#but I’m hype as shit for sword af

[bloominstorm]

MY GIRL MAKI!!!!!!!!!!!

[stimmedtavi]

vibrates

spoilers for season nine nd stuff below the cut ---------------------

HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT?? HELLO???? currently losing my fucking mind i'm literally. HHhhHHhHHhhHHhhhhHh HELLO!?!?!?!?!!?! HELLO!?!?!?!?!?! i'm going fucking NUTS rn holy shit. abt to categorize all of this bcs OHHH MY GOOODDDDD im going nuts rn.

actual gameplay stuff (guns, maps etc) HHH HVHSHV HVHAHV WORLDS EDGE MY BELOVED.... also HELLO OLYMPUS W THE NEW SKY?? i'm so here for it on GOD i literally love the way it looks sm. the infected beat is hitting kinda weird idk how i feel abt that but im excited for the lore that comes with it. aLSO PK ON THE GROUND HELP HELP HELP OH MY GOD. i joined in season 4 and got so used to keeping the pk around w me and then BOOM they took my baby away from me i was so sad ab it bUT NOW SHES BACK WAHHH </3 i'm so happy. i feel like this season is going to be really really nostalgic for me bcs worlds edge nd pk are like.. tiny wraith portals to the past in my mind and it's so nuts. also the boeck bow or however u spell it looks really cool but i also Fear it Deeply bcs it looks very powerful. it can also have multiple hop ups which is fucking nutso?? like hello:?? thats a little scary imo but i'm excited to see it in use!!! also the triple take in care package is lowkey making me sad asf bcs i was semi hoping devotion goes back in since i Hate That Bitch but ehhh i agree semi that triple take belongs there. its kind of a bitchy gun to go up against anyways. this season and its 'meta' or whatever gamer ppl say is gna smack some ass on god.. character stuff (skins, emotes nd valk ofc) CATBOY OCTANE im so ready im so ready omg. i hope crypto gets something lowkey bcs i think he deserves it since i Love him and Care about him. i hope they start feeding lots of legends good stuff this season bcs we need to be dripped tf out for season 10. i will give respawn my soul if it is taken for payment. i also hope we get more dive emotes and perhaps there will be unlockable ground emotes? not sure ab that one since they are so new but im hype af for battlepass this season :D im really really excited for the ground emotes. like i cant even explain how excited i am. i saw the video of them and i genuinely just started yelling at my screen it was pathetic to watch.. anyways the way octane moves and stims and stuff?? since i always play him i never see his passive movements but i just feel so happy watching him stim and stuff bcs im the exact same way with my hands and full body stims. it makes me feel a lot more comfortable with the way i am and how i work. i feel like it's ok to stim nd stuff and thats how it should be!! i feel really happy rn pls vsjnv im trying so hard to sound normal. alos cryptos?? ground emotes?? im literally shaking and crying. the rare one is really cute dont get me wrong but the one where he uses his drone as a sword literally has me in tears. it's so nice looking and we don't get to see crypto's more playful side very often and then boom... he's using hack as a sword and i am in tears on my bedroom floor. his LEGENDARY THOUGH??? literally shook me to my core i was like oh my god oh m ym g od o??!?!?!?/ crypto is a huge romantic cc for me and i use crypto gamer bf funny haha as a joke quite often but like ?? he looks?? so cute?? like he finally looks like he's more comfortable in his skin. i find a lot of the time he seems to be full of discomfort and just very paranoid but in these emotes we see a softer side of him and it makes me really happy. i just can't stop thinking about these ground emotes man.. they mean so much to me. the other ones are v cool too ofc but i wont go into all of them since theres not enough time for me to discuss that lmivnjsdnv. okokok now VALK!! i'm excited to play in squads w her!! i think she and tav would be really good friends and i love her abilities (even tho i kinda think her passive is a bit op) but she seems really fun! i'm excited to try out using her !! general excitement i'm just all around hype for this season. i cant remember the last time i was this excited for a new season... it was probably season 5 tbh. olympus had me excited dont get me wrong but i really havent felt like theres been enough changes in other seasons to get me all riled up like this. so much is being added in (i didnt even cover arenas) and i'm super duper excited to wait 6 hours for the download file to

copy onto my ps4 <3 anaywyas im gna shut up now this is long

[fyrecatpickles]

Strawhats in order of favourite to least favourite!

😜

Aaa! I’ve been trying to put them in order for so long! >//< But I shall try, just for you~!

1. Sanji: Are you really surprised? This noodle is baby. As much as he’s an idiot in canon he’s also has so much character and life inside of him. Tragic backstory is also a plus XD We stan Genderfluid Bi Sanji in this house! I love him, and want only good things and more terrible things to happen for him. He’s such a complex character, and I just have so many feelings for him. So SO many feelings. I could talk for hours about how much I love Sanji. Don’t even get me started. XD

2. Luffy: I. Love. Luffy! This motherfucker is SO GOOD. He would be number one if I wasn’t such a simp for tragic backstoried blonds with daddy issues. Luffy is sunshine and chaos. He would end the world for his family. He’s selfish, feral, and such a moron. Luffy is the hype. He’s also hysterical! I just, I love Luffy. I want to see him reach his dream so goddamn badly.

3. Zoro: I mean, c’mon! It’s the Moss head. Directionally challenged, sword obsessed, bit titties, shares a brain cell with Luffy Marimo. He loves his crew, and is an amazing First mate to the future Pirate King. This bad boy can fit so many head canons it’s unreal! He’s also just as feral as Luffy. They are like two peas in a pod. Also he’s Sanji’s husband.

4. Robin: Robin is Queen! She’s so mysterious, but once you really get to know her she’s just as quirky as the rest of the Strawhats. Her comedic timing with Sanji in Skypei always had me dying. Her and Chopper’s friendship? Best. Top Tier. Get those nerds together and they will talk for hours. I love how she plays board games with him, and just really loves her found family. Robin coming out of the wood works to say something creepy and smiling? I love it. Give me more. Step on my face queen.

5. Chopper: I am a sucker for cute, but it’s more than that. Chopper wants to prove himself So Much. He’s a reindeer who braved the desert for his new friends, watched over the Merry Go and tried to protect her from fire, is strong as hell and he’s a genius! This little nugget has to deal with the Monster Trio’s stupidity constantly when they get hurt. Do you realize how much shit he has to put up with those morons? He may be part of the Coward Trio, but he’s honestly the bravest of them. He may cry as he’s doing it, but he will stand up to enemies a lot faster than Usopp will.

6. Usopp: Yo, okay. Real talk. I slept on this man when I first started. I was wrong. Usopp is bae. His growth from his introduction to now is MASSIVE! His comedic timing and out right determination is so perfect. He’s smart af and stood up to Luffy. Luffy! He knew he would loose, but he tried so damn hard and made Luffy work for that win. He cares about his friends, and when push comes to shove he will always be there for his friends. And Haki. Yo. Usopp has the most growth out of all the Strawhats, and I love him for it.

7. Nami: Don’t get me wrong, I love my girl. It was hard to figure out where to put her. She keeps her beloved morons in line as best she can. She knows her boys share one brain cell, and works with it the best she can. I only put her here because after awhile her obsession with money gets a little stale? I understand why, and it’s hard to make that gag fresh I guess you could say? She’s smart as all hell, and I love me some Nami, but her growth seemed to have stagnated, or more so slowed down, for a bit there.

8. Brook: His panty obsession aside, Brook is a dork. He just wants to be with his friends and be included. Underdog of WCI and standing up to Big Mom? Fuckin’ savage! Brook’s backstory huuurts, and I just want good things for him. When Laboon’s name came back I lost my shit the first time. Like, calling back to something that early in their journey? I loved that! I can’t wait to see their reunion. I will cry. There will be tears.

9. Franky: He would have been 8, but I just prefer his pre-TS design more. He’s a nerd, and I love him and Robin’s dynamic. Franky is great, but the speedo bro. I’m currently rewatching Water 7 right now, and I love how eccentric he is. Super smart and talented. A+ nerd.

10. Jimbei: Don’t get me wrong, I love fish dad! I just haven’t gotten to really get to know him as much as I have the rest of the crew. The East Blue crew holds a special place in my heart, and I will always go back and watch those early seasons. I’m learning to love the newer characters just as much them. Fish dad loves Luffy and I love his dedication to the Strawhats. Jimbei is badass! The relationships he will get to create with the rest of the crew? I am stoked for more!

11. Vivi: I just...I love Vivi. I do. She’s Nami’s future wife. We all know, but I guess the extent she went to for peace was hard for me to watch. I was with Luffy in the house of ‘Let’s punch Crocodile!’ Her dedication was admirable, and I do like her but she didn’t resonate with me as much as the others.

