#but also bc he is a villain people don’t pay attention to his dialogue and won’t notice these things

[sophfandoms53]

I think one of the weirdest thing to me about Helluva Boss is how they keep proving that Striker is right but at the same time they refuse to let Striker himself be right.

Someone on twitter pointed out that in Oops Striker talks about it being an embarrassment to imp kind that Fizz is a purse-dog to his over-bloated master, and then, while Striker might’ve been referring to Ozzie (although the use of over-bloated makes me wonder if he truly meant Mammon), the entirety of the next episode is all about Fizz saying fuck you to Mammon (his master) and quitting his job because he doesn’t wanna be exploited or abused anymore.

And this just reminded me how in the first season they had Striker say to Blitz “Starting with the one that treats you like a plaything.” about Stolas’ treatment towards him in Harvest Moon and then in Truth Seekers (the next episode) they literally had Stolas say ��Who dare threaten my impish little plaything.”

I don’t know if this parallel is on purpose but that’s twice now where in back to back episodes in each season Striker has a made a point about the hierarchy in his episode and then the following episode goes out of its way to prove his point.

I just think it’s odd how they prove that he is right in other character’s storylines but in Striker’s own storyline he’s like not allowed to have a win despite everything around him saying he should.

[sometimesrosy]

What things in 7x02 do you think were the most significant in terms of the direction the show is taking toward its end? And how do you think it may lead back to Bellarke, as well, since they’re the center of the story?

Hmm. I’m not totally sure because this is the beginning of the end, see, so I’m starting to collect details and information and references and symbolism... bread crumbs. Sometimes I’m still running on a FEELING of it being connected without being able to pin point how it is? So I’m going to have to put things together as I go.

But like, first of all, this episode was about Octavia and growth from “monster” to hero again. One of the things that was vital to her was that she learned to understand her brother and his relationship to her, and while it wasn’t as blatant, also clarke’s relationship with Madi. It was also an affirmation that she believes her family is Bellamy, Clarke and Madi... which was not really there in season 5 and 6. But if you’ll notice that after she came back from the anomaly, Clarke WAS suddenly her people again and she was NOT going to let anything happen to her. This is where she learned that. This is what led to her hearing Clarke was in trouble on that radio and then taking off to save her. ALSO what led to her faith in Clarke at the gate. And what led to her refusing to sacrifice the sancumites or the COG because she wanted to be better and do better, what led to Bellamy embracing her again as his sister.

And no matter WHAT you think of Octavia as a character, whether you think she’s irredeemable or god’s gift to “I love her and she’s never done anything wrong ever,” Octavia Blake is a SUPREMELY important character in this show.

If this story is an allegory about humanity’s self destruction and rebirth, then Octavia’s role in it is... humanity itself. Clarke is the Head, Bellamy is the Heart, and Octavia is the SOUL. Father, son, holy spirit is Octavia as the “son.” How Octavia suffers, falls, and is redeemed is how it goes with humanity. They are the trinity (in whatever myth you choose I think it fits) and Octavia is the child symbol in that trinity. So, what happens with Octavia finding redemption goes back to Bellarke as mother and father or head and heart.

ALSO we have a replay of Aurora, Octavia and Bellamy with Diyoza, Bellamy and Hope. And it’s quite possible that Bellamy can’t find true love with Clarke until he makes up with Octavia. AND Clarke and Bellamy have ALWAYS used Octavia as a bridge between them. Instead of talking about their feelings for each other they always talk about Octavia. If Octavia is separated or evil or antagonistic, their bridge to each other is gone. 

Another consideration is the set up of the backstory and narrative this season, which is WAY complicated with multiple planets, new technology, old influences and timey wimey stuff. SHOWING us how the time stuff is working with new mysteries, prisons, families, a kid growing up before our eyes who was actually conceived before the first praimfaya I think, minddrive readers so we could see Becca, a focus on Bellamy in a kind of mythology for Octavia, Diyoza, Hope, Echo etc, I mean, it’s not TECHNICALLY about Bellarke, but it’s setting up a story that will be getting there.

That’s the part I can’t know yet. I don’t know what is being laid out yet. Some people have mentioned the CB letters carved into the cave. I said it didn’t matter, but it might very well have been an easter egg. That won’t make sense until we know the whole story. We’ll get a bit more when we see how Clarke responds to this all. 

Oh also, Echo brought up the Together thing. That’s a bellarke phrase. And it’s being used for a part of their family that is NOT together. Because TOGETHER is important to the story. Bellarke are the SYMBOL of the togetherness that they need for all their people. Also the Trust Bellamy... “I trust you,” was a big thing for Clarke and Bellamy. There were a couple of other places where the Bellarke dialogue was repeated in this episode, and I don’t want to necessarily say that is ABOUT Bellarke, but I think we SHOULD be paying attention to Bellarke as the central relationship AND the metaphor IN the story for the unity and understanding and coming together that is needed for ALL the characters and humanity itself. 

So like these stories about the secondary characters are leading back to Bellarke because they are now telling the same stories Bellarke struggled with but for the other characters. Bellamy’s near raising of Octavia and Octavia near raises Hope. Echo’s isolation/solitary confinement for 5-6 years like Clarke’s isolation. And actually we’re getting in coming up to. Raven and Murphy having to make life or death decisions and keeping the communities from infighting. 

CRIMINY!

Octavia resented Bellamy for being parental. Now she’s parental. Echo took Clarke’s place on the ring while Clarke was isolated, now ECHO is isolates. Raven accused Clarke of deciding who lives and dies while forcing her to decide who lives or dies, now SHE’s causing people to die with her decisions. Murphy killed their own people and brought plague and blew a hole in their dropship and wanted to be the new king and NOW he’s in charge of keeping random peoples together and is playing GOD-King.

I mean. 

LOL.

If you only watch when Clarke and Bellamy and Bellarke (but no b/e) is there you will miss all that. You lose out on the comparisons. You won’t be able to see the similarities or links because you’ll be missing the data points.

You know that saying “once is chance, twice is a coincidence, three times a pattern?”

You’ll never get that pattern if you don’t watch the parts that you think are irrelevant. You’ll miss #3 and maybe #2. The details will continue to be irrelevant and you won’t get the reinforcing or breadcrumbs or narrative links that make the story deeper. All you’ll get is a love story with a lot of irrelevant nonsense around it that makes it frustrating for you. And then you’ll say that the story is too slow, or subplots are macguffins, or important episodes are filler, or it doesn’t make sense, or it’s bad writing, or a character is being minimized or vilified, or the writers didn’t give you enough information to understand so it’s their fault you were off in lala land with some other plot and endgame. (season 3 is a BIG example of this. Lxa was NEVER the hero. Bellamy was NEVER the villain. And Clarke was NEVER the love interest. That WIDESPREAD interpretation in both bc and cl fandoms was a misinterpretation because people didn’t follow the narrative and only watched what they liked. It’s backwards. L was villain/love interest. Bellamy was hero/love interest, and Clarke was hero/villain. HA!)

I mean you can continue to only watch for Bellarke, you might still get the love story you want, (better bet than s3 CLs since they shipped the non endgame pair,) but everything around it is treated as an obstacle or an offense, rather than part of the structure of a much better love story.

