy mayo and cucumber was scrumptious. We also went with the Cobia “Rosa” Ceviche. The description on the website reads, “rose” of leche de tigre, nasturtium leaf, sweet potato, corn nuts. Let’s put that in laymen’s terms…. basically, they give you a ‘rose’ on a plate which is comprised of raw fish in the middle surrounded be vegetables on the outside and nuts on top. Then they tell you to smash the rose down, and compile the ingredients together into your mouth. It’s an excellent combination of sea meets land with salty, fishy, and crunchy flavors. The presentation is also very ‘social media-esque’. On our first visit, we finished our dinner with the key lime pie dessert, which had sweet, key lime goodness with a graham cracker on top designed to look like a sandcastle. Every dish was created meticulously and creatively.  

The second time I came here and turned my friends into food enthusiasts, we ordered the Maine Lobster Croquetas as a starter, then the Neptune’s Pillow appetizer. This dish must have been a customer favorite as they were coming out of the kitchen like hotcakes. It’s total raw tuna overload; spicy tuna inside a dough like pastry with sliced tuna on top and spicy mayo underneath. It was to die for! We also split the Ora King Salmon dish and the octopus dishes. The Ora King salmon was lightly cooked on the inside, with a thin crust, and salmon roe on the side. The fish practically melted in my mouth. The octopus dish was so unique and colorful! It came with one large tentacle accompanied by peanuts on the side, with squid ink sauce and a lemon gremolata. The last time I frequented the restaurant the chef brought us the Japanese peaches on the house., Since they were outstanding, we wanted an encore on this visit. The dish comes with small peaches, burrata, hazelnut praline, croutons, and nuts. One spoonful and the sweet, salty, creamy flavor combination and you’re completely swept off your feet. This restaurant is also amazing for people watching. Everyone is gorgeous here and dressed like they just came off a runway someplace like Paris. I think I’ve just about sold you, huh?

2.       Zuma

It’s no wonder Zuma has locations all around the world; the sushi here is seriously top notch. The restaurant was founded by chef Rainer Becker, who was inspired by informal izakaya-style Japanese dining in which dishes are brought to the table throughout the meal. The ambiance is upscale, trendy, and slightly pretentious with beautiful views of the intra-coastal waterway and many lavish yachts parked right outside. The service here was incredible, as was the food. In true Brickell style, the people dining here put Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively to shame. Everyone was beautiful and very well dressed. I have had the opportunity to dined outside before, as well as inside. The outside area is much more relaxing, as wooden tables and wicker chairs align the area beside the water. The inside is the more upscale choice. It is replete with cushioned chairs, overlooking the open kitchen to one side and the wall to ceiling windows on the opposite side of the room. On my last visit here, we started off with the crispy fried squid which had a nice salt, pepper and lime taste to it, and the shrimp and black cod dumplings which were nicely pan fried, slightly salty, and incredible. As far as sushi goes, we opted to try the spicy tuna roll with green chili sauce and tobiko, the salmon roll and the tuna roll with Osetra caviar on top. How can you go wrong with sushi and caviar? That’s just not possible!  

3.       La Mar at the Mandarin Oriental

The Mandarin Oriental in Miami is one of the most spectacular hotels I have ever visited. Immediately upon entering the hotel, you are greeted with the aroma of glorious floral notes, including jasmine and juniper. The smell is so magnificent and inviting, you’ll find yourself wanting to book a reservation at the spa straight away. Every time I have been here, the staff has warmly, and professionally greeted me and made me feel very special. The lobby bar presents an excellent happy hour, which is worth checking out. However, the Peruvian restaurant, La Mar is really the highlight of this MO. The ambiance is fun, trendy, colorful and sexy, while also being luxurious and upscale. There’s both indoor and outdoor seating overlooking the intra-coastal waterway. Everything I ate here was amazing! I suggest their express lunch for $25 deal, which is quite generous. We, however, being total ‘gavones’, (Italian for slobs) decided to go a la carte and ordered a variety of appetizers, salads, and ceviche dishes. The hummus salad (pictured below) was one of my favorite dishes, and yet was nothing like we expected. A mix of veggies, shrimp and pita chips in a Greek yogurt vinaigrette. It was crispy, light and refreshing. Last time we ate here, the waiter said Dan Barber of Blue Hill had been there a week prior. (I absolutely love him, he’s revolutionary- when it comes to the farm to table movement)….but I digress. Of course, when we were here we had to have a few Pisco Sours. They have a few different flavors and each one is better than the last! I also highly recommend ordering dessert, whether you have a sweet tooth or not. We tried “la piña, el coco y el manjar”, which is two delectable scoops of coconut ice cream with pineapple chips, foam, and ginger jelly. It’s such an interesting flavor combination and in summary was outstanding! We had a tough time not ordering three of these!