That was SO DIFFICULT! Oh man. I love all the Strawhats! I want them to achieve their dreams and reign chaos upon the world. Thank you for the ask! asljdfs <3 <3 <3

[rebecca-lotto]

here’s hoping this gets better reception than it did on reddit

i may sound baked af , but i had this big-brain moment while i was on the crapper at work.

what if the Askr version of Falchion wasn't a sword , but instead , a tome . the first colorless blade tome.

so i did a dumb thing and looked at book 4 spoilers ... and i will not bug you with my hype. i'm already loopy from benadryl ..

look , i'd already be down to roll for alfonse & sharena's mom if she's a green armored mage , but considering those fucking balls to the wall back to back utter brick shitting mind fuck of those plot twists , it'd be quite fitting to have the world of zenith's version of falchion to be a ultra broken af colorless tome.

and i honestly would prefer Henriette to become a playable unit before gustav , b/c bruh who needs another ax calvary unit when you have 4 goddamn copies of hector!!

tl ; dr , book 4 has me tripping balls without the need for powerful allergy medicine and i finally have a crack ship in heroes

[tfw-no-tennis]

mtmte liveblog issue 19

it’s 2021 now!! time for more transformers 

we start off w/a flashback showing tyrest retrieving ultra magnus’s body from the ship - and we get a look at magnus’s spark, which is the green color of a 0.1%er [eyes emoji]

tyrest punching magnus..... grrrrr leave my dad alone bastard man

‘the divided self’ what a good title 

rodimus is like listen man this is a lot for my poor thot brain to take in

in flashback land, we see tyrest immediately launch into a crazy person spiel about how he can and will edit the law as he sees fit to conform to the situation, because that doesn't seem like a blatant abuse of power or a huge conflict of interest or anything 

oooh the screen in the corner that says ‘thought warfare,’ I see that

oof, poor magnus. its gotta be rough to hear your boss rant about how bad at your job you are....especially bc this is right after overlord called magnus a joke and nearly killed him

its especially brutal bc as magnus says, his job is his life 

augh, I love the panel where the armor is falling off around minimus, and then the one where he’s holding the ultra magnus head...poetic 

its fascinating that there was an ‘original’ magnus who was an actual guy, and then tyrest chose to make him into this legacy symbol - I'm assuming the OG magnus had no say in this, and probably didn't even know that he was gonna become this lawman legacy figure

I do wanna know though - obviously everyone thought that ultra magnus was one dude, but how did the different guys wearing the armor deal w/that? like, did minimus have people coming up to him like ‘hey ultra magnus old buddy! remember when we fought those guys in that one place? good times!’ like, do they have to study up on the lives of the past armor wearers to prepare for the role of ultra magnus?

augh poor minimus, of course he’s been wondering about what happened with overlord after he was KO’d

oof, drift...I feel like minimus looks surprised and a little skeptical at the idea that drift was the one behind the entire overlord thing - which is interesting bc as we saw at the beginning of the story, he doesn't exactly trust drift, but it’s still pretty far-fetched that one person orchestrated the entire thing

tailgate :(

the concept of a load-bearer is SUPER cool, I love it so much

it also puts a much-needed limit on things - as in, there IS a limit to how much weight/mass a normal cybertronian frame can carry, which is why you don't see everybody upgrading to be Massive - bc they actually CANT

oof, the worst part is that tyrest is RIGHT, minimus essentially DID have a nervous breakdown after the war ended bc of the rigid way he views the world

mental health support is clearly in shambles for cybertronians, yikes. they literally have 1 therapist for their entire race, and he’s not even licensed anymore due to hipaa violations. what a mess

the ‘attention deflectors’ thing is so cool and clever and also a great explanation as to why ratchet or anyone else never said ‘hey wait a minute, you're actually a much smaller dude in a trench coat’ 

I love tailgate knowing all the stuff about the autobot code bc of magnus...my BOY

and THATS why minimus was asking about skids specifically earlier!

oh minimus, please don't put so much stock in tyrest being stable and resonable...

aaaand there's skids and swerve! brainstorm says it best - ‘because something unexpected hasn't happened for at least nine seconds.’ lmao ily brainstorm 

finally checking in w/whirl and cyclonus - god I love that. whirl asking cyclonus how many cons he killed and cyc is like psh I wasn't keeping count....................ok it was six

hhhhh cyclonus IS looking for a cure for tailgate, even though he told tg that there wasn’t anything to hope for....excuse me as I go be emo 

and now we flash over to the unethical medical conduct hell zone, where pharma is being weird and horny and ratchet is appropriately horrified 

I seriously love how unhinged pharma looks, the art & colors do such a good job conveying his feral energy 

ratchet has some massive dick energy for taunting pharma when he’s currently just a head and pharma has dual chainsaws for hands 

ugh, I love whirls speech about anger...and I feel like he really does see cyclonus as a peer, despite cyclonus wanting to kill him, which is why he tells cyclonus all of this 

I fuckgin love that cyclonus’s reaction to very suddenly getting stabbed thru the abdomen is to just glance down at the sword, looking mildly inconvenienced 

back over to ratchet - and at first its like oh wow I can’t believe pharma was stupid enough to let ratchet goad him into this contest....but then you see first aid and ambulon and its like UH OH this is gonna be BAD

the idea that getting sliced in half is no big deal for a cybertronian is wild

‘you're gonna let doctor djd cut us in half?’ yeahhhh that's an appropriate reaction, yikes

FUCKING LENGTHWAYS GOD

pharma you piece of shit

poor ambulon :( :( :( that's fucking brutal. amazing panel but....jesus

and like, to further my point from last issue’s liveblog - the fact that this very gore-y panel is okay, but swearing isn't...that's really funny honestly. I guess robo-gore is acceptable, while I'm guessing regular ole run of the mill human gore wouldn't be

then back to cyclonus, who is still looking only vaguely put out by the sword stuck right thru him

and then cyclonus just pulls it right out, which is a very bad idea for humans but probably not as big of a deal for big near-immortal alien robots

circle of light stuck in capitalistic urban hellscape cubicals 

poor skids, being asked to stand trial while having no idea what his crime is due to Big Amnesia 

OH SHITTTT I totally forgot that getaway shows up here

that is super clever though, with chromedome confusing the name ‘getaway’ with the concept ‘needing to escape’

cant believe tyrest is really dumb enough to tell minimus all his evil plans

BUT that means its time for some very important forged vs constructed cold lore

jro spelling ‘program’ as ‘programme’ made me remember when he said that he considers everyone on the lost light to be british, which is perhaps the least valid thing he’s ever said vhbghjsdbfjkhasbjk

the idea that they used the matrix - which is portrayed as kind of a holy object - in reproductive experiments is really interesting

AUGHHHHH this is all so good and interesting...im really fascinated w/this particular brand of like, alien robot racism/constructism/whatever you wanna call it - I feel like it does such a good job as a plot device, where many other ‘fantasy racism’ concepts from other franchises fail, bc there's not really a ‘human metaphor’ being used here (as far as I know/can tell) - as in, this isn't a thinly veiled metaphor for something that happened/could happen in human history

in fact, this type of bigotry (or w/e you wanna call it) isn't something that is even really possible in humans - I guess if there was a stigma against being born via ivf or something...? but there isn't, so there's no obvious real-world equivalent, which I take as a sign of good writing and worldbuilding - it makes the cybertronians feel more Real, bc of course they would have their own types of bigotry based off of completely different things than humans 

additionally - and this is crucial - tyrest is wrong: there’s no like, inherent moral corruption in cold constructed bots. there's no difference at all, other than method of construction. fantasy racism plotlines often flounder here, with the oppressors having a ‘valid reason’ for oppressing the oppressed, but tyrest is just operated on religious zealot bs and some biased science

like, dude, did you ever think that maybe there are other reasons why your trials only condemned cold constructed bots? like, maybe the trial itself was biased? or societal conditions were to blame? correlation is not causation, my dude, especially when the conclusion is ‘cold constructed bots are inherently SINNERS’ lmao 

like, tyrest rlly said ‘FUCK separation of church and state,’ huh

anyways I just think the whole cold construction vs forged thing is really interesting and well-done, and serves as a good precursor to the more fleshed-out functionism stuff we see later 

so tyrest is clearly off his rockers w/the whole drilling thing - dude, you accidentally gave yourself a lobotomy, okay - but I find it kinda funny that he’s right about a lot of that stuff he said at the end, about primus and the guiding hand and stuff being real 

cyclonus saying ‘tailgate and the others’...I see you, man, I see you

also cyclonus looks fine now??? didn't he just get stabbed??? 

ah, tyrest sprinkling a little light genocide onto his plan to find salvation. nice, dude!

MINIMUS NOOOOOOOOO

‘fully deserved’ SHUT UP BIIIIITCH

poor minimus is taking a lot of Ls this arc, geez

oof, great issue! again, as usual....I loved the lore we got this issue, its so interesting...and some good character stuff too. I love minimus, I feel like he’s gonna be my fav this readthru; my first read my fav was brainstorm, second readthru was whirl, and I feel like its minimus/magnus this time. I just love his character arc...

hype af for more B) 

[hardnoctlife]

My Thoughts on FFVIIR

It’s been a few days since I finished FFVIIR, and I wanted to put my thoughts on the game into words, but I gotta get a few housekeeping things out of the way.

1.       These are all MY opinions. I understand and respect that others may have different opinions from me, however, that does not make this an open invitation for argument in the comments, bashing, etc. I have no problem blocking anyone who wants to be an asshole. Just be nice, please.

2.       I grew up playing FFVII and all of its spin-offs. FFVII was my first RPG, and ultimately what got me into playing video games. Nostalgia is a -huge- part of why I enjoyed FFVIIR so much, and therefore I am openly biased towards the game. I’m interested to hear the thoughts of people not familiar with the original, because they’re seeing the story with a fresh set of eyes.

3.       With that being said, I’ve already noticed drama surrounding FFVIIR fans who -have- played the original vs. those who haven’t, or those who haven’t played Crisis Core, etc. I am firmly of the belief that this is a great game for new and old fans and won’t tolerate any condescending attitudes in either direction. Video games are supposed to be fun, so let’s just all agree to enjoy the thing TOGETHER, shall we?

Alright, now that those things are out of the way, onto my thoughts. **MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD**

I’m going to be breaking this up into sections, because there is just too much to dissect! Let’s start with the characters.