[lesbianrobin]

☕️ steve’s beautiful character arc

god bless you for sending this ask also i am so sorry this is gonna be long as FUCK and it’s not gonna be REMOTELY coherent

TL;DR: steve’s arc is the second-best in the show behind el, largely because he maintains his crucial traits and motivations while changing his actions and beliefs to try and be a better person

okay to start off i’m obviously biased as fuck because steve is my main hoe and i love him to death. that being said i genuinely think steve has the most solid character arc in the entire show save for el, and i think the biggest factor in that is the fact that joe keery has been so involved in the shaping and direction of steve’s character ever since he was cast. obviously every actor brings a lot to their character, but what’s unique about steve is that he was initially meant to be a true villain and die in s1, and joe convinced the duffers to change that. joe’s done an excellent job of keeping steve’s most basic traits consistent as the writers developed his character so that Steve feels real.

what makes steve’s character arc so good and believable is that, at his core, he... doesn’t really change That much? throughout the show, his defining character traits never really change: he’s loyal, he pays a lot of attention to other people and what they think of him, he’s more of a doer than a thinker, he has some issues with his father, he doesn’t have a personal vision for the future so he tries to stick to the designated path of “success,” and he wants to be a good person. what changes isn’t necessarily his intrinsic motivations, but his actions and thought processes, which makes for an excellent character arc!!

to start off with: controversial opinion, but i don’t think steve was That much of an asshole in s1. he was definitely an asshole! he just wasn’t evil or a total piece of shit like b*lly. he was just a dickhead high school kid, yknow? he was short-sighted, selfish, and didn’t take anything seriously. at the same time, he clearly cared a lot about other people (and what they thought of him)- demonstrated in little things like him sharing his lunch with his friends without them even asking, and the fact that he went to apologize to nancy after he blew off her concerns about barb because he was too preoccupied with not getting in trouble. he goes along with the crowd and does whatever he thinks he Should do, like letting tommy and carol vandalize the marquee (i can’t recall the exact dialogue but i think he says like “i shouldn’t have let carol do it” or whatever anyways it wasn’t his idea but he didn’t stop his friends). the fight with jonathan is steve’s only real Asshole moment for me. obviously he was dismissive of barb being missing which was shitty but he had no real reason to think that barb was dead yknow? he was approaching the situation from the stance of a teenager in a small town where bad things don’t usually happen. he was blinded by his own petty concerns of getting in trouble, and while insensitive to nancy, i think it was an understandable offense for a teenager (and one he apologized for).

and... since i Must address the camera thing... i personally think steve 100% had the right to break jonathan’s camera. of course he said some shitty things that he didn’t need to, and a lot of people argue that since jonathan was taking pictures of nancy, steve had no right to be outraged on her behalf, but i disagree with that argument. just because nancy was willing to forgive jonathan doesn’t let him off the hook! he was in steve’s backyard, taking pictures of an intimate moment through steve’s bedroom window. steve’s privacy was violated just as much as nancy’s. so, even if you don’t think that “sticking up for nancy” and being protective of her was a valid motivation, i still think it was justified. so yeah anyways.

back to the fight!!! steve lashes out and says like the meanest shit he can think of to jonathan because he’s so deeply hurt by nancy’s perceived betrayal and he Wants to get into a fight, which goes along with his deep sense of loyalty, preoccupation with what other people (his shitty friends mostly) think of him, his tendency to do whatever he’s “supposed” to do, and his desire to act rather than sit around and ruminate. some guy sleeps with your girlfriend, you’re supposed to kick his ass, and if you don’t then you’re a pussy, and if you can’t hit him to let out the anger and heartbreak then you have to sit in it and think about it and feel it. so basically what makes steve so cool is that these traits of his fuel both his biggest mistakes and his biggest hero moments!!

what many people see as steve’s total 180 at the end of s1 is actually, in my view, very consistent with his character up until that point. he went to nancy’s house to apologize earlier in the season, and this time he does the same thing for jonathan, because he’s realized how shitty he was and he knows that he doesn’t want to be that guy. once he’s there, he’s worried about nancy (consistent with prior protective/concerned behavior), and of course he chooses to run back inside! he cared enough to look up jonathan’s address and go to his house at night just to apologize after jonathan beat the shit out of him just hours ago, which is pretty serious- as someone who clearly feels guilt pretty deeply and wants to make things right, someone confident in his athletic ability, someone who thinks he might love nancy wheeler... why the fuck would he not go back in the help them?

his development in s2-s3 is a lot more about, like, being better to himself than it is about being better to others like it was in s1. at the beginning of s2, he basically defines his future in relation to nancy and his father. after he gets his heart broken (and i’m not gonna go into why he and nancy were incompatible bc that’s a whole other post and this shit is already ungodly long) and loses his “king” reputation, dustin and the other kids give him something to believe in, fight for, and care about. something that has nothing to do with the prescribed outline for success (popularity, sports, marrying a nice girl, working in the family business) that steve’s been basing his whole life on. he still misses nancy by the end of the season, but he’s realized that their picture-perfect future was never gonna happen, and he’s content with her finding her true happiness even if it’s not with him. also when he takes dustin to the snow ball he’s super encouraging and when he notices that dustin is feeling insecure, he shuts that shit DOWN and reassures him that he looks amazing which is just... so precious...

as he finds people to care about and things that bring him real joy in life (basically the kids and robin), steve also grows more and more expressive throughout the show, dressing more stylishly/flamboyantly, allowing his hair to become more and more wild, and goofing around/laughing a lot more. he’s basically a fucking angel in s3 and he finally lets go of all the high school bullshit that he was allowing to define him! he’s still very loyal, still pays very close attention to the people around him and how they feel, but now this is less about protecting his reputation and more about being a good friend. much like how he reassured dustin in s2, he prioritizes robin’s comfort and happiness during the bathroom scene in s3. he still acts fast in a pinch and tries to do the right thing whenever possible, always taking responsibility for his mistakes, and even though he doesn’t have a vision for his future, he’s okay with living in the moment and enjoying his life even though he hasn’t attained traditional “success” of any sort. he still has all of the same core character traits as he did in s1, he’s just learned how to be kinder, less selfish, and less concerned with fitting into a certain mold.

so yeah uh this was a goddamn mess and i’m sorry and i hope it all makes sense!!! thank you again for asking lmao

[the-cryptographer]

So I haven’t actually reread the Monster World Arc in the manga for a good while (although I checked a couple of details). So far as I can tell, most of the actual game plays are the same as in the manga (except for Miho’s inclusion) but it’s a tossup whether any piece of dialogue is filler or not. So *huh hmm* we’re going to play a little game. It’s called ‘try to infer what the hell Takahashi might have been planning to do (or not planning to do bc I’m not entirely sure any planning went into any of this) with Yami Bakura’s character before the manga got axed and everyone got distracted by Kaiba, based on this unfaithful adaptation of his work’.

"Role playing means to play a role. The players act as their characters and enter a world of adventures. That is what makes this game popular.”

I guess the question is- is this why this game is appealing to Ryou/TKB/Zorc? The question of identity has always been strong regarding the Bakurae. And not a question that was ever answered, in contrast to Yuugi and Atem. Y!Bakura also often imitates Ryou as one of his tactics. Does he like acting? Should he go to acting school postcanon? Does his affinity for acting mean that the obfuscation regarding his individuality and identity is somewhat purposeful on his part? What could he be so intent on hiding?

Also perhaps a pointed statement. An enemy concealing themselves as a friend is something both Y!Bakura and Malik seem prone to. But maybe more interesting in that TKB sees Atem and the Pharaoh’s Court as enemies that have concealed themselves in their opulence and authority. Hiding in plain sight.

In any case, fun and games are now over.

Miho faints and gets trapped in her figurine - (she’s so cute~) - and everyone loses their shit.

Jounouchi’s hair also loses its shit. I’m not sure what’s going on with it.

Honda runs in to roll a critical to save Miho. Even though it’s neither his turn, or does he have a skillset that would allow him to do so.

Y!Bakura then proceeds to trap his soul in his figurine as well, as punishment for rolling when it’s not his turn. Is that a real offense the DM can punish? Because that sounds fake. Very fake.