4.       Ceviche105

Ceviche105 is a nine-year award winning gastronomic Peruvian restaurant with some of the best ceviche I have ever had. It’s located right in the business district of downtown. I recommend you Uber it as parking is terrible. Anyway, we decided to sit in the outdoor area, which was comfortable and cozy, compared to the upscale interior of the restaurant. The menu was extensive and slightly intimidating I will admit. There were lots of sea based options to choose from as well as unique Peruvian dishes! We started off with the famous potato based appetizer, Causa de Camarones con Palta, which was quite the flavor combination. I never had anything like it. It’s mashed up potatoes with shrimp, avocado and red peppers covered in a delicious yellow sauce made of Andean cream and other ingredients. After that we split the ceviche trio dish: Tetra de Ceviches, a platter of three popular fish ceviche dishes with sauces that included: virgin cream, yellow pepper cream, and anconero and rocoto cream. The dish also came with deliciously salty corn kernels, corn, and sweet potato. I have yet to discover a place in NYC that offers ceviche and Peruvian food as good as this. If you know of any, please let me know! 

5.       Sugar

Easily one of the best rooftop bars in downtown Miami, Sugar is located at the upscale East hotel. The upstairs rooftop ‘garden’ has a Hawaiian inspired theme with comfortable, brightly colored, cushioned wooden chairs and couches, surrounded by plants and trees on the outskirts of the bar. It has a very cozy treehouse like feel to it. All the seats overlook the tall residential buildings surrounding the hotel and the water to the east. Up a few small stairs and towards the back of the rooftop is the large, ornate, wooden bar complete with gorgeous tribal craftmanship carved into the wood. This rooftop is the place to see and be seen. Most men were dressed in fresh pressed European style suits and/or expensive button downs. The women were wearing heels and their nicest ‘Sunday’ dresses. The last time I visited, I ordered a delicious Lychee martini that made all my vodka/club drinking friends very jealous. They serve Asian style tapas, but sadly I have never eaten here. I have however, eaten at the restaurant Quinto La Huella inside the East hotel and it was fantastic.

This is a great start for food and drinks in downtown. While you’re in Miami, check out these great late-night spots in South Beach for specialty cocktails:

1.       Employees Only

One of my favorite bars in NYC, Employees Only, makes some of the best drinks I have ever had in my entire culinary life. I wrote a guest post blog on five great prohibition bars in NYC here: https://tinyurl.com/y7pxj8n5, Employee Only is a definite favorite! After visiting both Employees Only locations, I can say they are both very different and yet, very much the same. I love the Miami location because of the relaxing outdoor area, and the fact that is a lot less crowded than NYC. I was able to get a fabulous hand-crafted cocktail within 10 minutes! Inside, the layout is like NYC, as they have the bar area and a separate sit-down restaurant area. I highly recommend getting both cocktails and food when you’re here. The ricotta gnocchi and mac and cheese with gruyere and Applewood smoked bacon are some amazing late-night bites worthy of the calories. Last time I was here I noticed that they had hired my favorite bartender from NYC. The guy is fantastic!

2.       Sweet Liberty Drinks and Supply Company

The bouncer at Employees Only suggested we check this place out. It was easy to see why, because from the minute I walked in, I was totally smitten. The place reminds patrons of a speakeasy meets 1990s chill bar/club warehouse, and is open until 5am. Trouble! Exposed pipes hang from the ceiling, along with warehouse style hanging lights and Christmas tree lights. The floor is made from a Costco style concrete, and exposed brick walls align the back of the establishment. The bar itself is massive and has every cordial and liquor you could ever dream of. The cocktail menu is equally expansive and compliments the massive bar selection. I started off with their ‘Basic Bitch’ cocktail which was the perfect combination of fruity meets sparkling. Between the amazing cocktails and the 1990s music in the background, I could have stayed until closing time.

I recently went to Miami for a work-related event in January, and being a temporary winter migrant from the NYC area, a trip from the cold was a much-needed respite. When discussing the trip with a close friend, she invited herself to join me. Frankly, it did not take much arm twisting!  So, I decided to add a few extra days onto my trip. (Don’t tell me you wouldn’t do the same!) I forewarned her that the trip would be all about good food and specialty cocktails, as I have a mild obsession with both. Luckily, she was on board. I also mentioned we were going to stay in Downtown Miami (aka Brickell) instead of South Beach, as South Beach has become the Times Square of Miami. It has too many tourists, no parking and overpriced restaurants serving mediocre food. However, if you’re looking for the beach, flavored margaritas on Ocean Drive, and great people watching, then by all means do the South Beach thing. I had been to South Beach many times, but truly fell in love with Brickell a year ago because of the upscale restaurants, beautiful rooftop bars and gorgeous people who take fashion to a whole new level. In any case, whether you decide to stay in South Beach, Wynwood, Downtown Miami, North Miami, or other, give one of these places a visit. You won’t be disappointed!

      The food in Miami was amazing! Check out some of my favorite places! I recently went to Miami for a work-related event in January, and being a temporary winter migrant from the NYC area, a trip from the cold was a much-needed respite.