“The Good Guys”

Cloud: Still my favorite character of all time, even more so after playing the remake. And of course, he is gorgeous. I could stare into his eyes all day. I know there has been a lot of controversy over getting new voice actors for the remake, but I feel like his VA did a great job. They nailed his personality of “broody asshole with a heart of gold”, and I think the remake had reasonable and believable character development when it came to Cloud’s interactions with the other party members. His dynamic with Tifa, Aerith, and Barrett was also spot on. I think it was a good move on Squeenix’s part to keep him pretty much the same, because he’s such an iconic character for the entire Final Fantasy series, so no complaints on my part!

Jessie: Okay, so, I hated Jessie at first. She was too flirty and all over Cloud for my liking, and I felt this strange disconnect between the “I used to be an actress but now I’m fighting for the planet” part of her backstory. Yes, she was still spunky in the original, but they didn’t draw it out nearly as much (I assume because she was killed off early). I -do- appreciate that the developer’s felt the need to give her more depth and show more interactions between her and Cloud and everyone else, but I also thought it detracted from Cloud’s relationships with Tifa and Aerith to an extent, especially the whole scene where she was asking him to come back to her place with him (yikes). And, true to Squeenix form, they killed off her character, even while letting Biggs and Wedge live (they both died in the original). So, in that sense, I didn’t really care that much for her, although her final scene with Cloud was very moving and redeemed her in some ways for me. So, yay for more screen time, but c’mon Squeenix, why do you gotta use your female characters this way?!

Biggs & Wedge: I loved the updates to their character models, and like with Jessie, I appreciate they tried to give them more depth and dialogue to make their involvement more significant. It did throw me for a loop when they both ended up living instead of dying when the Sector 7 plate fell. I was delighted to discover they survived (until I found out Jessie died and they didn’t). At times, I felt like their exalted importance detracted from other characters, especially at the end in Shinra HQ where Wedge shows up to warn everyone and Avalanche comes in to try and rescue Cloud & the gang, only to imply that he dies -there- instead. To me, it felt like an unnecessary moment to add in, but hey, there are only so many characters in the remake that people get to see, so why not give the Avalanche crew a more important role? I’m interested to see if this means that they’ll be returning in the next installments as they may be ‘fated’ to survive.

Barrett: What a glow up! Barrett looked good, he sounded good, his character was solid and true to the original. I have to say my favorite thing to see was how the banter and dialogue shifted between him and Cloud as you progressed through the remake. They went from basically hating on each other to complimenting each other and being buddy-buddy, and it was truly heartwarming. I even enjoyed using Barrett in battle (more on the fighting system later), which was refreshing. It was a good move on Squeenix’s part to show his softer side by including more scenes with Marlene, and he’s an excellent foil to Cloud’s character, which I feel was consistent for both games.

Tifa: My lady, the love of my life, my HERO. Tifa was -amazing- for me. Also, her VA was probably my favorite of the bunch. The updates to her outfit were much needed, yet she still retained her sexy allure, even if it was a little awkward to hear all the male NPC’s talking about how hot she was all the time. Other than Cloud, she was my favorite party member to use in battle—what a total badass!—and the scenes with her and Cloud made me squeal with delight. I was grateful for the extra attention put into their relationship, and how it was made clear that she was just as important and strong as the male characters.

Aerith: First, the positives. They expanded Aerith’s fighting range, which was appreciated, because in the original I only used her as healer. Her personality shone through a bit more, as she was even ore outgoing than I remembered her being (and even cursed a few times!), and I loved all of her interactions with Tifa and Cloud (my favorite trio/love triangle). Her backstory was pretty well communicated regarding the Ancients and her relationship with Shinra. On the flip side of things, I found her party banter annoying as hell and her voice grating at times (it reminded me of a high school girl), and I’m not sure how I feel about her interactions with the Whispers and what that implies for future installments. There was some hinting at the end of the remake that Aerith may not die like she did in the original (at least that was my interpretation), and I’m not sure whether I like that possibility or not, mainly because Aerith’s death is one of the most memorable scenes of FFVII, and that would change the entire plot. For better or for worse, who’s to say?

Red XIII: I loved all of the scenes with Red! His voice fit him really well, and they showed a lot of character development with him and the group in a short amount of time. I was sad you couldn’t control him in your party, but I’m hoping that will change in the next installment. I’m excited to see his backstory in Cosmo Canyon when we finally get to that point in the remake.

Chadley: This kid was annoying and weird, and I wasn’t sure exactly what his deal was, but he was definitely shady AF. Not sure why he was entirely necessary if he was simply a way to upgrade your materia, but hey, I’ll take that assess materia from ya buddy if it means new stuff for me to use. 

Johnny: Johnny grew on me. Was he also annoying and weird too? Yes. But he reminded me of a Prompto-Gladio lovechild and turned out to be a sweetheart, so I say he can stay, Squeenix.

“The Bad Guys”

Shinra executives: Not much to say here for me other than great job in bringing this diabolic group to life. Yep, still hate every one of ‘em. They stayed pretty much true to their original selves, and all of them matched what I remembered of them, right down to the dialogue. I thought it was an interesting choice to see Sephiroth kill President Shinra (in the original you just find him dead at his desk, impaled on Sephiroth’s sword), but I’m not complaining. That guy was a grade A asshole.

The Turks: Love, love, love how they portrayed each of these guys, and showed how they are also unwilling participants in all of Shinra’s shit. They definitely made them more likeable from the get-go and I felt a lot of callbacks to Advent Children. Reno cursing and being sassy was probably one of my favorite things out of the entire game. He had -so- many great lines, even if they weren’t direct translations of the Japanese. I’m hoping they will include more of the Turks in future installments (like Cissnei in Crisis Core) and continue fleshing out their story arcs.

Rosche: Okay, unpopular opinion, but I did not like this guy at all. I’m not sure what the hype is about him all over my social media. Could be the mullet, which is an automatic ‘no’ for me (Gladio from FFXV being the only exception), but he seemed like an irritating and very pointless addition to the game. His sole purpose appeared to be to prepare you for escaping Shinra and fighting from Cloud’s motorcycle towards the end, but I felt like he could have been taken out of the story entirely without missing anything. I didn’t hate as many of the newer characters (like Leslie) as much as I did him, but I guess he and I just didn’t vibe. I’m assuming he’ll return later on, so maybe my opinion will change. (I sure hope so.)

Leslie: Okay, at first, I was like, “who is this knock-off Noctis wannabe?” but I really enjoyed the backstory and depth they gave this seemingly minor character. I see that Squeenix is trying to provide new things for older fans to take interest in, and in this case, I felt he was a nice touch. (Edit: I was told that Leslie, Kyrie, and some of the other new NPCs were featured in an audio book?! Which I had no idea even existed, so...the more you know!)

Don Corneo: Even slimier and creepier in HD! Honestly, hats off to Squeenix for translating what was possibly the most cringy and controversial part of the original in a ‘tasteful’ way in regard to all of Wall Market. This guy was definitely a worthy villain in the remake.

Rufus: Holy hell. I never ever in my life thought I’d be saying this, but wow, is Rufus hotter than I remember. Thank you, Squeenix for giving me another foxy bad boy to drool over. He was also, for me, the hardest and most frustrating boss battle (even more so than Sephiroth), but it was totally worth dying to watch all the cut scenes with him over again. Can’t wait to see more of him in the next installment.

Hojo: God, I hate this guy. I know you’re -supposed- to, but he is such a creep. Hearing his dialogue in the remake was even worse than reading it in the original. Gotta say, dealing with his four wards in Shinra HQ was my least favorite part of the game by far, but I know he will get his comeuppance later down the road. All the dialogue was just as shocking as I remember, so, yeah. Good job?!

Sephiroth: Alright, anyone else feel like they made Sephiroth EXTRA SEXUAL in this remake?! You too? Oh, good, good, same bro. Now, it could just be me projecting, but anytime he came on the screen…panties were dropping y’all. Of course, I’m not one to complain about Sephiroth content. On the contrary, I lap it up like I just walked through the desert and found an oasis, BUT, I will say this…you barely see Sephiroth at all at this point in the original. As a reminder, the remake only covered the first 4-6 hours of the original game, and I get you can’t really do a remake without at least SHOWING Sephiroth for the people who have been waiting to see him in HD, but with that being said, he was VERY involved. I love Sephiroth, he’s a great villain, but they are definitely changing things with him, so I guess we will have to wait and see what happens.

My one criticism? His voice was my least favorite out of the main characters. Not saying the VA didn’t do a great job, but it didn’t sound deep enough to be as intimidating. I prefer the VA who voiced him in Advent Children, but I’m sure it will grow on me in time.