The more important part, though, is that you know Ryou also gets angry when he’s DM-ing and people get belligerent and roll when it’s not their turn. Please imagine Ryou playing Monster World with Honda postcanon, and Honda makes mistakes and Ryou’s also like: Manners! It’s not your turn! And Honda kind of cringes: ...Please don’t say that. And Ryou’s all: ???

Jounouchi is rolling next.

Savage.

So then pretty soon everyone is Monster World Figurines (so cute) and Atem is the one rolling for all of them. It’s Atem vs Y!Bakura, everyone. Huzzah!

A good screencap.

Atem is popular. And much better at rolling dice for Jou than Jou is.

And Jounouchi is jealous and attention starved as usual. This poor neglect child. Pay attention to me. Pay attention to me. Pay attention to me.

Yuugi continues to do his magic hands beast tamer thing, and recruit enemies to his side.

The sound effects here as he pets(?) this dragon are adorable.

In the meantime, Ryou has “cursed” Y!Bakura’s dice. Ryou confirmed as too occult and creepy even for Y!Bakura.

Ryou has also taken back control of his left hand.

Aaaaand I... actually completely forgot this happened. Everyone talks about how Y!Bakura stabbed himself during Battle City. But his self-mutilative tendencies seem to extend far beyond that one moment.

...This too. I guess in a technical sense, Y!Bakura says he default wins so long as the heros all die in this game of Monster World. And this is his game, so maybe Zorc’s defeat really won’t have any further consequences on him. But... I’m not convinced. It seems likely that Zorc/TKB/Y!Bakura - whoever the hell this is - doesn’t care if he dies in the process of wiping the others out. Probably you could have foreseen Y!Bakura/Zorc killing TKB in Memory World based on this but- here he’s willing to kill Zorc’s expy, not just TKB’s expy. This seems like a subtle difference that could have had some great significance. The ultimate evil doesn’t actually care about living to perpetuate ultimate evil.

And I believe this is the final part of our ‘figure out what Takahashi was thinking’ game. Atem devises this strategy as a way to recruit Ryou, who crawls out of Zorc’s left arm. BUT! Zork implies that it is, in fact, possible to recruit him. Was the original plan for Atem & co to level up to level one million and recruit Zorc at the end of the manga? It might mean more coming from the heros, but the villain himself implying that there’s something redeemable in him is interesting in of itself.

In other news, Jou’s stupid martyr streak continues.

And things are getting dicey and wrapping up to their conclusion. (Get it? Dicey? Haha. I’m not funny.)

That’s what you get for shopping at Walmart, Y!Bakura.

So the dice break, and then Atem says-

And so we get initiative and can do whatever we want now!

Yeah, also pretty sure that’s not how the game works, Atem. If your dice break, don’t you just have to get a new set of D10s and re-roll? Fake. So fake.

But wait, going back, something that didn’t happen in the manga.

Y!Bakura tries to kill Ryou for interfering, it seems. Which is approximately how I see their relationship, personally. But I’m still not sure I appreciate Toei trying to end the debate on whether or not the Ring Spirt is at all protective of Ryou’s person. Hmmm. HMMM! I think it’s a question better left vague than answered in this clumsy manner.

So, YAY! Our heroes won the game. And the Millennium Ring breaks off Ryou’s neck and falls to the floor. Where it was left 5ever and everyone was happy and that was the end of our Ring related troubles, YAY! (I s2g, Ryou. Don’t ruin this for me!!!)

And then Ryou makes this to celebrate. And Yuugi and Atem are represented individually. And it’s all very cute and we should appreciate it!

THAT’S IT! ANIME OVER!

[feckyeslife]

we now return to a dramatic critique of “Four” picking up where we left off. Having just finished The Initiate, I needed to take a long break before coming back to this... writing.

(side note, I somehow skipped the Son and had to go back to read that about 10 pages into the Traitor)

THE SON

- Four waxes a bit poetic about how he’s not Abnegation anymore and it kind of amuses me because he’s not really Dauntless, either. 

- Max comes in to ask/encourage Four into picking Leader. The smoothness of the process makes me feel a lot better about my own Leadership training fic scenes, though the fact that it takes over a year gives me pause because it’s implied in the next section that Eric had given Four orders on how to lead training in that interrum year. So... either trainee-Eric was given some power or he finished it quicker than a year. Or continuity doesn’t matter in this collection of short stories -.- Also he TAKES the role? Whaaaat.

Putting the rest under a cut to save all y’all’s dashboards. But there’s more. So much more.

- Zeke volunteers Four to be on a double date with him and it was the perfect moment to question if Four might have possibly been not-straight, but alas. 

- Alright I know I was a bit tipsy by the end of the last read-through but how have these people already forgotten / not realized that Four came from Abnegation? It feels awkward and forced in this moment bc this is literally like... not even a week after Initiation. Not enough time to have legitimately forgotten to consider that maybe he was an Abnie. 

- The banter about hand-holding is lame and awkward. No 16 year old boys banter about hand-holding, I’m SORRY. 

- Also Shauna’s interest in Zeke is just *yawn* like I don’t care that she’s jealous of this double date.

- Someone was in Four’s apartment and broke a drinking glass. I facepalm and wonder why a single apartment would have its own kitted out kitchen when they have a MESS HALL

- Four’s internal thoughts about Dauntless wisdom of living life without fear are actually very nice. This is the side of him as a protag that would have been interesting because it’s less self-righteous as the rest of his actions and comments in the other books.

(for those just joining us, VRoth stated that originally the series was about Four as a protag and honestly it makes way more sense. And would have allowed Tris to be a very solid side character and *gasp* even a failed love interest to show that the world isn’t always perfect and you don’t always actually work with the girl you ~have love at first sight~ with)

- The training program includes tests to see how quickly they learn and Four - and the narrative - once again one-dimensionally claims that this is an Erudite quality and therefore odd. How freaking hard is it to acknowledge that intelligence is something that the military Leadership would need? Very hard, apparently.

- Max passes out info sheets for them to fill out and it’s like My First Fascism spelled out. Very dystopian and, again, a better cue for the reader than how very straightforward the tension was with Tris’ initiation. A little heavy handed but not terribly so. 

- OKAY HERE AGAIN with the inconsistencies. Earlier I made the comment about him hiding his heritage and it was flavored with OH NO THEY CAN”T KNOW I’M ABNEGATION. Here during the double date, there’s a moment where Four is asked how he met Zeke and if he was a transfer. Four thinks that he doesn’t want people to think he’s uptight and also doesn’t want to cue in about his parentage. But the feeling is so different from earlier. Naturally this means that he just straight up lies and claims to be DB. /sigh

- Nicole is conventionally attractive and as flat as a pancake, character wise. She gets pissed that Four is being a shitty date - he is - but has to walk about because he doesn’t call her pretty. 

VROTH THIS IS NOT HOW TEENAGERS TALK. I’M SORRY BUT WHAT THE FUCK. 

“Personality is much more important that-”

“Than my unsatisfactory looks?”

- Shauna once again is upset that Zeke’s mackin’ on a girl that isn’t her. I’m yawning and bored that this is as dramatic as VRoth thinks the background relationships can get.

- I might actually vomit the next time we’re introduced to a side character whose entire description is just LOOK HOW COLORFUL THEIR HAIR IS AND ALSO SO MANY PIERCINGS!!!!! Sidenote, this was actually Lauren being re-introduced. 

- please please please dont make me read through VRoth trying to describe code. i’ll do anything. no? I have to? fine.

A) Lauren explains shit too fast, for too long, and doesn’t give people paper to even make notes. that’s not teaching that’s torture

B) Eric’s a smug jackwad about already knowing it all and I love him for it even though it’s a dick move. Remember, the last time he and Four interacted was when Four beat the shit out of him after he conceded.

C) Why the fuck would Dauntless be writing their own code to do stuff? I get that you might need to tinker with settings or whatnot, but are we honestly jumping to a world where the program to call up a security feed is something that you have to hand write or piece together to get working?

D) the punctuation that VRoth has Four paying attention to are periods (fine) quotation marks (alright) and backslashes (nope). Not a semicolon? REALLY? What language is she assuming they’re using? 65% of all my code errors ever were misplaced semi-colons or improperly nested loops.

E) apparently the only errors they’re looking for are like Baby’s First Code issues because there’s not a mention of BASIC shit like loops, defining variables, or even having to decipher the logic of any of the programs which is, you know, how you do code review. 

- Ah the intruder has to do with his mother. Alright then. But why the fuck did they knock a drinking glass down? Unless they’re two unrelated break ins. 

- Cameras are everywhere in the world yeah yeah but what about when Edward gets stabbed? Ah yes, getting Peter caught then would have broken the plot so clearly they weren’t in the initiate dorms.

- So here’s where there’s basically confirmation that Eric’s been an Erudite pawn all along. I don’t have to like it, so I won’t. 

- Four waxes on about acknowledging that he’s his father’s son and once again it’s slightly grounding as a character and further drives the knife into my metaphorical back that he’s such an ass in Insurgent.

- Evelyn is totally Jewish in heritage. Curly haired, hooked nose. Mmm. Part of me wants to extrapolate about the outright Christian nature of Abnegation versus the other persecuted people - the Factionless - but I’ll hold off because I’m too tired to do it well.

- Evelyn pulls the same crap about the city changing and people needing to pick a side. It’s classic dystopian YA lit and makes sense if only because we’ve all already read Insurgent and seen the city make those choices. But two years before that all boiled over, its a bit... meh. The dialogue once again is very heavy on crap like “Jeanine Matthews frequents Dauntless headquarters” and other crap that people don’t actually say unless they’re writing something down or making a speech. 

- SINCE WHEN ARE TATTOOS ABOUT DAUNTLESS SUPREMACY? Where is this jump in LOGIC? Ugh ugh ugh the whole Divergents-are-better-than-everyone-bc-we-know-how-to-be-multifacited narrative is horrible and lame. Suddenly there’s active call-outs that people are faction traitors and concerns that even situated Dauntless feel like they need to prove themselves. Where is any of this? It’s all tell and no show beyond the special people like Amar and Four and Tris who have already been made special by the narrative paying attention to them. If we saw someone like Lauren concerning about being “dauntless enough” I would take it with less complaint, but instead it comes off as just WE GOTTA RAMP UP THE TENSION.

- There’s talk again about “if we believe that Dauntless truly is the superior faction” then blah blah blah, Eric’s ideas for training (which on their own make sense to me). Four gets on about the actual idea of choosing values over supremacy like a normal human being. There’s also this assumption that people getting kicked out wouldn’t kind of deserve it - again, it’s a military so freaking AL should not be in it, I’m not sorry. Four makes the assumption that the “small, smart, brave” wouldn’t be able to succeed which really shows that either people aren’t being trained to use their skills - christina did fine as a small, smart, brave girl in fights - or we just needed the casual reminder that Tris and people like Tris are the special ones who manage to survive and shouldn’t have. If I were Four, I would counter Eric’s arguments against the bs supremacy ideas and also support giving proper training and evaluation so that “qualified” doesn’t only mean big and beefy. But, hey, that argument’s tough to make. His arguments hinge on the whole idealism crap and doesn’t touch real goals beyond “take out the knife throwing” which of course isn’t going to impress. 

- Max has Eric leave and actually is a bit... mature in the conversation with Four? He doesn’t talk down to him and it’s rather jarring compared to the earlier conversation. Four still thinks Max just wants someone to control which doesn’t mesh with this conversation or even really with the earliest one of the section. He seemed to genuinely think that Four had solid qualities but dealing with others in power clearly isn’t one of them. Or really, dealing with Eric. 

- Eric gloats, fully in the evil villain role. I’m unimpressed. He works best as Four’s antagonist, though, rather than Tris & Co’s. Another reminder that the direction of the story has always been on Four and his struggles, not Tris’.

- We get acknowledgement that of COURSE Four’s going to be a good teacher because he taught Shauna that one time (because he’s a boy and she’s a girl nevermind the fact that she’s grown up here)

- The section ends with him leaving a message for Evelyn that one day he’ll support her but not yet. After he just had this section rambling about how he chooses the middle path to be himself and find moments of rebellion against the people trying to control him INCLUDING Evelyn. Doesn’t seem very rebellious to yield to the woman who doesn’t care about you as a person, just as a weapon or a tool.

THE TRAITOR

- .”Beatrice. That name is so wrong for her.” I’m like 80% sure that this is the only time i’m gonna agree with him. But also, I feel like i remember him calling her Beatrice in Insurgent sooooo

- Tris was fragile-looking when she first entered Dauntless. Not a great descriptor but not the worst.

- Two years later and he’s still broody mc brooderson. His supervisor in the Control Room reminds him it’s alright to have fun and he literally grumbles under his breath. 

- He get’s Max’s password from the security feed because Max is bad at typing. I almost want to sin that just because even if you suck at typing, you can usually do your password (esp one that’s just numbers) entirely by instinct. But maybe - just maybe - Dauntless rotates passwords and Max just sucks. Either way, meh. 

- Lauren’s part of the technical staff. An interesting (re)discovery [I had read this before realizing I skipped the other part]. She helps him to get a program to mirror Max’s computer under the pretext of a prank on Zeke. I’m a bit befuddled simply because... How would Four ever prank Zeke with a mirroring program? Like, they just watch security feeds and maybe write reports? I also feel like it reflects even more poorly on Dauntless that they’re cool with pranks like that. But, then again, Dauntless is a bunch of morons according to VRoth’s POV so, I guess I can’t be too surprised. 

- The conversation /chewing out by Gus is SO stilted and awkward. We already got the info dump about taking feeds out of rotation but here we get literally the same explanation as Four’s defense. A good edit would have eliminated the awkwardness. Also, Four getting called out for being shitty at his job amuses me because from Tris’s POV in the other books, he can do no wrong. 

- Four gets Edward and Will mixed up in his head. These are his kids for the past x weeks and he doesn’t know who the “blonde erudite” is? Sideyeing so hard.

- Max and Four duke it out verbally over the stabbing as Four insists that it’s Eric’s fault bc the kids are so wound up. And Max gets some niiice jabs in about how Four could have a better leg to stand on if a) he stopped insulting every superior officer in his path and b) didn’t back down on the leadership role. Also a jab that, hey, you know who’s 100% at fault? The person who STABBED EDWARD!

- Ugghhh Tris is Dauntless but the faction “isn’t really Dauntless anymore.” Dude you’ve been here 2 years. You refuse to work with the current system to help it to teach the real values. Like here, where you refuse to call Tris out for insubordination - or at least WARN her that she’s getting away with it - and earlier complained about how you got bitched out for stopping last year’s fights. Figure out how to teach real lessons Mr. “Great Teacher” while following the letter of the writing. 

- He also pulls the “i’m hard on Tris because she can take it” line and I’m unamused. He had the time here to actually say what he wanted to say or at least a version of it that isn’t tempered by being a dick like he claimed ten seconds ago he wasn’t with her because he “respects her.” The amount of flip-flopping could fill a beach.

- he touches her back and it addles his mind. Either his balls are that blue or VRoth is laying on the one-sided attraction a bit thick. 

- I don’t remember this scene being this long in Divergent, but at least Tris is getting credit for being perceptive about things. Even if that perception is just to put Four on a pedestal of “so much better than Eric/Dauntless.” There’s also more detail about how training had ACTUALLY changed to previously include padding and not bare-knuckle boxing. Six years ago. I’m 200 pages into this short story and this is the FIRST empirical evidence that Dauntless had changed before Four got there beyond early Fear Landscaping.