Gameplay

Battle system: When the remake’s demo was released, I remember a lot of people were complaining about how ‘difficult’ the new battle system was, but I absolutely love it. It’s just the perfect balance of turn-based and real-time, with plenty of options for customization. If you want more real time, you can set your short cuts, and if you want more turn-based, you also have that option. My only real complaint was that item use is also tied to the ATB bar, but overtime I figured out when to heal myself in a timely fashion (after dying more than a handful of times). Button mashers won’t enjoy this battle system because it requires a little more strategy, but I think the point was to create an updated version of the original fighting style that would appeal to both old and new players, and it definitely delivered. Seeing the classic limit breaks used and being able to run around during battle was so much fun for me, and I about died when I saw Cloud strike his OG victory pose in Wall Market’s coliseum. Also, the transition between running through Midgar and entering battle was SO incredibly smooth and seamless that at times you didn’t notice the shift. Phenomenal.

o   Boss Battles: As much as I enjoyed the battle system of remake, some of the bosses felt unnecessarily hard and/or tedious (I’m looking at you, Hell House). Making use of the assess materia early on definitely helped me out, but I legit got bored at times, especially that damn giant robot you fight with only Barrett and Aerith when escaping Shinra HQ. This is really just a minor complaint, but there were a couple bosses where I died several times (*cough* Rufus *cough*) before I figured out the secret to defeating them, while others were super easy or just not that interesting. Meh. For context, I played on “normal” mode, but it truly felt hard in certain scenarios. (That could just have been me trying to get used to the new fighting style.)

o   Materia: speaking of materia, I did notice some new materia in the game, which was neat, and although I didn’t care for Chadley (dude, where are your parents?) it was nice to have a way to develop and earn new materia throughout. I found it somewhat strange that summon materia was just a thing you could get so early on instead of having to work for it, but I was excited to use it. Shiva and Ifrit were definitely my favorite summons (which hasn’t changed from the original for me). My one big question: where is the freaking ‘all’ materia?! I know they kinda split ‘all’ up into many different types of materia, and you do have ‘pray’ for healing your entire party, but man, that was so versatile in the original so that was a hard adjustment for me not to have use of it.

o   Weapons: I think it’s cool that they developed an upgrade system to make use of your weapons long term, giving them their own abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Made me think of FFX where you used the spheres to upgrade your characters. Also? I loved being able to see materia in my weapons when I switched them out. That was a really neat touch. 

Music: And here I thought they couldn’t make the music of the original game any more epic, but they definitely outdid themselves in the remake. I enjoyed hearing all the remixes and ways they wove the classic themes into different parts of the games. I think my favorite was when you’re going through sector 5 with Aerith and have to control the giant robotic hands. The music in that section SLAPPED. The in-game jukebox was also a nice way to honor the old school classics. Hearing Aerith’s theme for the first time just about made me cry, and listening to One-Winged Angel fighting Sephiroth? Nothing could beat that moment musically for me.

Side quests: I’m not sure about anyone else, but I really didn’t care for the side quests. They weren’t very fun for the most part, and considering how linear the game is, they felt more like chores that needed to be completed because I had to, and not because I wanted to. The only exception was Wall Market, but all-in-all, most of them didn’t add much to the story, unlike in FFXV where I could go down a rabbit hole of sidequests for hours and hours.

Graphics: This is clearly stating the obvious, as anyone with eyes will tell you, the game is nothing short of gorgeous. I cannot tell you how many screencaps I took of just Cloud. It was definitely a world that I wanted to run around in for hours (and did) and will do so again and again just to look at all the little details. My favorite thing to do is watch comparison videos of the original and remake openings side-by-side. How crazy is it that technology has come this far!

Playtime: My biggest critique of this game is that it was too damn short. Stretching the first 4-6 hours of the original into 40 was definitely impressive, but considering I waited 20+ years for the remake, it was pretty disappointing to finish the game in less than a week. Like most people, I’m wondering just how long they plan on stretching this out, how many installments there will be, and when the second part will be released. Hopefully not another ten years, but it -is- Squeenix we’re talking about...

Storyline

Most people who played will tell you that most of the remake stayed very true to the original, even lifting some of the exact dialogue and scenes. The nostalgia hit me so hard in parts that I was literally in tears. The first time I watched the opening in the demo, I cried. That’s the power this game has over many people, including myself.

In other ways, the remake improved on parts of the story or re-imagined them. We always knew it wasn’t going to be a copy and paste of the original story, which I’m sincerely grateful for. I would seriously hope that after 20+ years they would have thought of ways to improve or polish FFVII and make it new and exciting for returning fans and people just picking it up.

My pros regarding the updates in the story:

- They fleshed out many background characters and added in new ones. Most of the core group spent more time interacting, and the party banter felt natural and progressed realistically as the game went on.

- New mini-games and side quests expanded on the slums and made the areas larger and more interactive, yet they still kept the nostalgia of iconic locales.

- Plenty of fuel to fan shipping fires with emotionally charged scenes and pretty boys abounding (Cloti and Clerith especially).

- All of Wall Market was brilliantly done. I was wondering how they’d update it for the new generation, and it was seriously the best part of the game for me (and had me laughing the entire time).

-  Hinting that Zack is alive and/or Aerith may live is something I’m listing as a pro, only because I would love to see these characters used to their full potential, however, this is also a con for me, and I’ll explain why.

My cons:

Whispers: If you played the original, you probably had the same reaction as I did when the ‘Whispers’ showed up. “Wtf are these dementor-looking things?” At first, I thought they might be something similar to what we saw in Advent Children, and that they were ‘remnants’ or parts of Sephiroth, or somehow his minions, or even souls from the Lifestream, etc. When I found out they were actually supposed to be ‘protectors of fate’ or whatever, I rolled my eyes, especially when Barret was ‘killed’ by Sephiroth and then miraculously brought back to life. It felt very ‘deus ex machina’ to me in the sense that ‘everything has to go a certain way because we said so.’ While it makes sense, I really wasn’t buying it, but I’m assuming that we will learn more about them in the second installment. 

The Ending: The whole final boss battle of the remake was surprising, because it felt almost exactly like the final boss bottle of the original game, right down to the cutscene where Cloud is thrown through space and faces off against Sephiroth one-on-one. Before you defeat the ‘harbinger of fate’ (anyone else get KH heartless vibes?) and fight Sephiroth as the final boss, Aerith goes on her long spiel about ‘fate’ and ‘destiny’ and ‘this will change us,’ and it’s laid on so thick that it’s almost like they were setting us up for an alternate timeline, which is entirely possible, but that’s all speculation at this point. Regardless, they made it clear that whatever is coming next is going to be -very- different from the original, or possibly is going to be another timeline of the story, especially since Zack was shown alive and well. One criticism I heard from someone who hadn’t played the original game was that they treated Sephiroth and Zack like people you were supposed to know, and I can agree with that. They didn’t spend -any- time explaining their significance, backstory, or why people were so afraid of Sephiroth other than showing you little flashbacks into Cloud’s deranged memories, so in that sense, the ending might have fallen flat for those who don’t know exactly what Sephiroth represents or who he is, or why he stole Jenova from Hojo’s lab, etc, etc. Plus, throwing in Zack at the end is something that anyone who played the original game or Crisis Core would get, but new fans would also not understand the significance of. Personally, I screamed when I saw Zack because I was so happy , but I can see why that ending would be very unsatisfying and/or confusing for some.

Overall: 9/10

No, it doesn’t get a 10/10 for me, even as someone who absolutely loves Final Fantasy VII, but hey, no game is perfect. It’s honestly hard to live up to the hype this game has created since it was officially announced, and all things considered, Squeenix -did- live up to it. I will still be eagerly awaiting part two, playing the shit out of this game and squeezing the most I can out of it until I get to experience more.

I’d love to hear what other people thought (so long as the discourse is respectful of course). If you read this far, thanks for listening to my ramblings!

[tompen94]

Ranting about Kingdom Hearts (cuz I just got into it)

Oh boy... where to begin...

I guess I should start by saying I wasn’t a fan of this series. I had barely heard of it growing up (try being a nerd in Portugal, it’s the worst) and by the time I did all I was hearing was about how convoluted the story was and how it had Disney characters with JRPG ones and I just thought it was weird af.

It wasn’t until the hype for KH3 started building up and one of my friends started showing me trailers for the thing that I got interested myself. As such for the last couple of weeks I took it upon myself to catch up with the series lore-wise. Now I’m caught up (not really but fuck if I have to go through that mobile phone game), so I have some thoughts to spew out.

I should note that KH3 will be my very first experience in gameplay of the series. I only went through the story of the other games, watching their cutscenes. (All-in-one does sound like an appetizing package but I wasn’t willing to spend 100+ euros on something I wasn’t even sure I was gonna like).

I will be going on a game-by-game basis.

Kingdom Hearts

When you wak away~ you don’t hear me say~ (God this song is so good)

What I took from this game is that despite the ridiculous looking premise, it works. I don’t know how putting a FF-looking dude along with Sora and Goofy works, but they made it work. Bravo.

The story was pretty straight-forward. I like that Riku and Sora have very much the same goal throughout the game, only that Riku ended up hanging out with the wrong people and had to pay the price for it.

I really like the scene where Kairi is revived, almost like a reversal of the beginning of the game. She goes to grab Sora and he poofs out of existance. It actually hits pretty hard.

I love that they kept Mickey to just one cameo. They build him up so well and in the end he just appears and basically solves the situation. Great stuff.

Also did I mention how good Simple and Clean is?

Kingdom Hearts - Chain of Memories

This is where some questions start popping up. The rigmarole around Sora’s memories was a bit confusing to me.

Other than that though, this was pretty harmless. Namine is a nice addition to the cast and I like how Sora and the Riku-replica argued over things.

I also like Sora’s final decision to go back to how he was.

Kingdom Hearts - 358/2 Days

Yes, I went through this game before KH2. No I don’t regret it.

I really like Roxas, Axel and Xion. Probably my favorite trio as a whole in the series. They spend a lot of scenes together and they really sell the friendship between them.

Yes they’re always eating ice cream but why is that bad?

Kingdom Hearts II

Omoidasuka~ Haruka harukaaaa~ Mirai wa~ (God this music is so good)

Oh my god this game was looooooong.