- Tris calls Eric jealous and Four spends a hot second considering that Eric might actually have motives and emotions beyond cocky. It’s the best I’ll get and I’ll take it.

- Two years into Dauntless as Four “tries a Dauntless expression” to tell Tris that she doesn’t look like she’s been crying. Two years. What a friggen outsider. Again, makes sense with the previous storyline but not really in the actual story because, gee, if he’s such a good Dauntless why is he an outsider? (well because Dauntless - even the non-Erics or Maxes - is horrible, don’t’cha know UGH)

- He discovers the plans for the attack on Abnegation and claims how this makes sense because of how much Max and Jeanine hate the Abnegation. Far as we’ve seen, Max doesn’t give a single shit about Abnegation, but hey, it wouldn’t do to have a villain who didn’t hate where the protag came from. 

- Please lets note how even in these scenes, Tris has displayed no actual return affection towards Four’s tiny attempts at connecting with her. It’s all about Four.

- He goes to mommy dearest about the danger of Max and Jeanine’s plans. It’s regrettably the only logical thing to do. And mommy doesn’t care. The only interesting thing about this is that this is the only scene that doesn’t present the attack on Abnegation as an attack on the poor innocent Christians. They’re shown as liars and backstabbers, supporting Marcus rather than good hearted folks helping the Divergent. It explains Four’s desire to back his mother in Insurgent rather than the rest of the city. 

- We hit one moment of Tris actually responding to Four’s kindness which I feel like I need to emphasize is the only time that he’s actually said nice shit without being a tool before or after it. Weird how girls don’t like that.

- Earlier Four couldn’t remember who the Blone Erudite transfer was but he can tell from the shape of a hooded figure that Al’s the third attacker. Mmmkay.

- UGH he hates the fights but he doesn’t resent how Tris beat Molly into a pulp and beyond because she’s got tits and Eric doesn’t. It’s as simple as that. Sorry, not sorry.

- Four’s internal dialogue: I need to find someone I can trust. This girl is cute and she also beats people into a pulp when she’s upset but this will never happen again and any further rage from her will result in me telling her to stop and be a better person but this is what connects us right now so it’s okay. 

- Four makes a pathetic attempt to consider reporting the assault to Eric who uses it to rightly call out Four’s inability to control his kids. Then Eric goes over the villain line again and says it’s a way to tell who the strong and the weak are. Yawn.

- Holy balls, Shauna and Zeke get brought in to be Four’s muscle and scare Peter. I get why we never saw this through Tris’ POV but you THINK it could have maybe been mentioned? Also we get a tiny glimpse into Dauntless culture as they threaten to ruin Peter’s reputation forever, etc etc. Not that any of this really matters because all Dauntless are dumb, remember? Only the special main characters matter. 

- Zeke also makes a vague insinuation about Al falling into the chasm and I’m suddenly a bit astounded as the next scene is, well, Al’s body being dragged up. Four realizes he’s been a shitty instructor and a choir of angels sing “of course, you idiot”

- There’s the scene of Tris and Four after Al’s death where he attempts again to give her half answers and sideways comments that only serve to frustrate her and me. And the stupid line about pushing her until she breaks because he thinks how it doesn’t mean he wants to hurt her but it’s so CLEARLY not his actual goal in literally any of their interactions, even from his POV! Where does this line come from? His imagination?

- We flip-flop again, this time about how most of Abnegation IS actually good don’tchaknow

- There’s the re-do of the fear landscape where we go back to other-book canon where jumping off the side is all well and good because you don’t need to have a perfectly logical reaction to the landscape. Mmm. Tris is also like 80 times better than him, still. Just sayin’

- I’m again reminded of how quickly they go from one sided to barely flirting in the fear sim to touching casually and him kissing her forehead. All those subtle intimacies are just way too sudden. Ugh.

- His decision to go to Marcus is driven by the desire to protect her and I’m once again a bit nauseated by the idea that Tris has to be protected by someone. It makes sense for his character and as much as I’m nitpicking this story, it’s a better, clearer story arc than Tris’. I love Tris to death, but the story of the trilogy is not hers. It’s her dealing with the fall of Abnegation and then tumbling into Four’s family drama. Everything works WAY better from his POV (with tweaking and with her breaking up with him because I say yet again HE IS SUCH A DICK IN INSURGENT)

anywho i’m skipping the last three “bonus scenes” because I need to take a break and also not kill myself.

[ourfinalheaven]

I received a message from someone asking why I enjoy Cloti, but they wished to remain “anon”. 

I always feel like this question chokes me up because I’m not talented in expressing myself nor my emotions to others, but I figured I’d give it a try... 

For me, Cloud and Tifa is realistic to what couples go through where as other FF couples are, well, fantasy like. They’re easy, they’re in the “honeymoon phase” and they really don’t go through realistic to where it’s relate-able. Which don’t get me, it’s totally fine and isn’t that the point of shipping; to enjoy something you can’t really have in reality? 

Cloud’s story is such a normal one. I mean really c’mon? Young boy wants to impress the popular girl who he just so happens to have a crush on, but she’s always surrounded by boys who are more confident than he is? Then one day,he musters up some balls to call her out at night only to make an unexpected promise to help her if she’s in need? Totally relate able for a lot of guys in their early years. 

Tifa, like any girl would, reads the paper everyday to see if Cloud is in SOLDIER, and waits for his return. When word gets out there are people from SOLDIER coming to town, Tifa gets giddy to see Cloud, but only to be disappointed when he doesn’t show- or so she thinks. 

He hides his face in shame of not keeping his word and avoids her because of it. Little does Cloud know, at this point, all Tifa wants is to see Cloud. Things take turn for the worst, and a man Cloud looks up to destroys his town, kills his mother, hurts his best friend, and gravely injures the girl he likes.  All the anger Cloud felt in his childhood come rushing over him like a wave, and he himself is able to manage to take on this “great hero”, but pays a high price... he gets taken by Hojo to be a lab rat along with Zack. 

Five years later, Zack and him bust out of the Shinra Mansion basement only to lose Zack in the process, fighting the hang over of his mako poisoning he some how makes it to a train station in Midgar only to be found by Tifa. At this point, they’re both shocked they’ve crossed paths AGAIN. Talk about ironic or as some would say it was “fate”.  When Cloud is finally coherent, he asks Tifa for a job to make a living and tells her of stories that don’t quite make sense. Finally, when they reach Tifa’s bar Cloud realizes once again Tifa surrounded by men who clearly are fond of Tifa. 

For me personally, I feel like this is why Cloud is so “moody” in the beginning of the game. Once again, he has to fight for Tifa’s attention and that he doesn’t fit in with the new group she has. It’s almost like he’s resentful, which I find interesting tbh, anybody would. I’m sure we’ve all been there. We want undivided attention from our crush; anything to search for clues they just may like us back... 

Anyways,  one mission goes extremely south  and I find the dialogue between Cloud and Tifa interesting before he falls into Aerith’s church.  There’s a part of the dialogue that isn’t optional right before he falls (from my memory, been awhile since I played)

Barret It's gonna blow! Let's go, Tifa!

Tifa Barret! Can't you do something?

Barret Not a damn thing.

Tifa Cloud! Please don't die! You can't die! There's still so much I want to tell you!

Cloud ******I know, Tifa......*******

That right there signals to me there was something brewing between them that they both recognized. Cloud, not distracted by personal resentment of the past, was himself in that moment.  And like always, they’re interrupted.  Once again, something always getting in the way of them finally confessing their feelings.

When Cloud falls on Aerith’s flowerbed, there’s something I find interesting. He remembers his fall from Mt. Nibel. You know where the part he follows Tifa and the bridge snaps as a child?  That fall brings him back to that time. I mean it’s nothing to telling but it’s something I’ve made note of. 

Once Cloud and Aerith get of her church and he brings her back home safely, he is desperate to get back to Tifa’s bar. I think it’s cute you can call Tifa your “girl...friend”, I don’t think anyone else in the game has that option, so there’s like this build up between Cloud and Tifa that makes you want to know more. 

When Cloud does finally get to meet back up with Tifa, he went through a slew of embarrassing events to dress up like a woman just to make sure she was alright. Cloud is somewhat macho, so for him to slap a dress on, makeup, and a wig with some girly panties is truly telling to how much he cares for Tifa and would do anything to make sure she is alright.  

After several events of them leaving Midgar, the end of Cloud’s story is interesting. Tifa asks Cloud how badly she was hurt, and Cloud replies with he thought Tifa was a goner, but unprovoked he mentions how he was sadden by that thought. 

Now, let me fast forward to after Aerith death and their at the Northern Crater. Cloud mentions to Tifa that he hopes she gets to meet the “real” Cloud. It’s like Nojima wanted to insinuate that this Cloud we’re seeing a fake; not real. We end up getting separated from Cloud, but we find him Mideel where Cloud’s mental state is completely broken, and Tifa decides she’s going to watch over him thus leaving the group... 

When we finally get to the lifestream, that’s where we learn Cloud did what he did for Tifa. He likes Tifa and just wanted her to notice him. Cloud then find outs Tifa read the newspaper everyday searching for his name in it. Some people may think that’s “shallow” of Tifa but I don’t think so. She was just a girl, and at that age we get caught up in things like that.   

Cloud and Tifa finally realize Cloud was there and he saved Tifa, Cloud is able to regain his trueself thanks to Tifa.  Now what is interesting is Cloud, in the true memory, says to Seph  “ Mom... Tifa...... my town... give it back...” he never said that in his flash back at Kalm.  Nojima’s writing for the script references back the “hope you get to meet the real cloud” quote and ofc when he says this is goodbye, until meet again line, “ Yeah...... Tifa...... We finally...... meet again......” This lets us know, the Cloud we knew before, wasn’t 100% Cloud which is so, idk, it’s so realistic bc people in real life will take parts of other people’s personality and morph them into one to great “their” personality. 

 Alrighty, so with the highwind scene, I find it super classic how Square did a romantic setting with Cloud and Tifa before the final battle. You know how you hear about soldiers making love to their wives before their deployed or in movies the hero makes love to his girl before he fights the villain? I feel like thats what Square did. People will fight about how this HW scene is canon, but I don’t think it matters. The Highwind scene is the Highwind scene, Cloud and Tifa spend the night together. Period. They share a kiss/have sex/ play a card game w/e you want to imagine, they spent a romantic night under the stars before the went to fight Seph. To be honest, it was the perfect night for them to come clean. What would they have to lose? They thought they were gonna die anyways.  

They beat seph, yay game over, woot now we have COT and ACC, which really gives the realness. 

I really can see how cloti struggled with their relationship because the events they went through was awful. They’re still mourning over their fallen comrade: Aerith. Cloud is feeling guilty for their deaths. In what reality would this make for the most perfect relationship? It doesn’t, but I feel given the hints and body language cloti is forming a romantic relationship, which is hard for them. You have two people who have pent up emotions from the OG events. 

They seem to be going through their pain together but dont if that makes sense? Best way I can describe it is Tifa takes Denzel coming to the bar as Aerith showing her to  move on, but Cloud takes it as Aerith showing Cloud by raising Denzel, he can make up for his mistakes. Eventually after COT, Cloud and Tifa DO end up happy together with the children. 

However, Cloud gets geostigma and he thinks this is the planet’s way of “punishing him” so he runs off, abandoning everyone at this point, and lives in hiding.   Eventually, Tifa does find where Cloud is staying at and finally getting Cloud to realize it’s time he lets go of the past. Some people will say, “Oh Tifa’s a “bitch” for doing that, but you know what? No, she’s not. You don’t coddle your partner for forever. In relationships, there’s times you have to give your partner a reality check. It’s called tough love. There’s a time where you tell your partner it’s time to stop feeling sorry for yourself and move on. You also don’t let your partner cut off everyone because he/she is too scared to ask for help or see they have people who dearly love him.  

A lot of people who have never had a serious relationship do not realize that there’s times you hate your partner, you don’t know if you’re truly in love with this person anymore, you don’t open up to them, and you just think you’re better off without them. And that’s cloti in acc. They’re figuring it out. They’re pissy, they’re hurt, they’re tired, but you know what...they worked through it. They didn’t just bail and say “see ya later.”, Tifa waited for Cloud to forgive himself, and when he did look where he went? Back to tifa and the children. 

I honestly think that’s why people struggle with shipping cloti is they think or maybe don’t understand when you love someone, they annoy you, make you mad, make you cry, and sometimes don’t understand you, but it’s loving you through those bad times that make you stronger. And maybe that’s why it’s easier to ship other couples is because reality is uncomfortable and we are raised to think everything is rainbow and butterflies x.x 

Phew, this was long >.<  So yeah, TL;DR I love cloti bc they’re real and not your typical FF couple, like Cecil x Rosa or Squall x Rinoa where you don’t see the “Realness”. I feel like Cloti is that couple that isn’t on social media showing pictures of how “happy” they are when in reality they’re miserable, but the couple who keeps their relationship to themselves bc they don’t need to showcase it >.<

[treeplays]

spoilery Batman: The Telltale Series thoughts below….

With the Wayne family plot twist I like that they’re doing their own thing and not just rehashing for the billionth time. But at the same time they kindof… are… just rehashing for the billionth time. The only scene we have with young Bruce interacting with his family is this same scene we’ve seen every other Batman incarnation ever that everyone is sick of by now. So why not show other scenes in Bruce’s life with his parents or even give the player control over Bruce in these scenes? They drop the twist on you and then that’s just kindof it.. you see a tape w Thomas Wayne being evil and you hear from other people how he’s evil but that’s it. I actually WANT to feel invested here guys! It’s like with the other characters, I feel like I’m expected to automatically care about them just bc of who they are and not bc of actual interaction with them. Batman is hot for Catwoman bc she’s Catwoman, Bruce cares about Alfred bc he’s Alfred, Bruce broods about his family bc he’s Batman, etc etc etc. Like yeah ok I get it, but I want to care about THIS Alfred, I want to be conflicted about THIS Wayne family. And there wasn’t as much set-up as I’d have liked for the big moments to really matter as much as they should have.

I liked the thematic element of the Batman vs Bruce choices, also makes lots of room for divergence in the plot but then again they ran the risk of being repetitive by constantly repeating the same choice of Go as Bruce or Batman, and ofc we have the old problem of branches that don’t actually make a difference in the story. I’m probably repeating myself here but imo it’s fine and understandable for these types of games to be somewhat railroaded but the problem is when your “tailored” story is only actually “tailored” in one branch and super clunky and awkward in the other, it’s painfully obvious which route is the one the creators were expecting to you to take so the opposite route just feels purposely wrong. And I feel like this wouldn’t be a difficult problem to fix if closer attention was given to the flow of dialogue in relation to all previous choices and not just the one that the writers try prodding you into doing. (Which btw is a separate issue from bugs like Alfred chewing you out for supposedly beating up a guy you barely touched lmao. ughhhggggg)

And I’m a bit iffy on this repeat of The Wolf Among Us-style “good cop or bad cop” thing, I mean, it totally fits but it just feels so been there done that. And again irritating that just like in TWAU the game treats you like you’re being a ‘monster’ even when you’re not, regardless of whether it’s a case of bugged dialogue or just the feel of the plot in general. So by first episode’s end when I realized this was the road they were going down again where people are going to treat u like a baddie no matter what then I mean fuck it I’m going to brutalize the mobster anyway since that’s apparently the only valid choice, I just didn’t care anymore so it was just like screw this. And that sucks bc it just ruins the whole thing, the illusion of choice just gone and my investment goes completely down the drain.