I almost forgot the non-plot stuff of this game completely. It’s not to say that it’s bad, but that it is a lot of stuff to remember so I chose to keep the plot-important stuff. Thankfully, that plot-important stuff is really really really good.

I think the final world is worth every pound of a full-price game on its own. I mean, seriously. Kairi and Namine’s escape and rescue by Riku. Ansem’s sacrifice. Xemnas’  questioning (and his voice, so soothing). Sora’s reunion with Riku. And how about that final battle. Oh my god the hype.

I do have a question though. How did Riku obtain his keyblade? It looks like his old bat wing sword so I thought it had been turned into a keyblade, but then in DD he summons the sword so he still has it?

Still, probably my favorite entry in the series.

Kingdom Hearts - Birth by sleep

This one kinda felt like the Star Wars prequels, what with Xehanort constantly goading Terra into using the darkness.

This game’s pacing was weird. One minute we’re trudging through the remaining worlds not explored in KH1, then suddenly Eraqus is attacking Ventus and we’re on the path to the Keyblade Graveyard.

This was the game that started interconnecting the plot too much. There’s no need for Mickey to be here, much less in the finale. Kairi now ended up Destiny Islands because Aqua gave her a charm or something. Sora and Riku got the Kingdom key because Riku was bequeathed by Terra now. The only one that kinda had to happen was the rigmarole with Sora’s and Ventus’s hearts, in order to explain Roxas’s appearance.

Still, the finale was pretty good and it did a good job of setting up Xehanort as the series’ big bad.

Btw, Aqua’s VA was shit. It really distracted me... Like can you at least pretend that you care? Really bad performance.

Kingdom Hearts - Re:coded

Apparently this one’s important to the plot now.

My least favorite entry in the franchise so far. Most of the game is inconsequential, it goes on for too long and for no good reason.

There are a couple of good moments between Data!Sora and Data!Riku, and I like that this game actually gave Sora a goal to achieve in KH3, that of rescuing every other MC trio, but those points are not enough to redem this game.

It felt like a chore to go through this one.

Kingdom Hearts - Dream Drop Distance

This one was mostly fun, but it is also responsible for the meme-status of the franchise’s story. Oh my god...

I actually don’t mind the complicated exam. I also like the idea of a mishap turning Riku into Sora’s guardian angel. However it’s when the Xehanorts start running amok that the plot starts to literally fold in on itself.

It does a decent enough job of setting up KH3 and hyping it up, but this really was where the story started to get convoluted. Before this point it was actually pretty easy to follow for me.

I’m also not fond of the retcon on Organization XIII’s goals.

Also I guess Riku is more special than Sora now? Not that I’m complaining.

Kingdom Hearts - 0.2 Birth by sleep -A fragmentary passage-

This game fixed Aqua and ruined Mickey. I mean, it’s pretty. And Aqua is life. But what the hell did you do to Mickey, Nomura?

You mean to tell me that Aqua was there the whole time and Mickey didn’t try to get her out of the Realm of Darkness? WHAT?! He was there with Riku, and Mickey didn’t even so much as mention Aqua to him? She’s literally there on the beach!

On the other hand though, Aqua’s VA now does a pretty decent job. Aqua herself is given a lot more to do and think about. Her character really benefits from this title. She’s not my favorite character, but I totally get why she’s a fan favorite.

Also terrible excuse to get Sora back to Lvl 1 is terrible.

Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover

On its own, I actually like this. It’s a pretty solid story on how the Keyblade War first sparked.

Yes, the foretellers are idiots who were obviously being played by the Master of Masters, but I think the way they fell out is nicely told. I also think that was the intent of the story. To show how dependent these guys were on the Master and how incompetent they were, so much so that the moment the Master disappears everything goes haywire.

I am a bit reluctant on this as a piece of the Kingdom Hearts story though. More specifically when it pertains to the Dark Seeker Saga. I don’t like how this was shown to us before KH3. Because even though I’m new to the series, I can tell a crazy storyteller when I see one. And Nomura’s incessant need of referencing every single piece of content in KH will rear its ugly head in KH3.

This shit is gonna matter, but it clearly has no place in the story told so far. Yes, it shows the beginnings of the Kayblade War, which is Xehanort’s end goal. But now we have ANOTHER bad guy to look out for in the Master of Masters and what the hell is in the black box, cuz I can assure it will appear in KH3. Isn’t this a bit too much to tack on just before the release of the game that supposedly ends the saga?

And don’t get me started on the fuckton of continuity problems the whole mobile game shabang brings.

Looking onto Kingdom Hearts III

On the whole though, I’m getting this game. If I had to equate it to something it would be to Infinity War in how it is going to converge all of the currently ongoing plotlines. Everything is leading up to this.

That in and of itself is good enough to generate hype, but there are other things that I’m looking forward to in the game.

- The gameplay (again, haven’t actually played any of the games yet, this will be my first experience)

- Playing as Kairi (wasn’t particularly happy with her lack of screentime despite her status as a MC)

- Sora’s goal to help Roxas (and I believe the others connected to him by extension)

- Visiting the Pixar worlds (this stuff looks so good, it looks exactly the same as the movies)

- The epic team-up of all the trios

- The music (of course)

- And probably some other stuff that I can’t remember right now.

May your heart be your guiding key

[videobun-gameblog]

Rambling about Sekiro (spoilers below read me):

- Evolution of "i'm scared to block, i like Souls rolling" to "okay i'll block and sort of deflect but only basic attacks i know" to "okay I don't even need to dash except for perilous attacks!"  to "okay now i can actually flip between defense and offense on the fly and this is SUPER fun!!"

- Basically, I've never in my life played a game where offense and defense mesh so well together, where blocking is FUN and viable, and seeing your attacks get deflected is actually GOOD and not just infuriating, because you're making progress in the fight.

- People've said Dark Souls is a little like a hard, combat focused Zelda but really, THIS is what that's like, and I'm in love. From did it.

- The upgrade system is neat and I appreciate it for rewarding exploration but also allowing you to challenge yourself by refusing to use them. Also it just works out really well for speedrun balancing and I can’t wait to see the evolution of speedruns in this game because there’s a good balance between wanting more power, posture, and HP and wanting to go as fast as possible.

SPOILERS UNDER CUT, DON’T DO IT UNLESS YOU ARE ALREADY AT /END/ GAME OR DO NOT EVER INTEND TO BUY SEKIRO

   ---!!!SPOILER ZONE (I'm serious do not read if you intend to play or are still playing)!!!---

 (long space for people who might see this on the blog first as opposed to via the dashboard)

- I absolutely adore the weird scientific/medicinal/supernatural macabre shit in this game. The red lump item gave me chills picking it up the first time. Same thing with seeing the first undying monk thing, I couldn't even burn it (but then I finally did it with THAT ITEM... more below)

- haha hand in a jar! haha that guy that flies at you... haha, monkey :) haha ninja dog...... hell even the headless... I love From's mix of disturbing humor (or just flat out being funny despite the bleak setting). Their version of mimics in Souls sum this up best but there's plenty of things here too that are just flat out hilarious and I love it.

- Oh Christ, speaking of, I did the Doctor questline and oh god it gave me some of that Bloodborne dread.

- "IS THAT A FUCKING DARK SOULS?" also lmao when he falls

- "IS THAT THE FUCKING CHAOS BLADE!??" oooh fuck oh fuck *pushes up glasses* remember the cut content with Shiva in Dark Souls???

- Sekiro/Wolf having the "defy your father, break the code" moment was SO good and I love that whole archetype. Simple but I just... <3 Oh god and When Owl is basically just like "that's my boy" when you kill him... I... u_u

- giving Lord Kuro rice was SO cute and just furthered my love for Wolf because this child is teaching him part of how to be himself and to also enjoy things (basically chill the fuck out you freaking murder machine, you are more than that) through compassion, friendship, and a reminder of his own childhood and I don't really get emotional over stuff like this often but awww..! ;_;

- The sake dialogue moments are so good. A very simple concept but I love the nature of sharing part of one's past through a friendly offering, it felt like a really good balance between clear concise mechanics (sake) fitting neatly with narrative elements. It's basically just a dialogue item but it didn't FEEL that way. I felt genuine excitement upon finding new drinks knowing I'd get a chance to share it.

- OH MY GOD ENFEEBLED IS SUCH A GOOD ASS STATUS EFFECT??? THE ANIMATIONS!!! He just hobbles around like a dude who just suddenly became an old man (’cuz that’s literally what it is) with his sword as a cane??? I LOVE FROMSOFT! That shit is so wonderfully expressive but also fits perfectly with that style of horror humor (and I lied before. Mimics are beaten by THIS status effect. New number one spot for my fave moment like this in a From game)

- Oh also speaking of animation, those fucking boss kills!!! *deep inhale* BROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- While not my favorite boss mechanically, SPECIFICALLY that kill animation on the Giant Ape... DUDE HOLY FUUUCK! and then the fake out!?!?!? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! SO good!

- Lady Butterfly was a fun main boss and O'Rin of the Water was a fun mini boss. Plenty of others were fantastic but those stood out. Like, two of my friends so far have expressed the same feelings on Butterfly! Good Fight!

- I even liked the gimmick fights! They did it! Gimmick fights that are actually well designed! They're more about exploring mechanics outside of pure combat without punishing you super fucking hard at a random point just because they can. (Bed of Chaos, Micolash) Strangely a little bit of a breather, which is fitting because it’s a perfect counter balance to the stress of finding yourself in a unique situation. They actually give you time to analyze, think, and breathe it all in!