I get that it makes for more drama or whatever and normally I would gladly comply, but not when the only difference is characters being pissy with you for a bit and then continuing on with no noticeable difference in the plot. In TWAU it worked better for me because there were situations where they make you genuinely WANT to give in and go the “bad/violent” route, but here it’s different. I don’t want to go around beating the shit out of mentally ill people lmao! Especially when it feels like TTG is actually putting more time and effort into villains’ tragic backstories than the terrible things that they’re doing right now. Idk maybe I just wasn’t paying enough attention I just wasn’t convinced that these people I’m supposed to want to beat up are actually that bad, I guess I just didn’t see the evil things they did because the entire time I was po’d that there was no “Hey Oz has a point!” option. It’s like Telltale is expecting you to be so invested in the “I’m Batman” role that they expect you to step right into the grimdark beat-em-up version without giving you a reason to.

I guess I have to give credit where it’s due here tho bc I did appreciate that we can also be compassionate like telling Harvey to talk to his therapist and chances to empathize like in the scene with the Vale kid, the Episode 5 Harvey confrontation, and in the end battle. I guess it’s really Oz here that I’m mostly thinking of, they just didn’t give me enough to reason to resent him as much as it seems you’re supposed to and there are barely any options to be nice to him. He’s introduced as an old friend and the conversation goes fine but suddenly in the next episode I’m supposed to believe that he’s a terrible person and I hate him? It just feels odd especially since the Wayne family plot twist comes so early that you know he’s right the whole time and yet you’re supposed to be all offended that he’s badmouthing your family when he’s actually 100% correct????

I actually really like the idea of interacting with the Joker before the whole arch-enemies thing, him and Bruce meeting each other before they interact as hero and villain is an interesting dynamic and gives a lot of meaning to their potential future encounters. I didn’t especially mind the plot convenience there bc i Mean, he’s the Joker lol. Although I have to admit I kindof facepalmed at the fact that he’s still just hanging out in Arkham even though no one knows who he is or where he’s from lol. That’s Arkham for you I guess.

I found it weird how in episode 5 Catwoman’s “betrayal” is treated like some big reveal but then shrugged off immediately and she just hands back the device to you no problem. No fight or quick time event and it was just a repetition of their previous interaction I felt like it was more anticlimactic than anything tbh.

Also kindof odd how Harvey becomes Two Face even when you choose to save him. I’d assumed he would just get the scarring another way but instead he gets the behavioral issue without the actual look which is a little weird when at one point the tv reporter refers to him as Two Face even tho his face is fine lol. 

And there again, the issue with the “tailored” story being only tailored for one branch, all the foreshadowing indicates TWOFACE INCOMING or BATMANxCATWOMAN HERE so it just feels anticlimactic when that doesn’t happen, and the plot line continues on very similarly anyway so it’s just like ok what’s the point then? That imo is what Telltale needs to work on most here, making their multiple storylines more cohesive and not so obvious which works best and is intended as the ‘default’ or 'right' choice.

[ladyloveandjustice]

The Great Ace Attorney Replay: Trials and Tribulations, Case 5, Part 5

I’m going to examine this garden gate as Phoenix specifically to get this dialogue.

Phoenix: “Edgeworth’s probably in the garden, crying softly to himself…I guess we should hug it out and talk about what he’s uncovered’

 I’m never getting over this like. Phoenix specifically imagining Miles “crying softly” and anticipating hugging. “I’M HERE TO HEAL UR PAIN EDGEWORTH”. Phoenix take it back a notch.

In we go to say hi to Miles who is still berating himself for passing out and Phoenix is like “oh my GOD why is it still bothering him” I FEEL YOU PHEEN.

 THEN MILES SEES HIM AND…literally runs away OH MY GOD MILES

Phoenix: “DON’T YOU DARE RUN AWAY FROM ME!!!”

Miles: “WHAT ARE YOU HERE TO LAUGH AT ME? GO AHEAD! LAUGH!”

Oh god…I never noticed it the first time around but it’s literally a repeat of the scene between them when Phoenix came into defend Miles at the detention center. That’s beautiful. THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME. Miles is still a disaster. I wonder if this still happens even in their 30s. I bet it does. Not just over earthquakes and going to jail. This is what happens when Miles tries to make an awesome banquet for their anniversary and ends up burning the food. This exact exchange.

Actually it may have happened when they were younger too considering the first time, Phoenix warned Maya not to actually laugh when he says this because “It’s a trick. He’ll get mad when you laugh. Or burst into tears.” So did baby Miles run away, have to be dragged back and then yell this when Phoenix tried to comfort him over not being able to do origami back in the day? And then did he try to laugh like Miles asked because he thought it would help and this is what triggered the outbreak of sobbing? IT’S PRETTY MUCH CONFIRMED THAT THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED. IN MY HEART.

Phoenix: (SIGH, I WAS READY TO HUG IT OUT WITH HIM BUT HE’S THE SAME OLD PRIDEFUL EDGEWORTH)

Phoenix if u tell him you want to hug him I’m sure he’ll say yes cuz it’s you. Go for it.

OKAY MILES WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MY BADGE.

Miles: “I never thought I’d see you wear one of these”

Phoenix: “It’s because of you I became one” 

WAY TO ESCALATE THIS CONVERSATION PHOENIX HE WAS JUST TRYING TO MAKE SMALL TALK GIVE THE MAN A BREAK. 

CUE DRAMATIC ARM CLUTCH AND MILES HAVING A MINI SEIZURE AS HE TRIES TO DEAL WITH FEELINGS

Phoenix: “Not that I have any regrets. I really don’t.”

FEELING SEIZURE CONTINUES

Phoenix: if you’re trying to say “thanks “you can can say it a bit louder.

Honestly I can’t even handle them just kill me.

OOOOH I CAN PRESENT MIA’S PROFILE TO MILES WATCHA GONNA SAY

Miles: “One of the biggest names in the world of law as I’m sure you’ll agree”

NICE THINGS. He respects her! I’m so proud of you, Miles, you’ve come so far.

Miles: “For better or worse, we were only destined to meet once in courtroom”

Probably for better. You would have lost. And she would have had to put up with your brattiness more. Not a good time for either of you.

Phoenix: (I know. I read all about it).

Miles “It was the first time for both of us. Two novices head to head.”

THAT REMINDS ME DID U GO TO MIA’S GRAVE AND APOLOGIZE FOR THAT BIMBO REMARK BECAUSE IF NOT I DEMAND YOU DO.

Miles: I can still remember how downhearted I felt after that trial ended the way it did

Phoenix: (I wonder if Mia felt the same way, too).

Uhh Phoenix she literally wrote down that she did. That is was a wound in her soul that never healed or whatevs. Though I guess we don’t know if Mia wrote down the stuff Phoenix read. He could have just researched the case and all the narration we read was just Mia’s thoughts to herself rather than what she wrote down.

I’M GONNA PRESENT MAYA

Miles: “I don’t know her very well, but it seems like she’s always landing in trouble”

Phoenix: “You clearly know her better than you think.”

Miles: “I do sincerely hope she’s all right.”

Aww. Also, like you guys aren’t constantly landing in trouble too.