- I'm currently stuck on an end game "secret"/optional boss with some classic From Lore Implications *ok hand* and it's brutal af. I am excited to learn how to master this.

 --- SLIGHT CRITICISM (basically the “i love it so much i can’t help but see small flaws but I’d still give it a 10/10 anyway” part) ---

- I like that even when they repeat mid bosses they usually put them in a new arena to change things up. I think a FEW were a little overdone though and could have benefited from maybe... I dunno, a couple new ones in their place or at LEAST alternate movesets to change things up a bit more than just location BUT the combat is engaging enough that I don't mind, I just found it a LITTLE weird how despite the rest of the polish there was a tad bit of copy-paste (but far FAR less egregious than DS1)

- Idk how replayable this game is gonna be but I can definitely see myself finishing NG+ and doing two more playthroughs for all endings. It's replayable more in the Metroid or Legend of Zelda sense and less in the Dark Souls character build sense. "I wanna try a new route first and beat bosses more effectively this time. I wanna be as stealthy as possible this run" etc. and not "I wanna make an int build" (less a critique and more an observation on how it differs from Souls replayability)

- Dragonrot is like, the only actual flaw in this game imo. It doesn't have enough depth. I was thinking it would have more end game narrative significance but it's just something tied to the sort of useless unseen aid mechanic which fails to really incentivize risky play. If anything it just encourages you to grind before bosses to cap the current exp bar and save/store/spend sen by spending 10 minutes fucking around elsewhere until you're ready so that you have nothing to lose. I feel like it should have done some world state changes and something more intense, like ACTUALLY having npcs die and having a healthier world state and an unhealthier world state where some enemies get weaker or stronger based on which extreme your world is on etc. etc. basically ANYTHING more than it is now. But this is super minor relative to how good everything else is. It just felt underwhelming considering all it was hyped up to be. It’s one of those things I just ignore as if it wasn’t there and it’s just as good because it has little effect on the parts that I DO like the game for.

 ---FINAL NOTE---

- To end on a positive note though, Sekiro managed to be a game that iterated on the Souls formula by defying part of what it became (dodge heavy, block averse play, slow, parrying primarily for one-shotting) yet still providing the same feelings of starting one of those games fresh. Part of what makes it FEEL Souls-y is precisely what separates it from those games, and it's all too good to really put into words at the moment. Like sure it's got Estus, bonfires, and a kick-your-ass "you're going to get stuck and frustrated and that's how it is" attitude and it's got a similar enough control scheme, but beyond that, there's just so much more combat and movement depth that it's a whole new beast, and I love it so much.

[yiangchen]

Okay, so I’m pissed as fuck at the writers on behalf of Bellamy, but I’m going to ignore my frustrations for the sake of my sanity for a hot sec and focus on what I actually did love about this episode because there was A LOT.

1. MEMORI: I’m still screaming about them honestly. What we got was everything I needed. Murphy making that comment about how caves must really be their thing. Emori rolling her eyes at him constantly. Emori helping him get the collar off. Murphy making that sarcastic comment about how if she’s wearing gloves, “at least one of us won’t get shocked”. Talking about why they broke up and the angst that came with it. Getting turned on by blowing people up and not even running away somewhere safe before jumping each other. Murphy being the one to kiss Emori. Emori being the one to say “this doesn’t mean we’re getting back together.” Murphy's little smile when she says they have a hostage. ALL OF IT WAS JUST SO GOOD!! MEMORI IS BACK, BITCHES!

2. Clarke x Madi: Okay, even though I have enjoyed Clarke being worried about Madi, seeing Madi be protective over Clarke this episode was too much for my heart. Like, I know it was stupid af, but Madi literally joined a cult that she is visibly terrified of because she believes it will keep Clarke safe. I AM EMOTION!

3. Clarke mf Griffin: Somehow she just keeps getting better and better. I really can’t handle it. She’s so soft yet fierce and clever, especially with how she lied to Octavia about Madi. Also, the way she mocked Octavia by calling her “Blodreina” like it’s the most ridiculous thing in the world was a mood!!

4. Charmaine Diyoza, the loml: “In war, the greatest victories require no battle.” SHE IS SO FCUKING WISE!! I mean, her very existence destroys everything Octavia believes in. She’s such a good foil to that psychopathic tyrant, and I’m living for it.

5. MINTY LIVES: Okay, but fr though. That fade from Monty to Miller? Miller liking Monty’s plan? The two of them possibly working together in a future scene in 5x07? MY BODY IS READY!

6: Gaia: She really was just pretending to support Octavia’s bitchass for six years. I stan (1) double crossing religious fanatic and badass.

7: BELLARKE IS SO HAPPENING, INSERT EVERYBODY STAY CALM STAY FUCKING CALM.GIF: There was so much Blarke throughout this and it really did keep me sane through a lot of the bs. Bellamy instantly trying to confide in Clarke in a hushed voice about the shit with his sister and Clarke low key avoiding him as she wanders off to rescue Madi from Gaia. Clarke appreciating Bellamy and being his #1 biggest fan yet again in that scene with Niylah (Clarke, smiling softly: That wasn’t me. That was Bellamy). That fade from the Blecho sex scene to Clarke. Clarke witnessing yet another Blecho kiss and being visibly affected, having to look away when Bellamy catches her looking. Bellamy’s fucking face when Clarke says, “We’re leaving”. Also, “No, you don’t understand” THE ANGST IS COMING. Clarke realizing Madi is gone and saying not that she needs to find her, but that “we have to”, we as in Clarke AND Bellamy. Bellamy instantly dropping everything and following Clarke to rescue their her daughter. Bellamy and Clarke not understanding the concept of personal space yet again. Hearing gunshots and investigating it, breaking down a door and being so fucking in sync the entire time. Sharing a look yet again about how fucking crazy Octavia is for giving Kara the order to kill the defectors. Running to their daughter Madi and both having to be forcefully stopped by Wonkru guards. Bellamy watching Clarke run to Madi when Octavia tells the guards to let Clarke through. And next ep, they’re gonna discover something about Octavia’s battle plans according to the synopsis for 5x07, so they’ll be working together, and I’M HYPE AF!

8: Bellamy: Not gonna comment on anything except for how fucking attractive he looked fighting with a sword and knocking his abuser on her ass. NOTHING ELSE HAPPENED OKAY??? THAT IS ALL!! Wow, this is hard keeping my feelings about how pissed I am at the writers inside.

9. Montamy: Bellamy loves Monty so much and I vote Monty for Bellamy’s new younger sibling. That is all.

10. Octavia being called out: “Only a fool fights a war they can’t win”. “You murdered your people”. NOTHING ELSE HAPPENED OKAY??? THERE WERE NO OTHER CALL OUTS!! 

11: Echo’s storyline becoming separate from Bellamy at the end of the ep.

[fullgrownpizza]

steben underverse thoughts

gonna put under a readmore cause spoilers.

OKAY SO... That was fuckin... HOLY SHIT???? It was... huge. Action packed with a lot happening. It wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t utter garbage. A lot happened and I was fuckin hyped during the first half. Especially...

Blue finally fuckin realizing Pink was miserable with Homeworld and acknowledging he’s Steven and not Pink.

Blue getting Steven and Connie out of jail and going to help em out to escape. The whole fandom called it.

DIAMOND FIGHT!!!!!!! HOLY FUCK!!!!!

Yellow realizes she was wrong with Pink too

HUGE MECHA.......

WHITE PEARL BEING ALL SMILEY CREEPY ‘YOU AREN’T LEAVING BITCH LMAO’

THE FUSIONS........ OBSIDIAN..... THE SWORD.........

CONNIE.............

PERI AND LAPIS AND DDDDDDD BISMUTH.... I LOVE THEM.

YD and BD on Pink’s side, they all stand up to White.

BUT THEY GET FUCKED.....

STAND OFF WITH WHITE, SHE’S BEING ALL MANIPULATIVE AND GAS-LIIGHTING.

WHITE..... TAKING OUT...... THE GEM.......... WHAT THE FUCK... WHAT THE FUCK

THE ANIMATION IN THAT SCENE!!!!!!!!!!!

But... There were quite a few moments that weren’t that great. And that sshould’ve been improved.My first and biggest problem with it ...

I get where they were going with the family aspect, with standing up to abusive siblings, parents, etc. I really do. But is everyone just gonna forget that the diamonds are dictators and shatterers? And colonizers responsible for cosmic genocide of several hundred planets?  That was never addressed at all in the entire episode. Steven only mentioned it once a few eps ago but that’s it. But the fact they did it the way they did, uhhhhh. We ok with that now?

The complete and utter lack of Blue and Yellow Pearl. WHERE ARE THEY

Steven wrecking White and making her doubt herself and suddenly do a 180 and be redeemed with a quirky one liner??? That’s it?

I’M SO CONFUSED ABOUT THE GEM STEVEN THING THO... is he suddenly op??? Like what-

Connie didn’t do much

THE FUCKING PET COMMENT AGAIN AFBWKBWGOI

MAKE THE CONFRONTATION WITH STEVEN AND WHITE LAST LONGER. IT WAS... SO RUSHED...

THE FIRST HALF WAS GREAT BUT... it was rushed afterwards.

The whole episode was rushed af. So much wasted potential

THEY DID LARS SO BAD. He’s just gone for half a season then suddenly he comes back

Sadie is glad to see him but OH NO I GOTTA SING

Also how is Beach City ok with 30-60 foot tall cosmic-colonizing dictator gods just chilling on the beach

Speaking of them did they seriously fuck up White’s height IN A SINGLE EPISIDOGSOGEB

Jasper was just gone the whole rest of the series and then suddenly comes back in a montage? And just ... 10 seconds everything is fine?

Also are the corrupted gems still semi corrupted? The diamonds can’t undo their own corruption? After all that, and they aren’t even 100% back to normal? the fuck???

ALSO I AM SO SICK OF THEM JUST BRUSHING OFF GREG AND LEAVING HIM ON THE BACKBURNER. HIS S O N ... HOW HE IS HE NOT FREAKING OUT WITH ANY OF IT? WHY IS HE NOT INVOLVED MORE? WHY IS HE OK WITH IT. HE’S STEVEN’S D A D WHAT THE FHHFKGH.

It was okay, but I feel like this should’ve been a whole arc with 22 minute long eps. The show’s noooot too terribly good with pacing of this kind of thing. So uh, there’s my two cents.

[pudgy-puk]

all stormblood combat job AF ranked by how good drividot looks in them (1/2)

before we start:

1. all the af3 is in its default dye colors because jfc, NO, i refuse to unlock dyes on all of them. no.

2. non-combat af3 is not included because it’s a pain in the ass in to get and i already had my inventory and armory bursting at the seams to do this. maybe later.

3. i picked one backdrop and one /gpose setting and did all the af under those same conditions, this may distort the results because, y’know, different colors look different depending on lighting conditions. whatever.

here we go:

that is a dang good sword, shame about the shield though. i appreciate branching out from plate and mail, but i’m not sure about motif coherency on the ornamentation. color scheme mostly good for driv excepting the pinkish tinges (although careless gold and silver mixing is one of my least favorite things ever). i don’t know--it was super hype at first, but i think it outlived its novelty.

PLD: ⭐⭐1/2

well it’s the best war set on driv yet...? (that is not a high bar to clear). still appreciating the step away from full plate, but less confident that this works as well as pld’s tabard. mixing all the different colors and textures of metal here is a bold move, as is adding feathers. it could be worse.

WAR: ⭐⭐

ohhh, i am so very disappointed by this. the initial drk af was nearly perfect on drividot, so this had a long way to fall and well, fall it did. i wanted to like the purple half-tabard thing much more than i did, and this set’s departure from plate makes it look like a kid’s foam-padded batman halloween costume on drividot. it is at least consistent and coherent, though. the best thing about this set is the sword, as its three-dimensionality and asymmetry are genuinely fun and interesting.

DRK: 1/2⭐

this turned out much better than i was expecting--but honestly, most of that is the chestpiece. the gloves, trousers, and boots are all distinctly underwhelming, and i’m still confused about why the tiara introduces the glowing teal gems, a color that appears nowhere else in the entire set. as complements to an actually nice chestpiece, they are functional. and while i think aymur is a beautiful design for a white mage cane, it doesn’t go at all with the rest of the seventh heaven set--not remotely, not in feel, not in color, not in texture, or ornament. the seventh heaven chest piece is good, but it can’t carry the whole ensemble.

WHM: ⭐1/2

aha. now we are cooking with gas. this is much less daring than the above ensembles, true, but it pays off in consistent, solid good looks. the relatively limited palette avoids over-ornamentation and mixing trim colors, so everything comes together really nicely. the green even manages to look good on drividot, which is something i had worried about. and though there’s not much in the picture, the weapon is absolutely gorgeous, with so many little details and creative additions. i love it.

SCH: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

remember how i said that some of the pictures wound up suffering for my refusal to adjust backdrop and lighting (because if i fucked around to optimize for each one it would have taken hours and hours)? this is the first victim. this looks completely amazing on drividot in most situations, but alas, the colors don’t quite look right here. that aside, though, i love this entire set: intricate, good colors, highly aesthetic--the only demerits i really have for it are for how the orange sash doesn’t have a dye channel of its own, and the whole problems with AST af and gender changes that have been an issue since the job’s introduction. 

AST: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

in a reversal of the previous ensemble, i think that this set is actually being done quite a few favors by the lighting. as a whole, this set actually looks remarkably good on drividot, considering that it was optimized for character designs/aesthetics that are nothing like driv’s. it doesn’t clash horribly with his color scheme, and its flourishes and quirks (fur, fringes, asymmetrical elements) actually work in a way they didn’t with the various tank afs because they mesh well with and further the rough-and-tumble brawly-ness of MNK. also i adore magic-sigil fist weapons. can we have more of that? please?

MNK: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

the ultimate problem with all DRG af post-ARR is that they have to try and improve on the lvl50 DRG af, and that is really, really hard. and ultimately, this set doesn’t succeed at it, but strangely i find myself cheering for it all the same. the introduction of gold trim is very good, and it comes off as correctly spiky without being self-parodying. if drg af1 was the highest form of it, the peak, the fully parade-ready uniform of a knight dragoon, this af3 feels like a more “practical,” more “knight errant” on-the-road version of it. it honestly has grown on me since launch in a big way.

DRG: ⭐⭐⭐

hot DAMN. just. holy shit. there are some items in the game where i’m convinced the costume designers were thinking of red-headed dark grey duskwight boys when they designed them, this is the first time i’ve had that feeling about an entire set. from the color scheme to the cut to the slashing curves and points of the ornament, this straight-up looks like this was made for drividot.

NIN: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

this is another one that looks straight-up like they designed this for drividot--which was shocking for me, i wasn’t expecting to look good as a samurai. that being said, though, there are a couple things that disqualify this from a perfect score like ninja--most of all, that, like WHM, the chestpiece is doing 99% of the heavy lifting, with other pieces having only minimal presence. i really would like for the sandals and gloves to be better and more visible. and also i gotta say i hate the little chinstrap on the hat. (it’s petty, but i really really do).

SAM: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

[tazzykiki]

VLD s7: Pros, Cons, and the usual VLD crap.

Pros: 

1. Hunk development! Weee! 2. Some sweet action, nice. 3. Some moments actually got me emotional, not bawling or even a tear, but at least something to light my cold, dead heart. 4. Finally got to see the druid’s face! That was nice. 5.Lance getting some leader positions, cool. 6. Atlas thicc af. 7. Zethrid and Ezor being boss ass lesbian queens. They are wifeys and nothing can make me deny that. 8. Fucking finally, the generals have stopped being gags and plot devices. Cons:

1. Why the fuck they name the wolf Cosmo. 2. Why the fuck did they kill Adam and have him and Shiro only interact once and have that be negative??? Seriously, anyone who hasn’t read about Shiro being gay would have no idea he and Adam are--sorry were--in a relationship. Thanks for the queerbait, my hopes were at zero because hyping this show after season 3 is useless. 4. That admiral was an annoying piece of garbage and I’m glad she died. Why was she even included? To draw out the episodes? How is a military officer THAT stupid???? 5. Um, where is Lance’s sword? Did you guys forget it like you forgot your little promises for rep? 6. Nice, even more characters. Lemme guess, they’re gonna get more story time than the actual main characters. 7. What the hell was with all the still images? I get its for drama, but if you were too lazy to animate it, just don’t put it in. Like your dumb ass writing. 8. I’m glad I never hype myself for vld, I would’ve died even more on the inside after this season. 9. Um, so where’s that plot with Haggar and the supposedly experimented on Narti??? Oh, and LANCES ALTEAN SWORD THAT ALFOR USED TO HAVE. 10. Is it me, or did the animation and even acting seem lack luster??? 11. SERIOUSLY WHY IS ADAM DEAD. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. WHO MADE THAT DECISION?? ‘DEATH DOESN’T DISCRIMINATE’ MY ASS. YOU CAN PUT PLOT ARMOR OVER YOUR ‘OH SO PRECIOUS’ OTHER CHARACTERS BUT NOT THE NEWLY REVEALED GAY MAN’S BOYFRIEND/HUSBAND?? bitch. 12. So uh, why is Axca suddenly attracted to Keith? Kroila doesn’t know her and they would know if she was his sister...good god is this a new ‘ship’ now? please no, god no. I don’t fucking care about Klance anymore, that shit is never gonna be canon and if it is then its the apocalypse. But seriously, Axca and Keith???? whyyyy? ew. We have one more season left, don’t make it more shit than it’s probably gonna be. 13. I hated that admiral with every fiber of my being and her death put a smile on my face. 14. The fact that I was able to make snarky comments and not feel bad throughout the whole season is bad in of itself.

[float-me-now]

So I finally managed to read the new Bleach chapter, and I am SO HYPED???

The story is really intriguing, hell is something we hadn’t seen yet, it seems very interesting. Also the ‘you’re sending your comrades down to hell’ plot is tragic and cool at the same time. I’m all in for it.

Plenty of great comedy moments (Mayuri always delivering quality content lmao), Renji and Ichigo bickering, Madarame being his usual hyped self (and Keigo owns a ramen shop, wtf)

The character design is flawless as usual (can we tALk aBouT Yumi-fucking-chika? Renji?? Rukia??? Kira and Hisagi, my bois? Soi Fon is also pretty af??)

Ichigo aged like fine wine, sorry Naruto

I’m not a fan of “protagonists’ offspring” stuff but Ichika and Kazui look really cute and they don’t seem to be annoying so far

New characters Yuyu Yayahara and Atau Rindo look really nice! I especially like Atau, he kinda looks like Chad (the hair and gaze!) and the fact that he’s deaf and mute and the others seem to be all able to use sign language to communicate with him is really cool. His sword is also super interesting! Kinda reminds me of Sai’s techniques from Naruto.