If I present Pearl Miles is like “SHE’S A CHILD I CANT TRY AND FORCE THINGS OUT OF HER. I’M NOT BEING MEAN TO A KID WRIGHT. YOU GET THE INFO SHE’LL TALK TO YOU” 

omg Miles. You know I always thought the whole “I’M WORRIED ABOUT THE DEFENSE TRAUMATIZING THIS CHILD” with Cody Hackins was just him being a dick as usual, but considering this dialogue it looks like that was genuine. 

Miles is very defensive of young children and paranoid about them being traumatized. That makes sense and is both adorable and sad.

Presenting Gumshoe means Miles mentions he took him out for pasta and Nick is like “WELL GOOD YOU OWE HIM THAT MUCH IT’S YOUR FAULT HIS SALARY IS SO LOW GIVE THE POOR GUY A RAISE JESUS.” 

Speaking the truth goddamn give it to him good Phoenix

I was thinking for a second investigation 2 causes a continuity error here bc he finally gives Gumshoe a raise in that but then I looked up the official Ace Attorney timeline that case takes place after this one.

All of Investigations takes place after this case and ends just before Phoenix gets disbarred (the last case of investigations 2 is literally 10 DAYS BEFORE IT HAPPENS…). Which makes sense bc if Miles had been gone for a year he wouldn’t have had time to be in spinoff games set in Japanifornia during that time. I have no idea why I thought investigations was set between game 2 and 3.

BUT I’M ALSO CONFUSED BECAUSE IF MILES HAS BEEN GONE FOR A YEAR HE CAN’T BE THE PERSON CUTTING GUMSHOE’S SALARY. Unless it was that way when he left and the new boss kept it the same. Either way, SHAME ON WHOEVER REPLACED MILES.

Miles have been going to trials in five different countries to learn how to be better at running them…and apparently learned all the languages.Phoenix is like “WHAT. HOW. IT’S TAKEN ME A LIFETIME TO SORT OF MASTER ONE LANGUAGE” I feel you Phoenix

If I try to show him evidence it’s all “I’m a prosecutor, I’m a defense attorney, we cannot discuss things so intimately” Miles he wasn’t asking to make out with you over the evidence, he genuinely wants your opinion.

Talking to Gumshoe, we find a bloody sword and Phoenix tells Gumshoe he doesn’t want to get it tested. Gumshoe realizes he’s terrified it’s Maya’s blood (and is going green at the thought). I FORGOT ABOUT THIS PART THIS IS SO SAD.

 Gumshoe reassures him and says she’s definitely okay and he’ll take him and Maya out for pasta when they find her. Awww Gumshoe I love ya. You really are better at knowing how to handle people’s feelings than anyone else in this bar. (And that being said, Phoenix should really tell him to go talk to Miles right now too. He is in need.).

Huh I forgot about this bit where Miles and Phoenix figure out how Dahlia is involved in all this together. I also completely forgot that Miles found out Dahlia was Phoenix’s ex and tried to kill him etc.

Phoenix mentions spirit channeling and Miles just flips out all like “SPIRIT CHANNELERS ARE FRAUDS THAT WOMAN ACCUSED AN INNOCENT MAN OF MURDER AND RUINED MY LIFE”

Did…he never figure out that it was his dad’s spirit who lied about the murder?APPARENTLY NOT.

and apparently he’s just willfully ignoring all those times Maya magically transformed into Mia RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. Like I know you tend to be hyper-focused on Phoenix in court but I cannot believe you wouldn’t notice sometimes Maya is a foot taller and busting open her kimono. HOW DO YOU RATIONALIZE THIS TO YOURSELF? WHERE IS THE ~LOGIC~ MILES?

I guess “my dad accused an innocent man to protect me” would be a leap Miles would be unwilling to make because it goes against his image of his dad as champion of the ~Truth~. Not to mention it would be pretty horrible to know your dad’s spirit is out there thinking you were the one that killed him. Miles is going to have a hard time with dealing with that. Phoenix seems to realize this because he just kind of pauses for a second and is like “you’ll understand someday, Edgeworth”.

 it WOULD be incredibly awkward and painful to just be say “UM NO EDGEWORTH SPIRIT CHANNELING IS REAL YOUR DAD JUST THOUGHT YOU KILLED HIM AND LIED TO THE MEDIUM TO PROTECT YOU FROM TRAUMA. WHICH DIDN’T WORK BUT WHATEVER”. Phoenix ain’t droppin’ that bomb on him.

TIME TO GO TALK TO IRIS…EXCEPT NOT REALLY. I think I remember what happened here, Iris and Maya-channeling-Dahlia switched places in the sacred cavern….

You can honestly tell she’s Dahlia if you pay attention to her dialogue- mostly when Phoenix messes up

Iris: I had hoped you would get at least this much correct. I hate seeing you mess up and getting all disappointed.

Phoenix: (Nngh... I didn't know she could be so harsh...)

And she also says “that’s no position for a lawyer to find himself in” if he stumbles another time. Dahlia’s gonna find a way to own Phoenix even if she has to pretend to be sweet, just gotta do it. 

Then of course when Phoenix says Dahlia “began relations with a certain college student in order to hide the evidence. That college student... Have you heard anything about him...?”

Iris:... Well... I did hear one thing... She said she hated his guts. :D

REALLY SUBTLE THERE DAHLIA. Awww Phoenix is so sad and she’s so cackling inside about it. She really is an excellent villain.

AND GUESS WHAT. I’D STILL RATHER TALK TO HER THAN GODOT.

 BUT NO HE HAS TO SHOW UP.

Agh it’s just like. Dahlia’s brand of evil is delicious and chilling- it’s fun to watch even if it’s horrible. She knows what she’s doing and she’s having fun with it.

MEANWHILE GODOT IS JUST OBNOXIOUS AND SELF RIGHTEOUS ABOUT HIS EVIL AND NOTHING IS FUN AGH.

ONCE AGAIN Godot’s all was “your job to protect them” re Mia and Maya.

 NO IT ISN’T. HIS JOB IS TO BE A LAWYER. BEING A 24/7 BODYGUARD TO EVERY WOMAN HE MEETS IS NOT THE CAREER HE WENT FOR.

MIA IS HIS BOSS. MAYA IS HIS FRIEND (WHO HE IS ALWAYS THERE FOR!). THEY ARE NOT HELPLESS LITTLE DOLLS HE’S SUPPOSED TO KEEP IN SOME GLASS CASE AND SHUT AWAY FROM THE WORLD.

Guess who’s going to lecture Phoenix because he, I don’t know, didn’t feel that Mia was being murdered with his Spidey-sense and then swing over at the speed of light to punch the murderer to death or whatever he was supposed to do? Godot, of course!

 Phoenix finally points out that HE DIDN’T EVEN KNOW MIA WAS IN DANGER OR WHAT SHE WAS UP TO HOW THE FUCK WAS HE SUPPOSED TO DO ANYTHING. And Godot’s response is that “being oblivious is a crime.”

YEAH PHOENIX. HOW DARE YOU NOT KNOW THINGS PEOPLE DON’T TELL YOU ABOUT. A REAL MAN WOULD DEVELOP PSYCHIC POWERS.

Hey Godot you know what is actually a crime. Actually knowing people are in danger, not telling them they are, doing nothing to prevent it and actually making everything infinitely worse because you wanted to do some super-violent dashing rescue to soothe your own pathetic ego. But you wouldn’t know anything about that, riiiiight?

And then Godot is like “WHATEVER MAYA’S DEAD I HAVE DECIDED THIS SO IT MUST BE SO” right in front of Pearl oh my god I hate you so much. Fortunately he finally fucking leaves and Nick reassures her. 

AND NOW IT’S TRIAL TIME SO I HAVE TO DEAL WITH HIM MORE.

THIS GAME WOULD BE SO MUCH BETTER WITHOUT YOU IN IT GODOT.

Well, we’ll endure and carry on. TILL NEXT TIME.