I totally didn’t see it coming, Szayelapollo popping back up! It was nice to see that fashionable nutjob again. Also Kubo’s idea of moving the hollow hole outside the body and having feelings flow out from the brain? Next level shit. I wonder if we’ll ever see other arrancars? (I’d give a piece of my soul to see Ulquiorra, Starrk, Tesla and Nnoitra again tbh)

Everything was great but where is my boi Ishida? :’’))

Side note: I actually can’t wait to see Nemuri Hachigo! I’d like to see how she’s different from Nemu, what she has in common with her, her relationship with Mayuri, Akon and Urahara (since he seems to hang at the Development Bureau)

Really looking forward to this new arc!

[moonbelt]

I don'tknow if you already answered this but do you have any anime recommandation?

i’ve never been asked for anime recommendations in my inbox before usually i just recommend some to ppl that message me or my friends irl but IM ACTUALLY REALLY EXCITED TO DO THISSS -

okay here are 15 anime i’ll recommend to you anonie :)

these are in no specific order 

1: Boku No Hero Academia - character develoment? check. Non-neglecting of side characters? check. Bomb af graphics? double check. Loveable best boy? yep yup. Great fandom that collectively hates Mineta? yesh

2: Diamond no Ace - sports anime that actually shows the struggles of different teams? yesss. epic scenes that are so great it could be a meta anime but it still retains the basic functions of baseball? huehue double yes. the mc is such a ball of energy and genuinely wants to be the Ace and has so much development as a character that you honestly start wanting him to get that number? yes yes yes yes yes

3: Nichijou - one of the greatest work anime has produced. really its so effing hilarious and it really pinpoints the things everybody does in everyday life. like flip a police officer for mistakenly confiscating your boys love manga. accidentally stabbing your thumb with a mechanical pencil, the struggles of ordering at Starbucks or even..

yeah.. ordinary life ha

4: Magi - a smol baby boy tryna bring peace to the world? check. fucking strong girl that can beat any kind of wild beast there is? heck yeah! magic? yup. loads of backstory that actually makes sense and relates to the arcs? checkity check. villiains that really arent villains and good guys that truly are the bad guys? ho boi yessss. a magical recorder? you got it. also the graphics are great

5: Mob Psycho 100 - another smol baby boy just tryna navigate middle school. blessed with amazing psychic powers but powerless in terms of popularity and friendships. truly such a great anime that teaches a lot of moral stuff and has A M A Z I N G fight scenes. our boy mob is such a freaking god and the art style is very different but so expressive 10/10 would recommend

6: Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou - [Daily Lives of High School Boys] like nichijou, this is another anime that is at the height of comedy gold. every episode is such meme worthy. the main protag really isnt the main protagonist, so many puns, great side characters, and i cant express how much of a feel good anime this is

7: Bakemono no Ko - okay this is a movie. and when i say this is such a fascinating movie, i mean it. this really smol boy gets adopted by a bear after he runs from home. this big bad bear™ is actually so pure and best dad. the uncles are great and so punny i cant. okay, they also have some really epic sword fights.. i really cant explain this movie without giving spoilers lmao but go watch it if you want, you wont regret it

8: Hunter x Hunter - young fisher-boy and young assassin-boy walk into a hunter exam together, who survives? friendship.. and the newly acquired dads they found along the way [honestly go watch it, i was skeptical at first but i never loved anything more in my life] also the arcs are so monumental, really great plot and friendship!!

9: Yuri On Ice!!! - edgy ice skating and gay couples that reaffirm what love is? check. little smol bean yurio tryna act all mighty and tough? yep. amazing soundtrack? heck yeahh! great characters that in no way hate on homosexuals? you got it. amazing graphics? best boys? well dang, you got it!

10: Shokugeki no Soma - food. food. food wars. great scenes that have food giving you orgasms? basically a sports anime but about food? great mc that really deserves all the love he gets. when they tie a bandana on their forehead, shit is about to get started. food. food. food wars.

11: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - as i write this, i cry. this was so good and i was wary of watching it bc there was/is so much hype around it but alas IT WAS SOO GOOD I CANT. like two brothers? amazing morals? the fact that nothing is as it seems? kickass female characters. alchemy. the hype is real with this one, but its so worth it and i 10/10 would lower you down FMA hell.

12: Katekyo Hitman Reborn! - [also known as Reborn!] i found this by mistake and my life really hasnt been the same. mafia story. first few eps are just comedic and really dont tell you jack shit about the storm thats coming afterwards. holy heck, a main character that set standards for how to demolish your enemies? friendship! fight scenes that make you wanna fite anyone? so many powers that actually make sense? checkity check. friendship!!

13: Bungou Stray Dogs - hidden powers that main character doesnt know about? check. good dad dazai. another mafia story. a mafia boy tryna kill the mc because of his powers and dazai has become mc’s dad instead of his [okay i’m trolling lmao] but really this is a great mafia anime. theories. villainous characters that have been blackmailed into being bad.. really it has it all

14: Haikyuu!! - small chibi boy just wants to play volleyball in peace. “i can jump™” meets skyscraper black-haired blue-eyed god who rules the court. [trollingg] but honestly, this has to be one of the most accurate sports anime i’ve watched. spiky main and side characters that are completely adorable and its kinda hard not to get sucked in, but you will

15: Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! - gamer dude dies [by mistake] and on his way to the afterlife, he’s given a chance by a goddess to go to another world and defeat the demon king. grants him the possibility of taking any one thing to this new world, my guy picks the goddess [fukin dead] and whoops there ya go lmaoo. but no honestly, its great and funny and the explosion/action scenes are beyond E P I C. also best girl, Megumin, is there so you should def check it out

— obviously these recommended anime are in my opinion. im not some anime god but thanks anon for giving me a reason to finally do this *finger hearts* —

[asokatanos]

I’m seeing so many people sad or otherwise unsure on how to feel about Star Wars so I just thought I would share some things that I love about it. No real spoilers ahead!

1) These movies are about all of the various skywalkers being total disasters, which is absolutely hilarious to me. Like, this is pretty much Keeping Up With The Skywalkers

2) The Skywalker Screwups are all Dramatic and Extra af, as is pretty much every single other sentient creature in the galaxy far far away (the gffa)

3) The Jedi are amazing. They’re like... space Buddhist monks, except they’re also wizards with heavy wool robes. And laser swords

4) They keep dramatically disrobing before fights and I would really like to know about whichever space roomba picks up after these various Jedi and also non Jedi Skywalkers

5) real world (sorry, America centric) implications and allegories. I’ll be damned if no man in the New Republic Senate never said “Nevertheless, She Persisted” regarding Leia. Also, the death of democracy and being led by a maniac with a fondness for ostentatious gold or a maniac with questionable hair. 2 real

6) Obi Wan Kenobi. Just.... everything about him.

7) Old Obi Wan’s quietly hidden sass and his Most Extra way of dying in the least satisfying way possible for the dude he was fighting

8)... who happens to be Darth Vader, the most extra man in the whole gffa, who makes his cloak billow using the Force and who rides On Top Of Tie Fighters just to look especially dramatic and imposing. Obi Wan out-Extra’d that guy.

9) Leia Organa and every single thing about her. She can out extra anyone any time she pleases but saves it for the Most Dramatic time possible. Nobody else even comes close

10) the bad guys. All of them. They’re all so ridiculous and just bad because they’re bad! Tragic backstory whomst!!! Palpatine is just here for that Throne and the sweet sweet feel of power and money!!! And space lightning. Snoke? Snoke doesn’t give a fuck! He’s just here for the shiny gold robes and throne room that is at once Ridiculous and Dramatically Lit and also Minimalist. Snoke probably goes on Pinterest!!

11) The Power Of Love And Friendship™️. I love it. I live for these tropes okay. Movies with morals about friendship and hope and love and getting back up if you fail are my jam. Star Wars is the best because it does all that but there are also space wizards with laser swords

12) force ghosts. Nobody really dies in the gffa if they’re on the Good side. They will come back and haunt the latest Skywalker Screwups™️ for GENERATIONS to come. Somebody tell Obi Wan and Yoda and Qui Gon to go to bed. Let them rest!!!!!

13) Explosions that make no sense at all. Who cares!! It’s space!! Blow shit up!!! Make it look Cool!

14) Star Wars is forever. I mean. This franchise celebrated FORTY YEARS this year. This thing has spanned three generations and makes room for more, both in its own context with its characters and for us

15) in that vein, I love The Force Awakens for exactly that reason. I didn’t get into sw for some reason when the prequels came out and was the dumb little kid who disliked what my parents liked on principle because it was old, just look at those graphics and puppets. Terrible! But then tfa came out in 2015, and because my best friend was so hyped I decided to give in and try to at least watch the previous movies so I could make heads or tails of this new one that was about to be released. So because TFA was made, I binge watched two trilogies and six plus seasons of The Clone Wars and was completely and overwhelmingly in love. The Force Awakens was the first Star Wars movie I saw in the theaters and I was swept off my feet by the flight of the Millennium Falcon and the gentle melody of Rey’s Theme. Yeah, its plot was extremely familiar, but I don’t mind, because it was meant to hold my hand and lead me and a new generation of Star Wars fans into the gffa.

And also Poe and Finn. The added diversity is huge huge huge for me. There’s little representation otherwise, which is sad (except Queen Jamillia and many many names and cultures across Star Wars - but they’re all wearing white faces, whether painted or natural). And now The Last Jedi gives us Paige and Rose Tico, who are both incredibly meaningful characters to the Resistance, who are both named and loved by other characters.